Chapter 8: A Fair Trade
For a long time, the wind and waves subsided. Xiaoyao kept her head lowered as Xiangliu slowly spoke, his voice a little hoarse.
"Why did you suddenly come to Qingshui Town?"
Xiaoyao pulled her collar straight and said, "To find you!"
"Find me?" Xiangliu looked somewhat surprised. "What are you looking for me for?"
"We haven't seen each other in years. I missed you!" Xiaoyao blinked with starry eyes.
...
Xiangliu stared blankly at her. Xiaoyao's chest fluttered wildly—that was the sound of Xiangliu's heartbeat. Xiaoyao smiled slightly, still gazing at him.
"Can't I?"
Xiangliu's gaze drifted to the side. Catching sight out of the corner of his eye of Xiaoyao staring at him without a word, his gaze involuntarily drifted back. After a long moment, he finally said,
"Speak properly!"
As if finding it somewhat amusing, Xiaoyao dusted off some nonexistent dirt from her sleeve and looked at him.
"I really came to find you, to have you teach me martial arts."
"Martial arts?"
"Mm-hmm!" Xiaoyao tilted her chin up at him.
"What game are you playing at this time?"
"I really do want you to teach me martial arts. Didn't you teach me archery for over a decade before? This time I want you to teach me martial arts."
"I don't have time. Find someone else!" Xiangliu refused flatly.
Xiaoyao wasn't annoyed in the least. "It doesn't matter. This time I won't let you teach for free; I'll pay you."
"Pay me?"
"That's right! Don't you spend all day busy with those matters up on the mountain? With money, you'll have time!"
"Where did you get the money to hire me? Can you afford it?" Xiangliu teased her.
"When I first returned to Haoling, Royal Father gave me a mountain of gold, which I never used. Now, your truly has money to burn." Xiaoyao put on the brazen demeanor of Wen Xiaoliu.
"Haoling and Xiyan are full of experts. Just find anyone to teach you!"
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Are you asking to be disciplined again?" Xiangliu bared his fangs.
Unbothered, Xiaoyao tugged at a strand of Xiangliu's white hair.
"What are you getting mad for? Did I say something wrong? You're telling me to cast aside a master who ranks first on the Great Wasteland's assassin and bounty lists, and instead go searching all over for some expert? Where are these experts? Across the entire Great Wasteland, who can beat you?"
Xiangliu pulled back his fangs, seeming somewhat pleased by this.
"Xiangliu, I'm serious. I don't want a second time like the incident at Meilin." At the mention of Meilin, Xiangliu turned solemn, his fists clenching involuntarily.
"Even now, that feeling of being riddled with holes like a sieve still jolts me awake from nightmares. If it happens again, I don't know if I'll have the same good luck to wait for you to come save me. That's why I want to practice martial arts. My spiritual power can't be restored, but martial arts can be learned and mastered by the body. Look at mortals—aren't there masters among them who have zero spiritual power yet still possess formidable skills?"
"Learning martial arts is not a matter of overnight success. It requires a solid foundation and gradual progress. The lower your spiritual power, the more difficult it is, and it demands years of continuous practice."
"You taught me archery for over a decade. Don't you know whether I have perseverance?"
"Your spiritual power is meager. If you truly want to learn, you must start from the very beginning and be taught step by step."
"Are you unwilling to teach me?"
"I can't stay by your side every day..."
"I will stay by your side!"
"Stay by my side? How could that be possible?"
"Why not?"
"Cang Xuan won't agree!"
"Before I came to Qingshui Town, I already spoke with Royal Father—that is, the King of Haoling. Royal Father agreed, and he is very supportive."
"Is this what the King of Haoling calls a decision made after careful consideration?"
"Yes! Of course, it's not just this one matter, there are many other things as well. If you want to know, I'll tell you slowly in the future. As for Cang Xuan, surely you aren't afraid of him?"
"Would I be afraid of him?" Xiangliu wore a look of utter disdain.
"There you have it. Cang Xuan isn't going to attack the Chenrong Army just because you're teaching me martial arts. He's not an idiot."
"Still, it's not safe for you to keep staying in Qingshui Town."
"If you aren't strong enough yourself, nowhere is safe. I don't want to be cooped up within palace walls all day. A fish in a shallow shoal, a bird in a blind alley—it's too agonizing for a wildcat Royal Princess like me. Besides, if I need someone to protect me, staying by your side is the safest place." Xiaoyao blinked at Xiangliu.
Xiangliu smiled. "You trust me just like that?"
"In this world, if I can't even trust you, who else should I trust? Besides, if I were to be ambushed and hunted down in Qingshui Town, you could rush to save me that much faster!"
"You..." Seeing Xiangliu about to bare his fangs again, Xiaoyao grabbed his hand, shrank her neck, and said,
"Fine, fine, fine! Next time I'll try my best not to die, try my best not to die! Then... it's a deal."
With that, Xiaoyao used her spiritual power to conjure a large box of gold (theoretically, shells should have been used in the ancient era, but to echo the mountain of gold mentioned earlier, gold is used here) and handed it to Xiangliu.
"Before I came, I had people inquire about the current market rates for hiring a martial arts tutor. This is ten times that amount. Please accept it with a smile, Master."
Immediately after, Xiaoyao added slyly,
"A fair trade."
Xiangliu had intended to refuse, but upon hearing the words "fair trade," he swallowed back the words he wanted to say. He stared at Xiaoyao and asked,
"And your spiritual power?"
"Nothing can be kept from you, Master. I made a trip to Yushan earlier and had the Queen Mother restore a bit of it—probably about thirty percent of what I used to have!"
"How did you restore it? Didn't the Queen Mother always say it was impossible?"
"I badgered her. She never said it was utterly impossible before; she just demanded that I stay in Yushan to cultivate with a focused mind. You know I couldn't possibly stay in a place like Yushan forever, but hearing her words meant there definitely was a way. So I went to pester her. At first she wouldn't agree, so I chattered away in her ear every day. Later, I poured peach blossom wine, jade marrow, and all sorts of strange Yushan medicinal herbs into the Jade Pool to soak in, making Lieyang so angry he almost bit me. Finally, the Queen Mother simply couldn't withstand my nagging, so she opened a formation to help me recover this much spiritual power. She even said pompously, 'In cultivation, nothing is more taboo than taking shortcuts; one must be single-minded and uphold their original intent to achieve perfection.' So I stayed in Yushan for over half a year and only left after her old ladyship gave her consent. But the Queen Mother said that without dedicated cultivation, I can only recover this much—though I don't know if that's true or false. So I plan to go back in a few years and badger her again to see if there are any other methods!"
"Pouring medicinal herbs into the Jade Pool to bathe—you're the only person in the entire world who could pull off such extravagance!"
Xiaoyao smiled and produced yet another box, handing it over to Xiangliu.
"This is an expression of my filial respect for you, Master."
Xiangliu opened the box and glanced sideways at it. It was packed full of small jars and bottles.
"We aren't in Yushan, so it's not convenient to send you poison. But I haven't been slacking off; I made all of these especially for you. I saved them up to give to you all at once. Aren't you happy?"
Xiangliu suppressed the smile at the corners of his lips.
"This row of red bottles here is for treating injuries. They're my newly developed formula. You can try them out today when you get back, and later tell me the results so I can further research and adjust the recipe."
"Alright!"
With that, Xiangliu flicked his sleeve and put away both boxes.