CHAPTER 471 (3): I HEARD THAT YOU WANTED TO CHALLENGE SOMEONE'S SWORDSMANSHIP

Atop Cloud Drape Mountain...

Mao Xiaodong greeted Forest Deer Academy, and only then were the scholars from the Great Sui Nation able to see Prince Gao Xuan who had come here to seek knowledge.

Otherwise, no one would dare to ask. It wasn't that they were afraid of causing trouble for themselves, since which scholar and teacher in Mountain Cliff Academy didn't possess the will and spirit of scholars? Rather, they were afraid of causing trouble for Gao Xuan who was staying in a foreign nation. They were worried for the imperial hostage from the Great Sui Nation's Geyang Gao Clan who had come here in place of his older brother!

Mao Xiaodong only left after seeing the prince.

The eleventh tier old ancestor from the Geyang Gao Clan didn't appear from the beginning to the end.

Gao Xuan looked at the most knowledgeable old scholars from the Great Sui Nation tearing up after bowing in respect to him, and the young man who hadn't felt especially aggrieved or wronged about coming here as an imperial hostage couldn't help but tear up as well.

Gao Xuan was extremely respectful toward the white-haired scholars from the Great Sui Nation, and he also bowed in respect to them as a junior Confucian disciple.

The old scholars straightened their collars and stood upright and solemn as they accepted his reciprocal gesture.

There was a scenic viewing spot in Forest Deer Academy called the Majestic Pavilion, and the old ancestor of the Geyang Gao Clan who had accompanied Prince Gao Xuan to the Great Li Empire was currently standing here with Mao Xiaodong and the elderly flood dragon, Cheng Shuidong.

The old ancestor from the Gao Clan took his leave after chatting with them for a short while.

He hadn't taken on the position of deputy mountain master at Forest Deer Academy, and he had instead concealed his identity and decided to become an ordinary teacher. The students in the academy all enjoyed his classes, and this was because the old man would talk about things beyond the textbooks and beyond mere knowledge alone. These were things that the students had never heard about before. For example, things about Fictionists and weird and wonderful stories about the White Paper Blessed Land.

However, the scholars and teachers who were locals of the Great Li Empire all felt a slight sense of dislike for Mr. Gao who "wasn't doing his job." They felt like he was too careless and casual in imparting knowledge and teaching his students. However, the deputy mountain masters of the academy never said anything about this, so the remaining scholars and teachers of Forest Deer Academy couldn't do anything about it either.

There were only two deputy mountain masters from different academies left in the Majestic Pavilion, and Cheng Shuidong spoke with no reservations as if he were an old acquaintance with Mao Xiaodong.

The old flood dragon and Mao Xiaodong discussed many things about the academies, and they also talked about Downtrodden Mountain's Chen Ping'an. This also led to a conversation pertaining to Chen Ping'an's request for a man and a woman from outside of town to stay at Forest Deer Academy. Chen Ping'an hadn't asked Wei Bo to deliver the request to the academy, and he had instead personally visited the academy to ask the deputy mountain master for help.

Mao Xiaodong's expression was stern as he commented, "He's finally learned a bit about how to interact with other people."

Cheng Shuidong laughed heartily upon hearing this.

Over at Cloud Drape Mountain, a man and a woman climbed to the peak and gazed into the distance, enjoying the scenery of the undulating mountains.

They were none other than the Lion Garden's Liu Qingshan and the Daoist Saber Room's Daoist Nun Liu Boqi.

"Should we return after visiting the capital of the Great Li Empire and witnessing the sea at the northernmost point of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent? We can go back home to visit my father and older brother," Liu Qingshan suggested.

Liu Boqi nodded lightly, a slight blush on her face.

According to their promise, the day they returned home was the day that they got married.

In Liu Boqi's eyes, Scholar Liu Qingshan was indeed a green mountain. He was evergreen across the four seasons, with the mountains luscious and the waters limpid.

He was well read, he worried about his nation and her people, he treated people with sincerity, and he was a carefree and renowned scholar... He didn't have any shortcomings.

On the other hand, she was an average-looking cultivator who only knew how to fight and kill. Her speech wasn't refined, and she drank tea as if she were drinking wine. She wasn't able to play musical instruments, play Go, write calligraphy, or paint, and she wasn't a warm or gentle person either. It was as if she only had shortcomings.

In reality, Liu Boqi had been worrying about one thing the entire time during their travels. She was worried that their eventual farewell wouldn't be due to Liu Qingshan, a mortal human, dying of old age.

Rather, Liu Qingshan might one day suddenly start resenting her, feeling that she wasn't worthy of his love and loyalty until old age and death.

Liu Boqi was filled with unease and anxiety.

It was only when she arrived at Downtrodden Mountain that Mr. Zhu's remark untied the knot in her heart.

Charming the green mountains appear in my eyes; likewise, the green mountains also see me so.

How Liu Boqi looked at Liu Qingshan and how much she liked him was exactly the same as how Liu Qingshan looked at her and how much he liked her.

However, Liu Boqi still wanted verbal confirmation of this, so she mustered her courage and prepared to ask him. However, she was still incredibly nervous when it came time for her to ask, and she couldn't help but tightly grab the hilt of Jing God, the saber tied to her hip. She turned around and said, "Qingshan, there's something that I want to ask you. You're not allowed to find this stupid, and you're definitely not allowed to laugh at me either..."

However, before Liu Boqi could continue, Liu Qingshan had already gently placed his hands around her hand that was grabbing the hilt of Jing God. He held her hand and smiled faintly, saying, "Do you know how beautiful you are in my eyes? You can't imagine how beautiful you are."

Liu Boqi lowered her head slightly, with her eyelashes trembling as she did so.

"It's my fault for not telling you earlier," Liu Qingshan said softly. "If it weren't for Mr. Zhu's reminder waking me up from my dreamlike state, I might have told you this even later. Perhaps I would have only revealed to you my heartfelt feelings when we returned to the Lion Garden."

Liu Boqi looked up, and there was no longer embarrassment in her eyes after she untied the knot in her heart. Instead, there was only the slight blush spreading across her cheeks that revealed the ripple in her heart just then.

"Mr. Zhu has actually fallen to the state of looking after the residence and courtyard for Chen Ping'an. What a true shame," Liu Boqi said in a soft voice.

Liu Qingshan could only chuckle in speechlessness.

He initially wanted to put in some good words for Chen Ping'an, but he suddenly recalled some teachings from Mr. Zhu.

It's sufficient as long as you remain steadfast and unwavering when it comes to major matters of principle. Why would you pedantically wrangle over small matters with the woman whom you love? Are you marrying the woman whom you love, or are you a teacher accepting a disciple?

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingshan had instantly felt like Mr. Zhu was truly a lofty being who spoke the truth with every single word. Before leaving Dragon Spring Prefecture, he definitely needed to seek more knowledge from the old man.

————

In the Yang Family's medicine shop, the young boy who was both a shop attendant and Old Man Yang's disciple felt like they could no longer live like this. The feng shui of this shop was terrible, and it was as if they were allergic to making money.

They couldn't allow business to remain so poor, so since Shi Lingshan had already become a disciple of the old man, he decided to do something pietous, taking things into his own hands and going to his uncle who worked in the kiln supervision office, asking him whether he could help them get some customers. However, he was scolded by his uncle who said that Old Man Yang and his medicine shop already had a terrible reputation in the small town, so bad that no one dared to visit anymore.

The young boy could only return to the shop dejectedly, yet what he saw was Senior Brother Zheng Dafeng sitting at the front door and voraciously crunching down on a stick of candied hawthorn. His way of eating was extremely repulsive, and Shi Lingshan would have turned a blind eye to this any other time. However, his senior sister was actually chatting with Zheng Dafeng right now, and this caused him to immediately flare up in anger. He sat on the steps between the two stools, and Zheng Dafeng smiled with squinted eyes and asked, "Lingshan, did you step into dog shit in Peach Leaf Alley? Your senior brother thinks that your expression is quite concerning."

"It's got nothing to do with you," Shi Lingshan snapped. "You can go back to Downtrodden Mountain to guard the mountain gate."

Zheng Dafeng acted as a benevolent senior brother and patted the young boy's head, but it wasn't long before Shi Lingshan raised his hand and swatted the unwanted hand away. Zheng Dafeng continued to enjoy the crunchy candied hawthorn as he said in a muffled voice, "Your senior brother is enjoying quite a luxurious life now, and he even has a residence at Downtrodden Mountain that's much larger than the mud hut at the eastern gate of the small town. When are you going to visit?"

"Visit what? Do we still need to do business at this medicine shop?" Shi Lingshan retorted.

"What a shame," Zheng Dafeng said in disappointment. "There are two rooms at my new place, and both rooms have large and sturdy beds that won't creak no matter how one jumps and rolls on them. I initially planned to invite both you and Little Su over for the night, what with this being a new place and all. I wanted to make it more lively, and we could eat and have a drink and whatnot. Sigh, so be it if it's too far away for you. In any case, Little Su has already accepted my invitation, so I guess we can have one room each instead of having two people try to squeeze onto one bed."

Shi Lingshan's jaw dropped as an intense feeling of regret washed over him.

The young girl whom Zheng Dafeng had referred to as Little Su remained silent the entire time, not interjecting to retort him even though he had never mentioned this matter to her before.

She had been asking Senior Brother Zheng about martial arts just then, and even though Senior Brother Zheng's path of martial arts had been severed, his knowledge and insights still existed. As such, she didn't look down on him in the least.

Compared to the young boy from Peach Leaf Alley who was yet to properly embark on the path of cultivation, she had come into contact with many secrets and obscure facts much earlier, allowing her to broaden her horizons significantly. Her entire worldview changed, and this naturally meant that she couldn't care less about the trivial business operations of this small medicine shop.

However, she had been interrupted by Shi Lingshan just as she was asking Senior Brother Zheng about the strange and barely perceptible matter that she had subtly noticed.

"Shi Lingshan, what are you sitting there in a daze for? Bring some snacks over and show some respect to your senior brother," Zheng Dafeng said.

Shi Lingshan sat between his senior brother and his senior sister and refused to move.

In the end, the young girl stood up and entered the medicine shop to grab some snacks.

Zheng Dafeng smacked Shi Lingshan on the back of the head and chided, "What an absolute idiot. Just wait to become single forever."

Shi Lingshan stood up and fumed, "Be careful that I lose it with you."

Zheng Dafeng rubbed his chin and said, "Little Su is a very pretty girl, so there will definitely be many men fighting to marry her in the future. Sigh, I wonder which bastard will have the fortune of sharing a bed and exchanging blows with Little Su in the future. As her senior brother, I feel mentally tired whenever I think about the inevitable arrival of that day. However, Little Su thankfully listens to her senior brother still, and I presume that she'll allow me to perform a quick check and give my blessings when she becomes lovestruck in the future..."

Shi Lingshan immediately felt vexed and troubled, and it was as if his senior brother had just slapped a fistful of wet mud onto his face.

He turned around and looked at the shop, and he saw his senior sister standing on her tippy-toes behind the counter and grabbing something from the medicinal cabinet. The medicinal ingredients in the shop could indeed be directly eaten.

His senior sister appeared even more slender and shapely as she stood on her tippy-toes and reached up.

Shi Lingshan hurriedly turned his head around and sat back down on the steps.

His senior sister's true name was Su Dian, and her nickname was Rouge. It was said that her biggest dream back then was to open a small shop that sold rouge and other makeup products. Her name was given by her uncle, and her nickname was also given by her uncle. Both had been chosen quite carelessly.

Right at this moment, a young boy carrying a luggage bag ran over from the other side of the small town.

Zheng Dafeng wiped his face and cursed in his mind. He had come across this little bastard who had never had a conscience ever since birth. It was because of this little bastard that he had needlessly suffered so much at the hands of his sister-in-law back then.