985 A Miraculous Jianghu (1/2)
It was that time of the year again, Winter Solstice. The capital was covered in snow once again.
Qian Ping'an wore a gray coat, putting both his hands inside the sleeves of the opposite hand, and stepped on the snowy ground as he walked towards the tea shop that he often frequented while shivering and creating a puffing white steam out of his mouth.
Today was a big day for the owner. The rice shop had never opened, and he got to rest early, so he could go and listen to Mr. Storyteller talk about the new and interesting things published in the newspaper.
In the past year, the world underwent drastic changes, but in the eyes of Qian Ping'an, a business partner of a rice shop, his life did not really change much. The only thing he noticed was the fact that the goods from the North and the South that used to be rare and valuable were becoming more and more worthless. Even the owner, who had always been stingy, somehow got his hands on a string of Southern pearls to hire a monk from the temple to consecrate the ceremony.
Apart from that, everything was the same, except that the stories of Mr. Storyteller were becoming more and more interesting.
The Jianghu that always seemed to be very far away looked as if it was right in front of him now. Even he, who did not even know many of his neighbors, could now count the number of experts under the sky as if he was just counting the treasures in his house. Oh, that's right, the idiom, 'As if counting the treasures in his house' was something that he learned from Mr. Storyteller. This made him look more like a person who had studied before and traveled the world. It would make him look like the experts who hid in small towns or played around in the secular world in front of strangers. And all of these things came from the thing called the newspaper.
These things spread the news happening all over Jianghu to everywhere. Chen Xiucai down across the lane said that this was just as the saying goes, ”To know the world's affair without stepping out of the house.”
”Owner has been frowning a lot lately, complaining that the wheat in the South only matured three times a year. Since they can plant them three times a year, just how much food do they get?” Qian Ping'an casually thought about the things that occurred over the past few days. The price of rice in the capital dropped a lot overnight, the owner's hair grew white with worry, which was why he wanted his son to quickly get a wife and marry, to make things merry.
The young owner was quite an interesting person. It was common to see him listening to people read books at the tea shop. Qian Ping'an often consoled the owner to not be too overly concerned with the food from the South, stating that everything had its costs and benefits, if it had a strength, it would also have a weakness. Since it could be harvested three times a year, it would definitely not taste as great as the local rice. By then, different rice would have a different price. There would be rice to satiate the bellies of the poor and rice for the rich to enjoy. Things wouldn't be that bad.
These were the things that Qian Ping'an loved to hear the most. If the rice shop could no longer operate, then he could only change his livelihood.
As his mind wandered, Qian Ping'an stepped into the tea shop. It was much warmer inside, but it was unlike those restaurants or tea houses where they used copper buckets to burn charcoal to warm themselves as if spring had come. The tea and water of the tea shop were cheap, so it could not bear such expenditures. In fact, only people like Qiang Ping'an would spend money to listen to book readings and drink tea over there.
The only fire came from beside Mr. Storyteller's leg. The copper furnace shone bright red as it dissipated the feeling of coldness.
Mr. Storyteller had a goat-like beard. Since he was literate, and since he could immediately read the contents of the Wulin Express and other newspaper, he was well-respected by the poor people around them. Right now, he was drinking the bamboo green tea the tea shop specifically prepared for him while swaying his head as he rested his eyes as if he was humming a song, waiting for the next story.
Qian Ping'an downed a big bowl of tea and felt warmth surging in his body. The chilling frost on his body melted as he felt incredible comfort.
For a person like him, to be able to go there to drink tea every now and then, to listen to book reviews, was already an extreme luxury, if it weren't for the fact that he was still single, it would not have been possible.
At that time, several horses ran and stopped in front of the entrance of the tea shop in a whirlwind. Several cloaked men carrying blades and swords jumped off.
”Shopkeeper, get me five bowls of good tea, boiling and strong!” the leader wore a leather cap while his left hand held a three foot long sword embedded with jades. There was a scar in between his eyebrows, which made him look like a God who had activated the Heavenly Eye.
”An eye scar on his forehead, seven jades embedded on the sword's scabbard, Yuexi's 'God Eye Sword' Gao Fuchen?” Qian Ping'an's mind wandered and thought.
As for the guests in the tea shop, they were chatting among themselves, also thinking that this was the ”God Eye Sword” Gao Fuchen who was a first-class fighter across the Jianghu. He appeared several times on the Wulin Express.
The people who often went there to listen to the news were as familiar with him as they were with their neighbors.
”The God Eye Sword who lost pathetically to the 'Sad Godly Palm' Gu Wenxiang?” a tea shop guest asked.
”Yes, yes, that's him. In just three sword moves, his Seven Jade Sword was knocked out of his hands by Gu Wenxiang,” answered someone, confirming the suspicion.
”Gu Wenxiang is one of the best experts in the world. He's one of the East Palm West Blade, it's normal for the God Eye Sword to lose to him”... ”Losing to Gu Wenxiang is natural, but back then, Gao Fuchen was the one who boasted about his swordsmanship and actively challenged him. Tsk, tsk…” The sound of gossip was like the buzzing of flies and mosquitoes, spreading quickly as the people debated about the fight where Gao Fuchen first made it on the Wulin Express.
Gao Fuchen succeeded young and was a well-known swordsman across the Jianghu. His ears were incredibly sensitive, and he had already heard all the remarks made about him. As he listened, blood gushed into his head as his face flushed red. It hurt as if he was burned. Oh, the embarrassment.
To be talked about by his peers from the Jianghu was one thing since he was definitely too arrogant as he actually challenged the Sad Godly Palm. But now, he was being criticized by normal people who did not even know martial arts, and the gossip and ridicule followed him wherever he went, it was unbelievably embarrassing.
He certainly wanted his name to spread across the land, but not like this!
The appearance of the Wulin Express miraculously changed his reputation as well as the others from across the Jianghu. To use their words, he had become a public figure. Like a bright star in the night sky, all their actions were gazed upon by the people of the world, so they had to be more mindful of their appearance. Moreover, the more personal style they had, the easier it was for them to be admired.
Something seemed wrong with this kind of Jianghu… Gao Fuchen became angry from his embarrassment. He really wanted to unsheathe his sword and just kill these noisy, poor men, but if he were to really be that impulsive, as long as he failed to thoroughly kill everyone, a few days later, something like the below would probably appear on the Wulin Express:
”The God Eye Sword became a devil and brutally murders the innocent,””Burnt out from reputation, Gao Fuchen went crazy!””Entering the heart of the demonic murderer, Gao Fuchen. Just which Jianghu rule made him pick such an extreme solution?””Spilling the bowls of beggars at seven, peeking the female bathhouse at nine, Gao Fuchen's life of perversion,”…
As he imagined the titles. Gao Fuchen could not help but shudder. This was much worse than being pursued by the entire world. His reputation would be utterly destroyed. At least the reputation of deviating to the path of evil would still bring fear and mystery, this, this would only make the situation impossible for him, he would look like a clown. And if he took revenge against the Wulin Express, just thinking about the Godly teleportation circles of the Dong Family made it impossible for him to unsheathe his sword.
The Jianghu was big, and the number of people who did not pursue fame and fortune was incredibly low.