Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

[Skill: Wind Defying Finger (Skillful)]

[Progress: 0/200 points]

[Status: Unable to Improve]

For Shen Qing, the breakthrough process seemed to take a very long time, but to the disciples in the inner courtyard, it was no more than five or six breaths from start to finish.

In such a short period of time, they were not aware of Shen Qing's breakthrough.

Most were there just to watch the excitement, but a few keen-eyed disciples vaguely noticed some subtle changes in Shen Qing.

But that was as far as it went.

These people more or less knew about Shen Qing's background, and aside from a bit of surprise and envy, with some emotion on their faces, there were no so-called shocks.

After Shen Qing finished his practice, the onlookers swiftly redirected their attention, focusing on the practice of their movement techniques.

The sounds of slapping and colliding with the Wooden Dummy once again filled the inner courtyard.

Having mastered his movement technique, Shen Qing had no intention of showing off. He digested the physical and mental changes from the breakthrough, gathered his spirit, and briskly walked towards the pharmacy in the Outer Court.

The so-called pharmacy of Linfeng Hall was nothing more than a small partition made from the living quarters of the servants.

Upon entering, you could see a brick wall filled with medicine cabinets, brimming with various medicinal ingredients, and emitting a strong aroma of medicine.

In the center of the room, there were three furnaces, each with a medicine pot bubbling and steaming, the bitter scent of the medicine continuously entering Shen Qing's nostrils.

A Fu was standing in front of a medicine pot, occasionally adding a bit of firewood. Noticing the movements at the door, he turned back and smiled, "Junior Brother Shen, did you come to find me for something?"

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Shen Qing gestured with a fist and palm salute and said, "Is eldest senior brother at the courtyard today?"

Now that the movement technique of Wind Defying Finger had been mastered, it was definitely time to practice the following striking technique, stretching and bone strengthening.

Since the master had entrusted him to Ouyang Tiezhu, he naturally had to seek him out to learn.

A Fu picked up a thin branch from the side, snapped it into sections, and stuffed them into the fire to boost it before saying, "Eldest senior brother has gone out to deal with something concerning your Seventh Master."

Seventh Master? Aunt?

Shen Qing frowned with concern, "What happened to my aunt? She's been feeling unwell lately, hasn't she?"

A Fu sighed and said, "She was ambushed by the Mi Gang on the way back from Jifu Temple last time. She couldn't save the fetus and lost it."

"What?" Shen Qing was taken aback and quickly pressed on, "What exactly happened?"

After A Fu finished stoking the fires in the other two stoves, he dusted off his hands, stood up, and said, "Do you know how many wives our master has?"

"My aunt is Miss Qi, so there definitely are seven!" Shen Qing almost instinctively replied.

"Now there are three."

Shen Qing looked at A Fu with surprise, "Why are there only three?"

A Fu enjoyed seeing Shen Qing's expression, "The first wife died of illness before our master made a name for himself, the second and third wives were killed by enemies, along with a young master and miss."

"Sixth wife died from complications during childbirth, leaving only the fourth, fifth, and seventh wives."

Hearing all this, Shen Qing did not know how to respond.

"Your aunt encountered a similar incident," A Fu said with a matter-of-fact tone, "No help for it, our master came from humble origins and relied solely on fists and feet; having enemies in the county city is quite normal."

Shen Qing asked, "What's the deal with this Mi Gang?"

"That's a long story."

"Get to the point."

"..." A Fu's face stiffened, as if someone had squeezed his neck, and all the words he was about to say were shoved back in with a hammer.

He mumbled twice, then began speaking dejectedly, "The Mi Gang was originally just a small gang in the city, but after the old county magistrate died last year and the court appointed a new county magistrate, they made connections with the government and now control a part of the grain business in the county, becoming a big gang.

They're essentially a puppet gang propped up by the current government office."

"They specialize in doing the dirty work for the government office. Our master had worked with the previous county government and his relationship with the new administration is somewhat awkward. Moreover, our master has killed a son of the Boss of Mi Gang, so... hence, this incident occurred."

Shen Qing listened and got the gist of the situation, asking, "How strong is the Boss of Mi Gang, and can our master beat him?"

"Previously, he was equal in strength to our master, but now that they've connected with the government, it's hard to say," A Fu replied with a tone of concern, "The disciples and forces of the Mi Gang are much stronger than ours. Sigh... I've heard they're going to take action against us, and this incident with your aunt is a sign."

Shen Qing could tell that things were not looking good for Linfeng Hall.

Otherwise, A Fu's tone wouldn't be so despondent.

Shen Qing let out a helpless sigh.

Whatever has come, then let it settle.

In the county, the martial arts halls and gangs consider three things: money, connections, and lastly, talent.

If he wanted to learn martial arts, there weren't many choices available to him, and even if he got into one, the treatment wouldn't be much better than here.

First, he would earnestly learn all he could.

At this moment, a maid walked in from outside, interrupting the two: "Is the medicine ready?"

"It's ready. I've been keeping it warm in the food box for Miss Dongxue," A Fu said while holding up a square food box.

Dongxue, the maid, took the food box without lingering and turned to leave.

Shen Qing hurriedly called out, "Wait a moment, good sister."

The maid Dongxue turned back, looking Shen Qing up and down, and asked, "What is it?"

"I am Qi Niang's nephew; she's my aunt. I just heard about her situation and would like to visit her in the inner courtyard. Would you be so kind as to let her know?"

"You wait here; I'll go ask," Dongxue replied, and then headed toward the direction of the Li Family's inner courtyard.

Once Dongxue had left, Shen Qing hurriedly went to the Outer Court to find Shen Xiaohu, gave him some silver, and sent him off without delay to buy nourishing items.

A short while later, Shen Xiaohu returned with items like red dates, longan, black sesame, astragalus, and brown sugar that are good for women's health and handed them to Shen Qing.

Just then, Dongxue came back with a message: "The master allows you to visit Qi Niang. Follow me; I'll take you there."

"Thank you."

Shen Qing, carrying the supplies, followed behind the maid Dongxue toward the inner courtyard.

Linfeng Hall had a total of three courtyards.

Li Linfeng and the female family members all lived in the third courtyard.

After walking for a while, Shen Qing was led to the entrance of a side room.

Dongxue stepped forward, knocked on the door, and said, "Qi Niang, your nephew is here and wishes to see you."

"Come in!"

A familiar female voice replied from inside, sounding drained and weak.

Dongxue opened the side room's wooden door for Shen Qing and stepped aside.

Shen Qing nodded in gratitude, crossed the threshold, and quickly entered.