The encounter was very sudden.

When Shen Hao turned a corner, he saw a woman walking toward him along the road, a bamboo basket hanging from her arm.

They spotted each other at the same time and both stopped in their tracks, carefully sizing the other up.

Her appearance was exactly the same as in the photograph Shen Hao had once seen on the restroom floor: long hair, phoenix eyes, an oval face, and an indistinct yet bewitching aura about her. Standing still, she was like a peony that outshone all others—fair and immaculate—leaving a deep impression at first glance.

After silently observing each other for a moment, the woman curled her lips into a faint smile, as if she had already expected this, and asked, “Are you looking for me?”

“Yes.” Shen Hao nodded without hesitation.

“It’s not easy to find this place. Come on, have a seat at my place.” Bai Mudan made the invitation naturally. Shen Hao did not refuse and followed her, soon arriving outside a small Western-style house.

He glanced at it and realized he had just passed by earlier, even thinking that the osmanthus tree in the courtyard was growing well, guessing that when it bloomed, its fragrance would spread for miles.

After opening the door, Bai Mudan ushered Shen Hao inside, all the way to the living room. She had him sit down first, then took the bamboo basket with some vegetables into the kitchen. When she came back out, she asked what he would like to drink.

Shen Hao didn’t stand on ceremony and asked for a glass of juice, then sat on the living room sofa, carefully observing his surroundings.

There was nothing special—everything looked like a typical household setup.

But since entering, he had only seen Bai Mudan attending to him, which made it obvious that she probably lived here alone.

Where were her parents and family?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he had no intention of asking.

Soon, the juice he requested was brought out and placed on the coffee table in front of him.

Bai Mudan sat down on a single sofa to his right, with a cup of plain water in front of her.

Perhaps because she was back in her own home, Bai Mudan relaxed, leaning against the sofa with her legs crossed, looking Shen Hao up and down as she said, “It seems you’ve already changed a bit.” After that, she added, “Although I think you already know, I’ll still introduce myself. My name is Bai Mudan.”

“My name is Shen Hao,” Shen Hao said.

“I know you must have a lot of questions in your heart. Ask whatever you want,” Bai Mudan said after taking a sip of water, as if preparing herself to answer his doubts.

“Why me?” Shen Hao asked his first question straight away.

This was the question that had been troubling him all along.

“That’s an interesting question. If I say it’s fate, would you believe me?” Bai Mudan smiled.

Shen Hao clearly didn’t believe it and stared at her.

“Even if you don’t believe it, I truly think it’s fate,” Bai Mudan said. “Back then, you accidentally saw me practicing拳法 in the woods. I kicked you unconscious. Afraid something might happen to you, I examined you, and that’s when I discovered something special about your body.”

“Special? True intersex?” Shen Hao asked.

“That’s only one of the special things,” Bai Mudan said.

“There’s another one?” Shen Hao was slightly surprised.

“It’s normal that you don’t know. Most people don’t,” Bai Mudan said. “And compared to intersex traits, the Nine Yin Meridians in your body are far rarer… I had been searching for someone with Nine Yin Meridians for many years, but never found one. Yet the person I accidentally knocked out with a kick happened to have both Nine Yin Meridians and a pseudo-yin body at the same time. Tell me—if that’s not fate, what is?”

After hearing this, Shen Hao really felt like scratching his head. It did seem, as Bai Mudan said, to be fate.

“Is this kind of situation really that special?” Shen Hao couldn’t help asking.

“Special? Are you talking about the Nine Yin Meridians or the pseudo-yin body?” The question sounded familiar—Shen Hao felt he had asked something like this earlier.

“Both,” Shen Hao said.

“Intersex traits are naturally special. After all, it’s an extremely rare condition, and even modern medicine still doesn’t know the cause,” Bai Mudan said. “As for the Nine Yin Meridians, they’re also special—especially suitable for cultivating the Sunflower True Scripture. You could say it’s tailor-made.”

She continued, “I can no longer practice it myself. I originally thought this scripture would just sit at the bottom of my bookshelf gathering dust forever, but I never expected to meet you. I didn’t want the mental method I painstakingly deduced to be lost, so I passed it on to you.”

After a pause, she added, “Does that answer why it had to be you?”

Shen Hao nodded silently. He was satisfied with the explanation—it indeed resolved the doubt in his heart.

With that question answered, Shen Hao originally thought he would have many more things to ask, but now, for a moment, he didn’t know what else to say.

Perhaps, from beginning to end, there had really been only this one question in his heart.

Now that he had the answer, whether to ask the others or not no longer seemed important.

While he was thinking about what else to ask, Bai Mudan had been observing him the whole time.

But from outward appearances alone, she could only see that his looks had changed slightly; beyond that, there was nothing obvious.

“Let me see how your cultivation is going,” Bai Mudan suggested.

“How?” Shen Hao asked.

“Hold out your hand.”

Shen Hao extended his right hand as instructed. Bai Mudan placed her fingers on his wrist, just like a traditional Chinese doctor checking a pulse.

After focusing and sensing it carefully for a moment, a satisfied smile appeared on her face. “As expected, my deductions were correct. The Nine Yin Meridians and the Sunflower True Scripture are a perfect match. Only someone with Nine Yin Meridians can truly be compatible with this martial art.”

Her eyes lit up as if she had discovered a treasure. She continued, “From the time I gave you the book, how long did it take you to practice this martial art?”

“Up to now, probably just a little over two months,” Shen Hao replied.

“Not bad!” Bai Mudan nodded in approval. “In just over two months, you’ve already reached the third layer. That’s even faster than I expected… Have you encountered any bottlenecks?”

Shen Hao thought for a moment and said, “Not at the moment. Everything feels very smooth. At this rate, I estimate that I won’t need much longer to break through the third layer.”

“Hahaha, just as I thought!” Hearing Shen Hao’s words, Bai Mudan looked extremely pleased, laughing almost wildly. Shen Hao couldn’t help worrying that something might be wrong with her.

“Are you… okay?” Shen Hao asked cautiously.

“I’m fine! How could I not be?” Bai Mudan gradually calmed down and returned to her previous demeanor, then asked, “How’s your Eight Yin Palm?”

“Very good. No problems,” Shen Hao answered confidently.

“Mm. I searched through many palm techniques before selecting the Eight Yin Palm to pair with the Sunflower True Scripture. This palm technique has two ways of use. One is the normal yin palm, and the other can only be used by someone with Nine Yin Meridians—the yang palm.”

She glanced at Shen Hao and said, “In fact, the Sunflower True Scripture is the same. If an ordinary person cultivates it, they can only practice yin. But someone with Nine Yin Meridians can practice yang.”

Shen Hao didn’t fully understand what she meant, but he sensed that Bai Mudan intended to guide him, so he took the initiative to ask, “Do I need to formally become your disciple?”

“Become my disciple?” For some reason, Bai Mudan burst into laughter again. This time, though, there was no hint of madness—just the laughter of someone who had heard a funny joke, her body trembling with mirth.

Unfortunately, although Bai Mudan was beautiful, her figure was rather slender. Dressed in loose clothing, only occasional hints of curves could be seen.

Shen Hao didn’t know why she was laughing and could only wait innocently for her to finish.

After finally restraining her laughter, Bai Mudan said, “Let’s forget about formal discipleship. I’m afraid that if you bow to me as your master today, the people from Lou Wai Lou will come knocking tomorrow… Just don’t say you practice the Sunflower True Scripture. Say you learned a palm technique from me.”

Lou Wai Lou? Hearing this name, Shen Hao’s heart stirred. It seemed Bai Mudan belonged to Lou Wai Lou?

But judging from her words, it also sounded like she wasn’t on good terms with them.

“Don’t overthink it. I’ll tell you about this later,” Bai Mudan said at once, seeing through his thoughts.

“Then I’ll call you Teacher,” Shen Hao said, calming his mind.

“That works… Teacher sounds nice. I’ve never been a teacher before!” Bai Mudan said with a bright smile. She then glanced at the time and added, “Perfect. It’s still early. Why don’t we head up the mountain and let me see how you’re doing in practice?”

“Alright,” Shen Hao agreed and stood up.

Although he wasn’t wearing specialized training clothes, his outfit was fairly loose and convenient for movement, so there was nothing unsuitable.

The two of them left together. From here, the forest park was much closer than from Shen Hao’s home.

As they walked toward the forest park, Bai Mudan chatted casually with Shen Hao.

It was just after four in the afternoon. At this time, the forest park was especially lively. Many residents came here to exercise or bring their children to cool off. Most stayed near the entrance plaza, while only a few went deeper along the mountain paths.

There were even couples holding hands, strolling slowly along the long mountain trail, listening to birdsong, smelling the flowers, and talking about love.

Naturally, Bai Mudan and Shen Hao as a pair didn’t stand out at all.

They walked on and soon arrived outside the woods where they had first met.

Looking at the woods, now noticeably brighter than before, Shen Hao recalled a question and couldn’t help asking, “Teacher Bai, how come you haven’t come to practice here since last time?”

“I still practice,” Bai Mudan shook her head. “Even though it’s not very useful, it’s good for loosening up my muscles and bones. But since you’re practicing here now, I’ll give the place to you. Isn’t that better?”

Hearing this, Shen Hao wanted to say it wasn’t, but Bai Mudan had already lowered her head, stepped over the ditch, and slipped straight into the woods.

He hurried to follow after her.