Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Mu Nandong narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "That thing looks a lot like the Cloud-Suppressing Stone."

"Yun-Suppressing Stone?" Yu Xietian looked puzzled by this unfamiliar term and subconsciously glanced at Ying Qin Guan, the third person in the room. However, Ying Qin Guan crossed his arms and looked as if he had just realized something, saying, "Oh, it's Yun-Suppressing Stone."

Yu Xietian couldn't be sure for the time being whether Ying Qinguan knew about it or not.

"A special mineral that can suppress internal energy fluctuations, making martial artists look like ordinary people. It's very similar to the Cloud Suppression Stone. But I can't be sure. That thing is radioactive, and wearing it for a long time is bad for your health. Normal people generally don't wear that. If someone wears it to hide their internal energy fluctuations, then they must have some ulterior motive."

Mu Nandong said coldly, "I'll go back to my room and mix some Yin Suanlu liquid. Apply it to your hands and try to touch that thing. If it's Yi Yun Shi, you'll feel it... These two give me a very bad feeling. If there really is some kind of Blizzard Manor, you need to control them immediately. Be careful of your employer and assistant. Two women who can't even kill a chicken are very easy to be killed."

"Ah... I understand."

Mu Nandong nodded, got up and left.

After he left, Yu Xietian complained helplessly, "His vigilance is too high... Could you tell anything from those two people?"

Ying Qin Guan said, "That's not quite right. When that woman walks, her steps seem unsteady, but she actually walks very steadily."

Ying Qin Guan's martial arts skills were astonishing. He could see through the subtle movements that Yu Xie Tian couldn't.

"Is that so..." Having received the endorsement of the peerless master Ying Qin Guan, Yu Xietian's attitude became slightly more serious. "I understand. Tomorrow I'll try to touch that thing... But how am I supposed to touch it? This is really a headache. Am I supposed to sell my body to seduce that woman...?"

Yu Xietian left, troubled.

Ying Qin Guan lay comfortably in the hot spring, stroking his chin, wondering if Ye Qu was supposed to be weak and helpless. He hadn't seen her show any particular skill, so why had Mu Nan Dong excluded her from the group of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled?

-

The next day, Yu Xietian knocked on Ying Qin Guan's door and handed the sleepy Ying Qin Guan a bottle of liquid.

He said, "I didn't find an opportunity yesterday, but today Mu Nandong said that things might change if we delayed, and he had to go to take care of his business. I had no choice but to go with him... This thing is what Mu Nandong was talking about, something that will react when it touches the Cloud-Suppressing Stone. If it reacts, it proves that they really are martial artists and have ulterior motives... Please keep an eye on it for me. If you find an opportunity, touch it if you can, otherwise just leave it."

Ying Qin Guan yawned, took the small bottle, and did not refuse.

He took the bottle back to his room, washed up, put some on his hands, and went downstairs to look for his target... but after circling around, he couldn't find anyone.

"What is Teacher Ying looking for? Why don't you tell me? Perhaps the woman will have some clues." Nocturne, sitting in the living room, opened her folding fan. Today she was wearing an elegant pale yellow dress, truly changing it every day. Ying Qin Guan had never seen her wear the same clothes twice.

Ying Qin Guan said, "That man and woman, it was their first meeting, and they were not enemies."

"Those two left with their ski gear right after breakfast this morning," Nocturne said with a smile. "They probably went skiing..."

"Skiing..." Ying Qin Guan sat down, lost in thought, but since what he was thinking about wouldn't contribute to the plot, it will not be described here.

"Speaking of which, these two names remind the woman of something," Nocturne chuckled. "Teacher Ying, can you guess what it is?"

Ying Qin Guan's expression was tense, and he said stiffly, "I can guess most of it."

Mostly – refers to zero percent.

"Hehe..." Nocturne waved her fan and chuckled, "Since Teacher Ying has already guessed most of it, then the woman doesn't need to explain too clearly..."

"It is strange if you say it is strange, and it is also ingenious if you say it is ingenious."

“It is a spirit of the underworld, composed of the radical 'ghost' and the phonetic component 'white'.”

Chapter Twelve: Seven Souls

"Little Pudding, let me test you."

Ying Qin Guan pushed open the door and found Shen Xin inside reading a book.

He coughed and said, "I have some very simple riddles here, which I made myself. They're very easy. I'll use them to test you. You shouldn't be afraid, right?"

Shen Xin tilted his head.

"Let me guess, Miss Nocturne is playing the riddle game again? You can't answer it, so you've come to me for help?"

"Bullshit!" The other party's instant understanding of the truth caused Ying Qin Guan to break down his defenses, and he immediately denied it, saying, "How could that be! Although Teacher Ye Qu occasionally acts as the riddle solver, I can solve them all! Besides, she didn't act as the riddle solver this time, and I wasn't stumped!"

"...I understand, you can give me the question now."

Seeing that Shen Xin had been fooled, Ying Qin Guan breathed a sigh of relief, cleared his throat, and said, "Then listen carefully..."

"It is strange if you say it is strange, and it is also ingenious if you say it is ingenious."

“It is a spirit of the underworld, composed of the radical 'ghost' and the phonetic component 'white'.”

After a moment's thought, Shenxin arrived at the answer.

"Seven... Souls?"

"When connected, they form the seven souls."

"Seven Souls?" Ying Qin Guan frowned, wondering what seven souls were all about... But then he realized, crossed his arms, and said, "Ah! Yes! That's right! It's the seven souls! You got it right!"

"...I made a mistake, it seems to be three souls."

With her heart seemingly black, Shen Xin raised the small blackboard and looked at Ying Qin Guan, who was sweating profusely from her words, and innocently wrote down her thoughts.

"Yes...it should be three souls! I made a mistake earlier!"

Ying Qin Guan was clearly unaware that Shen Xin was plotting against him. Upon hearing these words, he hurriedly began to patch up his own defenses.

"Ah...is that so? I know! Of course I know! But...in order not to discourage you! Think about it, if a child as young as you loses face in front of adults, it will cause you to lose confidence. So even if I know you are wrong, I will still pretend that you are right."

At this point, Ying Qin Guan seemed to have found his own logic, and his voice became calm.

"That's right! The answer is that no matter what you say, I'll say you're right. I'm so kind!"

"You're fucking outrageous..."

Shen Xin picked up the small blackboard, and then, when Ying Qin Guan wasn't looking, pulled the chain, clearing the words from it.

The answer is Seven Souls. The first line is a word puzzle, corresponding to the number 'seven', and the second line refers to the character 'soul'. I had seen Shenxin in a book before, but I only remembered the phrase 'from ghost, white sound'. I didn't expect that Yequ remembered the first three characters as well.

But why bring this up all of a sudden...?

Shen Xin frowned, about to ask Ying Qin Guan why Ye Qu suddenly brought this up, but then he suddenly realized what was going on.

Humans have three souls and seven spirits. Each of the seven spirits has its own name, namely Corpse Dog, Hidden Arrow, Sparrow Yin, Devouring Thief, Non-Poison, Purifying Filth, and Stinky Lung.

Foul-smelling lungs, cleanse them of filth...

Chou Fei, this is our first meeting!

After being reminded by Nocturne, Shenxin realized that the names of the two people who seemed to be a couple actually corresponded to two of the seven souls!

If Shenxin had known about this before Mu Nandong reminded Yu Xietian, she might have just considered it a coincidence. But Mu Nandong reminded Yu Xietian, and Yu Xietian warned Shenxin. Now, Shenxin has no choice but to continue thinking... These two names are very likely aliases.

Their clothes, the ornaments that seemed to suppress the flow of internal energy, and the strange but clearly formulaic names...

Shenxin didn't believe they were alright. She knew a little about those stones; the radiation they emitted was harmful to the human body. Who would be an idiot to hang that thing around like that? Unless... they really were complete idiots who knew nothing. And they really didn't have any martial arts skills; they just happened to hang that thing on their heads, and happened to have those two strange names, or maybe they just used pseudonyms because they thought it looked cool...

God's thoughts were in disarray, but he still picked up the small blackboard.

"These two are probably up to something. You need to be careful... no, you need to protect me. The most important thing right now is to use what Mu Nandong left you to test them. I really hope Mu Nandong is mistaken. After all, Yiyun Stone isn't exactly a particularly special mineral. But Mu Nandong is more knowledgeable than me, so we have to trust his judgment. I suggest you find an opportunity to touch the pendants on their chests..."

"By the way, where are they?"

Ying Qin Guan said, "Nocturne said they went skiing early this morning."

【“..”】

"We have no grudge against them. Perhaps suppressing their internal energy is just a habit of theirs. The damage from this radiation isn't irreversible; we're probably overthinking it."

"But we can't be too careful... I suggest we strike first and kill them!"

Ying Qin Guan was startled by Shen Xin's sudden turn of events, "Hey!"

[“Just kidding, hey-o(?^＠^?)o”]

"Honestly, what are you thinking about all day long, you little pudding..." Ying Qin Guan sighed and said, "I don't think there's a problem. Think about it, we've found the flaw in the name. Even we outsiders can see that if they were from some strange organization, they certainly wouldn't choose a name like that. Wouldn't that just expose themselves? At least the name should be an exception."

"What you said seems to make some sense..."

“What do you mean by ‘seems’? It makes perfect sense!” Ying Qin Guan paused and said, “When they come back, I’ll touch their ornaments, and the truth will be revealed.”

"Hmm... I have reservations."

Shen Xin remained suspicious. While the name might give away a clue, it was a low-probability event. If, for some reason, there really was such a "Seven Souls" organization, and the members didn't know each other, there was a high possibility of conflict arising from special missions. For example, two spies infiltrating the Empire might bump into each other and end up fighting to the death.

However, if such a name existed, the members of the Seven Souls organization would be able to recognize each other, making cooperation much easier.

But Shenxin quickly denied it.

Modern times are not ancient times, although information dissemination isn't as convenient as it used to be. But it's definitely much better than ancient times; those mysterious organizations where members don't even know each other are just too ridiculous...

-

In the living room, Nocturne faced the fireplace and turned the pages of her book.

Yu Xietian privately described Feng Yunke as having "the aura and name of a peerless master," and he sat on another sofa, also holding a book in his hand.

Neither of them spoke, quietly reading their books. After a while, Gan Xingyao, with dark circles under her eyes, came downstairs with her manuscript and pen. From her expression, it was clear that her writer's block had not improved at all since the trip.

"Is there something troubling you, Gan?" Nocturne, true to her caring nature, always had to check on things to see if there was anything amusing. She smiled and said, "Perhaps a woman like me can be of some help."

"I'm having writer's block..." Gan Xingyao didn't hide anything, saying painfully, "One of my characters is being chased and is about to die. I don't know how to save him, but he has a very important, irreplaceable scene with me later on..."

Chapter Thirteen Anti-Extracorporeal Body

Before Nocturne could even begin, Fengyunke said, "If you encounter a problem that is difficult to solve, you might as well start from the root cause."

Gan Xingyao asked, bewildered, "What do you mean?"

Nocturne smiled and said, "Tear up the manuscript and rewrite it."

Feng Yunke nodded in agreement, indicating that the translation of Nocturne was correct. "Indeed, this is a case of putting oneself in a desperate situation to survive."

Gan Xingyao forced a smile, then shook her head and said, "I can't do it... This book is already more than half finished. There are many foreshadowing elements, and the clues have extended to several earlier books. The character's personality change during the chase is also very important. I can't tear up this manuscript."

"Is that so..." Nocturne shook her fan and chuckled, "Then, what exactly is the situation with being chased? Is it something like jumping off a cliff?"

"No..." Gan Xingyao said, "He escaped to a city and was wanted by a large organization. Methods like 'hiding him in a noble lady's bed' won't work. I don't know how to help him escape..."

"The woman doesn't know exactly what you wrote, but she can offer some advice," Nocturne said with a smile. "If you really want him to live, you might as well work on his disguise."

"Disguise?" Gan Xingyao hesitated. "Giving a supporting character this skill at a time like this is unlikely, unless we introduce an NPC..."

As she spoke, she suddenly had an inspiration.

"Oh, right, an old man facing hardship, near death, passing on his skills—that could be another small side quest, explaining his poverty. But he's currently being hunted, so this side quest can't be too big; it needs to be resolved quickly..."

As if inspired, Gan Xingyao began to jot down the outlines and clues on paper, which no one but her could understand.