Chapter 7

The early morning of summer is actually the most comfortable time of the day. The heat accumulated from the previous day has dissipated, and the scorching sun of the new day hasn't risen yet. Accompanied by the occasional gentle breeze, it's the perfect time for a sound sleep.

I don't want to get up.

Unfortunately, the alarm clock on the bedside table keeps ringing, "Lalala, lala, Black Cat Ranger lalala, lala, Black Cat Ranger," making me grab the alarm clock and, in the next moment, want to throw it against the wall to bring peace to the world.

But when my blurry eyes see the face with "eyes as wide as copper bells," I can't bear to let go.

Black Cat Ranger is one of the most beautiful memories of my childhood, and I can't bear to smash it. I know I'm a heavy sleeper, so I deliberately bought an alarm clock with the image of Black Cat Ranger, which I can't bear to smash, and it naturally wakes me up.

I admire my own cleverness. Besides, this way of waking me up is much more "gentle and comfortable" than being kicked hard on the butt while still half-asleep in the morning, and then having someone bang a big drum and clang a cymbal next to you before you can even get angry.

However, I kind of miss it.

Shaking my still drowsy head, I struggled to get out of bed. Without washing my face, I stumbled into the kitchen. There was a special food aroma in the kitchen. I say "special" because this food aroma was mixed with a strong herbal scent.

The source of the aroma was a clay pot simmering on the stove with a very low flame. I lifted the lid of the pot. After a night of simmering, the medicinal effects had already come out to about 70%. After morning exercise, I could drink this medicinal soup, a unique recipe passed down from my formidable sect.

I was very satisfied with what I saw. I cleared some of the foam from the surface of the soup and then went to the bathroom to wash up.

It was 5:30 AM, the same time I usually get up. I wondered if this monotonous life would continue until I was old and dead?

A 25-minute run, a 15-minute body stretch, 40 minutes of Tai Chi, and finally 30 minutes of the powerful Eight Extremes Fist. My morning exercise was over, and it was exactly 7:20 AM.

"Morning is the most important time for health, as the Daoists believe. Morning cultivation is especially crucial."

"Since morning cultivation is so important, why do I have to practice such a powerful fist in the early morning? Master, didn't you say that truly fierce martial arts are harmful to the body?"

"You know nothing. The rich don't study literature, and the poor don't study martial arts. Practicing powerful fist techniques can maximize the 'hunger' of different parts of the body. If you supplement appropriately at this time, your body will absorb it better. The right amount of practice will make you stronger and more robust than ordinary Daoists who only practice health-preserving fists. The supplements are the most expensive, so if you're poor, don't even think about cultivating or learning martial arts."

"Um, Master makes a lot of sense."

"Little brother, you actually believe Master's nonsense? Forget it, you don't have the wisdom of a seasoned man like me. It's okay to be a bit naive. Do you know? Yesterday, Master watched 'The Return of the Condor Heroes.' He said that starting from tomorrow, he would have you practice powerful offensive martial arts. If he could turn you into Yang Guo, he wondered if you could attract a Xiaolongnü? That's his real intention!"

I don't know if it's because I'm tired, but I tend to reminisce. Before I could wipe the sweat from my face, memories flooded my mind. As I walked home, thinking about these things, a smile involuntarily appeared on my face.

Regardless of whether the ultimate goal was to attract a Xiaolongnü to impress Master, the habit of practicing the powerful fist for half an hour during morning exercise had deeply imprinted itself in my soul.

It has been five years since I came down the mountain, and this habit has never been interrupted.

When I got home, the medicinal soup was just right. I turned off the stove, ladled out the soup, took a shower, and the temperature was just right for a hearty breakfast.

You shouldn't exercise on an empty stomach in the morning. The few slices of bread I had before the intense exercise were long gone. Just like every morning after the morning exercise, I was so hungry that I could eat a whole cow.

My day is precisely scheduled: 5:30 AM for morning exercise, 7:20 AM to finish, 8:00 AM for breakfast, 8:30 AM for meditation, 9:30 AM to leave home, and 10:00 AM to open the shop. As I ate the meat buns and drank the medicinal soup, I couldn't help but marvel at this.

However, at that time, I didn't realize that life is full of surprises. The surprise lies in the fact that when you complain about the lack of excitement and nothing happening, something unexpected might suddenly sweep through your life. Looking back, you realize that the calm and peaceful life was also a kind of happiness.

So, when I finished the last bun and the last sip of medicinal soup, my phone started to "ring." I frowned slightly, as if I had a premonition that from this moment on, my life would change completely.

"Who is it?" I like quiet and don't enjoy hearing the phone ring in the quiet morning room, so I answered quickly.

"Ye Zhengling, tell me, have you forgotten my number again? You don't even know who I am? Do you have a conscience? You..." A familiar voice came from the phone. It was my good friend, Zhang Yang.

His personality is as outgoing as his name suggests, and because he is outgoing, he is also talkative.

I knew that if I didn't interrupt him now, he would keep talking about this. He knows I have a habit of not memorizing phone numbers, especially for those I am familiar with. Instead, I lazily record the names of people I don't know but need to contact on my phone.

My theory is that familiar people will naturally stay in touch, and it doesn't matter whether I remember their names or not. I can just check the call history. It's just that I'm lazy.

"Get to the point." Because I know Zhang Yang's habit, I interrupted him directly.

"Come over, if you don't come, I'll go crazy. Zhou Zheng is in trouble." Reminded by me, Zhang Yang immediately reacted. The voice that was full of complaints just now suddenly became panicked and helpless.

Zhou Zheng is in trouble? Besides admiring Zhang Yang's ability to nag even in such a situation, my heart suddenly raced! How could Zhou Zheng be in trouble? Yesterday, he came to my shop, and I carefully checked to make sure he wasn't being bothered by anything unclean.

I wanted to ask about Zhou Zheng's situation on the phone, but I thought that Zhang Yang's nagging would take a lot of time and might not be clear, so I said I would come over immediately and hung up. I quickly tidied up and left.

At that moment, I didn't realize that it was time for meditation, and my seemingly unchanged life had already begun to change.

Zhang Yang's place wasn't far from mine, and it was only a ten-minute drive. Worried about Zhou Zheng, I naturally drove faster, so in less than eight minutes, I was standing at Zhang Yang's door.

Zhang Yang opened the door and let me in, muttering behind me, "What on earth happened to Zhou Zheng? He insisted on staying at my place for three days. On the first day, he was so abnormal that I didn't dare to bring a girl back yesterday. I didn't bring a girl back yesterday, and I can't bring a girl back tomorrow, or later..."

"Which room is Zhou Zheng in?" I had to admit that Zhang Yang's nagging was incredibly annoying. I was so confused by his nagging that I couldn't even remember which room Zhou Zheng was in, even though I was familiar with his two-bedroom apartment.

"Guest room." Mentioning Zhou Zheng, Zhang Yang's expression became somber, and he stopped nagging.

"Good, if possible, don't talk for the next ten minutes." My face turned serious. Before, I didn't have time to notice anything, but in the moment of silence, I suddenly felt something was wrong in the room.

Ordinary people might not notice this until things got really bad, but they would feel the unusual chill.

Seeing my expression change, Zhang Yang shut up. My friends know that I'm lazy and generally don't make any demands on my friends. Even if I'm uncomfortable, I won't say anything. But once I speak, it's very serious, and I expect my friends to follow through.

With Zhang Yang quiet, the room naturally became silent. I stood in the center of the living room, feeling the source of the chill, and moved step by step to find its origin. Soon, I was at the door of a room.

Isn't this the guest room where Zhou Zheng is staying?

I grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. Before I could react, a figure lunged at me.

"Cat, cat, don't come over!" It was Zhou Zheng. I caught his fist that was aimed at me and saw that his eyes were already vacant. He was struggling and still trying to attack me.

My brows furrowed. Cat? Don't come over?