Chapter 1: The Eye-Catching Wedding

  Ning Fan arrived at the restaurant, but was surprisingly delighted to find that this dinner could indeed be considered sumptuous. This time there was really meat, eggs, and vegetables, including braised pork ribs, braised pork belly, tomato scrambled eggs, and stir-fried bok choy. Additionally, there was even a clay pot chicken soup.

  "Takeout?" Ning Fan suddenly understood.

  "Uncle, I've cooked rice and also warmed up some dishes!" Yezi pouted.

  "Alright, it's getting late, let's eat first." Ning Fan didn't say anything else, he had already checked the time and now it was almost 8 o'clock in the evening.

  Tang Shaohu wolfed down two bowls of rice, then stood up and bid farewell: "Brother, I have to go first. You weren't awake earlier, now I need to head home. As for Chen Zixuan's matter, I'll keep an eye on it. If there's any news, I'll give you a call."

  "Big silly bear, you're not going to a hotel to fool around with women, are you? I'm going to tell Sister Fangfang!" Yezizui shouted.

  "Yèzi, I am very loyal to your sister Fang." Tang Shaohuang couldn't help but laugh and cry.

  "I don't believe it!" Yezi curled her lips, "If Uncle is such a good person and still has an affair, you must be even more promiscuous!"

  Ning Fan suddenly had a feeling of being shot while lying down. He had grown up like this, and he only had one girlfriend, how could he be considered promiscuous?

  "Cough cough, anyway I'll leave first, you guys eat slowly." Tang Shaohuang hastily departed.

  "Uncle, I want to learn martial arts!" Ye Zi suddenly said.

  "Let's eat first." Ning Fan replied casually.

  "Uncle, I'm serious, I want to learn martial arts!" Ye Zi didn't continue eating, instead he put down his chopsticks.

  Ning Fan was taken aback for a moment, looked up at Ye Zi, and found that Ye Zi had a very serious expression on his face.

  "Yèzi, are you being bullied at school?" Ning Fan slightly furrowed his brow, but thinking about it, it wasn't very likely, as Yezi had always been the one bullying others.

  "Uncle, I want to learn martial arts, I don't want to be a burden to you. In the future, I will protect you!" Yezi's voice suddenly choked up, "Uncle, I feel so useless, you were taken away and I couldn't do anything."

  "Yèzi, you're not a burden to me." Ning Fan looked at Yèzi with gentle eyes, his voice also very soft. "I don't need you to protect me either, just focus on studying well."

  "Uncle, I don't care, in any case I want to learn martial arts from you." Yezi wiped her eyes, "If you don't agree with me, starting now I won't eat anymore, I'll starve myself to death, see if you feel sorry for me!"

  "Yè zi, don't be naughty, eat first." Ning Fan couldn't help but laugh and cry.

  "I won't eat!" Yezi said with a sulky expression, "Unless Uncle you promise to teach me martial arts!"

  "Leaf, learning martial arts is very hard work, and generally, one has to start from a young age to achieve anything. You're already sixteen years old, it's not too suitable for you to learn now." Ning Fan patiently explained.

  "I'm not afraid of hardship!" Yezi said this time with an unusually strong tone, "I want to learn!"

  Ning Fan suddenly felt a headache coming on, and he finally realized that Ye Zi this time didn't seem to be just infatuated, but was determined to learn martial arts.

  "Leaf, let me think about it first, you go eat dinner." Ning Fan said after some thought.

  "Uncle, we're waiting for you to consider," Ye Zi replied, but she didn't make any move to pick up her chopsticks.

  Ning Fan suddenly felt a wave of powerlessness, this girl had really made up her mind.

  "Alright, I'll keep my promise, let's eat." Ning Fan nodded somewhat helplessly.

  "Yes, uncle!" Ye Zi immediately became happy and picked up his chopsticks to continue eating.

  Ning Fan shook his head and picked up his chopsticks, but suddenly seemed to have lost his appetite.

  Half an hour later, dinner finally came to an end. Ye Zi took the initiative to clean up the table and after everything was settled, she immediately ran to Ning Fan's side, excitedly asking: "Uncle, are we starting our martial arts training now?"

  Ning Fan shook his head: "Change your clothes, I'm taking you to Qingyun Temple."

  "Got it, uncle!" Ye Zi quickly ran upstairs, changed her clothes, and then quickly ran back down.

  After more than ten minutes, the Great Wall SUV carrying two people drove on the road to Qingyun Mountain. Ye Zi, who had been quiet for a while, finally couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, why go to Qingyun Temple?"

  "Because you want to learn martial arts." Ning Fan replied.

  "Uncle, are you going there to pay respects?" Ye Zi asked curiously.

  "You'll know when you get there." Ning Fan shook his head and didn't explain any further.

  When I arrived at Qingyun Pavilion, it was already 10 o'clock in the evening. At this moment, Qingyun Pavilion seemed even more quiet and peaceful.

  "Uncle, I'm a little scared." Yezi hugged Ning Fan's arm.

  "Don't be afraid, this is my home." Ning Fan held Ye Zi's small hand and led her into the Qingyun Temple, familiarly lighting the oil lamp and then walking into one of the rooms with the lamp in hand.

  "Wow, uncle, there's still a bed here!" Yezi was somewhat surprised.

  "I used to sleep here before." Ning Fan smiled, placing the oil lamp on the bedside table. Then he squatted down and crawled under the bed, rummaging around inside for a while.

  Ye Zi opened her eyes wide and looked at Ning Fan with great curiosity. She suddenly felt that this uncle was somewhat mysterious.

  A moment later, Ning Fan crawled out from under the bed, but there was an extra wooden box in his hand.

  "Uncle, what's this?" Yezi was amazed. Had Uncle hidden a treasure under the bed?

  Ning Fan didn't say a word and instead started fiddling around the wooden box. A few seconds later, the box suddenly popped open, and inside it lay a book quietly.

  "Wow, Uncle, is this the legendary martial arts manual?" Ye Zi suddenly became excited.

  Ning Fan didn't speak, a dusty memory, at this moment it became even clearer. Twenty years ago, when he first started learning martial arts, the old Taoist took out a book from this box, and at that time, he saw another book inside and asked the old Taoist what it was.

  "That's a girl's martial art, you can keep it for now and maybe use it when you grow up." That was what the old Taoist said back then, and afterwards, Ning Fang gradually almost forgot about this matter.

  Until tonight, when Ye Zi insisted on learning martial arts, this memory finally came out. At this moment, Ning Fan seemed to have finally understood the meaning of Lao Dao's words back then. What puzzled Ning Fan was that twenty years ago, was Lao Dao just casually saying it or did he already anticipate the current situation?

  Having been with Lao Dao for ten years, Ning Fan knew that Lao Dao had some strange abilities. Sometimes, he was simply ingenious and clever in his calculations. Ning Fan had once curiously asked Lao Dao if he was a fortune teller, but Lao Dao said that all fortune tellers were deceiving people.

  "This character looks like the word for dragon, Dragon Girl... Heart... Scripture?" Ye Zi was staring at the cover of the book, "Wow, Dragon Girl Heart Scripture, it sounds really powerful, Uncle, are you going to teach me this?"

  "Yèzi, I'm asking you for the last time, are you sure you want to learn martial arts?" Ning Fan asked solemnly after regaining his composure.

  "Uncle, I'm absolutely sure, definitely sure, extremely sure I want to learn martial arts!" Ye Zifei said quickly.

  "Alright, so starting from tonight, I'll help you complete the beginner's practice. I hope we can finish it by the weekend. After that, you can still attend school during the day and learn martial arts at night, got it?" Ning Fan said slowly.

  "I understand!" Yezi replied loudly.

  "Now, you need to understand some of the most basic things, which is the human meridian...". Ning Fan opened the Dragon Girl's Heart Scripture and pointed at a diagram of the human meridian inside, introducing it to Yezi. This also meant that Yezi's martial arts career had officially begun.

  This weekend, however, a rather significant earthquake occurred in the official circles of Qingyun City.

  Ding Guoren and Zhang Anfeng were arrested one after another, making the Municipal Public Security Bureau a laughing stock. However, it was not just the two of them who were investigated by the bureau. In short, this time, the Municipal Public Security Bureau became a disaster area, but what really caused a stir was Chen Zixuan's wanted notice.

  Chen Zixuan was wanted for raping and murdering a female student, shattering the glasses of countless people. Many people found it unbelievable. To ordinary citizens, although Chen Zixuan is the son of the mayor, he actually had a very good reputation because he often did charity work. Some people even left messages online supporting Chen Zixuan, claiming that this was a frame-up.

  Of course, there are also many citizens who think that Chen Zixuan's previous charity work was just a pretence. In this day and age, it's common to see people who appear to be philanthropists on the surface but are actually beasts in disguise.

  What's even more unbelievable is that Chen Zixuan is not only the son of the mayor, but also the husband of the current richest Chinese woman, how dare the police touch him?

  Although the police claimed it was a fair maintenance of the law, many people were apparently skeptical, especially some officials in Qingyun City, who believed that things were not so simple. Chen Zixuan being wanted seemed to convey some kind of signal.

  Everyone started to investigate the news, but surprisingly discovered that from Ding Guoren's arrest to Chen Zixuan's wanted list, they were all related to a person named Ning Fan. The police department even spread the news that these two people were actually found by Ning Fan with evidence of their crimes. Who is this Ning Fan?

  But it was later discovered that Ning Fan was just a police officer who had been fired, which made many people feel unbelievable. A police officer who had already been fired, how did he manage to bring down Chen Zixuan?

  Unconsciously, the name Ning Fan has become a hot word in certain circles.

  However, soon everyone's attention was drawn to another matter, Mayor Chen Yu was taken away directly by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission.

  Some people began to worry, fearing they would be implicated, while others rubbed their fists and prepared to seize the various positions that had been vacated. For a time, Qingyun City was already surging with undercurrents.

  As the central figure of these events, Ning Fan was actually out of this circle of right and wrong. For the entire weekend, Ning Fan stayed at Qingyun Pavilion. At this moment, Ning Fan looked at Ye Zi sitting cross-legged on the bed, feeling quite relieved in his heart.

  The Dragon Girl's Heart Sutra was tailored to Yezi, very suitable for her physique. Ning Fan had been worried that Yezi wouldn't be able to complete the entry step so quickly, but now Yezi had already completed the most basic and important step. In her meridians, there was already a faint trace of true energy.

  Stealthily stepping out of the Qingyun Pavilion, Ning Fan raised his head to gaze at the sky. Tonight, the moonlight was enchanting, and Ning Fan's mood was quite pleasant as well. However, just then, Ning Fan heard a faint sound of footsteps.