Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 31 Better to die than to die, Grandmaster Zhou Sheng, may you rest in peace.

"The thief transformed into a wisp of black smoke and hid in the disciple's room."

Lu Qian knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head, silently praying, "May my fellow Daoist die rather than me, Grandmaster Uncle, may you rest in peace!"

"boom!"

As soon as Lü Qian finished speaking, Zhou Meng's figure transformed into a bolt of lightning and rushed directly into the room.

The wooden door to the room was smashed open, and the yard was filled with flying dust and sawdust.

"Where are you going?"

Zhou Meng shouted loudly from inside the room, and immediately a huge Tai Chi diagram unfolded from the room, quickly spreading throughout the entire courtyard as Yin and Yang rotated.

The dust and sawdust that rose up blocked the view of Master Yunlong and his apprentice Lü Qian in the courtyard.

They stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking into the house where they couldn't see the scene clearly. Master Yunlong looked somewhat anxious.

At this time, Daoist Yunlong was unaware of Zhou Sheng's identity and past grievances. In his eyes, Zhou Sheng was a thief who intended to harm Wudang.

He wanted to rush in and help Zhou Meng, but he glanced at Lü Qian behind him and stayed put, worried.

"boom!"

A huge explosion suddenly rang out in the room, and the powerful blast blew all the windows out.

"Splash—"

Immediately afterwards, all the roof tiles fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The dust in the yard churned even more violently, and a thick layer of dust enveloped the entire house.

Seeing such a grand scene, Master Yunlong felt a surge of urgency and took a few steps forward.

But as Lü Qian watched the increasingly thick smoke in front of him, an inappropriate thought popped into his mind.

"boom!"

Before Master Yunlong could get close, a plume of black smoke broke through the roof, which was now just a single layer of plywood, and then shot rapidly into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Cough cough..."

Zhou Meng's slightly hurried cough came from within the smoke, making Master Yunlong very nervous. "Master, are you alright?"

"fine."

As he spoke, the Tai Chi diagram that had enveloped the entire courtyard quickly retracted, and the two yin-yang fish flowed and converged into the depths of the smoke.

"Cough cough... This thief is quite skilled and has some tricks up his sleeve. I wasn't careful and he turned into black smoke and escaped."

Zhou Meng covered his mouth and nose, squinted his eyes, and slowly walked out of the smoke.

"Xiao Qian, you should stay with the Grand Tutor for the next few days. That forbidden technique is a bit tricky. Let the Grand Tutor check if you've made any mistakes in practicing it."

"Yunlong, have someone come over later to repair Xiaoqian's yard. Once it's fixed, let him move over."

Zhou Meng's dark gray Taoist robe and hair were covered in dust and wood chips, and his face was also covered in mud and ash. He looked travel-worn, as if he had just used some serious methods.

He turned around and looked at the ruins where cigarette ash was rising, then turned to the master and apprentice behind him and gave them instructions.

"yes!"

The master and apprentice bowed their heads in response.

Lu Qian looked up at Zhou Meng's tattered clothes and shoes, and asked, "Grand Tutor, are you alright?"

"It's alright. Although I couldn't do anything to that thief, he didn't get any advantage over me either."

Master Zhou Meng flicked his sleeves, brushing off the dust and sawdust that had settled on his body, and waved to Lü Qian.

"Your master and I waited for you for a long time during morning prayers today, but you didn't show up. You're not usually lazy, and you're never late for morning prayers. We were worried that something might have happened to you, so we came to check on you."

"By the way, besides giving you this forbidden technique, what else did that thief do to you?"

As if remembering something, Zhou Meng's expression turned serious again, and he stared intently at Lü Qian in front of him.

Seeing Zhou Meng's reaction, Master Yunlong also became nervous. He stood silently behind Zhou Meng and carefully examined Lü Qian in front of him.

"No, this morning I received this scroll. After checking that it contained no harmful methods, I curiously opened it and took a look. But I didn't expect that with just one glance, the forbidden technique would be imprinted in my mind and start operating on its own."

"The Qi within the disciple also circulated freely according to the method recorded above, and then the disciple was pulled into the inner realm."

Lu Qian held up the Feng Hou Tu scroll in his hand and handed the fresh scroll to Zhou Meng. He then said, "But what I didn't expect was that this forbidden technique was still operating in the inner realm. After the disciple left the inner realm, he found that he seemed to have already learned this forbidden technique."

With a wry smile, Lü Qian bowed to Zhou Meng, "This disciple has inadvertently learned a forbidden Wudang technique. I beg Grand Master to punish me!"

"Good child, get up quickly, this is not your fault. Since you call this thing a forbidden technique, you must know what it is."

Looking into Lü Qian's clear eyes, Zhou Meng breathed a sigh of relief. He helped Lü Qian up, pointed to the Feng Hou Tu that had been rolled up again in his hand, and said with a solemn expression.

"Master, what is this? Could it be the back mountain...?"

"Shut up!"

Zhou Meng turned around and sternly interrupted Daoist Yunlong's curious words. Then he turned back to look at Lü Qian and said, "Child, I won't hide it from you. This thing is a calamity left over from Wudang. You shouldn't have been involved, but now, alas..."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng grabbed Feng Hou Tu with both hands and put it behind his back. He lowered his head and sighed.

"Grand Tutor, you are overthinking it. Since joining Wudang, Lü Qian has always identified himself as a Wudang disciple. As for the thing in your hand, I do have some suspicions, but please rest assured, Grand Tutor, Lü Qian will not tell you about today's events or what you have."

Lu Qian took a step back and knelt down before Zhou Meng again, his forehead touching the ground. He continued in a deep voice, "This forbidden technique is indeed extremely dangerous. I was only able to master it today due to good luck and an unintentional mistake. I will not and dare not reveal its existence to the Lu family!"

"This disciple vows to uphold the Dao!"

"Good child, it's not that your Grand Tutor doesn't trust you, but this thing is truly untrustworthy. Wudang can't afford to cause any trouble with it now."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng channeled his Qi into his hands, using Tai Chi energy to draw the paper scroll into the swirling vortex of energy within his palms.

The powerful flow, like a high-speed blender, directly pulverized the scroll.

"drink!"

Zhou Meng shouted again, and the force rotating in his palm stirred even faster.

The friction of the paper scraps caused heat to accumulate, and just like starting a fire by rubbing sticks together, the paper scraps quickly ignited between Zhou Meng's palms.

After confirming that the force in his palm had even dispersed all the ashes, Zhou Meng used his palm power to push the debris into the air, allowing it to dissipate in various places with the mountain winds of Wudang.

"Now I can rest assured."

Zhou Meng stood with his hands behind his back. He looked up and watched the dregs disappear into the air, carried away by the mountain wind, before nodding.

"Alright, Xiao Qian, come with me to the back mountain first."

"Yunlong, go and lead your disciples in their training."

As Zhou Meng gave his instructions, he strode out of the courtyard.

"yes!"

Yunlong and his apprentice Lü Qian quickly followed Zhou Meng's pace.