The Hermit of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 5

Tong Ying felt uneasy under her gaze and could not help but ask, "What do you want to see me for?"

"Humph, you must have sneaked to Shili Slope last night to meet that fortune-teller old man." Tong Ling didn't answer. She glanced at the bloodshot eyes of Tong Ying and said angrily.

"Old man?" Tong Ying froze for a moment, then smiled wryly. Master Shanfu was only in his early thirties, so how did he become an old man in Tong Ling's eyes?

Tong Ling saw that he didn't answer, so she assumed that it was Tong Ying who had sneaked out last night. She then asked, "Brother Ying, did you get any information about your father from him?"

When he heard those words, Tong Ying's face darkened as he turned his head away.

Tong Ling obviously already knew the answer from his face, so she sighed and stopped asking.

The two stood facing each other for a long time. Tong Ying seemed to feel strange about the atmosphere. After thinking for a moment, he found a topic to talk about. "By the way, Ling'er, is master in the martial arts hall?"

"Yes, I saw dad in the martial arts hall when I came just now," Tong Ling replied subconsciously. She glanced at Tong Ying and asked, "You want to find my father?"

"Well, I have something to discuss with my master." Tong Ying nodded.

"Oh, alright then." Tong Ling seemed to be a bit disappointed. She leaned to one side and offered Tong Ying a path that she could walk through.

Tong Ying had clearly noticed Tong Ling's strangeness, but he didn't know what to say. He took two steps forward, then suddenly turned around and took something out of his sleeve and handed it to Tong Ling.

"What's this?" Tong Ling was stunned at first, but when she saw the item that Tong Ying handed over, she couldn't help but be happy. She relaxed her brows and unconsciously smiled.

"I saw that you liked this hairpin very much yesterday, so I sneaked out and bought it from the peddler. Look..." The young man's face was reddish as he said in a low voice.

"Thank you, Brother Ying." Tong Ling took the jade hairpin from Tong Ying's hand excitedly. It was the jade hairpin she had taken a fancy to yesterday when she was shopping. Later, she forgot to buy it because of the appearance of the fortune-teller. Unexpectedly, Tong Ying was so considerate that she quietly bought it.

At some point, a red cloud had flown up to Tong Ling's cheeks. She slightly lowered her head, pretending to fiddle with the jade hairpin in her hands. For a very long time, she did not open her mouth.

Tong Ying saw her lowering her head and did not know what to say, so he habitually said something. After a long time, he said, "Well... I'll go to the Martial Arts Hall to find my master first."

"Hey, Brother Ying." Tong Ling stopped him before Tong Ying turned to leave.

"Is there anything else?" Tong Ying turned around and asked.

"Help me put on the jade hairpin." A hint of a smile played at the corners of Tong Ling's mouth. She stuffed the jade hairpin back into Tong Ying's mouth before turning around.

"Oh, okay." Tong Ying took a step forward and stood behind Tong Ling. Because he was nervous, he didn't notice that Tong Ling's shoulders were also trembling slightly.

"It's done." Tong Ying gently put the jade hairpin on Tong Ling's head and then stepped back a few steps.

Tong Ling turned her head, looked at Tong Ying, and asked softly, "Brother Ying, is it beautiful?"

Tong Ying looked at her beautiful face like a flower. Without makeup, her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes were like autumn water, and her beautiful cloud-like hair cascaded down like a black waterfall. Her skin was as crystal as beautiful as a heavenly lake, and her beautiful eyes were slightly rolling. She could not help but say, "Good... good."

"I'm asking if this jade hairpin is good-looking. What are you looking at when you stare at someone's face?" Unexpectedly, Tong Ling said cutely and her face turned even redder. She lowered her head slightly unconsciously.

Tong Ying was suddenly enlightened and felt a little embarrassed. She could only laugh and said, "Both are good-looking, and so are they."

"I'm going to look for Master." Then he quickly found a place to leave.

Tong Ling's pretty face revealed a smile as she watched the back of Tong Ying as he fled. Her black and white eyes faintly revealed the charm of a young lady that was rarely seen in the day to come.

"Master." As soon as he entered the martial arts hall, Tong Ying found Tong Yuan among his martial brothers and sisters who were practicing martial arts.

"Oh, Ying'er is here." Tong Yuan had always been a man of his reputation. He couldn't help smiling when he saw Tong Ying walking slowly towards him.

Staring at the warm smile on Tong Yuan's face, Tong Ying knew that his master did not take yesterday's incident to heart. Unconsciously, a warm feeling welled up in his heart.

"Ying'er, why are you looking for me?" Tong Yuan asked with a smile when he saw that Ying'er was silent.

"Oh, I'd like to go to Yanchuan, and I hope master can agree." Tong Ying came to her senses and hurried to explain her purpose.

"Oh, Xun Chuan?" Tong Yuan was stunned. He glanced at Tong Ying and asked, "What are you going to do there?"

"Yes, I want to go to the Water Mirror Villa to visit Mr. Water Mirror," Tong Ying honestly replied.

Tong Yuan thought for a moment and said slowly, "Oh, Mr. Water Mirror is an expert. It'd be nice if you could get closer to him."

Tong Ying was delighted to hear that. Since Tong Yuan said so, he would not stop him from going to the Water Mirror Villa.

"It's just that you have never met him. I'm afraid that he may not be willing to see you. If you return empty-handed, you'll have wasted your trip."

"Don't worry, Master. I'm sure I'll be able to meet Mr. Water Mirror," Tong Ying said anxiously. He did not mention the matter of Shanfu. Over the years, Tong Yuan had already spent a lot of effort searching for his father for him. This time, he did not want to let his Master worry about him anymore.

"Oh, since you're so confident, Master won't stop you anymore. However, the world is in danger. Now in Guandong, the bandit groups are still in trouble. I'm worried about you going alone." Tong Yuan frowned, thought for a while, and suddenly clapped his hands. "By the way, a few days ago, the steward of the Bai Trading Company asked me to send someone to escort their trade caravan to Xu Chang. I asked your Eldest Senior Brother to take the disciples of Martial Club with him. If you go with him, Senior Brother and I can take care of each other."

"Yes, Master." When Tong Ying saw Tong Yuan insisted, he thought that it was not a bad thing to be his Eldest Senior Brother's disciple. So he nodded and agreed.

"Well, you can discuss with your eldest brother when to set out." Tong Yuan nodded and turned his eyes to the disciples who practiced martial arts in the martial arts hall.

Tong Ying bowed to him, turned around and walked out. Tong Yuan watched him leave with the corner of his eyes, with an elusive look on his face.

Tong Yuan had taken in three direct disciples, but now there were only two left in the martial art club. Except Tong Ying, the first disciple Zhang Xiu was left. And the other one had already started his apprenticeship, and wanted to make a name for himself. As the eldest brother Zhang Xiu had also finished his apprenticeship, he stayed in the martial art club all the time. As if he was not like his junior brother, he did not seem to be ready to ask for an official and a half job. Instead, he became a martial artist. He occasionally guarded and protected the merchant caravans who came to the martial art club for protection. And it was rare that he took down the merchant caravans. Gradually, he won the Tong Yuan Martial Art Club and his own reputation. More and more business companies came to his place, and most of the business companies designated Zhang Xiu to go with their merchant caravans.

Zhang Xiu lived in the south yard of the martial arts club. She also lived in a quiet house. When Tong Ying found him, she happened to see her eldest senior brother practicing martial arts, so he was not in a hurry to speak but just watched by the side.

"Ha!" Zhang Xiu raised her hands, and the silver tip of the spear stabbed at the big locust tree in the courtyard like a snake. The tip of the spear was inserted into the tree, bringing up a lot of dry old bark.

"Good!" Tong Ying was also a person who loved martial arts. Seeing his big brother's amazing spear skills, he couldn't help but shout out loud with his hands clasped.

"Haha, what brought you here today, Younger Brother?" Zhang Xiu took back the silver spear and turned to look at Tong Ying with a smile.

"Eldest Senior Brother must be joking. Your move just now was amazing and amazing."

"Okay, okay, you don't need to give me the soup," Zhang Xiu waved her hand and said, "Just say what you want to say."

"Heh heh, since that's the case, then I'll be frank with you." Tong Ying chuckled and told Zhang Xiu about his trip to Yanchuan. "My master told me that he entrusted Senior Brother Bai to escort his caravan, so he asked me to look for Senior Brother and let me go with you."

"Oh, since Master said so, then I can only obey." Zhang Xiu thought for a moment and said slowly, "But nowadays there are many riots in various places, especially the yellow scarf thief who is running around, burning, killing and looting all kinds of crimes. I'm afraid you have to be careful along the way."

"The yellow-scarved thief is already so rampant?" Tong Ying could not help but be surprised when he heard this. Of course, he had heard of this rebellious yellow-scarved thief.

It was said that the Yellow-scarved Army dominated the Road of Peace, but its origin was because of a plague. Several years ago, a huge plague broke out all of a sudden in the Central Plains, and many civilians were infected with it. The tunnel began to develop at that time. The Taoist started to preach in the name of cured people. As a result, the imperial court did not pay much attention to it. Then the reputation of the Road of Peace gradually rose. Its leader, Zhang Jiao, developed a large number of believers in the local people, and had accumulated a lot of wealth. However, at that time, there were many powerful people, officials and eunuchs in the letter, so the Han family did not pay much attention to it.

However, not long after, the strategy was revealed and he revealed his true colors. He spread corruption of the Han Dynasty to the believers and called on these people to resist the violent government. He even shouted the slogan, "Heaven is dead, the earth is lawful, 60 years old, the world is good.", "The uprising is ready on purpose, and the time for the uprising is set to be in 60 years old."

It was a pity that someone leaked the news to the imperial court later. The Emperor of Han was furious when he knew about it and arrested a large number of disciples of the Road of Peace. Zhang Jiao saw that his rebellion was exposed, so he naturally couldn't act according to the original plan. So he made a prompt decision and led the revolts in advance. All of these Taoists were wrapped in yellow scarfs on their heads, so they were also called Yellow-scarved Army.