Martial Cultivator

After saying goodbye to the letter-writing gentleman, Chen Chao had no intention of continuing to stay in Danxiao City. He was going to leave the city that very night.

However, when he was nearing the city gate, this young Lord Warden Commander stopped in his tracks. After waiting for a moment, he smiled to himself and said, “If you still don’t come out, this official will really be leaving.”

As soon as he said this, someone finally poked her head out from around the corner. She smiled awkwardly. “Lord Warden Commander, we meet again.”

The person who had come was no longer a stranger. They had met once before. It was precisely Liu Yefu, that junior sister from Pinecreek Mountain. Actually, Chen Chao had heard some things about this junior sister from Pinecreek Mountain before. It was said that she was naturally extremely suited to the techniques of the qi refining cultivator lineage, and her progress was extremely fast. She was said to be someone who had the potential to become a pillar of the qi refining cultivator lineage in the future.

However, the great path of cultivation was long. Liu Yefu had only just set foot upon it. As for how long she would have to walk before she could reach that high place, no one could say for sure.

Chen Chao could not be bothered to expose the Liu Yefu before him. He merely smiled and asked, “What is it?”

Liu Yefu gave a dry laugh. She had already made preparations beforehand, going over what she wanted to say in her head again and again, but she had not expected that when she actually arrived in front of this Lord Warden Commander, she would still be somewhat nervous and unable to get the words out.

Chen Chao made a stance as if to leave. Only then did Liu Yefu silently say to herself, Whatever happens, happens, before finally saying, “Lord Warden Commander, when you have time, could you go to Pinecreek Mountain?”

Having said that, she directly gritted her teeth. “The sooner, the better.”

Chen Chao looked at this inexperienced young woman before him and asked, “The reason?”

Liu Yefu took a deep breath and said, “Senior Sister Liang isn’t having an easy time on the mountain. There are some idle rumors. Words really can kill sometimes.”

As the junior sister, Liu Yefu was not so heartless either. She could clearly feel that her senior sister’s vitality and spirit had been getting worse with each passing day these days.

It was nothing else, just that some words at one’s ear could also affect a person greatly.

Chen Chao thought for a moment. He did not give his own answer. Instead, he asked Liu Yefu a question, “Can you be certain that this official going to Pinecreek Mountain will be useful for this matter?”

Liu Yefu frowned. She had never thought about things this way before. Chen Chao’s question instead left her somewhat confused.

Chen Chao said, “This official going once can temporarily stop the rumors, but what if this official only goes to Pinecreek Mountain once in this lifetime? Will it be useful?”

Liu Yefu was somewhat dumbfounded.

Looking at her appearance, Chen Chao patiently said, “Your Senior Sister Liang talked with this official for a long time, yet she never brought up such a thing. Part of the reason is that she doesn’t want to trouble this official, but more importantly, she knows that with something like this, whether it is done or not, it will be of no use.”

Liu Yefu did not understand, but she was somewhat sad. She knew that Chen Chao was unwilling to go to Pinecreek Mountain, which meant that those rumors would remain.

Chen Chao saw her sadness and thought for a moment before saying, “This official will write a letter and have someone send it to Pinecreek Mountain.”

Liu Yefu said, “I brought brush and ink!”

Chen Chao was helpless. “Some things have different effects when done by different people.”

The same letter, having Liu Yefu take it back to Pinecreek Mountain, and having a martial official from the warden faction send it to Pinecreek Mountain afterward, were two different things.

Liu Yefu gave an “oh,” then looked suspiciously toward Chen Chao and said uncertainly, “Lord Warden Commander, you aren’t going to trick me, are you?”

Chen Chao felt even more helpless. What was wrong with this young girl? How did she dare speak to him, this Lord Warden Commander, so directly?

Chen Chao looked at her and shook his head. “This official does not deceive people.”

Liu Yefu was still a young girl at heart after all. As soon as Chen Chao said this, she immediately took it seriously, nodding repeatedly. She was also very happy as she thanked Chen Chao.

Looking at this young girl, Chen Chao smiled sincerely. “You really are a good junior sister.”

Liu Yefu gave a hehe laugh, then looked at the sky and said that she had to hurry back. She had originally sneaked out, and if her senior sisters discovered later that she was missing, they would definitely become frantic with worry.

Chen Chao stood where he was and watched Liu Yefu walk into the distance. When she turned her head back, Chen Chao waved at her, his face full of smiles.

Liu Yefu stood in the distance. After thinking for a moment, she called out, “Lord Warden Commander, I actually still really want to see you at Pinecreek Mountain!”

Chen Chao replied, “There will be a chance.”

......

......

The letter-writing gentleman, having closed his stall, walked upstream along the river. After roughly an hour, he passed by an enormous palace.

This was built by the common people to commemorate that first and also last City Lord of Danxiao City, after his passing. After undergoing several expansions, its scale had actually become somewhat frighteningly large.

The letter-writing gentleman passed by here without even taking another look. He simply continued forward, walking through two long streets before finally stopping in front of a small Daoist temple where the incense had clearly already dwindled.

The Daoist temple was dilapidated. On the horizontal plaque there was only one character: Jian.[见]

The common people of Danxiao City, when they spoke of this character Jian on many occasions, all believed that the passing years had erased the other half, leaving only this character Jian.

But in reality, only a very small number of people knew that from the very beginning, this plaque had only ever had this one character.

Half of the character for temple.[观 is temple, made of 又 and 见 jian]

This Daoist temple was actually called Half-Character Temple.

That great daoist sage initially had the Daoist title Tongxuan, and afterward changed it to Halfmount.

But even fewer people knew that when that great daoist sage of the Longevity Dao lineage once wanted to leave the Longevity Dao and turn to the Great Peace Dao, he first built this daoist temple and cultivated bitterly here.

It could be said that before there was even a Danxiao City, there was already this Daoist temple.

The letter-writing gentleman lingered in front of the Daoist temple for a moment, then pushed open the door and entered, as though returning home.