Rest and Recuperation

Li Bufan returned home with a basket full of rice, grain, and clothes on his back. The moment he pushed open the brushwood gate, Li Ping'an, who had been curiously peering around by the stove, rushed over to greet him.

"Brother! You're back! Wow! You bought so many things!" Ping'an's eyes went round as saucers as he watched his brother unload the heavy basket. Inside were snowy white refined rice, glossy brown rice, fresh radishes and cabbages, and neatly folded new cotton clothes. A radiance he had never shown before bloomed across the little boy's face.

Especially when Li Bufan brought out two sets of thick, soft new cotton clothes and trousers, along with warm fur caps, Ping'an could hardly believe his eyes. He carefully reached out and touched the brand-new fabric. It was soft and warm beneath his fingers, a quality he had never worn before.

"Brother... th-this is really for us?" Ping'an's voice trembled with disbelief and delight. In past New Years, he would have counted himself lucky to get an old padded coat covered in patches. When had he ever seen such brand-new, thick, fine clothing?

"Of course it's for us. Hurry and try it on to see whether it fits." Smiling, Li Bufan picked up the set meant for his younger brother and handed it to him.

Ping'an took the clothes, his little face flushed bright red with excitement as he clumsily pulled them on. They were slightly large, but that meant he could wear them for another two years. The thick cotton wrapped around him, shutting out the bitter cold in an instant.

"Warm! So warm!" Ping'an happily spun around the room. One moment he touched his sleeves, the next he tugged at the hem. Though there were only two sets of clothes, he tried them on three or four times, every time as happy as if it were the first time he had ever worn new clothes.

Looking at his brother's innocent smile, Li Bufan's heart was filled with both bitterness and comfort. For a child from a poor family, a new set of clothes was joy as great as the heavens.

"Little brother, put away all this rice and grain first. I'm going out again, but I'll be back soon," Li Bufan said to Ping'an, who was still happily admiring his reflection in the water barrel.

Hearing that, Ping'an immediately turned around and asked curiously, "Brother, where are you going? Didn't you buy everything already?"

Li Bufan smiled and said lightly, "I'm going to buy you some pastries."

"Pa... pastries?" Ping'an's eyes instantly grew even rounder than they had when he saw the new clothes. His little mouth fell open, and he instinctively swallowed. To him, pastries were something that existed only in hearsay and imagination, delicacies only the children of wealthy town families could taste. He had never even seen what pastries actually looked like.

"R-really, Brother?" His voice was full of longing and disbelief.

"Of course. Be good and wait at home." Li Bufan rubbed his brother's head, then turned and left.

Once outside, the easy smile on Li Bufan's face faded slightly. He really was going to buy pastries, but more importantly, he needed to visit a clinic. Although the wound on his left arm had scabbed over, it was deep enough to expose the bone. If he wanted to avoid lasting complications and recover quickly, he still needed professional treatment and medicine. The best clinic in Huaiyuan County was Huichun Hall, under Lin Manor.

He made his way to Huichun Hall as if he knew the road by heart. The Apothecary Hall was filled with the familiar scent of medicinal herbs. Sitting in attendance was Doctor Liu, the very physician who had taught Li Bufan to identify herbs and passed on some basic medical knowledge while he had been recovering from his injuries.

Doctor Liu's beard and hair were white, yet he was vigorous and full of spirit. He was bent over a prescription when Li Bufan stepped forward and respectfully bowed. "Doctor Liu."

Doctor Liu looked up at the sound of his voice. When he saw Li Bufan, surprise flashed through his eyes. "You, lad? It's been some time. Your complexion looks much better than last time. Hmm... your steps are steady, your qi and blood are robust. It seems your martial path has improved quite a bit." The old doctor had a keen eye and saw Li Bufan's changes at a glance.

"Thanks to you, Doctor Liu, my body has indeed recovered considerably." Li Bufan spoke humbly, then revealed his left arm. "While hunting in the mountains this time, I was accidentally injured by a wild beast. I treated it myself, but I would still like you to take another look and prescribe some medicine so it can heal faster."

Doctor Liu gestured for him to sit, then carefully untied the bandage and examined the wound. When he saw the still vicious-looking injury beneath the scab, the old doctor frowned slightly. "What a deep wound! It nearly damaged the tendons and bones. Fortunately, it was treated in time, and the herbs you used were suitable. Otherwise, the trouble would have been enormous. What kind of beast did you hunt in those mountains, lad, for it to be so dangerous?"

Li Bufan answered vaguely, "I ran into something big and barely escaped." He did not want to speak further about what had happened in the mountains.

Doctor Liu gave him a look but did not press the matter. He carefully cleaned the wound, applied better Trauma Ointment, then picked up his brush and wrote out a prescription. "The wound is not a serious concern. Continue applying the ointment. This is an internal medicine prescription. It replenishes qi and blood, promotes the growth of flesh and healing, and will aid your recovery. Follow the prescription when gathering the herbs. Boil three bowls of water down to one, and drink it once in the morning and once at night."

"Thank you, Doctor Liu." Li Bufan accepted the prescription and thanked him repeatedly.

He went to the counter and collected five doses of medicine, then bought some additional high-quality Trauma Ointment for later use. It cost nearly a tael of silver at checkout, making his heart ache again, but for the sake of his health, the money had to be spent.

After leaving Huichun Hall, he finally detoured to a pastry shop, where he bought two jin of fine malt sugar cakes, sesame pastries, and plum blossom cakes, all wrapped in oiled paper.

When he returned home carrying the medicine and pastries, Ping'an was waiting eagerly at the door. The instant he saw his brother, he pounced forward like a little bird taking flight.

"Brother! You're back!"

When Li Bufan held out the package of pastries exuding a sweet fragrance, Ping'an's little hands even trembled slightly. He carefully opened the oiled paper and saw the golden malt sugar cakes and crisp pastries sprinkled with sesame seeds. His eyes widened, and he even held his breath.

"Brother... is this... is this what pastries are?" He picked up a small piece of malt sugar cake and carefully took a tiny bite. The sweet flavor instantly melted across his tongue, a wonderful taste he had never experienced before.

"Mmm! Sweet! So sweet! Brother, you eat too!" Ping'an happily narrowed his eyes and stood on tiptoe to offer the bitten pastry to Li Bufan's mouth.

Li Bufan smiled and took a small bite. Watching his brother's expression of satisfaction, as though he possessed the whole world, he felt every hardship and risk had been worth it.

That evening, the brothers cooked fragrant refined rice, stir-fried a large plate of beast meat, and ate with radish soup, enjoying a hearty meal. Afterward, Ping'an put away the remaining pastries as if they were treasures, saying he would eat them slowly.

Li Bufan, meanwhile, boiled the medicine Doctor Liu had prescribed. Its bitter smell filled the room, yet it represented hope for recovery.

As the night deepened, the room was warm and peaceful. Li Bufan looked at his younger brother sleeping especially soundly beside him, full from food and warm in his clothes, with pastries still tucked in his arms. He then touched the remaining six-odd taels of silver in his bosom and the three Cinnabar Fruits he kept close to his body, his gaze calm and resolute.

The food and warmth before him were only the first step. The path of martial arts ahead required more resources and silver. These six taels had to be carefully budgeted and spent where the blade met the bone. As for those Cinnabar Fruits, they were the key to his breakthrough. He had to wait until his injuries had fully healed before consuming them.

Over the next four or five days, Li Bufan completely relaxed. He no longer rose before dawn each day to train bitterly in martial arts as he had before. He deliberately immersed himself in a slow, tranquil rhythm, trying to wash away the exhaustion, tension, and the invisible pressure from killing that had accumulated deep in his heart over twenty days in the mountains.

During the day, he no longer merely buried himself in training. Instead, he spent more time with his younger brother Ping'an. Taking Ping'an along and carrying what little silver they had—though it was enough to keep them fed and warm—he went to the modest but lively market of Huaiyuan County.

The market teemed with people, and cries of vendors rose without end. Ping'an clutched his brother's hand tightly, but his little head swiveled from side to side like a rattle-drum, finding everything novel. Sugar figurines, dough sculptures, street performers, stalls of all kinds of dried goods, fabric stalls... to a child trapped in poverty year-round, all of it held a fatal allure.

Seeing his brother's sparkling eyes, Li Bufan's heart softened. He bought Ping'an a string of bright red candied hawthorns. Their sweet-and-sour taste made Ping'an squint as he smiled like a kitten that had stolen cream. He also bought snacks they usually could not bear to purchase: fragrant roasted pumpkin seeds, a small packet of crisp, sweet frozen pears, and even half a jin of streaky pork, planning to make dumplings at home.

He also took Ping'an to listen for a while to a street storyteller recounting tales of swordsmen roaming the world with blades in hand. Though the story was rough around the edges, Ping'an listened as if spellbound, his eyes filled with yearning for the world beyond.

Over those days, the brothers' table no longer held only bland gruel and pickled vegetables. Sometimes there were fragrant shredded-meat noodles, sometimes glossy vegetable-and-meat dumplings, and sometimes beast bone soup stewed until the meat fell apart. Every meal, Ping'an ate until his little belly was round, his face glowing with happy color.

Li Bufan himself gradually came to enjoy this plain yet warm life. Hot meals, his brother's carefree smile, and the warm brazier slowly drove away the chill and bloodstained stench of the mountains. His taut nerves gradually relaxed, and even the wound on his left arm healed rapidly under Doctor Liu's medicine and ample nourishment. The scab began to fall away, revealing tender pink flesh beneath.

Of course, he had not completely set aside cultivation. Every morning and in the stillness of night, he continued to practice the breathing method of the Spirit Ape Muscle Tempering Technique, nourishing his qi and blood, tempering his muscles, and feeling the strength within him grow more powerful by the day. He simply no longer pushed himself as desperately as before, instead consolidating his Initial Muscle Tempering cultivation in a manner as silent as rain moistening all things.

The [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate continued to work in silence. Even in ordinary walking, sitting, and lying down, his control over his own muscles and the circulation of his qi and blood seemed to improve by an almost imperceptible degree. The essence of the Nameless Fist Technique at Great Mastery also often flowed through his mind, giving him a deeper understanding of how to wield strength.

More importantly, the ease of these days seemed like a tempering of the soul, allowing him to review and digest his experiences in the mountains with a calmer mindset. The life-and-death struggles and the shock of taking another person's life for the first time slowly settled, were absorbed, and transformed amid this ordinary daily life into a deeper calmness and resilience. After experiencing extreme tension and killing, his temperament found a certain balance and sublimation within this warmth and simplicity.

Four or five days passed in the blink of an eye. Li Bufan felt that both body and mind had returned to their best condition, and his left arm injury was no longer a concern. It was time to deal with what came next.

That day, he rose early and carefully inspected the twenty imitation Armor-piercing Arrows. After confirming that they were no different from Lin Manor's standard issue, he wrapped them in cloth. Then he took the two most precious Silver-Crowned Snow Fox pelts and three Snow Fox pelts from the pile of hides in the corner, carefully wrapping them in ordinary hemp cloth.

He told Ping'an to watch the house carefully. Then he slung the arrows over his back, picked up the Snow Fox pelts, and headed out toward Lin Manor.