Chapter 223: Chapter 142: Devouring the Beast Egg, Breakthrough
Suddenly, they noticed his arrival.
Inside the training hall, one of the disciples’ faces lit up with excitement. He quickly cupped his fist and called out.
As if on cue, the other disciples who were training also reacted, shouting excitedly. Some of the bolder ones even hurried over to surround him.
"Senior Brother Lu, have you eaten?"
"Senior Brother Lu, did you just get back from a mission? We haven’t seen you around for the past few days!"
"Senior Brother Lu..."
One voice after another rang out, and the hall instantly became a clamor of noise.
Lu Chao was taken aback at first, then a resigned smile appeared on his face.
He nodded in acknowledgment to one after another. Seeing this, Zheng Wu, who was leaning on a crutch and still nursing his injuries in the distance, broke into a grin. On the other side, Luo Yan also shook his head with a smile.
"Junior Brother Lu really has everyone hanging on his every word now,"
he teased.
He wasn’t jealous or upset by the scene. On the contrary, he felt happy and a little relieved.
If Lu Chao hadn’t turned the tide, the reputation of the Jinshi Boxing Hall might have been dragged through the mud.
Zheng Wu nodded in agreement, which pulled at a wound on his face, making him grimace again.
Luo Yan chuckled, then took two steps forward, clapped his hands, and shouted at the disciples who were swarming the entrance.
"Alright everyone, get back to your training."
"Make the most of your time!"
As his voice fell, the disciples smiled sheepishly and began to disperse.
With the crowd gone, Lu Chao finally had some breathing room. He walked into the training hall, greeted Luo Yan and Zheng Wu in turn, and then asked the latter about his injuries.
"Don’t worry. Master helps me clear my qi and blood every day, and someone is assigned to change my poultices. I should be fully recovered in less than a month."
Zheng Wu said with a smile, indicating that there was no need to worry.
Lu Chao nodded, relieved. Then he saw Luo Yan approach and lower his voice. "You haven’t been here for a few days. Things have been tense outside, haven’t they?"
He was clearly aware of the storm surrounding the Ruan Hui incident. Zheng Wu also looked over with concern, murmuring in agreement.
"It’s fine. Just some routine questioning. It doesn’t affect me."
Lu Chao shook his head lightly, not wanting to drag them into his personal feud.
He then chatted and smiled for a bit. After learning that Master Luo was at the hall, he quickly made his way to the back courtyard.
He passed through a corridor of wooden trellises.
Verdant vines twined around a crisscrossing web of wires. Plump, glistening bunches of grapes hung down, releasing a faint, fruity fragrance.
Wearing a straw hat, Luo Qianshan was bent over among the flowers, personally pulling weeds and loosening the soil.
The sight didn’t surprise Lu Chao, as he had always known his master had such a hobby. Luo Qianshan personally tended to all the fruits, flowers, and plants in the entire back courtyard.
"Master."
Finally, Lu Chao stopped in front of a flower bed and called out.
Luo Qianshan nodded, then straightened up and pointed at the flowers and plants before him.
"What do you think?"
Colorful buds were in bloom, with roses and orchids complementing each other.
"This disciple doesn’t know much about flowers."
Lu Chao answered honestly, but still studied them for a moment before offering a considered opinion. "But I can tell they’re growing very well."
"Mm."
With a slight nod, Luo Qianshan finally took off his straw hat and stepped out of the flower bed’s soil.
"There was a storm a few days ago. I was worried they wouldn’t survive."
"But looking at them now, how can they grow stronger without weathering the storm?"
The words were spoken casually, but they held a deeper meaning for the listener.
Lu Chao watched his master, clad in a gray robe, walk over to the stone table, his cloth shoes unstained by the mud.
He was secretly taken aback. ’Is he talking about me?’
"What is it?"
As if sensing his thoughts, Luo Qianshan turned his head to look at him, their eyes meeting.
With a small smile, he asked, "Do you really think I’m getting old?"
"No."
Lu Chao quickly shook his head. He knew his master must have heard a great deal and had guessed that he was under suspicion.
He was about to say something.
"Things have been tense outside lately."
Luo Qianshan, his hair completely white, picked up a teacup and poured a cup of clear tea.
He didn’t know the truth, but he knew that the young man before him was the one he had chosen as his Closed-door Disciple.
"If you get tired, you can always come back to the hall."
"After all..." he said with a faint smile, "I’m not dead yet."
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