Time flew by, and another half year passed.
Qin Ming still had no news, Lü Fei still soaked in the cold pond every day, and Qing Qing still watched the scenery and wrote calligraphy with the White-bearded Old Man daily.
One day, Qing Qing stood by the White-bearded Old Man as usual, watching the clouds churn outside Sword Discussion Peak, the distant mountain ranges stretching out, the pine waves rustling in the wind, her heart tranquil and clear. Sunlight warmed her body, a surge of vital energy moved within her, like the sea of clouds, like the mountain ranges, like the rustling pines.
"Hahaha—! A year has passed! Yè Zhīqiū, I am not as good as you! I am not as good as you!" the White-bearded Old Man suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Qing Qing looked at him, perplexed.
"Girl, you are good, very good, much better than that blockhead of yours! Why don't you kowtow to me? If he dares to bully you in the future, I can help you stand up for yourself," the White-bearded Old Man said with a kindly smile.
Qing Qing solemnly knelt down and respectfully bowed: "Master!"
"Good, good, good! You are my last disciple," the White-bearded Old Man said, helping Qing Qing up.
"I am leaving." With that, he threw a pine branch, took a step, and leaped directly off Sword Discussion Peak.
An old man in a white robe, standing on a pine branch, soared into the sky amidst the clouds.
Qing Qing, her eyes welling up with tears, bowed deeply.
Lü Fei had been soaking in the cold pond for an entire day. He could feel that the cold pond's stimulation and tempering effect on his body had become very, very small. He had achieved some proficiency in the fourth layer of the Tiangang Method, but his cultivation progress had been slowing down over the past few days, almost to a standstill. He decided to abandon the cold pond and seek another method.
Lü Fei looked around and asked, "Where is that White-bearded Old Man?"
"Young master, he accepted me as a disciple. Please don't call him an old man anymore," Qing Qing said solemnly.
"Ah—! That old man, no, your master accepted you as a disciple? That's obvious. So where did your master go?" Lü Fei blurted out carelessly.
"He left," Qing Qing replied.
"Left? I didn't see him go down the mountain. Where did he leave from?" Lü Fei asked, confused.
"He just jumped off Sword Discussion Peak and flew away," Qing Qing answered calmly.
"Ah—! Flew—flew—flew away!" Lü Fei was dumbfounded.
"An Immortal! An Immortal! I said he was an Immortal! Qing Qing, you've taken an Immortal as your master! Then you'll be a Fairy Daughter from now on!" Lü Fei shouted excitedly. "I'm the Fairy Daughter's young master, so I'll be Immortal Young Master! Hahaha! I've become an Immortal too!" Lü Fei scratched his ears and cheeks, talking nonsense in his excitement.
"Alright, Immortal Young Master, are we going home?" Qing Qing giggled along.
After returning to their small courtyard, Lü Fei and Qing Qing did not go back up Mount Hua. Qing Qing busied herself with daily chores, cooking, and essentials, and practiced calligraphy when she had time. Lü Fei, on the other hand, spent his days lounging on a bamboo chair in the courtyard, drinking tea, teasing birds, gazing at the sky, and humming little tunes, fully enjoying his life as a young master, leisurely and content.
Yang Yu arrived carrying two mountain chickens. "Yo, young master, just lounging around?" he teased Lü Fei as he entered.
Qing Qing hurried out to take the chickens and began preparing them in the kitchen.
"I'm planning to leave," Yang Yu said to Lü Fei after sitting down.
"Leave? Where?" Lü Fei asked, surprised.
"To join the army. I'm sixteen this year, old enough. The recruitment in Weicheng is starting soon, and I want to give it a try," Yang Yu replied.
"Just join the army in Weicheng?" Lü Fei asked.
"No, if I go, I'll go to the border. Only there can I temper myself and earn enough military merit to become a General," Yang Yu said passionately.
"You want to be a General?" Lü Fei looked at Yang Yu, who held his head high.
"A soldier who doesn't want to be a General isn't a good soldier. Let me tell you a secret, my dad might be a General," Yang Yu said mysteriously.
"Your dad is a General?" Lü Fei didn't quite believe him.
"Really, I'm not lying. When I was little, I often saw him alone secretly polishing his armor and battle saber. When I asked him, he wouldn't say anything and even spanked me, telling me not to mention it to anyone. Later, he started drinking heavily. When he ran out of money for wine, he sold his armor and battle saber. Once, when he was very drunk, he held my hand and cried sadly, saying he had let down the Marshal, let down his brothers, and couldn't even keep the battle saber the Marshal had gifted him." Yang Yu continued, "Think about it, the Marshal himself gifted my dad a battle saber, so wasn't my dad a General?"
Lü Fei thought for a moment and then asked, "What's your dad's name?"
"Yang Bai. But when I was little, I often heard my mom call him Tiānbǎo," Yang Yu said.
"Yang Bai, Yang Tiānbǎo, Yang Yu, yes, it's him!" Lü Fei jumped up, grabbed Yang Yu's hand, and said excitedly, "Your dad is a General, your dad is a Cavalry Commandant leading General."
"How do you know?" Yang Yu asked him suspiciously.
"I— I guessed it." Lü Fei hesitated, wondering whether to tell Yang Yu. He feared that if Yang Yu let slip this information at the military camp, it could bring him a fatal disaster. "Brother, I can only tell you that your dad, Yang Tiānbǎo, was formerly the commander of the White Feather Camp of the Western Expeditionary Army. You cannot tell anyone about your father's identity, or there will be great trouble. I cannot say more than this."
"Brother, I believe you. When I join the army, I will only earn what I deserve through my own efforts, not by relying on anyone's protection," Yang Yu said with determined eyes.
That night, they drank a lot of Jiannan Shao. Yang Yu hugged the neck of Old Yellow Horse, and Lü Fei hugged Yang Yu's neck.
The next day, after sobering up, Lü Fei went to the weapon trading market. He wanted to buy a good knife to give to his sworn brother, Yang Yu, who only had a black wooden bow and not even a decent knife. He also wanted to pick out a weapon for himself.
The standardized weapons of the Later Tang army were not allowed to be traded privately. To purchase and customize various standardized weapons in bulk, one needed authorization from the Weapon Supervisor or the various prefectural civil works bureaus. However, some non-standardized weapons could be traded among civilians. The market was lined with shops, and all sorts of weapons were displayed. Lü Fei entered a shop called the Treasured Artifact Pavilion. After browsing, he spotted a tungsten steel hand knife. When he used it to test its sharpness on a square wooden post, it cut through with a single stroke, leaving a smooth, scarless cut. "A good knife!" Lü Fei exclaimed. He asked the price, which was two hundred taels of silver. Lü Fei inwardly gasped. Seeing that Lü Fei liked the knife very much, the shop assistant kept trying to persuade him, and finally, the shopkeeper called out and offered a discount of twenty taels.
While they were haggling, two people came downstairs. They were the owner of the shop and a bald old man with a ruddy complexion, dressed in official attire, with a large belly. "Please go slowly, elder. I will definitely handle what you have instructed," the shop owner said, bowing and scraping as he saw the elder off.
As the old man passed by Lü Fei, he suddenly stopped. "Eh— young man, where did you get that Longevity Key?" the old man asked, staring at the key hanging on Lü Fei's chest. Lü Fei clutched the key, looking at the old man vigilantly. Lü Fei knew that this key was of great importance and had always worn it close to his chest.
"Young man, there's no need to be nervous. Take your hand away and let me have a closer look." Lü Fei cautiously moved his hand away. "Hmm, that's right, it is. Have you been carrying it since you were little?" the old man asked.
Lü Fei nodded cautiously. "I didn't expect to see it again..." Before he could finish, the old man shook his head meaningfully.
Then, he took a sheathed short knife from his robes and handed it to Lü Fei: "If you need anything, you can bring this short knife to the Weapon Repository Hall to find me, and I can grant you two favors." After speaking, the old man turned and left.
Lü Fei stood there in a daze, holding the short knife. The shop owner and manager next to him looked at the short knife in Lü Fei's hand with envious eyes.
"I'll take this hand knife. Owner, let's settle the bill," Lü Fei said, coming back to his senses.
"Young hero, if you like it, just take it. Money or no money, consider it making a friend," the shop owner said generously.
"Ah— it's free? Then I'll really take it," Lü Fei said, a little surprised.
"Making a friend. A small gift, nothing much," the owner said politely.
"Who was that stout old man just now?" Lü Fei asked the owner.
"You don't recognize him? The Artisan King, Wu Yi!" the owner replied.
"A Grandmaster? I met him just like that? Is he a swindler?" Lü Fei muttered to himself.