Chapter 26: Easy-going
Like threading a needle, brewing medicine was also a delicate task. Chen Ping'an was very calm and methodical as he focused on the pot of medicine before him. A mysterious sense of happiness radiated from his body.
However, Ning Yao wasn't a patient person. Apart from practicing sword techniques and saber techniques, there weren't many other things that interested her. She had left home at a young age, traveling all over the lands by herself. As a result, she often had to live in very rough environments.
However, it was also because of this that she wasn't feeling any sense of discomfort in the bare and destitute house of the young boy. After all, she was already accustomed to camping out in the open and trekking through the wind and rain. Regardless of how particular a person once was, such experiences would eventually cause them to become much less so.
"Is your left hand okay now?" Ning Yao asked.
Chen Ping'an's left hand was wrapped in strips of cotton cloth as he carried a bowl of medicine over. After Ning Yao accepted it, he smiled and replied, "It's fine. I ground up some herbal medicines before I came back, and I've already applied the paste to my wound. When I suffered cuts and bruises while working as a potter, I also used this paste to treat my wounds. It worked 100% of the time. In fact, an old man from the Yang Family's medicine shop told me this secret recipe a long time ago.
“However, I promised him that I wouldn't share this secret recipe with others. Otherwise, seeing that you always travel around, it's quite likely that you might find it useful. If you want a copy, I can look for that old man and ask him for permission. However, I was in quite a hurry when I went to the medicine shop today, so I wasn't able to see the old man. Hopefully, he was only gone for a short while."
As the young woman drank her medicine, her eyebrows that were as slender as blades knitted into a slight frown. However, she still finished drinking the medicine without any complaints. After returning the bowl to the waiting young boy, she mumbled, "Kind-hearted fool. No wonder you're so absurdly poor. It's almost as if you deserve to be bullied."
Before Chen Ping'an could respond, Ning Yao added, "Don't mind me; I'm quite frank when I speak."
However, Ning Yao didn't know that this explanation was even more hurtful than her initial words.
Chen Ping'an wanted to say something, but he couldn't help but hesitate.
Ning Yao wiped away the medicine stains from the corners of her mouth before sitting up straight and saying in a serious voice, "Even though the Sage who's looking over this place — the person whom you refer to as Mr. Qi from the private school — wants to help you resolve this matter and allow you to live in peace, you have to realize that everyone has a limit to their abilities. This is true even for Sages.
“This is not to mention that Mr. Qi's situation is also quite dire at this moment, and he's showing signs of being like a clay Buddha who can barely cross a river[1]. I'm afraid that he might not be able to ensure your safety in the future. Meanwhile, I, Ning Yao, am an outsider, and I'm someone who reciprocates a drop of kindness with a spring of goodwill. If someone glares at me, however, I'll also reciprocate their hostility with ferocity and vengeance!"
Reciprocating a drop of kindness with a spring of goodwill, reciprocating hostility with ferocity and vengeance, a clay Buddha who can barely cross a river...
Right now, Ning Yao was secretly filled with a sense of pride. Just listen to her words! Weren't they filled with knowledge and culture?
However, it was a pity that Chen Ping'an's neighbor was quite a well-read student. Song Jixin would recite the teachings of the Sages almost every morning and every night, and according to him, this was a process of nourishing his noble spirit. Thus, even though Chen Ping'an had never read these books before, he had at the very least heard them being recited. As such, he wasn't unfamiliar with the philosophy of these students and scholars. Even when it came to deep and profound phrases, he could still roughly guess their meaning based on the context of the words that came before and after.
Ning Yao stared intently at Chen Ping'an, hoping to find a hint of astonishment, admiration, or confusion on his face. To her dismay, however, Chen Ping'an's expression was a punchable one that seemingly said, "I understand, please continue."
The young woman was extremely disheartened. Her high spirits and vigor receded like a tide, and she huffed, "What I'm trying to say is, since you saved my life, I'll naturally help you kill Old Dragon City's Fu Nanhua in the future. Or Lake Shujian's Liu Zhimao. If you want to kill both of them to completely eliminate all future threats, however, you'll have to offer some money to do away with the misfortune. After all, the two of us are nothing more than strangers who came together by chance. In other words, you need to pay me with a pouch of copper coins."
The young woman quickly pointed at the bag of Greeting Spring Coins and said, "For example, this pouch is quite to my liking. The patterns of the Offering Coins and Good Fortune Coins don't look very good, and their makes don't suit my taste either."
Ning Yao slightly tilted her chin and continued, "If you're willing to throw in the two other pouches of copper coins in addition to this, I can help you deal with Old Dragon City and Dawn Cloud Mountain as well. Of course, you can forget about all of this if I die at the hands of Liu Zhimao. After all, my cultivation base is low, and I've only just reached the sixth tier of the nine tiers of martial arts. As a martial artist, my physique is still yet to reach an accomplished state. As for the 15 tiers of cultivation, I've only reached the Dragon Gate Tier of the Middle Five Tiers. I have six patterns in my vital organs, but I've still yet to add the final touch to bring them to life."
Chen Ping'an was truly dumbfounded this time. He had no idea what she was talking about.
The young woman felt slightly ashamed and angry. She had always felt a sense of embarrassment and humiliation at her lowly cultivation base, yet Chen Ping'an's dazed expression was as if he were saying, "Miss, please explain this to me." This undoubtedly jabbed her where it hurt.
Upon seeing her dark expression, Chen Ping'an immediately realized the gravity of the situation. He hurriedly said, "Ning Yao, your wounds were so severe just a moment ago, so why does it look like you're mostly healed already?"
The young woman lowered her gaze a little as she wrapped her arms around her chest and said in a hoarse voice, "I was genuinely almost about to die at that time. If Daoist Lu hadn't saved me, I would have... Anyhow, I owe you a huge favor, so I shouldn't try to take advantage of you while you're in such a difficult situation. I shouldn't have asked for those three pouches of copper coins. How can my life be compared to the likes of Liu Zhimao and the others? So, I was the one who was wrong. Pretend that I didn't say anything just then. After I leave this small town, I'll try my best to deal with those threats for you. However, let me say this first — I only do what's within my abilities, and I won't sacrifice myself if I know I definitely can't succeed."
The young woman was feeling extremely downcast at this moment. Perhaps this was because she rarely ever lowered her head and apologized to others.
"Which pouch of coins is the Offering Coins?" Chen Ping'an asked.
Ning Yao pointed at the pouch that was decorated with gold patterns.
Chen Ping'an took out three copper coins and held them in his hand. He then used his arm to push the three pouches of copper coins toward the young woman, saying with a smile, "Here, take these."
Ning Yao was astounded. After a long while, she finally came to her senses and asked, "Chen Ping'an, were you dropped on your head as a child?"
"No," Chen Ping'an replied in exasperation. "However, I was often whipped in the head by cow tails when I helped others herd cattle."
Ning Yao suddenly flared up in rage, slamming the table and interrogating, "Perhaps you have feelings for me?!"
Chen Ping'an was completely stupefied.
The young woman cracked a grin, raising her thumbs at Chen Ping'an and saying, "You have very good taste!"
She then twisted her thumb and pointed at herself, saying with a buoyant expression, "However, I obviously won't agree. The man who I like will definitely be the most powerful sword immortal in the world. The most powerful! In the entire world! A great sword immortal! The Dao Ancestor and Buddha? The paramount Confucius? Standing before his sword, they'll have no option but to lower their heads and stand aside!"
Chen Ping'an was beet red at this moment. He scratched his head and said, "Ning Yao, I think you misunderstood. I never said I liked you..."
Ning Yao raised an eyebrow. She pondered for a moment before leaning forward and squinting an eye, raising her hand and bringing her index finger and thumb an inch apart. "Not even this much?" she asked in a diffident voice.
Chen Ping'an was firm and resolute as he replied, "No! Please be at ease!"
Ning Yao heaved a heavy sigh as she retracted her hand, saying in a sympathetic voice, "Chen Ping'an, even if you're fortunate enough to find yourself a wife in the future, she'll most likely be a scatter-brained person."
Chen Ping'an sat down opposite to her, smiling happily as he said, "I'll be happy as long as she's a good person."
Ning Yao didn't offer a comment on this.
Some people meandered about and waited for death, while others would be satisfied as long as they were slightly well off. Meanwhile, there were also those who were extremely driven and would soar to unfathomable heights. Just like her mother had said, different people would have different destinies and fates. There was not necessarily a superior or inferior fate.
However, her father had different views on this matter. While one should not try to forcefully obtain that which was not fated, this did not then imply that they shouldn't strive to obtain it at all. A person still needed to maintain their ambition. If they still failed to obtain that which they desired, then that would be a different conversation altogether.
Of course, her father didn't dare to utter these words before her mother.
"Ning Yao, have you also come to our small town to seek a fated opportunity?" Chen Ping'an casually asked.
The young woman didn't try to conceal anything, replying, "I was only able to obtain a position to enter this small town after exhausting all of my savings and using up a favor. However, I'm not like the others. I'm not looking for a fated opportunity or whatever, and I simply want to ask someone to forge a sword for me. It'll be best if it's a sword that resonates with my ideals. As for whether it's sharp or not, and as for whether it can carry a boundless sword qi or not, all of these are secondary."
"Forge a sword?" Chen Ping'an asked in puzzlement.
"Yes, I want to ask the blacksmith Master Ruan to forge a sword for me. He's got quite a reputation in this small town, and he's also got an ironclad rule that he never breaks. That is, he'll only forge one sword every 30 years. In fact, he was only willing to come here to replace Qi Jingchun because he felt like the environment here was extremely suitable for forging a sword. I want to try my luck and see whether he's willing to forge a sword for me. If it truly doesn't work out, it's not like there's anything I can do about it either. I can only treat it as bad luck."
Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Good people will always be blessed with good karma."
"I genuinely don't know how to respond," Ning Yao said without strength.
She then glanced at the young boy and asked, "Your left hand doesn't hurt anymore?"