Observing Wanfa from the martial arts school servants

Chapter 108 Questioning the Heart

The courtyard was silent for a full breath, then erupted in cheers.

Several ladies clapped their fans and praised Young Master Zou's noble spirit, which was indeed remarkable. Second Aunt couldn't stop smiling.

Only Xiaoxiao stared at the charred goose, drooling.

"Brother Lin Mu, do you have beggar's goose?"

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being focused on the goose and Zou Qingshu, Lin Mu pulled Xiaoxiao half a step back into the corner and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Now nobody should pay attention to him anymore.

He was going to search for clues about body-strengthening techniques.

Just as Lin Mu was about to leave, there was a sudden noise at the door.

All eyes were drawn to it.

A young man walked in from outside the door, followed by three guards. The guards had swords hanging at their waists and were martial artists at the Core Formation Realm.

The young man was in his early twenties, wearing a moon-white robe with an exquisitely embroidered gold emblem on the lapel: a three-masted sailing ship cutting through the raging waves, with two seal characters engraved on the sail—"Together in the same boat."

His face was handsome, with clear features and a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. In his right hand he held an ivory folding fan, its tassel a tiny, dark red jade pendant that swayed gently with his steps. A young master of fine gold.

Several ladies in the courtyard were already whispering among themselves, saying that Young Master Jin Yu was the youngest steward of the Tongzhou Society, skilled in both literature and martial arts. He had reached the level of a scholar in literature and the level of a condensed core in martial arts. Even the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture would take the initiative to bow to him.

The Tongzhou Society is a mysterious alliance with abundant resources, and it only accepts geniuses in both the literary and martial arts fields.

The name "Tongzhou" means to weather the storm together.

The Tongzhou Society is now considered one of the top three forces in Qingzhou Prefecture.

Young Master Jin Yu walked to the center of the courtyard, fanning himself with a folding fan, and his gaze lingered on Zou Qingshu's face for a moment.

"Oh, Young Master Zou, what are you doing?"

Then he suddenly shouted, his voice not loud, but like an invisible hammer striking everyone's heart.

"Did you pass the martial arts examination to become a scholar yourself?"

The sound burst forth with golden light.

Zou Qingshu's body jolted violently, and the bamboo slip slipped from his hand, falling to the ground with a thud.

His pupils suddenly dilated, his lips moved, and he squeezed out a few very low and indistinct words from his throat.

"My mother...my mother told me to bring a rubbing of the 'Wanmin Shu' (a book by the great Confucian scholar Wenxin) into the examination hall..."

He stood there blankly, as if his soul had been ripped out, just like the demon goose that had been immobilized by the Heart-Cleansing Spell.

The courtyard was quiet for a full moment.

Then it exploded.

The ladies stopped holding their fans at the same time and looked at each other in bewilderment.

The Zou family members suddenly rushed out from the crowd to try to stop them, but were gently stopped by the guards of the Golden Jade Prince.

My second aunt rushed forward angrily.

The young master closed his folding fan and tapped it lightly in his palm, the faint smile on his lips remaining unchanged from beginning to end.

A bystander, who was watching the spectacle, whispered to his companion what kind of technique this was. The companion replied in a low voice, "This is the 'Heart-Questioning Technique' that made the Golden Jade Prince famous."

No one can lie to him.

Lin Mu stood in the corner and watched the whole scene from beginning to end.

He recalled what Wen Haoran had said on the city wall: "Examine yourself three times a day, question your own heart, and you may also ask others."

Wen Haoran's questioning of the heart is gentle and warm, like a clear spring flowing over stones;

The Golden Jade Prince's questioning of the heart was sharp, like a knife piercing through a paper window.

The same technique can be completely different in the hands of different people.

He hid behind the crowd and quietly observed, but unfortunately, the other party no longer used it.

At this moment, a young man from the Zou family stepped forward from the crowd.

"Zou Qingshan has arrived."

"Is Zou Qingshan stronger, or is Jin Yu Gongzi stronger?"

"Of course it's Young Master Jin Yu, who excels in both literature and martial arts."

"I would say it's not necessarily true. Zou Qingshan is the most outstanding young member of the Zou family, and he's also very composed."

Seeing that the two were about to engage in a full-blown fight, Lin Mu hoisted Xiaoxiao onto his shoulder and kept a close eye on their every move.

The young master twirled the folding fan between his fingers and waved to the three guards.

The three guards simultaneously took three steps back, loosening their grip on the hilts of their swords.

He looked at Zou Qingshan and tapped his folding fan lightly in his palm.

"Try the Zou family's Green Mountain Fist."

Without wasting words, Zou Qingshan stomped his left foot on the ground, causing the blue bricks to shatter, and his entire body crashed into the Golden Jade Prince like a collapsing mountain, his right fist striking straight out.

Green Mountain Fist – The fist's power is as heavy and thick as a mountain pressing down. When the fist wind breaks through the air, the air is compressed into a very muffled and suppressed groan. Several ladies in the courtyard were forced back several steps by the fist wind.

The young master Jin Yu neither dodged nor avoided the attack. He unfolded his folding fan with a swish, revealing a landscape painting depicting a misty, rainy landscape.

He raised the fan upwards, then slammed his fist into the fan, producing a very dull and strange sound.

It was like being plunged into a bottomless pool of water; the force was swallowed up layer by layer, without even a splash.

Zou Qingshan's pupils contracted slightly, his right fist retracted, and his left fist followed closely behind.

The second move of Green Mountain Fist – Layered Peaks – involves alternating punches, each punch heavier and more powerful than the last, with layers of force like a continuous mountain range, each punch being three times heavier than the previous one.

Young Master Jin Yu closed his folding fan, its ribs as smooth as jade, and lightly touched the tip of Zou Qingshan's fist.

This seemingly casual strike precisely targeted the weakest point in the punch's force.

Zou Qingshan's punching momentum was slightly halted by this touch, and the continuous force of his punch was interrupted for a moment.

In that instant, the Golden Jade Prince's fan tip slashed diagonally, and an extremely thin and sharp white fan wisp detached from the fan ribs, shaped like a crescent moon, silently slicing towards Zou Qingshan's throat.

Zou Qingshan dodged to the side, the fan's energy grazing his neck and cleanly slicing a deep, bone-revealing gash into the pillar behind him, sending wood chips flying.

The fan energy was incredibly sharp, thinner, faster, and more cunning than Yue Guan's sword energy.

Instead of retreating, Zou Qingshan advanced, unleashing the third move of Qingshan Fist – Zhenyue.

He raised his right fist high and then slammed it down like Mount Tai.

This punch was devoid of any fancy moves; it was simply the purest and most brute force, pressing down so hard that even the air seemed to freeze in its wake.

The young master Jin Yu raised the folding fan and slammed his fist into the fan ribs. This time, it was no longer a muffled thud, but a very crisp and sharp sound of metal clashing.

The blue bricks beneath the feet of the young master Jin Yu were cracking inch by inch, with cracks spreading outwards like a spider web, but his hands remained as steady as a rock.

He used his folding fan to block Zou Qingshan's fist, and then lightly flicked the fan with his left hand.

Suddenly, a very faint white light appeared on the misty landscape painting on the fan, and a wisp of fan air flew out from the fan and went straight for Zou Qingshan's chest.

Zou Qingshan withdrew his fist to block, and the fan energy exploded on his arm guard, tearing his sleeve to shreds and revealing a shallow bloodstain underneath.

The two exchanged blows in the courtyard, their fists and fan energy clashing and intertwining in the twilight.

Zou Qingshan's Qingshan Fist is powerful and steady, with each punch carrying immense force.

The Golden Jade Prince's folding fan was nimble and sharp, its energy flowing like a knife, slicing and dispersing the force of the punches.

Around the thirtieth round, the two stopped fighting at the same time.

Several fine bloodstains appeared on Zou Qingshan's fist, cut by the fan's energy.

The misty landscape painting on the Golden Jade Young Master's folding fan was also blurred by the force of the punch, and several extremely fine cracks appeared on the edge of the fan ribs.

They knew that unless they fought to the death, they would not be able to determine who was superior.