A Thousand Faces Amid Life's Rising and Falling—Who Was the Only One Struggling to Cross the River? A Lavish Mountain Delicacies Feast, All the Colors of Life!

The trip to the Medicine Lodge—alchemy and medicinal baths—had come to an end.

Ji Xiu did not stay and was preparing to head back.

From far behind him, Zheng Jun came running from the Medicine Lodge, panting heavily.

"Ji Xiu! Master Ji! Master Ji!"

"You—"

He dashed over in a blur. His Medicine Boy clothes were still stained with sweat, and the moment he bent over, he began gasping for breath.

"It was you. You asked Yellow Medicine Master to let me use the pill furnace and refine medicine!?"

Zheng Jun's face was full of disbelief.

Just moments ago, Ji Xiu had barely left when Huang Xuan summoned him, allowing him to try refining some beginner pills. If he showed some talent, he might even be accepted into the school.

This pie falling from the sky left him utterly dazed. If it were not already past morning, he would have thought he had not fully woken from sleep.

Only after asking around did he learn that Ji Xiu had put in a good word for him, making Old Man Huang change his mind and prepare to cultivate him for the first time after all these years.

Moved beyond measure, he had chased after Ji Xiu all the way here. Yet when he arrived, he found Ji Xiu had already mounted the carriage. Hearing the commotion, Ji Xiu drew aside the window curtain and smiled at him.

"Eight years of service, half a month of diligence—I could see that you truly wanted to refine pills."

"I rose from a mere groom to where I am now. I understand your thoughts only too well."

"Since that is the case, what harm is there in giving you this opportunity as the Medicine Hall Master?"

With that, the sound of hoofbeats rose.

The carriage wheels rumbled over the bluestone, clattering away into the distance.

Zheng Jun's throat tightened. Looking down at his filthy Medicine Boy uniform, his eyes stung, and he could not help choking up.

When they had first met, he had put on airs before Ji Xiu and called himself a "pill master." There had been no small amount of boasting and face-saving in it.

But was it not also the wish buried in his heart?

This time, at last, his wish had been fulfilled.

The moment he arrived at the Fire Kiln residence—

And stepped into the bluestone courtyard—

Ji Xiu immediately spotted Ji Wei. Dressed in a stylish willow-green padded jacket and skirt, she was smiling as she greeted a skinny, monkey-like youth in coarse short clothes, whose face was full of awkward shyness and embarrassment.

The instant she saw Ji Xiu, she waved her little hand.

"Brother, look who's here!"

Seeing the Ji family's little sister—her features delicately carved as jade, starlight glittering in her eyes, utterly unlike the sallow, scrawny, timid girl she had once been—

Zhang Liu Zi sat rigidly upright at the stone table, shy and constrained, not daring to raise his head.

Then, hearing the movement and following her gaze—

He saw the young man walking down the bluestone path, a black cloak over his shoulders, a dark straight-collared robe beneath, saber at his waist and boots on his feet.

He froze even more deeply at the sight. With a whoosh, he sprang to his feet and stood perfectly straight.

"Brother Ji—no, Master Ji..."

He could not decide what to call him.

By then, Ji Xiu had already strode over. Smiling warmly, he patted Zhang Liu Zi's shoulder, utterly unconcerned by his shabby clothes.

"We all crawled out of the mud. Who is more noble than whom?"

"What is it? Did someone bully you? Or bully Old Uncle? Tell me."

"When we moved out of Old Street Alley, I told you this."

"We grew up together. If you have any trouble, so long as you come to me, I'll help."

He lifted his chin, his face solemn.

Zhang Liu Zi was so moved that his face trembled.

"Brother, I..."

"I..."

He gritted his teeth, but still could not help lowering his head toward the ground, his voice dropping with it.

"I came to ask you for work."

"Actually, ever since you beat up Manager Qiao Jin, I started practicing martial arts. Since I've been eating more and more, my family can't support me anymore. I had no choice."

Hmm?

Ji Xiu's gaze sharpened.

"You've been practicing martial arts?"

"Who did you learn from? How much silver did Old Uncle pay?"

Ever since becoming the Medicine Hall Master and broadening his horizons, Ji Xiu had increasingly come to understand that some martial artists were utterly incapable. They had not even reached Sinew Tempering and could barely stand on their own feet.

Yet relying on the fact that they were listed in the Martial Register and registered with the authorities, they put on an unfathomable air, set up shop in their own courtyards, and tricked poor youths unwilling to settle for mediocrity out of a dozen or more taels of silver.

In the end, all they gave was some wild martial art path that could not even cultivate force—and that even the authorities would not bother regulating—while swallowing their victims down to the bone and marrow.

Had he not fortunately found his way into Duan Chenzhou's school, Ji Xiu would most likely have been tempted by the cheap price and tried his luck as well.

And if he had entered the tutelage of one of those martial artists with such trifling skills—

Even with the Primordial Dao Talisman, he might never have cultivated saber force.

"No, no!"

"I didn't use my family's money to learn. This past month, an itinerant martial master has been teaching martial arts in our Old Street Alley. It's free—you can learn without paying anything."

"At first, I only went along with my workmates to join the fun."

"I never expected that after practicing for a month, he would say I had talent and good bones, and that my age was still suitable. If I kept training, I could reach Entering Force in two or three months. He asked whether I wanted an introduction to join one of the Three Great Gangs and pursue the martial path."

"I was tempted, but I've never been inside a gang like that, and my father wasn't too reassured. So he said that if it came to it, I should come find you..."

As he spoke, Zhang Liu Zi grew a little embarrassed. He demonstrated a sequence of punches and kicks before Ji Xiu, making Ji Xiu's eyes narrow. Sure enough, he saw hints of Minor Accomplishment in him.

"Teaching martial arts for free."

"The Three Great Gangs?"

Ji Xiu frowned. Did people who had entered the Martial Register and would truly "teach martial arts for free, asking nothing in return" really exist in this world?

Would that not smash the signboards of all those small martial halls and elderly martial artists?

After thinking for a moment, and seeing that Hong Jiang had not yet left, Ji Xiu stopped Zhang Liu Zi and gave an order.

"Hong Jiang, this is a brother of mine from my early years. We came from the same place."

"Take him to Yellow Medicine Master and Zheng Jun. Arrange a job for him, and say it was my order."

With just one sentence—

While Zhang Liu Zi was still at a loss—

Ji Xiu had decided his identity as a member of the Medicine Hall and a member of the Wind and Cloud Association.

This was something countless Fire Kiln retainers could crack their heads open trying to attain, yet never manage.

This was power.

"From now on, your monthly salary will be ten taels of silver. You can take pills once a month. Spend carefully, be filial to Old Uncle and your elder sister—and of course, don't let your martial arts fall behind."

Ten taels!

Pills!?

Zhang Liu Zi's breath caught. He was completely stunned, his face flushing red with anxiety as he repeatedly waved his hands.

"No, no, Brother, I didn't come asking for so much. Just give me a meal to eat. One or two taels is enough—I'll work hard for you. You don't need to..."

Yet Ji Xiu suppressed him with one brief, unquestionable sentence.

"If I give it to you, take it."

"Go."

"And if there's a chance later, bring me to meet that 'master' of yours."

Under Hong Jiang's look of you lucky brat, Zhang Liu Zi was pulled out of the Blue Brick Courtyard. He kept turning his head back, his face anxious, looking as though he wanted to speak but could not.

Only after a while did Ji Xiu turn to Ji Wei, his expression gentle.

"Little sister, eat by yourself at noon today."

"The sons and daughters of the three seats of the Wind and Cloud Association are holding a Mountain Delicacies Feast at Flying Swallow House today. They specifically invited me. I've declined several times already, but I really can't refuse again this time."

"Mm-hmm!"

Flying Swallow House.

The moment Ji Xiu entered, a sharp-eyed waiter immediately led him up to the third floor.

He had not even come up here the last time he attended Lin Du's banquet. He had heard that one needed sufficient standing to enter.

The instant he stepped inside, he saw artificial hills and flowing water. Amid painted screens and carved railings, a stream gurgled softly. Though it was deep autumn, flowers still bloomed here in a riot of splendor.

The curtain of a private room to one side was half drawn.

At his arrival, a familiar laugh rang out.

"Junior Brother?"

"Come, come!"

Lu Yu lifted the curtain. His eyes lit up, and he took Ji Xiu by the arm, ushering him inside.

Once seated, Ji Xiu found a young man in a purple robe greeting him with familiar ease. Beside him, a woman in a purple dress with a narrow waist covered her mouth lightly with her sleeve and smiled in greeting.

With Lu Yu's introduction, coupled with their previous meeting when the Wind and Cloud Association had been established—

Ji Xiu soon remembered them.

"Young Master Xu of the Firewood Market, now the deputy master of our Wind and Cloud Association's Discipline Hall."

Lu Yu pointed to the young man in purple.

Xu Heng raised his cup and drank with a smile toward Ji Xiu.

"This is Miss Wei of the Cattle and Sheep Market, also the deputy master of the Scripture Hall."

The woman smiled brightly and waved her hand. The precious jade bracelet on her fair wrist gleamed softly.

"I wanted to arrange a gathering earlier, let everyone mingle a little, and introduce you to your senior brother's connections in the Wind and Cloud Association. But you kept your doors shut, diligently training."

Lu Yu looked somewhat helpless, but then pointed at Wei Zhi.

"This time, though, Miss Wei brought quite a few mountain delicacies from her home and laid out this whole Mountain Delicacies Feast."

"After eating this meal, Sinew Tempering will benefit greatly. When would one normally get such a chance?"

"Your senior brother figured that no matter what, we had to get this bargain into our bellies. That's why I dragged you here."

"Hahaha, sit, sit!"

Ji Xiu lowered his gaze.

Sure enough, the entire table was covered in dishes—matsutake-stewed bear paw, char siu squab, phoenix-tailed White Crane, dry-braised yellow shark fin—

Dish after dish. Some were familiar enough, but others he had never even heard of or seen before. It was a true eye-opener.

For a moment, looking at these great households of the county—

He recalled Zheng Jun, who had bitterly sought pills for eight years just to knock open that door.

And Zhang Liu Zi, who, merely to make a living and seek a future, had no choice but to swallow his pride and come to his doorstep.

He could not help sighing inwardly.

Some were born in the mud. Unwilling to remain ordinary, they clawed their way upward with all their might, perhaps only to gain the chance to become cattle and horses.

Yet others, from the instant they were born, stood at the finish line others could never reach.

The gulf between their circumstances was enough to make one sigh.

But—

The moment Ji Xiu took his seat—

The three of them all subtly turned their eyes toward him, as though he were the true protagonist of this Mountain Delicacies Feast.

As cups clinked and wine flowed, Ji Xiu came to another realization.

"Though one cannot choose one's birth, does being born to a poor family or a servant household mean one can never turn one's life around?"

"Not at all."

"A fish leaping the dragon gate is not an achievement of a single day;"

"A cocoon becoming a butterfly must also endure winter and summer."

"How much more so for people?"

"After passing through trial upon trial."

"Even cattle and horses can turn their lives around, becoming dragons soaring through clouds and riding the mist!"

"And am I not proof of that today?"

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