Observing Wanfa from the martial arts school servants

Chapter 109 The Sword of Inquiry

Just when everyone thought the battle was over, Young Master Jin Yu suddenly stopped.

Lin Mu, who hadn't stopped observing, immediately noticed that the Golden Jade Prince had taken out a small golden sword about the length of an index finger from his robes. The sword was shimmering with light, and its blade was covered with extremely fine, dense, and ancient patterns. Each pattern gleamed with a warm yet cold, dark golden light in the twilight.

He held the small sword between his fingers and wrote and drew in the air.

The golden sword tip left faint, fine golden characters where it passed, which hovered in the air for a moment before disappearing without a trace.

Then he gently pushed the small sword forward, the tip of which pierced towards Zou Qingshan from a distance.

Just then, the martial arts techniques felt slightly warm, and Lin Mu's eyes lit up.

After observing, you can replicate the Wen Dao: Questioning the Heart Sword.

Whether it will be a replica.

He silently said "yes" to himself.

A sharp and cold force surged into his dantian.

Sword of Inquiry: 8/1000.

Before Lin Mu could even feel the power of the Heart-Questioning Sword, the golden sword marks condensed into several words in the void.

"As an adopted son of the Zou family, do you feel that this is unfair?"

These words hung in front of Zou Qingshan like a mountain, pinning him to the spot.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and his lips moved but no sound came out.

A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.

Not many people in Qingzhou Prefecture knew that Zou Qingshan was an adopted son of the Zou family.

The young master Jin Yu wrote it down in public, which was no longer a simple exchange of martial arts techniques; it was an attempt to kill someone and destroy their spirit.

If Zou Qingshan says he feels it's unfair, then the younger generation of leaders in the Zou family will be estranged from the Zou family.

"Is this the Heart-Questioning Sword?" someone knowledgeable asked in a low voice.

"What is the Sword of Questioning the Heart?"

"Derived from the philosophy of 'Wen Dao Wen Xin,' it uses the sword as a pen and words as a sword to pierce the evil thoughts within."

"When the sword is drawn, a response is inevitable; when the response is given, it must be sincere."

The Zou family watched Zou Qingshan with great tension.

Apart from those who would share in the fortunes of the Zou family, everyone else wore faint smiles, waiting to watch the show unfold.

However, before Zou Qingshan could answer, the Golden Jade Prince's finger trembled slightly, and the small golden sword deviated by half a point in the void.

Several extremely fine and subtle golden sword energies shot out from the sword tip, scattered into the crowd, and struck a middle-aged man with high cheekbones who was wearing a scarlet official robe.

The middle-aged man froze, his eyes instantly glazing over.

Then he suddenly turned around, knelt down with a thud in front of the woman who was twisting his ear, and howled loudly in front of all the guests.

"Madam! I want to marry Pear Blossom from the Green Red Pavilion! I've been thinking about it for three years! Every time I say I'm going to the yamen to handle a case, I actually go to see her!"

The woman's face turned pale and then red, and she gritted her teeth as she twisted his ear all the way around.

He was screaming in pain, but he kept falling out.

He hid his secret stash of money under the third brick in the study; his wife's birthday gift last year was chosen by his advisor; he didn't even know what his son picked during his first birthday celebration because he had spent the whole day playing mahjong at the yamen that day.

The crowd completely spiraled out of control.

An elderly gentleman in a silk robe suddenly turned around and grabbed his old friend by the collar:

"The medicinal herbs you lent me back then weren't flooded at all! You resold them and then refused to pay! I've been holding this in for twenty years!"

The woman beside him slapped a noblewoman wearing a light purple jacket across the face:

"I knew it was you! I knew it was you! What's your relationship with him? Tell me!"

The noblewoman covered her face and screamed:

"What right do you have to hit me! Aren't you the one flirting with that martial arts instructor from the south of the city?!"

"I did that for my son's martial arts lessons!"

"Your son is a scholar! He studies literature! What martial arts instructor would he have!"

The high-ranking official's wife grabbed her husband's ear and dragged him outside while cursing him. The official's wailing grew fainter and fainter.

"Pear Blossom! I'll come back to find you! Madam, please stop hitting me! There are so many people watching!"

At this moment, the entire backyard of the Zou residence was completely transformed into a secret propaganda conference for prominent figures in Qingzhou Prefecture.

Normally, these gentle and refined officials and nobles were now arguing heatedly, some wanting to divorce their wives, some wanting to sever their father-son relationship, and some shouting that they would go to Cuihong Tower to propose marriage the next day.

Fortunately, Zou Qingshan quickly regained his composure.

He raised his eyes, his gaze meeting the line of golden characters, his voice not loud but extremely steady.

"I don't feel it's unfair."

The Zou family had been incredibly kind to him, and his adoptive parents treated him like their own son; he was deeply grateful.

Every word is sincere, every sentence is honest.

The golden characters on the Heart-Questioning Sword flickered a few times in the void before disappearing without a trace.

The invisible force in the courtyard also dissipated at the same moment, as if someone had closed a window that had been blown open by a strong wind.

The high-ranking officials and dignitaries, who had been arguing heatedly, seemed to have been doused with cold water and gradually quieted down.

Some tidied their clothes, some combed their messy hair, and some picked up the round fan that had fallen on the ground.

The man who had just been clamoring to divorce his wife silently tied up her loose sash, and the man who had just been shouting about going to Cuihong Tower to propose marriage put on a gentle and refined smile again.

In a short while, the mess in the courtyard was restored to the dignified gathering of a wealthy family, as if the farce had never happened.

Only Lin Mu was still scanning the area, trying to find a breakthrough in replicating the Body Tempering Technique.

His gaze passed over the noblewomen and officials who were trying to appear calm, and finally landed on the grand chair in the corridor of the main hall.

The armchair was empty, with a worn dark red velvet cloth draped over the back, and a cup of tea that had long since gone cold resting on the armrest.

The old man who celebrates his birthday has disappeared.

His gaze shifted downwards by half an inch.

Under the armchair, an old man with white hair, dressed in a brocade robe, was huddled in the gap between the armchair leg and the pillar, his hands wrapped around his knees, his chin resting on his knees, muttering something unintelligible, like a frightened old cat.

It is said that the old man was a martial arts master in his youth, incredibly powerful and strong, and was the greatest asset of the Zou family who abandoned martial arts for literature.

Lin Mu frowned.

A martial arts master, who did not appear when Zou Qingshan and Jin Yu Gongzi were fighting, and who did not appear when the aftershocks of the Questioning Heart Sword swept through the main hall, was now hiding under a grand chair to avoid the dissipating golden sword marks.

This is not the reaction a master of internal energy should have.

His eyes darted around, and he put Xiaoxiao down from his shoulder, leaning close to her ear and whispering a few words.

Xiaoxiao shook her head like a rattle drum, her two crooked ponytails swishing loudly.

"No. I want the second seat."

"I'll make you braised goose in an iron pot tonight, it'll smell delicious!"

Xiaoxiao blinked and weighed her options for a moment.

"Pinky promise."

"Pinky promise."

Xiaoxiao turned and ran into the yard, her two ponytails bouncing high in the wind.

She rushed straight to a chubby little boy in the middle of the yard who was eating a plate of osmanthus cake with crumbs all over his mouth. She raised her right hand, swung it around, and slapped him across the face.

*Snap.* The extremely crisp and loud sound silenced all the noise in the courtyard.

The chubby boy sprayed the osmanthus cake from his mouth all over the ground. He was spun around halfway by the slap and fell to the ground with a thud. His eyes were wide open, and it took him a while before he burst into tears.

A woman dressed in gold and silver screamed and rushed over, hugging the chubby boy in her arms. She glared angrily at Xiaoxiao and said, "Why did you hit my son?"

The person next to him whispered, "With Yan Niang gone, Xiao Xiao has gotten into trouble again. This is the youngest son of the newly appointed prefect."

Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction.

Sure enough, they know how to cause trouble.