Chasing You Like a Tenacious Falcon

Wei Shixu asked again, "Was Quan Zhisui healthy as a child?"

Zi Ling's cheek twitched: "Haha, she was not just healthy—she was bursting with energy!"

Zhuge Ying laughed, "I heard she used to chase you around and hit you."

Kong Mingze asked, "Don’t you hold a grudge? Aren’t you angry?"

Zi Ling reminisced, "Even though she was violent and loved to tease people, she was incredibly loyal. Didn’t I tell you I was a sickly kid back then?"

"Actually, back then, because we were poor, other Martial Arts Schools looked down on us. I was also a sickly child, often mocked and told to leave the mountain, that practicing martial arts was useless, and that I was a disgrace to the martial way."

Zhuge Ying frowned, "That’s so cruel."

Kong Mingze said, "That reminds me of childhood bullying."

Zi Ling continued, "When I was 12 and Zi Nian was 7, we walked past another Martial Arts School, and someone started badmouthing me again, even throwing small stones at me from behind. At the time, Zi Nian didn’t react at all, but at lunchtime, she didn’t show up."

Zhuge Ying asked, "Where did she go?"

Kong Mingze guessed, "Did she go to challenge them?"

Zi Ling said, "Back then, she didn’t even know what challenging a school meant. Anyway, she came back in the afternoon, covered in injuries. When the master asked her what she had done, she wouldn’t say."

Wei Shixu asked, "And then?"

Zi Ling replied, "Then, the head of that Martial Arts School came with a bloodied student—the one who always talked trash about me—demanding compensation from our master."

Zhuge Ying: "..."

Kong Mingze: "Uh..."

Wei Shixu’s eyes lit up, "Did she win?"

Zi Ling nodded, "Yes! She won! That kid was a year or two older than me, but he still couldn’t beat Zi Nian."

Zhuge Ying asked, "Did your master end up compensating them?"

"No," Zi Ling laughed. "After understanding the situation, the master told Zi Nian to fight him again. As soon as those words came out, the kid was so scared he wet himself and kept apologizing, hahaha!"

The three of them laughed too. The stories about Quan Zhisui’s childhood were getting more and more interesting.

...

In the closed tea room.

Only Quan Zhisui and her master were present. After not seeing each other for several months, the first thing the master did was measure her height.

Quan Zhisui stood straight against the wall.

Fan Shiliu used a measuring tape and said, "169 cm... not quite!"

Quan Zhisui immediately interjected, "Roughly 170 cm."

Fan Shiliu smiled, "You’ve grown quickly these past few years. Remember to get more sun for calcium. The last two years—once you’re 20, you won’t grow anymore!"

Quan Zhisui clenched her fist tightly, "I’ll definitely grow to 175 cm!"

"Wishful thinking," Fan Shiliu said as he put away the measuring tape, giving a precise range, "171 to 172 cm."

Quan Zhisui looked displeased.

Fan Shiliu sat down and poured tea, "Come, tell me about your growth."

Quan Zhisui sat across from her master, and her first words were, "I got my Eight Characters."

Fan Shiliu was taken aback and said, "Your life has already been interfered with twice—once when you were abandoned, and once when I adopted you. The timeline is already messed up. Moreover, self-awareness can also change fate."

Quan Zhisui argued stubbornly, "It was interfered with, and by sheer luck, I avoided the misfortunes of my youth. But in the end, I still ended up in Liangxi Town, facing that whole family of weirdos! That means the general trajectory is the same, but now I’m older and have ways to deal with it."

Fan Shiliu shook his head with a helpless smile, "Why cling to these things? What you’re meant to experience will come. What’s the point of knowing in advance?"

Quan Zhisui pouted, "To avoid disasters ahead of time."

Fan Shiliu handed her a piece of paper, "Write it down."

Quan Zhisui excitedly wrote down her Eight Characters and handed it back.

Fan Shiliu glanced at it and smiled, "Ominous."

Quan Zhisui retorted, "But it’s controlled!"

Fan Shiliu glanced at her, "Hmm, a fierce deity controlling another fierce deity. A great calamity unleashed to wreak havoc on the world, just perfect to torment that family of oddballs."

Quan Zhisui got angry, "Master, can’t you say something nice?!"

Fan Shiliu raised an eyebrow, "Fine, let’s say something nice. Tell me, is your Yang Blade causing you to fight every day in Liangxi Town?"

Quan Zhisui stared straight at the painting behind her master, "I haven’t been fighting."

Fan Shiliu sneered, "Liar. Hold out your hand."

"Okay..." Quan Zhisui obediently extended her palm.

Fortunately, her master still cared for her and didn’t hit her hard, just lightly tapping her palm with a cane.

"Who did you fight? And why?" Fan Shiliu asked.

Quan Zhisui lowered her head, her voice muffled, "I didn’t start it. They provoked me, and I just fought back."

Fan Shiliu asked, "Did you create any bad karma?"

Quan Zhisui fell silent, thinking about her bitten lip.

Wei Shixu...

He was the biggest karmic entanglement she had ever encountered in her life.

She thought her master would scold her, but Fan Shiliu simply said softly, "It’s impossible to avoid karmic entanglements, especially when cultivating in the world. Just go through it. Why overthink it?"

Quan Zhisui looked up at her master, confused.

Fan Shiliu didn’t look at her. Instead, he picked up the paper with the Eight Characters and burned it in the charcoal basin.

He said, "The Tao follows nature."

Quan ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‍Zhisui watched the paper burn to ashes, "Master, should I hide my abilities?"

Fan Shiliu looked at her with a smile, "You? Hide your abilities?"

Quan Zhisui took a deep breath, "You’ve taught me so much, but you won’t let me use it. You won’t let me divine when things happen. I’m so lost right now. I don’t know what to do next."

"I finally got my Eight Characters, and my destiny is one in a million, but you didn’t even give me a single comment. You make me figure everything out on my own. I’m only 17. I can’t figure it out."

She was throwing a little tantrum!

Fan Shiliu smiled again, "You said it yourself—you’re only 17. Seventeen is the age of youthful energy. What’s there to understand about the Tao? Why should a young girl know so much about the Tao?"

"But..." Quan Zhisui looked up, her face full of confusion, "I have an obsession now."

Fan Shiliu wasn’t surprised, "Everyone has obsessions."

Quan Zhisui argued, "Zi Yin doesn’t."

Fan Shiliu said, "You’re 17; she’s 29. Your mental states are worlds apart. How do you know she doesn’t have her own obsessions?"

Quan Zhisui tilted her head, "Isn’t Zi Yin someone who’s attained great enlightenment?"

Fan Shiliu raised an eyebrow, "Even your master has obsessions! Everyone has obsessions, secrets, and untold experiences."

Quan Zhisui thought for a moment and asked, "Master, if two people aren’t each other’s destined match, and the time they meet isn’t when the Red Kylin Star is active, is it still possible for them to be together?"

Fan Shiliu gave her a surprised look and placed his hand on the cane, "Are you in a relationship?!"

Quan Zhisui shook her head frantically, "No, it’s those two outside! Those two!"

Fan Shiliu glared at her, "How many times have I told you? The Eight Characters are fixed, but people are alive. It’s about emotions, about the people, not just a piece of paper with eight characters!"

"Go write ‘Don’t be superstitious, believe in science’ two hundred times!" he scolded.

"Okay..." Quan Zhisui nodded obediently.

But soon, she asked again, "But Master, didn’t you never marry because your Eight Characters said you’d harm your wife?"

The moment she said this, the tea room fell silent except for the sound of breathing.

Fan Shiliu suddenly stood up and grabbed the cane!