Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

Huh? Huh?

Lin Ji was taken aback, unsure of what she wanted to ask, and subconsciously became somewhat wary.

Fortunately, he was just overthinking it.

Liu Qingzhu asked, "Do these hooligans often cause trouble here?"

"you do not say."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ji sighed.

"The one in the alley is the first to get a taste of it, but the street vendors outside are going to suffer."

"We just paid our dues at the beginning of the month, and now they're using some damn advisor's name to collect money again. If we don't pay, they'll vandalize and loot. The neighbors can't even have a peaceful day anymore."

Upon hearing the word "advisor," Liu Qingzhu's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Qingzhuo took out five silver dollars from his handbag and handed them to Lin Ji.

"Old sir, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please take it as a reward for listening to your story. Yuanbao loves your stories. Please fix the box used for showing the shadow puppets, and we'll have to continue tomorrow."

Lin Ji's eyes lit up when he saw the five silver dollars. He had lived for a hundred years and only managed to save up five silver dollars.

Five silver dollars is enough to buy dozens of kilograms of pork! Enough to feed him for a month or two.

Lin Ji didn't stand on ceremony, grinned, and reached out to take the silver dollar.

"Then I'll accept this old man's offer. Don't worry, Miss Liu, I promise I'll be here tomorrow and tell your little Yuanbao even more exciting stories."

"Great! Great!" Liu Yuanbao jumped for joy. "Old Lin, will you tell the story of Sun Wukong again tomorrow? I want to know what happened next on their journey to the West!"

To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.

Lin Ji chuckled.

Liu Qingzhu, holding the hand of an excited Liu Yuanbao, said, "Let's go, Yuanbao, we should go home."

Liu Yuanbao followed Liu Qingzhu toward the alley entrance, turning back every few steps, and called out before they left, "Old man Lin, don't forget to come tomorrow!"

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Bai Xiaonian dusted himself off and limped over to Lin Ji, saying, "Don't tell my sister."

"Alright." Lin Ji nodded nonchalantly. "I'm not one to meddle, am I?"

He then grinned and weighed the silver dollar in his hand.

"jingle--"

The oceans collided, producing a crisp sound.

"Hehe, that's great, we won't lack meat for the next month or so."

Lin Ji happily hoisted his box of shadow puppets and headed home.

Back home, Lin Ji carefully hid the five silver dollars in a wooden box under the bed before busying himself with starting a fire to cook.

As soon as the pork belly hit the pot, its enticing aroma filled the entire house.

"Hmm! This old man's skills are as good as ever."

He scooped out a bowl of cornmeal he had just bought a few days ago, cooked a pot of thick cornmeal porridge, put the lid on the pot, and then leaned against the stove to rest.

He was really tired after a long day.

Before he knew it, Lin Ji had fallen into a deep sleep.

In a daze.

Lin Ji found himself back under the old locust tree in Dog Tail Lane.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering golden fragments across the ground.

"Huh? What's this?"

Just as Lin Ji was wondering what was going on, a clear, cold female voice came from behind him: "Old sir."

Lin Ji turned around and saw Liu Qingzhu standing behind him, still dressed in the same clothes as during the day.

A gentle breeze swept through the alley, and Liu Qingzhu smiled radiantly, her Western-style dress swaying, revealing a section of her fair calves.

Holy crap!

Lin Ji's eyes widened.

"This old man is a hundred years old, and he can still have erotic dreams?"

Before he could react, the scene before him suddenly changed.

Scarface, accompanied by two thugs, charged over menacingly.

Bai Xiaonian suddenly appeared from nowhere and engaged in a fierce battle with the opponent, but he was defeated in just two or three moves.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Qingzhu moved.

The same set of movements from the afternoon, as fast as lightning and as fluid as flowing water.

Lin Ji's eyes lit up, and he immediately focused his attention, taking in every movement and every change in her breathing.

He first reviewed Bai Xiaonian's fight just now, and then compared it with Liu Qingzhu's movements at this moment, and gradually figured out the trick.

When Bai Xiaonian throws a punch, his Qi rises from his Dantian, ascends along the Ren meridian to the Tanzhong point, and then splits into two paths: one path passes through Jianjing and Quze, reaching Laogong; the other path descends to Qihai, stabilizing his lower body.

When exhaling, the breath is drawn back from Laogong, passes through Shousanli and Tianquan, returns to Tanzhong, and then descends back to Dantian.

Each punch is accompanied by a complete inhalation and exhalation of energy.

But he also noticed the problem.

Bai Xiaonian's breath flowed slightly sluggishly when it reached the Jianjing acupoint, as if a stone was stuck in a riverbed, preventing the airflow from passing smoothly.

Once the movements are disrupted, the breathing becomes disordered, and the qi rushes around in the meridians, becoming a burden instead.

Looking at Liu Qingzhu again, Lin Ji's pupils contracted even more.

The woman's aura seemed to dissolve into the surrounding air.

When she made her move, Lin Ji could barely detect any flow of true energy within her body.

There was no effort to gather her breath or take a deep breath; it was as if every wave of her hand and every step she took was an instinctive stretch of her body, completely unrelated to breathing.

This strange method of circulating qi made her breath seem to last endlessly, requiring little effort.

Outsiders could not detect her breathing rhythm at all, because she seemed to have merged her breathing with the breath of heaven and earth.

What level of skill would it take to reach that level?

Lin Ji seemed to have gained some insight.

Subconsciously, he assumed a horse stance, adopting the starting posture of Tai Chi.

This time, instead of simply mimicking the moves of Yuanshi Tai Chi, he tried to imitate Liu Qingzhu's breathing rhythm.

"Ahem!"

As soon as he tried to circulate his qi, Lin Ji felt a tightness in his chest, as if something was blocking the entrance to his meridian. His qi could only travel three inches before it went astray, causing him to cough repeatedly.

I tried again, but it still wasn't right. The breath dissipated as soon as it reached the Qihai acupoint, three inches below the navel, and I couldn't gather it up at all.

Liu Qingzhu's breathing method appears to be "breathless," but in reality, it requires an extremely high level of physical control.

Lin Ji felt that something was wrong, vague and unclear, like looking at flowers through a fog.

"What exactly is the difference?"

As he pondered that barrier, the scene before him suddenly changed.

Everything in the alley vanished without a trace, leaving only a hazy white light.

The cool and aloof Liu Qingzhu stood quietly in the center of the white light.

Under the white light, the moon-white dress accentuated her curves, making her waist appear even more shapely, as if you could grasp it with both hands.

Lin Ji was taken aback!

Before he could even think about what had happened, something unexpected had occurred.

Liu Qingzhuo slowly raised his hand.

Her small hands were fair, with slender fingertips, and even her nails were neatly trimmed.

Liu Qingzhu moved slowly, her jade-like fingers brushing over the mother-of-pearl clasp, caressing all the way to the edge of the neckline of her dress. Liu Qingzhu tilted her slender neck back, revealing a glimpse of her fair skin.

"Clatter!"

Liu Qingzhu's jade-like fingers touched the mother-of-pearl clasp at her neckline, and with a soft click, the neckline slowly opened, revealing a small patch of fair, jade-like skin.

Liu Qingzhu's eyebrows trembled slightly, her eyes were cold and noble, with a unique allure, as she looked at Lin Ji with a gentle gaze.

Her hands never stopped; her jade-like fingers slid down towards the second mother-of-pearl clasp.

"Gurgle!"

Lin Ji's eyes were wide open, afraid of missing even a second!

"Holy crap?"