Under One Person: Please Call Me Golden Flash

Chapter 43: Ginger is still spicy with age
Zhao Zhen twitched the corner of his mouth. No wonder he felt something was off as soon as he entered the courtyard.

Logically speaking, even if a Celestial Master truly wanted to punish his own disciple, he wouldn't do so in person when guests were visiting.

But Zhang Jingqing did it anyway, and even punished Zhang Zhiwei in front of Zhao Zhen.

At first, Zhao Zhen didn't think too much about it. He thought he could just do Zhang Zhiwei a favor by asking him to spare him this insignificant punishment. He also thought he could have an acquaintance show him around the Celestial Master's Mansion.

Zhao Zhen never expected that the master and apprentice were actually staging a "bitter trick" for him!

Zhang Jingqing first punished Zhang Zhiwei as soon as he entered the room, and then used his own words to exempt Zhang Zhiwei from punishment.

This way, even if other disciples from the Celestial Master's Mansion came to challenge her, Zhang Jingqing would have a "shield."

See, didn't I already punish that bastard Zhang Zhiwei for you? You said yourself that you didn't mind his "big mouth," right?
Old ginger is spicier!
Thinking of this, Zhao Zhen's gaze toward Zhang Zhiwei became more hostile.

So, was it that Celestial Master Zhang Jingqing was cunning and shrewd, or was this something that the master and disciple had already planned in advance?

If it were just Zhang Jingqing, the Celestial Master, trying to shut himself up, that would be fine. After all, Under One Person is a shonen manga for older people, so being tricked by these old guys is just that—a lesson learned.

But if you, Zhang Zhiwei, secretly plot against me while looking at the big-eyed, thick-browed guy, then this matter won't be so easily resolved...

However, regardless of the outcome, we'll have to wait until we get through this current "hurdle" before making any decisions.

Just as Zhao Zhen was still pondering in his mind, Zhang Zhiwei suddenly turned around and shouted behind him:
"Alright, stop hiding, they've already spotted you!"

As soon as Zhang Zhiwei finished speaking, dark shadows suddenly swarmed behind Zhao Zhen, who had been alone. In no time, a large group of Taoist robe-clad members of the Celestial Master's Mansion surrounded Zhao Zhen.

"Is this Zhao Zhen, the one who defeated Zhiwei?"

"Tsk, I really couldn't tell~"

"I heard he threw Zhiwei straight into the sky, hahaha, that's really strange, Zhiwei actually got humiliated by his peers!"

"Don't even mention anything else, just look at the solid life cultivation of Benefactor Zhao, there are probably few on the mountain who can compare with him."

"That's right. If you didn't have some real skills, how could you have Senior Brother Zhiwei talking about that battle for us for an entire afternoon?"

“Benefactor Zhao, if you ask me, you went too far that day. I heard from Zhiwei that your Golden Escape Stream Light can teleport hundreds of miles, so why did you only throw Senior Brother Zhiwei up a few dozen feet that day?”

"Everyone in the entire Celestial Master's Mansion knows that, apart from Master, only my Senior Brother Zhiwei possesses truly solid golden light. Your height of only a few dozen feet is nothing to my Senior Brother Zhiwei, isn't it?"

"Exactly! Next time, I strongly suggest we raise him another ten feet or so to test the waters. We fellow disciples are also very curious about how durable the Golden Light Mantra can be, right?"

"right!!!"

"Haha, I'd love to see that too!"

……

Hearing his fellow apprentices making fun of him in front of outsiders, a look of helplessness flashed across Zhang Zhiwei's face.

"Sigh, all I did was treat you guys so well, and all I did was think about was how to kill me..."

"Haha, Senior Brother Zhiwei, don't be angry. The other disciples are indeed eager to hunt too."

After all these years on the mountain, no one has ever managed to give you a hard time, which is why everyone finds it so strange.

From the crowd, a square-faced young Taoist priest stepped forward with a grin and hooked his arm around Zhang Zhiwei's shoulder.

"Jinzhong, what brings you here too?" Zhang Zhiwei glanced at Tian Jinzhong with an annoyed look.

"What? I came here naturally to see the amazing person who can fight you to a draw, Senior Brother. What, other fellow disciples can see him, but I can't?" Zhang Zhiwei didn't reply, but looked back at Zhao Zhen behind him with some embarrassment.

"Sorry, Lao Zhao, come on, let me introduce you."

“These are all my fellow apprentices. This is Jinzhong.”

"Greetings, Benefactor Zhao." Tian Jinzhong smiled slightly and bowed politely to Zhao Zhen.

"Hello, Master Tian."

"This is Zemin."

"Greetings, Benefactor Zhao."

"This is Jiang Rui."

……

After introducing his fellow disciples one by one, Zhang Zhiwei turned to the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion and said, "Alright, now that you've seen it all, shouldn't you all go about your business?"

“Oh dear, Senior Brother Zhiwei, we’ve been following you all this way. You’ve practically shown Benefactor Zhao all over our Celestial Master’s Mansion.”

Now that they've had enough of sightseeing, shouldn't we invite them to sit down and rest for a bit?

"Exactly, how can we expect guests who have come up the mountain to stand all the time?"

"Zhiwei, you too, it's almost lunchtime now, and you haven't even invited Benefactor Zhao to have a vegetarian meal with us? You're so impolite! Is this how your senior brother taught you?"

……

Although these disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion did not say it explicitly, Zhao Zhen could roughly guess what they wanted to do.

It was just like how, after Wang Ye defeated Zhuge Qing at the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony in later generations, the three "Zhuge Three Fools" came to challenge Wang Ye.

Since everyone here is an extraordinary individual, these disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion, who have always been suppressed by Zhang Zhiwei, naturally wanted to take this opportunity to personally experience the difference between themselves and their peers who had "drawn a draw" with Zhang Zhiwei.

However, since they were all from the Celestial Master's Mansion, they still had to observe the proper etiquette, which is why they thought of subtly inviting him to dinner first.

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, wouldn't it be perfectly natural to invite Zhao Zhen to exchange skills with him?
Although he knew these guys had "ulterior motives," Zhao Zhen's original intention for this trip was to stay at the Celestial Master's Mansion for a while.

The saying goes, "He who takes a man's money is bound to do his bidding."

Since the Celestial Master Zhang Jingqing had Zhang Zhiwei "take the blame" to shut him up as soon as he entered the sect, it must be because he intended for his disciples to spar with him.

Since that's the case, let's just go along with the old man's wish.

Thinking of this, Zhao Zhen simply chose to see through it but not say anything, pretending not to know anything and following everyone's arrangements.

"In that case, thank you all for your kind words."

"Where, where~"

"You're too kind~"

"Let's go, Zhiwei, stop standing there! Hurry up and lead the way for Benefactor Zhao!"

"Alright, let's go..."

(End of this chapter)