Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 572 Moral Problems
As soon as Li opened his mouth, Shi Chun knew who this bastard was talking about. He wished he could pull out his dagger from his sleeve and stab him, something he was very good at.

Hearing only half of what was said, the woman in red calmly tugged at the corner of her mouth, shifted her gaze from the eloquent Li Hongjiu to Shi Chun behind her, and directly denied that this was Shi Chun's own intention.

The reason is simple: nowadays, Shi Chun has to sneak away from his home in Dongsheng Wangdu, so how could he dare to openly come here to teach?

His gaze fell upon Shi Chun's fist, which was gradually clenching under his sleeve. He couldn't help but recall the intelligence from the Yanbao Sect that Shi and Li were not friends.

Since they're not friends, why is one asking the other to take on apprentices, and then the latter recommending the former? What are these two up to?
She suddenly felt that she had been away from the grassroots for too long and was somewhat out of touch with reality. Many things no longer conformed to her understanding. Perhaps it would be better to leave this matter to the people below her, as it was not suitable for her to personally take charge.

However, she wanted to see what those two bastards were up to; neither of them would leave without a trace if they dared to disrupt her business.

The family members present gradually realized what was happening, and the third young lady, Dong Liangying, blurted out, "Is it Shi Chun?"

She spent a lot of time in the library lobby and heard a lot of related discussions.

The others looked puzzled. They had heard of this person more or less, but had never seen him. How could that person be the master of the second brother?
Li Hongjiu clapped his hands lightly and said, "That's right, it's Shi Chun. This person is not simple. In terms of ability, he is even better than me."

The family members looked at each other in bewilderment.

The woman in red lowered her eyes and openly belittled herself to elevate Shi Chun, causing Shi Chun to doubt her own judgment again.

Shi Chun, clenching his fists, cursed inwardly, "Shameless! Shameless!"

This time, he was once again certain of his judgment: as long as there was a need, the man surnamed Li really wouldn't care about his reputation.

Dong Liangying, however, was somewhat skeptical and, in a way, defended his prospective master, saying, "How is that possible? Everyone says that you are the number one rising star in the world. How could Shi Chun possibly be better than you?"

Li Hongjiu waved her hand slightly, "That's not right! People aren't involved, so what they say is all fallacies based on hearsay. I am involved, so how could I not know who is right and who is wrong?"

Dong Liangying: "It's rumored that Shi Chun was once beaten so badly by the Master that he had to flee in a sorry state in the Divine Fire Domain..."

Li Hongjiu abruptly interrupted, saying, "On the contrary, if I could really suppress him, how could he escape so easily? What outsiders see may not be the truth. In fact, before others saw us fight, I had already fought him once. That was a real life-or-death struggle. He beat me severely. If I hadn't used a trick to escape, I would have died at his hands long ago."

You all say that he was beaten and fled in a sorry state by me, but you don't know that he was using a trick. I didn't know there was a trick, so I pursued him relentlessly. As a result, after losing the support of various factions, I was beaten seriously by his side and even fell directly into his hands. I was captured by him. That was the real humiliation. Who in the world has ever seen or spoken of the humiliation I suffered in private?
This only covers the martial aspect; there's also the literary aspect.

In the competition after leaving the Divine Fire Domain, a weapon-refining disciple from a small sect, an ordinary person with no reputation, under his tutelage and training, actually overwhelmed the entire weapon-refining world and won the championship. Even I was overwhelmed and had to admit defeat.

He can easily subdue someone in a short period of time and make me admit defeat. Doesn't such a person deserve to be a teacher?
At the Meteor Shower Tournament, he manipulated events with ease, displaying unparalleled strategic brilliance and skill. With minimal effort, he stirred up various factions as if they were his own arms, creating a truly turbulent atmosphere. He cleverly seized first place among countless heroes, becoming an unparalleled figure in the world.

Most importantly, his subordinates were all former outcasts who had been expelled from their respective sects. They had all been used by him during the Meteor Shower Tournament and harbored deep hatred for him afterward. It was a dead end, but he was able to turn steel into silk, making them set aside their past grievances and willingly serve him like dogs and horses.

Even I, who forged a blood feud with him in our rivalry and longed to kill him, ended up becoming his friend. Tell me, gentlemen, how many in this world can achieve such a feat? He is both learned and skilled in martial arts, possessing unparalleled wisdom and a commanding presence; he is a true gentleman and a true hero. If the Second Miss could become his disciple, she need not worry about her brilliance being obscured.”

This boastful talk stunned Shi Chun behind him, who took a while to recover. "Damn it, is he talking about me?"
I was so flattered I almost didn't want to wake up; I almost actually thought I was amazing.

If I hadn't known that the man surnamed Li had ill intentions, I would have been smug just from ordering a few coins.

He was getting a little annoyed and wanted to speak up to stop them, but it was clearly inappropriate for a servant like himself to interfere in his master's affairs.

After a round of praise, the woman in red who was listening couldn't help but glance at Shi Chun, who was wearing a veil, from the corner of her eye. She seemed to have heard about these things before, but she didn't think much of them. However, when she listened to them in a connected way this time, she suddenly realized that the guy was indeed extraordinary.
The Dong Wenshu family was also dumbfounded. With the facts laid out, they realized that Shi Chun was indeed very remarkable.

The siblings, in particular, looked on with longing, imagining what kind of charm such a dashing figure must have possessed.

The second young lady, Dong Liangyu, suddenly broke the silence, saying, "But my body is not suitable for cultivation."

The implication is that they might not accept me.

Li Hongjiu immediately shook his head and said, "You're overthinking it. He can train an ordinary person into the number one person in the Divine Fire Alliance in a short period of time, let alone you. These things are not for you to worry about. He has his own ways to solve them. Now it depends on whether you are willing or not. As long as you are willing, given my relationship with him, I guarantee that as long as I ask, he will definitely agree."

Upon hearing this, Shi Chun cursed inwardly, "Li Hongjiu, you son of a bitch!"
Putting everything else aside, where did he get the ability to change Dong Liangyu's physique?

“This…” Dong Wenshu, the head of the family, suddenly spoke up, hesitatingly asking, “Isn’t that Shi Chun someone who served time in exile?”

The tone sounded off, so Li Hongjiu immediately corrected him, saying, "Master, you've misunderstood. He wasn't going to jail; he was born in jail. It was his birth, he had no choice, there was nothing he could do."

Dong Wenshu still hesitated and said, "Mr. Li, after all, he was released from a place of exile. Everyone knows what kind of person he is. He doesn't know what virtue is and only cares about profit. To be honest, even if he has great abilities, if he doesn't know why he should cultivate himself into a decent person, my family really doesn't dare to associate with him."

These words silenced his children.

This almost made Shi Chunle cry out; it was the first time he'd ever been so happy after being scolded. Having known Dong Wenshu for so long, he knew all too well why this old stubborn man was called that. Once he'd made his stance clear like this, even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't be able to change his mind.

Li Hongjiu, who had just been talking so eloquently, was also a little confused. "I've wasted so much time talking to you, and you're talking to me about morality?"
When it comes to morality, he racked his brains for a while, but if he wanted to defend Shi Chun on moral grounds, he really didn't know where to start. That scoundrel has a bad reputation, does she have any morality to speak of?
But he certainly wouldn't give up easily, and hurriedly said, "Master, people are different. Those who come from exile are not necessarily morally deficient."

Dong Wenshu turned to his children and asked, "If I remember correctly, didn't Shi Chun fall for the beauty of a courtesan as soon as he came out of exile? Is that true?"

Of the four children, some nodded slightly, while Dong Liangying directly named one: "Yes, there is one, I think her name is something like Xiang Lan'er."

They were discussing serious matters, but the woman in red, who was listening in, suddenly became expressionless. She felt as if she had been fed a pile of excrement, and felt extremely disgusted.

Someone once said she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and they hugged, kissed, and kissed her. Now I feel like I'm on the same level as that person.

What exactly is the secret behind entering and exiting the Big Dipper Spirit-Repelling Array? The demonic path is secretive; would acting rashly alert them and cut off the clues? Thinking about these things, she once again suppressed the urge to flip the table.

Li Hongjiu was speechless. He had just said that people are different, but he was slapped in the face by the topic of brothels and prostitutes. He was also cursing Shi Chun in his heart. What a piece of trash. He was in a hurry to visit brothels as soon as he came out of exile.

He wanted to defend her further, but Dong Wenshu saw through his words and interrupted him, saying, "It seems that this is indeed the case. It seems that people from exile are not of good character. The Dong family's ancestral precepts and family traditions are paramount, and the younger generation dares not disobey them. If this delays my daughter's future, then I would rather not have this future."

This is tantamount to stating the matter definitively, leaving no room for maneuver.

Li Hongjiu was stunned by the defeat. She had planned everything, but she hadn't expected this. All her efforts had been wasted because of Shi Chun's bad family background.

Looking at the attitudes of the other family's children, it's clear that the head of the household has the final say.

Shi Chun, behind the gauze hat, was overjoyed. Her birth was predetermined; she had crawled her way up through life-or-death struggles. Why would she care about anything else? She'd be crazy.

As for morality, from the moment he walked out of the place of exile in tattered clothes, he was greeted by the contemptuous gazes of countless passersby. He had no grudge against him, so why should he owe morality anything?

He also admitted that he didn't really know what morality was; all he saw was that it was something that would be used and exploited when needed.

Li's scheme thus came to an end, and the next step was the formal apprenticeship ceremony.

Because Li Hongjiu didn't care about the time or day, and since there was no better time than the day, Dong Wenshu personally wrote a visiting card for his youngest daughter under the lamp, which included her birth date and time.

The lanterns were bright, the teacher sat upright, and Dong Liangying knelt and kowtowed to offer tea. Heaven and earth were witnesses, and the onlookers on both sides were witnesses. Thus, the ceremony was completed, and the master-disciple relationship for this lifetime was established.

Li Hongjiu has never taken on any apprentices before; this is his first apprentice.

Joy cannot last forever; eventually, the night will fall and people will be at peace.

This was the first time Shi Chun had enjoyed the privilege of staying in a guest room while living in the library for so long; he could say he benefited from Li Hongjiu's hospitality.

Before he could rest, he received a message from the woman in red, who invited him to her room.

Well, now that he was itching to do something, he quietly slipped into the woman in red's room again.

They immediately tried to hug and kiss upon meeting, but the woman in red blocked them.

Unable to gain the upper hand, Shi Chun retorted irritably, "Didn't you already agree to be my woman?"

The woman in red had a reason: "Things are only half done. Once Situ Gu arrives, I will naturally give in to you. But it's quite unexpected, I didn't expect you to be so capable of inviting Li Hongjiu."

As she spoke, she reached out and lifted Shi Chun's chin, "When are you leaving?"

Shi Chun grasped her hand and stroked it, saying, "I won't stay long; I still have things to do for you. Li Hongjiu might stay here for a while; he's quite interested in the books here."

Touching hands was permissible, the woman in red allowed, while her other hand drew circles on Shi Chun's chest. "Now that I'm your woman, don't you even have a token of our love?"

He grabbed Shi Chun's hand and showed her a black ring with an intricate pattern, slipping it onto Shi Chun's index finger. "This is for you. Keep it with you and don't throw it away."

Shi Chun took the opportunity to put his arm around her waist, and tried to kiss her, but she avoided it. He only smacked her cheek, saying, "How could I possibly throw away the engagement token you gave me? I will cherish it for the rest of my life."

As she spoke, she took out another hairpin and personally inserted it into the other person's hair bun.

(End of this chapter)