Shi Feizhe was indeed frustrated. He hadn't expected that even some ramshackle house he'd casually stumbled upon would have an owner.
And one who'd come back after decades, no less!
As for burying something with your name on it in my house, that had obviously been a self-deprecating joke.
After all, he wasn't Captain Jia, shamelessly refusing to see reason.
"Old-timer, the repairs cost fifteen taels in total. Once you pay, you can move in. I'll go find somewhere else," Shi Feizhe said.
"Since you'll be living here alone, fixing the place up shouldn't cost much more than that."
"Uh... It's not expensive, but I don't have any money!" the old man said awkwardly.
"No money? You weren't watching me from the foot of the mountain when I arrived, waiting until I'd nearly finished fixing things up before coming over to claim the place and take advantage of me, were you?" Shi Feizhe demanded.
"Young man, I can see you practice martial arts. How about I teach you a martial art in exchange for those fifteen taels?" the old man proposed.
"Not interested! I already know enough martial arts. You can't chew more than you can swallow!" Shi Feizhe refused outright.
Learning an unfamiliar martial art was risky. And if the old man was offering one in exchange for fifteen taels, could it really be any good?
"My martial art is very powerful!"
"Even if it's powerful, I'm not learning it!"
"Then there's nothing I can do. I don't have any money! And if we fight, you can't beat me anyway," the old man said with a cheeky grin, shamelessly refusing to budge.
He really didn't have any money, and he had no use for it.
"...Is all this really necessary over fifteen taels?" Shi Feizhe said, at a loss for words.
He couldn't tell how strong the old man was from that grab just now. He probably wasn't that powerful, or he wouldn't be acting like a scoundrel over a little money!
How could a master in the martial world be broke?
Besides, fists feared the young and strong. The old man was already so advanced in years; relying on swordplay to wear Shi Feizhe down might not give him an advantage!
The advantage is mine!
Shi Feizhe gave himself a pep talk.
The old man was being so shameless about this that Shi Feizhe couldn't just swallow his anger!
"Then I'll have to ask you for a few pointers, old-timer!" Shi Feizhe picked up the Rusty Sword he'd bought on a whim in town to practice swordsmanship. It was just for practice.
He flourished it in a flashy flourish and said, "I'm only a little more skilled with the sword, so it's not unfair for me to use a weapon, right?"
"Oh? You know swordsmanship?" The old man looked at Shi Feizhe with interest. Then he joined the fingers of his right hand together like a sword, and before Shi Feizhe's stunned eyes, True Qi condensed into a sword.
"Come on, let this old man have some fun!"
Shi Feizhe looked at the long sword formed from True Qi. It was about three or four feet long, glowing with a faint blue light in the sunshine. Combined with the old man's words, "Let this old man have some fun," how could he not realize he'd run into a big shot?
"Ahem... I'm young, but I've always had a screw loose. Sometimes my mouth runs away with me, and I don't even know what I'm saying! I was having an episode just now. Pretend you didn't hear me, old-timer." Shi Feizhe immediately admitted defeat.
A person wandering the martial world had to follow his heart!
That was the true meaning of the martial way!
"I'll pack up and leave right now!" Shi Feizhe hurriedly said.
It was only fifteen taels. He'd let it go!
Damn it, even after hiding in the mountains, he'd still run into a big shot!
What terrible luck!
"Wait!" the old man said again.
"Hm?" Shi Feizhe instantly went on alert.
What was this? Was the old man really going to kill him to silence him? Or seize his belongings?
"When I was young, if anyone had dared to point a sword at me, they'd have been chopped into several pieces by now." The old man looked at Shi Feizhe and flipped his hand, dispelling the True Qi sword. Then he continued, "Now that I'm old, my temper has improved a lot."
"And I have to thank you for fixing the place up. After coming back, it brought back more than a few memories."
"If you don't mind the cramped quarters, you can stay in this little courtyard too."
"I won't be here much longer. Two or three years at most, four or five at the longest. In the end, this courtyard will be yours again." The old man said it all in one breath.
"Why will you only be staying a few years?" Shi Feizhe asked.
"Simple! Because I'm about to die," the old man said breezily.
"Die?" Shi Feizhe couldn't understand. The old man had conjured a sword from True Qi so casually. He had to be at least at the Heavenly Cycle stage, maybe even a master of the True Person Realm. How could he die so easily?
"The lifespan of a martial artist is limited. What's so strange about dying?" The old man looked at Shi Feizhe, puzzled.
"Could it be... a hundred and forty-nine years?" Shi Feizhe said. He seemed to remember hearing a blind man say that a martial artist could live to, at most, a hundred and forty-nine.
Even Number One Under Heaven, Yuan Jiuzhong!
Thinking of the words "Chong Jiuyuan" on the wooden box, written from top to bottom...
Could this old man be Chong Jiuyuan?
No, no! Number One Under Heaven, trying to cheat him out of fifteen taels?
The martial world was too strange!
Did the martial world have any sense of honor left?
If reversing the name still made it the same person, then wouldn't Fan Jianqiang be...
The old man's name was probably just a coincidence!
"Not bad! You may be an Unorthodox Methods practitioner, young man, but you know a thing or two," the old man said. "My lifespan is running out. I just want to spend a few peaceful years here."
Shi Feizhe thought it over. With the old man's cultivation, crushing him would probably be easier than crushing a grasshopper. He'd gone to all that trouble explaining himself, so he probably meant him no harm.
Going back to search across the mountains for another secluded spot would be a real hassle!
"Fine! Then let's squeeze in together, old-timer! I'll tidy up. You can take the east room, and I'll take the west!" Shi Feizhe told the old man.
"Good! Let's knock down the statue in the main hall too. We can clear it out and put some odds and ends there. That'll give us a bit more room," the old man said.
"What god is that?" Shi Feizhe asked, curious about the half-collapsed clay statue.
He'd only left half of it standing instead of knocking it all down. Now two people would be cramped in three rooms, so tearing down the statue would give them more space.
"Oh, that? It's a God of Wealth," the old man said after a moment's thought, then chuckled.
"Huh? They worship a God of Wealth in this little temple?"
"When my master was still around, we worshipped the True Martial Great Emperor. Later, the offerings dried up, so my master told the people at the foot of the mountain that the True Martial Great Emperor was also a God of Wealth—and a Martial God of Wealth, at that! Where there's martial prowess, there's wealth; where there's wealth, there's martial prowess! And so, the offerings gradually picked up. That's how my master and I avoided starving to death."
The old man reminisced about his childhood, his face full of nostalgia.
Things that had happened a hundred years ago felt as if they'd happened just yesterday.
Everyone who'd offered sacrifices to the God of Wealth back then had surely turned to dust by now!
And now, it was my turn!
"By the way, I still don't know what to call you, young friend," the old man suddenly said, realizing he didn't know the name of the young man in front of him.
"My name is Shi Feizhe!"
"Huh? Shi Feizhe?" The old man thought for a moment. "I heard there's an Old Devil in the north who wreaked havoc across Qiu Yang City, leaving the whole city in ruins. That Old Devil was called Shi Feizhe."
"Just a coincidence. Lots of people have the same name!" Shi Feizhe said with a dark expression, denying it.
Damn it, it'd been six months already. Who was still spreading slander about him?
"Now that I think about it, that makes sense. The rumors say that Old Devil loves pretending to be young and tricking people! I've seen plenty of people pretending to be young, but none of them had eyes as clear and foolish as yours! You're definitely not the Old Devil," the old man said, shaking his head.
"I'm not an Old Devil at all! You really are so perceptive, old-timer..." Shi Feizhe had finally met someone who didn't think he was a devil. He was about to sing the man's praises, but then he realized something was wrong.
No, old man, could you maybe explain exactly what you mean?
What's that supposed to mean, "clear and foolish"?
If I weren't weaker than you, I'd knock your old head clean off!
Despite that, the old and the young settled down on the mountain.
One was waiting to die; the other was lying low.
He lay low so he wouldn't have to.
Before you continue