Chương 46: The Secret Room

Yellow Leaf Town, Song Que's newly rented residence. While everyone was having breakfast, Zhong Hong brought someone in. It turned out to be a tutor. The man appeared to be in his thirties, sporting a goatee, with a slender, refined build. He perfectly matched the archetype of a scholar or a scholar-official in everyone's minds.

"A'Que, this is Mr. Xu Xian. He's quite famous in town for his excellent literary skills and calligraphy! I had to beg and plead to invite him here to teach you!" Hearing this name, Song Que was startled. A great celebrity! I wonder if he has a Lady White Snake at home?! He hurriedly clasped his hands in greeting:"Greetings, Mr. Xu. I hope for your dedicated instruction during this time." Everyone loves hearing pleasant words. Even knowing the other party was lifting him up, Xu Xian greatly enjoyed it.

Smiling exceptionally brightly, he said:"You flatter me, you flatter me! Rest assured, Young Master Song, I will dedicate myself completely!"

"Haha, then I'll trouble you, Sir! Have you had breakfast? Why not join us?" Zhong Hong, on the other hand, didn't stand on ceremony at all. He served himself a bowl of meat congee and grabbed a few steamed buns. Mr. Xu politely declined a few times, but unable to resist their earnest hospitality, he cautiously sat down to eat.

"Brother Hong, I'll still have to trouble you to keep an eye out and buy some aged medicinal herbs and tonics for me." Eating, Zhong Hong looked up in surprise:"Didn't you just buy a huge pile before the New Year?"

"Used them all up. Practicing martial arts requires nourishing the body!"

"Tsk tsk, that's truly expensive! I definitely wouldn't dare practice it. It's only the beginning of the year, I'm afraid the mountain folk haven't started hunting and gathering yet, so the shops might not have much stock. Don't get your hopes too high." Song Que knew his words reflected reality. Hadn't the hunting team in Giant Willow Village not even organized yet?

"Just buy as much as you can. Any issues with purchasing the construction materials?"

"Ha! Don't worry! With Brother Yi stepping in, the materials have been secured without a hitch!"

"That puts my mind at ease. I'll give you some silver later; help me keep an eye out for the herbs." Zhong Hong slurped his congee noisily, nodding his head without even looking up.... For the next week, immersed in the ocean of knowledge, Song Que's life was incredibly busy. Every day was spent learning to read from Mr. Xu, 'studying' martial arts from Gang Leader Feng, and taking care of Xiong Ba and the pets. Song Que was practically running in circles. But the harvest was exceedingly bountiful!

In addition to recognizing many more characters, he finally saw the outline of how martial arts worked. Once, while watching Feng Han instruct his eldest disciple, Yue Chao, he finally grasped the crucial secret! It turned out that besides physical movements, martial arts required the coordination of internal Qi cultivation methods, specific breathing techniques, and the like! As Feng Han instructed his disciple, Song Que listened intently.

But unfortunately, the two were whispering secretively, and Feng Han only answered the specific parts Yue Chao didn't understand, leaving Grandee only hearing half-truths. Still, he meticulously memorized everything. Although he was very dissatisfied with Old Feng's teaching methods, Grandee magnanimously forgave him. At least he had a general idea now! He just had to be patient; an opportunity would arise. The kid Li Xin had already returned to the village the other day.

After Zhong Hong used a high price to secure a few aged ginseng roots that a shop had in storage, he became busy escorting materials back to Giant Willow Village. Having played enough, Li Xin followed him home. Now, only Song Que and Xiong Ba remained in the house. Since both spoke very little, the atmosphere was quite quiet. But Grandee Song didn't mind. With his eyes closed, he focused entirely on observing Feng Han, his heart pounding with excitement. The opportunity had arrived!

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.... The Black Tiger Gang. The Gang Leader's Cultivation Room. At this moment, two people were inside: the master-disciple duo, Feng Han and Yue Chao. Yue Chao respectfully held out a silver tray toward Feng Han.

"Master, this is the collected revenue for this month. A total of 300 taels. Your disciple has carefully verified it."

"Mm, set it aside." Feng Han didn't even glance at the silver, his expression somewhat eager:"Is there any news on that matter?"

"Rest assured, Master, reports have come in! The Yun family's caravan is personally escorting it to Yellow Leaf Town. It will arrive in three days! There won't be any unexpected mishaps!" Hearing this, Feng Han's mood became exceptionally joyful. He laughed loudly and praised:"A'Chao, you've done very well! With that item, my certainty of breaking through to the Third Grade is sixty or seventy percent! When that time comes, Yellow Leaf Town will belong entirely to us!"

"Then your disciple congratulates you in advance on your smooth breakthrough and skyrocketing martial prowess!" Yue Chao excitedly replied. The master and disciple chatted happily for a while. After answering a few of Yue Chao's cultivation questions, the disciple excused himself and left. Only Feng Han remained in the room, along with... a honeybee. Listening to the two, Song Que was startled. This guy is actually waiting for something to help him break through to the Third Grade!

By then, the Black Tiger Gang really could suppress everyone, even the local constabulary! For Song Que, who was already an enemy, this was absolutely not good news! Old Feng, isn't it better to just honestly enjoy your life of debauchery? Why try so hard? Grandee Song was highly dissatisfied, deciding he needed to 'pay more attention' to this matter. At this moment, Feng Han stood up, picked up the silver tray, and walked deeper into the room.

He stopped in front of a wall, fiddled with a vase on a nearby wooden shelf, and instantly, the wall shifted, revealing a hidden room inside! Oh ho! Old Feng isn't honest! Turns out he hides the good stuff in a secret room! Song Que hastily controlled the honeybee to carefully follow him inside. The hidden space wasn't large, only about ten square meters. He didn't dare fly around recklessly, obediently crawling onto a corner of the wall to observe. Impressive!

A massive pile of gold and silver lay inside, at least ten thousand taels of silver! There was also a considerable amount of jade, coral, and agate. But what excited Song Que the most were the aged ginseng roots and a single book placed neatly on a table in the center! Black Tiger Fist! Yes! The martial arts manual Song Que had been dreaming of was right in front of him! He wished he could instantly snatch it back to study!

Even if he couldn't read all of it yet, just looking at it to satisfy his cravings would be enough! Feng Han placed the silver on a shelf, turned, and closed the door. Song Que completely ignored him. Seeing that he was the only one left in the secret room, Song Que controlled the little honeybee to fly up and carefully examine the area. F ck! A honeybee is too weak! I can't move anything, and I can't put anything into the Storage Space! * Song Que gritted his teeth in frustration.

Flying around irritably for a while, Grandee finally calmed down. Whatever. Feng Han's secret delivery is arriving in three days anyway. I shouldn't alert the snake in the grass just yet. Taking a few more long looks around the secret room, Song Que regretfully withdrew his Split Soul. Acting completely heartless and ungrateful toward the honeybee, he left it in the secret room to fend for itself.... Returning to his main body. Song Que opened his eyes, sat up straight, and fell deep into thought.

With a martial arts manual right in front of his eyes, practically within arm's reach, it would be a lie to say Song Que wasn't tempted. But he knew things weren't that simple. Right now, these things were like crabs in a hole: he knew they were there, but getting them out for his own use would take a lot of effort. He desperately wanted to immediately storm the Black Tiger Gang and seize the items, but remembering the 'treasure' Feng Han mentioned arriving in three days, he had to endure.

Besides, charging over there recklessly right now was practically courting death! True, Song Que wasn't afraid of Feng Han. But he had never fought the man; who knew if the Gang Leader had any hidden trump cards? The outcome of a battle was unpredictable. Furthermore, Feng Han wasn't alone! With a single shout, a sea of people would swarm him. Song Que would only be delivering his life on a silver platter. Therefore, he couldn't recklessly infiltrate. At the very least, his main body couldn't go!

He needed to plan carefully. Several plans formulated in his mind, but executing them required significantly more preparation. Rubbing his throbbing head, Song Que decided to go out for a stroll, get some fresh air, and relax his mind. Ever since arriving in town, he hadn't even stepped out of the house! Calling Xiong Ba and the two little 'ancestors', the group excitedly headed out.... Strolling leisurely along the streets without a destination.

The rate of pedestrians turning their heads to stare at Song Que's group was 100%! Leaving aside the fact that Song Que's long-term physical training and continuous micro-adjustments to his face using the Tesseract's energy had made him incredibly handsome—drop-dead gorgeous, dashing, and effortlessly charming, enough to make young girls blush and steal multiple glances...

Just having an aloof, posturing 'Wolf King' Husky leading the way, and the lazy Princess Mengmeng sitting on his shoulder, was enough to garner him all the attention he could handle! Too eye-catching! Everyone on the street, either openly or covertly, sized up the two humans and two pets. Grandee Song was extremely smug about this. Looks equal justice! This is what high 'Face Value' brings you: the center of attention! The effect isn't bad at all. I wonder if any beauties will come up to strike a conversation?

If someone invites me to discuss the meaning of life, I wonder if this tender, youthful body of mine is ready for 'use' yet? Such a dilemma! Pretending to look aloof and unbothered, Grandee felt like he was walking on air. Unfortunately, the young ladies seemed too shy; no one dared approach. This left Grandee unfulfilled even after walking through several streets. Song Que secretly noted that Xiong Ba was truly competent as a bodyguard.

Perhaps accustomed to growing up in the forest, he maintained constant vigilance of his surroundings. His shiny bald head turned as his fierce eyes scanned the area intently. Song Que was very satisfied. Passing by a market street, he stopped and bought the kid ten skewers of candied hawthorns as a reward, simply because he noticed the kid had taken an extra glance at them and secretly gulped.