Night fell, and the glow from the charcoal brazier warmed the chill of spring.

Madam Tong leaned towards the window to peek outside, then turned to the young man beside the charcoal brazier and said, "It's not raining, so we don't need to go out tonight. It looks like the Ghost Tide is almost over."

Song Cheng pulled out a handwritten copy of "Flying Wheel Force" from his bosom and said, "Madam, read it to me."

Madam Tong nodded, sat down beside him with her legs tightly closed, held up the book, glanced at it, and exclaimed, "Another force method, you..."

Song Cheng said indifferently, "The more, the better."

Madam Tong scoffed, and playfully scolded, "Lucky you! Have you started talking like Sister An just because you slept with her?"

Song Cheng grinned and said, "Go on, read."

Madam Tong huffed, crossed her arms, tapped her foot, then cautiously looked at the young man beside her, wondering if he could notice her small gestures.

Song Cheng said, "It really is better to have more, don't be angry."

Although he didn't understand why the madam was angry, isn't it normal for a woman to get angry?

Madam Tong thought for a moment and clarified, "You can't just favor Sister An alone, you understand?"

Song Cheng said, "Understood, I'll make sure you have a comfortable night tonight."

Madam Tong giggled and said, "Ha, lucky you, acting all coy after getting a bargain."

With that, Tong Jia began to read by the light, each word slowly and deliberately.

These days, she had been busy; during the day, aside from practicing with knives and practicing medicine, she also learned to read and write.

Like last night, when Song Cheng did not sleep here, she would hold a book and laboriously read, write, and study, to ensure she wouldn't fail to recognize a word when reading to her man.

However, there were some rare characters in "Flying Wheel Force" that Madam Tong did not recognize.

Luckily, some characters weren't critical, and the context helped her to guess others, so after some struggle, the words "Flying Wheel Force" still appeared to Song Cheng.

And indeed, as Song Cheng had anticipated.

There were no words like "conflicts with existing cultivation techniques" after "Flying Wheel Force."

This meant that this force could be integrated by him.

For this reason, he had given it much thought and had observed it.

If a force method could be integrated, it must be because they do not duplicate functions and their styles are not too disparate; like the "White Snake," "Willow Brushing," "Absolute," these forces have a sequence of activation, hence they can be intertwined.

And the Flying Wheel Force, aptly, was a spiral force generated by twisting the body, which mostly originated from the torso and thus could likely connect with the Mysterious Turtle Force.

Now it seemed, they indeed matched.

Song Cheng glanced at the panel:

[Points: 34]

[Cultivation Technique]

True Form of Xuanwu (4 Forms) (Yellow Level Grade B) (Perfection) (+)

Flying Wheel Force (Yellow Level Grade C) (Uninitiated (0/4))

"Time for bed."

"Ha, so soon?"

"Yes."

Soft rustling noises of unbuckling and undressing arose, accompanied by Madam Tong's muffled murmurs. As the bed dipped slightly, a burst of noise followed...

"Wait a moment." A voice emanated from the darkness.

The noise subsided.

She stretched out her fair arm to pull down the white curtain, and a moment later, a face tinged with dawn's light peered out and blew out the lamp grass.

"Hurry up," Madam Tong urged again.

...

...

Five days later.

During the night, spring rain started to fall.

The city's four gates tightened up, with double the usual number of guards stationed.

At the east city gate, where Miss An normally needed to make an appearance to keep order, she was absent today because Blind Song alone, holding an umbrella and leaning on a sword cane, walked from the end of the street, treading through the rainy road, to the outside of the east city gate.

A pitch-black large umbrella commonly used by mobile vendors stood upright outside the gate.

Under the umbrella, there was a table and a chair.

As the young man sat down, the hurried rain seemed to ease.

The guards and protectors stationed there who had been anxious suddenly exhaled in relief, feeling more at peace.

The young man leaned his sword cane against the table, thanked the guard who rushed to serve him tea, took a sip to moisten his throat, then slightly leaned back, sitting securely behind the city gate, facing directly forwards.

The rain fell, darkness engulfed everything except for the faint light from some fire basins and lanterns.

But the young man's figure was very clear.

Miss An didn't come because Song Cheng cared for her, and also because her presence was unnecessary.

However, Miss An wasn't idle either.

She had discussed some matters with Song Cheng and was currently executing them.

At this moment, Ruyi Commerce Chamber's estate was still busy. Steamed buns smeared with salty pepper and stuffed with rich minced meat were neatly arranged, packed into baskets and covered with waterproof oilcloths.

House servants from the commerce chamber carried baskets, some headed east to deliver midnight snacks, while others surprisingly went south.

Although the martial arts hall in the south had a high overall martial prowess, it definitely couldn't compare to the Ruyi Commerce Chamber in terms of money.

These steamed buns would provide a full meal for those on night duty in the rainy night.

...

The steamed buns for the east were quickly delivered.

Those for the south arrived shortly after.

Disciples of the martial arts hall on duty, seeing people coming from inside the city, shouted from a distance with caution, "What are you here for?"

The house servants, following the instructions of Miss An, replied, "From the Ruyi Commerce Chamber."

"Ruyi Commerce Chamber?"

The disciple of the martial arts hall was taken aback, but then immediately thought of Blind Song.

His first thought was not of Chenyu or anyone else, but of Song Cheng.

The guard shouted, "It's a heavy rain tonight, our master personally went to the east to stand guard. Before he left, our young lady suggested making some steamed buns to send over there; the master said he's quite familiar with Old Master Zhao and Master Chen of the south, so he asked us to make some for the brothers there as well. We have brought them here!"

The disciples of the martial arts hall were astonished, then several ran up, enthusiastically saying, "What is Mr. Song doing?"

While speaking, they welcomed the disciples and guards of the Ruyi Commerce Chamber into the Marquis Wu Shop, then called people to distribute the steamed buns.

In no time, Master Chen from today's high-level experts arrived.

Master Chen was from the Flying Wheel Martial Arts Hall. He took a steamed bun, and while eating, he praised, "Delicious, delicious! It's rare that Brother Song thinks of us, very good, very good!"

The house servant delivering the steamed buns stood by, smiling.

The guard was Ding Kui.

Ding Kui smiled and said, "The master said he felt an instant connection with all of you."

Master Chen laughed heartily, "Brother Song, a young genius, despite being envious of heaven and losing his sight, did not retreat but advanced even futher, broad in thought and magnanimous in spirit, truly an admiration for us old folks."

Another tall, crew-cut middle-aged martial artist said, "Boy, when you go back, tell your master to visit our Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall when he's free, can't favor one over another now."

Another martial artist's voice boomed from elsewhere, "Our Great Bear Martial Arts Hall is also welcoming."

Seeing the Water Bird and Flying Wheel martial arts halls reaping great benefits, these martial arts hall masters naturally also hoped that Song Cheng would visit their halls for a "martial arts exchange." They even went as far as to mention "favoritism."

Although Ding Kui was aware of how formidable his master was, seeing the enthusiasm of these "big shots" from the south firsthand was still a bit shocking for him; he immediately nodded in agreement, repeatedly saying, "Yes, certainly."

...

...

The night passed, and the Ghost Tide seemed to have disappeared; it did not appear outside the city.

At midnight, the rain stopped.

Song Cheng felt his eyes turn colder, as if two unmelting abyssal mysterious ice blocks were forcefully stuffed into his sockets, only to be warmed by surrounding blood.

He sat under a large black umbrella until the gray sky above split open, letting in the daylight, then he stood up, turned around.

Voices from the city walls drifted in the wind behind him; city guards and sentries seemed to be saying things like "We can see farther today" and "The fog seems to be lifting."

He paused briefly, then continued walking, leaning on his cane stick as he returned to the Ruyi Commerce Chamber, then washed his face with hot water, changed clothes, and rested on the bed.

Upon waking in the evening, he went out for dinner, only to see Ding Kui running up to him excitedly like a woman, excitedly talking about the treatment he received in the south the previous night.

"Master, master, it was thrilling.

I, old Ding, have never been treated like this by those hall masters.

They were all clamoring to talk to me, just like the ladies in Biliu Courtyard competing for my favor."

Having said that, he felt it inappropriate, spat twice, and said, "That's not right, not right, shouldn't say that. But master, those hall masters in the south have invited you to have tea.

The Master Xu from the Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall, big and burly, a sheer brute, covered in muscle, with a fierce face that warns strangers off, actually said yesterday that you shouldn't show favoritism and should visit their martial arts hall."

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Old Ding, you've worked hard."

"Not at all, not at all, working for you and the young lady gives me energy," Ding Kui clenched his fist, then hurriedly left. He suddenly remembered that the master had sparred with him back in February, but in the blink of an eye, the master had become well-known in Shanghe County and seemed to get along very well with everyone.

Ding Kui was full of admiration.

Song Cheng lowered his head and quietly continued his evening meal.

The black cloth covering his eyes was blown up by the evening breeze passing through the door and windows.

But his eyes were deeply hidden underneath.

Today, when he woke up, he had taken off the black cloth and looked at himself in the copper mirror.

His vision had worsened significantly, just a step away from becoming completely blind again, and the pupils in his eyes were rapidly shrinking, shrinking to the size of a bean, terribly frightening.

These Ghost Eyes were connected to Yune.

If they completely disappeared, did it mean that Yune was also being assimilated?

'Hope Yune can make it through.'

As Song Cheng was thinking, suddenly a guard and a house servant came running outside.

The guard excitedly shouted, "The Ghost Tide has dispersed! The Ghost Tide has dispersed!"

As he ran and shouted, the entire commerce chamber seemed about to erupt.

The house servant arrived a step later, but came up to Song Cheng and respectfully said, "Master, Old Master Zhao from the Water Bird Martial Arts Hall in the south has suddenly come visiting. He didn't say what for, just that he wanted to see you."

Song Cheng wiped his mouth, stood up, and said, "Take me there."

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