Third day of the second month. Nighttime.
Inside a small house.
“Aah, I’m so tired! I can’t stand it!” said the girl. She was very exhausted. She had used up all her soul energy and all her limbs were sore. She lay down on the long bench and closed her eyes.
She had no energy to banter with Wun Fan any more and simply whined one last time, “Wun Fan, you psycho. Why did you make us hurry back in one day? I’ve never been so tired.”
“Miss Hung, would you like to rest and shower first or would you like to have dinner first?” said Ho Siu Nam as she handed a warm towel to the girl. She had to hold back her laughter when she saw Hung Yu Fei’s exhausted expression and heard her complain.
The three of them had returned to the Ho Village and were staying in one of Ho Siu Nam’s houses. Things went as Wun Fan had planned. They had returned to the forest’s entrance within a day and quickly hurried to the Ho Village to have shelter for the night.
Hung Yu Fei simply shook her head at Ho Siu Nam.
Meanwhile, Fung Ching had already dragged his broken body up the stairs and dropped himself into a bed. However, he couldn’t fall asleep at all. He tossed and turned and let out a sigh full of sorrow as he muttered to himself, “There are only that many crazy people in this world…how did I run into one of them?”
Wun Fan was the most relaxed of them all. He stretched casually as he entered the house. The Spiritstartler Ring’s power ensured he had plenty of soul energy to spare. After a whole day of hurrying back, he was perfectly comfortable, if a little sweaty.
He stared at Hung Yu Fei sprawled on the bench and said unamusedly, “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”
Of course, he knew he would be in the same condition as the two of them if he did not have the Spiritstartler Ring’s help. However, he just couldn’t resist teasing her.
Hung Yu Fei had no energy to reply to him. She simply grumbled in protest. After all, after two whole weeks of running around, even Fung Ching, who was a Martial Scholar was completely beat, let alone her! She was just a peak Martial Vassal!
Even though they retrieved their horses from the Martial Artist Guild and used them for the last stretch of the road to the Ho Village, she were still incredibly tired after all that travelling.
Ho Siu Nam pointed at the three dishes on the wooden table and smiled gently as she said, “Mr. Wun, why don’t you have dinner first?”
“Mm,” said Wun Fan as he sat down on the chair and lifted the cover off the food. There were three bland dishes and a soup. His expectations had become unrealistic ever since Wun Siu Lan started feeding him. Wun Fan was too hungry to hold back. He immediately devoured the dishes, stuffing so much food into his mouth he could barely speak. He almost choked as he said, “Could you get a barrel of water for me please?”
“Yes, Mr. Wun,” said Ho Siu Nam. She respected the boy very much after talking to him that night. She got an answer to a problem that had frustrated her for very long. She realized that she was unjustified in her anger towards her fiancé. She gave the two gold coins she received from Wun Fan to Ng Kit and promised him that she would work hard with him to earn the dowry he needed to marry her.
“The guest on the floor above…” said Ho Siu Nam as she looked at Wun Fan. She wanted to ask Fung Ching about dinner but didn’t want to disturb his rest.
“His name is Fung Ching. Don’t worry about him, he can take care of himself,” said Wun Fan as he quickly finished the rest of the food on his plate. He drank the soup in one big gulp to cleanse his palate, before letting out a long sigh of satisfaction. A warm meal felt really good after a long day.
He was rubbing his belly when he noticed that Hung Yu Fei’s hair had grown out. He immediately reminded her, “Hey, girl, remember to cut your hair when you return to Green Sea Town.”
However, Hung Yu Fei did not respond at all. Her soft breathing could be heard in the room. It seemed like she was already asleep.
“This brat,” said Wun Fan as he chuckled to himself. He could understand how tired she was. They had just spent two weeks in the wild, always on guard and always alert. Even sleeping in a tent at night, they still had to be ready to wake up in a moment’s notice. Magical beasts had ambushed them several times during their trip. They managed to obtain a large amount of inner cores through these battles, but it also wore down on them.
The staircases squeaked. Fung Ching walked down from upstairs after changing into simpler clothes that Ho Siu Nam had prepared for them. He sat down in front of Wun Fan and looked at him with tired, bloodshot eyes. He said in a resentful tone, “I will never do something crazy like that with you again.”
Wun Fan shrugged. Who knows what will happen in the future? He might not go training with Fung Ching next time, though it was true that they worked well together and could trust their backs to each other.
Wun Fan decided to simply leave matters of the future to tomorrow.
As for why Wun Fan decided to return to the forest’s entrance in one day? He didn’t have a particular reason. He just wanted to.
“What’s your plan once you get back to Green Sea Town?” asked Fung Ching. He had already handed the inner cores over to the Guild for processing when they returned to the Martial Artist Guild. The processed inner cores could be kept for up to three months. He could have the inner cores further processed for preservation once he reached the town.
However, the number of inner cores that Fung Ching had still fell short of the Order’s requirements. He had only obtained this many inner cores because of Wun Fan’s help. This bought him a lot of time to complete his request.
As such, he couldn’t help but worry that Wun Fan didn’t want to remain in a party with him.
“I don’t know. Rest for a while, maybe?” said Wun Fan. In all honesty, he didn’t have any plans yet. He had intended to return to the Wun Clan after a few months outside, but he decided it wasn’t a bad thing to stop and rest for a while.
“What about you?” asked Wun Fan casually. Fung Ching seemed somewhat embarrassed and stuttered, “I-I’m probably, maybe, going to- uh- stay in town…for a bit, maybe.”
Wun Fan remembered how his old man from his previous life would always visit the nightclub or meet up with an old flame after a mission. He asked, “Are you going to the brothel?”
It was just a joke on his part, but Fung Ching had a huge reaction. He immediately retorted, “No way! I’m definitely not the kind of person to do that!”
“Mm?” said Wun Fan. He put on a teasing smile and looked at Fung Ching with curious eyes. It was obvious that he didn’t buy it. Ho Siu Nam seemed to have the same idea as Wun Fan. She coughed a few times to hide her awkward expression.
“Why don’t we talk about something serious for a change? What are your plans for the future?” asked Fung Ching, trying to divert the conversation elswere. He couldn’t stand the looks they were giving him. He was blushing and his eyes were darting everywhere, which only affirmed Wun Fan’s guess. That said, Wun Fan had no interest in other people’s personal matters, so he let it slide.
“I’ll wait a bit before going out for another adventure. I’ll probably go somewhere deeper in the Green Sea Forest the next time,” said Wun Fan. His eyes gleamed. There were so many magical beasts in the Green Sea Forest for him to kill. It was an opportunity he could not give up.
Wun Fan made a fist. He could feel how much his soul energy had increased and sense all the additional pressure points he had excavated. He wanted more power. The magical beasts in Green Sea Forest were his shortcut to greater power. It was exhilarating to think about it!
“You absolute madman…” said Fung Ching. He had a good idea of what Wun Fan was thinking. After all these days they spent together, he figured out that Wun Fan’s cultivation method allowed him to grow stronger by fighting and killing.
Fortunately, Wun Fan was only interested in killing beasts and not men. Even more fortunately for himself, Wun Fan planned to go into Green Sea Forest again, which meant they could team up again. This would make his Order’s mission much easier to complete.
“I don’t want to be a madman, but this world forces people to go down that path,” said Wun Fan with a smile. His voice had a tone of resignation to it. He picked up a piece of meat in front of him and stared into empty space. Finally, he muttered quietly, “When martial winds blow across the land, farmers trade hoes for swords in hand.”124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDVZBbd62E
Midnight.
“Old Lei,” called Wun Fan as he sat on a branch. For the first time, he felt no motivation to meditate and train. He simply stared at the moon. He felt something weighing on his heart. His brows were knit together in thought. He didn’t even feel his thumb itch.
Old Lei emerged from the ring in a flash of green light and appeared beside Wun Fan. He stroked his beard and waited for Wun Fan to speak.
It seemed like his disciple was facing some sort of frustration.
“Old Lei, tell me, do you think I can reach the pinnacle of the martial path?” asked Wun Fan without looking at Old Lei. He suddenly felt very lost. If he had not met Old Lei, if he did not get his hands on the Spiritstartler Ring, how would his life have played out?
Even these few seconds that were passing him by felt like a dream. He had gone from a worthless Martial Disciple to an intermediate Martial Vassal in a single month.
This disparity was unreal.
Is the butterfly a dream of the man, or is the man a dream of the butterfly? Truth and illusion, real and false. It all blurred together.
For the first time, Old Lei patted Wun Fan gently on the head. He pointed the path forward for the boy when he was most lost and said simply, “The future might not arrive, the past has already gone. Live in the present, and remain mindful.”
Wun Fan nodded hesitantly. He seemed to be able to see the way out of the fog now. A new thought popped into his mind and he asked, “Old Lei, did you have other disciples before me?”
Old Lei seemed to have been amused by the question. He laughed out loud, unafraid of waking anyone else. He placed his hand on Wun Fan’s shoulder. A weak green flame appeared, warming the boy up, as he said, “You’re my first disciple, and probably my last as well.”
“Haha, don’t be so sure, old man,” said Wun Fan as he laughed. He pointed out bluntly, “Like you said, I’m a rather extreme person. You never know. One day, I just might lose my life somewhere.”
Old Lei did not retort immediately like he usually did. He simply gave Wun Fan a light rap on the forehead with his knuckles. What he said next made tears come to Wun Fan’s eyes.
“I will make sure you grow up properly before my soul fades away.”124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89fyWc1Cup
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