Martial Cultivator

Hearing the noise outside the door, the old man glanced at the young scholar before him. The latter shook his head slightly but smiled, saying, “Let’s observe and see how it unfolds.”

The old man snorted, but instead of continuing to scold him, he quickly switched to a cheerful expression, smiling as he asked, “Where did Guest came from? Come in quickly and have some tea. Don’t worry about whether the tea is expensive or not, just drink first. If you’re not satisfied, you don’t have to pay!”

With that, the old man moved toward the door. A young man in a black robe had already entered the small teahouse. Looking at the old man, he smiled and said, “Passing through here, I saw that shopkeeper you gave this teahouse an interesting name, so I wanted to see if the tea tastes as special. I don’t have much money, so if the tea is expensive, I can only ask about the price.”

The old man cheerfully tidied up an empty table. “I already said it, if you’re not satisfied, don’t pay. Also, this teahouse has a rule: after drinking the tea, if a guest feels like giving a certain amount of money, give as much as you like. At my age, money is useless. Make a fortune? For what, to gild my coffin? Doesn’t make sense. And who knows, maybe in a few days someone will dig me up anyway.”

The young man chuckled, finding the old man’s words very amusing, and nodded. “Then I suppose the tea from old shopkeeper must indeed have a unique taste.”

The old man laughed and waved his hand. “Not necessarily, everyone tastes tea differently. But one thing I must say beforehand: if you drink the tea and find it bad, just speak plainly. But if you compare it to someone else’s tea, don’t blame me for losing my temper.”

The young man smiled. “Old Shopkeeper is proud, indeed.”

The old man raised an eyebrow. “Don’t hit the face when hitting people, what’s the reason for criticizing someone to their face?”

The young man gave a thumbs-up and was about to sit down when the young scholar sitting with his back to him suddenly turned his head, smiling with surprise. “Truly, life brings people together in unexpected places. I didn’t think I’d meet you here again.”

When the young man first entered the teahouse, he had noticed someone sitting there but didn’t think much of it. Now that the scholar spoke, he realized this was the same young scholar he had seen previously at the Master Dong Shrine.

The two exchanged glances. Chen Chao said with a sigh, “To meet again, this is truly fate.”

The scholar smiled. “If you don’t mind, shall we share a table?”

Chen Chao nodded, thanked the old man, and sat opposite the scholar, not noticing the old man rolling his eyes at that moment.

Once seated, Chen Chao opened the conversation. “Back at the Master Dong Shrine that day, how did you arrive so quickly at this remote county town? Were you visiting relatives or tracing old paths?”

The scholar shook his head slightly. “Tracing old paths. Our family didn’t originally live in this Changban Commandery; we moved from the north many years ago. My ancestors traveled through many places along the way and left behind a travelogue. With some free time, I wanted to follow its path to the end.”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “The north? How far north?”

The scholar said calmly, “Xinliu Prefecture. At the time it wasn’t called that yet, but Northern Plains. Back then, the court was utterly defeated in its war with the demon race. Our ancestors feared that not only the desolate north would be ceded, but that even the Northern Plains might not be held, so they thought of heading south. In fact, the original destination should have been White Deer Prefecture. After all, they were scholars, and going somewhere with many scholars puts one at ease. But for some reason, when they reached Changban Commandery, they stopped and went no further.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “Changban Commandery is, after all, Master Dong’s homeland. And in those years, the feng shui there should have been decent?”

The scholar raised his brows and smiled. “Feng shui? Does your esteemed self believe in that too?”

Chen Chao thought for a moment and said, “I’ve had dealings with a few qi refiners. According to them, the matter of fortune and fate may be vague and intangible, but it does exist. After successive years of abundance, there will inevitably be years of decline, even famine.”

The scholar smiled. “Perhaps it’s repaying a debt.”

Chen Chao asked instinctively, “Whence the debt from?”

The scholar only smiled and let it pass.

Only then did Chen Chao realize he had misspoken. He looked apologetically at the scholar before him, then pondered the words ‘repaying a debt’ on his own.

The scholar seemed to see through Chen Chao’s thoughts and smiled. “Just my own speculation. It’s not something to be taken seriously.”

Chen Chao nodded, though whether he truly took it to heart was hard to say.

The scholar suddenly said, “I heard that some days ago, there was a not-so-small joke in Changban Commandery? Something to do with the Master Dong Shrine?”

Chen Chao was taken aback and asked curiously, “What was it?”

The scholar said with some regret, “I don’t really know either. Just bits and pieces I heard along the way. I thought that since sir were still there at the time, you might know.”

Chen Chao shook his head.

The old man had already brought over the tea, but this time the tea bowls and cups were extremely refined. The bowls and cups were pure white, like white jade, yet covered with countless cracks, looking like fine threads.

The scholar glanced at the old man. The corners of his mouth twitched, then he smiled and said, “Does sir recognize the pedigree of this tea set?”

Chen Chao shook his head, somewhat embarrassed. “I really don’t know the first thing about it.”

The scholar pointed at the white jade tea bowls and teaware and said, “About seven hundred years ago, the emperor at the time should have borne the surname Yang?”

”Back then, that emperor was fond of all kinds of porcelain. Not only did he order kilns to be opened across the realm to fire porcelain, with the finest pieces selected and sent to the imperial palace, he himself was also highly skilled in the craft. He personally opened kilns and developed a type of porcelain that was white throughout like jade, yet covered in cracks, naming it Dragon Pattern Jade. But because he was overly fond of this item, he did not pass this crafting technique on to others. Instead, he sealed it away himself, and on the rare occasions he opened the kiln, any unsatisfactory finished pieces would be bestowed as rewards. For a long period of time, the Dragon Pattern Jade that circulated in the world were what that emperor himself regarded as defective pieces.”

”However, three hundred years later, another craftsman comprehended the method of forging Dragon Pattern Jade. He then took in many disciples and passed this technique down. Still, the Dragon Pattern Jade forged by that craftsman three hundred years later had some minute differences compared to what the emperor had made, though the differences were extremely slight and could essentially be treated as nonexistent. After all, the so-called ‘true pieces’ that circulate in the world today probably number fewer than ten.”

When the scholar reached this point, it seemed he recalled something else, and he chuckled to himself before continuing, “Actually, that emperor should have had one piece he was most satisfied with, which ought to have been a complete set of tea ware, regarded by him as his finest work in life.”

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