Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 18 Flying Fox County

After Xu Ying left, Chang Ping'an felt quite grateful and wanted to chase after him. After all, Xu Ying had acted this way because of what he had said. So Chang Ping'an cupped his hands to Wan Qizhongqiu, turned around and left the Sword Casting Manor.

He vaguely heard Wanqi Zhongqiu sigh again and say, "Alas, I never imagined that my Sword Forging Manor would be in such a sorry state. I will inform the old manor lord of this matter. The manor truly needs a cleanup... Let's have someone tidy this place up first. Alas, you all, alas, take good care of the sect leader first..."

"Senior Brother Xu!"

Chang Ping'an circulated his spiritual power, quickened his pace, and leaped several steps before catching up with Xu Ying.

He called out from afar, "Senior Brother Xu!"

“Young man of the Chang family,” Xu Ying said, though he took large strides, he walked slowly. Upon hearing Chang Ping’an’s call, he immediately turned around, clasped his hands, and said, “Young man of the Chang family, now that we have left the Sword Forging Manor, it is no longer appropriate for us to address each other as fellow disciples. I am a few years older than you, but if you do not mind, you can call me Brother Xu!”

Brother Xu,

Chang Ping'an readily changed his tune, returned the gesture with a fist bump, and asked, "I wonder what Brother Xu's plans are for the future?"

Xu Ying smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, I acted tough in front of the Second Master just now, but I only have a few coins left. Even if I wanted to go back to Jiangnan, it wouldn't be enough. I'm afraid I'll have to go to town to find a job and save up."

Chang Ping'an then asked, "What about martial arts? Brother Xu, are you no longer practicing martial arts?"

Xu Ying sighed, "My talent is mediocre, and I'm afraid I won't achieve anything. These sects and gangs are also used to belittling the weak and flattering the strong, which really makes me a little afraid!"

Chang Ping'an asked again, "If you don't cultivate martial arts, then what about the path of immortality?"

Xu Ying was taken aback: "Young man from the Chang family, what do you mean by this?"

"To be honest, Brother Xu, my master is a deity of this world. I have personally witnessed him creating things out of thin air and moving mountains and filling seas. He even restored my severed true qi meridian with just a bowl of medicine. However, I cultivate the immortal path according to my master's teachings, which do not require true qi. I have already refined my true qi meridian. But the magnificence of the immortal path is far beyond that of the martial path. Otherwise, I would not have killed Xie Yan so easily."

Chang Ping'an explained carefully before suggesting, "My master is a true immortal on land, cultivating in the mountains. He clearly possesses boundless immortal powers, yet he personally chops wood and carries water... If Brother Xu has nowhere to go for the time being, why not come up the mountain with me and serve by my master's side? Perhaps you will have a chance to meet him."

Actually, he had always wanted to help his master hire some handymen to do chores, but firstly, he couldn't trust outsiders, and secondly, he always had to ask his master for his opinion.

Xu Ying was upright and generous. He had been an outer disciple of the manor for many years without harboring any resentment. He was so magnanimous that even if his master disliked being served, he was willing to give him his private property to repay his master for speaking out for justice.

Chang Ping'an had his own calculations, but Xu Ying, who had previously spoken up for Chang Ping'an and was now deliberately walking slowly, was waiting for this "opportunity."

Although he felt a little ashamed of his scheming, he was unwilling to let the opportunity slip by—no matter what kind of god or monster it was, even the Chang family boy with severed true qi meridians could become so powerful in just a few days, so perhaps he could too?

However, he showed no sign of his inner turmoil on his face, instead feigning surprise and saying, "Really? There really are immortals in this world?"

Chang Ping'an replied with certainty, "He is a deity! My master can not only create all things, but also sow seeds and let them sprout at this time of year. His supernatural powers are vast and unfathomable!"

Feeling guilty, Xu Ying feigned modesty and said, "But my talent is mediocre..."

"I'm not afraid, my aptitude isn't great either. Besides, for people like you and me, being able to follow our master is already an incredible opportunity, how dare we ask for anything more?"

Chang Ping'an did not guarantee that Xu Ying would be accepted as a disciple because he had long seen that his master Zhang Chengdao was a person who was quite afraid of trouble. It was an accident that he accepted him as a disciple in the first place, so how could he easily accept another disciple?
However, he secretly felt guilty because his master always urged him to cultivate, and every time he had a break from cultivation, he would see his master with his white hair chopping bamboo and sawing wood. He felt deeply ashamed... If he could buy a few disciples for his master, or take in a few menial disciples like a martial arts sect such as the Sword Forging Manor, it would make his master's life easier. That's why he had the idea of ​​asking Xu Ying to follow his master. Now that the matter had been discussed, Xu Ying dared not presume to make any more excuses and quickly nodded in agreement. The two then headed together to Flying Fox County, the place that Chang Ping'an and Zhang Chengdao had agreed to meet.

……

Just as Chang Ping was killing his enemy at the Sword Casting Manor, Zhang Chengdao was standing on the only relatively wide street in Feihu County, looking bewildered.

He guessed that things wouldn't be very developed in ancient times, but he didn't expect this place to be so backward!
The entire county town was not much larger than a modern village, and its population was probably smaller than that of a slightly larger residential area.

Even more surprisingly, there were no street vendors or shops here. There was only one inn in the whole county, which also served as a restaurant. However, there were not many customers; just two tables were enough to fill the lobby.

The original plan to pawn the gold bricks bought in the mall with peach blossom stones at a pawn shop or similar place was completely ruined. Even the supplementary plan to sell some liniment at a pharmacy for money could not be implemented, because there were neither pawn shops nor pharmacies here.

At least he didn't see it.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Chengdao had to swallow his pride and step into the only inn, asking the manager who was checking the accounts, "May I ask if there are any pawnshops in this county?"

"pawnshop?"

The shopkeeper looked Zhang Chengdao up and down and replied, "We don't have any in-demand items in regular pawnshops, but if you have anything rare or valuable, you might as well let Master Liu take a look. If it's something truly rare, he'll offer you a fair price!"

Zhang Chengdao cupped his hands in greeting: "Thank you for your advice, shopkeeper. May I ask where we should visit Master Liu?"

"Look, that's Master Liu. He's always hanging around here!"

The shopkeeper said, pointing to a table of guests in the lobby.

Zhang Chengdao looked in that direction and saw one of the middle-aged men, who was in his forties and had become overweight, stand up.

The other party politely bowed to Zhang Chengdao and said, "What is this venerable one doing here? Let me take a look first!"

When meeting someone from the martial arts world, addressing them as "venerable one" is a customary etiquette.

Although there are few true masters in the martial arts world, there are quite a few martial artists who wish to be called masters. This title is also a sign of respect for those martial artists whose cultivation levels are unfathomable.

Although Zhang Chengdao wasn't entirely clear on the unspoken rules, he could roughly guess them—after all, he was a cultivator, and normal people shouldn't be able to tell his cultivation level!

So he returned the greeting and said, "I dare not accept such a title. My surname is Zhang. I have a gold brick that I would like to exchange for some usable silver. I need to buy rice, flour, oil and salt."

"BRICS?"

The patriarch of the Liu family hadn't expected it to be this kind of thing. He examined Zhang Chengdao more closely and asked, "Which gold brick is it?"

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(End of this chapter)