The elder, upon hearing Baili Feng's anger, looked up, thought for a moment, and then remembered that there seemed to be a young man in front of him when his Mechanical Bird had malfunctioned.
It seemed to be this one right in front of him.
His thoughts were somewhat rigid, and only now did an apologetic expression appear on his aged face, which also looked quite strange—it was as if a wooden doll had put on a face labeled 'apology.' His reactions were delayed by several beats, making it seem very insincere.
If it had been Wang Anfeng in front of him, he probably would not have made a fuss. Wang Anfeng always habitually considered others, but the man in front of him was the least likely to be a Strategist, and Baili Feng was fully unprepared to offer even a slight chance of an apology. Grinding his teeth, he stepped forward abruptly, his Mo Blade spinning between his fingers, then held behind his back. Using his waist as the axis, he swept the blade horizontally, enveloping a strong gust in its arc, and abruptly slapped it toward the elder's bottom.
Baili Feng's thoughts were simple.
Or rather, the young man held the straightforward values of the entire Qin Army.
I care about my face.
If you apologize, my striking back would unavoidably seem a bit excessive.
So it's better to beat you before you could apologize, in one fell swoop.
It's best to beat you to the point where you can't apologize at all.
The twenty-seven-year-old General who had broken the enemy lines had just found a pretext to lead seven hundred Iron Cavalry of Great Qin, slashing their way through. When that youthful General sat majestically in the Chanyu's golden tent, his expression amiable, earnestly conveying that he had come to seek justice for the three plump sheep plundered at the Border Pass, who knows what the Xiongnu leader was feeling.
As the Mo Blade swept horizontally, just when the young man was about to succeed in his revenge, the elder, with his stiff movements, stepped aside, narrowly avoiding the attack. The Military Family was best at accumulating power for a solid strike.
Baili Feng advanced, turning his Mo Blade in another direction to slap horizontally at the elder, his momentum increasing by threefold.
The elder dodged again, and the old and the young began to tangle on the Qingfeng Edge. To onlookers, the elder's movements were stiff, his face anxious as if trying to explain something, but the young man was not listening at all. His thick eyebrows inverted, he was furious, his Mo Blade technique quite fierce. However, his movement technique seemed to have a problem and was somewhat limp, which was a pity.
In the blink of an eye, he had made seventeen or eighteen moves. As Baili Feng's blade edge descended again, the old man retreated but accidentally tripped. At that moment, a robust wave of Inner Qi, centered on the elder, surged outward very aggressively.
Baili Feng had no chance to counterattack, and his entire body flew backward.
And then he landed heavily on the ground.
The young man's face twisted, and the elder, initially stunned, looked at his hands and suddenly understood, then trotted over and tentatively asked:
"Little brother… are you okay?"
Baili Feng grimaced, cursing inwardly as he looked at the elder. What he saw was a pair of eyes encircled by dark rings, rather dull and vacant, dressed in a robe that was quite old and stained with grease, looking rather scruffy.
The elder extended a hand to help Baili Feng up, patting the dust off the young man while continuously apologizing. Seeing such an elderly man exerting himself in such a way dampened Baili Feng's anger, and he extinguished his thoughts of 'revenge,' sighing and saying:
"Okay, okay… I give up."
"I'm Baili Feng, young man, what's your name, old sir?"
As he spoke, he subtly rubbed the place where he had hurt himself, his cheeks twitching slightly. His irritation had not yet subsided, and his words came out rather sharply. But the elder showed no annoyance, only chuckling as he replied:
"I, I'm called Fu Mo, from Fufeng Academy."
Upon hearing 'Fufeng Academy,' Baili Feng stiffened at first, then his expression suddenly froze.
In his mind, he suddenly recalled what his master had said before leaving.
At that time, the muscular man had almost pointed at his forehead as he spoke, his two fingers rough and hard.
"On this journey, you're supposed to travel with Master Fu Mo."
"The old man has supported me a great deal, and when you meet him, you must show the utmost respect and adhere to the etiquette due to a junior, otherwise, you will be met with a stick!"
The muscles on the young Martial Artist's face twitched as he looked at the elder before him.
Suddenly, he felt as if a shadow had cast over his heart.
"Are you playing with me, huh…"
.....................
After a chaotic encounter and with explanations from Wang Anfeng and others who rushed over after hearing the news, the elder understood Baili Feng's identity and why the youth was quite restrained afterward—but he still didn't take it seriously.
He merely thought that since it was his Mechanical Bird that had malfunctioned and almost hit someone, it was natural for others to scold him. He need not speak of scolding; even if it came to physical reprimands, he should honestly stand there and take it.
Status is status, but what does it have to do with right or wrong?
Once the misunderstanding was cleared, everyone was curious as to how the famed Mechanical Bird, which could track as far as the Flying Eagle, had malfunctioned. The elder, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his unkempt white hair and said:
"It encountered a raincloud and decided to rise beyond the cloud layer to avoid the rain."
"But unexpectedly, it was a thunderstorm cloud, a severe storm indeed."
The elder sighed, seemingly recalling the prior experience, shrunk his neck. Just as Baili Feng was about to console him, he heard the elder say:
"It nearly ruined my clothes."
"If I were to attend a birthday celebration in tattered clothes, that would be utterly disgraceful."
Baili Feng's expression slightly stiffened, and he almost choked on his breath, suddenly realizing that though this old man might seem somewhat senile, his status as a Middle Third Rank Martial Artist was indeed solid, and it was quite different from what he had worried about.
His gaze once again fell on the stains on the old man's clothes, inevitably muttering to himself.
This compared to clothes struck by lightning, might not be much better.
Fu Mo, being a Master of the Fufeng Academy and a Middle Third Rank achiever in Martial Arts with a renowned name, naturally needed to formally visit the Sect Leader Zhu Ling upon his arrival at Qingfeng Edge. Such meetings between eminent seniors of the previous generation typically did not involve bringing along the younger ones. However, when disciples of the Qingfeng Edge came to extend their invitation, Fu Mo displayed a hint of hesitation.
His gaze swept over Baili Feng, Wang Anfeng, and the other two, finally resting on Baili Feng as he coughed twice and said:
"Baili, come with me."
Baili Feng thus followed the elder, leaving behind a trail of confusion.
Xue Qinshuang, who finally got a chance to get some fresh air, watched the departing duo, noticing how the elder instinctively stayed two steps behind Baili Feng, allowing the broad-shouldered young Martial Family member to block Qingfeng Edge disciples. The girl's eyes revealed a contemplative expression as she turned to look at Wang Anfeng and said:
"This Master seems a bit... timid?"
Wang Anfeng nodded, his gaze falling on the shattered Mechanical Bird beside him. The bird had first been soaked in rain, then risen into a high thundercloud two to three thousand feet tall, was struck harshly, and had crashed onto the cliff top of Qingfeng Edge. Even if it was made of extraordinary materials, it was now reduced to a shattered mess.
Ordinary people would have discarded it by now, but Fu Mo was painstakingly collecting every fragment of the Mechanical Bird, arranging them in their original positions, as though the Mechanical Bird was a dead Martial Artist cleaned up by relatives and friends, quietly waiting to be buried.
Looking again at that seemingly timid elder, the young man's eyes held an odd expression as he said:
"Perhaps... in Master Fu's eyes, this Mechanical Bird is much dearer than a person."
PS: Thanks to the three early supporters and their generous rewards… There will be extra updates starting next week, with at least one extra update each week. (A promise from the digitally impaired)