The years sped past like powerful arrows; time came singing from a hastily drawn bowstring.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Over those three years, Li Ping'an traveled back and forth between Bamboo Leaf Peak and Heaven-Reaching Peak.
He went to Bamboo Leaf Peak to work, refining spirit medicine.
The Medicine Valley on Heaven-Reaching Peak needed tending, and Elder Qingfeng, who never grew up, needed someone to look after him too.
He could not go without his three meals a day.
Those busy days gave Li Ping'an a sense of fulfillment.
Recently, Elder Qingfeng had been preparing to go away.
Apparently, he would be gone for at least four or five years.
So, early that morning, Li Ping'an went out to fetch wine.
He had buried all the wine in a cellar on Dragon Pool Ridge. After retrieving it, he packed it into a Storage Ring for Qingfeng to take along.
He reminded him, "I've put the wine in the Storage Ring. Don't drink too much at once. You'll get drunk easily.
Drinking can make you botch things, especially with things so chaotic out there now.
Remember, act cautiously.
Write to me once a month..."
Qingfeng nodded like a chicken pecking grain. "Oh, all right, all right. I know."
Yun Shu, who had come to see him off, smiled to herself. Which of these two is the other's master, anyway?
"If anyone bullies you while I'm away, don't clash with them head-on. Wait until your master returns."
Li Ping'an nodded. "I understand. A nobleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall."
"Also..." Qingfeng glanced at the others around them, then transmitted his next words directly to Li Ping'an.
"After I've left, give it a little time, then stop going to Bamboo Leaf Peak.
You've earned more