Chapter 64: The Consequences of Practicing Martial Arts This Way

The sound of Jiang Meili came through the phone: "Hi! Zhengtai, is it you?"

For some reason, people today kept calling. When my phone rang, if it wasn't me, who else could it be? Feeling quite annoyed, I asked, "What is it?"

After hesitating for a long moment, Jiang Meili asked, "Uncle, has he been found?"

Mentioning this filled me with depression, and I longed to spill everything to her: "My mom..."

Failing to understand at all, Jiang Meili rattled off a string of her own opinions. I felt the same way, though. Where on earth would a deranged person run off to? In any case, it always left an uneasy knot in my chest. After lingering a bit longer, the voice of Wei Jinglan came through the phone: "Zhengtai, we are coming to your house!"

My wife had just left, and I was all alone at home. Thinking about it, if my wife came back and saw visitors, I would catch flak for it again, so I simply proposed, "I'll come over instead, how about that?"

Jiang Meili was overjoyed; I could hear her ecstatic jumping voice from afar: "Great! Let her come to my place!"

Wei Jinglan relayed the words, though I had already heard them. Then I heard Jiang Meili ask, "How did the memorial service go?"

Even though her voice was soft, I could still catch it through the phone. Wei Jinglan passed her question along to me. Feeling heavily weighed down with distress inside, I took the opportunity to vent: "During the memorial service today, a bizarre phenomenon occurred. The halo of light on the jade bracelet around my wrist flew straight into the old abbot's forehead and vanished. Suddenly, the abbot crossed his legs and levitated, flying higher and higher until he completely disappeared from sight. What on earth is going on?"

Wei Jinglan offered her own perspective: "I've heard of such things before. If the abbot can come back, it means returning from the dead; if he can't, it counts as entering nirvana!"

"What does entering nirvana mean?"

"To put it nicely, he ascended to heaven; to put it bluntly, he died."

"How, how could he ascend and die by flying?"

"It means his worldly detachment was complete, so he ascended to heaven!"

"You mean to say the halo from the bracelet was too powerful and caused the old abbot to ascend?"

"I can't figure it out either. Anyway, we saw with our own eyes that the light shot right out of your forehead. Either your energy is far too immense, or the old abbot couldn't take it and went to meet God ahead of schedule."

"That's too absurd! But didn't the monks and nuns seem to see it as well? Why aren't they coming to cause trouble for me?"

"I'm not sure either. Better let Jiang Meili answer your question! She seems to know."

"Alright, alright!"

The phone went quiet for a moment before Jiang Meili's voice came through: "Hi, Zhengtai, congratulations!"

"Huh? What is there to congratulate?"

"Here's the thing. The monks and nuns all saw it, but it's not that they don't want to come after you—they simply can't!"

"Why?"

"Just think about it, the person conducting the memorial service was dealt with by that halo of light! If they made a big fuss and everyone found out, who would ever ask them to perform memorial services in the future? Not only can they not hold you accountable, but they even have to spin a grand narrative: the old abbot radiated brilliant light, exhausted his lifelong energy performing the rite, and achieved ultimate ascension!"

"Oh my! You know way too much! You had me shaking in my boots, terrified someone would come looking for trouble!"

Jiang Meili and I chatted for a bit longer. She didn't seem to hold any grudge against me anymore and remained just as enthusiastic... The call hung up! I wondered if my wife's battered electric scooter was still in the bike shed, as she hadn't ridden it when she left. I thought about checking on it, but since I didn't know how to ride it anyway, I let it go. Guided by their directions, I arrived at the bus stop. After several buses passed by without a trace of them, I kept hoping to catch sight of Pi Tiantian, yet there wasn't even a shadow of her...

Another bus arrived, still no sign of anyone...

My phone chimed with a pleasant tune. I picked it up, glanced at it, pressed it to my ear, and wailed into the receiver, "I've waited and waited, and you're still not here!"

Jiang Meili's voice shrieked back, "Which stop are you at?"

I casually described my surroundings, and she said, "You're facing the wrong way! The buses coming this way should be on your right hand side."

From my perspective, this *was* the right-hand side! The two of us argued back and forth to no avail. She told me to stay put at the station and said she'd be right over; then she hung up.

So annoying! Just these few steps, and yet I had to run around searching! I had no choice but to stand there like a fool waiting. After a long while with no sign of them, I grew frantic and restless.

A pair of warm hands covered my eyes. I could only see Wei Jinglan and no one else, so I boldly guessed, "Jiang Meili!"

The hands didn't lift, and no one made a sound. Who on earth could it be? After mulling it over, I called out, "Minnie!"

The hands still didn't let go, and nobody spoke, leaving me to surrender: "I can't guess!"

Still, they wouldn't release their grip. I grabbed one of the hands covering my eyes, gave it a firm twist, spun my body around, and lifted her arm upward... She couldn't help letting out a sharp "Auw" cry. Recognizing the familiar voice, I turned her face toward me—it turned out to be Mei Linlin.

Jiang Meili and Minnie were hiding behind the large bus stop billboard, giggling stupidly. Mai Huatang came out from hiding as well. I originally wanted to fly into a rage, but with Jiang Meili present, I had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.

As soon as the four women gathered together, peals of laughter rang out continuously.

Jiang Meili wore a patterned sheer miniskirt paired with black tights and crystal sandals, looking exceptionally striking and bright.

We all knew Minnie's family background; she wore a school uniform just like me. Mei Linlin wore student overalls, which didn't look good at all—even more casual than a school uniform.

Only Mai Huatang favored casual clothes. Her hair was jet-black and tied into a long ponytail, giving her a natural and graceful appearance.

Adding it all up, there were five girls including myself. Led by Jiang Meili, we boarded a large bus, each dropping our coin fare into the box, and got off at an unfamiliar stop.

Fearing I wouldn't understand, Jiang Meili stared right at me and said, "We get off here every day!"

Teaching martial arts wasn't very convenient at home. About twenty meters away from us stood a long stretch of a building wall. I walked over, leaped up, and delivered a heavy kick straight against it. The wall vibrated noticeably, but remained completely undamaged.

Jiang Meili shouted loudly, "Teach me!"

I shifted my gaze to the other three girls and asked, "Do you all want to learn too?"

Minnie, being the class monitor, naturally wanted to. Mei Linlin and Mai Huatang chimed in as well.

I stood right in the middle while the four of them split evenly, standing on my left and right, mimicking my stance. We stepped back five paces, leaped forward two steps, raised our right legs, turned sideways, jumped up, and kicked out fiercely with a loud "Thud"...

When they kicked the wall, the result was truly disappointing. Jiang Meili, in particular, cried out at the top of her lungs, "Ouch! I've sprained my foot!"

I hadn't looked closely earlier, but her crystal sandals had high heels. She couldn't even stand steadily—how could she possibly kick a wall?

Jiang Meili whined coquettishly in front of me, "Zhengtai, carry me on your back! I can't walk anymore!"

Without learning a single shred of martial arts, she had managed to injure her foot instead. I was utterly defeated by her.

After thinking it over, Minnie chimed in, "Since we came here to learn martial arts, you shouldn't be wearing high heels."

Mei Linlin and Mai Huatang watched from the side without uttering a single word.

The crowd of onlookers grew steadily larger. Among them emerged a young fellow, around twenty years old, riding a brand-new electric scooter. Putting on a haughty airs, he shouted loudly, "Hop on, I'll take you to the hospital!"

One look told me his exact motives, and I bellowed harshly, "Fuck off! Mind your own business!"

Wanting to save face in front of the surrounding crowd, the young fellow wore a sour expression and retorted, "I'm offering to take *her*, not you. What are you blabbering about?"

Jiang Meili had no choice but to explain, "We came together, we don't need your ride!"

Having been rebuffed, the young fellow blamed everything on my words. Staring at me for a long moment, he sneered, "If it weren't for all these people around, see if I wouldn't beat you to a pulp!"

"You motherfucker! I'm the one who beats people up! Daring to act all high and mighty in front of so many people—asking for a beating, are you?" I bared my thick arms for him to see, intending to make him scram quickly.

To my surprise, he took it as a threat and let loose a stream of curses: "You motherfucking bastard! Even the hair on your head looks weird! You're definitely no good!"

"Are your eyes blind or what? I'm a whole head taller than him, and a little punk like you dares to act crooked in front of me—looking to die?"

Someone in the surrounding crowd spoke up, "Forget it! A man doesn't fight with women!"