Chapter 24: Gift Giving

In a residence within Peach Leaf Lane, a kind-faced old man sat on a rattan chair under the veranda, a playful and adorable maidservant by his side. She wore canary-yellow patterned trousers beneath a light turquoise gauze skirt, slowly fanning him as she listened to his tales.

Suddenly, the old man spoke, "Peach Bud, has the wind fallen asleep again? I'm not trying to frighten you, but in larger estates outside this town, such laziness would be punished."

Receiving no response, the old man, usually so lenient with his servants, was about to continue his jest when his expression abruptly changed. He looked towards the distance, his face grave. Not only was the maidservant's fan still, but even the invisible breeze had ceased. The old man quickly composed himself, chanting a mantra and entering a meditative state, lest he squander his cultivation in this brief reversal of time's flow. He sighed softly. Even the most disciplined and proper Qi Jingchun had finally made an exception. Truly, a storm was brewing.

Near the Iron Lock Well, a burly young man from out of town squatted, intently staring at the pulley. However, his eyes furtively glanced at the profile of a plump village woman as she bent to draw water from the well. Her remarkably curved hips and heavy breasts, revealed a voluptuous silhouette, exuding a full, wheat-like earthy aura that added a unique charm to the woman who would have been otherwise considered average. When the young man realized the strange stillness of his surroundings, he remained motionless, merely summoning the courage to directly gaze at the captivating scene of the woman drawing water. He swallowed hard, then quickly shifted his position.

"No wonder Master always said that women down the mountain are like tigers leaving the forest, their power greatly diminished. But if you bring one up the mountain, she'll become a dominant 'mountain-sitting tiger' who devours everything. Master always said, after a drink, that all the heroes and paragons in the world lose to their own 'mountain-entering tigers,' without exception." However, the young man felt that even a "forest-leaving tiger" was formidable. Like the woman before him, ordinary in appearance yet so enchanting that his heart itched. If she were to slap him without a word, without any reason, he felt he couldn't possibly retaliate. Perhaps if she smiled, he'd smile too.

Thinking of these things, he felt disheartened. He glanced down at his groin, muttering, "Spineless! No wonder you're gutless!"

Inside Mud Bottle Alley, Song Jixin was poring over a thick, ancient local gazetteer. He had discerned many patterns, such as its general update every sixty years, which led him to nickname it "The Jiazi Chronicle." He also noticed that almost no one who had been taken away from the town by distant relatives in their youth ever returned home. It seemed they disliked returning to their roots, preferring to blossom outside their walls. Many families had branched out and grown into towering trees with deep roots elsewhere, earning the book his other nickname, "The Outside-the-Wall Book."

The young man was currently reading a biographical entry about a man named Cao Xi. Brevity was another hallmark of this gazetteer. Song Jixin had read it at least seven or eight times, knowing it by heart. So now, in his leisure, he only perused the more bizarre and fantastical stories, treating them like tales spun by a storyteller, their truthfulness impossible to verify. Of course, Song Jixin didn't care. He only remembered that the man in official robes, before leaving the town for his official duties in the capital, had come to him alone late at night. The man had solemnly told the boy to remember one thing: to memorize every name in the book, the hundreds and thousands of people, and their ancestors' roots in the town, especially their connections to the Four Clans and Ten Families.

At this moment, Song Jixin was perfectly still, like one of the broken clay statues scattered haphazardly throughout the southeast of the town, lying in the grass and mud, unmoved by wind and rain. The light streaming through the window onto his desk remained unnaturally still.

The only person and creature in the residence that could move were the maidservant Zhigui and an unremarkable lizard. She had sensed the anomaly early on. Her first thought was to go to the neighboring courtyard and curse out that stoic girl. However, when she remembered the sword, she dismissed the tempting idea. First, she went to her young master's room, glancing at the book's contents. Seeing the words "Cao Xi" annoyed her, so she helped him flip a few pages forward. Seeing the section on "Xie Shi" made her smile happily. But she quickly became sullen and flipped the page back, lest she reveal secrets and expose herself. Over the years, her astute young master had only suspected her origins out of curiosity, never finding concrete proof. She didn't want to fail at the last moment. She often went to the village school with her young master and thought some of the scholars' words were hypocritical nonsense, like "Sacrificing life for righteousness." But others were good, like "One who travels a hundred li is halfway there at ninety," truly explaining the principle thoroughly.

The mud-yellow lizard was basking in the sun on the threshold. Now, as it stood silently still, it revealed its "true form." Reflected in the light, it shimmered with a lustrous, crystalline quality, its entire body like a piece of glass.

In the neighboring courtyard, the black-clad girl Ning Yao had entered a profound state of fetal respiration, not breathing through her mouth or nose, like an infant still in the womb, her spirit returning to its root to cease thought.

Inside the snow-white sheath, the flying sword was as if pardoned, slowly leaving its scabbard. It flew swiftly and lightly around its master. With the gentle and intimate quality of a bird nestling close to its owner, and the beauty of a maiden's skirt fluttering in the wind. It wasn't flying aimlessly, but rather creating an optimal feng shui location for its healing master as if drawing a talisman. As expected, the breath-less girl began to absorb the aura around her. She swallowed like a whale, frantically drawing in the world's origin essence. Therefore, at this moment, the town’s deathly stillness was in stark contrast to the prosperous vitality of this residence.

Outside the town, by the southern stream,

There was a short, stocky man with thick eyebrows and piercing eyes, radiating vigor. Bare-chested, holding an iron hammer, he was forging iron. Each strike sent sparks flying, illuminating the room.Countless sparks of fire darted randomly within the empty house, a dazzling spectacle. Each hammer blow seemed to paint a picture in the air.

Across from the brawny man stood a maiden with a neat ponytail, her figure petite. She wore a yellow oxhide apron to protect herself from the flying sparks, as ordinary cotton clothes would easily be riddled with holes.

After one strike of the hammer, the millions of sparks suddenly froze in mid-air.

The ponytail maiden frowned and asked, "Father?"

The man said in a deep voice, "You take over hammering the sword billet. It's a good opportunity to temper your divine will."

The maiden put down the old sword billet and pushed aside the sparks in front of her. With a wave of her hand, the sparks dispersed, a single action affecting everything. The sparks, which should have been frozen in the river of time, collided with each other, creating a chaotic dance of light within the house.

Compared to the town's senior experts, who were all meditating and conserving their energy, the maiden's actions were rather tyrannical.

Especially when she took up the hammer, her strikes were powerful, her movements swift. She was even more unrestrained and wild than her experienced father.

Each strike sent sparks flying, which did not dissipate within the stillness. So, with each successive blow, the dense sparks accumulated, like a constellation of brilliant stars clustered in the air.

The sword-forging chamber was filled with billions of sparks.

The man stared intently at the red-hot sword billet and instructed in a deep voice, "Silently recite the 'Earth-Shaking' chapter of the 'Sword-Forging Sutra'!"

The maiden's momentum suddenly waned, and she said softly, "Father?"

The man said irritably, "What is it?"

The maiden's momentum dropped further, and she timidly said, "I didn't eat much at noon, I'm hungry, and I can't hammer properly."

The man grew even more frustrated. If he wasn't in the middle of forging a sword, he would have scolded her. "You act like reciting scriptures is a fate worse than death, what kind of excuse is that... Damn it, with your appetite, it's normal to be hungry, it's actually not an excuse..."

The maiden smiled secretly. Though she claimed to be hungry, her movements didn't slow down at all. In a flash of inspiration, the maiden shouted and brought the hammer down with all her might, exclaiming as if guided by the gods, "Come out!"

This time, the sparks that flew out were extremely numerous and dazzling.

The man's face remained impassive, but he thought to himself, "It's done."

In the courtyard of the Gu family, the woman slowly woke up with a splitting headache. With the help of her child, she sat back on the long bench. True Lord Interception Stream Liu Zhimao was meditating with his eyes closed, his thumb and index finger slowly pinching.

The woman, Gu, sat her son down beside her and asked softly, "Immortal Master, what happened?"

The old man didn't open his eyes and said, "This old man has taken in a good disciple, and you have a good son. Gu, just wait for your son to become famous and bring glory to his mother."

The woman was overjoyed, tears welling up in her eyes as she hugged her child, whispering, "His father, did you hear that? Our Gu Can will definitely amount to great things..."

Liu Zhimao suddenly let out a sound of surprise. He opened his eyes in astonishment and looked down at the lines in his palm, as if a new path had branched out, muttering to himself, "Why is this? It shouldn't be. The boy didn't die, but that immortal youth died inexplicably?"

The old man had to stand up and slowly pace around the courtyard, calculating rapidly with his fingers. "Waste! To be defeated by a commoner boy, the millennia of reputation that Cloud Rosy Mountain has painstakingly accumulated will be ruined."

The woman said anxiously, "Senior Immortal, now that our Can'er has already become a disciple, why not let Chen Pingan go?"

The old man scolded angrily, "Womanly benevolence! If you truly had a compassionate heart, you wouldn't have harbored murderous thoughts when we first met. Why are you pretending to be a bodhisattva now, do you have any shame?"

The woman's face turned pale from the scolding, and she dared not say a word.

The old man was still not appeased and pointed at the woman, cursing, "Ignorant village woman, short-sighted! After Gu Can returns to the Scroll Lake with me, the number of times you two meet must not be too frequent, so as not to hinder his cultivation, do you have any objections?"

The woman quickly waved her hand and said, "I dare not."

The old man's eyes were sinister.

The woman was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to her senses, looking miserable and pathetic. "No objections, absolutely no objections!"

The old man waved his sleeve forcefully and snorted coldly, "How infuriating!"

He had previously thought that the woman had a rather unique charm and had just had the idea of taking her as a personal servant, but she had shown herself to be so vulgar and unbearable. It was her own fault for missing out on the opportunity to step onto the path of cultivation.

The old man suddenly felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy and looked around. Sure enough, this world had been artificially frozen into a "Stasis Realm," a type of minor paradise. Even Land Immortals and Golden Body Arhats could not create one.

This kind of great power was the pinnacle of skill. Although it was largely due to the great array, it was still awe-inspiring.

Just imagine, as long as you are in this world, no matter if you are a fairy, Buddha, god, demon, or ghost, you must bow down to me. What kind of feeling would that be?

True Lord Interception Stream Liu Zhimao dreamed of reaching this level. Skill without use? To hell with that! Liu Zhimao wished that after he had this minor paradise, he would drag in all the third-generation disciples of Buddha, Daoist Ancestor, and Confucian head, not daring to ask them to bow down, but at least everyone could sit on an equal footing, calling each other by their generation.

Liu Zhimao spat out a mouthful of blood without warning, and blood splattered on his palm, as if someone had forcefully cut a blood groove with a sharp weapon.

In his other hand, the white bowl involuntarily appeared, the water surface rippling in chaos, black lines darting around, hitting the sides.

The old man didn't hesitate at all. He placed his palm on the back of his hand and, as a member of the side branch of Daoism, performed the Confucian salute, bowing deeply, extremely piously, and said in a trembling voice, "Liu Zhimao, the island master of Green Gorge Island in Scroll Lake, humbly begs Mr. Qi for his pity towards this junior's sincere pursuit of the Dao. If there is any offense, I hope that Mr. will be magnanimous... The sage does not remember the faults of petty people!"

After a long time.

"Leave quickly!"

The four words resounded like spring thunder in the true lord's ears.

Liu Zhimao was overjoyed and said, "Mr. can rest assured, this junior will take the Gu family mother and son away from the town immediately."

The old man, who had always called himself a junior, remembered one thing and asked cautiously, "May I ask Mr., what should I do with these two bags of gold-refined copper coins on my person?"

The dignified voice sounded again, "One person, one item, it just so happens to be two opportunities, leave them in the courtyard. You must not leave Scroll Lake for half a step within thirty years."Liu Zhimao felt a great weight lifted. This time, he didn't fawn, nor did he offer a Confucian bow. Instead, he gave a solemn Daoist salute. "A gift from an elder is not to be refused. Master Qi's immense kindness, this junior will forever be grateful, and will never forget!"

After this, Qi Jingchun's voice did not reappear, and the state of cessation vanished quickly. Liu Zhimao didn't waste words. He immediately instructed Gu Shi to leave the town with Gu Can. Gu Shi was about to speak when Liu Zhimao silenced her with a fierce glare. The woman was terrified into silence. Liu Zhimao pulled out two bags, and although reluctant, this unorthodox Daoist, determined to earn the title of True Lord, unhesitatingly placed them on the long bench. Just as he reached the courtyard, Liu Zhimao suddenly asked, "Do you have any old heirlooms left?"

Gu Shi looked blank, but the sneaky Gu Can immediately reminded, "Didn't Dad leave a curio cabinet? The one hidden under the bed gathering dust?"

Liu Zhimao's eyes lit up. Without another word, he had the woman lead the way to investigate.

Since the sage had recognized Gu Can himself as an opportunity, it meant the child could take his own fortune with him.

As for who would ultimately possess these fortunes, within the town, even the Heavenly King would have to listen to Qi Jingchun. But once they reached Shujian Lake, that was another matter entirely.

Finally, free from supervision, Gu Can grabbed both bags, gently slid the bolt, and ran towards the other end of Mud Bottle Lane.

Inside the house, Gu Shi knelt on the ground, reaching under the bed to pull out a box. The box wasn't big but it was heavy, making her pant with effort.

Suddenly, her ample rear was kicked hard by the Intercepting River True Lord. The old man chuckled, "Gu Shi, you're lacking in postnatal care. Based on this, you could barely manage to be a second-class maid on Green Cliff Island, or maybe a third-class maid. I don't find you attractive, but there are a few guest cultivators on Green Cliff Island who might like your type. You should seize the opportunity and not be shy, or you'll miss out on a stroke of luck."

The woman's body stiffened slightly. Most of her body was still under the bed, obscuring her expression.

At an intersection, Qi Jingchun said to Chen Ping'an, "Cai Jianjian and Fu Nanhua will be dealt with by me. Now that you have this Ancestral Yin Locust Leaf, don't take life and death lightly. Living well is the greatest repayment to your parents. As for the Clouded Peak Mountain, Old Dragon City, and Intercepting River True Lord, I can't guarantee they'll never trouble you, but they definitely won't come looking for you for ten years. If you're lucky, you'll remain an ordinary citizen and live peacefully for thirty years."

Qi Jingchun smiled. "There's no need to be wary of the town. After a while... soon enough, there shouldn't be any more schemes. If you want twenty or thirty years of peace, you might as well find a girl here, get married, and build a life. If you want to leave the town and see the true world, that's also a good thing. Reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles is something we scholars must do. You'll realize that reading is hard and walking is easy in the town. Outside, many scholars find it easy to buy, read, and collect books, but they don't like to travel far, disliking hardship. Their so-called travels are just a short car trip."

The boy was surprised. "Master Qi, is walking considered hardship?"

Qi Jingchun laughed heartily. "Let's not even talk about anyone else, how many people your age in Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Lane do you see running all over the mountains like you?"

The boy nodded. "That's true."

Qi Jingchun thought for a moment, then pulled out a jade hairpin from his hair, bent down, and handed it to the poor boy. "Consider it a farewell gift. It's not a valuable item, nor is it a magical artifact, so don't worry. Actually, like you, I was once a boy from a poor alley, studying hard, enduring hardships and difficulties, and also having various opportunities. The time I spent entering Cliffside Academy and learning from my master was the happiest time of my life. Later, when my master left the mountain, he gave me this hairpin as a kind of expectation and entrustment. Unfortunately, looking back now, I haven't done well all these years. I believe my master would be disappointed if he were still alive."

The boy dared not accept this gift.

This jade hairpin seemed to contain the feelings between Master Qi and his own master. Not only were the feelings profound, but the gift was also considerable.

Even though the boy was inexperienced, he was still from a family that made imperial porcelain, so he had some ability to judge the quality of things.

Qi Jingchun said gently, "If it stays with me, my master's relic will be buried with me. It's better to give it to you. Besides, you're not receiving it without merit. I've stayed in this town for almost sixty years, and there's been a knot in my heart that I couldn't untie. Unfortunately, my master has passed away, and I thought I would never get an answer in this lifetime. You unintentionally helped me solve it, so it's very appropriate for me to give you this hairpin, in terms of feelings, reason, and propriety. Chen Ping'an, I can only help you obtain a Locust Leaf, I can't give you any more opportunities."

The boy took the ordinary jade hairpin with both hands, looked up and said sincerely, "Master has already done a lot."

Qi Jingchun smiled without comment. Seeing that the boy had been persuaded to accept the hairpin, he felt a weight lifted from his heart. The hairpin was indeed ordinary and unremarkable, but it was still a relic of his master, and it was good to be able to give it to a boy who wouldn't disgrace the inscription on the jade hairpin.

So Qi Jingchun finally instructed, "Chen Ping'an, remember, no matter what you encounter in the future, don't lose hope in this world."