The appearance of Dongzi made Hong Kun instinctively take a symbolic step back, and Shi Bingyuan knew immediately that the bruise on his apprentice's face must have been caused by this fellow.

Shi Bingyuan smiled lightly, "It seems the young man has quite a temper. No wonder my Hong Kun doesn't care for company like yours; your principles for living are simply different."

"Old tortoise, where do you think you crawled out from? Believe it or not, I'll kick both of you out." Dongzi, at this moment, couldn't afford to consider Zhou Huan's reputation; he was going berserk again, looking as if he had finally made himself comfortable.

Zhou Huan turned back and glared at Dongzi. Little Li sensed trouble and stepped forward to intercept Dongzi: "Brother Dong, don't stir things up. Everyone was speaking quite civilly just now, and you..."

"Brother Xiao Li, where did these two crawlers come from? Tell them to scram. They speak without any regard for boundaries, actually coming to our Fushou Hall to provoke us! My brother isn't speaking up because he doesn't deign to associate with people like you, but I, Dongzi, am different. I'm a petty person; if you don't like it, let's fight." Dongzi's speech amused Zhou Huan.

However, in front of everyone, since Dongzi was openly clamoring like this, Zhou Huan couldn't appear to be favoring his apprentice. So, he put on a show, raising his hand but not letting it fall, instead shouting loudly, "Insolent brat, go make breakfast! If you don't leave, I'll hit you!"

Seeing Zhou Huan raise his hand to strike again, Dongzi felt wronged because he was clearly defending Zhou Huan. He stormed off to the kitchen in a fit of pique.

"Master Zhou, what excellent household discipline! You truly manage him well!" Shi Bingyuan said this while standing up, "Master Zhou, remember this: for the matter of the 'Midnight Flute Cry,' it’s best you don't interfere. It wouldn't be good if tempers flare later."

Zhou Huan narrowed his eyes at Shi Bingyuan and said lightly, "Rest assured, Zhou Huan always keeps his word. Later, you, Shi Bingyuan, had better not come looking for me. Come, drink some tea. You visited Fushou Hall and haven't even had tea; if outsiders hear about it, they’ll say I’m stingy!"

Shi Bingyuan threw his head back and laughed, "Just joking, Master Zhou. Tea from you, I, Shi, will definitely drink!" Then Shi grabbed the teacup from the table, lifted the lid, and downed it, even swallowing the steeped leaves, "How about that, Master Zhou? I even ate the tea leaves. You are truly generous! I shall take my leave now!"

Little Li saw the tension thickening, realizing he couldn't afford to offend either side. He forced a smile, "Master Zhou hasn't slept all night; you should go rest. Sister Xiao He will be back in a few days, and she won't like seeing you looking so haggard. We'll be going now!" With that, Little Li led Shi Bingyuan and Hong Kun out of Fushou Hall.

This was clearly a calculated provocation, and Zhou Huan knew it well. Yet, he wasn't the least bit angry at Dongzi’s actions; in fact, he felt a degree of approval.

Dongzi brought breakfast out from the kitchen, "Brother, time to eat. After you eat, I'll go deal with those guys. You go sleep!"

"No, what you did just now was right, but if it had truly come to blows, would Little Li have stood by? As a policeman, how would he handle a brawl happening near him?"

"It's fine, Brother. I'll just let them suffer some hidden losses, so those two bastards don't forget how high the sky is." Dongzi spoke indistinctly, a large steamed bun clenched in his mouth, peeling duck eggshells with his hands.

Zhou Huan said no more. After eating, he finished transcribing the remaining musical score, tucked the paper into his pocket, then washed his face and went to bed.

Just before entering his room, he instructed Dongzi not to take on any work for the day and strictly forbade him from going out to provoke Shi Bingyuan. He then tossed Dongzi a book of talismans, ordering him to practice drawing them and not to wander out until he finished.

In truth, Zhou Huan was just afraid that Dongzi, in a fit of emotion, might cause trouble he couldn't clean up later.

Zhou Huan returned to his room, lay down, and soon began to snore deeply. Dongzi, writing the talismans until his head ached, tiptoed to open Zhou Huan's door. Seeing his brother sleeping soundly, he quickly put on his clothes and ran out, heading for the police station.

Dongzi ran, calculating as he went: he absolutely had to beat up Hong Kun again; if things got desperate, he'd even beat up the old man too.

Arriving at the station, he immediately found Little Li, "Brother Xiao Li, where are those two from this morning?"

Little Li saw Dongzi arrive in a foul mood and knew this guy was bound to cause trouble, yet he didn't dare confront Dongzi, fearing Dongzi's anger would flare up and he’d create a scene at the station. So, he tried to persuade him, "Brother Dong, what are you doing? They are busy right now. If they can't handle this matter properly, won't it still fall back on you and your master?"

This praise elevated Dongzi greatly, and he felt quite pleased. Then he paused, wondering if Little Li was just placating him? So, Dongzi played a trick, feigning extreme guilt and showing intense emotion: "Brother Xiao Li, you don't know! Master just gave me a terrible scolding just now. I specifically came to find Master Hong to apologize, so that when I return, I'll have something to say to my master!"

Little Li saw that Dongzi sounded quite sincere, but he still didn't quite trust him, knowing Dongzi's temper. He gave another perfunctory reply, "Ah, Brother Dong, I understand what you mean. This is a critical time, and it's not good for me to take you to disturb them. If you want to apologize, I can pass on the message for you."

When Dongzi saw his tactic hadn't worked, he displayed even more earnestness, his whole face contorted, looking as if he was about to cry: "Just let me go! If I don't, I won't be able to hold my head up in front of Master again!"

While Dongzi was pestering Little Li, a policeman came down from the second floor and said to Little Li, "Brother Li, the house at number fifty, Baoshan Street, is empty. I think we should use that place for our temporary Supernatural Investigation Team. The landlord is an acquaintance of mine; we can just pay him some rent later."

"Good, you handle that. I'll bring people to check it out this afternoon." Little Li finished, and the policeman left with the documents.

Dongzi's small eyes darted around; he now understood the situation. He smoothed out his contorted expression and feigned deep disappointment, saying, "Brother Xiao Li, I won't bother you when you're so busy here. Please, you must convey my apologies, and tell my master I intended to apologize in person!"

"Don't worry, Brother Dong, I will absolutely deliver your sincerity. Hurry back now!" Little Li then escorted Dongzi out the station door. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, finally seeing off that impetuous young man.

After leaving the police station, Dongzi went to sit at the entrance of the familiar convenience store across the street. As soon as he entered, Xiao Mo greeted him: "Oh, it's you! What brings you here today?"

"Shh, don't talk. Get me a stool; I need to sit here by your entrance for a while!" Dongzi said seriously. Xiao Mo enthusiastically brought over a stool.

Dongzi sat by the convenience store entrance, secretly watching the police station door. Sure enough, less than twenty minutes later, he saw Little Li emerge with Hong Kun and the old man from that morning. From a distance, he watched Hong Kun and Shi Bingyuan get into a car and head in the direction of Baoshan Street.

Dongzi smiled smugly at this, stood up, and called out, "Xiao Mo, I'm leaving! I'll leave the stool here for you!"

Immediately after, Dongzi hailed a cab and, a short while later, followed Shi Bingyuan's car. Fortunately, Hong Kun and the other man didn't notice Dongzi.

After a few turns and about ten minutes of driving, Hong Kun's car stopped in front of a storefront. Dongzi got out of the cab far away, paid the fare, and then found a corner to hide in, watching their movements.

Hong Kun and Shi Bingyuan entered the storefront. A short while later, another person emerged from inside. Hong Kun followed behind this person. After what seemed like a brief exchange of greetings, the person who came out left, but Hong Kun rummaged through his car for a moment before taking a pile of things back into the storefront.

"Clang!" The door of the storefront slammed shut violently: "You two crawlers, come out! I want to see if you can finally shut those foul mouths of yours!" Dongzi charged angrily into the storefront. As soon as he entered, Hong Kun was hanging a banner on the central wall.

Hong Kun was genuinely startled when Dongzi burst in so bluntly. Shi Bingyuan came out from the inner room, saw Dongzi, and pointed a finger at him: "You reckless brat! My apprentice didn't want to bother with you, but you came knocking on our door. Today, I, this old man, will have to settle things with you!"

"Hahaha! Just the two of you? I, Lin Dongzi, truly don't take you seriously!" Saying this, Dongzi rushed toward Shi Bingyuan in a few strides and threw a punch.

But what Dongzi never expected was that Shi Bingyuan had somehow evaded his punch without him noticing. Not only that, after dodging Dongzi's fist, Shi Bingyuan turned and gave a gentle push. Dongzi stumbled backward and landed hard on his backside.

This enraged Dongzi: "Aiya, you old bastard, you really do have some tricks up your sleeve."

It turned out that Shi Bingyuan was a master of Tai Chi Push Hands. In addition to handling funerals, his greatest hobby was sparring with a few Tai Chi Push Hands masters. Thus, Dongzi's brute force was utterly useless.

Dongzi scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting around, and rushed at Shi Bingyuan again with a kick. Shi Bingyuan again used a light pull, dragging Dongzi back to the ground.

Dongzi got up again, retreated several steps, looked at Shi Bingyuan, and then at Hong Kun. Dongzi thought: Hmph, I clearly haven't figured out this old guy's routine; beating him is going to be troublesome. It might be better if I let Hong Kun suffer a little more, so this trip wasn't completely wasted.

Thinking this, Dongzi charged toward Shi Bingyuan again, but before reaching him, he abruptly shifted direction toward Hong Kun and landed a punch right on Hong Kun's front teeth. Hong Kun was caught completely off guard, never expecting Dongzi to suddenly pivot toward him.

Hong Kun clutched his mouth and crouched down, looking at the two missing front teeth in his palm, his face contorted in pain.

"Good boy, you only bully the weak and fear the strong! If I don't beat you down today, then my years of striving, I, Shi Bingyuan, have lived in vain!" Saying this, Shi Bingyuan actively charged toward Dongzi.