Chapter 11: The Masked Man, Yan Jue

A few of them sat on the ox cart, slowly making their way back to Taoyuan Village. Along the way, the children were visibly excited—it was their first time earning silver with their own efforts.

Zhao Hu asked the village chief, “Village Chief, can you teach me martial arts?”

Xiaojiu replied, “You wouldn’t be able to learn my martial arts.”

Zhao Hu looked a bit disappointed. “Then Village Chief, how can I learn martial arts?”

Xiaojiu glanced at the others and said, “I’ll find you a martial arts master someday.”

She gave it some thought. None of the villagers in Taoyuan knew martial arts—they were too weak and had no ability to protect themselves.

But her own combat strength came from being the Zombie King—innate brute strength and lightning-fast speed. As for traditional martial arts of this ancient era, she knew nothing about them.

So where could she possibly find a martial arts master for Zhao Hu?

Just then, the sound of a fierce battle erupted from the woods up ahead, interrupting the children’s excited chatter.

They all looked toward the woods, curiosity piqued. There, several men in black robes were surrounding and attacking a man with a long sword and a mask.

The black-robed men struck with ferocity and deadly precision. Their blades gleamed coldly, each blow aimed to kill.

But the masked man was no ordinary opponent. His sword danced like a dragon, swift and deadly. His technique was masterful, each strike aimed at a vital point, giving his enemies no chance to recover. Every move was lethal—he was clearly a top-tier expert.

In just a short moment, the black-robed men had all fallen, lifeless.

It was the first time the children had seen such an intense fight. They were so stunned they forgot to breathe.

Suddenly, Xiaojiu had a bold idea—what were the chances she could drag this man back and make him their martial arts teacher?

She turned to Zhao Hu and asked, “Didn’t you say you wanted to learn martial arts? What do you think about having him as your master?”

Zhao Hu was nervous yet thrilled. “Village Chief, but what if he refuses?”

Xiaojiu looked ahead again and saw the masked man, having dealt with the enemies, now supporting himself on his sword, half-kneeling and coughing up blood. A second later, he collapsed to the ground, completely motionless.

Xiaojiu said uncertainly, “Looks like your master just died.”

Zhao Hu quickly turned to look. Seeing the masked man lying there, he immediately jumped off the cart and sprinted toward the woods, shouting, “Master! Master, are you okay?”

Xiaojiu and the others followed. They saw the man’s lips had turned dark purple.

Da Ya said, “Is he poisoned?”

Liu Dazhu took one look and agreed, “He’s definitely poisoned. Look at his lips—completely black.”

Xiaojiu took out an antidote pill she had just gotten from a recent reward draw and shoved it into the man’s mouth.

Then she suddenly remembered something and asked the system, “Can this antidote actually cure him?”

‘It can,’ the system answered inwardly thinking: You already gave it to him—asking now is a bit late, don’t you think?

After taking the antidote, the masked man’s complexion began to improve, though he remained unconscious.

Xiaojiu instructed Zhao Dalang and Liu Dazhu to carry him into the ox cart. Just like that, the group brought the mysterious masked man back to the village. But Xiaojiu grew wary—what if this man ran away after recovering, especially after eating her antidote?

So she had them carry him into a spare room in her own courtyard.

Zhao Hu adamantly refused to go home, insisting on staying to take care of his master. Zhao Dalang gave up trying to persuade him and simply left him in the village chief’s courtyard.

Seeing Zhao Hu stay behind, A’dou also refused to leave and insisted on staying too.

Xiaojiu let the two boys stay to look after the masked man while she returned to her room. As for why she wasn’t worried the man might wake up and hurt the kids—well, it was because a familiar system notification had just chimed in her mind:

“Successfully acquired a martial arts master. Reward: 200 points + 1 lucky draw.”

Xiaojiu hurried back to her room to do a lottery draw.

“Draw complete. You’ve received a Lightness Skill Manual.”

“Lightness skill manual? Is that like what that masked man was doing—flying through the air?” Xiaojiu immediately opened the book. There were both pictures and text, and to her surprise, she could actually understand them.

Though she already thought she was amazing, she had to admit she couldn’t fly—she had just seen it with her own eyes. The masked man and the black-robed guy flying around mid-air while fighting looked so cool. She wanted to be that badass too.

So Xiaojiu immersed herself in studying the lightness skill manual.

She mimicked the movements while memorizing them in her mind.

Then she brought the book to a more open area behind the courtyard and began practicing step by step.

But the system, watching its host’s movements, couldn’t help but feel… something was seriously off.

Why did she look like a frog?

The illustrations in the manual definitely didn’t look like this!

The system couldn’t take it anymore. It quickly logged off.

My eyes!!

Zhao Hu and A Dou, who had followed their village chief to the back courtyard, stared at her strange movements and asked in confusion, “Village Chief, what are you doing?”

“Practicing lightness skill. One day I’ll be able to fight just like those people earlier, flying around in the air.”

When Zhao Hu and A Dou heard it was lightness skill like the ones from earlier, they got even more excited than Xiaojiu.

Both of them started copying her movements.

And so, what started as one person doing frog jumps soon turned into three people doing frog jumps together.

At that moment, Yan Jue—who had just regained consciousness and wanted to see the person who’d detoxified him—looked out into the back courtyard and saw three people… doing frog jumps. He thought it was just a new children’s game.

Zhao Hu noticed Yan Jue was awake and immediately asked, “Master, how’s our lightness skill practice?”

Yan Jue was completely bewildered.

Master?

Was he talking to me?

When did I take a disciple?

And did he just say they’re practicing lightness skill?

Yan Jue began to suspect he might’ve woken up the wrong way.

Why couldn’t he understand a single thing this kid was saying?

Zhao Hu, seeing Yan Jue’s blank expression and silence, asked Xiaojiu, “Village Chief, do you think my master might be mute?”

Yan Jue felt that if he didn’t speak now, these kids would soon decide he was deaf too. So he asked Zhao Hu, “Why am I your master?”

Zhao Hu looked at him with anticipation. “Because you’re the second most powerful person I’ve ever seen. I want to learn martial arts from you.”

Yan Jue asked, “So you’ve already seen the most powerful person?”

A Dou quickly cut in, “Our village chief is the most powerful in the world.”

In his mind, Yan Jue immediately pictured an elderly, reclusive village chief with hidden skills, and asked, “Where’s your village chief? Can you take me to meet them?”

Zhao Hu and A Dou pointed at Xiaojiu, who was still diligently practicing her frog jumps.

“She’s our village chief.”

Yan Jue looked at the little girl hopping around with her butt stuck out and asked in confusion, “Your village chief is a little girl?”

“Yeah!”

Xiaojiu paused her training, looked up at Yan Jue, and said, “I’m the village chief of Taoyuan Village. I’m the one who detoxified you. So—how are you going to repay me?”

Xiaojiu didn’t believe in losing out on a deal. That detox pill was a one-time draw from the system, and she had used it on him.

“You cured my poison?” Yan Jue asked.

“Yup, I only had one antidote, and I gave it to you.”

Yan Jue cupped his hands to her in gratitude and said, “Thank you for saving my life, little benefactor. So, how would you like me to repay you?”

He was genuinely surprised that this kid could detoxify him. It seemed the village doctor here must be highly skilled.

Meanwhile, the actual village doctor, Doctor Huang: “It wasn’t me! I swear! I only treat bruises and minor injuries!”

Xiaojiu crossed her arms to make herself look more imposing and said, “Stay in the village as a martial arts teacher. Teach the village kids kung fu. After one year, you can leave.”

She figured, since the system called him a martial arts teacher, then he might not be one now—but he would be. Eventually.

Anyway, the priority now was to keep him in the village and have him teach the kids a bit of self-defense first.