Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 30 The blueprints tied to the crane, the Wind After the Wind?

As dawn broke, the sun rose over the eastern horizon as usual on the second day.

"Squeak!"

The sound of the door hinges turning rang out, and Lü Qian, dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe with a square scarf on his head and ten-sided shoes on his feet, opened the door from inside the house.

He stepped over the threshold, looked at the still slightly dim surroundings, and routinely straightened his clothes, preparing to do his morning prayers.

The cool morning air, carrying a hint of moisture, blew through Lü Qian's courtyard, making one feel more refreshed.

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

On the courtyard wall not far away, a magpie was chirping excitedly, as if it had seen people. It kept hopping around on the wall.

"唳~~"

A white crane silhouette, accompanied by a clear and melodious cry, streaked across the quiet night sky in the early morning and landed in the very center of the courtyard.

As soon as the white crane landed, before it could even fold its wings properly, it called out to Lü Qian, who was standing under the eaves.

"唳~~"

The clear cries of cranes echoed throughout the courtyard, accompanied by the morning breeze, making people even more awake.

"You've arrived."

Lü Qian walked from under the eaves toward the white crane in the courtyard.

"唳~~"

When Lü Qian approached, Bai He raised one foot and offered his ankle to Lü Qian.

Lu Qian stood in front of Bai He, staring blankly at the roll of blueprints tied to Bai He's right foot.

It was still quite dark when the sky first appeared, and the blueprint was rolled up so thin that Lü Qian didn't notice that there was something tied to the white crane's leg.

"Who did this? How could someone be so heartless?"

Realizing what was happening, Lü Qian quickly reached out and untied the scroll from the white crane's leg.

The scroll feels of very high quality, like perfectly processed Xuan paper, with a delicate texture.

"唳~~"

Seeing that the scroll on its leg had been untied, the white crane cried out to Lü Qian once more before flying away.

Now that its task has been completed, according to the crane from yesterday, all it needs to do is deliver this scroll to Lü Qian.

As for the crane, it was Zhou Sheng in his transformed form.

Yesterday, he rushed down the mountain and used his fastest speed to find all the materials he could collect at this stage, and redrew the picture after the whirlwind.

Then it transformed into a white crane, carrying the completed "Wind After the Storm" painting back to the mountain stream on Wudang Mountain. Through a series of crane-like gestures and conversations, the transformed white crane delivered the "Wind After the Storm" painting to Lü Qian.

As someone eager to be included in the classics, Zhou Sheng naturally followed the entire process of the plan's implementation.

Zhou Sheng has now transformed into a magpie, the one that's been hopping and jumping on the courtyard wall.

Now, the magpie, transformed from Zhou Sheng, stands on the courtyard wall, staring intently at Lü Qian, who is holding the Feng Hou Tu (a map of wind and rain) in the courtyard, its heart urgently shouting, "Open it! Open it quickly..."

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

"Is there going to be some good news today?"

Lu Qian glanced at the magpie chirping incessantly on the courtyard wall, somewhat puzzled.

"Forget it, let's see what this scroll is first. I've already given the white crane intelligence, so ordinary people can't get close to it, let alone hand things over to the white crane and have it pass them on to me."

Lu Qian used both hands to examine the scroll in his hands through the paper for any potential danger.

After sensing that it was just an ordinary paper scroll, Lü Qian breathed a sigh of relief, slowly untied the rope binding the scroll, and complained about the absurd operation of the person who sent the message by the white crane.

"The person who can do such a troublesome thing is too particular. I haven't even ridden the white crane yet, and he's already sending a message by the white crane. It's outrageous."

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

The magpies on the courtyard wall chirped even louder; what had sounded like urging a moment ago now sounded like cursing.

Unfortunately, Lü Qian, as a listener, couldn't understand bird language and paid no attention to the magpie that Zhou Sheng had transformed into on the wall.

"Whoosh—"

The scroll was suddenly unfurled, revealing all its contents to Lü Qian.

"This is......"

Lu Qian stared blankly at the scroll in his hand, his eyes flashing with a mysterious light.

On the scroll, a Qimen Dunjia formation composed of densely packed small characters occupies the center of the paper, and on the right side of the paper, a sentence is written in flowing, flamboyant handwriting.

"He was born to govern the universe, and through the changes of the universe, he became king."

Unconsciously, Lü Qian read aloud the sentence on the right side of the scroll. At the same time, in his eyes, the Qimen formation composed of small characters on the scroll began to rotate completely.

The four plates of Heaven, Earth, Man, and God spun in Lü Qian's eyes at an unreasonable speed and in an unreasonable manner, as if trying to pull Lü Qian in.

But Lü Qian quickly came to his senses, and he angrily shouted in his heart, "Damn it, this thing is the Mad Queen's Strange Tactics."

Realizing this, Lü Qian was so frightened that he quickly closed the scroll in front of him. He was panting heavily, but he was surprised to find that the spinning Qimen formation was as if it was completely imprinted in his mind.

As the Qimen Dunjia formation rotated, the small characters that made up the formation became clearer and clearer in Lü Qian's mind.

Gradually, Lü Qian became immersed in those small characters, and the Qi in his body unconsciously circulated freely according to the Qi circulation method recorded in the small characters.

Lu Qian slowly closed his eyes and sat down on the ground, holding the Feng Hou Tu that had been rolled up again in his hand.

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

The magpie on the courtyard wall fluttered its wings and flew to Lü Qian. Zhou Sheng, who had transformed into a magpie, circled around Lü Qian, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, a few times.

"Oh no! I was so focused on my disciple's divine appearance and the story of the crane gifting the book that I forgot that this kid doesn't seem to have any proper sorcerer training. Now that he's entered the inner realm, I wonder if he's gotten so caught up in the changes of the Wind and Moon Diagram that he can't get out of it."

The magpie hopped and skipped around Lü Qian, and Zhou Sheng's aged voice came from its beak.

"What are we going to do? If this kid dies on Wudang Mountain, that old mad dog Lü Ci will surely turn Wudang Mountain upside down. I can't even step in, and Xiao Meng and Yunlong can't stop him at all. What should we do?"

Zhou Sheng, using the body of a magpie, looked at Lü Qian with worried bird eyes, pondering the worst-case scenario.

"Or should I go down the mountain now and kill Lü Ci?"

"I say, senior, isn't it inappropriate to discuss how to get rid of my great-grandfather in front of a junior?"

Just as he was starting to think the plan was more and more feasible, he suddenly heard Lü Qian's helpless voice above him.

"Hey kid, you're awake. I panicked for a moment and didn't pay attention to your condition. Are you alright?"

The magpie in front of Lü Qian looked up in shock, and only after seeing Lü Qian's clear eyes did it ask excitedly.

Lu Qian didn't reply. He looked at the magpie in front of him with a complicated expression, and an unbelievable conjecture came to his mind.

He shifted his hips back, then pressed his knees and bowed forward.

"Disciple Lü Qian of Wudang greets Grandmaster Zhou Sheng!"

"Heh, you're quite clever, aren't you!"

Looking at Lü Qian's respectful attitude, Zhou Sheng did not deny it and praised him.

Just as the magpie was hopping around, about to say something, two footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

"Damn it, it's your Grand Tutor and Yunlong. Kid, see you later, I'll borrow your room to hide in first."

As he spoke, Zhou Sheng activated the Feng Hou Qi Men technique, transforming himself from a magpie into a wisp of black smoke, and slipped into the room in a flash.

"By the way, you can tell them about how you learned Feng Hou Qi Men, but don't tell them about me."

Zhou Sheng's voice reached Lü Qian's ears, followed by the sound of the wooden door colliding with the door frame.

"Bang!"

"Xiao Qian, are you there?"

"I noticed you missed the morning class, so I came to check on you."

Outside the courtyard gate, Master Yunlong's voice suddenly rang out.

"Yes, Master!"

Lu Qian scrambled to his feet, clutching the map after the storm, pondering a possible solution.

"Your teacher is coming in!"

"Squeak!"

The sound of the wooden door turning rang out, and Master Yunlong and Zhou Meng appeared outside the threshold with wary expressions.

"Thump!"

Upon seeing the two, Lü Qian immediately performed a "tiger descending the mountain" kneeling maneuver in their direction, slamming his knees heavily onto the stone slabs on the ground.

He raised the rolled-up painting high in the air, his forehead touching the ground.

"You silly child, why did you kneel down as soon as you saw us?"

Zhou Meng and Daoist Yunlong first surveyed the courtyard. After confirming that no attack had occurred at Lü Qian's place, they were shocked by Lü Qian's reaction before they could even breathe a sigh of relief.

Master Yunlong strode towards Lü Qian, reaching out his hands to help him up from the ground.

"Wait!"

Zhou Meng, a short figure, arrived first from behind and blocked Yunlong's path. He looked at the scroll in Lü Qian's hand with a solemn expression, wanting to ask something, but he hesitated and couldn't speak.

"This disciple is guilty! I received this scroll today, checked it and found nothing wrong, but I never expected it to contain a forbidden technique of Wudang."

Lu Qian touched the ground with his forehead and said slowly in a deep voice, "This disciple originally had no intention of learning, but I did not expect that after just opening it and taking a look, I would understand the contents without being taught."

"I beg the Grand Tutor and Master to punish me."

"Thump!"

Lu Qian's voice was filled with sorrow as his forehead slammed heavily against the ground once more.

"Where is the person who passed on this forbidden technique to you, Feng Hou?"

Zhou Meng, his face contorted with anger, nearly blurted out the name "Feng Hou Qi Men" before quickly stopping himself and referring to it as a forbidden technique.

He looked at the scroll in Lü Qian's hand and asked the second half of the question through gritted teeth.

If Lü Qian were to perish at Wudang because of the Feng Hou Qi Men technique, Lü Ci, who was preparing to leave at the foot of the mountain, would be ready to storm the mountain gate!

Faced with Zhou Meng's anger and questions, Lü Qian chose to tell the truth and betrayed Zhou Sheng.

"The thief has now hidden in the disciple's room!"