CHAPTER 471 (2): I HEARD THAT YOU WANTED TO CHALLENGE SOMEONE'S SWORDSMANSHIP

Big Sister Baoping was still carrying that small bamboo bookcase and wearing those familiar red clothes. However, as she looked at the gradually disappearing figure, Pei Qian suddenly started to worry for no apparent reason that Big Sister Baoping would grow taller and even more different when she saw her again tomorrow. Perhaps this was what her Master had felt when he visited Mountain Cliff Academy back then?

Perhaps Master had already thought of what today would be like when he insisted on doing those things in the academy that Pei Qian had found extremely fun back then? Indeed, some things appeared very fun, but perhaps growing up wasn't actually one of those very fun things?

Pei Qian scratched her head and stomped her foot in frustration. She was already the third-in-command in the two shops now, so how was she still so forgetful? She retrieved two sticks of candied hawthorn that had been wrapped in oil paper from her sleeves. She had forgotten to give these to Big Sister Baoping!

She sighed again and again, placing one stick of candied hawthorn back inside her sleeve before crunching down on the other one. It was truly delicious. As for the money used to buy these candied hawthorn, it had all been provided by Shi Rou. But seriously, Pei Qian had simply mentioned candied hawthorn a few times at the pastry shop and asked Shi Rou a few times whether she could hear the peddler walking down the street and selling candied hawthorn.

After a few mentions, Shi Rou had voluntarily given Pei Qian a bunch of copper coins and said that she would treat the young girl to some candied hawthorn. There was no need for her to repay Shi Rou. But how could Pei Qian accept the money just like this? She wasn't a drooling little child, after all. As such, she had stared at the copper coins in Shi Rou's palm before shaking her head and hands, saying that she didn't need this money at all. In the end, however, she had still accepted the copper coins due to Shi Rou's warm-hearted insistence.

Pei Qian finished one stick of candied hawthorn and left the other stick in her sleeve. She had purchased it using Shi Rou's money, after all, so she would offer it to Shi Rou when she returned. As for Big Sister Baoping's share, she would buy it using her own money.

This embodied the frankness and generosity of those from the cultivation world.

Pei Qian brandished her hiking pole for a while before glancing at the dog that was hiding in the distance. She shot a glare at it, and the dog immediately ran over with its tail between its legs, lying down beside her when it arrived.

Pei Qian squatted down and grabbed its mouth, raging, "Little Brother, what's going on with you? Why are you so short? Are you a shorty? Don't you find this embarrassing? Hmm? Come on, speak up!"

The dog had mysteriously obtained a huge fated opportunity and become a spirit a long time ago, meaning that it should have been able to run around freely in the large mountains in the west of Dragon Spring Prefecture. Right now, however, the dog didn't move at all, and there was a look of grief and resentment in its eyes.

It had already developed sentience and intelligence, and its backer was also the powerful Dragon Spring Sword Sect. As such, it could be regarded as a mountain spirit that no one dared to provoke in the large mountains in the west. However, it was still a fair way off being able to speak in human tongue and assume human form.

Pei Qian tightly gripped the dog's chin without any sign of letting go, and she widened her eyes and exclaimed, "Are you expressing your displeasure by not speaking? Who gave you such courage?!"

The dog didn't dare to move at all.

Pei Qian rotated her wrist, causing the dog's head to also rotate. The dog immediately started to whimper, but Pei Qian huffed and asked, "Go on, tell me! Did you go to the small town to bully the large white swans behind my back again? Otherwise, why do they always run away when I bring you with me? Do you understand the concept of not using your fists rashly against those weaker than you?! I'm absolutely furious! You've followed me around the cultivation world for so long, yet you haven't managed to learn a single thing!"

The dog probably felt so aggrieved that it wanted to die.

Who was the one that had ridden around the small alleys on a large white swan back then?

After finally releasing her grip and letting go of the dog, Pei Qian stood up and patted her hands. However, she suddenly blinked furiously, and she raised her hands to rub her eyes.

She had eaten the jewel given to her by her master in Dragon Riding Alley last time, and her eyes had started to frequently feel sore after that. It didn't hurt, but it was indeed quite frustrating. There were several times when she had blinked in discomfort while transcribing texts, causing her calligraphy brush to go crooked and the characters to go out of line. When this happened, she had no option but to re-transcribe the entire sheet. Her master didn't have many rules, but this was one of them. Moreover, she continued to adhere to this rule even though there was no one to watch over her homework now.

In fact, there were times when Pei Qian had a nagging feeling that some of the characters were moving when she looked at her finished transcriptions. Upon looking carefully, however, they would appear still and ordinary again, with each character lying neatly on the paper exactly where she had written them.

Regarding this issue, Pei Qian planned to take advantage of Big Sister Baoping's trip to Downtrodden Mountain afterward to ask Old Cook Zhu who was always idling around on the mountain. He understood almost everything, after all. If this didn't work, then she would ask Mountain God Wei Bo.

If even this didn't work, then... Sigh... She could only venture to the tiger's den on the second floor of the bamboo building to ask the old gentleman who would insist on teaching her fist techniques on a whim. This old gentleman was simply relying on his old age and slightly superior strength to her master. Did he understand anything about fist techniques? Did he understand as much as her master? The old geezer didn't understand shit!

Pei Qian swaggered back to the small town, tilting her chin up and not looking at the road in front of her. With her chest puffed out, she loudly proclaimed, "To walk in an arrogant manner will cause the enemy's heart to fluster! The Deranged Demon Sword Technique is unparalleled in the world! If you're a friend, then we'll slay this wild dog, I'll eat the meat and you can drink the soup!"

The dog obediently walked behind Gallant Haroine Pei with its tail between its legs.

————

The small town became increasingly lively thanks to the arrival of the scholars and disciples from the Great Sui Nation who also spoke the official dialect of the continent.

Li Huai brought Liu Guan and Ma Lian to his house which was rundown and in a state of disrepair. Liu Guan was okay with this, since he also came from an impoverished background to begin with. However, Ma Lian was completely flabbergasted by what he saw. He had seen poor people before, but he had never seen such an empty house in his life. Li Huai didn't have a care in the world as he retrieved a key and opened the door, leading his friends inside to draw water and sweep the rooms.

The small town naturally had more wells than just the Iron Lock Well, and there was indeed a well nearby. It was just that the water from these other wells wasn't as sweet and refreshing as the water from the Iron Lock Well. Only when something good happened at home — or when they heard something bad happen at someone else's home — would Li Huai's mother travel further to the Iron Lock Well to jostle with Apricot Blossom Alley's Granny Ma, the widow from Clay Vase Alley's Gu Clan, and a large group of other women.

Liu Guan was extremely lazy, and he wasn't willing to run all over the small town. As such, he volunteered to start a fire and cook a meal. Meanwhile, Li Huai went with Ma Lian to draw water. However, Ma Lian's skin was too thin and supple, and carrying the water on his shoulders was akin to torture. The women near the well laughed and joked about this, causing the good-looking Ma Lian to flush bright red in embarrassment.

Li Baoping visited home after arriving at the small town, and her mother couldn't stop shedding tears upon seeing her daughter. Li Baoping couldn't hold back her tears either.

Li Baoping left Fortune Street and made her way to Dragon Riding Alley. She was very familiar with the streets and alleys here, and the two shops that had initially been run by twin pigtails' clan — Shi Chunjia's clan, that was — had already become her junior uncle's shops. Li Baoping had frequented these shops when she was young, and she had run all around the inside and outside of the small town from a very young age. As such, she could navigate these streets and alleys even with her eyes closed.

However, Li Baoping walked very slowly this time, no longer rushing around like before. Sure enough, she saw Pei Qian sitting on a stool outside the pastry shop and waiting for her. Only then did Li Baoping hasten her footsteps and walk over. After staying at the pastry shop for a while, she followed Pei Qian to Clay Vase Alley where she discovered that Junior Uncle's ancestral residence was sparkling clean. There was no need to do any housework, so Li Baoping brought Pei Qian back to Fortune Street.

Pei Qian squatted beside the small pond and looked at the stones with her eyes wide open. She then looked at the golden mountain crossing carp which had apparently been raised in the pond for many years. Her master had given these carp to Big Sister Baoping back then. There was also a small golden crab that had lived in the pond for even longer, and this was something that Big Sister Baoping had caught by herself. In reality, this crab had pinched the finger of the little girl in red back then, and she had run back home with tears streaming down her face. In the end, it was her older brother Li Xisheng who had pulled open the pincers of the small crab.

Pei Qian looked around for a long time, yet the carp and the small crab didn't give her any face, hiding in the pond and not showing themselves at all.

Li Baoping had built the small pond by herself when she was very young, and she had personally collected all of the stones from the stream, picking only those that were colorful and with interesting patterns. Like an ant moving nests, she had spent great effort in moving the stones one handful at a time, first building up a small mountain in the corner before moving them over to build the pond. Most of the "founding stones" that had provided "meritorious service" had already lost their color and luster, but there was still a large number of stones of varying sizes that were still glistening and colorful, appearing full of energy and luster as they glistened under the sun.

Lin Shouyi went to the kiln supervision office, returning to the place where he had often played when he was a little child.

The Lin Clan was a large clan in the small town, but it wasn't a member of the Four Families and Ten Clans. Moreover, the members of the Lin Clan weren't famous at all, and they weren't especially fond of interacting with their neighbors or the surrounding community. For example, Lin Shouyi's father had been a low-ranking official in the kiln supervision office, and he had served three successive kiln supervision officials when working in the office and before leaving the Jewel Small World. Even so, none of the kiln supervision officials had ever shown signs of wanting to promote him.

The Lin Clan had relocated to the capital of the Great Li Empire, but they didn't sell their ancestral residence in the small town. However, there were only a few elderly servants looking after the residence.

Ever since growing up and understanding things, Lin Shouyi had never felt any strong attachment to his clan.

His clan seemingly treated him the same way.

Both sides despised each other.

Even though Lin Shouyi's achievements in Mountain Cliff Academy were slowly spreading into the Great Li Empire already, his clan seemingly still couldn't care less.

Lin Shouyi didn't find this strange. His father had always been like this, and once he set his mind on something, he would view everyone else as wrong no matter what they said. Meanwhile, his mother would always take his father's side, and her eyes would always be cold and aloof when she looked at her son. It was as if she were merely looking at someone who was helping her stay in the Lin Clan. She didn't view him as an outsider, but she didn't view him as her child either. In any case, she didn't look at Lin Shouyi as a normal mother would look at their child. She remained polite, hidden under which was a feeling of distance.

Lin Shouyi recognized his father's past colleagues, so he actively went over to visit them. They didn't chat about much, especially since there was nothing much to chat about in the first place. Moreover, making small talk with other people had never been Lin Shouyi's forte.

He was told that the kiln supervision official had gone out to wander around today, and according to the petty officials in the office, there was no doubt that Lord Cao had gone out to drink.

Lin Shouyi couldn't help but find this strange. Regardless of whether it was the proper officials or petty officials, everyone appeared to be smiling sincerely and speaking casually when they talked about the kiln supervision official, someone whom they should have mentioned with great care.

Elsewhere, Yu Lu and Xie Xie visited the ancestral residence of the Cao Clan. After their identities had been exposed back then, they had both been brought here to become servants for the younger version of Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan alongside that handsome young boy called Cui Ci.

The direct grandson of the Great Li Empire's Pillar Cao Clan, that was to say, Kiln Supervision Official Cao of Dragon Spring Prefecture, was currently residing at this ancestral residence.

Kiln Supervision Official Cao had a little bit too much to drink today, so he decided that he wouldn't go to his office today. He was the highest-ranking official there, so it wouldn't matter even if he were away during the roll call. Holding an empty wine pot and reeking of alcohol, he swayed back and forth as he returned to his ancestral residence, planning to take a short nap.

He greeted those whom he passed on the street, and he was able to address them correctly regardless of whether they were men or women, old or young. He was very familiar with everyone. When he saw a little child with open crotch pants, he even went as far as to lightly kick the child in the backside. The child wasn't afraid of this high-ranking official, and he chased after Kiln Supervision Official Cao and wildly spat in his direction as he did so. Kiln Supervision Official Cao ran and hid, and the women and young girls on the streets didn't find this strange at all. They all smiled when they saw the young official.

It took Kiln Supervision Official Cao a great deal of effort to break free from the little bastard's pursuit, and he coincidentally came across Yu Lu and Xie Xie when he was halfway home. Perhaps recognizing or guessing their identities, the drunk and carefree Kiln Supervision Official Cao asked Yu Lu whether he could drink or not. Yu Lu replied that he could drink a little bit, and Kiln Supervision Official Cao shook around his empty wine pot before tossing the house keys to Yu Lu and turning around to run to a wine shop. Yu Lu felt slightly helpless, while Xie Xie asked, "Can this kind of person truly become the next clan leader of the Cao Clan?"

"Perhaps only this kind of person can fulfil the role," Yu Lu replied with a smile.

Xie Xie responded with a cold humph.

Compared to the refined and diligent County Magistrate Yuan, Kiln Supervision Official Cao was renowned for his casual and carefree nature. He had simply walked through each of the large dragon kilns once before never visiting them again.

However, he often ran around the small town or the prefectural city, and he liked to purchase wine and invite others over for a drink. He was even fonder of speaking nonsense with other people, and he was barely ever seen without a pot of wine in his hand. The only difference was whether the pot was empty or not.

The men in the small town all liked to drink and chat with this official from the capital, and a large group of idle men who enjoyed drinking would immediately gather around Kiln Supervision Official Cao whenever he appeared in the small town. They would listen to Kiln Supervision Official Cao's interesting stories about the capital, and none of them could care less whether these stories were true or false. They simply enjoyed the atmosphere. In any case, Kiln Supervision Official Cao would often say one thing whenever he became drunk: The wine money is on me today!

The women in the small town all liked this young official who had an enchanting smile.

In their eyes, this young official was no inferior to the young Daoist priest who had run a fortune-telling stall in the small town in the past.