```Various murmurings reached his ears, but Xue Jing appeared as if he hadn't heard them, remaining impassive as his gaze indifferently swept past some of the less kindly speakers.
When he reached the central main table, the disciple guiding him whispered at his side, "That one there is our Arena Master..."
Xue Jing glanced at him and said warmly, "Thank you."
The disciple blushed slightly with excitement upon hearing his gratitude and stuttered, "No... no problem."
Xue Jing strode forward and came before the old man in traditional attire sitting at the main table's head seat, and bowed his hands in greeting as he said in a sonorous voice:
"Hidden Dragon Dojo Disciple Xue Jing, wishes to express his congratulations to Old Dojo Master Zong on his grand birthday, wishing the Old Dojo Master health and longevity, with every year like today, and every year a new dawn!"
Although Zong Jinkui had had some reservations about Xue Jing due to some previous reasons, faced with such a young man who was extraordinarily handsome, full of talent, and brimming with youthful energy, offering such a spirited congratulation, a smile could not help but appear on his face.
"Good, good, good lad."
He took out two red envelopes from his bosom and placed them into the hands of Xue Jing and Meng Qingjiao.
Xue Jing accepted it with a smile and said, "Now I have been touched by the Old Dojo Master's good fortune; we as the younger generation have made quite a profit."
Zong Jinkui laughed heartily, "You flatterer, come, sit down quickly."
He patted the chair beside him.
Then he turned to Meng Qingjiao with a pleasant expression and said:
"Qingjiao, you take a seat too."
Meng Qingjiao nodded and sat down next to Xue Jing.
After Xue Jing was seated, he took out the elegant scroll given to him by Li Qi, unrolled it, and revealed five large characters written with a brush.
[Great Masters Train Great Disciples].
"This is the birthday gift my master sends to the Old Dojo Master. Due to his inconvenient legs, he could not come himself, I hope the Arena Master will forgive his absence," Xue Jing said with a smile.
"Great Masters Train Great Disciples... Hmph, Old Man Li really does know this old man's heart," Zong Jinkui nodded and took the scroll, his eyes showing satisfaction.
The proudest achievement of his life thus far had been training a good disciple, and at this moment, these five words scratched exactly where it itched, pleasing him more than any expensive gift could.
Meanwhile, Meng Qingjiao had already picked up the chopsticks, silently beginning to pick up dishes from the table.
After handing the scroll to a disciple to take away, Zong Jinkui glanced around with a frown:
"Where's Chan'er? How come she hasn't come back yet?"
"Send someone to look for her immediately; really, she said she wanted to take Little Jing as her master, and now she's absent when the master is here, showing a lack of manners..."
The surrounding Tiger Soul Direct Disciples all showed strange expressions.
Just now, who was it that acted like they planned to give Xue Jing a hard time with the intention to test him?
"We've already sent someone to look, Master," one of the particularly robust direct disciples said in a low voice.
"Call a few more people to search," Zong Jinkui ordered with a frown.
"Yes," the disciple responded.
Zong Jinkui then turned to Xue Jing with a beaming face and said, "Come, Little Jing, have some dishes."
He pointed to the table.
"This 'Dragon and Tiger Champion Soup' is a secret medicine of our Tiger Soul lineage. It's extremely beneficial for increasing Qi Force. Old Man Li would shamelessly come here every day for this very soup; you should drink a few more bowls..."
...
Elsewhere, within the storage room of the Tiger Soul Dojo, located in a remote corner, a little girl lay on the ground, regaining consciousness, her mouth sealed with tape and her hands and feet tightly bound with steel cables as thick as chopsticks.
It was Zong Shichan.
"...What happened?"
She looked around a bit dazedly, unable to see anything in the lightless environment, only her nose twitched slightly, faintly smelling an ominous scent.
Moving her limbs and feeling the restraints, she immediately tried to exert her Inner Strength with a strong pull, but the steel cables binding her hands and feet were too tough, and after trying for a while, she gave up.
Zong Shichan didn't know what to do, when suddenly a light flickered to life.
She quickly turned her head towards the source of the light, only to see a young man with dark circles under his eyes, holding a lighter.
"Yuyan, you're awake," the young man said softly, his eyes filled with adoration as he looked at Zong Shichan.
"Look, I've just finished another work. The martial arts you taught me, I've made improvements again," he said, pointing with his hand towards a corner of the room.
Zong Shichan looked at his hand and noticed for the first time... his fingers were dripping blood.
Her pupils contracted, and as she followed the direction of his fingers, her whole body shook.
Zong Shichan had seen those sheep carcasses sold in the market, skin entirely flayed off.
And now, the object in the corner reminded her of them.
No, it was not a sheep but... a person.
A person with their entire skin flayed off. Experience new tales on mvl
There was nothing but pink, white, red all over, no trace of skin, just various bloodied fibrous tissues that made one want to vomit.
"Look, Yuyan."
"Getting to see you 'over here,' I was too happy to resist showing off my progress," the young man said with a light laugh.
Zong Shichan closed her eyes. Sёarch* The nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Yuyan, you always commend my craft, why aren't you looking or talking?"
"Oh, my fault, I forgot this..."
The young man reached out and peeled the tape off Zong Shichan's mouth.
"Now you can talk, Yuyan," he said.
Zong Shichan opened her eyes, her gaze ice cold as she glanced at the young man.
Then, taking a deep breath, she gathered her Inner Strength in her throat.
"—Help—"
The incredibly loud voice burst from her mouth, but after only emitting a single word, her mouth was swiftly covered by the young man whose expression quickly changed.
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