A Story Too Long to Tell

"Uncle Jiang, you are going to face a bloody disaster on this trip..."

Lu Chuan suddenly seemed to think of something. He stared at Jiang Ziya's departing back while rubbing his chin, a profound and inscrutable expression appearing on his face.

"In that case, this nephew can only wish you good luck."

Jiang Ziya wandered around Chaoge for an entire day without earning a single copper coin to take home, and his wife, Ma, was certainly no easy woman to deal with.

Who was Ma? She was a sixty-eight-year-old spinster.

If a woman hasn't managed to get married by the age of sixty-eight, wouldn't she have some sort of flaw?

Lu Chuan had heard that her limbs were sound and her features were generally decent; there was nothing wrong with her physically, but her shortcoming was that she was a rather snobbish person.

When she was young, many young men had come to her home to propose marriage, but she had set her standards too high and was always too picky to be satisfied.

Once this became known, people from all the surrounding villages heard of it, and no more men came to propose; after all, going there only meant being insulted.

She spent year after year like that, eventually delaying herself until her youth had faded and she had become an old maid.

If the high-and-mighty, snobbish Ma saw that Jiang Ziya hadn't earned a single coin, how could she possibly give him a pleasant look?

Lu Chuan truly couldn't imagine what kind of situation would unfold when that time came.

After seeing Jiang Ziya off, Lu Chuan returned to the shop, thought for a moment, and then headed to Shen Gongbao's room in the back.

The fragrance of Shen Gongbao's immortal tea was too alluring; he couldn't forget that delicate scent. If he didn't taste it, it felt as if a claw were scratching at his heart, over and over again...

"Master?"

Lu Chuan arrived at the doorway and called out softly. The door was open, but no one answered from within.

Lu Chuan hesitated, deciding not to sneak in rashly. Instead, he turned back to the courtyard, scooped up a bit of soil, pinched a spell, recited a mantra, and scattered it, shouting, "Escape!"

In an instant, he transformed into a streak of earthy-yellow light and cautiously burrowed toward the room.

Whoosh!

But the moment his escape light entered the door, a sudden gust of wind whistled. A flash of yellow light appeared before Lu Chuan's eyes, and before he could see what it was, his escape light was struck down to the ground.

"Ouch!"

The escape light on the floor let out a cry and flickered back into Lu Chuan, who lay on the ground in a disheveled state, clutching his forehead where he had been struck.

He looked up to see Shen Gongbao walking calmly out from behind the door with his hands behind his back, the broom in one of his hands making Lu Chuan's eyelids twitch violently.

"Master, you cheated!"

"All is fair in war!"

Shen Gongbao said this without blushing or skipping a beat, laughing, "Isn't the little fox fond of playing? This master will accompany you to the end."

Despite saying this, he still extended a hand toward the fallen Lu Chuan, smiling as he pulled him up.

"Old fox!"

Lu Chuan felt speechless, then asked in surprise, "Master, did you know I was coming?"

Shen Gongbao chuckled, "The bait has already been prepared; how could the fish not take the hook?"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the table nearby, where a jade cup filled with freshly brewed tea now sat.

Lu Chuan was overjoyed, "Is this prepared for me?"

"Could it be..." Shen Gongbao feigned confusion as he glanced around, "Is there a third person here?"

Lu Chuan smiled; this master still cared for him, though the broom strike had certainly not been light.

He had just won a small victory with his water escape this morning, only to have it won back by noon, but all things considered, they were currently tied!

He walked over and picked up the teacup. A refreshing, soul-soothing fragrance immediately wafted into his nose, making him almost intoxicated.

"This tea has the effect of calming the soul and concentrating the spirit; it can help you cultivate your Primordial Spirit more easily during the Spirit Transformation stage."

Shen Gongbao smiled, "I had intended to save it for you until then, but since you want to drink it today, go ahead and taste it. Drink too much, and the flavor is just like that."

Lu Chuan's smile froze.

Show-off!

You are blatantly showing off!

Lu Chuan then picked it up and took a small sip, but the next moment, his expression changed drastically.

His brows furrowed, his facial muscles twitched, his mouth went numb, and he felt his tongue gradually losing all sensation.

Bitter!

This tea was truly too bitter!

Lu Chuan could guarantee that this stuff could definitely rival the legendary bitter herb—Coptis. It was so bitter it made you start questioning your life.

But his mouth was already paralyzed, and it was impossible to even open his mouth to spit it out. This truly lived up to the saying: "A mute eating Coptis—suffering a bitterness that cannot be spoken."

What was even more frustrating was that he had brought this suffering upon himself. Sigh!

Lu Chuan really couldn't understand how tea that smelled so fragrant could taste like this. The contrast was too great; to put it bluntly, it was the difference between heaven and earth, much like the legendary "back-view killer."

He truly could not fathom how Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao could have worn such satisfied smiles after drinking that just moments ago; it was too misleading, too much of a trap.

"Is it good?" Shen Gongbao asked with a smile.

Lu Chuan's tongue was numb, and by this point, his entire body was nearly paralyzed; unable to utter a single word, he could only stiffly shake his numb head.

Shen Gongbao said, "Endure it!"

In reality, Lu Chuan had no choice but to endure it, as his mouth was completely numb and devoid of sensation.

Yet very soon, following the bitterness that made one doubt the meaning of life, a sudden sweetness emerged, like sweet rain after a long drought. It not only relieved the numbness in Lu Chuan's body but also caused every pore on his skin to dilate—it was incredibly comfortable.

In an instant, he felt as if he had been lifted from the ground and sent soaring into the clouds.

"Bitter first, then sweet? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"

Having experienced the nuances of this sensation, Lu Chuan suddenly opened his eyes and repeated the word three times, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Shen Gongbao nodded and smiled, "Since you have grasped the wonder within, why not go and cultivate the Samadhi True Fire? What are you waiting for?"

With that, he imparted the method for cultivating the Samadhi True Fire to Lu Chuan. Lu Chuan stood up in a daze, nodded after listening, and then left in a daze.

Once Lu Chuan returned to his room, he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, pressed his thumbs against his middle fingers, rested his hands on his knees, and slowly closed his eyes.

To practice the Samadhi True Fire, the first step was to refine one's own essence, energy, and spirit into the three fires, and then nurture the Li essence within the chest and abdomen...

In the Eight Trigrams, Li represented fire.

Once he entered this state, he did not emerge for the entire day.

The next day, as Shen Gongbao was practicing breathing exercises in the courtyard, he noticed that the door to Lu Chuan's room remained tightly shut, so he shook his head; he would have to be the one to look after the shop out front today.

He had opened this shop in Chaoge with the intention of "the great hermit hiding in the city."

Although the six-hundred-year mandate of the Yin Shang was nearing its end, it was only nearing its end, not yet finished.

Within the imperial court, the civil and military officials who served as the pillars of the Great Shang were upright and fiercely loyal; they would inevitably become a nuisance for the future conquest of the Shang-Zhou.

That was why he had hidden himself within this Chaoge!

Though he was in Chaoge, the trends of the world were entirely within his grasp; he was simply waiting for the right moment to head to Western Zhou and assist a wise ruler.

Shen Gongbao stood at the doorway looking out when he suddenly saw a familiar figure walk past the entrance.

It was none other than Jiang Ziya.

The difference was that today, Jiang Ziya was wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a load of flour on his shoulders.

As he passed by, he deliberately hugged the wall opposite the shop, as if he were intentionally hiding and did not want to be discovered.

If it had been Lu Chuan, he might not have noticed, but today it happened to be Shen Gongbao watching the shop, and with his keen eyes...

"Senior Brother!"

Shen Gongbao hurried out into the street and called out to the figure not far ahead.

Upon hearing this, the hurried figure froze, then stiffened in place, unsure whether to keep walking or not.

Shen Gongbao walked up to the man with a smile, but his expression immediately froze, and he exclaimed in great shock, "Senior Brother, what kind of monster was so vicious as to wound you like this?"

The man was indeed Jiang Ziya, but today, Jiang Ziya's face was covered in red, claw-like scratches, with patches of skin torn away, looking quite startling.

Jiang Ziya lowered his head and dodged, not wanting Shen Gongbao to see his face, but how could he escape Shen Gongbao's eyes?

"Sigh, Junior Brother, it is a long story..."