Master Wang and his steward sized up Chu Qiguang, their sharp gazes sweeping over his body.
In the end, it was the steward who asked with a scrutinizing look, "Ergou, who told you the young master was injured by a dog ghost?"
Chu Qiguang replied, "My master told me."
The steward sneered. "You've never attended school, nor have you ever apprenticed under a master. Where would you get a master from?"
Chu Qiguang smirked. "Three years ago, after my master took me as his disciple, he commanded me to bide my time for three years without revealing what I had learned. Now that the three years are up, I no longer need to hide.
"Yesterday, Master captured a dog ghost. Upon learning that it had injured your young master, he ordered me to come treat him."
To the steward's ears, this sounded like absolute nonsense.
He had known Zhou Ergou of this village for over a decade—an illiterate peasant. Peasants like him were everywhere in Wang Family Village; when they grew up, their only path was to rent the Wang family's fields and work them as tenant farmers.
He did not believe for a second that this boy could have apprenticed himself to some demon-slaying master, happened to catch a dog ghost, or be capable of curing the young master.
The steward assumed Ergou had merely caught wind of trouble in the Wang household, realized they feared alerting the Daoist temple, and was trying to use that leverage to dodge the grain tax.
'No, with Ergou's block of a head, how could he ever conceive of such a scheme? There must be something fishy behind this!'
Recalling Zhou Ergou's brazen attitude over the past few days, the steward wondered how an ordinarily honest farm boy—a prime candidate for tenancy whom he had watched grow up—could suddenly turn into this. Someone had to be pulling his strings from the shadows.
He snapped immediately, "Zhou Ergou, stop spouting nonsense! Confess honestly: who told you about the dog ghost, and who put you up to coming here?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Wang Chengwang. Seeing that his master remained silent, he knew Wang Chengwang approved of his approach, and added a threat: "If you don't speak, you will be beaten bloody and raw today!"
At the steward's shout, four male servants stepped forward and surrounded Chu Qiguang.
Chu Qiguang knew that with his lowly station, he could never easily earn the Wang family's trust, so he intended to let Qiao Zhi make a display of force to intimidate them.
Suddenly, Qiao Zhi's voice boomed from every direction, reverberating through the entire hall: "My disciple Ergou possesses the talent for entering the Dao! Who dares bully him?!"
Amid sharp, crackling pops, the servants howled and tumbled to the floor in heaps. Both Wang Chengwang and the steward sprang to their feet in shock.
Watching the servants drop one after another, the steward stumbled backward in terror.
Pointing at Chu Qiguang, he shrieked, "Sor... sorcery!"
Compared to the steward's panic, Wang Chengwang forced himself to remain calm. He bent down to pick up a pebble that had fallen to the floor and said softly, "It's not sorcery. It's martial arts."
As a second-generation landlord, once a pampered young master of Wang Family Village and currently its foremost martial artist, Wang Chengwang had been trained in martial arts by his father since childhood.
Although he had failed to obtain an official title through the martial examinations, years of arduous practice had brought him to the strength of the martial arts second stage. He was no ignorant country squire.
Unfortunately, he had never been able to break through to the third stage, which was why he had turned to investing everything into training his son.
At this moment, he could tell that a martial arts expert had used small pebbles to strike the servants, knocking them to the ground one by one.
'The strikes must have come from above.'
Wang Chengwang looked up toward the eaves and the roof, but saw only empty space. Not a soul was in sight, and his heart sank even further.
Next, he examined the servants' injuries and noticed that all four had tears in their trousers over their right thighs, exposing bruised, swollen flesh.
'To fling four thumb-sized pebbles in such a brief span, at speeds barely perceptible to the naked eye, and hit the exact same spot on their right thighs...'
'Every single pebble had enough force to knock a grown man to the floor, yet none of them are crippled or dead.'
'To strike with pebbles from atop the roof without making the slightest sound, and then slip away without a trace afterward...'
Analyzing each detail, Wang Chengwang felt that accomplishing any one of these feats was no simple task—and pulling off all three at once was exceptionally difficult. He himself could never have done it.
Looking at the steward, who was still caterwauling senselessly, Wang Chengwang slapped him across the face. The strike sent the steward staggering; he clutched his mouth, staring at his master in astonishment.
"Silence your racket!" Wang Chengwang barked. "Take these servants away! Don't make fools of yourselves here!
"Where are the maids? Hurry and serve tea! I must properly entertain Worthy Brother Zhou!"
With that, Wang Chengwang took Chu Qiguang's hand with warm familiarity and led him inside, chatting amiably like an affectionate elder. Not a trace remained of his usual haughty demeanor.
"It has been a few years since I last saw you, Worthy Brother Zhou. I never imagined you would grow so strong and imposing, a true man of stature! I've heard you are always steady and filial in the village. The village elders have praised you to me, saying you are destined for great accomplishments in the future."
'He changes face faster than flipping a page. What thick skin,' Chu Qiguang sneered inwardly.
Grasping Master Wang's hand, Chu Qiguang said with a look of deep sincerity, "It is all thanks to Master Wang's constant concern for the country and its people, and your care for the villagers. That is the only reason everyone in the village has enough to eat and wear, and why my family has food on the table."
Wang Chengwang was taken aback. He hadn't expected Ergou to speak so eloquently, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to an ordinary peasant.
He asked, "Was it your esteemed master who just disciplined my unruly servants?"
"Indeed," Chu Qiguang said. "My master's learning spans ancient and modern times, and he possesses demon-slaying martial arts. Above all, he hates evil as his enemy. He sent me here this time precisely on account of your son's condition..."
According to Chu Qiguang's explanation, his master had captured a dog ghost in the nearby mountains and interrogated it, learning that it was the very dog ghost that had harmed Wang Cailiang.
His master had dispatched Chu Qiguang, his disciple, to the manor to temper him through practice, while remaining in the shadows to provide support.
Wang Chengwang listened as Chu Qiguang described the events vividly and in meticulous detail—the dog's size, its coloring, everything was spot-on.
Wang Chengwang even asked which hand had been bitten that day, and Chu Qiguang answered without hesitation, instantly making Master Wang believe him several degrees more.
Chu Qiguang thought to himself: 'I was the one who had Qiao Zhi send a dog to bite your son to draw blood and check what kind of blood he has. That dog is still hiding in the back mountain recovering from its injuries, so of course I know every detail.'
Wang Chengwang then asked about the night the dog ghost snuck into his son's bedchamber.
That night, Qiao Zhi had broken in draped in black cloth, knocked Wang Cailiang out, and used the Heavenly Demon Foundation Establishment Method on him. Chu Qiguang naturally answered with flawless accuracy.
Wang Chengwang asked with concern, "Did your esteemed master capture the dog ghost smoothly? He wasn't injured, was he?"
Chu Qiguang replied, "Everything went smoothly, and Master is unharmed."
"Wonderful!" Wang Chengwang stood up and took Chu Qiguang's hands in excitement. "To tell you the truth, Worthy Brother Zhou, in all my life I have respected righteous men like your master most of all—men who slay demons and exorcise evils. If our Great Han Dynasty had a few more heroes like your master, how could we worry about demons and monsters remaining unsettled? I would give anything to behold your master's magnificent bearing. Could you introduce us?"
'Heh, trying to bypass me and go straight to my master?' Chu Qiguang said with complete earnestness, "Master often tells me that it is precisely because of charitable local gentry like Master Wang, who allow the common folk to live and work in peace, that he can protect this haven.
"Since he took me as his sole personal disciple, he has often instructed me to aid virtuous families like yours. This time, he specifically passed down the method to treat your son, telling me to do my utmost and take full charge of the arrangements. He said we must never allow a cornerstone of our community like Young Master Wang to suffer the slightest harm."
Hiding behind the roof, Qiao Zhi listened to the warm, chummy conversation and curled his lip. "Humans truly are shameless. No wonder us kitties can't beat you."
Chapter 19