Chapter 16: Granddaughter

Eighth District, Ankang Tumor Hospital.

The old man walked out wearing hospital clothes, and no one stopped him; the hospital isn’t a prison, nobody controls the comings and goings of patients.

In fact, many patients shamelessly wish to stay.

The spirited old man stood on the street, lost in thought.

"So, where should I go now?"

Zhang Fusheng was somewhat troubled.

Is my granddaughter really Zhong Yue?

What a headache.

"Should I return to the hospital?" Zhang Fusheng muttered to himself, decisively rejecting the idea. It looked too strange: a person marked as nearly dead in hospital records suddenly full of life...

He pondered whether he had left any traces.

All the surveillance cameras were turned off, his face was always masked, and only Dean Long was still alive.

But even he didn’t know who I am.

He glanced at the time, it was just five in the afternoon; as long as he reached the clinic by eleven, it was fine. That’s when the dark alley starts getting lively and when payments are due.

Zhang Fusheng bought a cheap wooden cane from a small street shop and headed towards the direction of the Snake Fist Hall.

"Real name, image, identity."

"In fact, just the image is enough. The real name and identity aren’t necessary, but... just in case."

On the way, Zhang Fusheng’s mind was racing. The ’levels’ of this world are probably quite high.

Just the top-tier martial artists of the Twelfth Refinement possess over ten thousand kilograms of immense strength, and the great success of the Contemplation Technique already has the ability to influence reality,

and the Martial Arts Masters above the Martial Artist’s Twelve Refinements are said to be ’non-human.’

Online, it says that martial artists, martial arts masters, can emit white light from their mouths, their organs burst with thunderbolts, their vigor manifests as tides, their eyes shine with divine radiance as ’superhumans.’

Zhang Fusheng did not know what levels are above martial arts masters.

But there must still be a road, perhaps a long one.

"In such a world, there might be... methods related to cause and effect, or perhaps the ability to trace through real names."

Looking at the scenery outside the taxi window, the old man, Zhang Fusheng, seemed thoughtful.

If that’s the case, if there truly are such people and things on that level, if they investigate ’Zhong Mountain,’ all they’ll find is ’Zhong Mountain.’

Because I bought Zhong Mountain’s identity, or rather, his cause and effect.

He planned to trade as Zhong Mountain in the future, so if exposed, he could also just abandon this identity.

"The progress of the Tiger Roar Fist is still unknown, Body Refinement was about fifty years, Breathing Technique and Contemplation Technique, both practiced for about sixty years."

"These ’years’ weren’t years of continuous practice, in reality, the time Zhong Mountain spent on each was about two hours every day."

Zhang Fusheng calculated silently, the progress of the Tiger Roar Fist and body refinement time could be directly merged, but the other two had to be taken slowly.

With the Breathing Technique, it’s unlikely that even with sixty years of practice, I could push the Spring Thunder Technique to perfection; it’s the same with the Contemplation Technique,

my aptitude is still poor, using it now would be somewhat wasteful.

These two could be kept as ’trading chips’ for now.

Of course, there’s also the necessity to complete the transaction with Zhong Mountain within a month, which means making that girl named Zhong Yue start on the Contemplation Technique.

Zhang Fusheng planned to first try to guide her into it on his own, if that didn’t work, he’d have to ’sell’ her the contemplation time.

And then there’s the task of ’Clearing the Gateway.’

This is what Zhang Fusheng gifted to Zhong Mountain.

"Borrow your body, take on your cause and effect..."

"According to the contract’s feedback, if such a delayed transaction isn’t fulfilled, all that was received in the trade would be taken back; fortunately, there is no punishment."

As his thoughts raced, the taxi came to a slow stop.

"Old man, we’ve reached the Snake Fist Hall, it’s twenty-one yuan, twenty is fine."

He paid and got out of the car.

Outside the Snake Fist Hall, some salespeople were still handing out leaflets, one of whom was the little girl named Zhong Yue,

Zhang Fusheng didn’t actually know if this was Zhong Mountain’s granddaughter, but he decided to try it out.

If it wasn’t, he’d just sneak back into the hospital and reorganize the records again....fine.

She was indeed Zhong Mountain’s granddaughter.

He saw Zhong Yue already noticed him, standing still in her spot.

"Gran...Grandpa?"

The little girl rushed over like a gust of wind, throwing herself into the old man’s arms, not caring about the eyes of passersby, crying loudly.

"Grandpa!!"

"There, there, don’t cry." The old man gently patted the young girl’s back, even though he really didn’t know what to do, after all, this was his first time being a ’grandfather.’

Zhong Yue sniffled, lifted her head, and stared at her grandfather’s familiar, flushed face, her eyes reddening even more:

"They said you have already passed away, your ashes scattered into the Jiangzhou River..."

The old man didn’t respond, he softly patted her head.

Zhong Yue wiped away her tears:

"I’ll go ask for leave!"

She ran back to the Martial Arts Dojo and soon hurriedly returned, pulling Zhang Fusheng’s hand:

"Grandpa, let’s go home!"

"I want to confront that vile person, ask them in person!"

Zhang Fusheng stopped her, calmly saying:

"Yue."

"We’re not going back, that’s not grandpa’s home."

Zhong Yue paused, her eyes once again turning red:

"It’s alright, grandpa, I’ve already moved out...I’m working at the dojo now, the treatment is great, and I can learn boxing for free, but Senior Brother Wang who teaches boxing isn’t as good at it as grandpa..."

She held Zhang Fusheng’s hand, narrating every single thing happening around her as they walked.

From her college entrance exam results to the two jobs she recently changed, then last night’s crescent moon, this morning’s butterfly,

to the mysterious customer she met earlier, rude and tough, but capable of exerting two thousand kilograms of strength.

She told everything, poured out everything, just like anyone who meets again after a long absence.

They walked all the way to an old noodle shop.

"Boss, two bowls of noodles, the usual!"

"Alright, Yue’s shift over...oh, Elder Zhong?" The boss was taken aback: "So you’ve recovered?"

Zhang Fusheng smiled:

"The heavens favored me, I’m almost better."

"I knew it!" The boss marveled: "Someone as good as you is bound to be rewarded...I’ll get the noodles!"

Soon, two steaming bowls of noodles were served.

"On the house, today’s my treat!" The boss patted his chest, very generously, then knowingly stepped away.

"Grandpa, you always loved this noodle shop the most."

Zhang Fusheng tried a small bite, the chili was a bit too much, not quite to his taste, but he didn’t show it, slowly eating the noodles.

Zhong Yue also slurped down her noodles, the steam from the freshly cooked dish making her eyes turn red again.

"Yue, have you started on the Contemplation Technique?"

"Not yet, grandpa, I’ve been too busy recently...I’ll work hard this month, try to get started on the Contemplation Technique before starting school, and see if I can switch to the Martial Arts department then."

She spoke indistinctly between bites, recounting every detail, while Zhang Fusheng listened patiently.

After finishing their noodles, the grandfather and granddaughter strolled side by side on the street. It was past seven, the sky darkening, the evening sun casting its glow on the long street, and the early summer night breeze cooling down.

Zhong Yue held her grandpa’s hand, walking from one end of the street to the other, and then back again.

"Yue, grandpa has some matters to handle later." Zhang Fusheng patted her head gently:

"From my time in the hospital bed, grandpa had a few epiphanies, made great strides in the Contemplation Technique; in a few days, we’ll see if I can guide you to start."

"Okay!"

Zhong Yue nodded vigorously, then once again tightly hugged the old man.

For a long time.

She whispered:

"Grandpa... is really gone, isn’t he?"

Zhang Fusheng’s pupils contracted sharply, just as he was about to say something, the young girl sniffled.

"Grandpa never called me Yue, always called me dear girl."

"When I hugged grandpa, his body was always soft and warm, not stiff like this."

"Grandpa also hated that noodle shop the most."

"But... thank you anyway."

The words Zhang Fusheng was about to utter froze.

She didn’t ask who Zhang Fusheng was or why he looked exactly like her grandpa, or why he would impersonate her grandpa.

She just quietly hugged ’grandpa.’

For another long while.

"Grandpa was too sick, forgotten many things, but still remembers you." Zhang Fusheng said softly: "Grandpa is still grandpa."

The young girl didn’t reply, only softly asked:

"Grandpa, will you come back tomorrow?"

"Grandpa has some things to take care of, but I’ll come in a few days."

"Okay, grandpa, I’ll wait for you."

She turned and ran off; it was the true boundary between day and night, with only half of the sun remaining, and the moon had already appeared on the other side.

She ran towards the moon, not looking back.

The old man felt his nose sting, his eyes redden a bit, his heart heavy.

This wasn’t his emotion, it was Zhong Mountain’s.

Zhang Fusheng sighed softly.