Chapter 8

Finding Something to Do

    Today, the atmosphere beside the stream next to the bamboo house was pleasantly cool. The grass bent gently in the breeze.

    Zhao Wei was still fishing impassively, behaving as usual. His clothes remained plain rough fabric, his voice still raspy and unpleasant, his face still marred by scars.

    However, what's changed was his posture; his once hunched back was now straight and majestic, causing the onlooker to rub his eyes in disbelief.

    The young crown prince's secret guard, dressed in black, watched him for a long time before deciding to signal from across the stream.

    Because Wu Jie still couldn’t cross the deadly stratagem.

    Although his body, previously pierced by sharp stakes of the trap, had healed.

    Zhao Wei noticed a small bright red arrow landing at his feet, immediately understanding its origin. He squinted toward the source of the arrow and saw Wu Jie in the distance, on the opposite bank, waving as if he had seen heaven, his mouth agape in a silent scream:

    'Help! I can't get through.'

    The young man paused to think, then realized.

    He scanned the surroundings of his house, noting the crisscrossed bamboo shafts, steeply placed logs, tangled vines, sharp stone platforms, and numerous hidden weapons.

    Everything around him, hidden or revealed, was prepared to pierce anyone daring enough to approach.

    A slight smile unknowingly curled under his mustache.

    Zhao Wei recalled the diagram on the wooden plank that Shan Shan had sketched with charcoal before it was burnt to destroy the evidence.

    After analyzing it thoroughly by himself, Zhao Wei decided it's better not Wu Jie come in—it should be him who went out.

    With that thought, he dove into the water and easily swam across, avoiding the hidden weapons under the stream since he had seen the entire trap layout.

    Once Zhao Wei reached the man in black, they disappeared behind the bushes, and he heard Wu Jie's urgent whisper:

    "Your Highness! What's happening? Why is your house so fortified?"

    He replied with a calm face, not revealing the truth,

    "It's none of your concern."

    "…!?"

    Wu Jie was stunned and frowned in silence, not daring to ask further. After a moment of contemplation, he remembered seeing bold, disrespectful people from the Han family entering the area days before. His reclusive superior must have been annoyed and thus created the stratagem himself.

    Once his initial question was answered, Wu Jie noticed changes in his master and asked,

    "Your Highness, why is your back…"

    Zhao Wei narrowed his eyes, "Forget about it."

    "…!?"

    The loyal guard was even more confused and opened his mouth to inquire further when he heard Zhao Wei's cold voice,

    "The woman I married is no ordinary person. Is she truly just a merchant's daughter from a backward village far from civilization?"

    Wu Jie, even more puzzled, confidently responded, "Qing Lin is indeed the daughter of Han Yi Shuan, no mistake there. From childhood to adulthood, she was unloved, betrayed by her fiancé, despised by her sister, and neglected by her parents. Though beautiful, she has a weak and foolish nature, easily deceived. She was tricked into marrying Gong Niu."

    "Ye Niu!"

    Suddenly, Zhao Wei interjected, surprising his confidant into blinking.

    He stated with a flat tone, "She calls me Ye Niu."

    Even though he was still puzzled, Wu Jie responded earnestly,

    "A bison? ...Sounds more fiery indeed, Your Highness."

    Zhao Wei snorted derisively, "Better than being called Gong Niu by the locals."

    Wu Jie gave a dry smile and nodded in agreement, then continued to report,

    "Qing Lin is truly pitiable. When slandered, she only cries; when her sister bullies her, she just bows her head, says nothing, argues with no one. In conversations, her voice shakes, she lacks self-confidence, speaks softly and slowly—a woman who resignedly accepts her fate, unappealing and easily deceived by others..."

    Wu Jie, sincerely relaying everything he knew about Qing Lin without any intention to deceive, added in a direct tone, "Truthfully, Qing Lin is in no way worthy of Your Highness, not even comparable to a mere bed-warmer. Since the night she was together with you, it's been beyond her wildest dreams."

    The guard spoke disdainfully, without noticing the deep and profound glint in his master's eyes.

    On the other side of the stream, the woman being discussed sat quietly within the bamboo house.

    Right now, Shan Shan, sitting on the bed, was secretly cultivating the internal energy from the very beginning stage. In her previous life, she possessed superb martial prowess, fearing neither hell nor heaven.

    But in this life, disciplined by her master, she possessed nothing noteworthy except for her complete and utter beauty—and that alone.

    How could a person be valued just for their looks? Shan Shan was dissatisfied, greedy for the demonic techniques of her past, her inherently wicked nature deeply ingrained in her spirit. Since this body was not ready, she resolved to prepare it herself.

    Master! Thank you for not destroying the demonic techniques knowledge in my mind. From now on, I vowed not to dishonorably covet others' lovers.

    This was Shan Shan's resolve in this life.

    As she began to diligently retrain herself from scratch, she suddenly thought of her husband.

    She and he seemed so different yet unexpectedly similar.

    She wanted to train in martial arts, yet her body lacked even the basic energy.

    While her husband, though physically strong, had lost all his martial prowess.

    Thus, the couple should train together—it might even make them a formidable pair that could shake the heavens in the future.

    Shan Shan suddenly rose and left the house, looking for her husband. Seeing him swimming back towards her side of the bank, presumably fishing, she shouted,

    "Ye Niu, no need to search anymore. Come inside, I have a new plan!"

    Hearing this, Zhao Wei emerged from the water.

    His brows on the expressionless face instantly furrowed.

    She was indeed troublesome...

    Shan Shan was genuinely a troublesome woman now.

    If she weren't so, she would surely become distracted, because the spirit of the body was Shan Shan's, yet the thirty-two aspects of the body remain the frail Qing Lin's.

    Although no longer as foolish as before, feelings of deep sorrow still torment her spirit, significantly troubling Shan Shan.

    She couldn't really sit still. She always had to find something to do. From creating an Expelling Demons Stratagem to prevent the Han family's aggression, to reviving her knowledge and healing her husband's bones, and even gathering herbs for him to consume continuously until his condition began to stabilize. Now, she even considered training in various demonic martial arts with him. Every action was rationally enhancing the other.

    If Shan Shan, as Qing Lin in this life, were to become a female martial artist again, it would indeed be fitting.

    When called, Zhao Wei did not immediately enter the house.

    He brought his wet body to a side slightly away from the bedroom to change clothes. His demeanor was indifferent, ignoring his wife who had called for him. Soon after, he entered the room in an old but dry outfit, only to find that she didn’t even glance at him.

    His eyebrows furrowed instantly, his face tense without realization.

    On the other side, Shan Shan was not paying attention to Zhao Wei; instead, she was busy writing something on a large wooden board with black charcoal, her movements laborious and non-stop.

    Zhao Wei's brows furrowed even more deeply as he watched.

    Unbeknownst to him, Zhao Wei was thinking that he should perhaps find some paper and a brush for the house.

    In Ping Yan village, where lower-class villagers were illiterate, he hadn’t bothered to obtain these items for blending in, not even bamboo scrolls were available.

    It wouldn't be strange not to find paper and ink in this house.

    But if there were, it wouldn't be unusual either.

    Now that the obtuse Gong Niu had married a literate woman after all. However, the cost of such items was quite high for a disabled man who lived off the forest, where would he get the money to buy them?

    He stood there, deeply engrossed in thought.

    What Shan Shan was writing was the basic of Subduing Demons Techniques that she planned to practice with her husband. When she finished writing, she looked up to speak but found that no one was listening anymore.

    Her Ye Niwu had disappeared, though he had been right there just moments before.

    She could only look around the room in confusion, waiting. It took a long while before he eventually returned, hearing sounds like wild animals howling not far away.

    Shan Shan, surprised, hurried outside to see a big, tall man securely tying up wild chickens and rabbits, then he commanded her, "Take these to sell!"

    "Eh?!"

    Before Shan Shan could even ask, he commanded again,

    "With the money, buy some paper and writing tools."

    She blinked in confusion; after a moment, she turned to look at the wooden board written struggling with black charcoal. "Oh...Understood."

    Shan Shan quickly ran out to take the wild animals, awkwardly hoisting them on her shoulder without a single complaint, then hurried off.

    In her mind, she thought that although life as a village woman wasn't easy, it wasn't too hard to start anew. Her master had taught his foolish disciple well.

    No matter how wicked and evil Shan Shan was, she still had her great master, Xian Yong Shi, to rely on.

    In her previous life, Shan Shan was an orphan abandoned like a savage beast, nearly killed by wolf fangs. She was rescued by Xian Yong Shi in the nick of time, her life spared after many close calls. He nurtured Shan Shan as she grew up, teaching her everything without reservation.

    He was both a father and a master, the lord of her life. When his disciple erred, punishment was indeed justified.

    Following Shan Shan,

    Zhao Wei, having finished cleaning himself, walked into the house and saw a wooden board written on with charcoal laid out.

    He stood looking at it calmly, yet after a moment his heart began to race.

    The board contained a few characters in ancient script that were difficult to read, but there were clear drawings.

    The first technique involved stretching tendons, and the second technique detoxified and strengthened the bone marrow.

    Zhao Wei's eyes widened.

    Wasn't this the legendary Manual for Tendon Stretching[1]?

[1] This "Manual for Tendon Stretching" was brought from the continent of Jambudvipa by Da Mo Zhou Shi (the great monk Bodhidharma).