Chapter 49: The Teaching Stick
That man was very burly, with hands as big as washbasins, making the bowl in his hand look exceptionally small and somewhat comical. His right hand seemed clumsy and awkward, as if disabled, trembling slightly along the bowl's rim, which also looked pitiful and heartbreaking.
Luo Luo skirted around the oyster omelet stall and walked behind the man. For some reason, her small face was full of anger. Chen Changsheng followed her and saw the man's profile—it was very youthful, his age quite young—and finally confirmed his identity.
The person squatting by the wall washing dishes was none other than the young demon clan member who had been severely injured by Tianhai Y'er at the Green Vine Banquet: Xuan Yuan Po.
Xuan Yuan Po noticed an extra shadow on the wall and turned back to see a young boy and girl. He raised his thick eyebrows in confusion, realized he didn't know them, and lowered his head to continue washing dishes—something as simple as washing dishes was now very difficult for him, and he had no time to pay attention to others.
"Leaving the Red River, traveling thousands of miles to the human world, enduring countless hardships, only to end up washing dishes in the streets of the capital—is this your life's goal?"
Xuan Yuan Po's hand holding the bowl stiffened slightly. He turned back again and looked at this exquisitely carved little girl. A storm raged in his heart. Who are you, he thought, and how do you know I come from the Red River, that I don't belong to the human world?
Seeing his dazed and foolish expression, Luo Luo inexplicably felt angry. Her voice turned cold as she hissed, "If the people in your tribe saw you like this now, would they regret scraping together all that travel money for you back then?"
Xuan Yuan Po looked burly and strong, but his true age was only thirteen. His features were young, and his mind was still immature.
Now, hearing Luo Luo's merciless reprimand, his face flushed bright red. He said angrily, "Who are you? My affairs are none of your business."
Luo Luo was silent for a moment, then said, "My name is Luo Luo. I am a student of the National Teaching Academy."
Xuan Yuan Po was stunned again, this time even more shaken. His right hand could no longer hold the greasy, slippery bowl.
With a smack, the bowl fell into the basin of dirty water. Although it didn't break, it splashed up foam and drew a torrent of curses from the oyster omelet stall owner: "You useless thing! You're so big, but you can't even wash a bowl?"
The night market was extremely lively, with pedestrians weaving like threads. The oyster omelet business was booming, and the owner was fr busy, desperately swinging his iron spatula to flip food on the griddle. He had no time to mind anything else, and even when cursing, he didn't turn around to look at Xuan Yuan Po.
Xuan Yuan Po showed no reaction. It seemed that after working at the oyster omelet stall these past few days, he had grown used to the owner's scolding. He was just staring in shock at Luo Luo before him, his young eyes suddenly becoming fervent, filled with worship and admiration.
After being severely injured by Tianhai Y'er at the Green Vine Banquet, he had been carried back to the Star Picking Academy by his classmates to recover. He hadn't seen what happened afterward. The next day, through his classmates' accounts, he learned that Tianhai Y'er had been crippled—and the one who did it was... a little girl.
He heard that little girl was named Luo Luo, a student of the National Teaching Academy.
And this little girl had just said exactly that.
Xuan Yuan Po had always wanted to meet that little girl, not just because she had avenged him—he wanted to say thank you—but also because the demon clan respected the strong. He really wanted to see what that little girl looked like and express his respect to her.
"So it was you..."
Xuan Yuan Po wiped his thick hands on his old clothes, looking a bit nervous. "Then whatever you say to me is fine. It's all deserved."
Luo Luo had intended to rekindle this person's fighting spirit, but getting this reaction instead left her somewhat helpless.
Chen Changsheng, however, was thinking about other things and asked in confusion, "You... left the Star Picking Academy?"
He thought that even if this young demon clan member had been crippled by Tianhai Y'er and could no longer cultivate, let alone regain his former strength, he had still fought on behalf of the Star Picking Academy at the Green Vine Banquet. Could it be that the academy had expelled him because he was disabled? That would be too unreasonable.
Xuan Yuan Po didn't know who this human youth was, but seeing his expression, he realized something was misunderstood. Panicking, he waved his fan-sized hands repeatedly and explained, "The academy didn't expel me. It's just... I was so badly injured that I can no longer cultivate. I didn't want to stay at the academy and freeload, so I left."
Seeing that Chen Changsheng and Luo Luo seemed unconvinced, he grew anxious and said, "It's true! The dean and the instructors all came to persuade me, but I'm a bit stubborn and wouldn't listen. I snuck out. You can't blame them wrongly."
Truly honest and adorable—that was what Chen Changsheng and Luo Luo thought. Whether it was his reason for insisting on leaving the Star Picking Academy or his panic at the thought of others misunderstanding the academy, it all proved that this young demon clan member had a very pure heart.
Luo Luo's expression softened, and she asked, "I see. So what do you plan to do now?"
Xuan Yuan Po smiled naively and said, "I'm planning to save up some money, enough for travel expenses, and then go home. Since I can't cultivate anymore, I might as well go back and help my family with more work... Oh, and don't blame the boss. He likes to curse, but he's actually a good person. I've broken so many bowls and plates these past few days, and he hasn't made me pay for them."
The owner, sweating as he flipped food on the griddle, heard this and laughed, cursing a few words without turning around.
Seeing the young demon clan member's honest smile and finding not a trace of resentment on his young face, Luo Luo inexplicably felt very sad. She looked at him and asked, "Are you really willing to go back like this?"
Xuan Yuan Po was silent for a moment, then said, "Like you said just now, for me to come to the capital to cultivate, the people in my tribe scraped together a lot of money. It wasn't easy. Of course, I'm not willing to go back like this... But the instructors at the academy said that our demon clan's physique is different from humans'. My crippled right arm is really hard to heal. So what's the point of staying?"
He added, "The instructors did let me stay at the Star Picking Academy to do some rough work, but watching my former classmates advance step by step would probably make me even more unwilling."
Luo Luo said, "If you stay in the capital, there will always be a way. Why rush to leave the Star Picking Academy?"
Xuan Yuan Po replied, "The elders in my tribe taught us from a young age: never accept any sympathy, especially from humans."
Luo Luo looked quietly into his eyes, feeling more and more admiration for him. She said, "Come with me."
Three simple words. They weren't a command, but they naturally carried an air of refusal that couldn't be denied, solemn and inviolable.
Xuan Yuan Po felt something strange. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to refuse. After saying something to the boss, he followed her into the street.
It wasn't until they were about to leave the long street and see the well at the entrance of Hundred Flowers Lane that Luo Luo remembered something. She looked at Chen Changsheng, a bit embarrassed.
Chen Changsheng smiled and said nothing.
Whatever he wanted to do, Luo Luo had never opposed. So naturally, he wouldn't oppose what Luo Luo wanted to do either. As for what this young demon clan member, Xuan Yuan Po, might bring, he wasn't too worried. He knew that Luo Luo's clansmen had been trailing at a distance all along, protecting her.
...
...
The National Teaching Academy was as quiet as usual under the night sky. Because of the second night of the Green Vine Banquet, the prying eyes from Hundred Flowers Lane had diminished, which made Chen Changsheng feel even more relaxed. But he hadn't expected that Xuan Yuan Po, visiting the National Teaching Academy for the first time, would be even more relaxed than he was.
The young demon clan member, with a waist thicker than a tree, looked around everywhere, occasionally touching the old, worn statues. His eyes were full of curiosity, showing no sign of tension at all.
Taking out the key to open the library door, Chen Changsheng didn't go in. Instead, he looked at Luo Luo, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Luo Luo tugged at his sleeve a bit sheepishly and said, "Master, please help him, okay? You know... he's my clansman."
Chen Changsheng said, "Helping is no problem. I'm just curious—why do you think I can definitely heal an injury that even the instructors at the Star Picking Academy believe is incurable?"
"Master isn't like those ordinary people."
Luo Luo looked at him with wide eyes and said, "On the first day I became your disciple, you just took my pulse and knew my problem, and immediately knew how to solve it. Compared to that, healing that guy's injury is nothing, right?"
The little girl spoke as if it were only natural, as if there was nothing he couldn't do. Facing her absolute trust, Chen Changsheng felt a lot of pressure. He scratched his head and said, "Let me take a look first. I can't guarantee anything."
Luo Luo happily hummed in agreement, then bounced away toward the lake, clearly not believing his "can't guarantee anything."
Chen Changsheng watched her retreating figure and couldn't help shaking his head.
Luo Luo ran to the lakeside and said a few words to Xuan Yuan Po, who was wrestling with the big banyan tree using his left hand. Xuan Yuan Po was very surprised and shook his head repeatedly, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Then, after Luo Luo said something else, Xuan Yuan Po became even more shocked. If Luo Luo hadn't stopped him, he probably would have knelt down.
When Xuan Yuan Po followed her to the front of the library, he was still dazed. Clearly, Luo Luo's words had brought him tremendous shock. Chen Changsheng guessed that Luo Luo had probably revealed some of her identity to this young demon clan member. He gestured for the two to follow him into the library, lit an oil lamp, and then sat down on the floor.
Xuan Yuan Po didn't even glance at him; he kept staring at Luo Luo, very tense and unable to suppress his excitement.
Luo Luo, on the other hand, didn't look at him at all. She said to Chen Changsheng, "Thank you for your trouble, Master."
At this moment, in Xuan Yuan Po's heart, Luo Luo was more important than his family and more worthy of respect than the tribal elders. Yet she showed such respect to a human, and that human accepted it as if it were nothing. He found it absurd, then angered, and wished he could tear that person apart.
Chen Changsheng saw the fire in Xuan Yuan Po's eyes and was puzzled. He gestured for him to extend his right arm.
Xuan Yuan Po was confused. His voice rumbled, and his tone was extremely unfriendly as he asked, "What do you want to do?"
Chen Changsheng said, "Let me take a look at your injury."
"You? A human? How old are you?"
Xuan Yuan Po became even more convinced that Chen Changsheng was no good, definitely a swindler. Otherwise, how could he make Her Highness respect him so much? He shouted angrily, "Don't think that just because we're from the tribe, we're honest and easy to bully! I've seen plenty of swindlers!"
Because of the need to fight the common enemy—the demon race—humans and the demon clan were natural allies. Over the millennia, this alliance had been proven solid countless times, and there was much exchange between the two sides. At the very least, seeing a demon clan member in the capital wouldn't cause a crowd to gather.
But there were still deep-seated barriers between humans and the demon clan, mainly due to differences in temperament and behavior. Humans always thought the demon clan was too blunt, too ignorant, too close to beasts, and too violent. The demon clan, in turn, always thought humans were too cunning and fickle, making terrible friends.
In Xuan Yuan Po's eyes, Chen Changsheng was clearly just an ordinary youth, probably not even past the Marrow Cleansing realm of human cultivation. Yet he dared to claim he could heal an injury that had left even the instructors in despair. If that wasn't a swindler, what was?
With a dull smack.
Luo Luo gripped the teaching stick and shouted at him, "What kind of attitude is that!"
The National Teaching Academy did have a teaching stick.
It was a straight branch stripped of its bark, made by Chen Changsheng himself.
The main purpose of this teaching stick was for Chen Changsheng to guide Luo Luo in her cultivation.
Now, it seemed this teaching stick might really fulfill its original purpose.
A teaching stick was for teaching people and hitting people.
The teaching stick was hard, and hitting someone on the forehead hurt a lot.
Xuan Yuan Po covered his forehead, his eyes reddening, because it really hurt. Of course, the main reason was that he felt wronged—Her Highness had hit him because of a human?
"Stretch out your hand." Chen Changsheng suppressed a smile and said.
Xuan Yuan Po stubbornly raised his head, refusing to acknowledge him.
Luo Luo raised the teaching stick in her hand and looked at him. "Stretch out your hand."
Xuan Yuan Po sadly lowered his head and stretched out his hand.
Chen Changsheng's smile faded. His fingers gently landed on Xuan Yuan Po's pulse point, and he closed his eyes.
Even without Luo Luo's plea, he would have tried to see if he could heal this young demon clan member's injury. Because that day at the Green Vine Banquet, when Tianhai Y'er was arrogantly humiliating the National Teaching Academy, everyone was silent—only this young demon clan member had laughed out loud.
That laugh was a cry of injustice. This young demon clan member had cried out against the injustice done to the National Teaching Academy. So naturally, the National Teaching Academy should repay that.
Of course, all of this was based on his having some confidence in healing the young demon clan member's injury.
His master, the Daoist Ji, might be unknown in the cultivation world, but in the field of medicine, he was definitely one of the strongest on the continent. The marriage contract between Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong was precisely because, back then, the Daoist Ji had cured the Grand Chancellor, whom even the Pope couldn't heal.
Chen Changsheng had read through the Daoist scriptures since childhood and studied medicine under his master. More importantly, he had always been ill.
Even if he couldn't cure his own illness, that didn't mean he couldn't cure others'.
He really wanted to heal Xuan Yuan Po's injury.
Time passed slowly. The stars in the night sky brightened and dimmed as clouds drifted.
The library was completely silent.
No one knew how long had passed.
Chen Changsheng opened his eyes.