Crown Prince Xu tossed a few handfuls of fish feed, tired of watching the koi churn about. He clapped his hands and stood. Originally Jiang Ni had prepared warm water-dampened brocade for wiping hands, but Xu Fengnian didn’t take it. Three years of tempering – going from luxury to frugality was hard, but going from frugality to luxury also required a transition period.

He left Tide-Listening Pavilion alone, but didn’t forget to turn back and remind her:

“Sister Jiang Ni, don’t think about sneaking into the tower trying to casually pilfer a martial arts manual. You know, any one of the tower-guarding servants inside isn’t someone your sleeve-hidden Divine Talisman can handle. Those old fellows are far less tender toward beauties than I am. For a young lady like yourself, adding fragrance with red sleeves and grinding ink with soft hands would be so much nicer. I’m off now. Stop glaring at me – I knew from first sight that Sister Jiang Ni has beautiful eyes.”

Having finished teasing the maid, Xu Fengnian walked toward the stables that belonged exclusively to him and his second sister. Along the way, whenever he spotted a pretty maid, he didn’t forget to reach out and hug her waist, touch her little hand. If one was even more strikingly beautiful, naturally he didn’t forget to brush against their ample bosoms, calling out “Elder sister” or “Younger sister,” then saying frivolously “Oh my, you’ve gained a few taels here, be careful not to tire yourself walking.” This provoked a series of silver-bell-like bashful giggles.

Xu Fengnian arrived at the stables, which were so magnificently luxurious they exceeded even ordinary wealthy merchant households. Inside at present was only one lone, pitiful lame horse of jujube-red color.

Old Huang, the servant who’d been a groom in the palace for many years, was chatting with the horse. Seeing the Crown Prince with whom he’d depended on for three years, he habitually grinned foolishly, revealing the comical sight of his mouth missing two front teeth. Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes and said with surprise, “Old Huang, where’s your box? Why aren’t you carrying it anymore?”

Old Huang was probably from Shu, his thick western Shu accent – quite unwelcome throughout the dynasty – impossible to change no matter what.

That tiny Western Shu with its national army of merely sixty thousand had back in the day suffered the same fate as the Western Chu Dynasty, unable to escape destruction noodlesby the Prince of Beiliang. But Old Huang was much more lovable than that Jiang Ni, keeping to himself obediently.

During these three years of bleak, desolate wandering over thousands of miles, if not for Old Huang knowing how to fish and climb trees, how to steal chickens and dogs, and teaching Xu Fengnian hand-by-hand to weave straw sandals, this Crown Prince would have long since starved to death in some foreign land.

The old servant carried on his back a bundle wrapped in tattered cloth, containing only a purple sandalwood rectangular box. He refused to open it for Xu Fengnian no matter what, even if beaten to death.

At first Xu Fengnian thought it was one of those famous Xuanji boxes used in the martial world to store divine weapons, figuring his old man would at least send along a peerless expert as escort. But after the first encounter with bandits, seeing this old servant flee even faster than him, like a homeless dog, his hopes completely died.

Every time he tried to trick Old Huang into opening the box, the old groom would just shake his head and smile foolishly. Xu Fengnian could only curse that it wasn’t like asking his wife to strip naked for him to see.

Once in Qinghe Prefecture, when Old Huang went to take a shit, Xu Fengnian couldn’t resist his curiosity and secretly studied it for a while, but couldn’t figure it out. He only felt that just holding the box made his body painfully cold. When Old Huang saw this afterward, his expression was so resentful – more pitiful than those virgin daughters Xu Fengnian had molested on the streets of Lingzhou.

Whether it was karmic retribution or not, the next day Xu Fengnian caught a cold. Old Huang boiled medicine and water, stole sweet potatoes to roast, working himself into a frenzy. For the next five or six days, it was the old groom who carried Xu Fengnian on his back as they traveled. The strongest impression was Old Huang’s skeletal frame poking him uncomfortably. And of course, a few unspoken threads of gratitude.

After that, Xu Fengnian never again had designs on the box. Though he inevitably would lightly and faintly wonder about the little secret inside on some day of some month of some year. Naturally it was an inconsequential little secret – an old groom having some earth-shattering secret would be laughable.

To this day Xu Fengnian still vividly remembered [visit our site]after escaping pursuit by grass bandits, asking the old servant, “Old Huang, are you a master?”

Old Huang nodded with a “shyness” that would only be moving on a pretty woman’s face.

Xu Fengnian asked again, “The very high kind?”

Old Huang seemed even more bashful, twisting coyly and turning his head slightly away, then nodding again.

Xu Fengnian thought of the tragic scene just moments ago being chased and beaten by a group wielding wooden spears and firewood knives. Forcibly suppressing the urge to hit him, he asked again, “How high?”

Old Huang blinked his eyes, seemingly pondering. After a long while he gestured with his hand, apparently about as tall as the Crown Prince, then lowered the height a bit more. Thus Xu Fengnian, harboring a last shred of hope, completely despaired.

So Xu Fengnian had perfectly good reason to resent the Great Pillar of State. Besides forgetting to arrange an expert escort, not only had he failed to tell him the obvious truth about not flaunting wealth while traveling the martial world, he’d even encouraged Xu Fengnian saying, “Son, when traveling abroad, the foremost skill is staying alive. Here, wear this Black Kui treasure armor impervious to blades, spears, water and fire. Also wear these gloves made from silk threads vomited up by ice silkworms coughing blood. Here are three or four supreme secret manuals similar to Wudang’s sect-protecting ‘Supreme Pure Purple Yang Formula’ – take them all. Good stuff! Toss any one of these into the martial world and it’ll trigger a bloody storm. Practice in your spare time – maybe tomorrow you’ll be a master. See, Father truly cherishes you. Take all these banknotes. Those jade pendants at your waist are also worth several hundred taels of gold. When you run out of money, just find a pawnshop and sell them. Eating and drinking luxuriously won’t be a problem.”

At first Xu Fengnian thought it was indeed good, that such a journey would be smooth sailing. No worry about money flowing like water, flirt with beauties of diverse charms from different regions, befriend heroes with earth-shaking reputations, fraternize with renowned martial world heroes – just thinking about it made him happy.

But later he goddamn discovered he was basically a fat sheep for anyone to slaughter. visit our siteEveryone who saw him loved him, everyone who saw him pounced. This bastard turtle donkey ass – in the end, those secret manuals’ only use was tearing out pages to wipe shit.

The only remaining half of the incomprehensible Swallowing Gold Precious Register, no matter how you looked at it, finally proved useful. On the return journey he encountered a white fox face more beautiful than any Lingzhou courtesan. The person recognized its value and agreed to accept the half Swallowing Gold Precious Register in exchange for escorting him back to Lingzhou.

That half year, Xu Fengnian finally encountered a true master without evil intentions, trying every method to curry favor. Unfortunately, White Fox Face treated him with indifference, deliberately maintaining a great distance even when walking. Unless encountering blind bandits blocking the road, absolutely no unnecessary words.

Xu Fengnian entered the stable, grabbed a handful of hay for the lame horse, sighing softly, “Red Hare, oh Red Hare, if Second Sister sees a perfectly good sweating-blood treasure horse tormented into this state, she’ll definitely give me a chestnut to the head.”

These three years – one hawk, one horse, plus one old servant fortunately not too senile – that was his entire world.

After feeding the horse for a while, thinking of palace spies reporting that White Fox Face was still lingering in the city, Xu Fengnian prepared to leave the palace and find some long-missed amusement.

This fellow, when Xu Fengnian was down and out, would occasionally stab him with remarks like “If you’re some young master from a great house, then I’m a woman.” Xu Fengnian had no reason not to show off now.

Before, he’d felt that relying on his old man’s great “Xu” banner to intimidate others was perfectly natural. He still thought so now, just with a few threads more of cherishing it. After all, having lived over two years of days worse than death, he now knew the firewood, rice, oil and salt of this world weren’t cheap.

Old Huang had developed a tacit understanding with the Crown Prince. Seeming to know they were going out to indulge ​stolen content​in wine and women, he rubbed his hands together and made a drinking gesture.

Xu Fengnian understood and laughed heartily, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget to treat you to the best, most expensive flower carving wine. Let’s go!”

Xu Fengnian had just walked out of the stable with the old groom when he saw that old Daoist who even immortals would believe was one. No need to guess – certainly this old fraud had come to ask him to persuade his brother to go study at Dragon-Tiger Mountain.

Twelve years ago, it was Xu Fengnian who’d set dogs on this old Daoist. Because his mother had believed in Buddhism while alive, the Crown Prince who didn’t believe in this fate nonsense was fairly respectful toward monks, but whenever he saw fortune-tellers on the street, he’d definitely smash their stalls. This Dragon-Tiger Mountain old Daoist had truly bad luck.

Back then, the unkempt old Daoist covered in lice had passed the first hurdle, and nearly failed to maintain his virgin body at one point. That first encounter had an unpleasant beginning but a passable ending.

Young Xu Fengnian at parting hadn’t forgotten to earnestly lecture the Dragon-Tiger Mountain patriarch: “Old man, if you want to swindle people for money, you should at least invest in some decent clothing. Those Daoist Celestial Masters in supernatural novels all have yellow crown and Daoist robe attire – when they fart they immediately ascend to the immortal platform. Won’t you learn from them? Next time you come to the palace like this, I’ll still set dogs on you!”

It seemed the old Daoist surnamed Zhao had learned his lesson. Sure enough, he’d changed into a brand new, proper Daoist robe, topped with a sky-reaching yellow crown, and added an ancient-looking peachwood sword. Wherever he walked now, he enjoyed the respectful gazes he’d never experienced in his first half-life traveling the martial world. This made the old Daoist, accustomed to facing the same rigid faces on the mountain for decades, extremely satisfied.

Xu Fengnian disrespectfully threw an arm around the old Daoist’s shoulder, saying in a sly whisper:

“Ox-nose old Daoist, my brother going to Dragon-Tiger Mountain is a good thing, but your Dragon-Tiger Mountain establishing this tremendous auspicious connection with my father – won’t you show some expression of it? Otherwise my brother studying at Wudang Mountain is just as much studying. Why take the long road to your bird-shit place? Wudang Mountain’s scenery is quite good. I could even visit every few days.”

The old Daoist looked troubled. Looking around to make sure no one was present, he quietly reached into his breast and pulled out an ancient, yellowed book, reluctantly saying, “This Mounting Dragon Sword Manual…”

Unexpectedly, Xu Fengnian immediately turned hostile, not even deigning to glance at whatever sword manual, raising his hand to point toward Tide-Listening Pavilion, spitting contemptuously, “Damn thief, Zhao Ox-nose, you’re really too ignorant. Want secret manuals? Whether for practicing internal arts or wielding weapons, do I need to go anywhere else? You’re not even embarrassed.”

Similarly an old man who’d lived sixty or seventy years, Old Huang had much better judgment and understanding – he followed the Crown Prince in curling his lip in a mocking smile.

Only then did the old Daoist remember the palace contained a “martial treasury” called Tide-Listening Pavilion. Suddenly understanding, thoroughly embarrassed, he withdrew his hand, asking awkwardly, “Then what should be done?”

Xu Fengnian lowered his voice, “Does Dragon-Tiger Mountain have any pretty young Daoist nuns? A bit older is fine too, but don’t exceed thirty-five. Any older is just old. No matter how well preserved, there surely wouldn’t be that mature woman’s flavor and charm.”

The old Daoist exclaimed “Ah!” in surprise.

Xu Fengnian raised an eyebrow, demanding, “What, don’t have any, or unwilling?”

The old Daoist seemed to struggle internally for what was actually just a few blinks, then whispered, “There are some, [visit our site]but they’re all disciples and grand-disciples of my martial brothers. This poor Daoist has always preferred quality over quantity in accepting disciples, so my lineage has very few disciples. However, since the Crown Prince has thoughts of studying Daoist learning, this poor Daoist naturally doesn’t mind introducing one or two junior female disciples.”

Xu Fengnian clapped the old Daoist’s shoulder, giving a thumbs up, “Now you’re talking sense.”

The old Daoist began silently reciting the Three-Five All-Merit Register to atone, inwardly muttering, “Patriarch, don’t blame me. This poor Daoist is doing this all for Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s thousand-year plan.”

Then the old Daoist, revered as one of Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s three great Celestial Masters, said anxiously, “Taking disciples requires selecting an auspicious time. If we don’t set out for Dragon-Tiger Mountain today, we’ll miss it. This wouldn’t be proper for the young prince.”

Xu Fengnian frowned, “Has to be immediately?”

Celestial Master Zhao, expressing urgent anxiety, nodded gravely, “Immediately!”

Xu Fengnian, who’d wanted to take his brother hunting at some point, took a deep breath and instructed Old Huang to wait on the street outside the palace first. He brought the ox-nose old Daoist who looked nothing like a Celestial Master to find his beloved brother Xu Longxiang. A hundred paces from the stable, the old Daoist intentionally or unintentionally turned his head to glance at the foolishly grinning old groom by the stable. His originally grave footsteps finally lightened somewhat.

Xu Fengnian arrived at his brother’s courtyard and discovered with both exasperation and amusement that this kid was squatting on the ground watching ants again. He walked over, patted his head, and said straightforwardly, “Stop watching. Dragon-Tiger Mountain has bigger ants. Go watch there. Learn your skills and come down the mountain early, bring your brother a whole pack of wild hawthorn, understand?”

The young prince who truly was a fool stood up and nodded [unauthorized copy]vigorously, then smiled. Naturally, drool flowed again.

The old Daoist was dumbstruck. This tremendously difficult matter was resolved so easily? That day, that Great Pillar of State who’d once single-handedly turned the entire martial world upside down had exhausted tremendous effort yet failed to persuade this disciple.

While wiping drool, Xu Fengnian laughed and cursed:

“Silly Yellow Barbarian. Look, this person will be your master from now on. At Dragon-Tiger Mountain, you can hit anyone, just don’t hit this old man. If anyone dares bully you or call you stupid, beat them within an inch of their life. If you can’t beat them, have your master write a letter. Your brother will lead the Beiliang cavalry on a two-thousand-mile raid to Dragon-Tiger Mountain. To hell with Daoist orthodoxy! Remember, don’t let anyone bully you! In this world, only we brothers and our two sisters get to bully others!”

Xu Longxiang seemed to half-understand, nodding.

The old Daoist listened with his heart in his throat.

With Xu Fengnian taking action, Xu Longxiang had no resistance. The palace didn’t drag its feet either. Led by sworn son Qi Dangguo with forty elite cavalry as escort, plus several capable experts raised by the Prince of Beiliang’s palace watching secretly, along with a Dragon-Tiger Mountain Celestial Master – presumably no one would dare provoke trouble at the tiger’s head.

At the moment of parting, Crown Prince Xu Fengnian stood before his brother, saying softly, “Silly Yellow Barbarian, from now on your brother won’t be able to help you wipe your drool. But your brother promises to keep finding the most beautiful woman under heaven to be your wife. If she’s unwilling, we’ll tie her up and drag her into the bridal chamber.”

The boy blessed by heaven with dragon-elephant strength was dull-witted, his mind unopened, but that didn’t visit our site mean he lacked emotion. On the contrary, in certain aspects, it was extraordinarily intense – like his deep dependence on the brother who, besides his mother, was the second person in this world who would wipe his drool.

At age fourteen, Xu Fengnian had caused a heaven-overturning disaster. The Great Pillar of State, who never beat or scolded his children, nearly brought down an iron whip on his most cherished son. No one dared persuade, no one dared stop him. It was Silly Yellow Barbarian who desperately shielded his brother, not yielding an inch.

Xu Fengnian’s eyes reddened. He turned to the old Daoist, saying word by word, “Zhao Ox-nose, I said don’t let anyone bully Yellow Barbarian. Though I, Xu Fengnian, am an unprincipled wastrel without the strength to truss a chicken, you should understand the consequences.”

The old Daoist smiled awkwardly, nodding bitterly.

The procession gradually departed. Neither Xu Fengnian nor his father Xu Xiao escorted them all the way out of the city.

Xu Fengnian found Old Huang standing by the jade lion, chuckling softly, “Not in the mood to drink today. Later perhaps?”

The old servant smiled very purely, very brilliantly. His old face was like those vast reed marshes you could only see after traveling far to the wilderness – perhaps not enchanting or magnificent, but possessing their own sentiment. Like a jar of wine sealed for many, many years.