34 Epiphamy!

Two hours later, at the entrance of the Lin Manor, a gray mule was dragged inside the gate by three servants.

Currently, a three-year-old boy sauntered toward the gate while holding a white puppy.

But the news of bringing a mule inside the Lin Manor spread like wildfire and everyone; men, women, and kids also walked out of their houses to watch the show, especially; everyone had piqued their interest in little Donghai Lin after he revealed a show of his prowess a few years ago during the dog selection ceremony.

"Ah! Finally, it's here. Blackie, why don't we give it a ride first?" Donghai Lin said as he combed the puppy's white fluffy hairs with his fingers.

"Huh! He calls that white puppy Blackie?" A six-year-old girl said, speaking her mind.

Everyone around there realized this as well and there was a commotion as they whispered and even some of them argued about why Donghai Lin named his puppy Blackie, while those who didn't like him argued he was colorblind.

When the guards tried to put a saddle on the mule's back, Donghai Lin refrained them from doing it. Later, he gave a light kick to the ground before jumping up in the air and hopping on top of the mule.

Then he kicked the mule lightly like he used to do to make a horse run in his previous life and he said, "Move, yee-haw!"

But the mule that his servants had bought from the nearby Pearl River Marketplace* was even more stubborn than an average mule as it didn't take a single step forward for several minutes.

On seeing that, the crowd laughed.

"This mule is the idlest one of its kind. Hey, let me warn you one last time. If you refuse to move, then I'll let Blackie loose and I'll let him bite your donkey sorry behind." Donghai Lin warned the donkey, who was not intelligent enough to understand his human words.

As the gray mule refused to even take a step forward, Donghai Lin tossed the white puppy in front of everyone's astonished eyes and said, "Blackie, bite his behind!"

Unlike everyone expected, the white puppy landed steadily on the ground with his four limbs.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The white puppy barked three times, jumped up, and bit the mule behind.

It released his teeth and once again jumped up and bit the mule behind once again.

"Bray-bray-bray!" the gray mule shrieked in pain as it kicked its legs.

The crowd watching the show saw a pair of rounded teeth marks on the mule behind.

"Woof! Woof!" the white puppy barked as if he was reminding the gray mule that he would continue biting its behind if it still refrained from taking a step forward.

Hearing the puppy's bark, the gray mule got frightened and began moving forward heel-and-toe racing.

Thus, the mule's riding began.

The crowd quickly chased after them while laughing cheerfully as they saw the white puppy would bark from time to time whenever the mule decreased in its pace.

"Hahahaha….!" Today the air of the Lin Manor was chimed with the peals of the hysterical waves of laughter of the crowd.

Atop the pagoda, which was Lin Ren's residence, Chu Yin and Patriarch Lin Ren stood while they watched the little three-year-old boy riding the mule.

"Bahahaha...!" They burst into a peal of booming laughter that was so rare as they hadn't laughed that way for years and years... Their smiles and laughter over the years were just superficial gestures to deal with their business.

Patriarch Lin Ren squinted his eyes and said while observing the white puppy keenly. "Hmm, that puppy is not simple!"

"Yes, I agree too. I can't even scan through its body…. Patriarch Lin, your grandson, already knew about its value and it turned out he was not doing that dog selection ceremony for the sake of being spoiled." Chu Yin said.

"Now that you mention it. I think that is the case too." Patriarch Lin Ren said while making a serious face.

Just like that, Donghai Lin began his experiment to understand Immortal Zhang Guolao, the mule rider.

For several hours, he would tour around the vast Lin Manor while riding the mule.

The following day, after having his breakfast, he began his day by riding the mule in the reverse manner, lying over its back and observing the mule's legs.

This continued for two months and finally, he came to realize some essential points of Immortal Zhang Guolao while riding the mule in the reverse manner.

'Hmm, the Immortal Zhang's marvelous technique is, with his beguiling postures of the mule, and his mule's lethal swift double kicks, low kicks, the Tiger-Tail Kick, and last but not the least, against floor fighting.' Donghai Lin wondered in his head. And he continued, thinking: 'So, his every move are derived from the donkey* and its feet. Good!'

Then he began to observe the mule's footsteps and also the rhythmic movement of its body while it trotted.

From that day onward, he began to observe the mule and its locomotion mechanism keenly for the next three weeks, and during that time, he memorized every step of the mule, and gradually all the moves of Immortal Zhang's practicing his martial drunken style came to his mind and those move coincided with the mule's movements.

Then Donghai Lin sat up straight cross-legged over the mule's back and shut his eyes as he had a sudden epiphany and the mule continued trotting in its way.

While observing Lin Ren from the top of the pagoda, Patriarch Lin Ren exclaimed with delight. "Oh, ho-ho-ho, whatever the hell he has been doing, he finally has an epiphany!"

"Mmm-hmm, interesting! Now, let's see how much longer he will be in that state while sitting over a moving mule." Daoist Chu Yin said as he took a sip of the wine, from his wine gourd.

5 Minutes passed!

Lin Donghai was still in that odd epiphanic state.

10 Minutes passed!

30 minutes passed!

"Brilliant! This is the very first time I have ever seen someone in such a fortuitous state for over 30 minutes." Daoist Chu Yin exclaimed and said.

Just like that, an hour passed and Donghai Lin suddenly jumped down from the mule's back and made a posture of the mule with his body and started practicing a series of non-stop strange kicks for the next fifteen minutes.

He halted, ending his practice, and finally, he opened his eyes.

The next second, the white puppy scuttled forward approaching Donghai Lin, and asked, projecting his inner voice in Donghai Lin's head: "Martial Uncle Lin, how is it?"

Donghai Lin wrinkled his lips in a charming grin, raised his right fist in the air, and raised his thumb toward the white puppy.