"Brother, you said someone dug this sword formula out of an ancient ruin to the west?"
Not long afterward, in a nearby teahouse, Second Young Master Mu invited the young scholar upstairs to share a table and questioned him about the sword formula.
The young scholar was entirely unguarded and told Second Young Master Mu everything he knew, down to the last detail.
Second Young Master Mu came from a family with a rich scholarly tradition and had considerable knowledge. After reading just a few lines of the general principles and the method for circulating energy through the body, he recognized that this formula was anything but ordinary. Almost instinctively, he pressed further. "Then do you know where the rogue cultivator selling this sword formula is?"
The young scholar paused at the question. "That I don't know. While I was arguing with those two barbarians, the stallholder had already run off. He seemed afraid of getting into trouble."
Second Young Master Mu kept his expression neutral. "Do you still remember what he looked like?"
The young scholar said, "He was a man of around forty, dressed in brownish-yellow clothes. He looked fairly ordinary, and I didn't pay much attention, but I vaguely remember hearing a local accent..."
Second Young Master Mu gave a faint smile. "In that case, let's leave the matter there. Come, brother, let me toast you with tea in place of wine."
After finishing breakfast, the young scholar bid him farewell.
Only when the scholar went downstairs and stepped onto the street did Second Young Master Mu's expression finally turn grave. He picked up the manual he had hurriedly copied earlier, looking thoughtful.
His personal attendant A-Wang asked, "Young master, it's getting late. Are we still going fishing by the river?"
Second Young Master Mu said, "Another