Chapter Thirty-Three: Imparting Arts

  "If anyone else tells me there's no genius in this world, I'll have to slap them with a big earthenware bowl!"

  When the last note of the piano piece came to an abrupt end, Zai Xi burst out laughing and clapped his thighs, with a look of relief on his face. Although Qin Feng didn't take the grade exam, Zai Xi believed that Qin Feng's piano skills had already far surpassed those of any college student at level 10.

  "Master, your teachings are still good, ah, how did you get dirty?"

  Qin Feng smiled and handed a bag of tobacco to his master, casually placing a hand on his waist, but before he could withdraw it, his wrist was caught by Zai Yi.

  "Kid, try this move on me, you're still a bit green."

  In Qin Feng's hand, he was holding a white jade carved qilin, and his master caught him red-handed. Qin Feng wasn't embarrassed at all; this trick had been performed many times between the two of them over the past half year.

  "Master, I couldn't take anything from you, but in this training hall, no one can stop me! Shouldn't I be considered a master of this skill now?"

  He put the Hu Jin back on his waist, Qin Feng helped his master rub his legs, and Zai Yi's right leg had been shot before, which would ache on rainy days.

  "Now, how many razor blades do you have in your mouth?"

  He comfortably lit a cigarette, and a thick fog sprayed onto Qin Feng's face. His empty left hand flashed towards Qin Feng's waist, but found that a hand was already blocking the way.

  "Master, five, how is it? Is it okay?"

  Blocked the sneak attack of his master, Qin Feng's face also had some pride, after practicing with Zai Yi for more than half a year, although Qin Feng couldn't gain the upper hand against his master, he was no longer at the mercy of Zai Yi like before.

  As he spoke, Qin Feng opened his mouth and spat out five flying eagle knife pieces that suddenly appeared in the palm of his hand. If he hadn't taken them out himself, it's likely that no one would have discovered that such things were hidden inside Qin Feng's mouth, which was speaking quite normally.

  "You little scamp, you're really a freak! When your master was at your age, he wasn't even close to being as good as you!"

  Seeing Qin Feng's movements, Zai Ye couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, with an incredulous expression on his face. Just half a month ago, Qin Feng could only hold two knife pieces, and in just over ten days, he had made such rapid progress.

  To know, with a blade in the mouth, this is an old thief's trick, this thing has many uses, "cover, cut, hook, separate" and so on can all be used, but because the blade is sharp, this move is also very difficult to practice.

  In the Jianghu before and after liberation, all the old thieves who could hold a knife in their mouths were famous bandit kings, but even if it was Zai Yi, they could only hold three pieces without revealing their expression, now Qin Feng has already surpassed him.

  So even if Laozi lived for over 90 years, he was still struck by Qin Feng at this moment. This kid was born to be a master of the biased door, and in just half a year, he actually practiced all twelve techniques of the "Thieving Classic" of the thieving school.

  "Qin Feng, put it on yourself and see how long it takes you to untie it!"

  After checking the disciple's skill with the knife, Zai Ye lifted up the inner bed board of his body, reached in and scooped out a large string of things that he threw to the ground, making a "clanging" sound.

  "Master, are we all going to wear these?" Qin Feng couldn't help but frown as he looked at the pile of handcuffs and shackles on the ground.

  "Nonsense, put on the shackles first, I'll give you handcuffs!" Zai Ye glared at Qin Feng with one eye, although he loved this disciple very much in his heart. When teaching skills, he never showed favoritism to Qin Feng.

  "Yes, Master!"

  Qin Feng didn't say anything else, and squatted down to put the over 50 kg heavy foot shackles on his bare feet, tightening the screws tightly. Then, he turned his back and put a pair of handcuffs on his hands before turning around to face Zai Yi.

  "Right, three pairs of thumb cuffs, two pairs of handcuffs, can you open them in three minutes?"

  "Hey, Master, you're being too rough! My fingers are almost broken!"

  Zai took out three exquisite thumb cuffs, and Qin Feng's thumbs, index fingers, and middle fingers were all cuffed together. With a light tug of his hand, Qin Feng winced in pain, gritting his teeth.

  "It's done, there are only three minutes left!" Zai Ye pushed Qin Feng outwards, and Qin Feng, whose body was in a half-kneeling position, immediately rolled to the ground.

  "Master, can't you slow down for five minutes?"

  Qin Feng's mouth was speaking, but his arms were raised high above his head. When they reached the top, a faint "click" sound came from his shoulders, and Qin Feng's two arms had twisted 180 degrees to the front.

  "It's a good thing I was prepared."

  Qin Feng lowered his head, and between the slight movement of his mouth, a thin iron wire was spat out from his mouth. Using the iron wire, he stirred the lock eye on the thumb cuff for a few times, and the handcuffs that had tightly bound Qin Feng's ten fingers suddenly loosened.

  With his hands freed from the restraints, Qin Feng's movements suddenly accelerated, and the two handcuffs on his hands were removed in less than thirty seconds.

  As for the shackles, iron wire was useless, but thumb cuffs worked. Using the curved head as a screwdriver, Qin Feng's ten fingers moved swiftly, and when the clock in the room pointed to three minutes, the shackles were finally opened by Qin Feng.

  "Master, just three minutes, didn't I let you down?"

  Qin Feng put the handcuffs and shackles together again and returned them to under the bed board. Although this wasn't a prison, Zai was still in charge of discipline, and if this were discovered, it wouldn't be a small matter.

  "Lose face? The one who's going to lose face is Master! If I had your skills back then, I wouldn't have gotten shot!"

  Although it wasn't the first time he saw Qin Feng's acrobatic movements, Zai Ye still sighed and said: "Not to mention Master, even compared to Yanzi Li San in his heyday, you are far inferior!"

  It's said that the master brings you in, but cultivation depends on the individual. In this world, there are many disciples who surpass their masters. Zai didn't get angry, he just thought of some past events and sighed.

  "Master, I've just found the trick, how can I compare with you?"

  Seeing the medicine residue on his lips, Qin Feng hurriedly took a towel to help his master wipe it off, smiling: "Master, you are proficient in all kinds of skills outside the Eight Gates, that's truly remarkable!"

  Qin Feng's words were not meant to flatter Zai Yi, but were spoken with sincerity. After following Zai Yi for half a year, he finally understood the old man's strengths.

  At first, when he played the piano and talked about several world-famous songs, Qin Feng was immediately shocked. In his eyes, Master seemed to have no weaknesses, everything was perfect and precise.

  "Who told you I'm proficient in all eight skills? Probably except for Sanfeng Zushi, no one can master them all!"

  Zai heard the words and his old face actually turned red, at Qin Feng's learning speed, it's likely that it won't take long to completely expose his own bottom line.

  "This Orchid Gate is skilled in house skills, the Shentiao Gate jumps big gods, the Gu Gate plays with insects, and that Tianqiao Gate performs acrobatics, Master won't know any of these!"

  Now let's make it clear, it's better to do it now than to reveal it in front of the disciples later. Zai suddenly paused and continued: "What I'm best at is Jin Dian, which is fortune-telling and divination. However, this skill requires more attention to words and expressions than the divination itself. I'll teach you about it later!

  "Besides, you have already surpassed your master in one thing... thievery."

  At this point, Zai Ye's expression suddenly became serious, and he said solemnly: "Qin Feng, although our family is skilled in several external martial arts techniques, as the main door, we cannot make a living by relying on them. You must remember!"

  "Yes, Master, I won't use this skill for evil purposes, you can rest assured!"

  Qin Feng nodded heavily, and at the beginning of his study, Zai Yi had once warned him that he must never use his thieving skills for evil purposes, or else he would be despised by the people of Jianghu.

  Moreover, Zai Ye had told Qin Feng a story before. In the past, the great thief Yanzi Li San, who was rampant in the capital, was the orthodox heir of the thieves' door on the rivers and lakes at that time.

  When he first entered the jianghu, Li San was still able to steal from officials and wealthy people, rob the rich and help the poor, and made a name for himself as a heroic thief.

  For this reason, some people have listed Li San, the swallow, as one of China's top ten martial arts masters since the late Qing dynasty. It is rare to find a thief with such a high reputation in the Jianghu.

  But later Li San was indulging in the pleasure quarters and got addicted to opium, from then on his temperament changed greatly, repeatedly killing innocent people and committing murder cases, eventually ending up with a tragic death.

  Zai Ye and Li San had also interacted before. According to Zai Ye, Li San had studied the orthodox Taoist school in his early years, with high achievements in both lightness skill and internal skill, which was not inferior to himself.

  If Li San devoted himself to cultivating the Tao, he should have obtained good results. If he had followed his original destiny and become a mortal, he would have become a great master of the martial arts world. However, his nature was sinister and ruthless, stubborn and unbridled, harming others until he harmed himself.