Chapter 4 — Gaze

It was Teng Xuanji's fourth day in Yangzhou. Inside the courtyard of the house he had rented.

Teng Xuanji sat cross-legged in the middle of the courtyard. The night had passed. When the first ray of morning sunlight fell over Yangzhou, he opened his eyes at almost the same instant, his heart as calm as water, his spirit drawn inward. He rose, faced the rising sun, took a deep breath, his expression serene, and then began to practice the Twelve Forms of Xingyi.

The Twelve Forms of Xingyi were divided into twelve: dragon, tiger, eagle, monkey, horse, swallow, sparrowhawk, rooster, bear, tai bird, alligator, and snake.

Each form had its own mystery.

When Teng Xuanji performed the dragon form, he was like a dragon leaving the water, threading through towering waves, his speed like lightning, his shape spiraling, his force rolling. Between one turn and one thrust of his fist, it was like an electric drill boring fiercely forward, and a shrill whistle tore through the air. The dragon form was combined almost perfectly with the Drilling Fist of the Xingyi Five Elements.

When he performed the tiger form, his body rose and fell with such speed that it seemed a phantom flash. Then his hands and feet braced against the ground, and he suddenly pounced, like a tiger descending the mountain, actually raising a low roar. His left fist turned and twisted before his brows, while his right fist shot out like a cannonball, and the sound of a firecracker exploding rang out in empty air. Left fist and right fist crossed, then the left struck again, alternating back and forth, like a tiger descending the mountain, both claws ceaselessly tearing, as if it wanted to rip its prey to pieces.

By the time he finished one round of the form, the sun had completely leaped above the horizon.

Facing the morning sun, he closed the form.

Teng Xuanji watched the morning sun, his gaze firm as rock, immovable. Ever since his wife died, his only pursuit had been the martial way, and his conviction was absolute, which also kept deepening his understanding of Xingyi. Every improvement made him feel anew how profound and vast Xingyi was.

"It has been three days, and still no Qinghe." Teng Xuanji frowned slightly, then smiled. "But the Hand of Darkness is really inefficient. They only discovered my trail yesterday evening."

Teng Xuanji had assumed that, with Yangzhou and Ancang City only a little over a hundred kilometers apart, the Hand of Darkness should have found him within a day. But who would have thought they would not discover his trail until the evening of the third day. Still, it was not strange. The Hand of Darkness had assumed that once Teng Xuanji's whereabouts leaked, he would immediately flee far away, so they had spent their search efforts elsewhere.

Who would have thought that Teng Xuanji, unafraid of death, would actually linger in Yangzhou.

"Three days in a row and still no Qinghe. Now that Qinghe is a member of a national special department, perhaps some important matter has delayed him." As usual, Teng Xuanji left his lodging, took a taxi, and went straight to the Willow Tea House in the old city district.

Normally, Teng Xuanji would stay at the Willow Tea House in the morning and at the White Cloud Cafe not far away in the afternoon. From the White Cloud Cafe, he could also see his younger brother Qinghe's home.

Yangzhou, old city district, Willow Tea House.

"Sir, you're here. Please come in." The waitress led Teng Xuanji with familiarity to a window seat on the second floor. "Sir, soy milk and steamed dumplings as usual?" For three days in a row, he had sat in the same seat, ordered the same food, and stayed all morning, so the waitresses naturally knew exactly what Teng Xuanji wanted.

Teng Xuanji nodded slightly. "Yes, thank you." Then he turned and looked through the window toward the distant direction of his younger brother Qinghe's home.

"Hmm, Qinghe hasn't gone home at all these past few days. What is going on?" Teng Xuanji frowned slightly. This was the fourth day he had come to observe, and after several days of watching, he had become familiar with many details of his brother's home. At a glance, he could easily tell whether the door had been opened, whether the windows had been opened, whether the curtains had been drawn.

No change.

From several days of observation, it seemed that no one had lived in Qinghe's home at all.

"In a few days, Sharpshooter Sun Ze and Bone Crusher Dolgotorov will arrive. I hope I can see my brother before this battle." Teng Xuanji said silently in his heart.

"Sir, your soy milk and steamed dumplings."

The waitress brought up a basket of steamed dumplings and a large cup of soy milk. Teng Xuanji began his breakfast while waiting quietly.

A breeze stirred. A Land Rover Range Rover SUV moved along the old city streets of Yangzhou. Such a domineering, very masculine car was driven by a delicate, short-haired beauty. A beauty driving that kind of car really had a special charm, and Xu Yuanyue on the street could not help brightening his eyes and praising it.

Lin Qing drove the Land Rover quietly.

She was already used to the stares from both sides of the street. On her face there was only a faint loneliness.

"I thought I would just go on muddling through like that, but then I met him, Teng Xuanji. He was like a gust of wind, arriving abruptly, filling my world with color again, and then, just as suddenly, leaving as silently as a gust of wind." Lin Qing's gaze was cool, and it suddenly fell on a tea house by the street, the Willow Tea House.

The Willow Tea House was far less famous in Yangzhou than the Fuchun Tea House, but it likewise had a deep historical heritage, and its prices were much lower than those of the Fuchun Tea House.

Habitually, she turned the car and parked the Land Rover in the open space in front of the tea house. Lin Qing stepped into the Willow Tea House.

"Miss Lin." As soon as the waitress saw Lin Qing, she hurried over warmly. "Miss Lin, it has been a long time since you came."

"I went traveling for a while." Lin Qing smiled faintly, then went straight up the stairs.

Teng Xuanji had finished breakfast and was drinking tea, watching his younger brother Qinghe's home.

"Teng Xuanji." A slightly trembling voice sounded.

Teng Xuanji was startled. Few people in Yangzhou knew him. He turned in confusion and saw a woman standing at the stairway, with ear-length short hair, black women's trousers, and a white women's shirt: Lin Qing. When he saw Lin Qing's eyes, his calm heart gave a violent jolt.

Lin Qing's eyes were angry and anxious, holding a trace of joy and yet a trace of irritation. What kind of eyes were those, containing so many emotions?

"Little Cat."

Teng Xuanji still remembered that year when he was twenty, during the mission with his wife Little Cat in Lebanon in the Middle East. Because Little Cat had been shot, he had torn off her clothes in that urgent moment and removed the bullet for her. At that time, the way Little Cat looked at him had been just like this.

Angry and anxious, with joy and with irritation.

Exactly the same look.

It was also after that time that Little Cat and he had taken the crucial step and become lovers.

"Teng Xuanji, didn't you say you had urgent business and had to go back to your hometown? And you said your home was in the mountains? Why are you still in Yangzhou?" Lin Qing plopped down opposite Teng Xuanji and questioned him one thing after another. But she found that Teng Xuanji did not speak; he only stared at her.

Staring at her eyes.

Meeting a lady's eyes like that was very rude.

"What are you looking at?" Lin Qing could not help saying. Though she said so, an inexplicable trace of joy rose in her heart. This blockhead Teng Xuanji had finally noticed her charm.

"Your eyes are very much like my wife's." Teng Xuanji sighed softly, withdrew his gaze, raised his cup, and took a light sip of tea.

Lin Qing was shaken.