Ultimate True Lord

"Little sister, little sister!"

The room was in a mess, with wooden crates overturned and clothes and miscellaneous items scattered all over the floor, clearly indicating that it had been ransacked.

Jiang Ming glanced around and realized that the only dozen or so copper coins in the house were probably gone. What worried him even more was the whereabouts of Jiang Tao.

"Little sister!" he called out again in a low voice.

"elder brother……"

A timid voice rang out.

As soon as he finished speaking, a small, thin figure slowly emerged from the dark crevice of the clutter piled in the corner of the room.

The little girl was trembling all over, her face pale, and she slowly moved out. As soon as she saw Jiang Ming, tears welled up in her red eyes, but she held them back.

"Brother..." the little sister said in a trembling voice, "Just now I heard someone banging on the door two or three times outside. I was so scared that I didn't dare to make a sound, so I hid in the gap between the clutter and didn't dare to move at all."

She huddled up, still shaken by the scene that had just unfolded.

"That person climbed over the wall and came in. I could hear it clearly through the gap. He even muttered to himself, 'Where is everyone?' It was Zhang Hu's voice."

"Later, when he couldn't find the person, he searched everywhere. He probably took the copper coins and left."

Jiang Tao took a deep breath before she finished speaking.

"But I still don't dare to come out, for fear that he's still waiting outside."

Jiang Ming stepped forward, gently shielding his younger sister to his side, patting her back to comfort her, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Losing a dozen or so coins was a small matter, but Zhang Hu's visit this time was clearly aimed at his younger sister, and he would remember this debt.

Jiang Ming lowered his head and comforted him gently, "Don't be afraid, brother is back. I have become a disciple of Master Liu of the Red Sand Palm School and am also helping to manage the accounts at the martial arts school."

"Once we've packed our bags, we'll move directly to the martial arts gym. The little hut that the accountant left behind will be perfect for the two of us..."

"That's wonderful!" Jiang Tao's eyes lit up with delight. After all, Red Sand Palm was a legitimate martial arts school, and the surrounding area was safe. Ordinary thugs and gangs dared not approach easily, so she no longer had to live in fear.

The two quickly packed their luggage, taking everything they could carry. In the late afternoon, Jiang Ming led Jiang Tao out the door.

Just as they reached the alley entrance, Aunt Chen called out to them from the opposite direction.

"Ah Ming, I heard that a group of people from the Yuanzhen Sect have arrived in the east of the city. They say they'll give you rice and meat for free if you go to listen to their sermons. Do you want to take Tao'er and join the fun?"

Jiang Ming's eyes narrowed, and he shook his head: "No, Aunt Chen, we're moving today."

Aunt Chen then noticed his coarse cloth training clothes, which looked like the attire of a martial arts school disciple, but she couldn't tell which school it was. She just smiled and nodded.

"So you went to a martial arts school to learn martial arts. If you train hard, you'll have a future. There's no need to worry about these petty gains."

Having said that, she remembered the rice and meat that the Yuanzhen Sect had promised to distribute, and hurriedly waved her hand: "You all hurry up and move, I'll go check in the east of the city, or I'll miss out!"

After saying that, he excitedly headed east of the city.

Watching Aunt Chen's hurried departure, Jiang Ming frowned slightly, wondering to himself, "What's the background of this Yuanzhen Sect? It sounds like a religious sect. I wonder if it's a legitimate Taoist sect or one of those mixed-up folk sects?"

However, he had no time to think about it anymore, so he took his little sister on a long detour, avoiding the Gray Clothes Gang's territory, and arrived at the Red Sand Martial Arts School on Muhe Street.

The side alley of this street is crammed with the backyard, storeroom, and accounting hut of the Red Sand Martial Arts School.

Although it was a bit crowded, it was connected to the martial arts school and was very safe.

"Knock knock knock..." Jiang Ming stepped forward and knocked on the door.

The door creaked open, and the burly man whom Old Liu called Liu Si came out to open it.

The burly man's real name wasn't Liu Si, but Liu Mao. However, he was the fourth among Master Liu's formal disciples, hence the name Liu Si.

But only Elder Liu could use this nickname; all the other disciples had to obediently call him Fourth Senior Brother.

"Fourth Senior Brother, I've moved all my things here."

Jiang Ming called out respectfully.

"Let me help you, Junior Brother Jiang."

The fourth senior brother was a very warm-hearted person. He immediately stepped forward and helped him carry all his luggage to the backyard tent.

The luggage that Jiang Ming and Jiang Tao had been carrying, which had made them sweat profusely, seemed as light as two empty bamboo baskets in the hands of the fourth senior brother.

"Alright, you can clean up the accounts yourselves." Liu Mao slammed the things down on the wooden bed in the accounts room, turned to look at Jiang Ming at the door, and suddenly remembered something, so he gave him a word of advice.

"Oh, right, every morning before your morning exercise, Junior Brother Jiang, you have to settle the previous day's accounts and hand them to Master. Don't forget. Don't make Master angry; he has a bad temper."

"Thank you for the reminder, Fourth Senior Brother," Jiang Ming quickly said.

Only after his fourth senior brother's figure disappeared through the door did he take a good look at the accounting room.

The place wasn't big, and it was a bit dusty, but compared to that dark, damp, moldy, and dilapidated house in the mud alley, this place was much cleaner and brighter.

He and his younger sister cleaned it up together. Jiang Ming laid a mat on the floor to sleep on, and Jiang Tao slept on the wooden bed.

After all that fuss, Jiang Ming took his younger sister out to familiarize herself with the martial arts school and the surrounding area. She paid particular attention to the laundry facilities, the cooking area, and the location of the outhouse, only returning around dusk.

At this moment, Jiang Ming began to formally organize the martial arts school's accounts and was surprised to find that the accounts of the past few days were rather disordered and the handwriting was messy. He wondered if Old Man Liu had personally recorded them.

He recalculated all the income and expenses he had missed over the past few days, turned to a new page, carefully wrote down the date, and kept the accounts neat and clear at a glance.

Time flew by, and it was the next morning.

The air was slightly cool, and a light morning mist drifted in from outside the courtyard.

"Hmm, not bad, you've definitely got some skills."

In the outer courtyard of the martial arts school, Old Man Liu was quietly flipping through the account books, his gaze sweeping over the clearly listed lines of expenditures and incomes. He muttered to himself, "More useful than that brat Liu Si. No one else can understand the accounts he keeps."

Jiang Ming, who had been waiting quietly to the side, suddenly realized that it was his fourth senior brother who had been temporarily in charge of the accounts.

Looking at his muscular physique, he must be a rough and tough guy who practices martial arts. It must be a headache for him to do delicate work like accounting. No wonder he was so enthusiastic about helping me move things before. He was just hoping someone would take over.

"Come a little closer."

After checking the account book, Old Man Liu casually closed it and glanced at Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming immediately stepped forward.

"Don't move." Old Man Liu's hands reached out quickly like eagle claws, pinching his shoulders, ribs, and spine with lightning speed, causing both pain and numbness.

"Thud." Jiang Ming staggered unconsciously and took a step back.

"Hmm, below average physical constitution." Old Man Zheng had expected this and said slowly, "However, if you are willing to study and practice diligently, you should be able to master the moves in about half a year."

He reached into the bulging pocket on his left breast, took out a piece of green rice cake about the size of a thumb, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled something indistinctly while chewing.

"Here's what we'll do: you stay in the outer courtyard. Liu Si will be looking after you. I'll be giving a half-day lecture every three days in the outer courtyard. If you have any questions, you can come and ask me during that half-day."

"Yes," Jiang Ming replied softly, calmly accepting reality.

He knew that the Red Sand Palm technique was divided into inner and outer academies. Most of the outer academy disciples had average talent and were older when they entered the academy, so they could only learn some basic skills.

The inner court disciples are carefully selected promising talents who are young and highly qualified, and will have the opportunity to become formal disciples under Old Man Liu in the future.

Old Man Liu clearly valued them more, allocating resources to the inner courtyard. He stayed in the inner courtyard year-round, and the inner courtyard disciples could seek his guidance at any time. As for the outer courtyard, he would only come to give a lecture once every three days.