Martial Cultivator

The young man frowned and said, “Father, with the way those people on the mountain treat you, if you ask me, we ought to just break away from Windspirit Mountain, and go to Great Liang to seek some official post.”

The middle-aged man was not in a hurry to speak. Only after they had walked a good distance, seeing that Chen Chao was no longer in sight behind them, did he softly say, “Lian’er, do you really think that if we wanted to leave Windspirit Mountain, it would be so easy? If it were that easy, why does your mother have to remain behind every time we leave the mountain?”

The young man said angrily, “I know, that’s the shackle they use against Father, afraid you might grow disloyal. But in truth, with the way they act, can Father’s heart really be at ease?”

“To put it another way, if they treated Father sincerely, this child wouldn’t be urging Father to leave.”

The middle-aged man smiled and said, “To exchange sincerity for sincerity, how difficult that is.”

The middle-aged man continued, “Your father grew up on Windspirit Mountain. Though I have endured countless cold stares along the way, no matter what, it is still half my homeland. There are some feelings attached to it.”

The young man opened his mouth, wanting to speak but swallowing the words back.

His father was clearly a pure martial artist at the Nepenthe Realm. On the entire Windspirit Mountain, few could even be compared to him. Yet, he simply had too gentle a temperament, always tolerating and yielding.

All these years, seeing what his father had done for Windspirit Mountain, and how Windspirit Mountain in turn had treated his father, the young man had long felt that their family had already shown more than enough kindness to Windspirit Mountain.

After the two walked even farther, the middle-aged man, seeing the resentment still on his son’s face, finally smiled and said, “Alright, Lian’er. We have spoken of sentiment, now let father tell you a little about the reality of human hearts?”

The young man was taken aback, then nodded.

“How could Windspirit Mountain not know father’s cultivation realm? As you said, how many Nepenthe Realm cultivators are there on Windspirit Mountain anyway? Since they know, why would they treat father this way? Think about it carefully?”

The middle-aged man spoke indeed differently from many martial artists. His emotions rarely fluctuated. Instead, he was consistently gentle; like an ordinary schoolteacher.

The young man thought carefully for a long time before saying hesitantly, ”Is it because the Mountain Lord is aging and will not live much longer?”

The middle-aged man nodded and smiled, ”Continue.”

The young man whispered, ”Father, your prestige on the mountain is quite high. Over these years, you’ve done a lot for the mountain. If the old mountain lord passes away, I’m afraid Father...”

At this point, the young man realized why his father had such a position on the mountain these past years.

The middle-aged man smiled, ”In the past, they suppressed me simply because they looked down on me. But why have they continued doing so even after all this time? It’s because they don’t want father to have any position on the mountain. However, the more they tried to suppress me, the more father did, and the higher my prestige grew.”

The young man suddenly understood, then smiled, ”Father wants to stay on the mountain and become the next mountain lord of Windspirit Mountain!”

The young man was filled with excitement. Windspirit Mountain was a first-rate sect. If his father became its mountain lord with his martial artist status, it would be a world-shaking event.

But the middle-aged man quickly poured cold water on the young man’s enthusiasm, ”Don’t worry, no matter how high father’s prestige gets, I will never become the mountain lord of Windspirit Mountain.”

The young man looked puzzled.

The middle-aged man smiled, ”This is something guaranteed, it will never change. As for why father haven’t left Windspirit Mountain, it’s because I don’t dare.”

At this point, the middle-aged man finally gave a bitter laugh.

He had truly experienced how some things worked. Fate, even for a powerhouse like him, sometimes gave rise to deep helplessness.

”If father were to leave Windspirit Mountain, perhaps they wouldn’t do anything on the surface. But after we descend the mountain, we would most likely die under suspicious circumstances.”

The middle-aged man smiled, but the smile was filled with desolation.

”So, over these years, father knows that the road ahead is a cliff of death, but I can only keep moving forward. Because once I choose another path, both of you mother and child would immediately be sent to the underworld with father.”

As a martial artist who stood at the top of an entire prefecture, the middle-aged man appeared to be glorious. But in reality, only he knew what his true situation was.

No retreat, no turning back. He was like meat on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

The young man no longer spoke, only clenching his fists tightly.

The middle-aged man quickly recollected his feelings, patting the young man’s shoulder with a smile, ”Don’t worry, if that day truly comes, father will make sure to plan a way out for you.”

The young man shook his head, ”Father, this child only wishes to stay with you and mother.”

The middle-aged man stopped talking, merely glancing into the distance. A solitary mountain stood in the plains, and the destination of this journey was right there.

The young man sighed as well and followed along.

......

......

Earlier, Chen Chao had deliberately slowed his pace, not following the pair of martial artists closely, fearing they might think he had bad intentions and start a conflict. Hence, he intentionally kept his distance. At this point, he had naturally lost track of their whereabouts.

As for that Nepenthe martial artist, Chen Chao was quite curious about his identity. But in truth, it was not difficult to find out. After all, within the Great Liang and foreign lands, there were not many Nepenthe martial artists. With a little effort, anyone could find out whatever they wanted to know.

However, Chen Chao soon encountered another pair of master and disciple, on the side of the official road. An elderly daoist with white hair was accompanied by a young daoist.

Their clothing was luxurious, and they clearly seemed to be daoists from some great daoist temple.

Because Chen Chao took a few looks, he drew a glare from the young daoist. Chen Chao did not mind, unwilling to argue with a little brat. Instead, the old daoist also noticed Chen Chao and wore a look of displeasure, his face stern.

Chen Chao was puzzled: who had he provoked?

Then, a sentence from the old daoist made Chen Chao even more speechless.

The old daoist said to his disciple that the world had become so degraded, young people were even willing to dress like that shameless martial artist.

Shameless?

How was he shameless?

Chen Chao spat on the ground. After that pair of master and disciple had gone far, he cursed, ”Old Ox-nose, Your Father’s disciples will be far more promising than yours!”

Chen Chao’s manner was exactly like that of itinerant cultivators without high cultivation or powerful backing. When encountering trouble, he could only force a smile, but behind their backs, he would grumble and curse.

However, all of this was because, although Chen Chao was never hesitant to kill, he never engaged in wanton slaughter.

Otherwise, there would definitely be two more corpses here.

Still, being ridiculed for no reason, although Chen Chao was not enraged, he could not truly remain indifferent either.

He continued on his way. After half a day, he saw a low mountain. Midway up its slope, there was a spring.

After washing his face, feeling refreshed, he stood up, only to find a young man had somehow appeared behind him. Seeing Chen Chao turn around, the young man glanced at the saber at his waist, then asked somewhat stiffly, ”Would you mind making way, Sir?”

Chen Chao noticed the water pouch in his hand, then turned his head to glance at the foot of the mountain, where there were quite a few people. Chen Chao withdrew his gaze and stepped aside without speaking.

The young man seemed quite satisfied with Chen Chao’s tactfulness, so he did not say anything further, and quickly crouched down to fill his water pouch.

Except, the spring water in the spring had been used by Chen Chao to wash his face, so the young man waved his hand to clear the spring, and only then waited for the spring water to slowly seep out.

Chen Chao turned his head to glance over, and found that on the hem of the young man’s clothes there was an embroidered auspicious cloud, but the color was green.

He realized that on the hem of the previous young man’s clothes, there had also been a similar pattern.

They should be from the same sect.

Chen Chao did not intend to meddle, and began to slowly walk down the mountain.

He vagule heard some sounds coming from ahead; it was two people talking. But the distance was too far, and Chen Chao could not hear clearly.

He only vaguely caught the words ”Chen Wannian.”

Chen Chao furrowed his brows, feeling that he seemed to have heard this name somewhere before, so he stopped his steps, spread out his divine sense, wanting to hear a bit more.

But the conversation over there quickly cut off.

Chen Chao raised his eyes, and found that there were now two people on the mountain path, looking at him with cold eyes.

Chen Chao subconsciously gave an apologetic smile. After all, he had been eavesdropping.

But the two quickly spoke up, their words stiff, ”What are you doing?”

Chen Chao did not answer the question.

Because he suddenly remembered where he had heard the name Chen Wannian before.