Chapter 19: The Great Dao

As Chen Ping'an was about to run out of the courtyard, the black-clad girl suddenly called out, "Wait, I have something to tell you."

Chen Ping'an pretended not to hear and was about to open the courtyard door when the girl raised her voice, "Chen Ping'an!"

Chen Ping'an had no choice but to turn around and run back to the threshold. Her complexion was a little rosier than before, but her voice was still a bit hoarse. She said, "First, after us outsiders come to the town, although, as I told you before, our physiques are stronger than ordinary people, other than that, we're no different from you. Second, outsiders cannot kill people here. Once violated, no matter the reason, we will be expelled and destined to gain nothing. The price is very high, beyond your imagination. Third, you also need to think clearly that us outsiders, in times of crisis, will definitely take action, even at the risk of leaving empty-handed. After all, living is the most fundamental thing."

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and asked, "Does that mean when doing things, you have to act fast?"

The black-clad girl grinned, her face radiant and her eyes shining, as if the whole room had lit up. She patted the green scabbard across her lap and nodded, "Yes! Act fast, faster, even the fastest! Like me, I carry both a saber and a sword, and I want to be the fastest person in the world, whether it's drawing my saber or unsheathing my sword!"

She paused for a moment, suddenly transforming from a spirited heroine from afar to a neighbor girl wanting to show off, squinting and smiling as she asked, "Hey, do you know how many continents there are in this world?"

Chen Ping'an looked blank.

The girl seemed to realize the boy's lack of interest, and immediately became bored, waving her hand to shoo him away, "You better buy the jar back. I'm waiting to drink the medicine."

This time, Chen Ping'an's footsteps leaving the courtyard were slower and much steadier.

Not long after he left the Mud Bottle Lane, the unlocked courtyard door was gently pushed open. Inside the house, the black-clad girl opened her eyes. She had been breathing in a strange way, and looked towards the doorway, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The flying sword within the snow-white scabbard on the table was suddenly silent, yet an invisible aura of killing intent emerged, as if the current unseasonable cold could freeze bones and kill people.

The maidservant, Zhi Gui, strolled leisurely to the doorway, like an ordinary neighbor dropping by. She didn't cross the threshold, but peeked into the house, looking around, seemingly ignoring the black-clad girl sitting on the small bed with a saber across her lap.

Zhi Gui sized things up for a long while before finally seeing the living person. Her face was filled with innocence as she said, "Hello, sister, who are you? Why are you sitting on Chen Ping'an's bed? I've never heard of him having distant relatives."

Ning Yao glanced at the uninvited girl and then closed her eyes, ignoring her.

Seeing that she was feigning deafness and dumbness, Zhi Gui wasn't angry. She simply shook her head slightly, curled her lip, and looked disdainful.

She glanced at the long sword with the snow-white scabbard on the table. Deep within her eyes, she concealed a deep hatred and fear, with faint golden threads wildly roaming in her pupils. The maidservant hesitated for a moment, but still raised one foot, preparing to cross the threshold. Suddenly, she retracted her foot, coughed, and pretended, "I'm coming in, okay? No talking means no objection, right? That's right, this is Chen Ping'an's house anyway, and I've known him for many years... You wouldn't understand what I'm saying, would you? It doesn't matter, we don't have much to talk about anyway. I'm just here to see if anything's missing. We're moving soon, and many things can be left to Chen Ping'an. You don't know, he's had a hard time these past few years."

Her rambling words made her and Chen Ping'an seem like childhood sweethearts.

After the maidservant Zhi Gui entered the house, everything was calm. She walked straight to the small table, sat on the stool, and kept glancing at the sword out of the corner of her eye.

At the same time, the black-clad girl took out the three pieces of paper that the young Daoist had left for Chen Ping'an, carefully studying them, trying to figure out some clue. Unfortunately, after turning them over and carefully examining them twice, she still couldn't figure anything out, and said disappointedly, "These words are really lacking... flavor."

She clearly remembered that on the long wall in her hometown, there were eighteen characters intermittently, all carved with swords, each character containing the majestic aura of suppressing all demons.

In her childhood, her greatest hobby was standing in one of the strokes of those characters, looking into the distance.

Therefore, the girl really couldn't stand the four-character plaque of the town, "Qi Rushes to the Dipper."

The maidservant Zhi Gui turned around, subtly straightening her slender waist, placing her hands folded on her lap, trying to make herself look more like a lady of a noble family. Facing the black-clad girl, she smiled sweetly and said softly, "Oh dear, you're too careless."

Ning Yao couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

Zhi Gui exclaimed in surprise, touching her chest, pretending to be surprised, "You can speak our local dialect."

Ning Yao asked again, "Do you have something?"

Zhi Gui pointed to the long sword on the table, "Yours?"

Ning Yao frowned and didn't say anything.

The black-clad girl didn't speak, and Zhi Gui didn't care. She stood up and walked to the corner of the wall, looking at the bottles and jars on the wooden rack, the worthless belongings. The maidservant looked at them carefully.

When he was an apprentice potter, Chen Ping'an walked barefoot all over the mountains and rivers surrounding the town, going alone to the mountains to dig soil and chop firewood, running quickly up and down the mountains. As long as someone was willing to teach him something, whether it was a shallow introduction or something obscure and difficult to learn, Chen Ping'an would put in twelve points of effort. As for what level he could reach in the end, Chen Ping'an didn't care, and of course he couldn't control it. Just like when Old Man Yao taught him pottery skills, he was always stingy, unwilling to show his true trump cards, but as long as Old Man Yao had said or done something, Chen Ping'an would do it extremely seriously. Later, when Liu Xianyang taught him how to make wooden bows and fishing rods, Chen Ping'an also learned meticulously. Song Jixin, who lived next door, always spoke harshly, saying that Chen Ping'an's habit, according to the books, was called "doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate." It was just a pity that Chen Ping'an didn't have any good fate. In that case, he might as well just muddle along and give up.

Zhi Gui waved her hand, smiling brightly, "I'm leaving, I'm leaving. You should rest well, girl. If you need anything, just shout. My name is Zhi Gui, and I live in the next courtyard."

Ning Yao was expressionless.

The maidservant left the house, walked to the courtyard, and muttered in a voice that the black-clad girl inside the house could just hear, "She's not that pretty anyway."

Ning Yao also said casually, "What a vulgar name."

Zhi Gui closed the courtyard door with some force, making a loud bang.

Ning Yao closed her eyes again to rest.

The visit of the strange girl didn't stir any waves in Ning Yao's heart.

However, she really didn't like this small town, especially those cultivators who came here seeking opportunities, scheming and scrambling for petty gains. They were said to be immortals and masters, but they were only standing on the mountain, not because they were inherently high.

In the girl Ning Yao's heart, the Great Dao shouldn't be so small.

The straw-sandaled boy walked out of Mud Bottle Lane, the sunlight a bit dazzling. He raised his right hand to shade his forehead and gently exhaled a breath.

Then he started to jog, his steps light and swift. Even though he had passed through the streets and alleys many times, he still showed no sign of fatigue. After all, for a boy accustomed to going up and down mountains, this distance was really insignificant. The real hardship was going up the mountain to burn charcoal. A dragon kiln needed two or three thousand kilograms of charcoal a year, especially on rainy days, living on the mountain, chopping firewood, and burning charcoal was truly a torment. The boy had almost died in a charcoal kiln that collapsed during construction. The things the boy had done these past few years were almost all physical labor, and they also involved some skills, but after getting the hang of it, it was purely about earning a living by physical strength. Therefore, the boy's seemingly thin and weak appearance was just an illusion. He possessed an inherent toughness that had been tempered through countless trials.

Chen Ping'an stopped at an intersection, leaning against the wall, squatting down, one hand always clenched into a fist, and the other hand tightening his straw sandals.

At this moment, the boy's heart was as still as water.

He just missed his only friend in the town a little.

That guy had once mysteriously bragged to Chen Ping'an, saying that his grandfather had told him a story. When his grandfather was young, he had personally seen someone standing by the stream, taking a few steps and leaping over the entire stream in one step. Later, Liu Xianyang and Chen Ping'an tried it themselves, choosing the narrowest part of the stream. The two of them retreated and ran at the same time, jumping at the same time. As a result, Liu Xianyang, who was a few years older than Chen Ping'an, quickly ran out of strength and fell into the water. Then he noticed a dark shadow above his head, swooshing forward, and finally landing far away.

After that, Liu Xianyang never mentioned anything about the stream-crossing immortal again.

After that, Liu Xianyang knew that Chen Ping'an would often go to the stream by himself, running, jumping, soaring, flying, and falling.

The boy got closer to the other side with each attempt, enjoying it immensely.

Once, unable to resist, he secretly watched from afar. When Liu Xianyang saw that shocking scene, he felt that the dark-skinned boy at that time seemed a little different from the idiot in his memory.

When the boy flew over the stream, he was like a snake-catching hawk that often circled in the sky above the town.