Lianshan Jingcheng could hardly bear to listen any longer and glared fiercely at his son.
*He sure knows how to comfort people.*
Huang Jingji wanted to glare at Lianshan Xin as well, but he didn't dare.
Fortunately, Lianshan Xin only acted like a dog on occasion; most of the time, he was still human.
"Father, can it be treated?"
Lianshan Jingcheng nodded. "It can, but it will be difficult."
Pausing briefly, Lianshan Jingcheng added, "Extremely difficult. Both of you are martial artists, so you certainly understand that destroying something is easy, while restoring it is hard."
Hearing this, Huang Jingji dropped straight to his knees before Lianshan Jingcheng.
When kowtowing to Lianshan Xin earlier, Huang Jingji had been reluctant.
Kowtowing to Lianshan Jingcheng now, tears of gratitude streamed down his face.
"Doctor Lianshan, save me! The Huang family has been passed down through a single heir for generations. The line cannot end with me!"
To people in this world, this was indeed a matter of grave consequence.
Lianshan Jingcheng hurriedly helped Huang Jingji up and sighed helplessly. "Leader Huang, this isn't an illness; it's a flaw in your cultivation technique. The technique you practice does terrible damage to your kidney water. To recover, you must first switch techniques, and the new technique must supplement primordial yang. What's more, its grade cannot be too low—at the very least, it cannot be inferior to what you currently practice."
Lianshan Jingcheng explained it in plain, simple terms, and Huang Jingji understood completely.
Then he muttered under his breath, "I started out as a street beggar. Martial arts manuals were far too profound, and I had no idea about the intricacies within. Whatever that Luo fellow gave me, I practiced."
This time, Lianshan Xin felt genuine respect welling up.
*He actually rose from being a street beggar.*
Starting out with nothing more than an alms bowl was practically on par with Zhu Yuanzhang.
Though he hadn't achieved Zhu Yuanzhang's legendary feats, rising to his current station from such beginnings was impressive enough.
A lack of knowledge and experience was simply unavoidable under those circumstances.
Even Lianshan Xin lacked experience right now.
How could someone who had never tasted the world or seen its heights be rich in worldly wisdom?
Being duped and deceived was an almost inevitable part of the process.
"Leader Huang, don't you suspect my father might be deceiving you?" Lianshan Xin asked.
Huang Jingji shook his head. "There is no reason whatsoever for Young Master Xin to trick me—I am not qualified to warrant it. On the contrary, the Golden Scale Alliance and the Kong clan look down on me while still needing my service, so they have every reason to deceive me, and every ability to do so."
Appreciation surfaced in Lianshan Xin's eyes. "Leader Huang is a clever man."
To climb from a petty beggar to the leader of a gang, he certainly did not lack street smarts.
Huang Jingji smiled bitterly. "What use is being clever? If not for Doctor Lianshan, I would still be kept in the dark to this day, sold out like cattle while helping them count the coin."
At that point, his bitter smile warped into venomous hatred. "The Golden Scale Alliance... the Kong clan... they have pushed me too far!"
If even a single child had been his own, his hatred wouldn't run so deep.
Now, not one of the three children belonged to him.
It was an unbearable, monstrous humiliation.
Any normal man would demand vengeance.
"I had no feud or grievance with them! If they needed me to be their dog, couldn't they at least feed the dog its fill?!" Huang Jingji spat in fury. "Why did it have to come to this?!"
Lianshan Xin shrugged. "Very simple: because they look down on you, yet they need you. So they look for ways to profit off you while disgusting you at the same time. If they truly fed you full, they would be scorned by their peers in that circle. Eating from your bowl and smashing the pot is their standard way of operating."
Limited by his background, Huang Jingji had no idea how vile those high-and-mighty elites could be.
Yet Lianshan Xin had seen far too much of this sort of thing in his past life.
In essence, it was no different from celebrities making fortunes in domestic entertainment while spewing hatred for their homeland on foreign social media, or multinational conglomerates reaping profits domestically while slandering the country abroad.
There was truly nothing new under the sun.
"Those people... do they really think they can control everything?"
Huang Jingji slammed a fist onto the ground.
"Leader Huang, venting your anger on the floor is useless. Every grievance has its source, and every debt has its debtor. Your enemies are still alive; you should count that a blessing."
"Indeed. Fortunately, they are all still here."
Huang Jingji took a deep breath.
Then he solemnly knocked his head against the ground in a resounding kowtow to Lianshan Xin.
"Could Young Master Xin bestow upon me a suitable cultivation technique? From this day forth, this life of mine belongs to Young Master Xin."
He knew that relying on his own power, total vengeance would remain impossible.
Lianshan Xin looked at him with growing appreciation.
The man had backbone and grit.
Better yet, he wasn't just a brute possessed by reckless courage.
"I don't have such a technique on hand."
Huang Jingji's eyes dimmed.
"However, Nine Heavens certainly does, and I can attempt to exchange for one. The prerequisite is: can Leader Huang provide something more valuable than such a technique?"
Lianshan Xin spoke with total candor.
The more straightforward he was, the more settled Huang Jingji felt.
If Lianshan Xin had offered help without asking for anything in return, Huang Jingji would have felt uneasy instead.
"Young Master Xin, so long as I have it, and so long as you desire it, I will pay any price! I want the Golden Scale Alliance and Kong Sanlang to pay! I will make them understand that even a nobody like me is not to be humiliated in this way!" Huang Jingji said through gritted teeth.
Lianshan Jingcheng looked on in silence.
Lianshan Xin reached out and hauled Huang Jingji to his feet, praising, "Well said! Who says the small have no dignity? As long as nobodies like us bide our time patiently, we might just topple those grand figures perched high above the clouds. Leader Huang, maintain the status quo for now. Play your role as their Golden Scale disciple with peace of mind. I will help you look for a technique. We will wait for our moment, and when the wind and clouds gather, we will rise with the storm."
Lianshan Xin didn't yet know how useful Huang Jingji would be in the future, but given that the Golden Scale Alliance and Kong Sanlang looked down on him yet still went to the trouble of winning him over, it proved Huang Jingji possessed clear value.
That was enough.
"Young Master Xin, this lowly one has only one request."
"Speak."
"When the opportunity arrives in the future, please leave those two sluts, that old scoundrel Luo, and Kong Sanlang for me to end with my own hands."
"If the opportunity arises, I will leave them to you," Lianshan Xin nodded.
Those people were not his targets anyway.
"Leader Huang, endure for now. Trust me, you won't have to wait long. Nine Heavens came to Jiangzhou this time to handle grand affairs," Lianshan Xin hinted.
Huang Jingji's eyes brightened slightly.
He understood Lianshan Xin's implication.
"This lowly one is willing to serve as a foot soldier beneath Young Master Xin's banner—advancing without retreat!"
Lianshan Xin patted Huang Jingji on the shoulder.
"Father, aside from a cultivation technique, what else does Leader Huang need?"
Lianshan Jingcheng said, "He needs to come here regularly to nurse his body, and most important of all—he requires an Essence Recovery Pill concocted personally by the Celestial Master."
Hearing that, Huang Jingji could only turn his pleading gaze back to Lianshan Xin.
Pills from the Celestial Master rarely circulated on the open market, and he had no channels whatsoever to acquire one.
He could only rely on Lianshan Xin, who had already joined Nine Heavens.
Lianshan Xin looked at his father, his heart stirring.
According to Lianshan Jingcheng, every single step required to cure Huang Jingji could only be resolved through his son.
A father's love... was always so subtle and effective.
Chapter 45