Chapter 40
Basic 4 Swords
...
In less than half an hour, Hua Xi returned carrying a full cloth bag containing mutton, tofu, green vegetables, dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and she also bought two extra strings of candied hawthorns.
A string of them for Shen Weiya.
"This is for you, Sister Taipin."
Shen Weiya took the candied hawthorn. "Thank you, Hua Xi. But don't call me 'Too frivolous Sister,' just call me 'Sister.'"
"Okay, you're such a chatterbox, sister!"
Shen Weiya's lips twitched, but she didn't say anything more.
Xu Xian rolled up his sleeves and started working in the kitchen.
In his previous life, when he lived in Chengdu, he learned how to make the broth from the owner of the hot pot restaurant downstairs. He would cut dried chilies into sections, roast Sichuan peppercorns in an iron pot over low heat until fragrant, and then stir-fry them with broad bean paste in oil until the oil turned red. Finally, he would add beef bone broth and bring it to a boil.
Hua Xi squatted beside him, watching as he stir-fried the ingredients at the stove. Shen Weiya leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Xu Xian busy himself, and couldn't help but speak.
"You look quite like a chef when you cook. Did you learn to cook at Tiemenguan?"
"Since my adoptive father died, I've been living alone since the time of Iron Gate Pass. If I don't cook, I'll starve to death. There's no Taibai Tower in the border town, and my salary isn't enough for me to eat at restaurants..."
Xu first poured the stir-fried base ingredients into a copper pot, added charcoal, and brought it to a boil. He then sliced the mutton into thin slices and arranged them on a plate, cut the tofu into small cubes, and washed and prepared the green vegetables.
The copper pot was served, the red oil bubbling, and the peppercorns and chilies tumbling in the boiling broth, filling the courtyard with a numbing, spicy, and savory aroma.
The three sat down around the table. Xu picked up a slice of mutton, dipped it seven or eight times in the boiling pot, then dipped it in the sauce, put it in his mouth, and nodded in satisfaction.
"That felt great!"
"Why aren't you eating?"
Xu Xian looked up at the two girls opposite him who were staring blankly at the copper pot. "You can cook it by dipping the meat in the hot pot. Just put the meat in and cook it for a few seconds."
Hua Xi said "Oh," picked up a pair of chopsticks that were half the length of her arm, and imitated him by picking up a piece of mutton and putting it into the pot. After counting a few times, she picked it out, dipped it in the sauce dish, and put it in her mouth.
She chewed a couple of times, her eyes suddenly lighting up. Her cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel's, and her chopsticks were already digging back into the pot.
"This is delicious! A hundred times better than the osmanthus cake from the pastry shop! Brother, what's this called?"
"hot pot."
With her mouth full of mutton, Hua Xi mumbled, "Hot pot is great! Hot pot is my new friend, much better than candied hawthorn!"
Shen Weiya also picked up a slice, rinsed it like Xu Xian, hesitated before putting it in her mouth, and suddenly froze.
She looked down at the bubbling red oil in the copper pot, picked up another piece of oil, put it in, and ate it. She felt an urge to cry.
"Why...why is there such a delicacy in the world! I've never eaten this before, not in the capital! Not even in the palace! Where did you learn to make it?"
Xu Xian picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Iron Gate Pass, we don't have anything good in our border town, we just rely on this to get through the winter."
Without batting an eye, he lied, "The mutton in the border town is cheap, and there are so many chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns that nobody wants them. Poor people rely on these to cook meat."
Shen Weiya didn't ask any more questions and focused on eating the mutton in front of her.
Halfway through the meal, she suddenly put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and said, "I told you, I will never forgive you. This meal only excuses you temporarily. If you don't serve me well next time, I'll still castrate you!"
Then she picked up her chopsticks again, "But you can make hot pot for me more often in the future. Every time I eat it, I'll forgive you a little bit."
Xu Xian smiled, picked up his teacup and raised it to her, "Then this subordinate will do it a few more times and try to accumulate enough forgiveness as soon as possible."
...
Ever since accepting the gift from Lord Sizheng, Xu Xian has had an additional fixed task every day besides patrolling the streets: learning swordsmanship from Mo Feichang!
Mo did not teach him any sword techniques.
On the first day of class, Xu Xian thought he would learn some earth-shattering, peerless sword techniques, but Mo Feichang only taught him the most basic rapier move, making him stab at a wooden stake for a whole hour.
The next day, he taught me a sword-striking move, and I spent another hour practicing it on a wooden stake.
Fortunately, the wooden stake was made of Duan wood, which is as hard as iron and stone; otherwise, it could have chopped a lot of firewood in a day.
The third day is Cloud Sword, the fourth day is Slashing Sword, and the fifth day is Cleaving Sword.
Thrust, pick, cloud, slash, split, point, collapse, hang, flick, wipe, sweep, frame, intercept, flower—for a full fourteen days, I taught only one basic move each day, and after teaching it, I went to write poetry.
That day, Mo taught Xu Xian the final move, the "flower sword," and then threw the eight-sided sword back to him.
"The way of the sword is ever-changing, but it is all derived from these fourteen basic moves. If the foundation is not solid, no matter how many sword moves you learn, it will be a castle in the air. From today onwards, practice each basic sword move five hundred times every day."
After saying that, he turned around and sat down under the old locust tree, spread out Xuan paper and began to ponder his new poem.
He wouldn't allow Xu Xian to surpass him in poetry writing, so he had to work even harder!
Xu Xian looked down at the eight-sided sword in his hand. The sword was ridiculously heavy. In the first few days after he got it, his hands trembled so much after he finished practicing every day that he couldn't even hold chopsticks properly. Hua Xi even asked him if he had some kind of strange problem.
He's gotten a bit used to it now, but the thought of practicing the basic sword stances seven thousand times a day makes his shoulders start to ache.
Despite the protests, he still had to practice. He took a deep breath and began practicing his rapier technique on the wooden stake.
One sword, two swords, three swords.
Heavy breathing came from the other end of the training ground.
Yang Xu took off his shirt, wearing only a pair of training pants, and was squatting in a horse stance with a millstone-sized bluestone slab on his back.
The blue bricks beneath his feet were soaked, and beads of sweat trickled down his backside into the ditch; he was struggling.
After finishing a round of rapier practice, Xu leaned against the wooden stake and looked at Yang Xu.
The man's old wound on his left arm hadn't fully healed, and blood was still seeping from the bandage, but his stance of squatting in a horse stance while carrying the bluestone slab remained perfectly correct.
Xu Xian couldn't help but call out to him, "Commander Yang, take a break. Your left arm injury hasn't healed yet. Pharmacist Sun said you can't lift heavy loads. You don't need to push yourself like this..."
"Need not..."
Yang Xu squatted down again, carrying the bluestone slab.
"I have no talent, no background. When I first joined the Inspection Department, they all thought I was too unqualified. While others were at the third level of Body Tempering, I was just starting out. Tsk, do you know how I got in?"
"How did you get in?"
"I waited outside the recruitment office for three days. On the first day, they told me to leave. On the second day, they told me to get lost. On the third day, they were about to unleash their dogs when Lord Mo happened to pass by and asked me why I insisted on entering the Inspection Department."
Yang Xu squatted down again, his thighs trembling.
"I said I like this job. There are too many unfair things in this world. When ordinary people are bullied, they don't even have a place to seek justice. At least the Inspection Bureau can give those people a place to seek justice. I don't have the ability to take the imperial examination, nor do I have the money to buy an official position, so this is the only job I can do."
Xu Xian leaned against the wooden stake, remaining silent.
Yang Xu is usually so talkative that you want to kick him, but when it comes to this job, he is very serious.
"So you're going to train like crazy?"
"How can I not train? My cultivation at the Meridian Opening Realm isn't even considered high-ranking in the capital. There are tons of people at the Bone Tempering Realm above me, and then there's someone as unfathomable as Lord Mo. If I don't train, how will I protect these brothers under my command?"
Yang Xu squatted down again. "Besides—tsk, you've only been a beginner for a short time, and you're already at the fifth level of Body Tempering... If I don't catch up, you'll surpass me in two years, and I can't bear that embarrassment."
Xu blinked, picked up the eight-sided sword, walked back to the wooden stake, and began the second round of rapier practice.
After practicing another round of basic sword techniques, Xu put down the eight-sided sword, walked to Yang Xu's side, sat on the stone stool, and looked up at the commander who was still squatting in a horse stance.
"Commander Yang, I have a question for you."
"Say it..." Yang Xu squatted down again, carrying the bluestone slab.
"Why do you always add a 'tsk' to your words? Every time I hear you say 'tsk,' I feel like you're looking down on me. When you say 'tsk, Xu Xian, you're here'—should I not have come?"
"You said, 'Tsk, this case is interesting'—should I not have investigated it?"
In less than half an hour, Hua Xi returned carrying a full cloth bag containing mutton, tofu, green vegetables, dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and she also bought two extra strings of candied hawthorns.
A string of them for Shen Weiya.
"This is for you, Sister Taipin."
Shen Weiya took the candied hawthorn. "Thank you, Hua Xi. But don't call me 'Too frivolous Sister,' just call me 'Sister.'"
"Okay, you're such a chatterbox, sister!"
Shen Weiya's lips twitched, but she didn't say anything more.
Xu Xian rolled up his sleeves and started working in the kitchen.
In his previous life, when he lived in Chengdu, he learned how to make the broth from the owner of the hot pot restaurant downstairs. He would cut dried chilies into sections, roast Sichuan peppercorns in an iron pot over low heat until fragrant, and then stir-fry them with broad bean paste in oil until the oil turned red. Finally, he would add beef bone broth and bring it to a boil.
Hua Xi squatted beside him, watching as he stir-fried the ingredients at the stove. Shen Weiya leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Xu Xian busy himself, and couldn't help but speak.
"You look quite like a chef when you cook. Did you learn to cook at Tiemenguan?"
"Since my adoptive father died, I've been living alone since the time of Iron Gate Pass. If I don't cook, I'll starve to death. There's no Taibai Tower in the border town, and my salary isn't enough for me to eat at restaurants..."
Xu first poured the stir-fried base ingredients into a copper pot, added charcoal, and brought it to a boil. He then sliced the mutton into thin slices and arranged them on a plate, cut the tofu into small cubes, and washed and prepared the green vegetables.
The copper pot was served, the red oil bubbling, and the peppercorns and chilies tumbling in the boiling broth, filling the courtyard with a numbing, spicy, and savory aroma.
The three sat down around the table. Xu picked up a slice of mutton, dipped it seven or eight times in the boiling pot, then dipped it in the sauce, put it in his mouth, and nodded in satisfaction.
"That felt great!"
"Why aren't you eating?"
Xu Xian looked up at the two girls opposite him who were staring blankly at the copper pot. "You can cook it by dipping the meat in the hot pot. Just put the meat in and cook it for a few seconds."
Hua Xi said "Oh," picked up a pair of chopsticks that were half the length of her arm, and imitated him by picking up a piece of mutton and putting it into the pot. After counting a few times, she picked it out, dipped it in the sauce dish, and put it in her mouth.
She chewed a couple of times, her eyes suddenly lighting up. Her cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel's, and her chopsticks were already digging back into the pot.
"This is delicious! A hundred times better than the osmanthus cake from the pastry shop! Brother, what's this called?"
"hot pot."
With her mouth full of mutton, Hua Xi mumbled, "Hot pot is great! Hot pot is my new friend, much better than candied hawthorn!"
Shen Weiya also picked up a slice, rinsed it like Xu Xian, hesitated before putting it in her mouth, and suddenly froze.
She looked down at the bubbling red oil in the copper pot, picked up another piece of oil, put it in, and ate it. She felt an urge to cry.
"Why...why is there such a delicacy in the world! I've never eaten this before, not in the capital! Not even in the palace! Where did you learn to make it?"
Xu Xian picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Iron Gate Pass, we don't have anything good in our border town, we just rely on this to get through the winter."
Without batting an eye, he lied, "The mutton in the border town is cheap, and there are so many chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns that nobody wants them. Poor people rely on these to cook meat."
Shen Weiya didn't ask any more questions and focused on eating the mutton in front of her.
Halfway through the meal, she suddenly put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and said, "I told you, I will never forgive you. This meal only excuses you temporarily. If you don't serve me well next time, I'll still castrate you!"
Then she picked up her chopsticks again, "But you can make hot pot for me more often in the future. Every time I eat it, I'll forgive you a little bit."
Xu Xian smiled, picked up his teacup and raised it to her, "Then this subordinate will do it a few more times and try to accumulate enough forgiveness as soon as possible."
...
Ever since accepting the gift from Lord Sizheng, Xu Xian has had an additional fixed task every day besides patrolling the streets: learning swordsmanship from Mo Feichang!
Mo did not teach him any sword techniques.
On the first day of class, Xu Xian thought he would learn some earth-shattering, peerless sword techniques, but Mo Feichang only taught him the most basic rapier move, making him stab at a wooden stake for a whole hour.
The next day, he taught me a sword-striking move, and I spent another hour practicing it on a wooden stake.
Fortunately, the wooden stake was made of Duan wood, which is as hard as iron and stone; otherwise, it could have chopped a lot of firewood in a day.
The third day is Cloud Sword, the fourth day is Slashing Sword, and the fifth day is Cleaving Sword.
Thrust, pick, cloud, slash, split, point, collapse, hang, flick, wipe, sweep, frame, intercept, flower—for a full fourteen days, I taught only one basic move each day, and after teaching it, I went to write poetry.
That day, Mo taught Xu Xian the final move, the "flower sword," and then threw the eight-sided sword back to him.
"The way of the sword is ever-changing, but it is all derived from these fourteen basic moves. If the foundation is not solid, no matter how many sword moves you learn, it will be a castle in the air. From today onwards, practice each basic sword move five hundred times every day."
After saying that, he turned around and sat down under the old locust tree, spread out Xuan paper and began to ponder his new poem.
He wouldn't allow Xu Xian to surpass him in poetry writing, so he had to work even harder!
Xu Xian looked down at the eight-sided sword in his hand. The sword was ridiculously heavy. In the first few days after he got it, his hands trembled so much after he finished practicing every day that he couldn't even hold chopsticks properly. Hua Xi even asked him if he had some kind of strange problem.
He's gotten a bit used to it now, but the thought of practicing the basic sword stances seven thousand times a day makes his shoulders start to ache.
Despite the protests, he still had to practice. He took a deep breath and began practicing his rapier technique on the wooden stake.
One sword, two swords, three swords.
Heavy breathing came from the other end of the training ground.
Yang Xu took off his shirt, wearing only a pair of training pants, and was squatting in a horse stance with a millstone-sized bluestone slab on his back.
The blue bricks beneath his feet were soaked, and beads of sweat trickled down his backside into the ditch; he was struggling.
After finishing a round of rapier practice, Xu leaned against the wooden stake and looked at Yang Xu.
The man's old wound on his left arm hadn't fully healed, and blood was still seeping from the bandage, but his stance of squatting in a horse stance while carrying the bluestone slab remained perfectly correct.
Xu Xian couldn't help but call out to him, "Commander Yang, take a break. Your left arm injury hasn't healed yet. Pharmacist Sun said you can't lift heavy loads. You don't need to push yourself like this..."
"Need not..."
Yang Xu squatted down again, carrying the bluestone slab.
"I have no talent, no background. When I first joined the Inspection Department, they all thought I was too unqualified. While others were at the third level of Body Tempering, I was just starting out. Tsk, do you know how I got in?"
"How did you get in?"
"I waited outside the recruitment office for three days. On the first day, they told me to leave. On the second day, they told me to get lost. On the third day, they were about to unleash their dogs when Lord Mo happened to pass by and asked me why I insisted on entering the Inspection Department."
Yang Xu squatted down again, his thighs trembling.
"I said I like this job. There are too many unfair things in this world. When ordinary people are bullied, they don't even have a place to seek justice. At least the Inspection Bureau can give those people a place to seek justice. I don't have the ability to take the imperial examination, nor do I have the money to buy an official position, so this is the only job I can do."
Xu Xian leaned against the wooden stake, remaining silent.
Yang Xu is usually so talkative that you want to kick him, but when it comes to this job, he is very serious.
"So you're going to train like crazy?"
"How can I not train? My cultivation at the Meridian Opening Realm isn't even considered high-ranking in the capital. There are tons of people at the Bone Tempering Realm above me, and then there's someone as unfathomable as Lord Mo. If I don't train, how will I protect these brothers under my command?"
Yang Xu squatted down again. "Besides—tsk, you've only been a beginner for a short time, and you're already at the fifth level of Body Tempering... If I don't catch up, you'll surpass me in two years, and I can't bear that embarrassment."
Xu blinked, picked up the eight-sided sword, walked back to the wooden stake, and began the second round of rapier practice.
After practicing another round of basic sword techniques, Xu put down the eight-sided sword, walked to Yang Xu's side, sat on the stone stool, and looked up at the commander who was still squatting in a horse stance.
"Commander Yang, I have a question for you."
"Say it..." Yang Xu squatted down again, carrying the bluestone slab.
"Why do you always add a 'tsk' to your words? Every time I hear you say 'tsk,' I feel like you're looking down on me. When you say 'tsk, Xu Xian, you're here'—should I not have come?"
"You said, 'Tsk, this case is interesting'—should I not have investigated it?"