Chapter 304: Look Down into the Well, Look Up at the Sky
Chen Ping'an had not expected that this trip into the martial world would take half a year. It wasn't because the journey to find that Guandao Temple was too far, but rather that Chen Ping'an, relying on the guidance from the 'long qi' behind him, had been wandering around in a magnificent city, going around in circles, wasting a full three months without finding the so-called Guandao Temple. In this capital city of the Southern Garden Kingdom, Chen Ping'an asked every peddler, common laborer, martial artist, escort agency leader, government official, and so on, but none had ever heard of any such temple. Chen Ping'an pored over various historical records, county annals, and private notebooks, yet still found no clues. The only gain was probably that Chen Ping'an could now speak the official language of the Southern Garden Kingdom fluently.
So it went, from late autumn to heavy snow, then to drizzly spring rain, all the way until the arrival of the Beginning of Summer. Chen Ping'an could confirm that the entrance to Guandao Temple was right in this capital city, but he could never find a way in.
Even someone as steadfast as Chen Ping'an began to waver and grow irritable.
During this time, Chen Ping'an encountered many strange sights. He saw a floating green dress at night, swaying like a beautiful woman dancing gracefully, its wide sleeves flowing like water.
Once, he unintentionally saw through an illusion technique, witnessing a section of the inner city wall propped up by skeletons, with Buddhist scriptures carved on every green brick.
He also met monks rarely seen in Bottle Gourd Continent. Buddhist studies were popular throughout the Southern Garden Kingdom, both in court and among the common people; temples stood everywhere. Chen Ping'an learned the intricacies of the monks' various kasayas, and the differences between chanting monks, preaching monks, dharma-transmitting monks, and dharma-protecting monks. Once, he left the capital to get some fresh air, following a group of monks carrying secret imperial orders to a fiercely contested battlefield. Chen Ping'an personally witnessed over a hundred chanting monks sitting upright on lotus cushions, with several barefoot chanting monks walking with heads bowed and hands clasped. As they walked and their lips moved, white lotus flowers bloomed one after another. Each monk had a string of prayer beads wrapped around their hands. If a malicious ghost entangled them, it would be repelled by the golden light emitted from the beads.
The prayer beads shone with pure gold, the monks appeared solemn and majestic, and lotuses sprang forth with every step.
They led the tens of thousands of vengeful spirits, filled with resentment, to follow them into the "Ghost Gate" where yin and yang met.
In the end, Chen Ping'an sat in the distance, imitating the monks by clasping his hands together and bowing his head in silence.
After returning to the capital, Chen Ping'an still couldn't find Guandao Temple. Just as he was gritting his teeth and preparing to secretly enter the imperial palace, one day, under the blazing sun, Chen Ping'an came to a well. He looked down into it—it was bottomless, dark and lightless.
Chen Ping'an stared for a while.
But unable to see any clue, he withdrew his gaze and continued wandering.
He glanced back at the well. Standing over there earlier had seemed somewhat cool and refreshing.
---
Ever since his battle with Great Sui's Court Sorcerer Cai Jingshen, Cui Dongshan had earned the cheap title of "Old Ancestor of the Cai Family," becoming quite popular at the Cliff Academy. Added to that, with his current appearance—a vermillion mole between his brows, an elegant and handsome demeanor—he was truly endearing.
Cui Dongshan could move freely around the academy, always accompanied by a personal maidservant named Xie Xie. Today, the two of them went to audit one of Old Master Ge's scripture lectures. Halfway through, Cui Dongshan, who had been lying on the windowsill outside, fell asleep. Xie Xie stood by, not daring to disturb her master's grand dreams, which made the students inside struggle to suppress their laughter. Old Master Ge was so angry he wished he could hit Cui Dongshan with his ruler until his head was covered in bumps. But recalling Cai Jingshen, who had moved his entire family out of the capital, the old master suppressed his frustration, deciding to talk to Vice Academy Head Mao Xiaodong later to forbid Cui Dongshan from coming near his classroom again.
Cui Dongshan shuddered as if waking from a nightmare. After opening his eyes, it took him a while to come to. Then he swaggered off, taking his maidservant Xie Xie back to his residence.
Once Xie Xie closed the courtyard gate, Cui Dongshan kicked off his boots and stepped over the threshold. With a flourish of his sleeve, mist rose and eventually coalesced into a map of Bottle Gourd Continent's mountains and rivers.
Cui Dongshan stood with one hand on his chest and the other pinching his chin. First, he stood at the northernmost part of "Bottle Gourd Continent," which was Great Sui. Then his gaze shifted southward, passing through Yellow Court Kingdom and Great Sui's territories, stopping at the central regions of Guanhu Academy, Colorful Garment Kingdom, and Comb Water Kingdom. Finally, he suddenly lay flat on the ground, looking left and right.
Xie Xie sat sideways on the threshold. This continental map took up almost the entire room; if she went inside, she'd definitely get scolded, and possibly even hit.
Cui Dongshan remained lying there, asking casually, "Tell me, in Great Sui now, in the court and the martial world, up on the mountains and down below, is there anyone cursing the emperor, calling him a foolish ruler who begs for peace and cedes territory?"
Xie Xie answered honestly, "I don't know about things outside. Inside the academy, the masters from Great Sui just look worried and sigh, but I haven't heard anyone openly curse."
Cui Dongshan sat up, grinning. "One good thing about scholars: they don't curse the sovereign, only corrupt ministers, eunuchs, vixens, and relatives by marriage. They curse heaven, earth, and everything else... Of course, it's not absolute. There must be those who dare to curse the emperor, but those who do it well, hitting the nail on the head, are rare."
Xie Xie was already used to dealing with Cui Dongshan. She replied perfunctorily, "Young master's insight is profound."
She was truly perfunctory, without any attempt to hide it. Not just someone like Li Huai, who lacked discernment, but even the "literary demon" or "old fox" that was the Great Li National Teacher could see through it at a glance.
But Cui Dongshan didn't mind that at all.
Cui Dongshan put his hands on his hips, opened his mouth, and inhaled sharply, swallowing all the mist of the map into his belly like a whale.
Then he raised his hands, clawing the air like a fierce tiger, grinning widely.
Xie Xie's mouth twitched.
Cui Dongshan patted his sleeves, smugly satisfied. "Truly a qi-swallowing like a tiger, covering ten thousand miles. Impressive, impressive."
The maidservant Xie Xie could only wish she dared to roll her eyes.
She turned her head to look at the high wall of the courtyard. No matter how turbulent the undercurrents were in Great Sui's court and countryside, this East Mountain Academy was another peaceful day.
A golden thread suddenly shot into the courtyard from outside!
It was silent and swift as lightning.
Although it was extremely thin, even thinner than Xie Xie's strand of hair, the moment this delicate golden thread appeared, the temperature of the entire courtyard rose in the cool late autumn, making it feel like a scorching summer day.
Xie Xie was dumbfounded, completely unable to react.
Her mind went blank. Though the courtyard was burning hot, Xie Xie's whole body went cold. She turned stiffly and saw the golden thread pierce right through Cui Dongshan's brow, piercing between his eyebrows. He fell backward, crashing to the ground.
It must be an assassination method from a terrestrial immortal!
From afar, a hoarse voice rang out with satisfaction: "The demon disrupts the state; his death is not worth regretting!"
From even further away, the Vice Academy Head Mao Xiaodong, master of this small world, roared angrily: "Dare to commit murder in the academy?!"
Xie Xie's gaze was dazed. She remained sitting sideways on the threshold, staring at the white-clad youth lying motionless on the ground. Was he really dead?
A gentle tap on her shoulder. Xie Xie jolted awake, her body tensing. As she turned to look, she nearly struck out with a palm.
But she hurriedly withdrew her hand, her face a picture of disbelief, as if she'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.
It turned out Cui Dongshan was standing right in front of her, bending down to meet her eyes. He squinted, one hand behind his back, and lightly extended a finger to tap her forehead, pushing her so she fell into the room. But the wondrous thing was that while her body fell backward onto the floor, her ethereal soul remained in place. Using a tyrannical secret art, Cui Dongshan forcibly separated her body and soul. Strand by strand, the soul, unable to withstand the yang energy, was about to dissipate.
Cui Dongshan examined Xie Xie's soul, eventually finding something unusual in one of her qi organs. Smiling, he said, "Playing hide-and-seek with me? A bit too green." Like a chess player picking up a piece with two fingers, he extracted a dark green speck from Xie Xie's soul and casually crushed it between his fingers. The physical body, already losing sensation due to the soul's pull, jumped violently like a fish on a chopping board.
Cui Dongshan slapped the "face" of Xie Xie's soul, cursing with a laugh: "A useless thing that can't accomplish anything but can ruin everything. Get back in there."
The soul returned to its place. Xie Xie slowly woke up, her head splitting with pain. She struggled to sit up, one hand on the ground, the other covering her forehead, tears streaming down her face from the pain.
Cui Dongshan strode over the threshold, bent down to pick up a talisman of a substitute puppet of extremely high grade from inside the room, rubbed it into ashes with his fingers, and turned around to shout: "Mao Xiaodong, can you tolerate this?! They're taking a dump in your own home!"
In the midst of his pursuit, Mao Xiaodong's cold voice drifted into the small courtyard from afar: "Right, you're that turd!"
Cui Dongshan chuckled. "If I'm walking around here every day, doesn't that make our Cliff Academy a latrine?"
Xie Xie remained silent.
Cui Dongshan couldn't be bothered to explain the danger and mystery to her. He sat cross-legged, frowning in thought.
Why was Guanhu Academy so forbearing?
The Great Li Iron Cavalry's southward march had gone too smoothly. This severely conflicted with his earlier expectations. According to the original plan, they should have gone through at least four arduous battles: one near a secular dynasty in the central region, one breaking off relations with Guanhu Academy, one with the White Frost Kingdom in southern Bottle Gourd Continent, and one with the mountain forces in the south of Bottle Gourd Continent.
Could it be that many forces besides the Great Li Mohist school had quietly poured into Bottle Gourd Continent?
Unfortunately, he was no longer the Great Li National Teacher, so he couldn't get the most inside information at the highest level. He was completely in the dark about who was playing the game and what their style was.
Cui Dongshan suddenly asked, "Have you ever thought about settling down in Great Li's Dragon Spring?"
Xie Xie shook her head. "No, I haven't."
The tall old man Mao Xiaodong strode into the courtyard. "It's an Nascent Soul cultivator of unknown origin. He got away."
Cui Dongshan didn't care at all. He said with a smile, "That was just a probe. You'd better be more careful with the academy's masters and students. There are always some self-righteous 'good people' in the world who think the way things should be must follow their ideas. If Cliff Academy and the Great Sui capital stand opposed, the two mountain alliances of the Gao and Song clans might very well be nullified."
Mao Xiaodong frowned. "Do we really need to seal the mountain?"
As for today's assassination, whether it was the intention of some faction within Great Sui or the work of "Cui Can's" enemies, it made little difference, because the possibility Cui Dongshan mentioned was no joke.
Cui Dongshan sneered. "What, worried about losing face?"
Mao Xiaodong made up his mind and turned to leave.
Cui Dongshan laughed. "Mao Xiaodong, if you say you're a piece of shit, I'll come help the academy if trouble arises."
Mao Xiaodong turned back, expressionless. "I am a piece of shit."
Cui Dongshan looked disgruntled. "What if I said I'm two pieces of shit? Can I take back what I said earlier and comfortably watch from the other shore?"
The old man twitched the corner of his mouth, dropped the word "No," and quickly left. Cui Dongshan sighed mournfully, fell backward with a loud thud, and lay on the ground. He brought two fingers together in front of him, mumbling "As urgent as the law commands," and started rolling back and forth on the floor.
Xie Xie gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Cui Dongshan stopped his childish antics, lying flat like a corpse, but spoke even more childish words: "Master, when are you coming back? Your disciple is being bullied."
Xie Xie was helpless.
Cui Dongshan lifted his head and asked, "Do you think your young master is joking?"
Xie Xie hesitated, then nodded.
Cui Dongshan turned on his side, propping his head on his hand, and snorted. "With Chen Ping'an around, no matter how high or low his cultivation is, I just need to exert myself. Do right and don't get scolded; do wrong and get scolded. Anyway, I don't have to think too much. As for you, you can take fewer beatings from me. Yu Lu, that heartless one, just needs to watch the show. Lin Shouyi will turn more toward cultivation. Li Huai? He's timid, so he has more reason to be timid. After all, Chen Ping'an is there to protect him."
"All the worries, anyway, are borne by my master."
Cui Dongshan spoke lazily and fell silent.
Xie Xie was a little curious. The one missing was a little girl who liked to wear red clothes.
Cui Dongshan sighed. "Probably only Little Baoping will feel sorry for my master."
With an "ouch," Cui Dongshan started rolling on the ground again, clutching his heart, shouting, "Just thinking about it breaks my heart!"
---
After that brief assassination disturbance at Cliff Academy, under the insistence of Vice Academy Head Mao Xiaodong, the mountain gate was sealed. No one, whether master, student, or servant, was allowed to leave. The nominal academy head, Great Sui's Minister of Rites, had considerable objections, but the Emperor supported the matter. Moreover, the Emperor secretly dispatched several court sorcerers to conceal themselves near East Mountain, and also had Prince Gao Xuan formally enter the academy to study.
That day, Gao Xuan accompanied his friend Yu Lu to fish by the lake.
As time passed, Yu Lu finally opened up to Gao Xuan. First, his identity: the former crown prince of the Lu Dynasty. Second, his martial cultivation: the seventh realm.
After hearing this, Gao Xuan only uttered two sounds: "Oh" and "Wow."
The Great Sui prince's eyes sparkled with pride in his choice of friend.
Yu Lu didn't think this was wrong either. Returning the favor, Gao Xuan also spoke of many of his own family's bitterness. When dealing with women, wanting to be perfect might not mean he truly liked her; but when dealing with men, being able to not care about one's shortcomings at all and treating them with sincerity—that usually meant he truly regarded them as friends.
The two youths, each holding a green bamboo fishing rod, waited quietly for fish to bite. Gao Xuan asked, "Didn't you say before that the Baoping Society was going to hold a martial tournament? Why haven't I seen you go since I entered the academy?"
Yu Lu smiled faintly. "The Baoping Society held it three times, then stopped summoning the heroes. Others might not feel it, but I was a bit disappointed."
Gao Xuan pointed at the path by the shore. "Li Huai is over there."
Yu Lu didn't turn to look.
He didn't need to. He knew Li Huai must be playing wildly with two little friends. One was a lively, somewhat mischievous child from a humble family; the other was a timid, introverted noble grandson from a family of high officials. Somehow, the three had gotten together and were inseparable. It was said that on the humble child's suggestion, the three little ones had even sworn brotherhood by cutting a chicken's head and burning yellow paper. The "chicken head" was just a bird caught from a tree, and the "yellow paper" was pages secretly torn from library classics. When the matter was exposed, the three got their bottoms beaten red by their teacher.
The three played with tree branches as swords, charging back and forth. Li Huai naturally saw Yu Lu fishing by the shore, but after hesitating, he still didn't greet him.
If it were Lin Shouyi, Li Huai might have gone to chat. Toward Yu Lu and Xie Xie, Li Huai wasn't particularly close.
Among the members of that Great Sui traveling study group back then, Li Huai, Li Baoping, and Lin Shouyi were classmates and fellow townsmen, with closer bonds than Yu Lu and Xie Xie.
Lin Shouyi now went to the library less often. Besides attending classes daily, he spent more time cultivating in a separate small courtyard. An esteemed old master had arranged this for him with the academy. The old gentleman was a cultivator and was willing to teach Lin Shouyi everything he knew. He not only explained the many subtleties of the "Cloud-Level Clear Book" that Lin Shouyi always carried, but also brought several treasured immortal manuals from his own collection for Lin Shouyi to browse freely. Whenever he had time, the old master would come to the small courtyard to help Lin Shouyi solve problems.
One old, one young—though without the formal bond of master and disciple, they had the substance of it.
Lin Shouyi, besides studying the tedious classics, focused more on quiet cultivation.
His heart was set on seeking the Dao.
---
The cold autumn gave rise to chills. At the academy, a little girl simply exchanged her thin red dress for a thicker one. As for a padded jacket, she didn't need it yet.
She would still often go alone to the tall tree at the peak of East Mountain, sitting there in a daze, or eating some snacks to satisfy her cravings. When coursework was heavy, she would also sit on a branch with books, reciting them so she wouldn't have to be punished by copying texts the next day. Fortunately, whenever she had a little free time, she would prepare in advance the copies required for the master's punishments, stacking them neatly in piles, which had accumulated quite a lot in the dormitory.
So now she had acquired the nickname "Copying Girl" at Cliff Academy.
Today, Li Baoping swayed her feet on the tree branch, counting on her fingers how long she had been separated from her little master.
So long, and he still hadn't come?
Li Baoping's eyes turned slightly dark.
Ha! Since it had been so long, didn't that mean the next meeting was closer?
Li Baoping cheered up again.
So the red-clad girl stood up on the branch, bouncing to look as far and high as possible. Maybe, with a bit of luck, her little master would already be standing at the foot of the mountain?
With a thud, Li Baoping fell to the ground, covered in dust and dirt.
Fortunately, she had experience and knew how to make the fall less painful. In the end, she wasn't injured, but her whole body was sore and bruised.
The grimacing girl quickly looked around. Seeing no one had noticed her embarrassment, she limped down the mountain.
Along the way, many people greeted her, and she responded to each one.
Back at the dormitory, with nothing to do, she started copying texts again. Li Baoping glanced at the "ammunition" on her desk and smiled brightly. Hey, next time Little Master came to the Great Sui capital, she could skip class for ten days! If the master later settled accounts, she would just pile up these books for him.
The more Li Baoping thought about it, the smarter she felt. With one hand skillfully copying texts and the other thumbing her own praise, her eyes sparkled. "Tsk, tsk, no wonder I'm the martial alliance leader. How domineering am I!"
---
On the Desolate Mountain in Dragon Spring Commandery, after receiving a letter, the green-clad boy, who rarely went out, first went to the small town to reply. Full of confidence, he then went out of character to visit Piyun Mountain, seeking Wei Bo at the Great Li Northern Mountain Temple.
But after returning to the bamboo building, the pink-skirted girl noticed he seemed somewhat dejected. She didn't know what he had been seeking, but it seemed to have gone poorly.
The green-clad boy didn't want to complain to her. He just sighed alone by the cliff, but soon regained his fighting spirit. He went down the mountain again to the small town, visiting both the county office and the kiln supervision office, though he did so reluctantly. On his return, he seemed listless again. Two days later, he went again to the newly built Dragon Spring city north of the mountains, seeking the commandery governor Wu Yuan.
The green-clad boy bustled about, leaving the pink-skirted girl utterly confused.
He was usually not serious, but she knew he was proud, looking down on everyone. He used to look down even on Wei Bo, though when he met the mountain god, he would flatter him profusely, only to spit behind his back afterward. As for Magistrate Yuan, Supervisor Cao, or Governor Wu, they were even less worth mentioning.
The pink-skirted girl couldn't help asking, but he only said, "What do you, a little girl, know?" Then he dragged a bamboo chair and sat alone by the cliff.
Finally, one day, the green-clad boy started walking with a spring in his step again, swaggering around.
The pink-skirted girl was afraid he'd get annoyed if she asked too many questions, so she held back. But this time, he was in a great mood and proactively brought two bamboo chairs under the eaves. He sat cross-legged, cracking melon seeds. The pink-skirted girl thought to herself, Has he gone mad?
The green-clad boy was in high spirits. He laughed, "The mission my Water God brother entrusted to me is done! I've already sent a letter to the Imperial River Water God Temple in Yellow Court Kingdom!"
The pink-skirted girl was stunned. "What did the Imperial River Water God ask you to do?"
The green-clad boy grinned. "What else? Since Yellow Court Kingdom has become a vassal state of Great Li, my Water God brother heard I was doing well in Great Li, so he wanted me to help him make connections. Besides ensuring his temple wouldn't be demolished, he also wanted me to get a 'peace and safety plaque' from Great Li. This kind of trivial matter, no problem at all. And I succeeded!"
So it turned out the Imperial River Water God had sent a letter asking for his help. The green-clad boy had initially thumped his chest, guaranteeing success in the letter, saying such small matters were nothing to worry about—just wait for good news.
The pink-skirted girl thought to herself, Small matters? Then what were those days of scratching your head and looking like you had nothing to live for? And how could he say he was "doing well" in Dragon Spring? He only practiced cultivation diligently so he wouldn't be killed in two punches by someone. Every time he went down the mountain, he must have been trembling with fear.
She asked softly, "Did Mountain God Wei help you solve it?"
The green-clad boy's expression flickered, his smile forced. He tried to sound heroic. "Of course! Wei Bo and I are like brothers now. We're so close. This little favor, how dare he say no? The first time I visited Piyun Mountain and went to the North Mountain Temple, the old fellow was out on business. You don't know, but the assistant officials of the temple were so polite to me, laid out a big feast. I said no need, but they insisted on dragging me to stay. I was so worried..."
The pink-skirted girl said nothing.
She just didn't want to expose his lies, since he cared so much about face.
The green-clad boy talked a mile a minute, his face beaming, but as he spoke, he lost his energy and fell silent, quietly munching on melon seeds.
On the second meeting, Wei Bo did nod in agreement. As the righteous god of the North Mountain, he spoke to the Great Li court on his behalf, asking for two protective talismans for that Imperial River Water God brother.
But he paid a price in exchange.
A high-quality snake gallstone that Chen Ping'an had given him.
The green-clad boy felt a pang of regret but didn't repent.
Suddenly, he smiled, pointing south. "Silly girl, later when we go to the Imperial River, I'll take you to my Water God brother's mansion. We'll drink from big bowls and eat big chunks of meat. Then you'll know how popular I am there. Just because I brought you, everyone will respect you!"
The pink-skirted girl was speechless.
But she caught a glimpse of his expression—radiant and joyful—and softened. She said softly, "Okay, but remember, no big fish and big meat. I'll just have some seasonal mountain delicacies."
The green-clad boy laughed heartily. "What's so hard about that? One word from me!"
They fell silent.
Then he suddenly said, "If the master were on the mountain, I probably wouldn't have to run so many errands, right?"
The pink-skirted girl hummed softly.
---
At the foot of the western mountain, Dong Shuijing's wonton stall was doing better and better business. Men and women who came to the mountain temple to burn incense all loved to eat a bowl there—it relieved fatigue and filled the stomach, killing two birds with one stone. As business grew, the stall became too small, so Dong Shuijing simply built a shop. This way, even in bad weather, customers could come in to eat while waiting for the rain to stop. Moreover, this young man was easygoing. Even if people didn't order wontons and just used the shop as a rest stop, he wouldn't chase them away. Instead, he'd have his two newly hired shop assistants serve them a steaming bowl of tea.
The shop's expenses increased, but the price of each bowl of wontons never went up, and the taste never changed.
Eventually, even a few officials from Dragon Spring Commandery heard about it and came. For example, the highest-ranking official, Governor Wu Yuan, ate a bowl of fragrant wontons at the shop and praised them endlessly.
One evening, as the shop was about to close, the two shop assistants were attending to a few sparse tables. Dong Shuijing, who rarely had a moment of leisure, was exhausted after a hard day's work. He sat at the shop entrance, holding a bowl of tea and drinking slowly.
Dong Shuijing suddenly stood up, quickly finished the remaining tea, and hurried over. A group of people was coming down from the mountain. Among them was a familiar face. She must have gone up the mountain with her family to burn incense and was now descending. Judging by the time, they were likely staying in Dragon Spring City.
Dong Shuijing smiled and greeted them. He called the adults uncles and aunties by their apparent ages, then looked at the girl, who had grown a bit taller, and asked, "Shi Chunjia, when did you get back?"
The little girl no longer wore her hair in two horn-like braids now.
Shi Chunjia had once traveled with Li Baoping, Dong Shuijing, and the others on a brief, thrilling journey. After returning to the small town, the children split into three groups, each choosing a different path.
Li Baoping, Li Huai, and Lin Shouyi followed Chen Ping'an to Great Sui to study. Dong Shuijing stayed in the small town, attended a school for a while, but soon left. He sold one of the two ancestral houses in the small town and kept the other, not only buying half a street of high-class mansions in the commandery city but also using the remaining money as capital to start his own business. As for Shi Chunjia, her family sold the ancestral shop on Riding Dragon Lane and moved with the clan to the Great Sui capital. She didn't know if this return home was for ancestor worship or something else.
Shi Chunjia's parents had only heard of Dong Shuijing but never met him. Seeing their daughter reluctant to leave, they took the opportunity to say they wanted to eat a few bowls of wontons. Dong Shuijing personally cooked and served them. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he returned behind the counter. Shi Chunjia finished her meal hastily, ran over to Dong Shuijing, and asked in a low voice if there was any news of Baoping. Dong Shuijing could only repeat what Chen Ping'an had mentioned. Shi Chunjia pricked up her ears, not wanting to miss a single word.
Dong Shuijing kept an eye on the surroundings. Seeing the others were almost done eating, he asked seemingly casually, "Are you back for good this time?"
Shi Chunjia nodded. "We heard that the new school here was founded by the Chen clan of Dragon Tail Creek, so my grandfather asked me and my parents to come back. Anyway, the shop is sold, but the ancestral house is still there, so we have a place to stay."
Dong Shuijing nodded.
In the end, he still charged them, but fewer copper coins than usual per bowl.
Shi Chunjia was a straightforward girl. Seeing that Dong Shuijing dared to charge them, she shot him a fierce glare, this money-grubbing former classmate.
Dong Shuijing smiled faintly, unbothered.
He watched them leave, knowing they would have many opportunities to meet in the future.
In business, when acquaintances come, you must never cheat them. But you also shouldn't not charge them. Breaking even is best.
Otherwise, the more you do business, the fewer friends you'll have.
If you lose money every time, and the person still likes to come frequently, it shows they don't see you as a friend.
If you make more profit than usual every time, it's even clearer that you never considered that person a friend. It's simpler that way.
If it's the former, it's worrisome.
Certain there would be no more customers, the two shop assistants were already exhausted. Dong Shuijing made them two large bowls of wontons each. Watching them wolf down the food, Dong Shuijing looked out into the night outside the shop and saw a man with a long sword slung across his back step over the threshold.
A man named Xu Ruo, a heroic figure from the Mohist school who had just returned to the Dragon Spring ferry from Old Dragon City. He came straight here and asked the tall youth with a smile, "I've already told you about her, breaking the rules. So have you made up your mind now?"
Dong Shuijing nodded.
Since she was already a being among immortals, he couldn't continue living like this.
Becoming a so-called "credit-seller" would allow him to live a few decades or even centuries longer.
Whether he ended up with that young lady or not, being able to see her a few more times would be good.
---
A young villain surnamed Gu had appeared at Book-Run Lake.
His name was Gu Can, the closed-door disciple of the River-Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao of Green Gorge Island. He could control a flood dragon whose strength rivaled that of a peak Golden Core cultivator. In the previous bloody internal conflict among fellow disciples, that flood dragon had killed so many that corpses littered Green Gorge Island. Strangely, Liu Zhimao had not intervened at all, not even when his eldest disciple was bitten to death by the beast.
If it had stopped there, Gu Can's infamous reputation might not have spread across Book-Run Lake, the widest water region in Bottle Gourd Continent. But afterwards, on the azure waves of Book-Run Lake, a seemingly innocent little child often wandered around. At first, some qi cultivators mistakenly thought the child was using water-controlling or water-avoiding techniques to stand on the lake surface without moving his feet.
Generally speaking, it was a case of live and let live.
But once, a huge disaster occurred. Over twenty young qi cultivators from the same sect, enjoying a pleasure cruise on a massive ship, accidentally encountered the child. They met head-on, and neither side was willing to give way, leading to conflict.
Just as they were about to collide, the child, who had been standing with arms crossed, suddenly rose high. It turned out he was standing on a colossal flood dragon. With one claw, the dragon snapped the ship in two. A few qi cultivators tried to fly away from the sinking ship, but the beast spewed a water jet that passed through them, leaving only skeletons. As for those who fell into the water, the dragon grabbed them one by one, ripping them open. Those less fortunate were stuffed into its mouth and chewed.
All weapons and magical techniques that hit the dragon didn't even tickle it; it was too lazy to dodge. The most tragic case was a "smart" one who tried to capture the leader first—a distinguished sword cultivator, somewhat famous in the chaotic Book-Run Lake. He used his life-bound flying sword to assassinate the child standing atop the dragon's head.
The flood dragon, which had been playing and frolicking, instantly became extremely violent. It controlled the surrounding lake water, raising towering waves, trapping the sword cultivator in a square, watery prison. Then, using some unknown secret art, it drained all the air from the prison. The sword cultivator's spiritual qi dried up, and his body exploded.
A loud bang.
Blood splattered everywhere in the cage.
Like a huge flower blooming.
The child sat cross-legged on the dragon's head, laughing heartily.
A few hurriedly arriving Dragon Gate realm cultivators and Golden Core masters witnessed this up close and were terrified. During the earlier Green Gorge Island internal strife, they were far away, and the beast hadn't shown such qi-cultivator-like abilities. Now, from only a hundred-odd zhang away, seeing that the beast seemed to have comprehended its innate talent, if the ancient records about the flood dragon clan were correct, then if it took one more step, it would become a true terrestrial immortal flood dragon! It could transform into human form. In the ancient era when flood dragons flourished, it would have been qualified to possess a dragon palace in a great river.
These famous great cultivators of Book-Run Lake initially harbored some hope of secretly rescuing one or two of their disciples. But when an old Dragon Gate realm cultivator, the first to try, had his entire body mysteriously marked with a huge claw print from the beast's casual wave from dozens of zhang away, and was blown apart in midair—
Even among middle-five-realm cultivators, even with one or two realms difference, the outcome of battle is usually uncertain, but such an instant death was rare.
Everyone exchanged glances. In the end, no one saved those disciples in the water. They chose to protect themselves and quickly retreated.
After that, some people tried to sneak into Green Gorge Island to assassinate the young fiend Gu Can, but were all killed by the River-Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao. Over half a year, five or six assassination attempts were all thwarted by Green Gorge Island. Then, half a year later, led by Liu Zhimao, with Gu Can and the beast as the main forces, they attacked the island sects of those assassins. Without exception, they only spared some young boys and girls with decent cultivation potential. Everyone else was executed. They scoured every inch, collecting all treasures and magical instruments. For a time, Green Gorge Island vaguely became the overlord of the Book-Run Lake archipelago: those who followed prospered, those who opposed perished.
Now, Gu Can and his mother lived in the most magnificent mansion on Green Gorge Island. After several joint master-disciple campaigns to destroy enemy sects, Gu Can would have that senior disciple who had once tipped him off select some exceptionally beautiful maidens, all young, as candidates for future "open-front young ladies." He even hired people to teach them music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Today, Gu Can, who rarely stayed home, accompanied his mother to the rear hall. He knelt reverently on a cushion, burning incense and bowing before a memorial tablet.
Over the years, his mother had lived in comfort, her appearance and figure becoming increasingly voluptuous and charming.
She stood up, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together, murmuring softly, as if reporting safety to her deceased husband.
Gu Can stood in the solemn, silent hall, looking at the curling incense smoke ahead. This child, whose hands were stained with countless blood, stared wordlessly.
Mother and child stepped over the threshold together. Gu Can suddenly called out, "Mother."
The woman, holding his little hand, looked down and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
Gu Can forced a smile, shook his head, and said nothing.
---
In the capital of the Southern Garden Kingdom, there was a hungry, skinny little girl, her clothes tattered, her gaze cold. She cautiously approached a wealthy district called Qinghe Fang, and went to the back door of a luxurious mansion with practiced familiarity. Under the scorching sun, the thin, dark little girl was covered in sweat, but her expression remained cold. Squatting in the shade of a big tree, she looked up at the blazing sun in the sky. That brightness made her eyes tear up.
She silently withdrew her gaze and wiped her tears.
Soon, the back door of the mansion was secretly opened. From the narrow crack, a little girl of about the same age slipped out. She was a delicate, exquisitely dressed young miss, richly adorned. She was struggling to carry a small wooden box, dripping with sweat. She trotted all the way to the skinny girl and said with a bright smile, "A gift for you."
In the sweltering summer heat, the wooden box was stained with some water seeping out.
The skinny girl frowned, took the box, held it in her arms, and pushed the lid open with one hand.
The pretty little girl opposite giggled happily, "Do you remember? We made this snowman together last winter. I had the servants keep it in the ice cellar. I deliberately brought it out today to give to you. Do you like it?"
The skinny girl lowered her head, staring fixedly at the little snowman, her expression unreadable.
The pretty girl, from a noble family, was still proudly asking if she liked it, naive and innocent.
The skinny girl slowly raised her head and asked, "Where's the food?"
The pretty girl exclaimed, "Oh, sorry! I forgot."
She grimaced and kept apologizing. "I have to go to the temple with my parents right away to burn incense and pray. I can't bring you anything to eat today. I'm so sorry..."
The skinny girl twitched the corner of her mouth, looked down again at the little snowman in the wooden box.
With a snap, the box "accidentally" fell to the ground.
The pretty girl looked like she was about to cry. She quickly crouched down.
The skinny girl also crouched down, but reached out to pick up a stone from the base of the wall. She glanced again at the snowman, broken in two in the box. Then she raised her hand high and aimed it at the richly dressed girl.
A gentle breeze passed.
When the pretty girl looked up, forcing a smile to tell her good friend it was all right, she was surprised to find a stranger standing in front of her. He was wearing a handsome white robe, with a sword on his back and a small vermillion gourd hanging at his waist. The little girl blinked her moist eyes, turned her head slightly, and looked at the dark, skinny girl, full of inquiry.
She saw that her good friend was being held by the hand of that person.
The sword-wielding guy smiled at her and pointed toward the back door. "You go home first. Look, someone's waiting for you."
Sure enough, Old Steward Zhao had already come looking for her. The pretty girl hugged the small wooden box, hesitating, unsure whether to give it to her friend or take it home and hide it in the ice cellar again.
Fortunately, the stranger made the decision for her again. "Take it back. It won't last long outside, such a pity. You can wait until it snows this winter, then make that little snowman into a big one."
The little girl nodded vigorously, hugged the box, and bid farewell to her friend, whom she had known for nearly two years, then left.
The skinny girl remained silent.
When the gate closed, Chen Ping'an finally let go of the little girl's hand. Regarding this little madwoman, he found it utterly baffling. The two children clearly had a good relationship. Just because the other didn't bring food once, she wanted to kill someone?
Chen Ping'an looked down and asked, "Who are you?"
The little girl looked up and asked back, "What's it to you?"