Chapter 78: Little Hai Learns Martial Arts

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Little Hai Learns Martial Arts

’That sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen!’ Ye Xing’s eyes flashed, and he immediately sprinted in that direction. He didn’t even bother to close the iron gate behind him; after all, he had already stored the Purple Light Group Teleportation Gate in his Qiankun Bag, so leaving the gate open didn’t matter anymore.

Even without using his True Qi, Ye Xing’s speed was incredibly fast based on his physical condition alone. A Martial Artist’s physique was far superior to that of an ordinary person. After all, as True Qi circulated through the body, it would gradually and imperceptibly improve one’s physical constitution. That was why Martial Artists typically lived longer than ordinary people.

The kitchen was close, and he arrived in just a couple of breaths. However, the scene before him left Ye Xing feeling rather speechless.

A small black dog with sleek, dark fur was barking nonstop at the windowsill. But there wasn’t a single person on the sill—only a small calico cat. It was the same stray that had visited Ye Xing’s kitchen before, and it was currently sprawled out on the windowsill, fast asleep. Below, only the little black dog was yapping its head off.

He’d thought a thief had broken into his house, but now, he couldn’t even see a shadow of a person, let alone a thief.

"Damn it, I told you to guard the house and watch for thieves, not pick a fight with a cat for no reason!"

Ye Xing couldn’t help but ponder a very serious problem. ’Did I give him the wrong name?’ Judging by the situation, little Erhei definitely had the potential to be a total goofball.

"WOOF!" "WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Seeing Ye Xing enter, little Erhei barked excitedly. With a WHOOSH, it turned into a black blur and shot to Ye Xing’s feet, its tail wagging furiously as it nudged its head against his legs.

"Haha, stop fooling around. Go on and play!" Ye Xing said with a laugh as he picked up little Erhei. "Don’t pick fights with a cat for no reason. You’re a Demon Beast, for crying out loud!" He patted its head, shook its paws, and set it back on the ground.

Perhaps because it hadn’t seen Ye Xing for several days, little Erhei was feeling clingy. It sat down by Ye Xing’s feet, tongue lolling out, looking absolutely adorable.

The kitchen table and chairs probably hadn’t been wiped in a long time and were coated in a thin layer of dust.

Ye Xing grabbed a rag, wiped down a chair, and sat. Then, on a sudden whim, he asked the little dog, "little Erhei, do you know how to wipe a table?"

"WOOF!" little Erhei barked once and nodded its small head. Then, it opened its mouth, snatched the rag from Ye Xing’s hand, and with a WHOOSH, leaped onto the table and began wiping it down for him.

"Hahaha! So smart! You’re in charge of cleaning the house from now on," Ye Xing said, delighted by the sight.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, swiped the screen, and opened his call log. There were over fifty missed calls. Twenty-three of them were from Zhu Dazhuang, mostly concentrated around three days ago.

’Why would Dazhuang call me so many times? Did something happen?’ With a flicker of his eyes, Ye Xing immediately tapped the screen to call him back.

"RING RING!" "RING RING RING!"

After a few rings, the call connected immediately.

"Hey! Brother Xing! Where’d you disappear to again? Your phone was off every time I called," Zhu Dazhuang complained.

"I was away on business for a few days," Ye Xing explained. "It was too remote, no signal. You called a bunch of times—did something happen?"

"Yeah, we had a situation here," Zhu Dazhuang said. "A thief came and stole some of my grass carp feed."

"Oh? When did this happen?" Ye Xing asked.

"Three nights ago, around two or three in the morning. I was already asleep," Zhu Dazhuang said, then started cursing. "The camera by the door caught him, but his face was covered, so you can’t see what he looks like. Son of a bitch! That thief is a crafty one. If I ever see him, I’ll beat the hell out of him."

"Well, if he was coming to steal, of course he’d be prepared," Ye Xing said. "Are you home? I’ll head over and take a look now."

After hanging up, Ye Xing left the ancestral home with the little black dog and headed for Zhu Dazhuang’s place.

It was just after eight, still early in the morning.

Plumes of blue smoke drifted from the chimneys of the tiled-roof houses in Bilin Village. The cooking smoke curled and billowed upwards, a clear sign that many families were preparing breakfast. Although gas stoves had found their way into most homes, some farming families still cooked with firewood to save money.

It must have rained the previous night, as the alley paths were muddy and dotted with puddles.

As Ye Xing was walking through an alley, a shout suddenly rang out nearby.

"Hey, Cousin Ye Xing! It’s Cousin Ye Xing! Mom, look, Cousin Ye Xing is over there!" a boy’s voice called out from an alley to their left.

Ye Xing stopped, took a few steps back, and turned to look down the alley branching off to his left. He saw his aunt, Ye Xiuying, walking toward him from the alley with his fourteen-year-old cousin, Cheng Xiaohai.

"Axing, I haven’t seen you in days! What have you been busy with?" his aunt, Ye Xiuying, said with a smile, quickening her pace.

"Cousin Ye Xing, I haven’t seen you in forever either!" Cheng Xiaohai chimed in, trotting over.

"Haha, I’ll take you out to have some fun when I’m free," Ye Xing laughed. "By the way, Auntie, where are you two off to?"

"Hehe, I’m going to practice Martial Arts!" Cheng Xiaohai answered first, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Practice Martial Arts?" Ye Xing was slightly taken aback.

His aunt, Ye Xiuying, gave a wry smile. "Little Hai has been clamoring to learn Martial Arts, making a huge fuss about it. I had no other choice but to sign him up for a martial arts school in the county. Now I have to take him there to practice every weekend."

"Axing, tell me, what good will learning this stuff do?" his aunt, Ye Xiuying, said, pulling him aside. "Instead of focusing on his studies, this kid’s head is filled with nothing but Martial Arts this, Martial Arts that. Axing, please, help me talk some sense into Little Hai. He listens to you more than anyone."

Ye Xing smiled. "Auntie, it’s actually not a bad thing for Little Hai to learn martial arts. At the very least, it will keep him strong and healthy. Besides, it only takes up some time on the weekends, so it shouldn’t affect his studies too much."

"Exactly! Cousin Ye Xing is right!" Cheng Xiaohai immediately piped up, moving closer. "Practicing martial arts keeps you strong and healthy, so you won’t get bullied. And Cousin Ye Xing, you know what? The master of our school is incredibly powerful. He can fight five people at once! I saw it with my own eyes—five of the instructors ganged up on him for a spar, and he took them all down in no time!"

"Oh? That impressive? Then you’d better make sure you learn diligently!" Ye Xing said with a laugh.

"Of course!" Cheng Xiaohai declared. "But our master isn’t the strongest person I’ve seen. That would be the big brother who saved me that one time. He was so incredible! He just kicked out—like this—and the thug went flying! Then he threw a punch—like this..." Cheng Xiaohai’s face was flushed with excitement and his eyes filled with worship as he began to enthusiastically demonstrate the moves for Ye Xing.