After midnight

Su Ziling got up early and quietly slipped out of the door at daybreak. He arrived twenty minutes early, but even so, his master, Mr. Zhou Licheng, was already standing in the courtyard, practicing Tai Chi calmly.

He followed for a few moves and then put the breakfast he brought in order.

"Master, come and take a rest and have some breakfast." Su Ziling said.

"You eat first, I'll be ready soon." Zhou Licheng said this and only two minutes later, he put away his fist.

He stood still, took a breath evenly, and then came over and smiled. He drank a mouthful of millet porridge and took a bite of a bun. After chewing the bun slowly, he said, "Don't always bring me such light food in the future. I want to drink spicy beef soup and eat meat buns tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Su Ziling agreed immediately. In his opinion, the key to the problem was whether there was meat or not.

At 7 o'clock, Zhou Licheng pushed open an inconspicuous door behind the kitchen. "Come with me."

Su Ziling followed him in, passing by the piles of cartons, plastic bottles, flour, cabbage and other miscellaneous items on the side of the road, and walked down the stairs. The stairs were very long, and the basement was empty.

They came to a door and pushed it open. The room was very spacious. It was fifty meters long from east to west and thirty meters wide from north to south. It was almost directly below the courtyard. The walls had been in disrepair for a long time, with patches of gray and black, which were obviously traces of being burned by fire.

Su Ziling stepped on the solid soil and touched the goose bumps on his arms. He felt a little cold.

"If you want to become stronger, you can't just stand there and punch. Basic skills are very important. From today on, I will train your body's reaction ability. You must be faster and more sensitive."

Su Ziling nodded. He had seen how fast An Yan moved in battle and how strong his jumping ability was.

"After you have trained this, we can talk about the other things. Starting tomorrow, I want you to run to training and run back after training. I don't need to supervise you on this. Remember, be there on time at 7 o'clock at any time."

"Okay, got it." Su Ziling promised solemnly. The gray-haired, kind-looking old man was still very intimidating when he was training people.

Zhou Licheng picked up the bamboo pole lying on the ground. The bamboo pole had distinct joints, was thin and long. "The attack range of abilities is often very long. If it is a hundred meters away, someone may attack you, leaving you no time to avoid them. So, you must always be vigilant."

Su Ziling nodded and looked at Zhou Licheng standing more than ten meters away, holding the thin bamboo pole across his eyes.

"Open your arms."

Su Ziling did as he was told, and Zhou Licheng stretched the bamboo pole forward again, and with a little more force, the bamboo pole hit Su Ziling's ribs. Su Ziling screamed, holding his side abdomen and jumping up and down.

"It hurts so much when you hit someone with a bamboo pole. If you don't want to get hit, just dodge it with all your strength."

The master would not show mercy, and Su Ziling was almost immediately aroused to fight. He clenched his fists and stared at the weapon that could attack him at any time.

The simple yet deadly training lasted for a whole day. Su Ziling, who was grimacing in pain all the way, collapsed on the sofa as soon as he entered the house. When he had rested enough, he realized that there were two pairs of eyes looking at him beside the sofa.

"Back from training?"

"Yeah." Su Ziling sat up and couldn't help but laugh.

"The meal is ready, Xiao Su, go and bring it out."

"Okay." Xiao Su felt relieved and jumped to the kitchen.

"Has Jiu left?"

"Yes, after you left, I sent him to my senior brother."

"I don't know how he's adjusting. I missed him so much when he left."

"We'll have a chance to meet in the future. Let's eat first." As soon as An Yan finished speaking, Xiao Su brought out a plate of stir-fried pork with green peppers. The dish was still hot, but it was obviously not freshly cooked.

"Don't wait for me to eat together in the future. Just save some food for me." After Su Ziling said this, he wanted to stand up and go to the kitchen to help but sat down again with a hiss.

"You sit down, I'll go."

The three of them finally sat down to eat quietly. Suddenly, when Su Ziling raised his hand to pick up some food, An Yan glanced at the inside of his arm, which was obviously scratched and blood was oozing out. An Yan glanced at Su Ziling's unconscious appearance and said nothing.

"You don't have to wash the dishes today, go upstairs." After dinner, An Yan said as he cleaned up the dishes on the table.

"Okay." Su Ziling did not refuse and slowly walked upstairs.

He walked to the study, and not long after, An Yan opened the door and came in. Su Ziling looked up at him when he heard the voice.

"I didn't ask you to come upstairs to read in the study." Huh? Su Ziling looked confused.

An Yan grabbed Su Ziling's right arm. He just gently grabbed it, but Su Ziling couldn't stand it. He cried out and broke free from An Yan's hand.

"Go back to your room." An Yan said.

In the room, seeing An Yan holding the medicinal wine, Su Ziling rubbed his nose and explained, "Master used a bamboo pole to train my reaction ability. Today, I failed to dodge it a few times and accidentally fell. Master said that my skin is thin, and it will become thicker after a few more beatings."

"Ah."

"An Yan?"

An Yan turned his head, with no expression on his face. He grabbed Su Ziling's arm and applied medicine to him.

"An Yan?"

"Don't move. I've fixed it for you. You can go to bed early."

"Oh." Su Ziling didn't move. After An Yan finished applying the medicine, he fell back, lay on the bed and fell asleep.

At six o'clock in the morning, Su Ziling was called up. An Yan fried extra eggs and ham today, and when Su Ziling came out after washing up, the whole living room was filled with fragrance.

Su Ziling wolfed down his meal and was about to go out when he suddenly asked, "An Yan, were you angry last night?"

"No."

"If you have to run over there and bring food to your master, you will be late." An Yan added, and then he saw Su Ziling running away almost immediately.

"What's wrong? Are you listless? Don't you even feel like reading?" When the sun began to set and white clouds were covered with rosy clouds, it was beautiful outside, but Xiao Su, who was sitting in the living room, was just staring blankly at a book.

"Is there no one to play with you after Jiu left?" An Yan had been sitting next to her and he continued to tease her.

"No way!" Xiao Su retorted.

"I think so." An Yan pinched Xiao Su's face. Su Ziling was not at home all day and Ajiu was also gone. It was inevitable that Xiao Su felt bored.

"Why don't we go out for a walk?" An Yan suggested.

"Dad, a letter." Xiao Su wanted to nod in agreement, but a letter suddenly appeared on the table. An Yan opened the letter and immediately frowned.

"Xiao Su, wait for me at home. I'm going to go look for your brother Yin."

"it is good."

When An Yan arrived at Yin's place, no one was in the living room. Wu Ying heard the noise and was about to come down from upstairs. When she saw An Yan, she immediately came over and asked, "What's wrong? Yin and the others are not at home."

"Has Yin left Xindu?"

"This is not."

"Then can Yin come back as soon as possible? I have something to ask him."

"Okay, you can write a letter to him." Wuying turned around and took out a letter and a pen from the drawer under the coffee table.

After An Yan finished writing the letter and watched it disappear, he said to Wu Ying, "I'll wait here for Yin to come back."

"Okay, is Xiao Su home alone? I'll go over and keep her company."

"Thank you. I'll leave Xiao Su in your care for the time being."

"That's nothing. I like that kid very much."

Twenty minutes later, Yin came back and chuckled to the person sitting on the sofa in the living room, "What's going on?"

"Yin, please tell me, what happened to Song Hongtian?"

"What else can it be? The medicine is taking effect." Knowing what An Yan was worried about, Yin didn't care at all, as if this matter was not important at all.

An Yan took a deep breath. "Yin, now that things have come to this, can you tell me how long Song Hongtian can live?"

Yin was silent, but when An Yan stood up and left, and the two passed by each other, Yin grabbed An Yan's arm. "To be honest, I don't know, but at least not recently."

Yin loosened his hand after he finished speaking, and An Yan's cold expression finally relaxed. He nodded and left.

After An Yan left, Yin walked over to sit in the seat An Yan had just sat in. An Yan's cold look just now actually made him feel guilty and scared for a moment, Yin crossed his long legs, slumped back, and stared at the ceiling in a trance.

To be honest, Yin was having a headache. It was natural and human nature to want to kill the culprit who killed his parents, so what was An Yan afraid of?

When An Yan returned home, he didn't see Wuying, but unexpectedly saw Ajiu.

"Ajiu?"

"Brother An Yan, Master went out this morning and hasn't come back since. I was hungry and bored at home alone, so I ran back." Ajiu explained as soon as he came up, looking at An Yan with a frightened and aggrieved look.

An Yan wanted to laugh. Even if Ah Jiu made a mistake and ran back, he wouldn't say anything. Moreover, Senior Brother might really be in trouble this time. After all, it was Lin Xuanfeng who told him that Song Hongtian was bedridden.

"Okay, don't be so pathetic. I'll talk to my senior brother. You can stay back tonight."

"Great!" Ajiu and Xiao Su smiled at each other.

Sure enough, An Yan raised his eyebrows, these two little brats.

When Song Xin woke up, it was dark. She opened the curtains, but no light came in. She looked at the empty and dim bedroom, and a sense of desolation rose in her heart.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open and the lights came on.

"Are you awake? Come and have dinner." The person who came was Song Yu, who came over with a tray filled with sweet and soft white porridge and a variety of side dishes. He knew that Song Xin always ate light meals at night.

"Thank you, bro. How's dad?"

"He had a fever again in the afternoon. After feeding him medicine and tossing and turning for a while, he fell asleep."

"Brother, you must be tired too. I'll take care of father for you after dinner, and you should take some rest."

"Don't worry, he is sleeping soundly. I can rest in the room too. Let's eat quickly." Song Yu said as he pushed the bowl of porridge again. Song Xin had no choice but to pick up the spoon.

Song Yu watched Song Xin eat silently, and was also thinking silently. It has been almost two days since his father's accident. It is estimated that everyone who knows and shouldn't know knows it. For the sake of the Song family, he should take some measures.

"Brother, what's wrong with you? Are you too tired?"

"Ah, that's fine. You eat first, I have to go. Someone will come and clean up after you finish."

Song Xin nodded. Song Yu was about to stand up and leave when he suddenly thought of something. He took out a letter and said, "This is a letter someone wrote to you while you were asleep. You can take a look after you finish eating."

"Okay, brother." Song Xin went to pick up the letter with confusion.

After Song Yu left, Song Xin opened the letter. Sure enough, it was not written by Brother Yunqi, but by Zhang Dong. Zhang Dong's apology made Song Xin feel a little better.

When Song Xin woke up the next day, it was already past eight in the morning. The room was still dark, but this time the curtains were open. Song Xin stood by the window and looked out. There were low clouds outside and the wind was blowing.

The wind was a bit cold, and Jiu hugged his arms. Fortunately, he put on the coat that An Yan handed to him before going out. This time An Yan did not send him there, and he walked back alone.

Will the master be angry? Jiu was a little worried.

Of course. Ah Jiu stood outside the door quietly for a while and knocked on the master's door.

"Have you had breakfast?" Lin Xuanfeng asked after entering the door.

"I've eaten." Jiu answered a little stiffly.

"Ajiu, Master is wrong this time. Master is not used to living with two people yet. From now on, you can go back when Master is busy, but you must tell me in advance. If Master cannot come back for something, he will also tell you in advance, okay?" Lin Xuanfeng put away his stern face and spoke as gently as possible.

"I understand, Master. I won't run around anymore." Jiu was flattered and quickly expressed his opinion.

"Okay, it's cold outside, come and eat something." Lin Xuanfeng invited.

With an additional apprentice, Lin Xuanfeng has not figured out how to get along better with this little guy. But he wants to be a good master, just like his master once did.