Chapter 719: Overturning in the Ditch
That old ox looked at him, then at the cowering Dragon Qilin behind him, and couldn't help but snicker, "That big dumb loser can't beat me, so he found a helper. No matter what kind of helper you are, you can't do anything to me. Are you here to stick up for that big dumb loser?"
"Big dumb loser?"
Qin Mu was slightly startled. "Could he be referring to Fatty Long?"
"Senior brother, Fatty Long was just rude a moment ago. I ask for your forgiveness."
Qin Mu followed proper etiquette. "May I ask if the Farmer is here?"
The old ox scratched the scales on his belly, making a rustling sound. They were dragon scales. Qin Mu only then noticed that this old ox indeed somewhat resembled the Green Ox of Banshan Sacrificial Wine—both seemed to be dragon breeds, and both were covered in bulging muscles.
However, the Green Ox's hobby was eating peonies, loving flowers and plants, and showing off his muscles, while this old ox was holding a water pipe and smoking, enjoying tea while he smoked.
"Could this old ox have some connection to the Green Ox?" he wondered inwardly.
The old ox blew out a smoke ring, glanced at him, and said, "Seeing how young you are, you probably don't know my master. Who are you, and what business do you have with my master?"
Qin Mu smiled. "I am a disciple of Woodcutter Heavenly Teacher. Among the Four Heavenly Teachers of the Kaicang Heavenly Court, I have already met Fisherman and Woodcutter. I have yet to meet the other two. Senior brother, could you make an introduction?"
"Master is just a farmer. What's there to see?"
The old ox emptied his water pipe and said, "A few days ago, a woodcutter came looking for him and got beaten up. He's been lying in the stinking ditch at the village entrance for a month without moving. Since you're Woodcutter's disciple, just call me senior brother. No need for 'senior brother' formality."
"A woodcutter?"
Qin Mu was startled. "Teacher Woodcutter was beaten? Hasn't moved for a month? Which village?"
The old ox stood up, his front hooves landing on the ground, and flicked his tail. "I'll take you there, but don't think about pulling him out. Master said, let that bastard rot in the ditch. Anyone who dares pull him out will eat three punches from Master. Master's three punches can punch three holes in the sky!"
Qin Mu called for Dragon Qilin, who was somewhat reluctant and very afraid of this old ox. But the old ox was quite easygoing and laughed, "Big dog, no need to fear me. You're still young. When you grow up, you'll be able to pin me down and fight."
Dragon Qilin's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Fake."
The old ox downed the tea on the stone table in one gulp, his ox tongue curling to make the teacup and teapot disappear. He walked forward leisurely, "You're too green. With your little frame, even if you cultivate for another thousand years, I could still take on three of you with one hoof. Not just you—true dragons, qilins, I've beaten more than I can count. Our village isn't far ahead, a small mountain village."
Dragon Qilin hung his head in dejection.
Qin Mu smiled. "Senior Brother Niu, Fatty Long may be young, but he shouldn't be underestimated. I taught him the Ancestral Dragon's Supreme Profound Art, a divine art at the Imperial Throne level. His cultivation progress is remarkably fast. He might surpass you in the future."
"My name is Niu Sanduo."
The old ox flicked his tail. "The strength of a technique doesn't lie in its power, but in whether it's your own. His technique isn't his own, and with his qilin bloodline, the Ancestral Dragon's Supreme Profound Art should be a dragon clan technique, right? He can only cultivate half of it; the other half is full of flaws. It would be strange if he could beat me. Without walking your own path, cultivating any technique is useless."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. "Senior Brother Niu Sanduo's insight and vision far surpass countless gods and demons. It seems Farmer Heavenly Teacher truly deserves the title of Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher. Even an ox he trained is this formidable, completely comparable to a realm lord like Furi Luo."
They arrived at a small mountain village in the Great Ruins, about six or seven li from the rice field.
Qin Mu surveyed the scenery of the mountain village. It was a picturesque place, nestled against a mountain with a clear spring flowing down from the green peaks, very idyllic. However, the village had about a hundred households, but not a single stone statue.
"Take a look yourself. See if the one lying in the ditch is your teacher." The old ox swished his rear and walked into the village.
Qin Mu went to the stinking ditch at the village entrance and indeed saw a man lying face-up in the foul water, his face pale from being soaked.
The ditch reeked with a nauseating stench, and the man dressed as a woodcutter had his hands and feet broken. It seemed countless other bones in his body were also shattered, leaving only his skull intact.
Qin Mu watched for a moment. The man lying in the ditch finally noticed him, flipped over with a splash, burying his face in the filthy water. A few rotten cabbage leaves hung from his hair, and a gnawed-clean chicken bone was stuck in his rear.
Qin Mu crouched by the ditch, unhurried and calm. "Teacher, why are you in such a sorry state that you've overturned in the ditch?"
Woodcutter Sage flipped back with another splash, his stubble also bleached white from soaking, and said slowly, "The heavens have unpredictable storms. The wind is high and the waves are rough, so the boat capsized."
Qin Mu smiled. "Can Teacher flip out of the ditch?"
"All my bones are broken, my cultivation is sealed, I can't struggle free."
Qin Mu asked again, "Does Teacher have a grudge with Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher?"
Woodcutter Sage said, "We've never gotten along."
Qin Mu nodded, stood up, and walked toward the village, announcing in a clear voice, "Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing, the 107th generation descendant of Kaicang, requests an audience with Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher!"
The farmers and farmwives in the village stopped their work and looked at him. A short but sturdy elderly farmer, who was brushing the mane on the old ox's neck, perked up his ears and also looked at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu led Dragon Qilin into the village. There was no sound anywhere, only a hundred or so people staring at them with wide eyes.
Dragon Qilin was terrified, following closely behind Qin Mu with small steps, lowering his voice. "Chief, this village is strange. Besides that old farmer, there are no old people or children—only young adults..."
Qin Mu smiled as he looked ahead, walking toward the old ox and the short but robust old farmer, and said quietly, "Fatty Long has grown up, able to notice such details. A village with only young adults and no old people or children is indeed strange."
"Could they have been eaten by the old ox?" Dragon Qilin shuddered.
Qin Mu removed the willow leaf from his forehead, scanned the area with his third eye, and shook his head. "Of course not. The reason there are no old people is that they never age. How could gods age?"
"Gods?"
Dragon Qilin was startled, looking timidly around. Were all the hundred or so people in this small village gods and demons?
"Chief's teacher came here to fight—truly an old man asking for death!" Dragon Qilin thought to himself.
In the view of Qin Mu's third eye, the divine repositories and heavenly palaces of these villagers emerged. Their divine bridges were complete, extending from the divine repositories straight to the heavenly palaces.
And in their heavenly palaces, towering and majestic primordial spirits stood deep within. He couldn't see their exact positions, but he could tell that the lowest cultivation among them was at the Jade Terrace level!
When he looked at the old farmer, he couldn't see through his cultivation at all, not even the old ox's!
"The old ox said Dragon Qilin couldn't contend with him even after a thousand years of cultivation. It seems that's true."
Qin Mu put the willow leaf back in place, approached the old ox and the old farmer, and bowed. "Qin Mu of the Kaicang Qin clan pays respects to Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher."
The old farmer had deep wrinkles on his face, his skin dark and reddish from wind and sun. His hands had prominent veins and thick knuckles, looking very strong.
His eyes were sunken, and he drooped his eyelids, continuing to brush the ox's fur, his voice like a bell. "There's no Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher here. We're all farmers. You've got the wrong person."
Qin Mu smiled. "Since Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher is unwilling to acknowledge his identity, the man in the ditch is my teacher. May I take him away?"
The old farmer clenched his fist heavily, and rolling thunder erupted. Qin Mu looked up to see the sky suddenly darken, lightning flashing, streaks of lightning tearing through the sky, and faintly, a fist as large as a black mountain appeared in the sky.
"If you want to take that old charlatan away, first take three punches from me!"
The old farmer glanced at him and shook his head. "Your body can't handle it."
Qin Mu steadied himself, withdrew his gaze, and said, "Heavenly Teacher, as the foremost in martial power among the Four Heavenly Teachers, would you trouble a junior of the Qin clan?"
The old farmer relaxed his fist, continued brushing the ox's fur, and said calmly, "Is the bloodline of Kaicang so impressive? Back then, some of Kaicang's children did evil, and I killed a few of them. Among the Four Heavenly Teachers, I'm not ranked first. What use is martial power? It's not as good as that smooth-talker in the ditch."
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat appeared on his temple. He even dared to directly kill Kaicang's children?
This Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher was truly audacious!
"What must Martial Combat Heavenly Teacher do to let Teacher Woodcutter go?"
Qin Mu suddenly became serious. "The martial world has its rules, and the court has its laws. Since we're in the martial world, let's follow its rules! Junior Qin Mu comes to rescue his teacher. Please, Heavenly Teacher, lay down the path!"
The old farmer lifted his drooping eyelids and chuckled. "Martial world rules? Excellent! Let's see how much that smooth-talker has taught you! That sleazy woodcutter became the first of the Four Heavenly Teachers by talking. You haven't just learned his smooth talk, have you?"
Qin Mu laughed heartily, his clothes billowing without wind. "To be honest, since I debuted, I've always solved problems with my fists. I've fought all the way and never lost to anyone!"
The old farmer looked him up and down and sneered. "You haven't even cultivated your martial soul. Your fists have spirit but no soul—an unenlightened fellow. But your mouth sure makes a lot of noise. Men, open the Bullfighting Palace!"
In the mountain village, the farmers and farmwives all stood up, shouting in unison, and punched out.
The mountains behind the village were punched flat by the gods, space torn open, revealing a vast heavenly palace nestled within a vast celestial realm.
The celestial realm opened, sun and moon hung high, stars shone brightly, and within it was a considerable kingdom.
"Go to the Bullfighting Palace. Martial world rules!"
The old farmer laughed heartily. "No mercy for death!"
Qin Mu's scalp tingled. Dragon Qilin quietly turned to slip away, but Qin Mu stepped on his tail, nearly scaring him to death.
—Woodcutter, lying in the ditch, raised his little axe: I can still beg for monthly votes~