Volume One: The Young Monk Returns to Secular Life Chapter Forty-Seven: Da Vinci’s Advice

Half an hour later...

The black-clad men searched the House of Green with great fanfare, scouring every nook and cranny—even the mouseholes—yet still found no trace of the little monk and his companions. Their frustration only grew.

Unbeknownst to them, two shadowy figures were observing their every move from a hidden corner.

These two were none other than the legendary thief Da Vinci and his newly acquired apprentice, Mu Chen.

Da Vinci watched the black-clad men intently, somewhat vexed—how had they discovered his secret base was hidden within the brothel’s walls?

While he racked his brain, trying to deduce who might have leaked the information, his disciple seemed lost in thought, as if reminiscing about the strange circumstances under which he had first met his master.

...

Ever since Da Vinci's humiliating experience at Golden Mountain Temple, he would wake suddenly from sleep every night, haunted by dreams of returning to that place—memories of the abbot’s sinister smile and the cunning little monk left him shivering with dread.

Yet, as the saying goes: a blessing may come in disguise. One night, startled awake, Da Vinci stumbled upon a prodigious youth diligently practicing martial arts on the mountain behind the temple—Mu Chen. After losing his previous disciple, Yuan Tong, he had finally found another precious protégé.

Naturally, he poured everything he knew into Mu Chen, withholding nothing.

Yes, including the “Muscle-Tendon Classic” he had stolen from Golden Mountain Temple.

“My disciple, this is my ultimate secret technique—one so profound that not even your late senior brother Yuan Tong mastered it,” Da Vinci tempted Mu Chen.

Mu Chen, born of humble origins and desperate to make his mark, was no genius. In fact, he was often dismissed as talentless.

That night, the woman to whom he’d been betrothed since childhood broke off their engagement, mocking his lack of progress—he was already eighteen, yet still only at the tenth level of internal energy. Enraged, Mu Chen stormed to the mountain’s rear and practiced the Eight Extremities Collapse over and over. Unbeknownst to him, his martial arts suddenly surged forward, breaking through to the fifteenth level in a single night.

And then he met the fabled thief, Da Vinci—the blind man clutching the “strange” Muscle-Tendon Classic, insisting that Mu Chen practice it.

As Mu Chen opened the tattered pages, a blood-chilling line leapt out at him:

“To master this skill, one must first become a eunuch!”

Mu Chen was no fool. Terrified, he threw the book away at once.

What a joke—if he did that, he’d never get the chance to tell that wretched woman, “What goes around comes around—give it thirty years.”

“Don’t panic—keep reading,” Da Vinci coaxed him patiently.

If you do not become a eunuch, you can still succeed!

Mu Chen, both doubtful and hopeful, turned another page. Relief flooded his heart.

“So the method is...?”

“Here, let me show you. I’ll guide your internal energy, and you’ll understand how to master this secret manual,” Da Vinci explained, placing his hand on Mu Chen’s lower abdomen and directing his energy to a certain part of his body.

It was done.

For once, Da Vinci’s smile was sincere.

But Mu Chen was full of questions, because he felt that, just as every morning, that certain part of his body was swelling again!

“It would be a pity to cut it off—you now possess a trump card! I guarantee, even if the world’s greatest master, Li Bai, were to face you, he’d die with regret,” Da Vinci boasted.

“What’s this technique called?”

“炸鸡!” Da Vinci replied.

“How is it used?” Mu Chen’s heart sank at the name, sensing trouble.

“Just as it sounds.”

Mu Chen suspected his blind master had tricked him.

After Da Vinci patiently explained, Mu Chen felt somewhat reassured. As long as he didn’t use this move, nothing would happen—he’d just be a bit stronger. If his life was in danger, using this technique could save him, much like the secret ultimate move “Wrathful Buddha’s Lotus” wielded by the hero Xiao Huohuo in popular tales—it always turned the tide at the last moment.

The only downside: he could use it just once in his life.

Still, the “Muscle-Tendon Classic” was indeed a divine manual; after just a few days of training, his internal energy soared to the twentieth level.

...

From then on, Mu Chen devoted himself to training under this promising blind master, dreaming of the day he could humiliate the woman who had spurned him.

“Hey, Mu Chen, what are you daydreaming about?”

Da Vinci’s words yanked Mu Chen out of his long reverie.

“Master... what should we do next?” Mu Chen asked quickly.

“We wait for these black-clad men to leave, then return to our secret base to train...” Da Vinci replied, giving him a knowing look.

“Why is our secret base in this brothel? Isn’t it too risky, with so many people coming and going?” Mu Chen asked, puzzled.

“You don’t understand, my good disciple. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place—the greater the risk, the greater the security,” Da Vinci explained cautiously, passing on his hard-earned wisdom.

“This wooden building trembles a thousand times a day. Aren’t you worried the base will collapse?” Mu Chen pressed.

“I anticipated that—I personally paid to reinforce the foundation... and installed a one-of-a-kind lock from the Celestial Mechanisms Guild. Only a special token can open it. Hm? Where’s my token? Let me check... Disciple, your priorities are odd. Shouldn’t you be asking why I brought you here?” Da Vinci grumbled as he rifled through his belongings.

“I’m not really interested... I’m more concerned about where your token is.”

“That’s not important. If I brought you here, I can definitely get us inside. Have you heard of the Demon Heaven Sect?”

“I’ve heard of it, but its reputation isn’t exactly stellar...”

“Exactly! That’s why I, the great Da Vinci, couldn’t stand their arrogance. So I stole their supreme manual—the Star-Absorbing Art! That’s why I brought you here—your talent is unique, a perfect fit for the Star-Absorbing Art!”

Da Vinci led Mu Chen in several circles before finally stopping at a small room, where he furtively retrieved a token from under a potted plant, and together they slipped into the hidden passageway.

So much for the special mechanism; the key was hidden in such an obvious place?

Mu Chen began to think his master was not the most reliable man in the world.

No sooner had they entered than Da Vinci, being blind, walked straight into a wall.

“Master, your eyes...?”

“Let me give you a word of advice—never go to Golden Mountain Temple! Never go to Golden Mountain Temple! Never go to Golden Mountain Temple! Some things bear repeating thrice,” Da Vinci warned solemnly.

“Did something terrible happen to you there? I’ve heard the temple has eighteen Arhats...”

“Hah, the eighteen Arhats are nothing. The real terror at Golden Mountain Temple is the abbot... and a little monk named Xiao Yan.” As Da Vinci spoke the names he least wished to recall, cold sweat trickled down his brow.