When Chen Fengxiao first began speaking, he talked calmly and unhurriedly, as though recounting something that had nothing to do with him. But by the end, when he spoke of his mother, he could not hide his emotions after all. His eyes carried the air of memories too painful to look back upon.
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua's heart ached as well. He thought of his mother far away in Guo Village. Even if his search for his second brother went smoothly and he could leave the Incense-Passing Cult, that would still be two years from now. Who knew how worried his mother would be?
Chen Fengxiao continued, "I was young then, and I blindly believed Hui Chun Valley's promise. I thought that with nothing but my own cleverness and diligence, I could quickly leave the Incense-Passing Cult. Ah, I was such a fool. I knew that among the medicine boys who had left Hui Chun Valley, if there were not ten thousand, there were certainly several thousand. But had anyone ever seen one return to Hui Chun Valley again? I thought strength was all that mattered in this world. Who knew that not everyone in this world was born equal?"
"I only knew that once I became an outer gate disciple, I would qualify for the assessment. As long as I passed it, I would gain the qualification to roam the martial world. So while farming, I trained bitterly in martial arts. But how could I have known that martial arts had to be practiced from childhood? No matter how hard I worked, I could not catch up to the level of those outer gate disciples. And I was desperate to return home, so before my martial arts had reached fruition, I rashly tried to pass the outer gate disciples'