Martial Cultivator

The honey dates bought at the shop on South Street that day tasted good. After bringing it back to the academy, Xie Nandu also thought they were pretty good. Hence, in the following days, Chen Chao went to buy them several more times. However, he went alone each time, without bringing Zhu Xia or Xie Nandu.

Each time, he bought two bags: one for Zhu Xia and the other was naturally for Xie Nandu.

He woke up early today, went to the shop on South Street, and joined the queue early on. However, when he arrived, many people were sizing him up. Someone in the snaking queue shouted, ”Commander Chen is here to buy honey dates!”

Then, Chen Chao noticed that the civilians in front of him made way for him, creating a direct path for him, such that he could directly see the shop assistant of the South Street stall.

Chen Chao stood there, touching his head in confusion, and asked, ”What’s this?”

Seeing his expression, the civilians laughed one after another. A bold civilian said, ”Commander Chen stood up for us Liang people that day. Us civilians remember Commander Chen’s kindness. We can’t help Commander Chen with anything else, but it will be unreasonable for Commander Chen to queue up and buy honey dates!”

As he spoke, many people joined in the laughter, especially those in front of him.

The foreign cultivators ran amuck in the Divine Capital, but no one could control them. The major government offices in the Divine Capital all turned a blind eye to the situation. Many civilians had long been displeased with this, but they had no means to deal with it, so they could only entrust it to the imperial court. It was just that the imperial court’s response did not come, but Chen Chao stood up for them and vented their grievances on that day. Naturally, they were happy now. They had heard about the storms Chen Chao caused in the Divine Capital before and felt that Chen Chao was pretty good too. However, whether it was killing qi refiners in Tianqing County or defeating He Yi at the imperial banquet, those things were too far away from them. Only what was happening right in front of them was truly relevant.

Chen Chao realized this and felt a bit embarrassed as he said. ”It was just an ordinary thing. There’s nothing remarkable about it.”

It was merely a coincidence on that day. Furthermore, it happened to involve him. As a matter of fact, it was not like he intentionally did anything. Now, being treated like this by the common people of the Divine Capital, Chen Chao felt overwhelmingly flattered.

A woman walked out of the queue, holding two bags of honey dates, and approached Chen Chao. She stuffed them into his arms and asked, ”Commander Chen, do you prefer the Xie Family’s proud daughter or that whatever Saintess?”

This woman was precisely the one in front of Chen Chao that day. At that time, Chen Chao even fabricated a lie on the spot to hoodwink her.

Seeing her again at this moment, Chen Chao blushed a bit and found himself inexplicably reminded of the woman living across from him in Tianqing County. Holding two bags of honey dates. He smiled and said, ”Who cares what I like? It depends on the lady.”

Whether was it Xie Nandu or Zhu Xia, they were both proud daughters of heaven. Their standards were exceedingly high.

The woman smiled and said, ”I think Commander Chen can match up to either one. But Commander Chen isn’t a civilian like us. Marrying both of them naturally won’t do.”

Chen Chao felt his face heat up from the woman’s words. His imposing manner when refuting people at the lakeside seemed to have vanished. After standing on the spot for a moment, he quickly took his leave.

When she saw the situation, the woman pulled on his arm and said with a smile, ”Commander Chen, the honey dates aren’t given to you for free. You have to shine at that whatever Myriad Willow Convention for everyone!”

”Yes, yes, Commander Chen have to bring glory to our Great Liang at the Myriad Willow Convention!”

”Those foreign cultivators have always looked down on us. Commander Chen must win credit for us!”

”You got to double up, Commander Chen!”

……

……

The bustling street became noisy, with everyone clamoring and there was no chance for Chen Chao to speak.

The honey dates stall’s shop assistant rushed out of the store, carrying many honey dates in his arms. He pushed through the crowd, panting heavily as he arrived in front of Chen Chao. He struggled to stick his head out and smiled, saying, ”Commander Chen, my manager said that from now on, whenever you want to eat honey dates, you can have as many as you like, free of charge!”

Upon hearing this, the street naturally erupted in admiration and applause.

Chen Chao looked at the mountain-like pile of honey dates in his arms and said with a frown, ”Even if I enjoy eating these, wouldn’t I get sick of them if I eat so many at once?”

But the shop assistant did not care about that and just insisted, ”Commander Chen, my manager said that no matter what, you must accept these honey dates today. As for the future, we’ll see.”

Chen Chao looked at the mountain-like pile of honey dates and fell into contemplation.

……

……

When he returned to the academy and walked along the lakeside, many students turned their heads to look at Chen Chao. This Commander of the Left Guard was carrying a large pile of honey dates as he passed by the lakeside today, making it hard for people not to think about it.

Did he go and rob a honey dates shop?

Chen Chao paid no attention to those people and arrived at the front of the courtyard. Kicking the courtyard door open with a kick, he was unable to hold on any longer, and the honey dates in his arms scattered all over the ground.

Liu Ye came out when she heard the noise. Seeing this scene, she was somewhat surprised too, and asked, ”Did you go and rob the honey dates shop on South Street?”

Sure enough, that was the first reaction of everyone upon seeing these things.

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and could not be bothered to care about this maidservant who did not particularly like him. He just shouted over there, ”We’ve got plenty of honey dates today, guaranteed to make you eat until you vomit!”

Xie Nandu put down her book. Glancing at the lake, she stood up and arrived in the courtyard. She saw the scattered honey dates on the ground and asked with some confusion, ”Did you go and rob the honey dates shop on South Street?”

Hearing this, Chen Chao felt speechless, while Liu Ye stared at him with a hint of provocation in her eyes. Her message was clear: What now? My young lady and I share the same opinion. What else can you say?

Chen Chao casually picked up a bag of honey dates from the ground and threw it to Xie Nandu. He smiled slightly and said, ”I didn’t rob them. I didn’t know either, it turns out that I actually have such high prestige in the eyes of the Divine Capital’s civilians.”

Xie Nandu was well-deserving of being a renowned talented woman, she guessed the answer upon hearing his words. She opened the bag of honey dates, took one, and put it in her mouth, nodding in approval. She was very satisfied with the taste of the honey dates, which was the best among all the preserved fruits she had tried. ”When expectations are too high and not met, disappointment sets in. Do you know what the consequences will be then?”

Chen Chao smiled and said, ”Setting up a platform for you to walk on, and if they’re not happy, they’ll tear down the platform. Such things are not uncommon. However, even if that day comes, I believe there will definitely be two people who will stand by my side and speak up for me. Having those few people is already good enough in my opinion.”

Xie Nandu put down the honey date in her hand and casually asked, ”How many of these honey dates will you give to Zhu Xia?”

Chen Chao replied, ”Same old rules, each person gets half.”

Xie Nandu looked at him and asked, ”In your heart, do we also take up half each?”

Upon hearing these words, Chen Chao became nervous again. It seemed that he had been encountering similar questions frequently since that day.

”I’ll leave some more for you.”

Chen Chao glanced at Xie Nandu and said softly, ”But eating too much of this stuff might cause toothache.”

”What about the other thing?”

Xie Nandu seemed determined to dig deeper into this.

Chen Chao smiled and said, ”I just see her as a friend, a very good friend.”

On that day in front of the honey dates shop on South Street, he had sincerely lamented that it was a wonderful thing to have someone like Zhu Xia in the human world. Because someone like Zhu Xia was destined to become an extremely important figure among cultivators in the future. If she had goodwill towards the Great Liang Dynasty and the human world, it would be a great thing.

”You said you want to launch a northern expedition and reclaim the lost territories for the human race. If the foreign lands are all people like Zhu Xia, things would be easier for you.”

Chen Chao looked at Xie Nandu and said, ”You also think she’s a good person.”

Xie Nandu did not answer this question. She just stood up, picked up an unopened bag of honey dates, and walked ahead, saying, ”Follow me.”

Chen Chao subconsciously asked, ”What for?”

Xie Nandu simply glanced at him.

Chen Chao stood up and said with vicissitudes of emotion. ”I didn’t expect you to be interested in touring the lake again.”

Xie Nandu shook her head. ”It’s Teacher who wants to see you.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Chao was taken aback. There were many teachers in the academy, and they could all be referred to as ”teacher,” but Xie Nandu only had one teacher.

That academy dean who did not hold an official position in the Great Liang Dynasty, but an unbelievably illustrious status.

Chen Chao had always admired such a figure and had wanted to meet him.

However, at this particular moment, he did not feel the same way.

”Can I not see him?” Chen Chao resisted.

Xie Nandu looked at him and said some sympathy. ”Since you’re in this Divine Capital, where can you hide from Teacher if he wants to see you?”