Zhang Zhiwei lowered his eyes, glanced at Tian Jinzhong, and used his elbow to hook the boy over and hold him.
"You should worry more about yourself. In my opinion, Huaiyi doesn't need any guidance, but you do!"
After saying that, he slapped his hands a few times and laughed loudly, "Have you read Journey to the West? Count carefully how many times I hit you, and then come to me for private instruction at a certain time!"
Tian Jinzhong struggled and said, "I will definitely not be polite to you about the advice, but please let me go first, there are so many people here, I don't want to lose face!"
…………………………
On the other side, inside the hall.
Heavenly Master Zhang Jingqing sat on the armchair and said, "Huaiyi, I remember you went down the mountain and walked around, and believers also gave you gifts. How come you don't even have money to treat me to tea?"
Lin Huaiyi stood before him trembling with fear and said carefully, "This... Master, I have always been poor and I am indeed short of money!"
"Hmm? So that's how it is. I'm short of money..."
Zhang Jingqing nodded, took out a bulging bag from his pocket, and threw it on the ground with a "bang", and a lot of money rolled out.
"this……"
Lin Huaiyi originally thought that the money was given to him by his master, and was about to say that he didn't need it, but when he saw the purse, his head suddenly buzzed and his face turned pale.
The purse was actually his own.
For a moment, Lin Huaiyi's mind was full of thoughts. Why did the master dig out my purse? It was such a small matter, but he summoned me alone. Did the master think that I was going to secretly save the money and run away down the mountain?
Zhang Jingqing said calmly, "You buried all your money, so how could you not be embarrassed?"
Lin Huaiyi's face turned pale and he didn't dare to speak. He couldn't figure out what his master was thinking.
Heavenly Master Zhang Jingqing lowered his head, so that Lin Huaiyi could not see his expression, and continued:
"Huaiyi, when your family was robbed, I saved you, took you in, accepted you as my disciple, and taught you my skills...was it all for you to bully me?"
Lin Huaiyi broke out in a cold sweat, fell to his knees with a plop, quickly admitted his mistake, and said sincerely:
"Master, I didn't mean to deceive you or anyone else. I know I was wrong!"
"snort!"
Zhang Jingqing snorted coldly, "Huaiyi, you've disappointed Master. I've treated you well over the years, and your fellow apprentices have treated you like brothers. And yet, we can't even get a single word of truth from you? What else are you hiding from me? Tell me, and I'll let bygones be bygones, as if nothing ever happened."
This time, Zhang Jingqing was truly furious. In this era, a teacher is a father for life. He had accepted this disciple, provided him with food and drink, taught him skills, and taught him how to be a good person...
But in the end, this disciple had a huge gap with him. He hid everything from him, no matter big or small, and did not trust him at all.
This feeling made Zhang Jingqing feel very uncomfortable.
He was angry before, and although he kept talking about Zhang Zhiwei, it was actually just talk. What was on his mind was Lin Huaiyi.
Now, he wanted to give Lin Huaiyi a chance to confess. As long as he confessed, he would not hold grudges against the past.
Lin Huaiyi broke out in a cold sweat and quickly knelt down, saying, "Master, Master, I was wrong first. I shouldn't have saved any private money. I don't want this money anymore. I didn't mean to do it. This is the only thing I've kept secret from you and everyone else. Please forgive me this time!"
"Oh?! Really?"
Zhang Jingqing stood up with a sullen face, walked to Lin Huaiyi, and said in a deep voice:
"That's all... Is it really just about hiding the money?"
As he spoke, Zhang Jingqing grabbed Lin Huaiyi by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up like a cat, saying, "Iron is not steel."
"I gave you a chance, but you didn't use it. Why would I come to you for something as trivial as saving some private money? You seem quite smart and cunning, so why do you always get confused on important matters?"
After saying that, Zhang Jingqing pressed Lin Huaiyi to the ground. Qi burst out from his hand and sank into Lin Huaiyi's body, moving step by step towards his Dantian, with the intention of crippling him.
"Ah, Master, ahhhh."
The powerful Qi was running rampant in his body. Lin Huaiyi screamed in pain and subconsciously cast the Golden Light Mantra to try to expel it.
Feeling the intensity of the golden light, Zhang Jingqing snorted in his heart, it's already this time, and you still don't confess and are hiding it from me?
He sneered, "Wow, you evil creature! Since you still want to fight with your master, I'm taking back the methods I taught you. Do you have any objections?"
"Master, I know I was wrong, Master..." Lin Huaiyi pleaded while struggling to resist.
"You still dare to resist? Do you think you can resist me with your meager skills?" Zhang Jingqing increased his strength and poured more powerful Qi into Lin Huaiyi's body.
"ah!"
Realizing that his master was serious, Lin Huaiyi shouted loudly and no longer concealed his weakness. He mobilized all his Qi and used all his strength to chant the Golden Light Mantra.
“Clang!”
An extremely thick protective golden light appeared, which immediately expelled Zhang Jingqing's Qi. Not only that, it also shook off Zhang Jingqing's hand that was clamped on the back of his neck.
Then, Lin Huaiyi kicked his foot, and the floor of the hall collapsed. With the help of the recoil force, he instantly crossed a distance of more than ten meters and jumped in front of the hall door.
"Haha, Huaiyi, after all these years, I finally realized that you have improved to such an extent. It is not unfair to say that you are betraying your teacher!" Zhang Jingqing said indifferently.
Zhang Jingqing was also surprised by Lin Huaiyi's level of the Golden Light Mantra just now.
He always knew that this kid was hiding his abilities, but he never expected that he was hiding them so deeply. Before, he estimated that Lin Huaiyi and Lu Jin were about the same, but now it seems that he is much stronger.
"Master, why is it so?!"
Lin Huaiyi glanced at Zhang Jingqing's gloomy face, knew something was wrong, and ran away.
While running, he took out two pieces of armor and stuck them on his legs. He took a few dozen meters at a time and disappeared from Longhu Mountain in just three or two breaths.
Although Lin Huaiyi, like Zhang Zhiwei, also majored in inner alchemy, as a disciple of the three sects of talismans, he was no problem at all for some basic small talismans, such as the divine form, armor and horse.
Zhang Jingqing looked at his disciple's receding back and sighed deeply. As a Taoist master, his strength had already reached the highest level.
There are not many people in this world who can compete with him. If he really wants to suppress this little brat, how could he let him escape?
Even if he really ran away, he knew everything about his fate and could curse him. If the monk could run away, the temple could not, and if the Taoist priest could run away, the Taoist temple could not as well?
"Alas, you're both clever and foolish, both of you are such a worry! I just want you to admit your mistakes and open up, but why do you have to go to this extent? If I wanted to destroy you, would you be able to escape?"
"Alas, there's a thief in your heart, and you can't keep him tamed. Never mind, if you want to go down the mountain, then go down the mountain. The skills you've learned in the mountains over the years should give you the capital to stand on your own feet even in this chaotic world!"
Zhang Jingqing sighed deeply, flicked his sleeves, and returned to the hall, but he had no intention of meditating.
For him, the disciple's defection was like having a son whom he had raised for many years and suddenly severing ties with him.
Even as a Heavenly Master, it was difficult for him to let go of his feelings all of a sudden. After all, the Zhengyi Sect was different from the Quanzhen Sect and was not as pure and selfless.
At this moment, Zhang Jingqing suddenly recalled Zhang Zhiwei in his mind. If it were him, how would he respond when faced with such a scenario?
After thinking for a while, Zhang Jingqing shook his head. Their personalities were different and there was no comparison. If this guy was caught keeping private money, he would not beg for mercy. He would just smile and hand over the money to invite the master for tea.
As for hiding his incompetence... this guy makes every little thing he does known to everyone, so it's impossible for him to hide his incompetence.
As soon as I thought of this, Speak of the devil.
“Bang!”
The door was pushed open, and a beast nearly 1.9 meters tall ran in without any hesitation, shouting:
"Master, look what I brought you!"
Zhang Jingqing narrowed her eyes, glanced at Zhang Zhiwei who came in with a swagger, and said coldly:
"roll!!"
"Um?!"
Such a bad temper? He got humiliated by that Huaiyi kid... Zhang Zhiwei tilted his head and glanced at Zhang Jingqing.
Then, wisely, he ran out backwards with a thud, and considerately closed the door.
"Hmph, you're smart!"
Zhang Jingqing snorted coldly. He was just thinking that if this kid continued to act disrespectfully, he would use this as an excuse to test him and vent his anger.
He had no way to escape the fact of bullying his teacher. He had agreed not to reveal a single word, but he turned around and told a long story.
…………
After leaving the hall, Zhang Zhiwei returned to his residence with a bag of tea in his hand.
In fact, he came here this time to offer tea as a gift and to see how Huaiyi was doing.
But looking at his master's expression, he already had the answer in his mind. This guy probably ran down the mountain.
"What a fool! What's this big-eared thief thinking? He's been hiding in the gutter for so long, looking at the sky from a well, he doesn't even know that the sea is vast and the sky is big. If the master doesn't let the sea go, he'll run away with his head!"
Zhang Zhiwei shook his head and didn't think about it anymore. Lin Huaiyi was a bit taciturn. In the past, out of concern for his junior fellow student, he had asked a few questions.
It seems that because of his previous love of showing off, his family suffered a disaster, and all his family members died, leaving him as the only one alive.
In short, it was a bit like Lin Pingzhi in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Lin Huaiyi refused to say more about these things, so Zhang Zhiwei didn't ask any more questions.
The world is not peaceful, and this kind of thing is very common, so Zhang Zhiwei can understand Lin Huaiyi's character. It is normal for him to be a little paranoid because he carries a deep blood feud.
"I originally wanted to discuss cultivation with Master, but now... I'd better not go and risk bad luck. I'll figure it out on my own!"
Zhang Zhiwei was quite perceptive and slipped away decisively. If he had been kept behind under the pretext of an exam but actually gotten beaten, that would not have been good.
He had encountered this situation several times. Every time his master was in a bad mood, he liked to test him.
The first few times, he was very excited, but after being beaten a few times, he stopped being the scapegoat. After all, it was not easy to fight back.