Yanfu: Starting with the Six-Eared Macaque

In the corner by the charcoal fire, a boy was leaning against the wall, probably awakened by the noise of his own entry. His eyes were still a little sleepy, and he hadn't fully woken up yet.

"Strange, how come there's a half-grown child in this dilapidated temple in the middle of nowhere?" The old man paused slightly, muttering to himself with a hint of surprise in his voice.

The old man closed the temple door to block out the cold wind, walked straight to the charcoal fire, sat down, looked up at Chen Xing, and asked, "Kid, where are you from? What are you doing in this temple in the middle of the night?"

Chen Xing was now fully awake. His brows furrowed slightly as he pondered the old man's origins and intentions. He didn't reply, but simply watched him warily.

Seeing that Chen Xing remained silent and did not press the matter, the old man took out a hard piece of dry ration from his pocket and slowly roasted it by the fire. His gaze occasionally swept over Chen Xing, but he did not ask any more questions.

"Squeak—"

Not long after, the gate of the mountain god temple was pushed open again.

Two burly men with short knives at their waists walked in side by side. One had a full beard and dark, rough skin, looking particularly fierce; the other was fair-skinned, with a cunning look in his eyes, and carried a bulging little bundle on his back.

The two men share some similarities in their features, suggesting they are brothers.

As soon as the two brothers entered, they saw the old man and Chen Xing sitting around the fire. They exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, they walked over and sat down on the other side of the fire, their eyes scanning the two men with a scrutinizing gaze.

For a moment, four people were crammed into the already cramped temple. Under the firelight, the shadows moved about, and this long-abandoned mountain god temple seemed to be bustling with activity for once.

"Grandpa, did you bring your grandson along?" The burly man with a thick beard spoke first, trying to get closer to the old man, but his tone was somewhat probing.

"Hmm." The old man didn't even look up, just gave a casual reply, and continued to focus on roasting the dry food in his hands, not intending to explain further.

Seeing the two men's fierce expressions and the glint of their short knives at their waists, Chen Xing quietly sat up straight, tensing his nerves. He didn't refute the old man's statement, wanting only to avoid trouble.

"Big brother, take a look." The one carrying the bundle seemed to be the younger brother. As he spoke, he handed the bundle on his back to the bearded man.

The elder brother took the bundle, but secretly observed the old man and Chen Xing. Seeing that the two didn't react to their slang, his expression relaxed a little. He took out two steamed buns from the bundle, handed one to his younger brother, and whispered, "Two empty-headed people."

"Isn't this an unexpected surprise?" The fair-skinned man took a bite of his cornbread, his eyes fixed on Chen Xing. He winked at the bearded man and asked in a low voice, "Brother, we haven't had any business for half a month. This boy is quite good, how about we kidnap him and sell him for some pocket money?"

"The lamp went out and the old man was secretly killed, and the boy was drugged." The bearded man took a bite of his cornbread, his tone calm, but his hand moved closer to the old man without making a sound, and his hand had already touched the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Chen Xing heard the entire conversation between the two men. He was shocked to find that they had planned to kill and plunder right in front of him. His anger rose, but he remained calm and shifted his body to a position where he could exert force more easily.

The old man seemed not to have heard their secret plot. He glanced at Chen Xing's little movements, slowly shifted his position to a more comfortable one, and continued to warm himself by the fire, his expression indifferent as if everything around him was irrelevant.

Suddenly, the bearded man turned around sharply, drew his short sword from his waist, and slashed fiercely at the old man with a cold glint in his eyes!

The old man, however, had anticipated this. He ducked and rolled on the spot, dodging the fatal blow with swift and decisive movements, showing no sign of being a hunched old man.

"Ha!" Just as the bearded man drew his sword, the fair-skinned man also rushed towards Chen Xing, reaching out to grab his arm and try to control him firmly.

Chen Xing was prepared. He rolled forward, brushing past the man's clothes to avoid the grabbing hand, and used the momentum to move to the side along the wall and stand firmly.

The man missed his target, and in a fit of anger, he reached for the dagger at his waist, intending to subdue Chen Xing by force!

But when he touched it, the man froze.

His waist was completely empty; not only was there no short sword, but even the scabbard was nowhere to be seen!

"What are you looking for?" Chen Xing stretched out his right hand, and with a slight flick of his wrist, a sheathed short knife appeared in his previously empty palm.

The old man, who was fighting with the bearded man, caught a glimpse of Chen Xing's technique for drawing the knife. A hint of surprise flashed across his eyes, but his hands did not stop moving at all.

The fair-skinned man recognized the style of the knife and his heart skipped a beat. It was the very knife he had tied to his waist. But how did it end up in Chen Xing's hand, blade and sheath intact?

Before he could figure out what was going on, Chen Xing had already drawn his short knife, the blade flashing coldly, and lunged straight at him.

Chen Xing had practiced magic tricks for over a decade, making him naturally agile and nimble. He handled the short knife with exceptional ease, executing slashes, thrusts, and parries with practiced skill.

In an instant, the fair-skinned man was forced to dodge repeatedly, facing imminent danger, and cold sweat quickly appeared on his forehead.

"Brother, I'm here to help you!" Seeing his younger brother being defeated and suffering heavy losses, the bearded man no longer cared about chasing the old man. He immediately abandoned his opponent, raised his short knife, and pounced fiercely on Chen Xing's back.

With that turn, a huge opening was instantly revealed in his back.

Seeing this, the old man pulled out a thick hemp rope from somewhere, flicked his wrist, and the rope lashed out like a whip across the bearded man's back with tremendous force, tearing his clothes and opening his skin, leaving a striking red welt.

"what!"

The bearded man winced in pain, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot. He roared and turned around, slashing at the old man several times with fierce, sharp blades, as if he wanted to cleave him in two.

This old man must have been a skilled martial artist in his youth. He wielded an ordinary hemp rope with incredible agility, managing to hold his own against the odds while wrapping and parrying.

But eventually, youth prevails over strength. After several attempts to dodge and weave, the old man's strength gradually gave out, his breathing became heavy, and he was nearly cut by the blade several times, facing imminent danger.

"Damn it! Young people have no sportsmanship! All they do is bully an old man like me!" After a series of clumsy dodges, the old man finally lost his temper, spat viciously, and rolled on the spot, barely dodging the slash from the bearded man.

The old man's roll is quite ingenious; in traditional magic tricks, it's called "somersaulting and tumbling." Usually, at the end of a performance, the artist takes off his robe, does a somersault on the ground, and when he gets up, he has two fire basins in his hands. It's a highly skilled technique in magic.

He flipped over on the spot, and when he got up, he actually had a burning brazier in his hand. The oil in the brazier was sizzling and sparks were jumping.