Chapter 652: - Young Marquis

Chen Family Village was also known as Chen Family Hamlet. Its households made their living from fishing and farming.

At the little wharf outside the village, a large crowd of locals had gathered. A temporary stage had already been erected, with cloth curtains shielding the left, right, and rear. A middle-aged storyteller sat in the center.

His surname was Zhou. He had originally been a trader who worked the surrounding villages, but after losing money in business, he simply brought his son along and became a storyteller.

He had always possessed a glib tongue and had seen plenty of the world. Rather than entering towns, he deliberately sought out somewhat prosperous villages with larger populations and set up performances there.

He told stories twice a day.

One session after lunch and another after supper.

That took care of two meals for himself and his son, and before leaving he could usually collect a small payment for their trouble from the clan elder.

It was not much money, but all he had to spend was saliva.

To everyone else, saliva cost nothing.

So one might as well call it a business without capital.

They had eaten lunch at the clan elder’s home.

By the time they finished, the villagers had already built the stage.

Mr. Zhou sat in the center with an erhu. His son sat behind him holding a wooden fish.

The instruments were simple, used only to carry the mood. His son would throw in the right response at the right moment, and that was enough to turn a story into a proper performance.

Truthfully, after working this trade for so long, Mr. Zhou had already emptied nearly everything in his belly.

So every so often he traveled to the larger teahouses in nearby towns and listened to other storytellers.

In Mr. Zhou’s words, this was called replenishing his reserves.

Once he returned, he still had to embellish the stories himself and tell them with greater drama.

The audiences differed. Villagers were naturally less sensitive to outside affairs than city folk. As long as a tale was exciting, they cheered enthusiastically. It was not strange for them to happily listen to the same story two or three days in a row.

“Ha!”

Mr. Zhou smacked one palm down.

“Friends, do you know what truly happened on the night Great Yan broke through the Chu slaves’ capital, Ying Capital, during the campaign against Chu?”

His son immediately asked:

“What happened?”

“Heh. That night, above Ying Capital appeared the spirit of a Fire Phoenix, enormous as a Kunpeng. Its body was many times larger than the entire city itself!”

His son sucked in a breath.

“Hiss!”

The villagers listening below all inhaled sharply with him.

“Then Marquis Pingxi arrived atop his Pixiu at full gallop. From outside the southern gate of Ying Capital, he launched himself into the sky and fought a heaven-shaking battle against the Fire Phoenix Spirit! That battle turned mountains and rivers pale and left sun and moon without light...”

Chen Xianba carried an old scholar on his back to the edge of the crowd around the wharf.

The old scholar held roasted peanuts in his hands. He ate two himself, then peeled one and tossed it down into Chen Xianba’s mouth.

“Old man, look how badly I lost out. You gave me a name like this, and I still have to wait on you.”

Chen Xianba had never liked his name very much.

In the local dialect, Xianba sounded extremely similar to the locals’ word for a river turtle.

Because of that name, children his age had mocked him constantly when he was younger.

Things were better now.

He had grown up.

He was big.

He could beat people.

So no one dared mock his name anymore.

“Heh. What the hell do you know? Some people are born with weak fates and are hard to keep alive, so they receive cheap names in hopes of borrowing a little earthiness and surviving childhood. You, though? Your fate is too good. Too much of anything becomes harmful. That is why you needed something wild and unrestrained, something that can let a little of it leak away. Otherwise you need to worry about being stuffed to death by your own fortune.”

“Being stuffed to death sounds wonderful. I have barely eaten a truly full meal a few times in my entire life.”

“You donkey. If they really let you eat your fill at every meal, would your mother and father not starve to death?”

Chen Xianba’s nickname was Donkey.

Like his formal name, the old scholar had given him that too.

At that moment, Chen Xianba spotted Chen Afei approaching from the outside of the crowd, helping along the old woman who had lost sight in one eye.

They had probably come to listen to the storytelling too.

“Afei!”

“Brother Donkey!”

“Fuck off. Get out of here!”

Chen Xianba shouted in utter disgust.

After that, the two young men settled the old people accompanying them beside each other on a short log.

Chen Xianba tugged Chen Afei by the shoulder.

“Come on. Let’s go to the ditch and catch a couple fish.”

Catching fish in winter required skill.

Chen Xianba was unquestionably an expert.

“You aren’t listening to the storyteller? He’s talking about your favorite Marquis Pingxi.”

“I’ve heard it several times already. Forget it. Catching two fish is more useful.”

Chen Xianba did want to listen.

He could hear stories about Marquis Pingxi a hundred times and never tire of them.

The problem was that he knew Afei had pawned a few more household items two days earlier to buy medicine for the old woman.

The pots and jars were not worth much, but Afei’s family had been poor to begin with.

They had grown up together.

At a time like this, Chen Xianba felt he ought to help his friend.

Chen Afei looked regretfully toward Mr. Zhou on the stage, who was still spraying spit as he talked.

He liked stories too.

But in the end he could only nod.

“Fine. Then we can have fish soup!”

Chen Xianba walked ahead.

Chen Afei followed behind.

Afei’s right leg was lame, making his gait sway somewhat, but he was young and could still keep up.

After the two boys left, the two old people remained seated on the log.

The old scholar first took a jade pendant from his pocket and handed it toward the old woman.

“The one you pawned for medicine a few days ago. I redeemed it.”

The old woman shook her head and did not take it.

“It is only a worthless piece of broken jade. If you like it, keep it to play with. If not, throw it away.”

“You truly do not want it?” the old scholar asked.

“You should understand the principle of not accepting food handed out in contempt.”

The old scholar sighed.

“I understand the principle. But in my entire life, I truly have not seen many people deliberately choosing hardship. I do not know what identity that child Afei really possesses, but I know that with your ability, there is absolutely no reason he should wear torn clothes through all four seasons and constantly worry about whether there will be enough to eat or drink.”

The old woman closed her eyes.

“There are far too many things in this world you do not understand, and I do not understand. Since none of us can understand everything, then let what we do not understand remain unknown.”

“Ai. Fine.”

The old scholar put away the jade pendant.

Then he reached out and placed his fingers on the old woman’s wrist.

She did not resist and allowed him to take her pulse.

“Your pulse is steady and normal,” the old scholar said.

“Most scholars in this world have one common flaw. They read a few military books and decide they are Confucian commanders. They read a few medical texts and decide they are famous physicians. My illness is not in my body. It is in my heart. Wounds on the body are actually easy to nurse. Illness of the heart is what truly wears a person away.”

“That sounds like the sort of thing Qi Refiners enjoy saying.”

The old woman fell silent.

She seemed to be listening quietly to Mr. Zhou’s story on the stage.

But the old scholar still could not stop himself from speaking.

“Thank you.”

The old woman narrowed her eyes and looked at him.

The old scholar stretched lazily, then continued shelling peanuts.

“Just now, Donkey asked me why I gave him that name. I told him he needed the name to let some of his fortune leak away. But really, it is only a name. Even if we boast it all the way to Heaven, how much can a name truly accomplish? Donkey will be held back if he remains here. He needs to follow someone of great standing.”

The old scholar looked at the old woman.

“I thought you would try to stop it.”

“As long as the children themselves can play together, why should we interfere?”

“True.”

The old scholar sniffed.

“Afei is actually a very clever child.”

The old woman said:

“Can we be quiet now? Listen properly to the storyteller.”

“Bah. He makes everything sound so supernatural. What is there to listen to? You like it?”

“I do.”

“Mm. Then let us listen together.”

...

On the frozen river, Chen Xianba lay flat against the ice without caring about the cold, examining the surface with intense concentration.

A young man already ran hot by nature.

Inside Chen Xianba, there seemed to be an actual flame.

Wearing only a single layer of clothing, he dared roll back and forth on the ice as he repeatedly checked one spot after another.

Not far away, Afei crouched with a length of rattan in his hands, ready to string the fish once they caught it. His attention remained focused.

A short while later, Chen Xianba picked up a mattock and began rapidly smashing through the ice beneath him.

Then his body suddenly lunged forward toward a hole he had already chopped open earlier.

He threw aside the mattock and thrust both hands directly into the water.

Splash!

A very large fish came flying out in Chen Xianba’s grip.

His method of catching fish used almost no complicated tools.

It bordered on miraculous skill.

Chen Afei pinned down the fish and began threading the rattan through it.

Chen Xianba smiled and started walking back across the ice.

Then he suddenly froze.

His gaze sharpened as he looked around.

Winter was a season when all things withered.

But even on the snowfield, cold could never truly extinguish every living creature.

Yet now, the woods around them had abruptly become unnaturally silent.

Chen Xianba slowly lowered his body until he was almost crawling.

Like a leopard, he prepared himself to sprint.

Afei continued stringing the fish.

Right up until a pair of boots appeared behind him.

“Afei, watch out!”

Chen Xianba shot forward like an arrow released from the string.

In his hand was the same mattock he had used to break the ice.

Li Liangshen reached out.

His hand closed forward.

He caught the violently descending mattock in Chen Xianba’s hands, then lifted Chen Xianba himself into the air along with it.

With a sweep of his arm, he flung the young man away.

Bang!

Chen Xianba smashed onto the ice and slid across the frozen surface.

But almost immediately, all four limbs hit the ground.

He sprang back up and launched a second charge.

Li Liangshen was faintly surprised by the boy’s innate physique.

When Chen Xianba rushed in, Li Liangshen raised one foot and kicked him.

Bang!

Chen Xianba flew away again.

Then he climbed back up once more.

This time he staggered.

Pain from every part of his body made continuing difficult.

Yet he gritted his teeth and actually forced himself upright for a third time.

Yan Feizi had said that if this child were properly trained, given enough time, he might become a second Tian Wujing.

Looking at him now, the claim was not empty.

Chen Xianba charged for the third time.

His speed was much slower now.

But just before reaching Li Liangshen, he abruptly accelerated, revealing the cunning hidden beneath his roughness.

The sword at Li Liangshen’s waist moved.

The blade flew free and slapped downward.

Bang!

Chen Xianba was smashed onto the ice.

The ancient, heavy sword pressed down across him.

This time he could no longer rise.

He could only struggle to lift his head, his face covered in blood.

At the same time, black-armored soldiers emerged from the surrounding woods.

The place had already been encircled.

The huge fish Chen Xianba had pulled from the river continued flopping desperately.

Chen Afei, meanwhile, seemed to have been frightened senseless by the scene.

He remained crouched there, motionless.

Li Liangshen walked back to Chen Afei.

He lowered his head and looked at him.

Chen Afei began trembling.

Li Liangshen shook his head helplessly.

But just as he prepared to make his next move, he suddenly discovered that the crouching young man had somehow drawn a dagger without him noticing and stabbed it straight into the top of his boot.

The dagger was extremely sharp.

The young man’s movements had been exceptionally secretive.

Most importantly, Li Liangshen had not been guarding against him.

Blood seeped out from inside Li Liangshen’s boot.

He had been injured.

The young man raised his head.

The fear from moments earlier had vanished.

In its place was a fierce, ruthless expression.

He pointed at the dagger.

“There is poison on the blade. Let him go, and I will give you the antidote.”

Li Liangshen laughed.

Not bad.

Truly not bad.

Quite acceptable.

The boy he had knocked down three times had impressed him, but only impressed him.

Because for certain people, in certain positions, it did not actually matter if they could not practice martial arts.

Countless fierce soldiers around them would willingly charge and die in their place.

Take Marquis Pingxi Zheng Fan.

Never mind how Mr. Zhou at the wharf exaggerated the story until Marquis Zheng was fighting a Fire Phoenix Spirit in a heaven-shaking battle.

Other people might not know the truth.

Li Liangshen did.

Great Yan’s Marquis Pingxi possessed only ordinary martial skill.

Li Liangshen smiled and bent down.

He pulled the dagger from his own boot.

Then he slowly lowered himself onto one knee.

“Li Liangshen, commander under the Prince of Zhenbei Residence, pays respects to the Heir. Pays respects to... Young Marquis.”

Just as Zheng Fan sometimes still called Tian Wujing “Marquis” rather than “Prince,” some forms of address became difficult to change after being used for half a lifetime.

Especially between people who had once been close.

Continuing to say “Marquis,” continuing to call it the “Marquis Residence,” was itself a form of intimacy.

Then all the black-armored soldiers across the surrounding woods lowered themselves as well.

Their voices rang out together:

“Greetings, Young Marquis!”

No shock appeared on Afei’s face.

No joy either.

He slowly stood, without looking at Li Liangshen kneeling before him and without looking at the black-armored soldiers spread almost across the hills.

He walked over and helped Chen Xianba to his feet.

Chen Xianba’s nose and face were swollen, and bruises covered his body.

Li Liangshen had not tried to kill him earlier, but taking three blows from one of the Four Great Swordsmen was never going to feel pleasant.

“I say, Afei... hehehe...”

Ignoring his own pain, Chen Xianba began laughing.

“How is this exactly like those old stories where some noble secretly travels among the common people? What are you supposed to be? Young Marquis?”

Afei ignored Chen Xianba and continued supporting him toward the village.

Still kneeling on one knee, Li Liangshen called after him:

“Young Marquis, did you already know your own identity?”

Afei stopped.

He smiled.

“Yes. And I know one other thing too. Back then, my father wanted to kill me.”

[End of Chapter 652]