Chapter 48: One Lasts Longer Than Six

“All right.

“That’s enough for today.

“Remember the sensation you felt just now.

“Tomorrow, we’ll try accelerating the circulation.”

Ding Hao spoke to Zheng Fan with great satisfaction.

Deep down, almost everyone had a tendency to enjoy being a teacher.

Many keyboard warriors in later generations had exactly that mentality.

They always felt they had grasped the supreme truth of the universe and could bend reality merely by opening their mouths.

For Ding Hao, the Blind Man Bei and the other five from before did not make him feel like a teacher at all.

Those six were fucking monsters!

All they had brought him was fear, unease, astonishment, and the collapse of his worldview.

Rather than saying Ding Hao had taught them martial arts, it would be more accurate to say they had proved one thing to him:

You wasted the entire first half of your life living like a dog.

Fortunately, Zheng Fan restored some of Ding Hao’s dignity.

Zheng Fan’s talent...

Whew.

If those six damned freaks were excluded from the comparison, Zheng Fan’s aptitude was absolutely top-class!

Even more astonishingly, his body naturally contained an extraordinarily thick strand of qi and blood.

It was like two people who both dreamed of owning a luxury car.

One person needed to work hard, save money, struggle upward, and hope that someday he could afford the car.

The other only needed to go to driving school and obtain a license.

Then he could drive the luxury car straight out of his own garage.

Teaching a naturally gifted student really did feel satisfying.

Zheng Fan slowly opened his eyes from meditation.

There was a trace of exhaustion in his gaze.

He asked, “Teacher, how much longer until I can glow?”

“More haste, less speed.

“If we build your foundation properly, the road afterward will be much smoother.

“But at the current rate, you should need no more than three days to reach half-step Ninth Grade.

“Continue steadily after that, and within two months you should properly enter the grades.”

“I still want it faster.”

“That was already my most conservative estimate.

“In reality, you’ll probably advance much faster than I predicted.”

“Thank you for your instruction, Teacher.”

“Your own talent is the reason.

“I am curious, though.

“You and these subordinates of yours— what great aristocratic clan did you come from?”

No matter how he turned it over in his head, Ding Hao still believed Zheng Fan’s group had to be descendants or retainers from some mighty great clan.

A polite smile appeared on Zheng Fan’s face.

“That needn’t trouble you, Teacher.”

“Oh.

“Yes, yes.

“I spoke out of turn.”

“Teacher, please rest early.

“I’ll come again tomorrow afternoon.”

The reason he would return in the afternoon was because he still had to report to the yamen in the morning.

Compared with the famously idle bureaucratic offices of later generations, Zheng Fan’s job as a civil servant of Tiger Head City in the Great Yan Dynasty was even more leisurely.

He only needed to show his face.

After that, he could walk straight back out of the yamen and do whatever he wanted.

No one cared.

There was no attendance system.

No one docked his salary.

First, Yan had Lieutenant Commanders everywhere.

Second, the people at the yamen would rather not see Zheng Fan at all.

He carried the mark of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s residence.

No one was bored enough to court death by deliberately stepping on him.

At the same time, because the Marquis of Zhenbei’s residence was currently in such an awkward political position, no one came over to cling to him or curry favor either.

After leaving Ding Hao’s room, Zheng Fan crossed the courtyard and saw Fan Li squatting there.

He held a lantern and seemed to be shining it at something on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

Zheng Fan asked.

Fan Li raised his head and gave Zheng Fan his simple, foolish grin.

“Watching ants fight.”

“Oh.

“Carry on, then.”

“All right, Master.”

Zheng Fan continued toward the rear residence.

As he passed the cellar entrance, he noticed a row of carts parked nearby.

Every one of them had already been piled high with goods.

Xue San sat alone atop one of the crates.

His short legs swung back and forth.

He was humming a Kunqu opera tune.

The moment he saw Zheng Fan approach, Xue San jumped down from the cart and performed a formal salute.

“Greetings, Master.”

“Is this... soap and perfume?”

“Master is wise.

“Yes, these are the soap and perfume we produced recently.

“We’ve already set aside enough for everyone in the residence to use.

“To tell you the truth, Master, vampires really are suited to fiddling with this sort of thing.

“They may be a little tsundere, but their standards for quality of life are absolutely first-rate.

“The soap A’Ming made genuinely brought back the feeling of Safeguard soap for me.”

“Are you praising A’Ming or insulting Safeguard?”

“Uh...”

Xue San shook his head shyly.

“Whatever Master says it is.”

“You’ve loaded everything onto carts.

“Planning to sell it?”

“Mm.

“The Cart Gang’s people are already prepared.

“We’ll have them come over shortly to finish loading the goods and transport them.”

“Where are you taking it?”

“The Blind Man said Tuman City.

“We don’t have our own distribution network yet, so we can only go to Tuman City and find a major trading house.

“If they want to take a bite out of the profits, let them.

“What matters is getting cash back quickly.”

Although they had subdued Tiger Head City’s Cart Gang, those poor fellows did not possess much capital.

At most, they could operate around Tiger Head City itself.

But the soap and perfume were meant to be sold as luxury goods.

Tiger Head City alone could never absorb that volume.

“Where’s the Blind Man?”

“Oh, right.

“This subordinate forgot to mention it.

“The Blind Man said he went to the rear residence to wait for Master to finish class.”

“All right.

“I know.”

After parting with Xue San, Zheng Fan went directly back to the rear residence.

The Blind Man Bei sat on the steps outside Zheng Fan’s room.

A red lantern rested in front of him.

Something between his lips brightened and dimmed.

Tsk...

When the thing had not existed, Zheng Fan had not thought much about it.

But the moment he saw that little red glow flickering in the dark, the craving surged up instantly.

“Master.

“There’s one here.”

Naturally, the Blind Man Bei had sensed Zheng Fan long ago.

Inside this residence, he was practically a built-in radar station.

Zheng Fan sat beside the Blind Man Bei.

He accepted a cigarette and fire striker.

He lit it.

Took a drag.

“Cough... cough...”

Harsh.

Spicy.

It scraped painfully across his throat.

Then came the uncontrollable dry heaving.

But still the feeling had returned.

“Master, there are several matters this subordinate needs to report.”

“Go ahead.”

“Tomorrow, Xue San and I will take men from the Cart Gang to Tuman City.

“We’ll try to sell off this entire batch of goods.

“If possible, we’ll also purchase everything we need and bring it back.

“After all, gold and silver are dead objects.

“None of us has dragon blood.

“We don’t particularly enjoy hoarding shiny things.”

“Mm.”

“Liang Cheng, Fan Li, and A’Ming will also set out tomorrow for the desert again.

“Their objective is to find the penal tribe Fan Li mentioned.

“Whether through force or deception, they’ll try to bring back three or four hundred men.”

“Only the three of them?”

“Master thinks that’s too many?”

“No.

“I mean... with only those three, won’t they be a little too weak?”

Zheng Fan had seen a true battlefield.

More importantly, he had seen the Zhenbei Army charge.

Ruling Causeway Bay like a local tyrant was one thing.

But the moment you stepped outside, the world became vast, and you immediately became small.

“The three of them should be about enough.

“This subordinate calculated the timing.

“Traveling into the desert and finding the penal tribe will take at least half a month.

“Then there’s intelligence gathering and preparing to act.

“Whether they use threats or incentives, all of that will require time.

“Roughly speaking... one month.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

The Blind Man Bei smiled.

“What I mean is that Master can rest assured.

“I’ve already warned them.

“Without solid confidence in success, they will not recklessly put themselves in danger.”

A month.

Take it slowly.

Wait a little longer.

That should be enough time for Master to enter the grades.

Once Master entered the grades, all of them would recover another portion of their strength.

The reason they were deliberately going slowly, taking time to investigate, was ultimately because they were waiting for Master to finish on his end first.

“It feels a little like last time.

“Suddenly, everyone is splitting up and doing separate things again.

“It still feels rushed.”

Zheng Fan sighed.

The previous time, Zheng Fan himself had chosen the direction, then the Blind Man Bei distributed everyone’s assignments over the dinner table.

Fan Li went deep into the desert.

The Fourth Lady hung out her sign and began receiving customers...

“This is fate.

“Our fate.

“We were never suited to waiting until everything was prepared except the east wind.”

“Why?”

“Because that would be far too lacking in excitement.”

“Fine.”

“Master, five of us will be leaving at once.

“The Fourth Lady will remain behind to protect you.

“Beginning tomorrow night, the Fourth Lady will attend your bed every night and remain at your side twenty-four hours a day.”

“This... wouldn’t that be inappropriate...?”

Ah.

Tonight’s moon suddenly seemed much more beautiful.

No.

Tomorrow night’s moon would be even more beautiful.

Yet Zheng Fan’s expression remained calm.

He even revealed a faint trace of difficulty.

“Master’s safety cannot be compromised.

“While the rest of us are away, the Fourth Lady’s task is to protect you.

“Of course, if Master can enter the grades as quickly as possible, the pressure on the Fourth Lady will also be reduced considerably.”

“I understand.”

“Also...

Master.

“From now on, carry the stone sealing the Demon Pill on your person.”

“He refuses to come out.”

“If Master is about to die, he will definitely come out,” the Blind Man Bei said.

“You mean... he still cares about me in his heart?”

“No.

“This subordinate merely thinks he probably wouldn’t be willing to die without even showing his face once.”

“...”

Zheng Fan fell silent.

“Master, please rest early.

“We leave tomorrow morning.”

“Be careful on the road.”

“Yes, Master.”

The Blind Man Bei saluted.

He left behind two boxes of cigarettes, then picked up his lantern and walked away.

In truth, even the Blind Man Bei could not quite figure out what the Demon Pill was thinking.

Just as Xue San had said several days earlier, when Zheng Fan originally designed the Demon Pill as a character, he had made him far too...

This was not the sort of being whose behavior could be predicted through ordinary logic or experience.

But there was nothing to be done.

For now, the Blind Man Bei could only hope that the killing intent he had sensed that night had been aimed at the rest of them a warning not to bully his daddy too badly rather than evidence that the little bastard was already struggling to restrain his desire to become an orphan.

The Blind Man Bei walked for quite a while from the rear courtyard before reaching the front.

By coincidence, he ran into Feng Siniang heading in the opposite direction.

Feng Siniang carried a huge sack in her arms.

The moment she saw the Blind Man, she stamped one foot and complained angrily, “You people are too much!

“Five people.

“Twenty or thirty letters each.

“How long do you expect me to spend reading all this?”

The letters had all been written in advance.

Every one of them contained greetings, concern, and expressions of longing.

Fan Li’s letters were the simplest:

Master, did you eat breakfast today?

Master, did you eat lunch today?

Master, did you eat dinner today?

The Blind Man Bei smiled helplessly.

“No choice.

“This is insurance.

“And once we leave, don’t only read the letters.

“Say more good things about us.

“Mention us often in front of Master.

“Anyway, starting tomorrow night, none of us will be here.

“You can openly whisper into Master’s pillow.

“That makes things convenient.”

“Oh, heavens.

“What sin did I commit for you people to treat me like this?

“Why don’t we switch?”

“It’s already decided.

“Not easy to change now.

“Besides, other than you, which of us can get into Master’s bed?”

“Get lost!

“Why do all you damned men get to go out and enjoy yourselves, while this old lady is left guarding the house and I have to do the bootlicking for all six of you by myself?

“What the hell do you people take me for?”

The Blind Man Bei held up his lantern.

He tilted his head toward the sky, pretending he could admire the moon.

Then, slowly, he answered, “A Nanfu battery.”

“...”

Feng Siniang fell silent.

(End of Chapter)