Chapter 19: 19

Just as Chen Pingan was about to run out of the yard, the girl suddenly shouted, “Wait, I need to tell you something.”

Chen Pingan pretended not to hear and reached to open the yard door. The girl raised her voice, “Chen Pingan!”

Chen Pingan, left with no choice, turned around and hurried back to the entrance of the house.

The girl’s complexion had improved but her voice was still hoarse. “First, in this town, we outsiders are only a bit physically stronger than ordinary people. Other than that, we are no different from you. Second, outsiders are forbidden to kill people here. If it is violated, they will be expelled and doomed to return with nothing. To them, this would be an unimaginable punishment, bigger than you can imagine. Third, think through it carefully. If an outsider is put in life-threatening danger, they will definitely try to pull something despite the costs to save themselves. Survival to them is most important after all.”

Chen Pingan thought for a bit and asked, “So you’re saying, I need to act quickly.”

The girl in black grinned, her eyes shining, brightening up the whole room. She patted the green sheath in front of her and nodded. “Yes! Act quick, be quicker, be the quickest! Take me for example, I use a sword and knife. Whether it be drawing a knife or sword, I want to be the quickest thing in the world!”

She paused for a moment, suddenly changing from a passionate heroine from afar to the next-door neighbor kid who wanted to show off. She looked at him slyly and asked, “Hey, do you know how many things there are in this world?”

Chen Pingan looked on in confusion.

The girl also seemed to sense the boy’s disinterest. Bored, she shooed him away. “Don’t forget to bring back the pot, I need my medicine.”

Chen Pingan left the yard with firm steps, no longer in a rush.

Not long after he left Muddyrun, the unlocked yard door was pushed open. In the house, the black-clothed girl opened her eyes. Her breathing rhythm changed. She looked in the direction of the yard, as if facing a great enemy.

The flying sword in the white scabbard on the table suddenly went silent. A cold, murderous aura permeated the air, like the chill of spring that froze children.

Zhi Gui walked through the yard leisurely, just like a visiting neighbor. She did not step foot into the house and just poked her head inside. She looked around, as if ignoring the girl in black and the knife.

Finally, after a long time, she looked at the human and asked innocently, “Who is Miss? Why are you sitting on Chen Pingan’s bed? I never heard he had relatives.”

Ning Yao glanced at the uninvited girl and then closed her eyes.

Seeing that she was playing dumb, Zhi Gui did not get angry. She just shook her head, pursed her lips, and looked in disdain. She glanced at the white scabbard on the table. In the depths of her eyes, a deep-seated hatred and fear of it emerged. Golden threads in her pupils shook chaotically. After some hesitation, she raised her foot, about to step inside the house. Suddenly, she retracted her foot and coughed. “I’m coming in. I’ll take your silence as you having no objection to this, correct? This is Chen Pingan’s house and I have known for many years… You understand, whatever, we have nothing to talk about anyways. I just came to check if we were missing anything. We are going to move out soon and we’re leaving many things to Chen Pingan. If you didn’t know, Chen Pingan has had a hard life.”

All that superfluous talk made it look like Chen Pingan and her were dear childhood friends.

Zhi Gui walked into the room calmly and went straight to a small table. She sat on the stool, keeping an eye on the sword.

While Zhi Gui did this, Ning Yao took out the three pieces of paper left by the taoist. After some careful observation and trying to decipher any hidden meaning, she could not make any progress. She said in disappointment, “These words are so… dull.”

She remembered the wall in her hometown. Someone had used a sword to carve 18 words on the wall. Each majestic stroke contained the power to suppress demons.

When she was a child, she took great pleasure in standing over one of those words and admiring it.

It was because of this that the words on the plaque “A sword rages, clashes” did not really impress her. 

Zhi Gui turned around, straightened her waist, and folded her hands on her knees, probably trying to appear more ladylike. When she faced the black-clothed girl, she smiled and said softly, “Miss, you overlooked something.“

Ning Yao could not help but ask, “Who are you?”

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Zhi Gui let out a gasp, pretending to be surprised. “Miss, you can speak our dialect?”

Ning Yao asked again, “What is it?”

Zhi Gui pointed at the long sword on the table. “Yours?”

Ning Yao frowned and said nothing.

Zhi Gui stood up and walked to a corner of the room. She looked at the bottles and jars on the shelf. She carefully examined all the boy’s worthless belongings.

When Chen Pingan was an apprentice potter, he traveled barefoot through mountains and rivers. Alone, he would go to dig soil, chop firewood, running up and down the mountains. As long as someone was willing to teach him something, whether it be easy or difficult, Chen Pingan would always put an extraordinary effort into learning it. Chen Pingan would ignore how far he could achieve in that area. It was not something he could control. Yao would never teach Chen Pingan any of his real skills. Despite this, Chen Pingan still learned and did everything very seriously. Liu Xianyang would also teach him how to make wooden bows, fishing rods, and other items. Chen Pingan learned meticulously. Song Jixin would make fun of Chen Pingan’s personality. He said, according to a book, this was called “trying your best, no regrets.” A pity that this mindset seemed to do Chen Pingan no good. Looking at how his life has been so far, Song Jixin recommended that Chen Pingan should just lie around and wait to die, to stop struggling. To hell with it.

Zhi Gui waved her hand with a bright smile. “Gotta go, Miss, take care of your wounds. Call me if you need, my name is Zhi Gui. I live next door.”

No reaction.

The maid left the house, walked to the yard, and muttered in a voice that only Ning Yao could hear, “Not much to look at.”

Ning Yao replied softly, “Tacky name.”

When Zhi Gui closed the door to the yard, she put some force behind it. Bang.

Ning Yao closed her eyes and began to meditate.

She was unfazed by the strange girl’s visit. However, she found this town unpleasant, especially the cultivators that came here in search of good fortune. Most of them were pests that chased fortune, scheming against each other. Most of them called immortals not because of their skill but because of their starting point.

In her opinion, the Great Dao was not so small.

…

Once he walked out of Muddyrun, he stretched out his right hand to block the dazzling rays of sunlight. He let out a breath of air.

Then, he started jogging, taking brisk steps. He was not tired in the slightest. This boy was used to traveling. This sort of small distance was not worth mentioning. Back then, he cut firewood during rainy nights for charcoal for the kiln. He ran up and down the mountain nonstop. That was true agony. An imperial kiln required thousands of pounds of charcoal to run.  One time, the boy almost died, collapsing from exhaustion. He had done purely physical labor and relied on his strength for food. Despite this man’s frail, thin appearance, he possessed an incredible toughness.

He stopped at an intersection and leaned his back against a wall, hiding. He made a fist with his left hand and fastened his straw sandals with his free hand.

Chen Pingan remained calm, only a little bit missing his only friend in this town.

In an attempt to flaunt to Chen Pingan, Liu Xianyang told Chen Pingan a story his grandfather once told. When his grandfather was a child, he saw someone standing by the stream. The person could clear a river with a single step. After the story, Liu Xianyang and Chen Pingan went to try it out themselves. They picked the narrowest part of the stream. The pair backed up, sprinted forward, and jumped at the same time. Liu Xianyang, a little older, plunged into the water first. He saw a dark shadow descend above him and desperately tried to get out of the way. Boom!

After that incident, Liu Xianyang never mentioned that immortal who could cross a river in a single step again.

Liu Xianyang knew Chen Pingan would often go to the stream by himself. Chen Pingan would run, jump, and fall into the river over and over. The boy would get closer to the other side every time, never growing tired of his failures.

Once, Liu Xianyang spied on Chen Pingan’s antics and looked on in shock. This was not the idiot from his memory.

When the boy leaped over the stream, he was like an eagle soaring through the skies.

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