Water Margin: Gao Yanei is actually a Gal Genius

Chen Laodao has been gone for two or three days, and Gao Jin has been back in Lu Zhishen's courtyard for two or three days as well.

Old Gao Qiu stopped saying that Gao Jin's friends were all scoundrels. Gao Jin figured it was probably because that day, in his haste to send someone to fetch Lu Zhishen, the monk had arrived immediately. After all, what father wouldn't be happy if his sons had a few strong, honest, and capable friends?

For Gao Jin, these past two or three days had been no different; he spent his days drinking and practicing martial arts. The only difference was that the location had changed from Gao's residence to a courtyard near the Dongyue Temple, and the person he was with had changed from Chen Xizhen to Lin Chong.

Speaking of Lin Chong and Chen Xizhen, Gao Jin felt a little sorry for them. Lin Chong was slightly inferior to Chen Xizhen because he was not old enough and lacked experience, and his teaching style was rather rigid.

These two are actually quite similar in temperament and martial arts skills; if they had no animosity, they would surely have become close friends despite their age difference.

Unfortunately, Chen Xiyi's death was like a thorn stuck in the old Taoist's heart. Whenever Gao Jin mentioned Lin Chong in those two days, Chen Xiyi's face would visibly darken.

Left with no other option, Gao Jin gave up trying to reconcile the two and had to take a longer-term approach.

However, there was some good news for Gao Jin these past few days: Lin Chong's favorability rating reached 69 points yesterday.

Lu Zhishen's favorability rating remained at 70 points, neither increasing nor decreasing. This amazed Gao Jin, who asked the system about it, but the system simply told the host to explore it on his own.

Gao Jin had a feeling that the favorability rating after 70 points couldn't be improved through daily interactions alone; they would have to go through something together to increase it.

So this is what "Gala Gemu" means? It's quite interesting.

On his way into the Dongyue Temple, Gao was secretly pleased with himself, thinking that he could probably extract another ability today. He just didn't know what he could get from Leopard Head Lin Chong.

When they arrived at the courtyard, the head monk was indeed still asleep, his snoring so loud it could be heard throughout the entire yard. Gao Jin was already used to it and wasn't in a hurry to wake his brother. He simply placed the two bags of mooncakes he was carrying on a large rock under the old locust tree.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, there are more vendors selling mooncakes. On the way here, Gao Jin saw that they looked interesting and bought two packs.

This stone was the same one the three of them used when they swore brotherhood. These past few days, the three of them were bored and saw that the stone was quite flat, so they worked together to move it under this locust tree to use as a table, which was quite rustic.

Gao Jin poured himself a full glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp. He stretched his limbs a couple of times, then picked up his iron staff and began to wield it in the courtyard. He first practiced the routines taught to him by Lu, Lin, and Chen, and then imagined how others would attack him and how he should defend himself.

He entertained himself in the courtyard and had a great time.

Suddenly, a familiar female voice came from outside the courtyard, "Should I address you, Young Master Gao or Brother Lu?"

Gao Jin stopped what he was doing and looked out of the courtyard, inwardly groaning in despair. There stood a beautiful woman with a green veil covering her face.

Her hair was styled in a high bun, resembling a parrot's head, adorned with a white jade hairpin that jingled softly as she walked, like a willow swaying in a gentle breeze. She wore a narrow-sleeved brocade robe in begonia red, over which was a moon-white silk vest, and a bright green sash with lotus vines tied around her waist, cinched at the bottom with a dark blue pleated skirt. On her feet were pointed arched shoes embroidered with bees chasing chrysanthemums; a pair of silver bracelets with shrimp whiskers adorned her wrists, making her fair skin appear as white as frost.

Who else could this be but Chen Liqing, the mad daughter of Old Master Chen?

Gao Jin thought of how dedicated Old Master Chen had been to teaching him martial arts the other day, sighed inwardly, forced a smile, and greeted him with a stiff upper lip: "Isn't this Sister Chen? Just call me Brother Gao. I was wrong the other day, so I apologize to my sister. Come into the yard and have some cakes, and let's chat."

Chen Liqing didn't reply, took off the blue gauze cover and handed it to the maid behind her, then looked up at Gao Jin.

This was the first time Gao Jin had seen Chen Liqing's appearance. Her eyebrows were like two lines of frost, and her eyes held the sparkle of stars. Her jade-like face was like pear blossoms in spring rain, and her red lips were like plum blossoms in winter snow. Her long black hair was tied into a coiled dragon bun, and a pair of plain silver earrings dangled from her ears. She was naturally beautiful without makeup, and her beauty shone even without pearls or jade.

What a lovely woman, yet she developed madness; it's truly a pity.

Chen Liqing removed her veil and took out a stick from the horse behind her. Gao Jin's eyebrows twitched at the sight, and he sensed something was wrong. He quickly put down his staff and picked up the stick.

She held the stick, spat it on the ground with a playful air, and glared at Gao Jin with hatred in her eyes: "You glib-tongued scoundrel, all show and no substance, what right do you have to make me call you brother?!"

After saying that, he picked up the stick, rushed into the yard, and swung it down at Gao Jin. Gao Jin raised his stick to block, and when the two sticks collided, he felt a sharp pain in his palm, and the stick almost slipped from his hand.

Looking at the woman who was shorter than him and had a slender figure, Gao Jin felt it was truly outrageous how someone of that build could have such great strength.

Although Gao Jin had sensed the woman's strength when she used her flying staff before, he hadn't acquired "innate divine strength" back then. How come he's still barely on par with her now that he has divine strength?

Seeing that she hadn't knocked Gao Jin down with her first blow, Chen Liqing's eyes flashed with a strange light, and she shouted, "So I misjudged you. You have some strength, not just a weakling. Come on!" With that, she swung her stick to strike.

Gao Jin quickly parried, and the two exchanged blows for dozens of rounds. Although Gao Jin was in a sorry state, he managed to deflect each of the woman's attacks. Chen Liqing frowned as she watched, realizing the reason. She changed her stance, no longer using the staff techniques taught by her father, but instead adopting her own unorthodox methods.

Sure enough, within a few rounds, Gao Jin was overwhelmed and took several blows from the woman's sticks, which came from tricky positions. Anyone else who had been hit by such blows would have been paralyzed on the ground and unable to get up.

Fortunately, his "natural strength" gave him a magnificent physique, which prevented him from collapsing on the spot and losing face.

Gao Jin took several blows in a row, feeling unbearable pain all over his body. He had never suffered such a loss before. He had been here for almost three months, and his cheap old scoundrel Gao Qiu had never beaten him. When the two brothers sparred, they always stopped short of defeat.

If those blows hadn't been delivered in such a tricky spot that it was hard to apply force, wouldn't he have broken his bones on the spot? A surge of anger welled up in Gao Jin's heart. This Chen Liqing is a crazy woman!

Seizing an opening, Gao Jin used his back to withstand a blow from Chen Liqing's tricky position. With a twist of his arm and a straightening of his back, he firmly clamped the stick in the woman's hand. Then, with all his might, he twisted and turned, and with a "crack," the stick broke in two.

Chen Liqing had never seen such a desperate, street-smart thug fight before, and she was stunned for a moment. Taking advantage of the situation, Gao Jin used his arm to pin her hands down and raised his fist to smash into her pretty face.

Chen Liqing struggled free with both hands, and seeing that the fist was about to land on her face, she simply stopped dodging and just stiffened her neck and stared at Gao Jin with her head held high.

The raised fist hesitated to fall, not because the woman was particularly beautiful.

But because of the worried look on Old Master Chen's face when he mentioned his daughter, and the image of him earnestly instructing him over the past few days, Gao Jin was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

If a teacher who is willing to teach you real skills has a daughter who has gone insane and starts hitting and kicking you, would you really hit her back?

Gao Jin snorted coldly, let go of Chen Liqing, and turned to walk towards the locust tree. Fearing that the crazy woman would continue to have an attack, he could only shout loudly, "Brother, what time is it? Get up and have some wine!"

The snoring inside paused, and Lu Zhishen's loud voice rang out, "Brother's here? I've come to have a drink with you."

Chen Liqing didn't react. Her embroidered shoes disappeared in a flash under her skirt, and the stick that had broken in two on the ground flew straight out of the courtyard.

"This weapon isn't quite right for me today, but I'll get a better one tomorrow and teach you a lesson, you spoiled brat."

After saying this, he went out of the courtyard, retrieved the blue gauze cover from the maid, put it on, mounted his horse, and rode away. The maid also mounted her donkey and followed him.