At two thirty in the afternoon, in the visitation hall of Qinshi City First Prison.
Li Chonglou, separated by glass, stared at the middle-aged man who appeared behind the prison guard.
The corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably, his heart surging with emotion.
Thirty-three years!
Seeing his master again felt like a lifetime apart.
Lin Zhendong's face was etched with the marks of time and hardship.
He appeared unremarkable, even somewhat stooped.
Only his eyes, sharp as a falcon's, still held a discernible edge, even if he tried to conceal it.
Their gazes met, and Li Chonglou felt as if he had been stripped bare, completely exposed.
Anyone else would have buckled under that scrutiny within five seconds.
"Lin Zhendong, you have ten minutes. Behave yourself!" the prison guard barked as he brought him to the seat.
That voice was familiar.
Li Chonglou looked up, glancing at the prison guard, a cold glint in his eyes.
Zhang Daocheng!
What a coincidence, or rather, what a fateful encounter. This man was deeply imprinted in his memory, known in prison as "Big Mouth Zhang."
Zhang Daocheng had flagrantly accepted bribes, provided special favors, and relentlessly targeted Lin Zhendong.
He frequently resorted to violence, beatings, and solitary confinement, and Li Chonglou himself had been subjected to his torment countless times.
Back then, there was nothing he could do but endure.
"You're early."
Lin Zhendong picked up the phone, interrupting Li Chonglou's thoughts.
The meaningful words sent a tremor through Li Chonglou's heart.
He knew his master was no ordinary man, possessing extensive knowledge and a profound understanding of affairs.
His words were few, but each one had benefited Li Chonglou throughout his life.
However, they had never met in this life. What did "early" mean?
"Master Lin, my name is Li Chonglou. I'm here on behalf of Sister Ying to see you."
Li Chonglou withdrew his gaze, restrained his emotions, and said earnestly, "Zhao Yecheng used Donglin to deceive the master and embezzle funds, leading to Sister Ying's dismissal."
"Tomorrow, I will take over his position at Donglin."
Since they had never met in this life, the only way to establish a connection was to bring up Donglin and Lin Ying.
As for the karmic ties of his previous life, they were no longer relevant.
Who possessed the divine sight to see through his past and present?
"Zhao Yecheng, a dog cannot change its ways," Lin Zhendong murmured, nodding slightly, his eyes distant as if lost in thought.
After a moment, he slowly said, "Li Chonglou, a good name!"
"I have never taken a disciple in my life. Although Lin Ying is my daughter, she is still a woman."
"With no successor, I am truly a sinner to the Lin family."
"Are you willing to become my disciple?"
This...
Li Chonglou was taken aback.
These words were completely unexpected.
In his previous life, they had been master and disciple, and Li Chonglou had longed for him to take him as a disciple again. But this was after only a few sentences.
Without knowing anything about his character, only his name, his master had, uncharacteristically, taken the initiative to mention taking him as a disciple.
The Lin Zhendong of his memory was as calm as an abyss, as unmoving as a mountain.
In his past life, it was he who had initiated the apprenticeship, undergoing rigorous trials before finally being accepted.
And now, in this life, it was so simple?
Even with Li Chonglou's intelligence and experience, he found it difficult to comprehend Lin Zhendong's intentions.
"You are unwilling?" Lin Zhendong asked, his eyes flashing with sharp light.
Li Chonglou no longer hesitated. He rose and bowed deeply, "Master, above, Chonglou pays his respects."
Under normal circumstances, an apprenticeship required nine prostrations and three bows, along with serving tea and presenting a letter.
But this was a prison, after all.
As he completed his first bow, Zhang Daocheng's mocking voice pierced the air, "What are you pretending for? A grave robber like you is not worthy of taking disciples!"
"Kid, I suspect you're an accomplice to this grave robber."
"Don't let me catch you, or you'll rot in prison!"
Having accepted favors, Zhang Daocheng had been "specially treating" Lin Zhendong in prison.
Anyone who maintained a good relationship with Lin Zhendong in prison was a target for him.
Li Chonglou had pulled strings to visit Lin Zhendong and now, in front of him, was accepting him as a disciple.
It was as if he was being disregarded.
"What is not forbidden by law is permissible. Does taking a disciple violate the law?" Li Chonglou glanced at Zhang Daocheng, his eyes flashing with cold light, meeting him head-on.
In his past life, he had been forced to bow his head under the circumstances.
But this time was different.
The master-disciple ceremony had been completed.
Zhang Daocheng had insulted his master in front of him. He was courting death!
Lin Zhendong's eyelids flickered, his expression unreadable, as if contemplating something.
Zhang Daocheng's fleshy face trembled, his eyes glinting with malice as he shouted, "Kid, you dare talk about law with me? What are you?"
"Here, I am the law."
"If it's a dragon, you must coil; if it's a tiger, you must lie down."
He was accustomed to wielding authority in prison, and all the inmates treated him with utmost respect.
Only Lin Zhendong never bowed to his whims. No matter how he tried to "educate" him, it was useless. He even disdained the idea of merit for sentence reduction.
He was like a thorn in his side.
Now, even his disciple dared to talk back to him so brazenly.
If he didn't teach them a lesson, how could he deal with Lin Zhendong later?
His face darkening, he yelled sternly, "Lin Zhendong, you've violated prison regulations. Visitation is over."
"Get into solitary confinement immediately. You are not allowed out without my permission."
After speaking, he picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Two guards, I suspect this visitor is Lin Zhendong's accomplice. Arrest him and hand him over to the public security!"
What excuse is needed to frame someone!
As long as Li Chonglou was under control, he could do whatever he pleased.
"Zhang Daocheng, do you even qualify to talk about law?"
Li Chonglou's eyes blazed with cold light, his voice like ice, "Abuse of power, accepting bribes, violent law enforcement – any one of these is enough to strip you of your tiger skin."
"March seventeenth, Fuqiao Foot Spa on Changting Road. Do those shoes still fit?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Daocheng's expression froze. His pupils contracted sharply, and with a face full of horror, he shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting? I don't understand."
On March seventeenth, he had received a shoebox in a private room at Fuqiao.
Inside the box were two hundred thousand yuan in cash.
This money was his payment for tormenting Lin Zhendong.
This matter had been done in secret, so how could it be revealed by a visitor?
"Then let me say something you can understand. Do you want to know your wife's expression when she sees the photos of your three mistresses?" Li Chonglou deliberately provoked him, "Many people know about this."
These were the criminal charges Zhang Daocheng had been accused of in Li Chonglou's previous life. Because of the long-term oppression, he remembered them particularly clearly.
Revealing them at this moment was not for his own satisfaction.
It was to make his master's time in prison easier in the future.
So that he would not suffer anymore.
As soon as he finished speaking, two prison guards rushed into the visitation room with electric batons, pointing at Li Chonglou and asking, "Old Zhang, is it him?"
Zhang Daocheng's face was a mixture of green and white, his eyes filled with apprehension. He gritted his teeth and said, "I was mistaken. It's nothing."
Hearing this, the two guards looked confused and withdrew.
As soon as they left, Zhang Daocheng lowered his voice and snarled, "Kid, you dare to threaten me!"
"And if I do?"
Li Chonglou took the offensive, his gaze sharp and icy, "From now on, if my master loses even half a hair, I will personally send you to prison!"
"And I'll show you what despair for the rest of your life means!"
"Officer Zhang, may I continue my visitation now?"
The drastic shift in his tone made Zhang Daocheng's scalp tingle and his heart tremble.
He had gone from being the one in charge to being managed.
For him, it was like falling from heaven into hell.
Those inmates he had suppressed and treated like subordinates would never let him off.
"You... you win," Zhang Daocheng thought venomously, but he dared not make any further moves against Li Chonglou.
He retreated to the side resentfully, his eyes filled with malice.
He didn't know how Li Chonglou had gotten hold of his secrets, but he had to find a way to resolve this ticking time bomb as soon as possible.
Otherwise, he was in danger of exposure at any moment.
Only then did Lin Zhendong reveal a rare smile, "I haven't misjudged you."
"Chonglou, your fate has changed. You've been spared imprisonment, but your future will be more arduous."
"You must understand that most of a person's life is predetermined."
"But where there is destiny, there are also variables. You are that variable."
"Don't say too much, don't ask too much. Go find Lin Ying and have her give you the box I left behind."
Each word struck Li Chonglou's heart like a heavy drum.
The shock he felt was no less than when he had learned of his mother's death in prison in his past life.
Even though he tried to control his emotions, he couldn't help but show his astonishment, blurting out, "Master, you..."
Before he could finish, Lin Zhendong had already hung up and was rising to leave.
Zhang Daocheng quickly followed behind.
Li Chonglou stood stunned, holding the phone and gazing at Lin Zhendong's profound and enigmatic retreating figure.
His mind was in turmoil.
His master said he had avoided imprisonment. Did he see something?
According to the trajectory of his previous life, he should have been arrested yesterday and sent to prison after his trial seven days later.
Having been reborn into this life, he had altered his original path.
His fate was naturally different.
That phrase "early," and the subsequent enigmatic words,
Seemed to confirm this.
And why had he taken him as a disciple so readily?
What exactly had his master seen?
Thinking of these things, Li Chonglou's scalp tingled, and the hairs on his arms stood on end.
He knew very well that his master's abilities were extraordinary.
His superb martial arts skills, which ordinary people couldn't get close to, and his vast knowledge, filled him with immense admiration.
Just learning one aspect of his skills would be enough to make him a world-renowned appraisal master.
Why, in his previous life, did such a person kill someone out of provocation and die in prison?
Thinking back, the entire incident seemed strange.
And what was the box he asked him to get from his senior sister?
He had never heard of it before.
Li Chonglou couldn't figure it out immediately and decided to talk to Lin Ying at the shop tomorrow.
He realized that his understanding of his master was merely superficial.
Leaving the prison, he temporarily put the matter aside and returned to his hospital room.
Just as he had told his mother about going to work at Donglin tomorrow, his phone rang.
It was his college classmate Wu Hao.
Since marrying into the Jiang family, he had lost contact with his former classmates. Partly because his mother's health had always been poor, and partly because his status as a live-in son-in-law was awkward, he had deliberately distanced himself.
Only Wu Hao, his former close friend, still maintained occasional contact.
"Louzi, there's a class reunion tonight at six o'clock at Desheng Hotel. I'm notifying you. Be there on time and don't be late." When the phone was connected, a nonchalant voice sounded from the other end.
"I'm not going," Li Chonglou refused after some thought. "I have something to do."
Not to mention that his mother was seriously ill and hospitalized, requiring care, but even if he had nothing to do, he was too lazy to see those people flaunt their wealth.
"Don't be like that. You really need to come today. Do you remember Tian Lingli, the class beauty?"
Wu Hao chuckled, "This class reunion, I heard it's being held for her."
"She's a big internet celebrity streamer now, and she specifically asked for you."
"You can't refuse to give her this bit of face, can you?"
"I have no connection with Tian Lingli. Why would she invite me? You enjoy yourself. I'll find you separately in a couple of days." Li Chonglou's expression was suspicious. Before Wu Hao could reply, he hung up the phone.