The Baiyue Sect rescued Xiao Lingling and exhausted all methods to save her life, but her broken shoulder blades and tendons could never recover. For the former, there was no cure, and for the latter, it would be useless without Lingzhu grass and a genius doctor.
Xiao Tianze looked at Xiao Lingling, who was laying on the bed and unable to move, and the familial affection in his heart disappeared. A waste! The whole Baiyue Sect had already helped her, and there was no change—she really was useless.
Now he was running out of time! He had to arrange everything before he died.
Xiao Tianze gazed upon Xiao Lingling, who was in a coma.
“Are there any rising stars in the arena?” Xiao Tianze asked.
“Sect master, what are you thinking?”
“She was useless, and now we must use all that is left. Ask the witch doctor to dispense the medicine, and make sure to get it all at once. Best if it’s twins. At that time, the child will be handed over to be raised by several elders together. We must cultivate an excellent heir for our sect. As for her, send her to Qingfengya; she is not allowed to come out anymore!” Xiao Tianze said.
Xiao Lingling was the saintess of the Baiyue Sect—even if she was a cripple, the Baiyue Sect could afford to raise her. But they must never let her intervene in the sect affairs as the biological mother of the future leader.
“Yes!”
Xiao Lingling woke up from a coma and was given many bitter concoctions. When she was in Happy Valley, she had seen Li Huaike and his sister treat Fang Tianluo. In addition to medicine, they’d also given him acupuncture and medicated baths. But now that it was her turn, there were only bitter concoctions.
Xiao Lingling was very angry. She said that the witch doctor was useless and ordered people to hire the best doctor for her.
But no one took her words seriously.
“Where’s my brother? Where’s my brother? I want to see him! I want to see my brother! Brother, you have to save me! I don’t want to be a cripple! I don’t want to be paralyzed in bed for the rest of my life!” Only now did Xiao Lingling really realize the helplessness that Fang Tianluo had felt at the beginning.
But, back then, Fang Tianluo had her and his friends by his side.
As for her, she had nothing.
The moment she woke up, she knew that her mission had failed and that she had nothing left. Although there were many people around her, her brother did not show up, nor did the elders show up. Xiao Lingling knew that she had been abandoned.
The only answer to her was the silence of the room.
After drinking the bitter concoction for half a month, Xiao Lingling was in a dizzy state. She suddenly felt a heavy weight on her body, and then a pair of hot hands wandered over her body.
Xiao Lingling woke up suddenly. Her eyes widened, and she wanted to shout, but found that she couldn’t make any sound. She could only watch and let that person do whatever they wanted.
After three nights in a row of living a life that was worse than death—on the fourth night—it was finally quiet.
After ten days of the bitter concoction.
The witch doctor came, and those who served her looked at the witch doctor with hot eyes.
After the witch doctor took her pulse, he shook his head in disappointment.
Everyone around them was disappointed.
Xiao Lingling was also disappointed. At the beginning, she was very sad and angry. Was her only value to give birth to a child with the blood of the Xiao family? But later, she figured out that her eldest brother could not have his own children. Her children would be the only direct bloodline of the Xiao family and the future leader. When her son succeeded as the leader, she, as the mother of the leader, would naturally have whatever she wanted. At that time, she didn’t believe she couldn’t cure herself if she did everything she could!
Taking 10,000 steps back, even if she couldn’t be cured, she could still be prosperous and rich and pampered for the rest of her life!
But now, it had failed.
Xiao Lingling was a little anxious. She knew the witch doctor’s methods, and she also knew what the bitter concoction was. She also knew deep down that the man had been given medicine, and he’d been so enthusiastic and unrestrained in bed—how could he fail!
When Xiao Lingling drank the familiar medicine again, she lost her impatience and did not spit it out quietly. She was very cooperative.
But the result was still a failure.
Xiao Tianze’s expression was gloomy. The medicine prescribed by the witch doctor could never be wrong, and the people he’d looked for were all young talents in their prime, but how did they fail?!
Unless the problem laid in Lingling!
Xiao Tianze thought of this, and a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth. He and Xiao Lingling were the only ones left from the direct line of the Xiao family. He had gone crazy because of his practice and could not have children, but Lingling, she… How did she… What had happened to her?
“Go find a doctor and invite all the famous doctors in the arena!” Xiao Tianze dared not accept this fact. If Xiao Lingling was really…
The Baiyue Sect was crazy and tied up many doctors, finally learning from an old doctor with white hair and a beard that Xiao Lingling had been poisoned. “If it had been discovered earlier, she might have been saved. But now, it’s too late.”
Xiao Tianze felt a pain in his heart when he heard this. Clutching his chest and falling down, he died from his anger.
Xiao Tianze died just like that. Although everything had been arranged for, because of his sudden death, many pieces of information could not be suppressed in time, and the news of Xiao Lingling’s infertility was spread. The side branch of the Xiao family immediately moved. Although the elders were loyal, they were helpless in the face of the facts.
The Xiao family needed inheritance, and so did the Baiyue Sect.
In the end, the two sides negotiated and chose Xiao Wen, the most outstanding member of the Xiao family, to become the leader. In the future, his first child would be adopted by Xiao Tianze, and he would inherit the position of leader.
Although the matter was temporarily resolved, who could say clearly about the future?
As for Xiao Lingling, Xiao Tianze had already made arrangements for her. She was sent to Qingfengya, and only a dumb woman was left to serve her. The way down the mountain from Qingfengya was completely blocked, and their living necessities would be sent up monthly.
As for the vacant seat of saintess, it was given to Xiao Huanhuan, Xiao Wen’s younger sister. Xiao Huanhuan was cheerful, lively, and generous. Although she was not as beautiful as Xiao Lingling, she was more friendly and likable.
As time passed, the names of Xiao Tianze and Xiao Lingling were gradually forgotten.
The news of the Baiyue Sect intermittently spread to Happy Valley.
Li Huaike glanced at Fang Tianluo. “Are you going to take a look?”
“No need. After all, she is a direct descendant of the Xiao family, and the new sect leader will not do anything to her. Those elders will not sit idly by.” Fang Tianluo said without raising his head. His hands kept moving, and Little Tiger gradually appeared. There were several carved dogs, rabbits, roosters, and more on the ground next to them.
Li Huaike thought that it was true, so he stopped talking and colored the roosters in his hand.
At first, Fang Tianluo was making carvings for Xiao-Hu to play with, but Li Huairou thought his craft was good, so she made him sculpt more and took them down the mountain to sell. They sold well, so she simply had him make more carvings to have more sources of income.
Fang Tianluo also had no objections and did it obediently.
If anyone saw it, they would be surprised. But in the eyes of everyone in Happy Valley, this was a normal thing.
“Daddy!” A child suddenly rushed over, Li Huaike’s hand slipped, and the red paint got smeared. The rooster that had looked lifelike at first was suddenly ruined.
“Xiao-Hu!” Li Huairou put her hands on her hips.
“Daddy, save me!” Xiao-Hu hid in Li Huaike’s arms.
Li Huaike sighed, “Why did you make your aunt angry? Why don’t you apologize to your aunt?”
Li Huairou came up and grabbed Xiao-Hu’s ear. “In a stick of incense’s time, don’t be lazy. Hurry up.”
[Around one hour]
The tigress was getting angry. Fang Tianluo and Li Huaike did not dare to make a sound, and watched Li Huairou take Xiao-Hu aside and continue to squat in horse stance. While squatting, he recited medical books.
When the time limit was reached, Xiao-Hu didn’t dare to get up; he only looked at Li Huairou. Li Huairou asked him to squat for a while before letting him get up. “You performed well today. I’ll reward you with a big chicken leg at noon.”
“Great! Thank you, aunt!” Xiao-Hu jumped three feet high.
“Xiao-Hu, come over to wash your hands and prepare to eat,” Liu Sike said with a smile, coming out of the kitchen.
Li Huairou glanced over. Fang Tianluo and Li Huaike put the wood carvings in their hands down, washed their hands, and went to the kitchen to serve the dishes.
After the meal, Xiao-Hu helped wash the dishes, although he broke three bowls and two plates.
“Xiao-Hu, come take a bath,” Li Huairou shouted.
“Coming!” Xiao-Hu ran away with a smile, then stripped naked and soaked in the tub. “Aunt, it smells so bad!”
“Just pinch your nose. It won’t stink if you can’t smell it,” Li Huairou said.
Liu Sike was a little worried. “Will this really make him safe from all poisons?” Not long after Xiao-Hu turned one month old, Li Huairou began to give Xiao-Hu medicinal baths, vowing to make him safe from all poisons.
“It should work! Even if he is not immune to all poisons, at the very least, ordinary poisons will be useless.” Li Huaike was very relieved; after all, Xiao-Hu had rarely gotten sick since childhood. As long as they were good to Xiao-Hu, it didn’t matter.
Liu Sike thought about it too.
Fang Tianluo lowered his head and smiled. Li Huairou seemed to be strict with Xiao-Hu, but in fact, she was the one who loved Xiao-Hu the most. If she had children of her own, it would probably be the same.
Thinking of this, Fang Tianluo’s movements suddenly stopped.
However, Huairou would never have children of her own in this life. Therefore, she did not want to get married, so she treated Xiao-Hu as if he were her own.
Fang Tianluo took a deep breath and continued to work with his head down.
In the morning a few days later, Xiao-Hu was running in circles in the yard. Fang Tianluo came over. “Xiao-Hu, come here.”
“Uncle Fang, what’s the matter? Don’t disturb my running. If I can’t complete the task aunt assigned me, aunt will be angry,” the Xiao-Hu stopped and said crisply.
“Come here, let Uncle Fang see.” Fang Tianluo pinched Xiao-Hu’s bones and nodded with satisfaction. “Would you like to learn martial arts with Uncle Fang?”
“What is martial arts?” Xiao-Hu asked with his head raised.
Fang Tianluo was stumped by this question. He really didn’t know how to explain martial arts to Xiao-Hu. After thinking about it for a long time, he said, “It can make you grow stronger and stronger.”
Xiao-Hu thought about it and shook his head. “Don’t need! I learned from aunt—I can also become stronger and more powerful.”
“But learning from your uncle can make you stronger and more powerful. In the future, you can protect your parents and aunt.”
“Really?” Xiao-Hu looked at Fang Tianluo suspiciously. In his impression, his aunt was the most powerful person, and what his aunt said was what he said! Uncle Fang also listened to aunt’s words!
Fang Tianluo was a little speechless. He simply hugged Xiao-Hu, then performed qinggong and flew to the back mountain in a blink of an eye.
“Is this martial arts? I want to learn!” Xiao-Hu said excitedly.
Fang Tianluo breathed a sigh of relief; otherwise, he really didn’t know how to convince the little tiger. “Okay, uncle will teach you. From today, I will officially accept you as a disciple. Kneel down and kowtow, and call me Master instead.”
“Okay. Master!” the Xiao-Hu said crisply, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing three times. He knew what kowtowing was, and during Chinese New Year, he always kowtowed to the memorial tablets of his ancestors.
After learning that Fang Tianluo had accepted Xiao-Hu as his apprentice, Li Huairou widened her eyes. “Fang Tianluo, are you kidnapping my nephew?”
Liu Sike was happy, but Li Huaike felt a little distressed for his son. “Xiao-Hu, practicing martial arts is hard. Do you want to think about it again?” Then he looked at Fang Tianluo. “Tianluo, if you want a child, you can marry and have your own son. No matter how bad it is, I can have Xiao-Hu recognize you as his adoptive father.”
Fang Tianluo didn’t speak, but Little Tiger spoke first. “I want to become stronger and more powerful, and in the future, I will become a hero who acts as a hero and saves the world!”
Fang Tianluo said, “I have no intention of getting married, but my martial arts must always be passed on. Xiao-Hu has a good foundation, and it would be a pity for him not to learn martial arts. So…”
Li Huaike tried to persuade his son: “Xiao-Hu, listen to daddy—learning martial arts is very hard. Perhaps you should think about it again.”
Xiao-Hu got a little impatient, so he ran away and ran to Uncle Zhang and Auntie Zhang, gesturing excitedly. “Grandpa Zhang, Grandma Zhang, I’m going to learn martial arts, and I’m going to be a hero.”
Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang smiled and looked at Xiao-Hu.
Li Huairou looked at Fang Tianluo. “I don’t marry because I don’t want to marry; it has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to feel guilty because of this. Your parents definitely hope that the blood of the Fang family will be passed down, so you should think carefully about it!”
Fang Tianluo said seriously, “Huairou, whether you believe it or not, it has nothing to do with my accepting Little Tiger as a disciple. Because of Xiao Lingling, I can no longer trust other women, let alone the issue of inheritance and forming a family with other women. Xiao-Hu has good roots, and I’m sincerely accepting him as a disciple.”
Li Huairou glanced at him. “As you wish!”
After turning around, Li Huairou’s face showed a satisfied smile. Fang Tianluo, this is what you want—I didn’t force you!
