Chapter 462 (1): Another Bout of Rain on the Small Street

The commotion in the bamboo building was so loud that Pei Qian was roused from her slumber, and she immediately put on her clothes and her Saber Sword Cross, then rushed out the door with her hiking pole in hand.

The little girl in pink also emerged from her room a second behind Pei Qian, and the latter was already rushing out of the courtyard. The little girl in pink hurriedly ran after her, and upon catching up to Pei Qian, she discovered that there was a look of intense killing intent on her face, and that she was grumbling under her breath as she rushed along.

The little girl in pink was aware of Pei Qian's temper, and she hurriedly said, "Don't do anything rash! This is how it's always been for Master training under Senior Cui."

It wasn't that the little girl in pink had no sympathy for her master. Instead, she simply knew that nothing good could come out of this situation for Pei Qian, and on top of that, she also knew that Cui Chan's grandfather bore no ill will toward her master.

However, Pei Qian refused to be dissuaded as she continued to rush toward the bamboo building in a fit of fury.

"Who the hell does that old bastard think he is? This mountain belongs to my master, as does that bamboo building! Not only is he shamelessly occupying the second floor, he beat my master to unconsciousness as soon as he came back! He's only just woken up, yet he's being beaten again! Master has come home from his ordeal in Bamboo Scroll Lake to relax and enjoy himself, not to be bullied by that old fart!"

The more Pei Qian spoke, the more incensed she became.

As a fire python spirit of the Middle Five Tiers, the little girl in pink was able to easily keep up with Pei Qian, and she drifted along beside her in a graceful manner as she said in a fearful manner, "But what can we do? It's not like we can beat Senior Cui in a fight."

Pei Qian continued to rush along as she spat through gritted teeth, "If we can't beat him in a fight, then we'll just have to reason with him! I can't believe there can exist such an ungrateful guest in this world! Is he taking advantage of my master because he's kind and easygoing? Well, I'm not going to stand for that! I am my master's first-ever disciple and Cui Dongshan's senior sister!"

The little girl in pink drifted along backward beside Pei Qian, and she took a glance at her hiking pole and her bamboo sword and saber, and she opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end.

Near the courtyard that Pei Qian was staying in, the little boy in azure was sitting on the rooftop, yawning lazily to himself. This minor scuffle was hardly worthy of note. Compared with back when he had to carry a blood-soaked Chen Ping'an down from the second floor of the bamboo building day after day, this "sparring match" may as well have been nothing more than a friendly contest.

If Pei Qian had witnessed the horrific torment that Chen Ping'an had been subjected to in the past, then she wouldn't be having such an overreaction.

Zheng Dafeng and Zhu Lian were sitting in their courtyard together, sharing some wine while gazing up at the moon. As opposed to talking about Chen Ping'an, the two of them solely chatted about women. Otherwise, two men chatting about another man at night could easily give people the wrong idea.

Zhu Lian spoke of Sui Youbian, Huang Ting, Yao Jinzhi, Jin Su, and Fan Junmao, while Zheng Dafeng spoke of He Xiaoliang, Su Jia, and the short yet seductive empress of the Great Li Empire. Zheng Dafeng also spoke of the beautiful women who were local residents of the small town that he had seen during his time serving as gatekeeper of the Jewel Small World.

There was Gu Can's mother, as well as a woman from Apricot Blossom Alley who had been in her prime several decades ago, but had since recently become the river guardian of the Dragon Whisker River.

After becoming a water deity, she was able to return to her youthful appearance, and she was quite a beauty, but she had a very sharp tongue, one that was even more scathing than that of Li Er's wife.

Zheng Dafeng took a sip of wine, then smacked his lips in a blissful manner as she said, "Being able to drink and chat about beautiful women with a close friend on such a peaceful night... I can't imagine life getting any better than this."

The porcelain flagon and cups on the table were quite old, and it was very apparent at first glance that they had been made in one of the small town's dragon kilns.

They were near perfect, but there were very strict regulations when it came to imperial ware to be offered up to the Song Clan, and even porcelain ware with only the slightest imperfections were always caught by the officials of the kiln supervision office before being smashed and tossed onto the mountain of porcelain.

Zheng Dafeng was a very avid drinker, and he also possessed a great deal of street smarts, so it hadn't been difficult for him to secretly secure some porcelain ware that should've been sent to the Great Li Empire's imperial palace. When it came to these sneaky moves that he liked to make, Old Man Yang could hardly care less.

Zhu Lian was in the process of pouring wine into his empty cup when it suddenly stopped what he was doing, then set down the flagon before picking up his wine cup and placing it beside his ear.

He cocked his head to the side as he listened intently with his eyes slightly narrowed, then lowered the cup with a smile as he mused, "Large crazing on a small piece of porcelain ware is like the budding desire for romance of a young woman from the wilderness, whereas small crazing on a large piece of porcelain ware is like a stunning beauty whose elegance can captivate an entire nation."

Normally, Zheng Dafeng would've scoffed at such pretentious dialog, but it didn't bother him in the slightest, hearing this from Zhu Lian. Instead, he found himself appreciating the analogies.

The moon was bright, and the breeze was light.

The two of them felt as if they could peer into one another's hearts, and it was a special connection that was as rare as it was precious.

Zheng Dafeng smiled as he asked, "Be honest with me, Zhu Lian: did you really not develop true feelings for any woman during all of your years in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land?"

Zhu Lian gently set down his cup as he sighed, "When a woman captures my heart, my feelings for her are always true and earnest. However, I was constantly bogged down by matters related to my nation and the martial arts world, and I was often unable to govern my own fate.

“On top of that, I held extremely lofty aspirations as a young man, and I always thought that romance was a waste of time. I wanted unmatched power, I wanted to earn the respect of all of my contemporaries, I wanted to see my name go down in the history books. Whenever I thought about these things, I was like..."

"Like an old pervert living in the wilderness catching a glimpse of a beautiful woman bathing in a lake. It's a massive rush of blood to the head, right?" Zheng Dafeng chuckled.

Zhu Lian hurriedly filled both of their cups before raising his cup in a toast. Despite the short time that they had known each other, Zheng Dafeng truly knew him better than anyone else.

The two of them gently touched their cups to one another, and Zhu Lian downed the contents of his cup in one go before wiping his mouth as he smiled and said, "The sound of clacking wine cups between close friends is even more captivating than the sound of a beautiful woman undressing to bathe."

"Have you actually heard such a delightful sound before?" Zheng Dafeng asked.

"I have, but it's all in the past now," Zhu Lian replied with a nod.

"You are truly worthy of my admiration!" Zheng Dafeng praised in an earnest manner.

The little boy in azure rolled his eyes as he listened to their conversation. He couldn't understand for the life of him why a pair of martial artists like them never spoke about martial arts when they were together, instead choosing to talk about women, who were both out of reach and massive wastes of money.

Regardless of how stunningly beautiful a woman was, what did that matter for? Even the most gorgeous mortal women only had a few good years before their looks would begin to fade, and even a beautiful female cultivator simply wasn't worth the trouble.

Could they earn money with their good looks? Could their good looks be exchanged for immortal currency to purchase immortal treasures? In light of this, the little boy in azure felt their conversations to be extremely vapid and uninteresting.

What was even more perplexing to him was that both Zhu Lian and Zheng Dafeng were among the most exceptional pure martial artists on the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, yet neither of them had a single woman by their side, despite how apparently obsessed they were with beautiful women.

Even a sixth or seventh tier martial artist could be considered a master in the cultivation world, and they could easily have women flocking to them in droves if they so pleased.

The little boy in azure leaned back and laid down onto the rooftop with his hands serving as a pillow.

He couldn't understand why Chen Ping'an was able to be friends with these two, and true friends, no less.

Over at the bamboo building, Pei Qian was facing off against Cui Chan's grandfather in the corridor of the second floor.

"Are you here to stand up for your master?" Cui Chan's grandfather asked with a smile.

"We are all upholders of justice and morality, so we have to do what's right and be grateful to those who've shown us kindness, right?" Pei Qian challenged.

Cui Chan's grandfather offered no response.

No matter how he looked at Pei Qian, it was clear to him that she possessed immense martial fortune, and he couldn't help but wonder why Chen Ping'an was unwilling to polish this diamond in the rough that had fallen onto his lap. Chen Ping'an wasn't good at much else, but he did possess a decent eye, so he shouldn't have been oblivious to Pei Qian's prodigious potential.

Why was it that he was simply allowing her to do as she pleases, fantasizing about mastering unmatched swordsmanship overnight, when her time would clearly be much better spent training martial arts?

However, Pei Qian was quite devoted to Chen Ping'an as her master, so Cui Chan's grandfather couldn't just bypass Chen Ping'an and interfere with her training as he saw fit. That was his way of being a just and moral person.

Even though Pei Qian was completely wasting her talents by doing nothing all day, Cui Chan's grandfather could only wait until Chen Ping'an returned to Downtrodden Mountain before bringing up the matter to him. As for how Chen Ping'an ultimately decided to dictate her training, that was still up to the two of them.

The longer Cui Chan's grandfather remained silent, the less confident Pei Qian felt. There was no way that she could beat him in a fight, even if she were to call upon Zhu Lian for help. She could only blame her own Deranged Demon Sword Techniques for being too difficult to master. Otherwise, she would've already beaten this old bastard into submission and forced him to kowtow to her master in apology.

Despite her waning confidence, she felt particularly courageous on this day and refused to leave.

The little girl in pink nervously tugged on her sleeve, hoping to convince her that she had already said enough, but Pei Qian gently shrugged her off as she puffed out her chest and challenged loudly, "Let's play a game of connect five! I get to dictate the rules, and whoever loses has to follow the winner's orders! Do you dare to accept my challenge?"

"I do not," Cui Chan's grandfather replied without any hesitation, leaving Pei Qian completely dumbfounded.

"Is it going to take your master being beaten to death by someone someday for you to finally focus on your martial arts training? I suppose then, you'll train for a few days, then decide that it's still too difficult and give up altogether. After that, all you'll be able to do is pay frequent visits to your master's grave in order to make yourself feel a little better, isn't that right?" Cui Chan's grandfather suddenly asked.

Tears began to well up in Pei Qian's eyes, and she pursed her lips tightly as she gripped tightly onto the hilt of her saber.

Right at this moment, Chen Ping'an staggered unsteadily out of the room, then leaned against the railing as he waved a hand to dismiss Pei Qian and said, "Go back to bed. Don't listen to him, I'm not dying anytime soon."

"But what if you do die?" Pei Qian asked, on the verge of sobs.

"Then come in and have Senior Cui train you. It'll be just like when you were training with Sui Youbian in Old Dragon City. I'm going to count to three. If you still haven't gone back to bed by then, then I'll throw you into the room, and there will be no turning back for you. Senior Cui can do whatever he wants with you, and I won't interfere," Chen Ping'an proposed.

Even before he had a chance to begin counting, Pei Qian was already fleeing for her life as she murmured to herself, "Master's not going to die, he's way too strong for that!"

"Her conscience is just as lacking as her gumption," Cui Chan's grandfather sneered.

A gentle look appeared in Chen Ping'an's eyes as she watched the two little girls rushing away, and he smiled as he said, "She's already doing great for a kid her age. If we expect any more out of her, then we would be the ones in the wrong."

Cui Chan's grandfather shook his head as he argued, "If she were just some average kid, then starting a little late wouldn't be a problem, but for such a fine talent like her, the earlier she begins to experience hardship, and the more hardship she endures, the greater her potential will be. Thirteen is already not too early an age to start. If I recall correctly, you received the Mountain Shaking Guide and began training at around the same age."

"In any case, I'm Pei Qian's master, so it doesn't matter what you say," Chen Ping'an said with a smile.

"Are you really planning to raise Pei Qian as your daughter?" Cui Chan's grandfather harrumphed coldly. "You have to consider whether Downtrodden Mountain needs a spoiled and weak young mistress, or a resilient and strong martial arts prodigy."

"I don't think about that at all," Chen Ping'an said as he set his hands down onto the railing. "All I'm considering is that Pei Qian is already being forced to do many things that she doesn't like at such a young age, such as making transcriptions, practicing walking meditation and saber and sword techniques.

“She's already busy enough, and it's not like she's actually doing nothing but twiddling her thumbs all day, so she has to be able to also do some things that she finds enjoyable in order to balance everything out."

"What's the deal with her eyes?" Cui Chan's grandfather asked.

Chen Ping'an shook his head as he replied, "They've been like that ever since she came out of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. The old abbot of the Observing Dao Temple seems to have done something to her eyes, but it should be a good thing."

Cui Chan's grandfather was not one to waste time dwelling on any one subject, and regardless of whether Chen Ping'an's answer had been satisfactory to him or not, he immediately moved onto another question: "What did you give Wei Bo this time on your visit to Cloud Drape Mountain?"

A slightly awkward look appeared on Chen Ping'an's face, but he didn't try to hide the truth as he replied, "I gave him a colored glaze golden body fragment from Du Mao's failed ascension."

"How big was it?" Cui Chan's grandfather asked.

"Around the size of an infant's fist," Chen Ping'an replied.

He had thought that Cui Chan's grandfather would denounce him for giving out such a priceless gift, but to his surprise, the latter nodded in approval instead as he said, "Make sure not to owe Wei Bo any favors. Otherwise, the mental state of everyone on Downtrodden Mountain will be negatively impacted by you. They'll feel as if they were constantly indebted to him, and they wouldn't even dare to raise their heads to look at Cloud Drape Mountain."