Why do I have so many masters?

Wang Anfeng's footsteps paused for a moment.

The elderly Taoist by his side squinted his eyes as if he had asked casually.

Gong Yu, who was walking at the forefront, stopped to listen carefully.

Among the people present, she was probably the one who had known Wang Anfeng the longest; at that time, his martial arts were quite poor, and his movement technique was even more disastrously bad—he was merely a Ninth Grade martial artist.

All she knew was that Wang Anfeng had originated from the Fufeng Academy.

Great Liang Village?

Where was that?

Lin Qiaofu beside her showed a look of sudden understanding and whispered softly, "So, Brother Wang is from Wangxian County... It's not very far from us."

People from Wangxian County?

Gong Yu noted that in her mind.

Yuchi Jie's thoughts raced in his mind, trying to search his memory for anything regarding Wangxian County, but he found that he had no impression of it.

He only vaguely remembered that the place was famous for producing a kind of fine wine, rich in flavor, ranked high among the counties in the northern part of Great Qin. He had tasted some in the past but found it inferior to the popular Autumn Dew White at the time, so he had not paid much attention to it.

But, there should be more to it than that.

Wang Anfeng looked at the Taoist but did not answer or deny, simply asking in turn:

"Great Liang Mount? I wonder why the Observatory Master brings this up?"

"I am, after all, someone from the Jianghu."

The Observatory Master, Shouxu Zi, was taken aback for a moment before he slapped his forehead with his hand and shook his head, saying:

"It's the old Taoist's mistake, my mistake."

"In a moment of urgency, I forgot the rules. People from the Jianghu should not inquire about one's origins. Young Master Wang, please don't take offense, don't take offense."

He gave Wang Anfeng a bow, his face full of apologies.

Jianghu martial artists often have feuds amidst the mortal world. Everyone has family and relatives, so discussing origins and birthplaces is quite taboo. Even with close friends, such topics are not brought up voluntarily, let alone when they had only just met each other.

Since ancient times, it has been a great taboo to speak profoundly upon a shallow acquaintance, a principle even children who have only read a couple of books would know. Driven by his urgency, he had forgotten this point and felt somewhat regretful.

Wang Anfeng shook his head, indicating he did not take the matter too seriously.

As expected, the old Observatory Master did not bring up the topic again and invited everyone to rest inside the observatory with a guiding hand gesture.

Once they entered the main gate, there was a courtyard of neither large nor small size paved with bluestone bricks. Below, black and white bricks formed the Yin-Yang symbol, and atop the Yin-Yang was a nine-tiered bronze pill furnace.

Currently, firewood was burning in the empty space at the bottom of the pill furnace. From the thirty-three holes at the top rose curling trails of blue smoke, and around the area, some remnants of unmelted white snow and the clean, neat bluestone reflected the clear and quiet aura of the Taoist sect.

The old Taoist, Shouxu Zi, led the way at the front, having Qing He find another Taoist, while Qing Yan went down to the kitchen to prepare some tea and rice porridge to bring up. He personally guided Wang Anfeng and the others into a side hall used for receiving guests.

Yuchi Jie had been walking mountain roads all night and, by now, felt his legs go weak. Seeing a chair, he sat down at once before exhaling deeply, his whole body somewhat limp.

The temperature in the guest room was quite comfortable.

A moment later, Qing Yan arrived with two even younger Taoists, serving up some tea and rice porridge on the table. Then, he excused himself.

The group wasn't particularly hungry; they simply drank tea.

Shouxu Zi sat across the table, his eyes continually glancing at Wang Anfeng before he suddenly sighed and said:

"Young Master Wang, we have only met today, and my earlier question was indeed impolite. However, I still can't help but want to ask one more time, did you truly not grow up at the foot of Great Liang Mount?"

The old man's expression was earnest.

"I mean no offense by these words."

"It's just that you look extremely familiar to me, bearing a striking resemblance to an old friend of mine from the past, which is why I had to ask."

"It's a bit embarrassing to say, but I often cultivate in seclusion in the shadows. In recent years, I developed a condition that makes me short-sighted, needing to squint to see things. Initially, when I squinted, I could still see reasonably well, but as I've aged over the past two years, even squinting doesn't help me see clearly anymore."

He chuckled before continuing:

"I didn't notice much from a distance, but when you walked past, the side profile made you seem almost seventy to eighty percent similar to my old friend, hence my earlier question."

"Now that you're closer, I see clearer and still find a sixty percent resemblance. It's been thirteen years since last I saw that old friend. This matter has been troubling me greatly in my heart; I must ask you to indulge me and shed some light on it."

The old Taoist bowed again.

Wang Anfeng set down his teacup and after thinking for a moment, said softly:

"Observatory Master, is that old friend of yours surnamed Li?"

Yuchi Jie pricked up his ears.

Shouxu Zi's eyes sparkled, and hearing Wang Anfeng's ambiguous answer, he laughed heartily, repeating:

"That's it, that's it."

"There may be many Great Liang Mounts in this world, but not every mountain has a drunkard surnamed Li beneath it."

"At that time, that rascal Li Qidao guzzled dozens of jars of good wine here, scrounging food and drink, and it took the old Taoist half a month and a kick to send him off. Hasn't he mentioned this to you?"

Yuchi Jie's hand trembled, spilling hot tea over himself.

Lv Baiping glared at him and with a slight push, whispered sharply:

"What are you doing?!"

"Don't embarrass us..."

Yuchi Jie forced a laugh, looked away and said, "I'm just too tired from walking, hardly any strength left in my hands or feet, and I'm feeling a bit weak."

"How about it, Miss Lv, you want to hold me up?"

"I'm sure that would firm me up!"

Lv Baiping snorted coldly, her face showing disgust as she said:

"Keep dreaming!"

"You call yourself a grown man, but even Qiaofu is tougher than you."

She didn't sit down, simply leaning against a chair, while Lin Qiaofu, the youngest there, worn out from the night and now in the warmth of indoors, was beginning to doze off. Her hands hugged her cloth bundle as her little head leaned against Lv Baiping's waist, nodding off to sleep.

Lv Baiping simply hugged Lin Qiaofu gently, not bothering to pay attention to Yuchi Jie.

Yuchi Jie smiled awkwardly and looked at Wang Anfeng.

His palm was already red from the hot tea, yet he seemed oblivious, merely lifting his hand to drink.

The rim of the teacup concealed his eyes.

Wang Anfeng's expression changed slightly. He stood up abruptly, clasped his hands together in front of him, and deeply bowed to the laughing Taoist, his demeanor solemn, he said in a deep voice,

"Young Wang Anfeng of Great Liang Village begs forgiveness for any earlier rudeness."

Knowing the name and surname of Li Bo might be a coincidence, or perhaps an enemy, but knowing even the stories Li Bo occasionally told him indicated a close relationship.

Moreover, having been told by Li Qidao several times that he must visit this 'Candle Dragon Abode' should he travel in Jianghu, adding up the two, how could he not guess?

The Guardian of Ruins placed his hand on Wang Anfeng's palm. His wrinkled face squeezed into a smile, happily saying,

"No harm done."

"Ah, young man, what is there to worry about? When I was young, I too traversed the Jianghu. Knowing how to be cautious in Jianghu is an incredible fortune. Having such a mindset is good, where is there a need for apologies?"

"It just seems you must have suffered quite a bit, haven't you?"

Wang Anfeng shook his head and simply said,

"It's all in the past."

The old Taoist took Wang Anfeng's sleeve and urged him to sit down. His gestures and demeanor became much more intimate and relaxed as he looked Wang Anfeng over carefully, laughing,

"You've grown so big..."

"I still remember what you looked like when you were small."

"When you were little, I even held you in my arms... Later, I thought about bringing you to live in this mountain. While it's not as comfortable as below, at least the scenery and atmosphere would be nicer. But I couldn't win over that stubborn old Li Qidao."

"Speaking of which, how is Li Qidao these days?"

"Li Bo, Li Bo has gone to visit friends..."

Wang Anfeng's expression grew more respectful, as if facing Li Bo himself, briefly relating the events of recent years to the Taoist who was pulling at his sleeve. The latter's face showed a look of understanding, then fell silent for a moment before he sighed,

"So that's how it is."

"A lot has indeed happened over these years, a lot of things."

The Guardian of Ruins shook his head, his eyes looking at Wang Anfeng with kindness as he said, "Honestly, I thought it would be Li Qidao coming here, I didn't expect it to be you, but it's good that it's you, even better!"

"You are much better."

"That old rascal Li Qidao, I've seen him for half a lifetime; one more meeting wouldn't make much difference, but seeing young people like you does brighten our old hearts."

"It's just a pity about your father; if he too were here, that would be the best thing in the world."

Wang Anfeng's expression flickered as he spoke softly,

"Does the senior know my father?"

The Guardian of Ruins smiled and said, "Since you call that Li Qidao 'Li Bo', you should also call me 'Uncle'."

"Before I became a Taoist, my secular name was Yan."

Wang Anfeng nodded amicably in response,

"Uncle Yan."

The eyes of the Guardian of Ruins crinkled with smiling, laughing repeatedly, "That's right, that's right, ah, good child, good child!"

It was only after a while that he stopped laughing, his face still unable to completely hide his mirth. Noticing the look of expectation in Wang Anfeng's expression, he stroked his beard and said,

"Your father, of course, I knew him."

"We worked together back in the day and knew each other quite well. But then some minor incidents happened, and your father resigned his post to live in seclusion, whereas I had already taken vows to become a Taoist here, and was not by his side."

"Alas, what a pity. I couldn't persuade him."

Wang Anfeng was rarely so close to learning about his father's past and held his breath a little, speaking softly,

"What happened back then?"

Yuchi Jie's palm trembled very slightly, almost dropping the teacup in his hand.

He barely steadied his palm, but the tea inside the cup still rippled with fine tremors, like a sick old man.

Here, apart from that white-haired old Taoist, only he might know the answer to Wang Anfeng's question. As a youth, he had flipped through some records, and it was precisely then that he angered his always amiable grandfather, ignoring the pleas of his father and grandmother, forced to stand under the sun with a knife, not allowed to put it down until he was told to come back.

Yuchi Jie took a deep breath.

Those were the most glorious and murky days of Great Qin, times he would remember with boiling blood.

During that era, the world was re-divided into seventy-two counties, the influence that the noble clans had on the world for seven hundred years was severed, forced to lay low in one place, suppressed by the empire's rising elite, unable to catch a breath.

In that era, Divine Martial shed his armor, Tiance surrendered his seal.

In that era, the Crown Prince died in the Tai Chi Hall, the Prince staged a coup at the Weiyang Palace.

The young emperor, like a dormant tiger, started to extend his claws and teeth, while in the Jianghu, Taoists used branches as swords, chastising the world, and The Number One Manor Master in the World cleaved rivers with a palm that shocked mountains and rivers within seven hundred li.

It was an era when legends were born.

The scholar in green laughed as he stepped out, saying, "We are no longer visitors in the palace, the emperor calls but we do not attend court." His grandfather had said that this was the most well-composed verse that person ever recited in his life.

Yuchi Jie thought about hearing the tales of those days from this first-hand witness, how stirring and thrilling it would be.

Life and death, combat, conquest, victory and defeat.

Every step could be tactical or loaded with hidden dangers, one couldn't count how many fell from their lofty positions, nor how many rose up the path to the clouds, how many died, how many wished they were dead.

The choices, schemes, and ambitions of countless people came together to form an entire era of tumultuous change.

Yuchi Jie held his breath.

The Guardian of Ruins, upon hearing this question, seemed to be lost in thought for a while before returning to the present. The retired old Taoist looked at Wang Anfeng, smiled under Yuchi Jie's expectant gaze, and simply said,

"Back then, we took some wrong turns."

PS: The first update for today is here...

3,600 words. I thought it would be up by noon, but it was slightly delayed; please excuse the wait, haha (clasps hands).