Chapter 8 (2/2)
Shen Qiao felt a bit of helplessness as he explained again, ”Didn't I tell you before? I forgot a lot of things Even now, I still haven't recalled them all yet If I knew the reason, ould I still say so back to check?”
Chen Gong thought for a ether with you You don't have to payas you can teach uys like you After we arrive at Chen Dynasty, I'll go join the Six Haro to your Mount Xuandu What do you think?”
Shen Qiao asked, ”Funing District is your hometown This is apeaceful place that is rarely exposed to warfare, somewhere distinctly different fro all the way to the west The closer we get to the border between Qi and Zhou, the more chaotic it will becoo on such a dangerous journey?”
Chen Gong kept a straight face as he answered, ”Both of my parents are dead, and my house was taken by the children ofrice sacks in Funing District, it's better forout there Didn't you say that I'et to places where wars break out often and soldiers are urgently needed in order to join one, right? I don't want to livea coward so useless that even beggars can bully and look down on me!”
Shen Qiao fell into silence for a moment Then he conceded, ”Fine then…”
His sentence had barely started, but Chen Gong had already knelt down right before his bed with a plop ”Esteemed Master, please accept this bow of respect from your disciple!”
”…” The corner of Shen Qiao's hing ”You et up I don't take disciples, and I can't take disciples As for the ht not be able to remember them completely, I can only teach you the ones I do recall at most I don't even know myself whether they are effective, so there's no need to take me as your Master”
Hearing these words, Chen Gong quickly got up and said outright,”Alright But you're older than me, so I'll call you 'elder brother' froain, you'll have to step up for me!”
Shen Qiao only sain
Chen Gong looked at hin of snapping out of it, he had no choice but to turn around and leave for now
…
Shen Qiao had been seriously injured during his fall froerous back then, since all of his bones were broken, but these injuries hadthe three months of recuperation in the spare mansion
The parts that were truly daans and martial arts, with the latter al that accident Since he was left with nothing at the mented memories and a half-crippled body, recovery was easier said than done
Were it to happen to any other people, this would be a blow notthe ti was the one actually getting mad most of the time
The two of theained with the innkeeper for a good price and rented straight for athein front of Duke Jiang Te rice sacks, while at night he would study martial arts under Shen Qiao His foundation and aptitude were good, so after a month, his moves actually resembled those of a real martial artist But without the help of inner qi, it was just an e norues but useless if he were to run into real martial artists
When theDistrict and set out on a journey to the west
Ever since he had left the spare ain Even though Funing District was not far from the sparestall he set up at Duke Jiang Temple, all that he heard and saw everyday was market activities which could not possibly be more mundane and commoners who could not possibly be more ordinary
The martial world seemed extremely far away to him, so far that soo to Mount Xuandu Spending the rest of his life in Funing District would not be a bad choice actually
Nevertheless, the occasional faint tightness in his chest , the stabbing pains in his bones, which were just reconnected not long ago, during cloudy and rainy days, the past that flashed across his mind, and the inner qi that roamed all over his limbs and bones from time to time, all reminded him– the current Shen Qiao was still not the whole Shen Qiao
To the west of Funing District was Huai Prefecture It was a large prefecture and was also close to Zhou, thus the security there was tight Since the Regional Inspector [1] of Huai Prefecture was usually directly appointed by the E over for inspection tours, the area was often under martial law
The world had stayed divided for a long time already, but the countries issued no prohibitions on border trades between each other Yet the Regional Inspector of Huai Profecture, Shen Buyi, was the only one who handled ely After he took office, he i the border between the two countries and thatin the mutual trades would be severely punished without exceptions He also reported to the E that the mutual trade districts were easily accessible ate the layout of the border defense of Qi He even suggested to close h the Emperor of Qi, Gao Wei, did not adopt his proposal, he still highly praised Shen Buyi's loyalty and even issued a decree in recognition of it
Not only did Shen Buyi overextend hiovernh officials and nobles of Qi As a result, often someone from the Emperor's inner ministerial circle would speak on his behalf, which was the very reason he was able to ascend from a petty District Defender, all the way to the Sir Governor [2] now of an entire prefecture, striding on the road of success
Considering the high expenses if they were to enter the city, Chen Gong and Shen Qiao decided to put up in the monastery outside the city instead, and then enter the city to resupply the next day This way, they could leave the city and be off on the road again by afternoon
The name of the monastery was Beyond Clouds Monastery It was called a h in fact it was not much better than the shabby te District There were only three monks in it: an old monk as the abbot, and two little monks that were adopted by him
The monastery was rather humble with only two side rooms One of them was for the elder abbot, while the other one was for the two littlequarter [3] was all it had
Chen Gong was used to living a hard life In that shabby te quarters, there wasn't even a blanket So for hireat Shen Qiao was rather easy going and took things as they came, thus he naturally had no complaints
Only after they entered the coroup had arrived before thee chests inside the room with them
Chen Gong held a hostility and wariness towards strangers, therefore it was not likely for him to open his mouth just to scrape up an acquaintance with thereet them, he could barely see clearly what they looked like The four people had no intention for a closer relationshi+p either They sized Chen Gong and Shen Qiao up and down inconspicuously, and after seeing their unsteady steps [4] and plain clothes, they paid no further attention to them
Not long after, the two little s in their hands
With two additional people, the co in the first place, appeared even more crowded
Displeased fros: ”Six people is already a lot, yet now there are two more!”
The little monk heard it and whispered to hi the benefactors over there Since it would be inconvenient for her to rest in the same room with us, we left the side room to her After all, to help others is to help oneself”
Wo could not say anything else in spite of hi happy about it By then, he noticed that those four people all carried weapons on thelance from the corner of his eye, he see all of a sudden and was incessantly excited Taking the opportunity when leaving for dinner, he pulled Shen Qiao closer and whispered, ”Did you see? Those guys are from the Six Harmonious association! I saw the symbol of the association on their clothes and those chests! It's exactly the sa District!”
Shen Qiao responded with a sood, how could I see?”
Chen Gong's excitement was not affected in the least ”If I find a chance to strike up a conversation with the pleased with ree to let me join the Six Harmonious association?”
Shen Qiao knew that Chen Gong yearned wholeheartedly to join the Six Harmonious association Even after they had traveled such a long distance, his original intention had not changed
He slowly responded, ”I think it would be the best for you to not try”
Translator's Notes:
[1] Regional Inspector (刺史 cishi+): a regular supervisory post intended to provide disciplinary surveillance over personnel in all units of territorial adion
[2] Sir Governor (使君 shi+jun): An honorific title given to the officials of a region
[3] Co ooden plank bed that allows ether on it side by side
[4] Unsteady Steps: An expression indicating they have no inner qi in them