Chapter Thirty-Nine: Reflections of Light

  "Qin Feng, go bring over that chaise longue, let's have a chat, just the two of us!"

  After walking around the village, Cai's spirit became more vigorous, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his face was flushed with a bright red glow, his voice also sounded several decibels louder.

  Qin Feng shook his head and said: "Master, you've just sweated, can't blow the wind, let's go inside to sit!"

  Although the wind today is not very strong and the weather has warmed up a lot compared to the previous few days, Qin Feng still didn't dare to joke about Master's body, supporting Zai Ye as they were about to head into the house.

  "It's all right, listen to Master's words and go move it. Otherwise, the old man will stand and talk with you."

  The old man stood there motionless, and Qin Feng knew that once he had spoken, no one could persuade him otherwise. He could only go into the house, bring out a large recliner, and move it over to where the old man was standing.

  However, apart from putting a mattress under the recliner, Qin Feng also covered Zai Yi's body with two thick layers of quilts, only exposing his face.

  "I've caught the scent of spring!"

  He clenched his fists and twitched his nose, suddenly thought of something, and cursed: "Damn Yuan Shikai, he said one word, and made me lose a year of my life! Otherwise, I would have also struggled to get through this year!"

  The old man had phlegm in his throat and spoke with a muffled tone, Qin Feng didn't hear very clearly, so he asked: "Master, what did you say?"

  "Nothing much," said the old man, "I'm content with what I have."

  He turned his head to look at Qin Feng and said, "It's just a pity that the gambling skills of Qianmen weren't passed down through my hands, and there are several other doors that I didn't learn thoroughly!"

  At this point, Zai's face suddenly showed a pleased expression, and he smiled: "Qin Feng, the Thieves' Gate is the most complete gate I've passed down. The Thousand Gates have lost half of their skills, and the Killer's Gate's ultimate techniques have all been taught to you."

  The stuff about Gu Men and Tiao Da Shen, it's fine if you don't learn it, but within their own sects, I'm afraid there isn't much left to pass down anyway?

  As for the agency door, some people hid in the Ming Dynasty's Divine Machine Camp back then, and the inheritance was relatively well preserved. Now, however, there are only a few people who study those things, and it is unknown whether they have been lost or not?

  "Haha, those jugglers and women's kung fu, Master didn't learn them, but with the four skills above, it's enough for you to travel the world!"

  "Master, why didn't our ancestors write down these traditions on paper back then? Even with a good memory, it's not as reliable as a rotten pen head!"

  Qin Feng looked at the old man with some curiosity, during the time when he was teaching him the art, it was all done through oral transmission, and he was not allowed to write it down, if Qin Feng's memory wasn't superhuman, he really wouldn't have been able to remember so much, so he had always kept this question hidden in his heart.

  "The ancestors' rules can't be changed just because of me."

  He shook his head and said, "It's not just our lineage, those who practice martial arts have lost even more of their heritage. Now, if one in ten of the remaining skills can be preserved, that would be a good thing..."

  The thoughts of the ancients have always been relatively conservative, and the more precious things are, the more they are hidden. Some ancestral skills are passed down through oral tradition, and only passed down to sons, not daughters, and only to apprentices, not to sons-in-law.

  This certainly played a role in keeping secrets, but the things that were passed down orally from generation to generation would inevitably have some mistakes or errors, which led to some of the later skills becoming unrecognizable or even lost.

  Let's take martial arts as an example. In ancient times, those fierce generals who could pass through five passes and behead six generals, and take the head of a general from among hundreds of thousands of soldiers as easily as taking something out of their pocket, although this description is somewhat exaggerated, but according to some historical records, it was no problem for those generals to fight against one or two hundred people.

  But in modern times, which great martial artist dares to say that they can defeat hundreds of people? Not to mention thousands of troops and horses, even a master like Dong Haichuan or Li Shuwen would be minced into meat sauce if surrounded by over a hundred knife-wielding men.

  Of course, there is one more thing that has not been said, and that is the role of his ancestors in all this.

  The Qing court entered the pass, and the martial artists were no less ruthless than Zhu Yuanzhang. The killing was brutal, from Shaolin Temple to Wudang Mountain, almost exterminating these two major sects.

  So in Zai's view, there are not many things passed down from ancient times. He accepted Qin Feng as his apprentice and also wanted to pass on some skills, although they were only some unrefined techniques that were not as elegant as the grand hall.

  "Master, you've said all this before, don't waste your energy anymore, have a bowl of chicken soup!"

  Qin Feng heard the old man's words, but was still worried about his master's body. After smelling the fragrance from the kitchen, he hurriedly ran over and brought out a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup.

  "Alright, I'll drink!"

  Zai Yi sat up, picked up the bowl of chicken soup with floating oil and drank it all in one gulp. He laughed loudly: "I didn't expect that I, Aixinjueluo Zaiyi, could still get such a good apprentice at an old age. What more can I ask for!"

  "Master, you... what are you doing? Hurry up and lie down!"

  At this time, a ray of sunlight had appeared on the horizon, illuminating the old man's face exceptionally bright. However, when Qin Feng saw his master's face clearly, he couldn't help but feel a "thud" in his heart and hastily let Zai Ye lie down again.

  He was good at physiognomy and divination, Qin Feng naturally learned these skills from him. It was from this that Qin Feng's complexion changed greatly, because he saw the dead gray color on his master's forehead.

  The art of face reading is not simply about judging a person's fate through their facial features, but also involves some traditional Chinese medical theories. A true master of the Golden Point often also has exceptional skills in traditional Chinese medicine.

  In traditional Chinese medical diagnosis, the five colors of green, yellow, white, grey and black that appear on a patient's face are believed to indicate the condition of the internal organs such as liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney.

  Like a black shiny spot appearing on the forehead, in physiognomy it often forebodes great calamity. In fact, the forehead represents the position of lung disease, while blackness is a manifestation of kidney disease, which can only explain that kidney disease has begun to affect the lungs.

  The lungs are in charge of breathing, and the kidneys are in charge of taking in air. If there is a disease affecting both the lungs and kidneys, it will lead to symptoms such as shortness of breath, asthma, and irregular breathing. In traditional Chinese medicine, a blackening of the yintang (the area between the eyebrows) is only a dangerous sign, but not necessarily fatal.

  So those unscrupulous fortune tellers' so-called ominous signs are often just used to scare customers and swindle their money. Over time, ordinary people also think that if the imprint hall turns black, they will get an incurable disease.

  In fact, it's not like that. Black and shiny is spirited, even if sick, it's not serious, but if the color becomes dull and dry as dust and ash, that's when it's really fatal.

  Qin Feng had seen this situation before. When Old Man Liu was on his deathbed, the symptoms he presented were almost identical to what Zai Ye is experiencing now.

  "Master... Master, you... what's this?" Qin Feng's voice trembled, the bowl of soup in his hand "clattering" fell to the ground.

  "What's wrong? May you have a peaceful year and a safe journey!"

  The woman in the kitchen heard the noise and hastily spoke up with a smile, but no matter how bright their smiles were, they couldn't cover up the sadness on Qin Feng's face.