Martial Cultivator

Wei Prefecture, Tianqing County.

The last spring rain had long since finished falling. The rain at this moment counted as summer rain, but the weather was not particularly stifling. This summer rain came quickly and left just as quickly.

Not far outside Peach Blossom Alley was a cotton shop. The owner was a lean, wiry middle-aged man, thin as a monkey. His surname happened to be Hou, and he was third among his siblings, so people called him Third Master Hou.

At this time of year, the cotton shop was at its bleakest in terms of business. With people coming and going, there really were not many who would think of stepping into a cotton shop like this.

But Third Master Hou, long accustomed to such things, did not mind. Doing business - if you thought you could earn ten years’ worth of money all at once, that was unrealistic. And if you thought business would be good every single day, that was unrealistic too.

So, as long as you could make a living, not starve, have a bit of spare cash, and occasionally go drink some alcohol at a brothel, that was already pretty good.

Speaking of drinking at a brothel, damn it, the prices at the city’s pleasure quarters had gone up again. Clearly there were no particularly good-looking girls newly arrived, so why did they dare charge more silver out of thin air?

Third Master Hou sighed again and again. Even so, he had no intention of raising prices here at the cotton shop. He could go drink fewer times, but if he raised prices on his end, then those people who were already barely able to buy cotton quilts to survive the winter would definitely stop coming altogether.

That would be a losing deal.

Actually, it wasn’t just that business would get worse, it was that more people would no longer be able to endure one winter after another.

Third Master Hou lay back in his chair, watching the summer rain outside, and let out a chuckle, “Looking at it this way, Your Father is actually a pretty decent good man. After I die, I definitely won’t be thrown into an oil cauldron.”

“No. After you die, you’ll definitely get fried in an oil cauldron two or three times, until your bones are fried crisp, and then the little ghosts will chomp you down one bite at a time, crunch crunch.”

A voice suddenly rang out. But the content of the words were completely unpleasant.

“Damn it, who the hell is that? Why does it sound like a mouthful of shit the moment you open your mouth?”

Third Master Hou sprang to his feet in a rage, inwardly puzzled as well. After those two plague gods, one big and one small, from Peach Blossom Alley had left, everyone in this area knew that he was the most troublesome person to provoke. How was it that today there was still someone blind enough to come cause trouble in front of his shop?

But when he opened his eyes and looked ahead, he fell into a brief daze.

There stood a man in a black robe, folding up an oil-paper umbrella and setting it against the wall by the entrance. Then the man stepped into the cotton shop and clicked his tongue. “Old monkey, what’s going on? After all these years, business is still this dead. Looks like you’re about to be unable to keep the shop open. Tsk tsk, really pitiful. If your shop closes down, that not-very-good-looking daughter of yours won’t even have a decent dowry. I’m afraid she won’t be able to get married at all.”

Before, Third Master Hou still hadn’t dared to be completely sure, but after hearing these words, he was absolutely certain that the person before him was that kid who had lived in Peach Blossom Alley years ago.

”You fu...”

But just as he was about to fire back, Third Master Hou awkwardly clamped a hand over his mouth. The young man before him was the same person, but his status was no longer the same.

News from a few days ago said that this young man had already become some Lord Warden Commander of the Great Liang Dynasty. What kind of official was that? At the time, Third Master Hou had actually asked about it. A registrar at the county office explained it clearly: he was one of only a very few such figures in the entire Great Liang Dynasty.

Now, it could be said that beneath the Emperor himself, this man held the greatest authority.

With someone like that having returned, there was no way anyone would dare treat him as just the same fellow he used to be.

What was more, these days he would occasionally boast to others that when this Lord Warden Commander first arrived in Tianqing County back then, it was him who had given him aid!

Chen Chao glanced at Third Master Hou and frowned. “What’s wrong, old monkey? All that little bit of courage you’ve got, did you hand it all over to your wife in bed?”

Third Master Hou had still been a bit worried, but at this moment he finally could not hold back and blurted out a curse. “Your ass!”

But the instant those three words left his mouth, he actually regretted it. After all, this fellow really was different from before now. With that cuss, would he end up bringing huge trouble on himself?

In the end, the young man only patted him on the shoulder and said with a grin, “Old monkey, you’ve still got a bit of guts. Not bad.”

Third Master Hou felt as if a great weight had been lifted. His back was soaked through with sweat, and only then did he cast a resentful glance at Chen Chao and say, “You brat, can’t you stop jumping out and scaring people like that? Damn it, with what kind of status you have now, how can you not be frightening?”

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and smiled. “This is already frightening? If you saw me when I’m killing people, wouldn’t you be frightened to death on the spot?”

Third Master Hou muttered, “We all know you’ve made something of yourself. We’re all happy for you. But you finally come back for once, and you’re empty-handed?”

Chen Chao clicked his tongue. “You think I’m free every day? I’ve been running from north to south without stopping.”

Third Master Hou thought it over and nodded, more or less accepting Chen Chao’s explanation. This fellow had made it big at such a young age, and with the bits of news that had come back from time to time, it really couldn’t have been easy.

Being an official wasn’t that simple either.

“Then what are you back for this time? Got some time to come back and chat with us old neighbors?”

Chen Chao dropped his butt onto the chair and let out a breath of turbid air. “A while back, there were two or three times I almost died. I finally pulled through, so I thought I’d come back and take a look. Maybe there won’t be another chance in the future.”

Third Master Hou frowned and cursed, “Pah, pah pah, what nonsense are you spouting, you little bastard. Don’t you fucking die. You protected us pretty well before, didn’t you? Now you’ve got to protect the entire Great Liang. If you fucking die, who are we supposed to rely on?”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “So you’re fucking relying on me?”

Third Master Hou froze for a moment, then cursed, “Relying on you my ass. Your Father doesn’t know how to talk fancy, but I know this much: Your Father wants you to live. It’s not because Your Father wants to rely on you. It’s because you fucking lived in Peach Blossom Alley.”

Even if you weren’t someone I watched grow up, there were still those few years of shared feelings. Even if you weren’t some Lord Warden Commander, even if you were just a beggar on the street, nobody would want you to just die like that.

Chen Chao smiled, stood up with some effort, and narrowed his eyes as he grinned. “Alright. I’ll try to live on, make a peaceful world for you all. I’ll even strive so that one day, when you see His Majesty the Emperor, you’ll be able to curse him a couple of times too.”

Third Master Hou turned pale with fright and rushed to the doorway. Only after looking around and confirming that no one was eavesdropping did he start cursing. “Have you really gone insane?!”

Chen Chao did not say anything, only burst out laughing.

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