Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 92: Uncontrollable

Wu Zhong, wearing a straw raincoat and hat, paddled a small black boat and slowly sailed out of the port of Moyang City.

This was a good time for the first spring rain, and it was also the day when Zhao Yifu was preparing to take the exam.

He sat in the narrow cabin and looked at the misty scene outside. Yiyi was eating fish in her food bowl beside him with relish. He felt a little artistic.

Wu Zhong was rowing outside when he said, "Second Young Master, we have to be careful on our way to the exam this time. Although the waves on the lake are not strong right now, I've been gathering information at the dock these past few days and heard that the pirates on the lake have been very rampant recently."

Zhao Yifu laughed when he heard this and said, "Perhaps they were looking for my family. It's a pity they didn't know that Shenhe Villa had been moved to the north of Moshan Mountain and was no longer in Xianren Lake."

Wu Zhong snorted coldly and said, "If Shenhe Villa was still in the lake, how could these water bandits have the chance to run rampant?"

Zhao Yifu was quite surprised to see this. He asked, "Uncle Wu, when we attacked Houling County that day, I noticed that everyone was quite familiar with the names of the water bandits. Why is that?"

What impressed Zhao Yifu that day was how professional he was!

Wu Zhong smiled and said, "Of course it's because after we reach adulthood, the villagers like us will have some contact with those pirates."

"And if it weren't for the support of Shenhe Villa, that bandit group would never have been able to gain a foothold."

Zhao Yifu nodded silently after hearing this. It seemed that the previous group of water bandits was actually the "black gloves" of Shenhe Villa, and they were also cultivating the combat effectiveness of the people in the villa.

It was just that the leader of the water bandits named He Du had a better option, so he turned against them.

Hearing this, Zhao Yifu stood up and walked into the dense rain outside the boat awning. He suddenly said, "Uncle Wu, what do you think would have happened to Shenhe Villa if I hadn't found these solutions for my family?"

Wu Zhong was stunned for a moment, then smiled and didn't answer.

Maybe he felt that this answer was impolite.

Zhao Yifu already had the answer.

His father is not the kind of person who will sit and wait for death. If there is no way out in the legitimate way, he will definitely choose to join the underworld.

Everything is just for survival.

Zhao Yifu calmed himself down.

Suddenly, a pleasure boat slowly approached on the water.

A melodious flute sound came from the pleasure boat, which seemed to be in harmony with the dense spring rain, like the sound of heaven and earth echoing endlessly.

After listening to it, Zhao Yifu found it quite boring, so he went back to sit in the boat awning.

Well, he doesn't understand music, so no matter how good the classical music is, it will be incomprehensible to him.

After a while~
"Ha ha ha ha……"

Suddenly, a burst of heroic laughter came from the lake.

Zhao Yifu lifted the curtain and took a look. It was still the same ship.

He asked Wu Zhong curiously, "Uncle Wu, what's going on with that ship?"

Wu Zhong's face turned grim and hesitantly he said, "I'm afraid he's deliberately trying to attract Young Master's attention. According to the rules of the martial arts world, since he's already invited me, Young Master should show up and have a chat."

Zhao Yifu curled his lips and said, "I'm not a gangster, I'm a scholar. Don't worry about him, don't delay the exam."

Wu Zhong immediately agreed when he heard this, and then rowed hard to speed up and leave.

In his heart, his young master's imperial examination always came first, so he said nothing more and rowed faster.

But the people on the big ship seemed unwilling to let them go. A man suddenly leaped from the big ship and was about to land on the bow.

Wu Zhong was furious when he saw this: "Who are you, the uninvited guest?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the irritable servant stabbed forward with his claws as fast as lightning.

The man let out a light exclamation, then slashed downward with the long sword in his hand, trying to force Wu Zhong's hands back.

However, Wu Zhong's cultivation had increased quite rapidly recently, and coupled with his rich combat experience, he saw that the blade was not moving fast and actually reached out to grab it...

Sure enough, people who practiced Crane Claw Kung Fu all had this common problem, which was that they wanted to grab everything they saw with their hands.

Wu Zhong grabbed the blade and tried to pull it into the water with both hands.

Who knew that the man also had extraordinary internal strength. He pressed down with his long sword and shook his internal strength, breaking free from Wu Zhong's claws and then using the force to fly backwards back to the pleasure boat.

At this time, the pleasure boat had taken advantage of this opportunity to approach Zhao Yifu's boat. Wu Zhong said angrily, "Who is so rude as to offend my young master?"

The knife-wielding man stood at the bow of the pleasure boat and said loudly, "I am Xiang Wuying, also known as the Shadowless Mad Knife."

"I am here to wait for you, my dear guest, by your order. Please come ashore and have a chat."

Zhao Yifu finally left the boat awning.

He walked out, looked up at the people on the pleasure boat, and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Xiang, what is your name, and what are your achievements?"

He behaved like a scholar.

Xiang Wuying said calmly: "Young Master is naturally extremely noble, please move on."

Zhao Yifu sneered at the words and said, "After all this fuss, you're just a scoundrel?"

"If that's the case, I'll forgive you for not having the time to meet your Mr.

It's very ironic.

But there is no way, who made him a scholar?

Xiang Wuying was furious and said, "I invited you kindly, but you, a scholar, are so ungrateful!"

"Hit me!"

He was so angry that he ordered the helmsman to run over Zhao Yifu's boat.

Zhao Yifu laughed out loud at this and said, "It's because of the many evildoers like you that the world is in turmoil."

Then he exerted a little force with his feet, and his boat suddenly rushed out.

The Eight Styles of Ren Water have the ability to control water.

But how could this alone help Zhao Yifu vent his anger?
He thought about it for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the edge of the boat.

He easily broke off a small piece of the wood on the edge of the boat like tofu.

And in this small piece of wood, Zhao Yifu rubbed out a wooden wedge with just two fingers.

The wooden wedge turned at the fingertips and fell between the middle finger and ten fingers.

He just flicked his finger...

The wooden wedge shot out like a cannonball.

This is an application of Lingxu finger power, or it can be called "Lingxu finger snapping".

The wooden wedge was shot out by his finger force, and Xiang Wuying at the bow instinctively held the big knife across his chest.

"Qiang!"

The base of his right hand holding the knife was cracked and bleeding profusely, and half of his body was shaking violently and paralyzed, unable to move.

The blade that he was blocking in front of his chest shattered instantly.

If the wooden wedge used by Zhao Yifu had not been broken due to its own material limitations, if he had used a steel ball to shoot his finger, Xiang Wuying would probably have been dead by now.

Even so, Xiang Wuying felt like he had just returned from the gates of hell.

He turned his head with difficulty to look at the figure on the boat, and saw Zhao Yifu glance at him calmly, then retracted his gaze and turned to look forward.

Then the boat sailed quickly in the wind and rain, gradually going away.

Xiang Wuying sighed with difficulty. He looked down at the shock wound on his palm, his eyes full of disbelief.

He murmured, "The second son of the Zhao family, is he a scholar?"

"No, this is clearly a peerless posture!"

Such a young and extraordinary master made Xiang Wuying feel his scalp tingling.

This was absolutely devastating news for all those who were enemies of Shenhe Villa. Zhao Yifu himself probably hadn't expected that the casual defeat he'd made today would reveal his current strength.

From today on, the name of 'Second Young Master of Shenhe Villa' will begin to spread throughout the entire Nanhu Province.

Of course, because there were no particularly outstanding achievements at that time, this title was only spread in a small range.

However, even if Zhao Yifu knew about it, he didn't care much about it.

He just didn't believe that the other party could really use his extraordinary strength to deal with him?
At this moment, Zhao Yifu's attention was completely captivated by the water scene in front of him.

It was already noon and the spring rain had stopped, but there still seemed to be a layer of mist covering the view.

After a morning of sailing, they were approaching the south shore of Xianren Lake.

At this time, countless columns of smoke were rising from the south bank, and the aroma of rice filled the air, creating a prosperous scene of the Jiangnan water town.

The boat slowly approached the shore, but this was not yet the provincial capital of Nanhu.

The provincial capital of Nanhu is a city that is even richer than Moyang City.

Moyang City is close to the river and adjacent to Xianren Lake, so it has the advantage of water transportation.

The provincial capital of Nanhu is surrounded by water on three sides and is the confluence of the Yanshui River, an important hub of the southern water system.

It can be said to be an important waterway hub in the central region of the entire Daxu Southern Dynasty.

At the same time, because this city guards the gateway where the Yanshui River flows into the Yangtze River, it is also called "Southern Yanmen", which echoes the Northern Yanmen.

Of course, the ferry where Zhao Yifu got off the boat was not the real "Nan Yanmen", but a part of its outer city.

After Zhao Yifu got ashore, he and Wu Zhong went to the carriage and horse shop to rent a vehicle. They were planning to leave the city immediately and reach the provincial capital before sunset.

The schedule was a bit rushed, but they had actually missed a lot of time.

After all, this special examination will start in more than ten days. If you arrive in the provincial capital early, you can also sign up to visit friends.

Of course, the most important thing is to visit the Nanhu Academician who is invigilating this exam.

Although it may not be useful, it would be a good thing to make yourself familiar with the professor and submit a couple of articles to leave some impression on him.

The master and servant changed carriages and set off again.

I originally thought that nothing would happen along the way this time, but I didn't expect that there were still people who didn't want Zhao Yifu to get through so easily.

When they were halfway there, the wheels of the carriage suddenly fell off.

If the carriage breaks down on the official road, we may not be able to reach the provincial capital before nightfall if we abandon the carriage and walk.

Wu Zhong was also troubled by this and couldn't help asking, "Second Young Master, what should we do?"

Zhao Yifu looked at the fallen wheel and asked, "How far is it to the provincial capital?"

Wu Zhong said, "There's still thirty miles to go."

Zhao Yifu turned back towards the ferry and asked, "What about going back?"

Wu Zhong said, "We've only walked about fourteen or fifteen miles."

Zhao Yifu laughed and said, "What's there to say? We can just go back the same way."

Wu Zhong was surprised.

Zhao Yifu said, "It's a good opportunity to ride the horse back and make that damned carriage and horse company pay for it."

"You actually rented us such a shabby carriage. Do you think we are outsiders and easy to bully?"

Wu Zhong was a little confused by this train of thought. He asked, "Master, aren't we in a hurry?"

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "Yes, but not that much of a rush."

"I've actually thought about this along the way. In previous years, students from all over the country would arrive in the provincial capital in advance for the provincial examinations. This was to try to build as many connections as possible and leave an impression on the provincial education official."

"After all, the provincial examinations are not like the metropolitan examinations. The subjective biases of the provincial education officials can still have a certain impact on the selection of candidates for the imperial examinations."

"But this special examination is different. This exam may not be a good thing for serious scholars, and those academic officials and professors may not be willing to show mercy in this special examination."

"So let's go there and enjoy the scenery, just don't delay the exam."

Wu Zhong felt something was wrong, but he couldn't refute it.

In the end, he could only nod resignedly, then untied the horse, led the horse back with Zhao Yifu.

……

However, what Zhao Yifu and his servant did not know was that not far from where their carriage broke down, there was a stone pavilion next to the pipeline for passers-by to rest, and in this pavilion, a handsome young man was holding a small wine glass, waiting for something with a playful look.

There was a tall warrior standing on each side of him. If Zhao Yifu was there, he would probably be able to immediately confirm that one of them was Xiang Wuying whom he met in the lake.

Xiang Wuying hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, Zhao Yifu is definitely not a good person. You must be careful when dealing with him."

The young man said calmly, "I know. If it were a simple thing, how could it have deciphered the Zhong Kui statue and taken my summoning map?"

Xiang Wuying said, "It's just that we are enemies, not friends, with the Second Young Master of the Zhao Family. Why do you have to contact him?"

Anyway, Xiang Wuying himself didn't want to have any contact with Zhao Yifu anymore.

The look that treated him, a top-notch martial artist, as an ant made him feel very uncomfortable.

The young master laughed and said, "What is an enemy? What is a friend?"

"Only after seeing it can you tell whether it is a friend or an enemy."

However, at this moment, the warrior standing on the other side of the young master said calmly: "It's just that I think your invitation will be in vain again this time. They haven't come yet, I'm afraid something has happened."

The young master looked gloomy and kept silent, and the others did not dare to speak either.

About half an hour later, a spy reported back: "Your Excellency, I have searched along the road and found only an abandoned carriage box. No one is around."

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately drank the wine in his glass, then sighed, "What a pity to waste this pot of fine wine. I wanted to treat my guests, but fate has not yet arrived."

Xiang Wuying said, "I will send someone to look for him immediately."

The young man shook his head and said, "The enemy has obviously discovered our whereabouts. Just have someone guard the city gate. If he wants to go to the provincial capital to take the exam, he must enter the city."

The young man spoke in a nonchalant manner, but there seemed to be a sense of frustration in his eyes.

Obviously, Zhao Yifu, a player who did not play by the rules, made him very uncomfortable.

……

After a good night's sleep in the inn, Zhao Yifu set out again. This time he did not rent a carriage, but chose to walk.

Anyway, he was a fast runner, and the fifty miles was a government road, so it was enough for him to leave in the morning and arrive in the evening.

And this time, he didn't encounter any problems along the way, and his wife entered the city safely.

However, when entering the city, Zhao Yifu felt some prying eyes.

His senses were now very sharp, and he knew he was not wrong.

Of course, he didn't care too much about these things. After entering the city, he and Wu Zhong went to find an inn or restaurant to stay.

However, something unexpected happened again.

"Sir, we have reserved a room for you..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi Fu turned around and left without saying a word.

Wu Zhong asked doubtfully, "Second Young Master, who booked a room for us and paid the deposit?"

"Also, how did he know we were going to live here?"

Zhao Yifu said, "Maybe they have booked a room for me in every inn in the provincial capital."

He curled his lips and said, "Of course, anyone who shows kindness without any reason is either a traitor or a thief. We won't fall for it."

Wu Zhongshen agreed with this, but their housing problem still had not been solved, and it was already too late to find a rental house. What should they do?
(End of this chapter)