Chapter 247: Learning

At dinner, the Demon Kings did not eat together.

Zheng Fan naturally ate with Siniang.

Liang Cheng had led troops into the mountains to transport the treasure vault’s contents and would not return for some time. Even after he came back, he would still eat in the military camp.

Of course, Liang Cheng eating with the troops was mainly about maintaining the atmosphere of “stirring spoons in the same pot.” He barely needed food anymore. At night, absorbing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth was enough, and every so often he could find a mass grave to recharge himself.

Now that the Blind Man had a wife, he ate at home with her. Yuexin’s hands were good not only with an abacus, but also in the kitchen. A few delicate Qian dishes, two cups of wine—his little domestic life was quite comfortable.

A’Ming drank blood.

He did not eat meals.

So in the end, only two bachelors remained, one large and one small, eating together.

The young maids had already prepared dinner on the table.

One place held a small bowl.

The other had an entire rice bucket.

The contrast was so extreme that it could have instantly killed off Big-Head Son and Small-Head Dad.

Fan Li arrived first.

He ate more than everyone else and naturally got hungry sooner as well. Sitting in front of his rice bucket, he took up a serving spoon and started shoveling food directly into his mouth.

Two young maids stood at his sides.

One kept placing dishes into his rice bucket.

The other peeled garlic for him.

When Xue San came in, he sat down at his own place.

After only two mouthfuls of rice, he suddenly stopped.

He raised his head and stared at Fan Li.

Fan Li also stopped scooping rice into his mouth.

Then he gave Xue San his trademark simple-minded grin.

Xue San hurled his chopsticks straight at Fan Li.

At the same time, he cursed, “Fuck!”

“This servant knows her fault!”

“This servant knows her fault!”

The two young maids hurriedly dropped to their knees and begged forgiveness, thinking the food they had arranged was not to his taste.

Normally, Xue San was actually very easygoing with servants.

He would crack dirty jokes around the younger maids until they fled with their faces covered in embarrassment, or trade even dirtier jokes with older women until Xue San himself ran away clutching his swollen third leg while the women laughed behind him.

But the rules of hierarchy had long since been branded into the hearts of everyone in this era.

A noble might usually be kind because he was in a good mood.

If he truly became displeased, taking your head was still only a matter of saying one sentence.

Fan Li reached up, picked a grain of rice stuck to his face, put it into his mouth, and continued grinning honestly at Xue San.

“You bastard! You bastard! You absolute bastard! AAAAAAAAHHH!”

Xue San was furious.

And deeply aggrieved.

The Demon Child had advanced before him.

Fine.

He was Master’s biological son, after all. Those of them born to the “second wife” had enough self-awareness to accept that.

Siniang advancing before him was only natural as well.

If Siniang had been behind him, that would have meant something was wrong with Master.

A’Ming was ahead because Xue San himself had assisted him.

His own loose mouth had caused it.

Fine.

He accepted that too.

But how the hell had this bastard gotten ahead of him as well?

“What did you do for Master?” Xue San demanded.

“He made Master a toilet.”

A’Ming walked in holding a wineglass.

He glanced at the two maids kneeling on the floor and said, “You two may leave.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The two maids hurried out.

Xue San sat back down angrily and snapped, “A toilet? A toilet? Fuck me! Yesterday you told me your ass was too big, so you wanted a toilet because it’d be more comfortable to sit on while taking a shit. You even made me draw the plans for you, and then you…”

Fan Li continued smiling foolishly.

Then he lowered his head and resumed eating.

A’Ming shook his head.

At the same time, he gently swirled the wineglass in his hand.

“So you assisted someone again?

“What do we call this?

“A brace of assists?”

“You’re deliberately trying to piss me off, aren’t you?!”

“Just wait. Maybe the Blind Man will come over later to have a heart-to-heart with you and try to get you to complete an assist hat trick.”

“AAAAAAAHHH!”

Xue San roared twice in frustration.

“I’m not fucking eating anymore!”

With that, he marched out of the room in a great many short, furious strides.

…

The bright moon hung high.

Outside Shengle City, a towering figure carried a tiny one as they strolled around the city walls.

The Little Sword Attendant was accustomed to sitting on Fan Li’s shoulders.

Because she was short, she coveted height.

Fan Li seemed long used to it as well.

For the past few days since returning, every night after dark, he and the Little Sword Attendant would circle Shengle City twice.

It was simply their way of digesting dinner.

“You killed quite a few people on this trip into the mountains, didn’t you?” the Little Sword Attendant asked.

“Mm.”

“I saw those savages in shackles working at the construction sites.

“They look pretty pitiful.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t you think doing this is cruel?”

“Mm.”

“If it’s cruel, why do you still do it?”

Fan Li stopped walking.

He began thinking.

The Little Sword Attendant patiently waited for the result.

A while later, Fan Li turned his head toward the little girl dressed as a boy sitting on his shoulder.

He said, “Then you do it?”

“…”

The Little Sword Attendant.

One simple question left her speechless.

Did the city wall need to be repaired?

Yes.

Did houses need to be built?

Yes.

Did workshops need to be constructed?

Yes.

Then someone had to do the work.

If they had not captured people to do it, they would have to do it themselves.

The only difference was whether you wanted to hold a sword or a shovel.

For the past several years, the Little Sword Attendant had followed Yuan Zhenxing across the country.

Her master might have been a little foolish, but he had still done his share of roaring in outrage whenever he encountered injustice.

Aside from dying in a rather frustrating manner on the banks of the Bian River, at other times, her master’s sword had indeed been capable of punishing evil and promoting good.

Because of that, for a long time, the jianghu had seemed extremely simple in the Little Sword Attendant’s mind.

I reason with you.

If you refuse to listen to reason, then I use my sword to reason with you.

But not everything in this world could be settled by reason.

In fact, many things did not possess any real “reason” at all.

When she had followed her master before, the Little Sword Attendant had never felt this way.

But over these past several months, she had remained beside the Demon Kings.

From the State of Qian to the State of Yan, then from Yan to Jin, until finally arriving here in Shengle City.

She had suddenly understood many things.

And because of that, she had also gained many new troubles.

Perhaps the worldview she once possessed was no longer enough to fully and correctly explain what was happening before her eyes.

It was much like a young person thinking the heroes of Liangshan were wonderfully carefree, eating great chunks of meat and drinking from huge bowls.

Then, after gaining more life experience, beginning to wonder where all that meat and wine had actually come from.

“I can’t figure it out.”

Fan Li said, “If you can’t figure it out, then don’t think about it.”

“But can you really do that?”

Fan Li thought again.

“If you figure it out, they’re still doing hard labor.

“If you don’t figure it out, they’re still doing hard labor.

“Is whether you figure it out really that important?”

The Little Sword Attendant blinked.

Then she reached down and smacked Fan Li on the head.

“Even though I feel like you just said something completely useless, I also feel like it makes a lot of sense.”

Fan Li continued smiling foolishly.

“Forget it! Forget it! I’m going to practice my sword.”

Hearing that, Fan Li lifted the Little Sword Attendant off his shoulders and set her down.

She drew a small wooden sword.

Her master had originally possessed three swords, but Zheng Fan had taken all of them.

Right now, she could only use a wooden sword Fan Li had carved for her with an axe.

Calling it sword training was a little generous.

She was merely practicing forms.

Beneath the moonlight, the Little Sword Attendant practiced with complete concentration.

At her age, tempering the body or luring sword qi into it was still far too early.

Trying to do so before her bones had fully developed would be like draining the pond to catch the fish.

But practicing forms while beginning to think, observe, and comprehend was still extremely important.

It would allow her to advance by leaps and bounds once she truly took up the sword in the future.

Fan Li sat beneath the city wall, watching the Little Sword Attendant perform her sword forms.

After practicing through two cycles, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and said to Fan Li, “Your turn.”

“All right.”

Fan Li nodded.

He picked up his axe, stood, and walked several steps forward.

The large one and the small one had developed this routine after their evening walks.

The Little Sword Attendant feared being lonely while practicing, so she also taught Fan Li sword forms.

In this regard, she held absolutely nothing back.

Though still young, she had not only inherited her master’s teachings, but had also absorbed quite a bit of the Baili Clan’s swordsmanship.

Originally, she had truly only wanted a companion because she was bored.

Fan Li looked dull and foolish, and every time he practiced sword forms, he looked ridiculous.

But this time, when Fan Li lifted his axe and began moving, the Little Sword Attendant stared in stunned disbelief.

Streams of vigorous qi were actually flowing around the edge of the axe.

He was clearly not holding a sword, yet what he was producing was sword qi.

Fan Li’s body had nothing in common with the elegant bearing swordsmen usually possessed.

But at this moment, what emanated from him was an extraordinarily profound artistic conception.

Especially when he finished a full cycle and lowered the axe, threads of sword qi spread through the ground around his feet and sliced every blade of newly sprouted spring grass cleanly apart.

Command the sword through intent.

Guide intent through the sword.

The Little Sword Attendant released a long breath.

Frowning, she sat down on the ground, threw her wooden sword aside, and began sulking by herself.

The idiot who had always ranked dead last in class had actually surpassed her.

It hurt.

Fan Li put down his axe.

He crouched in front of the Little Sword Attendant and continued grinning honestly.

The Little Sword Attendant puffed out her cheeks.

Fan Li kept smiling.

The Little Sword Attendant grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at him.

Fan Li still kept smiling.

The Little Sword Attendant had no choice.

She stood, walked up to Fan Li, and asked, “I still have the next level of sword forms. Do you want to learn them?”

Confusion appeared in Fan Li’s eyes.

“Are you stupid? Don’t you want to learn?

“This is an enormous opportunity countless swordsmen could spend their entire lives begging for and still never obtain!”

Fan Li shook his head.

“Do you want to learn or not?!” the Little Sword Attendant shouted, stamping her foot.

At this moment, she actually experienced a little of what her master must once have felt while facing the mischievous her.

If she herself was a natural sword embryo, then this foolish giant standing before her might very well be one too.

Perhaps his quality was not even the slightest bit inferior to hers.

Yet he seemed utterly indifferent to it.

“Hey! Do you want to learn or not?

“Say something! Say something! Hurry up and answer me!”

Fan Li scratched his head.

Then said, “If you’re bored, I’ll learn.”

“…”

The Little Sword Attendant.

“You great blockhead! You’re infuriating!

“Such excellent swordsmanship, and I have to beg you to learn it?

“Then tell me—if you don’t want to learn this, what do you want to learn instead?

“Is there something else more worth learning than this?”

Fan Li nodded with a foolish smile.

The Little Sword Attendant refused to believe him.

“I don’t believe you.”

Fan Li did not argue.

He simply kept smiling.

“Then what did you study before?” the Little Sword Attendant asked.

“Myself.”

“Hah. Then what do you plan to keep studying in the future?”

“Still myself.”

[End of Chapter 247]