Xu Ling offered a conciliatory smile. "Rural habits differ from urban rhythms. Here, oil lamps dim before the witching hour, and weary bones seek rest ere the moon climbs high."
Yet, Yu Mengna's porcelain features remained blanched, her cosmopolitan composure unravelling like a silken thread. "Rationality deserts me," she confessed, slender fingers whitening against folded arms. The casement framed skeletal branches whose susurrations seemed to whisper arcane secrets, moonlight etching arabesques upon the earthen floor.
"Pray attend the lullaby of quivering poplars," he coaxed, seeking to ameliorate her disquiet.
"'Tis precisely such sylvan murmurs that haunt midnight tales!" she countered, a tremulous note underscoring her reproach. "Have spectres never crossed your rustic threshold?"
The young man exhaled laboriously, marvelling at womanhood's diurnal-nocturnal dichotomy. After measuring the shadows between them, he proffered, "Shall I escort you to Madam Liu's cottage?"
Her riposte came swift as a startled pheasant taking wing. "I shall abide here." The declaration hung between them, charged as summer lightning, before she swept past into his spartan chamber.
The creaking desk became Xu Ling's monastic pallet, his vigil punctuated by rustling linens and stifled sighs. Though the August night draped its sweltering mantle over the room, true repose eluded his guest – the mingled essences of medicinal herbs and virile musk conspiring against tranquillity.
---
First light revealed the scholar's vigil – spine curved like a wind-bowed sapling, breath steady as temple chimes. Yu Mengna's fingers hovered near his shoulder, clutching a homespun coverlet.
"Xu Ling..." The whisper carried the weight of unspoken contrition.
Dark lashes lifted to reveal eyes holding the clarity of mountain springs. "The dawn chorus finds you early, Nana."
Colour flooded her cheeks, morning rays transmuting sleep-tangled tresses to liquid jet. "Last night's... imposition..." The apology fractured beneath his upheld palm.
"Let dew dissolve nocturnal phantoms," he demurred, retreating toward the courtyard's clamour. The aroma of braised mountain hare and fermented mustard greens already wove through sun-gilded dust motes.
To his mother's raised brow and Madam Liu's knowing smirk, Xu Ling proclaimed with studied nonchalance, "The city-bred heart trembles before country darkness. My desk proved adequate repose."
Wang Huifen's twinkling eyes betrayed maternal triumph, though her tongue shaped proper demurrals. "Naturally, naturally! Come, child, sample our humble fare."
---
The orchard assembly buzzed like agitated hornets, rustics clustering to gawk at both bounteous boughs and the exotic bloom in their midst. "Xu's cub has conjured autumn in midsummer!" cackled a grizzled patriarch, elbow jabbing the prouder father.
Yu Mengna stood as a jade figurine amidst terracotta vessels, metropolitan elegance heightening the pastoral tableau. Murmurs eddied: "A celestial maiden descended!" "Can such harvests be conjured by mortal hands?"
Xu Ling's baritone sliced through the cacophony. "Esteemed neighbours, allow me to present Manager Yu of the Tian Tian Fresh Produce Consortium!"
The tide of inquiry surged: "What lunar magic swells your apples?" "Shall our withered saplings drink this sorcery?"
Amidst the hubbub, Yu Mengna's gaze kept returning to the young agriculturist. Professional reserve could not wholly mask the memory of predawn vulnerability – nor the disquieting warmth kindled by his chivalrous asceticism.
Reaping Shadows
Xu Ling extended his palms in mollifying benediction. "Kindred spirits of this soil, fear not—my roots drink from the same ancestral streams. Aid shall flow as autumn rains, yet first, our guest must witness the fruits we've nurtured." The gathering dissolved like mist before dawn, their susurrations merging with the crisp cadence of fallen maple leaves.
Xu Wenhai's exhalation carried the weight of decades etched into furrowed terrain. "These calloused hands till stone-kissed earth, coaxing meagre sustenance from Gaia's reluctant bosom." Wang Huifen and Liu Shuxiang bowed their heads in tacit accord, the village's skeletal mountains looming behind them—a plundered titan stripped of emerald raiment, its treasures pilfered save Xu Ling's improbable alchemy.
"Father," Xu Ling vowed, fingers imprinting resolve upon the elder's gaunt shoulder, "shall I forget the communal cauldron that nourished my youth? Shared bread binds us beyond blood." Wang Huifen's gaze shimmered with maternal triumph as she chided, "Must we remind you our sapling's grown into a a stalwart oak?"
Shuxiang's interjection sliced through sentiment like a harvest scythe. "Dawn's blush fades while apples await their wicker cradles. Shall we keep Madam Yu waiting?" The unspoken barb found purchase—Yu Mengna's cheeks bloomed peony-pink, moonlit intimacies haunting her lowered lashes.
Crimson orbs cascaded into the tricycle's iron belly, a Dionysian bounty against Xu Wenhai's arthritic grimace. "Time's sickle spares none," he rasped, spine curved like wind-bent bamboo.
"Let twilight's embrace find you abed," Xu Ling implored, knowing well the patriarch's obstinate pride. As the vehicle juddered toward Yunshan's concrete veins, Shuxiang's silhouette melted into bizarre chaos—a silken thread unravelling toward peril.
**Beneath Urban Masks**
The commercial quarter throbbed with febrile vitality. Purveyors of dubious libations hawked their wares through honeyed innuendo. Xu Ling's engine stilled near dissonant shrieks—a falcon's cry amidst sparrow chatter.
There against lichen-stained bricks, Shuxiang's tremulous form faced Heipi's jagged ensemble. The brigand leader's grin exposed tombstone teeth. "Trill your pretty dirge, my skylark. These alleys sing my anthem." His cohorts closed ranks, bamboo rods tapping ululating rhythms.
"Jurisprudence condemns your pantomime!" Shuxiang's defiance fluttered like an ensnared moth.
"Law?" Heipi's bark echoed through canyons of apathy. "Here I am the—"
The shovel's haft cracked his collarbone—a thunderclap preceding Xu Ling's tempestuous onslaught. Wooden splinters pirouetted amidst a ballet of knuckles and kneecaps. When cosmic dust settled, the braggarts lay vanquished—crude sculptures of whimpering clay.
**Interlude of Lotus and Thorn**
Homeward bound, Shuxiang cradled salvaged parcels like sacred relics. "Needless valour," she murmured, though her eyes betrayed monsoonal gratitude.
Yu Mengna's parting whisper haunted Xu Ling's periphery—"Perhaps country nights hold less terror... with certain companionship." The unvoiced covenant hung between them, charged as monsoon skies before the first rainfall.
Beneath the gibbous moon, Xu Village slumbered. Yet in the county's neon-lit interstices, fresh malignancies coiled—serpents awaiting their vernal awakening.
The Brink of Salvation
Liu Shuxiang's heart sank into abysmal despair. Just as she believed all hope had vanished, a shadow materialised behind Hei Pi.
Xu Ling struck without warning, his fist colliding with Hei Pi's temple in a thunderous blow.
"Who dares ambush me?!" Hei! Pi bellowed, clutching his skull as stars erupted across his vision. His grip faltered, releasing Liu Shuxiang.
"Curse you! Show yourself!" Hei Pi spun wildly, venom dripping from his words.
"Xu Ling!"
Liu Shuxiang collapsed into Xu Ling's embrace, trembling.
"Fear not, Shuxiang-jie," Xu Ling murmured, his voice a calm river beneath eyes hardened like glacial ice. "No harm shall touch you."
"You reckless fool!" Hei Pi's thugs snapped from their stupor, encircling Xu Ling with snarling threats.
"Reckless?" Xu Ling's laughter cut like a blade. "It is *you* who court oblivion beneath heaven's gaze."
Hei Pi, nursing his throbbing head, spat orders: "Crush his bones to dust!"
A tattooed brute swung an iron rod toward Xu Ling's crown.
"Feeble."
Xu Ling swept Liu Shuxiang behind him, spiritual energy crackling at his fingertips. A flick of his wrist unleashed an invisible tempest, reducing the rod to metallic shards.
Another attacker hurled a brick—only for Xu Ling to snatch it mid-flight, crushing it to powder in his palm.
The gang froze, terror etching their faces. This was no mortal man but a wrathful deity clad in human flesh.
Hei Pi staggered back, voice quivering: "S-stay back!"
"Where is your bravado now?" Xu Ling's smile chilled the air. "Continue your dance with death."
His words carried the weight of execution, buckling Hei Pi's knees to the dirt.
"You prey on the vulnerable yet cringe before true strength." Xu Ling's foot rose like a judge's gavel. "Such filth deserves no sunlit breath."
"Mercy! I beg—"
The crunch of shattered bone drowned Hei Pi's plea. He writhed, clawing at his mangled groin, consciousness fraying at the edges.
The remaining thugs stood petrified, urine staining their trousers.
Xu Ling turned, his gaze a predator's promise: "Shall we commence?"
"FLEE!"
The mob scattered like roaches before flame.
"Flight proves futile."
Xu Ling gathered pebbles, each missile finding its mark with celestial precision. Thugs collapsed mid-stride, howling as legs snapped beneath them.
Hei Pi, through pain-hazed eyes, croaked: "This… defies nature…"
"Forgive my tardiness, Shuxiang-jie." Xu Ling cradled the shaking woman, fury melting into tenderness.
"Without you…" Liu Shuxiang choked, tears baptising her cheeks. "I'd have been devoured. The authorities come—let hell's maw claim these beasts."
Sirens wailed their grim hymn. The broken criminals offered no resistance as officers descended.
"Astonishing prowess, young sir!" A barrel-chested commander approached. "Captain Zhao Guangjun, County Public Security. Might I know your name?"
"Xu Ling. Your command, Captain?"
Zhao gripped his hand fervently. "Hei Pi's plagued us for years. The people owe you their gratitude."
Xu Ling inclined his head. "I merely walk the path of righteousness. Your men are the true sentinels."
Zhao's glare turned to Hei Pi: "Rot well, vermin. Your reign ends today!"
"C-Captain… mercy…" Hei' gurgled through split lips.
CRACK!
Zhao's palm silenced him. "Mercy? Reserve it for honest men! Bind them!"
As officers dragged the whimpering horde away, Zhao extended an invitation: "Join me tonight? Let proper thanks be given."
"Another dawn, Captain. Kin await." Xu Ling exchanged courtesies before departing, justice trailing in his wake.
The thugs' destiny? A sunless eternity behind iron bars.
...
Moonlight silvered the cottage path as Xu Ling escorted Liu Shuxiang home. Later, in his mother's herb-scented yard:
"Mother, I've returned. Father's whereabouts?"
"Orchard inspection," Wang Huifen answered, knife dancing through celery. "Returns ere long."
Xu Ling joined the rhythmic chop-chop. "Those medical tomes… I believe Father's cure lies within reach."
Alchemy of Flesh and Yearning
Xu Wenhai returned moments later, his scepticism manifesting as a gruff protest: "What's left to mend? This old carcass feels hale enough."
"Scars linger beneath the surface, Father," Xu Ling countered, fingertips already tracing the pulse beneath weathered skin. "What you perceive as vigour is but spring thaw over winter's frost."
Wang Huifen's cleaver halted mid-chop, her glare sharper than the blade's edge. "You, physician turned ploughman! Would our son's wisdom steer false?" The unspoken threat hung like ancestral tablets above the hearth—disobedience held no quarter here.
Xu Ling masked triumph beneath lowered lashes as his father surrendered to the bed's straw-stuffed embrace. The ritual commenced with meridians mapped through spiritual touch, revealing cerebral arteries choked by memory's debris—warrior's legacy from decades past.
"Guard the threshold, Mother." His command bore the weight of unsheathed scalpels.
Wang Huiken became a living barricade, her silhouette blocking sunlight through rice-paper panes. Needles gleamed like constellation pins—Zanzhu's brow-moon, Baihui's cranial zenith, Yuyao's ocular guardians—each insertion orchestrating neural tides. Xu Wenhai's breath shallowed as millennia-old healing geometries rewired broken pathways.
At the cerebrovascular crossroads, Xu Ling's qi encountered the adversary—a calcified mass, throttling life's river. Modern surgeons would name it inoperable; his spirit-blade dissected it quark by quark, transforming arterial siege into sanguine flow.
"Victory," Xu Ling exhaled as ginseng's golden essence merged with paternal qi, the sacred root crumbling to dross in his palms.
Wang Huifen's reentry brought temple incense and trepidation: "The cure?"
"Rooted deep as ancestral oaks." His pallor betrayed the cost—vitality syphoned to the brink of collapse.
"Stubborn mule!" she cursed. Her husband's imminent convalescence, yet she gentled her son toward rest with hands that once swaddled infancy. "To bed, before you join him in frailty."
Lotus-postured in meditation's crucible, Xu Ling communed with earth's primordial breath. Two celestial hours birthed renewed reserves, shattered by maternal summons to evening rice—a humble feast of millet's golden tears and pickled thyme.
Under the oil lamp's amber glow, entrepreneurial tales unfolded. "Honour this Yu Mengna's faith," Xu Wenhai rasped, pride swelling reconstructed veins. "Our lineage's phoenix ascends."
Night's ink pooled thickest when clinic-bound duty called. Xu Ling's flashlight beam carved a path through velvet darkness—and illuminated tremulous prey.
"Phantom lights roused me," Liu Shuxiang confessed, shawl clutched like a battlefield standard. Cottage walls still echoed with noon's terrors.
Her threshold became confessional. "The law's claws hold them," Xu Ling soothed, yet her fingers knotted the tablecloth like an executioner's rope. Desperation crystallised in moonlit silence:
"Again... your healing touch?"
The plea hung between them—a bruised peach ripe for plucking. Peony musk and quickened breath conspired as Xu Ling's healer mask fissured.
"As twilight prescribed," he conceded, calloused palms hovering above silk-clad slopes. Her nervous laughter shattered twenty winters' widowhood, revealing girlhood's ghost beneath.
"Recline, Shuxiang-jie." The honorific tore from a constricted throat. "Let... let us commence."
Temptation and Harvest
Accustomed to their therapeutic rituals, Liu Shuxiang reclined upon the bed without preamble, her movements fluid with unspoken familiarity.
Xu Ling's throat tightened before he rasped, "A medicinal massage—nothing more."
"Would I tremble before a fledgling physician?" Her laughter rippled, edged with the self-assurance of a woman versed in life's intimacies.
Palms pressed to the convergence of sternum and navel, Xu Ling summoned the _qi_ coiled within his meridians. The glacial stagnation of yin energy pooling in her _dantian_ demanded unshielded contact—a conduit for his yang-infused spiritual essence to dissolve ossified shadows.
"Lingzi..." Her breath fractured as molten gold surged through frozen tributaries, kindling dormant embers beneath her skin.
His resolve wavered—fingertips memorising the cadence of her pulse, her sighing whispers a siren's hymn. When her lashes fluttered like moth wings against the moonlight, he recoiled as though scalded.
"Rest," he growled, retreating before the chrysanthemum-scented heat could ensnare him.
---
Moonbeams lacquered the orchard in quicksilver as Xu Ling knelt beside the well. Dipping a weathered pail into star-studded waters, he wove spiralling talismans with his fingertips. The liquid shimmered viridian—an alchemical marriage of earthly water and celestial _lingye_—before cascading over gnarled roots.
"Blossom anew," he murmured, each sapling drinking the astral nectar. "Bear fruit to shame the Jade Emperor's orchards."
---
Dawn's first blush found Li Chuang leaning against a vermilion truck, his grin sharp as a whetstone. "Boss Yu's pacing her office—again."
Xu Ling surveyed the harvesters with a strategist's gaze. Yu Mengna's empire thrived on such paradoxes: silk-clad ambition nurturing mud-caked miracles.
Clash of Dominions
**"Formalities are unnecessary. As Tiantianxian Fruit Chain's luminary, your endorsement to CEO Yu would be invaluable."
Manager Li gestured graciously, holding the car door open for Xu Ling.
**"Your flattery unsettles me, Manager Li."
Xu Ling sank into the supple leather upholstery, fingertips brushing the seat's intricate stitching.
**"Age grants me slight seniority. If you'll permit, address me as Brother Li—CEO Yu herself favours the familiarity."
The engine purred to life under Li Chuang's steady hand.
**"Brother Li, CEO Yu alluded to additional matters for discussion. Might you illuminate her intent?"
Xu Ling's inquiry was velvet-cloaked steel.
**"Speculation serves no purpose. Her counsel awaits you directly."
Li Chuang's gaze remained fixed ahead, a subordinate's discipline overriding curiosity.
**The BMW's growl sliced through dawn's stillness** as acceleration pressed them against headrests. Xu Ling observed the vehicle's opulence—chromatic ambient lighting, ergonomic massage functions, and the faint bergamot essence of luxury. **"German engineering truly caters to plutocrats."
**"A trifle,"** Li Chuang countered. "Your twenty percent equity stake could command a fleet of these."
**Tyres screamed rebellion** as momentum died abruptly. Xu Ling's palms braced against the front seat. **"What sorcery is this?"**
**"An unwelcome committee."
Beyond the windscreen loomed Liu Dagou, Xujia Village's perennial agitator, flanked by a phalanx of rural enforcers.
Xu Ling emerged, frost in his tone. **"Liu Dagou. Explain this farce."
**"Our business lies with your chauffeur, not some backwater physician."
The smirk curling Liu's lips faltered under Xu Ling's glacial stare.
**"Has last week's humiliation faded so swiftly?"**
Xu Ling's knuckles whitened.
"Threats? How pedestrian."
Liu Dagou's thumb jerked toward the BMW. "Summon your corporate lapdog before we redecorate this toy with crowbars."
Li Chuang exited, palms raised in placation. "What grievance demands such theatrics?"
**"Li Chuang! How provincial ambitions bloom in manure."
The nasal sneer preceded Liang Xiaoyong's emergence—a squat figure with tobacco-stained teeth, a steel pipe rotating like a sceptre.
"Liang."
Li Chuang's voice could frost glass. The fruit syndicate overlord's reputation for coercive monopolies preceded him like funeral incense.
**"Dawn excursions to poach my tributaries?"** Liang's pipe taps a staccato rhythm against palm calluses. "Liu Dagou's procurement rates are divinely ordained. Your retail prices profane the market."
"Free trade's invisible hand spares none."
Li Chuang's smile held winter's bite.
**"Invisible?"** Liang's laughter barked across the road. "My first here is scripture. Lower your prices or kneel before consequences."
Xu Ling interposed himself, a human bulwark. "You mistake lawlessness for authority."
**"And what rustic philosopher lectures me?"** Liang's squint narrowed.
**"The orchardist whose apples emptied county coffers,"** Liu Dagou muttered, grudging respect threading the admission.
Liang's pipe froze mid-rotation. "Ah. The agrarian alchemist."
His weapon rose, its shadow a guillotine blade across Xu Ling's throat. "Shall we test whose dominion runs deeper?"
The Duel of Convictions
Liang Xiaoyong's visage contorted with volcanic fury as he locked gazes with Xu Ling, veins throbbing at his temples.
"Your moral posturing sickens me," Xu Ling countered, frost lacing his words. "These peasants bleed their lives into the soil while vultures like you feast on their marrow through monopoly and extortion. Does your soul not curdle at such villainy?"
A mirthless chuckle escaped Liang. "Eloquent rot. Let's measure that silver tongue's weight when I pry it from your shattered jaw."
"Liang!" Li Chuang's intervention carried the edge of a drawn blade. "Lay a finger on Xu Ling, and Yu Mengna's wrath will salt the earth beneath your feet."
"Your mistress's name buys _your_ safety, not his," Liang spat, the words dripping venom. He motioned to his henchmen. "But this peasant-saviour? Crush him."
The air erupted into chaos as twenty thugs surged forward, Liu Dagou at the vanguard with murder etched in his scarred face.
Xu Ling's mouth quirked. The *Medical Codex*'s power coursed through his veins like molten steel, transmuting flesh to living armour. To his accelerated perception, the mob moved through amber-thick air.
Cannon-like crack!
His palm became a warhammer, shearing Liu's jawline and catapulting the brute into a merchandise cart. Splintered wood rained like shrapnel.
Thunderous thud!
A reverse kick transformed a dagger-wielding assailant into a human projectile, bowling over three accomplices in a tangle of limbs and curses.
Xu Ling became the eye of the storm – elbow strikes shattered mandibles, knee thrusts collapsed ribcages, and spinning heel kicks cleared arcs of screaming space. Within seven breaths, the courtyard resembled a battlefield triage.
Li Chuang's teacup shattered unnoticed. "By the Nine Heavens... you're no physician..."
"Told you," Xu Ling brushed nonexistent dust from his sleeves, "these carnival jesters couldn't scratch a training dummy." His gaze speared Liang. "Now. Shall we discuss fruit prices?"
The crime lord stood statue-still, his blustering bravado crumbling like termite-ridden timber.
The Indomitable
Li Chuang surveyed the circle of groaning thugs with grim satisfaction, his nods carrying the weight of vindication.
"Are you flesh or fiend?" Liang Xiaoyong rasped, his voice trembling between awe and terror as he gaped at Xu Ling.
Where Li Chuang built empires through ledgers, Liang had carved his dominion with knuckle and blade. He'd witnessed brawlers who could crack ribs with a glance and knife-wielders who danced through blood mists – yet none compared to this spectre who'd dismantled two dozen armed men barehanded in the time it took to brew tea.
"Mockery drips sweet from fools' tongues," Xu Ling mused, tilting his head like a raptor gauging prey. The crack of his backhanded slap echoed like a gunshot.
Liang's cheek blossomed crimson, flesh swelling like fermented dough.
"You d—" The warlord's retort died as three staccato strikes pistol-whipped his face into grotesque topography – nose flattened, lips split, eyes reduced to slits in a pulped landscape.
"Strike *me*, cur!" Liu Dagou bellowed, rising from the dirt like a revenant. Though his ribs screamed from earlier blows, loyalty overrode survival instinct. He charged, splintered club raised high – a moth hurling itself at annihilation.
Xu Ling's sigh carried centuries of weariness. "How many graves must mark this village before 'idiot' leaves your vocabulary?"
The world blurred. Liu registered pressure beneath his sternum – not pain, but the queer sensation of flight. Twelve meters later, earth greeted him with bone-jarring finality. Coppery warmth flooded his mouth, a crimson arc painting the soil as he spat defiance through broken teeth.
"Enough theatrics," Li Chuang called from the BMW's driver seat, though his white-knuckled grip betrayed awe. "Yu's patience wears thinner than your mercy."
Xu Ling's phlegm struck Liang's swollen face with precision, each droplet a punctuation mark. "Return to extort these villagers," he murmured, sliding into leather upholstery, "and today's carnage becomes a fond memory."
The engine's roar drowned Liang's primal scream. As taillights dissolved into urban haze, Liu crawled forward, his whisper venomous and vital:
"Boss... The mountain viper strikes not at the tiger but at its cubs."
Liang's remaining eye glittered with revelation. This wasn't defeat – merely the first move in a deadlier game.
Abduction Plots and Fruit Market Alliances
"*Xu Ling's family nest is within grasp. With his parents ripe for plucking, that whelp will bend like a willow branch.*"
Liang Xiaoyong struck Liu Dagou's cheek with a sharp crack, his voice dripping with venomous impatience.
"*Snatch the old badgers, and the den becomes ours to claim!*" Liu Dagou snarled, his loyalty purchased yet pride smarting – Liang's blows he endured like coins in a purse, but Xu Ling's slap festered like a rusted blade.
"*Clever mutt,*" Liang purred, his eyes narrowing into predatory slits as schemes coiled like serpents in his mind.
---
**Yunshan County Commercial District**
The crimson BMW glided to rest before *EverFresh Fruit Emporium*, its chrome gleaming beneath county skies. Yu Mengna stood sentinel at the arched entrance, her pacing footsteps etching worry lines deeper than any merchant's ledger – a queen awaiting her errant knight's return.
"*Madam President graces us with her presence,*" Li Chuang announced, executing a chauffeur's bow as Xu Ling emerged from the leather-clad cocoon.
"*Forgive the delay, President Yu. Highway vermin demanded... persuasion.*" Xu Ling's apology carried the weight of unsheathed steel, his gaze tracing the store's vaulted ceilings where persimmons glowed like stained glass.
"*Dawn's first light found me here,*" she demurred, silk sleeves brushing his calloused hand. The manager's monocle nearly slipped – ice-hearted Yu, who froze suitors mid-curtsy, was now thawing for this peasant swordsman.
"*Shall we survey your kingdom, Madam President?*"
"*Drop the courtly airs, Ling. When shadows fall, 'Sister Na' suits better.*" Her smile held secrets sweeter than the lychee pyramids surrounding them. The manager's pen snapped – twenty-three rejected proposals from tycoons' sons, yet this dirt-kneed warrior earned intimate address with a glance.
Li Chuang cleared his throat. "*The vermin bore Liang's stench. Claimed Xu Village as his sty, demanded we cease harvesting golden apples.*"
"*Liang? That pustule from Sunrise Orchards?*" Yu's lacquered nails became daggers. "*Let him grovel in his dungheap. Double our orders.*"
"*He unleashed his rabid pack,*" the driver added, "*though Brother Ling... persuaded them toward enlightenment.*"
Yu's hands flew like white doves across Xu Ling's torso. "*Scars? Bruises?*"
"*Mere flies swatting,*" he shrugged, though his stance echoed ancient pines weathering typhoons.
"*Arrogant cub!*" Her scolding held maternal warmth.
"*Truth!*" Li Chuang's grin split like overripe watermelon. "*Twelve thugs with iron rods! Brother Ling danced through them like autumn wind through willow branches!*"
Yu's painted lips parted. "*Since when do farmers master the warrior's ballet?*"
The Tempest and the Covenant
Yu Mengna orbited Xu Ling with the precision of a celestial body drawn to newfound gravity, her gaze shimmering with unveiled fascination.
"Merely amateur dabbling," Xu Ling demurred with practiced nonchalance, his eyes evading hers. "Those posturing thugs crumbled like autumn leaves beneath winter's frost."
Guided by Chief Administrator Zhao Ming's ceremonial flourish, the trio navigated the aromatic labyrinth of the Tiantian Fresh Fruit Emporium. Li Chuang elucidated Zhao's dual role as steward of Yunshan County's commercial operations and Yu's chauffeur—a testament to the Byzantine complexities of the corporate hierarchy.
The establishment unfolded as a chromatic symphony: carmine pomegranates nestled against jade-hued kiwis, spiky rambutans guarding their ruby flesh beside phoenix-eye fruit clusters. "A veritable cornucopia, wouldn't you concur?" Li Chuang's smirk radiated proprietorial pride.
"Indubitably," Xu Ling acknowledged, his laconic response belying growing unease.
Yu extended a vellum scroll embossed with golden sigils. "Consider this your ascension to *Tianxia Fresh*'s inner sanctum," she intoned, her irises glinting like mercury. "The harvest dividends shall mirror celestial arithmetic."
The contractual quill hovered in mid-air when digital klaxons shattered the moment. Xu Dong's panicked baritone erupted:
"Ling! The jackals breach the gates - your ancestral hearth lies plundered!"
**Elsewhere: Xu Hamlet's Crucible**
The splintering portal surrendered to Liu Dagou's venomous assault, ancient timbers collapsing like defeated sentinels. Wang Huifen emerged, wrath incarnate: "Verminous cur! What fresh perfidy stains your soul?"
"Your whelp provoked Master Liang's celestial ire," Liu hissed, his duplicity cloaked in mock innocence. The hulking syndicate overlord materialized, flanked by two dozen human tempests.
"Silence, mongrel!" Liang's thunderous decree shook rafters. "Bind these antiquated fools!"
Amidst bergamot-scented air, Xu Ling's stylus etched trembling sigils on the pact. Before ink could crystallize, he became the storm itself - a vengeful zephyr racing toward destiny's eye, oblivious to the maelstrom's gathering fury.
The Hostage Crisis
"What in blazes?!"
Xu Ling's voice cracked like thunder, his knuckles whitening around the phone. "Liu Dagou's taken my parents?"
"Now! Return at once!" Xu Dong's whisper carried the urgency of a deathbed confession before the line went dead.
Yu Mengna materialized at his side, her perfume clashing with the metallic tension in the air. "What's happened?"
"That venomous leech Liu Dagou's holding them hostage." Xu Ling ground out each syllable, his pupils contracting like crossbow sights. "Get me home before sundown."
"Breathe. Who exactly is this Liu?" Her manicured hand hovered near his shoulder, a butterfly unsure where to land.
"The village's self-crowned kingpin," he spat, tasting bile. "Strangles fruit trade routes, bleeds farmers dry with his usurious rates. No police. This ends my way."
Yu Mengna's stiletto snapped against marble as she whirled. "Li! Burn rubber to Xu Village."
The BMW's engine roared like a caged beast unleashed, asphalt screaming beneath its wheels.
Xu Ling hit the dirt road, running before the sedan fully halted. The gaggle of villagers melted away in hushed reverence, their whispers clinging to him like spider silk.
Inside the rammed-earth courtyard, the scene unfolded like some grotesque puppet show - his parents trussed to elmwood chairs, flanked by Liu's jackal-faced henchmen. Liu Dagou himself perched on a stool, cracking sunflower seeds between nicotine-stained teeth.
"Liu!" Xu Ling's voice could frost hell. "You dare?"
"Ah, our prodigal son returns!" Liu's grin exposed gaps where teeth should've been. "Kept your old folks company we did. Very... enlightening."
"Enough games." Xu Ling's glare could strip paint. "Your terms."
Liang Xiaoyong emerged from the shadow, his tailored suit at odds with the squalor. "Three simple concessions..."
Counterattack at Dawn
**"First, relinquish to our store every fruit Li Chuang procured yesterday."**
**"Second, pledge eternal severance from Tian Tian Xian Fruit Store."**
**"Third, prostrate yourself and beg forgiveness! Henceforth, your family's apples belong solely to Shilixiang Fruit Store!"**
Liang Xiaoyong's fingers grazed the dried spittle on his cheek, his pupils narrowing to slits as cold as honed steel.
**"This vendetta stains your hands alone, Liang Xiaoyong!"** Li Chuang thrusts himself forward, voice cracking like a whip. **"Tian Tian Xian chose Xu Village's harvest—release his parents!"**
**"Without this meddling whelp,"** Liang's laughter dripped acid, **"would your corporate vultures ever circle this backwater?"**
Xu Ling's palm settled on Li Chuang's heaving shoulder. **"This storm is mine to weather, Brother."**
**"Blood-oath brothers face tempests together."** Li Chuang's grip tightened, knuckles whitening.
Beyond the threshold, villagers' whispers swelled to a tidal roar:
*"No more fair prices... Back to Liu Dagou's thievery..."*
*"Our children's shoes mended with peach pits again..."*
**"Yield not!"** Li Chuang hissed through clenched teeth.
Wang Huifen's wail pierced the clamor: **"Kneel to none but heaven and ancestors, Ling'er!"**
Xu Wenhai's cracked voice rose like wind through barren branches: **"Let our bones fertilize the orchards—save the village!"**
**"Muzzle these curs!"** Liang's thugs surged forward, blades glinting like fangs.
**"Your answer!"** Liang's demand hung like a headsman's axe.
**"Terms accepted."** Xu Ling's serenity mirrored still waters.
**"Behold the hero's glory!"** Liang's arms spread wide, reveling in the villagers' choked silence. **"Let all witness your obeisance!"**
**"Even kneeling,"** Li Chuang spat, **"he towers over your wretched soul!"**
**"Grovel!"** Liang's spittle flecked Xu Ling's brow.
**"As dawn breaks..."**
Xu Lung moved with the speed of a tempest—elbows smashed ribs, knees found groins, and suddenly Liang's throat clenched beneath a vise-like grip. The tyrant's feet dangled as Xu Ling's whisper carried through the frozen crowd: **"...so ends the long night."**
The Arrogant Fall
Liang Xiaoyong's sneer froze mid-curve as Xu Ling materialized before him like vengeful lightning, leaving his arrogance petrified in crystalline shock.
Xu Ling dismissed his opponent's paralysis. With panther-like fluidity, his right leg snapped upward in a vicious side kick that cracked against Liang's shin, spiritual energy coursing through the strike like liquid lightning.
The gang leader's scream curdled the air as his knees smashed against packed earth – a fallen tyrant genuflecting before celestial wrath. The reversal of power thrummed through the courtyard like plucked guqin strings.
"By the Nine Hells..." a spectator breathed, blind to the true horror paralyzing Liang's limbs – not mere pain, but primal terror rooting him in subjugation.
"Release them." Xu Ling's command carried winter's finality, eyes glinting like frost-edged steel. "Or your spine shall become decorative jade."
A thug pressed splintered wood against Wang Huifen's throat. "Release our boss, you motherless whelp, or—"
"Xu Ling! You'd sacrifice your flesh?" Liu Dagou's shrill interjection betrayed the desperation of thrice-humbled prey.
The young cultivator's boot descended like the Jade Emperor's seal, crushing Liang's calf with bone-grinding precision. "Insects," he murmured as the gang leader's howl shredded the morning calm. "Forever mistaking carrion for ambrosia."
"Cut them loose!" Liang barked through blood-flecked teeth, his command warped by agony.
"But boss—"
"OBEY!" The warlord-turned-supplicant's roar shook dewdrops from maple leaves.
As the ropes slithered like dead serpents from Xu Ling's parents, Liu Dagou's protest died unborn. Li Chuang materialized with two stone-faced laborers, forming a human bulwark behind which dignity was restored.
"Mercy..." Liang's whisper rustled like autumn's last leaf.
Xu Ling's palm cracked like divine judgment across the tyrant's cheek, imprinting crimson retribution. "Hear this, vermin," his voice resonated with ancestral fury, "should your shadows ever darken this threshold..."
The gang's retreat became a stampede of terrified livestock, Liu Dagou dissolving into the chaos like ink in troubled waters.
"Mother? Father?" Xu Ling's transformation from a wrathful deity to a filial son left the air trembling with spent power.
The Oath of Dawn
After the thugs dispersed, Xu Ling rushed to tend to Wang Huifen and Xu Wenhai.
"We're unharmed—merely shaken," Wang Huifen murmured, pressing a trembling hand to her chest. "A lifetime of peace, yet now this turmoil…"
"Father, Mother," Xu Ling vowed, his voice steeled with resolve, "no harm shall ever touch you again. This I swear."
A villager, emboldened by the stillness, approached Li Chuang. "With the chaos quelled… will the harvest still find its buyers?"
Li Chuang turned to Xu Ling, whose nod carried the weight of authority.
"The terms hold," Xu Ling declared. "And from tomorrow, the Tian Tian Xian consortium shall bind itself to our village—a pact for every season's yield."
A murmur swept through the crowd, swelling into fervent cries:
"Can it be true? Our prayers answered!"
"Gold for apples, silver for peaches—our toil redeemed!"
"At last, these crumbling walls may rise anew!"
Xu Ling raised a hand, quieting the throng. "Walk my orchards. Learn their secrets. Whether your hands nurture peach or apple, my guidance shall be yours."
The villagers' cheers pierced the twilight, faces alight with futures reborn.
——
Night draped the village in silence. Wang Huifen and Xu Wenhai, weary from the day's trials, succumbed to restless sleep.
Xu Ling sat motionless upon his bed, breath synced to the rhythm of the unseen. The chamber pulsed with warmth, defying winter's bite—a sanctuary forged by qi.
When even the crickets stilled their song, he slipped into the obsidian dark.
Beneath the moon's cold gaze, his orchard lay half-slumbering—clusters of emerald pearls clinging to boughs, save those touched by his earlier alchemy. Drawing well water into a battered basin, he submerged his palm. Azure light bloomed beneath his skin, the liquid rippling with captured starlight.
From tree to tree he moved, anointing roots with measured grace—lavishing the frail, sparing the robust. As the final drop fell, his knees buckled, spiritual reserves drained to whispers.
Returning home, he sank into meditation. A luminous haze enveloped him, swirling like ink in water—the very air thrumming with nascent power.
When the first sparrow chirped, his eyes snapped open. Twin constellations burned within them.
**"The Medical Canon's second gate—*Qi Ascendant*—stands breached."**
To be continuous…