Volume 1 Rebirth Return Chapter 46 Return

  On the third day at noon, Liu Mingzhi lay in the center of the yard, closing his eyes tightly. His eyelashes moved slightly as he opened them to see a clear sky with not a cloud in sight. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was. He turned his head to look around and only saw the ruined vegetable garden, realizing that he was indeed in the yard. But who exactly had destroyed his beloved vegetable garden?! (This isn't the main point anyway!)

  He used his hand to prop up his body and wanted to sit up, only to find that the piercing pain in his right wrist and the weakness of his body made him stunned.

  He only remembered now that the vegetables he planted were trampled by Zhou Churen, and his own internal energy was sucked out by the black-clad man brought by Zhou Churen. As a result, the black-clad man failed to achieve his goal and was instead tormented by the mysterious aura of the sky, causing him immense suffering. He had originally intended to finish off the black-clad man directly, but the latter managed to escape. He couldn't help but feel relieved that the black-clad man had run away; if he had found out that he was already at his wit's end, he definitely wouldn't have let him off so easily.

  He struggled to get up, although the Xuantian Qi had repaired his internal elixir, but he had been drained of his innate Qi after all. Without his innate Qi, his appearance could no longer maintain its youthful look and turned into a white-haired old man. He returned to the house and first looked in the mirror. After seeing his speckled hair, he let out a sigh. It wasn't that he was overly concerned about his looks, but rather he feared that when Liu Qingyun came back, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

  Liu Mingzhi washed his body and sat cross-legged on the bed, resuming his cultivation. He wanted to recover his strength as soon as possible, even if he couldn't fully recover, being able to defend himself was good enough. This small courtyard house was no longer a place he could continue to stay in, who knew if that black-clothed man would come back or not, so it was better for him to recover quickly and leave.

  Liu Mingzhi meditated in seclusion for a month, and finally recovered some of his strength. He packed up some important things and left the small quadrangle courtyard, but he didn't go far. Instead, he bought a small house across two streets and settled down. It wasn't that he didn't want to leave, but rather he was afraid that in the future, Liu Qingyun would return and not be able to find him.

  Another decade passed, and the war finally ended. Liu Qingyun returned to the capital city and came to the small quadrangle courtyard where his master used to live. However, he found that the weeds inside the quadrangle courtyard had grown as tall as a person, giving off an air of long abandonment and desolation. At this sight, Liu Qingyun panicked, immediately thinking that something had happened to his master. He searched every nook and cranny of the quadrangle courtyard but couldn't find any clues. After all, the quadrangle courtyard had been abandoned for a very long time, and because nobody lived there, Liu Mingzhi had only taken away some things he thought were important, leaving many other things behind in the quadrangle courtyard. As a result, the place had been visited by thieves many times, making it look utterly chaotic.

  Liu Qingyun was flustered for a moment before calming down, he could feel that his master had not yet passed away. He remembered the small jade calabaza his master had given him when he enlisted in the army and took it out, placing it in his hand, muttering incantations under his breath. Suddenly, the small jade calabaza flew up, emitting a humming noise. Liu Qingyun reacted extremely quickly, grasping the small calabaza in his hand, holding his arm aloft, following the direction of the calabaza's movement, he turned two streets and arrived at the entrance of the courtyard where Liu Mingzhi later resided. He made several hand seals with his left hand, and the small jade calabaza quieted down. After hanging it around his neck, he went forward and knocked on the door.

  Liu Mingzhi, the Natural Dao Gate's outer disciple for twenty years, felt it as soon as Liu Qingyun silently chanted his incantation and activated the Small Jade Gourd. However, he didn't immediately go to open the door but instead stood hesitantly in the courtyard.

  Liu Qingyun waited outside the door for a moment, only to find that his master had not come to open it. He had already sensed his master's presence in the courtyard, and he furrowed his brow in thought - could it be that his master didn't want to see him?

  Liu Mingzhi still didn't know that his actions had been misunderstood by his apprentice, and he was hesitating about whether to open the door. The door outside, Liu Qingyun, couldn't bear it anymore, pushed the door slightly, found that it was inserted from the inside, took two steps back, jumped into the courtyard, when he stood firm, only then did he find an old man with white hair standing at the door.

  That white-haired old man was naturally Liu Mingzhi. He heard the sound, turned his head and saw that his own apprentice had already jumped in. At the same time as being speechless, he couldn't help but worry whether his appearance would scare his apprentice.

  Liu Qingyun felt his master's aura on the old man with white hair, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled in his heart. How could his master have become so old after not seeing him for twenty years? It made him somewhat disbelieving. Until Liu Mingzhi turned his head around, he saw that face which was very similar to his master's, only then did he understand that it really was his master.

  "Master... what's happened to you, why have you become like this?!" It wasn't until the white-haired old man was really his master that Liu Qingyun was even more shocked, because he discovered that his master not only grew older but also weaker, and didn't even reach 80% of his strength when he left!

  Liu Mingzhi knew he couldn't hide it, and he didn't plan to. However, the courtyard wasn't a good place for conversation, and Liu Qingyun was wearing a gray military uniform, his face not showing fatigue but with a stubble, clearly having rushed to find him as soon as he arrived in the capital. His heart warmed up, "You just got back, go wash up and tidy yourself, I'll tell you later."

  Liu Qingyun hadn't taken a bath in a long time, nor did he have the time to tidy himself up. As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he rushed here to find his master and didn't even bother with himself. Now that his master had found him, it was all the same whether they talked about things later or not, so he didn't refuse Liu Mingzhi. He pursed his lips, "Alright, Master will tell me everything later." Seeing Liu Mingzhi nod helplessly, he went to the bathroom to take a bath.

  Liu Mingzhi didn't idle around either, he found some clean clothes for Liu Qingyun and put them outside the bathroom. Then he went to the kitchen to cook a pot of noodles for Liu Qingyun.

  When Liu Qingyun finished washing and came to the living room, he saw his master sitting in the living room. There was still a bowl of noodles on the Eight Immortals table. He sat down, said nothing, picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the noodles. He had been away from home for twenty years and hadn't eaten his master's cooking for a long time. After joining the army, there were times when he couldn't even eat rice, let alone noodles, and could only gnaw on tree bark. Now that he was eating his master's noodles again, his nose suddenly felt sour and tears almost burst out of his eyes. He could only lower his head and speed up eating the noodles to cover up the sound of his crying.

  Liu Mingzhi saw his apprentice stop eating after taking a bite, thinking that the noodles he made were not delicious. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Liu Qingyun lower her head and gobble down the food hastily, shaking her head with a lost smile, but feeling some heartache in her heart.

  Although he has been living a semi-reclusive life in the small courtyard, he buys newspapers every day. Even if he can't get news of Liu Qingyun, he can still know the direction of the war. Even though he had long known that Liu Qingyun's unit would ultimately win, he couldn't help but worry.

  Liu Qingyun quickly finished eating and put down his chopsticks. He suddenly knelt down in front of Liu Mingzhi and knocked three times.

  "Master, I'm back!"

  Digression

  The author is now playing 2048 and can't stop! Made countless vows, if play again will cut off hands! But still can't help it! o（╯□╰）o

  I just found out that the number of likes and comments hasn't changed at all until 9 pm today, and I suddenly felt a lump in my throat. Is it only me who feels like I'm playing a single-player game? Are you guys hiding from me?! Fortunately, there are a few more likes now, otherwise, I wouldn't have updated anymore, hmmph!

  "Alright, let's ignore this arrogant soul for now. The normal author is in control of the body again. These past few days have been quite dragging, and writing fight scenes isn't going very well either. Please forgive me, everyone! Originally, I was going to write Master dead, but then I felt like it would be a waste, since I really love this cold and aloof Master. So, I've decided to let him live after all~ Wahahahaha!"