Chapter 105 - Where Does Flowing Water Come From

Chapter 105 - Where Does Flowing Water Come From

The lighting in the hall suddenly grew dim and a figure in a bamboo hat appeared at the entrance. There was gold embroidery on his flocket 1 . His physique was tall and big, hence his blocking the light.
"Hey you, give me the item and I'll spare you." His voice was low and sounded old.
Bao Shaoliu slowly stood up, his body still swaying a little.
The man's martial art skills were high and it was not on the level that he could look up to, which explained why he could not even take one hit from him.
The beautiful lady owner of the restaurant stood in front of the shop's counter. She narrowed her eyes but did not say anything or show any panic on her face.
Only Shen Lian knew that with the pair of hands she had, there was not much in the entire Shendu that could scare her. The man in the bamboo hat certainly was not something that could.
Ruoxi crinkled her little button nose and said in her young voice, "Big brother, I don't want to eat anymore. You see, it is already dirty."
She pointed towards a slice of the duck meat in the pan. On top of the golden crispy duck skin, there were trails of dust.
Shen Lian patted her head, took out a silk handkerchief and handed it to her, telling her to wipe both her mouth and hands clean.
On the other side of the restaurant, Bai Shaoliu heard the man in the bamboo hat and his face tensed. He stared at the other and enunciated word by word, "No way."
The man in the bamboo hat sighed but did not say anything. Footsteps followed his silence. His steps were not heavy; instead, they were slow but they felt like a sharp knife that violently stabbed a person's chest.
Bai Shaoliu felt cold sweat on his forehead. The man was using his profound inner strength blended into the sound of his footsteps. It was meant for Bao Shaoliu. Even though the man did not use any weapon, the sound of the footsteps hit into his target's Qi and blood one after another—similar to using a real blade to stab into his flesh.
It was obvious the man wanted to subdue Bao Shaoliu without taking his life yet.
Ruoxi quickly wiped herself clean and obediently returned the silk handkerchief to her big brother. Shen Lian simply took the silk handkerchief and said quietly as he put it away, "Jin Daowang, it has been seventeen years since I last saw you and I see you have fallen to the point of resorting to bully children."
Even though Shen Lian's voice was not loud, it was enough to cover the sound of the footsteps, dispersing the penetrative properties of them at the same time.
The man in the bamboo hat stopped in his tracks. Shen Lian had his back to him but his voice sounded familiar to him. Then, he saw Shen Lian's back. It was still a little hard for him to recognize Shen Lian; the voice and physique reminded him of someone but he could not place him.
The young Bai Shaoliu was already drenched in sweat from head to toe. Once the sound of the footsteps disappeared, he fell to the ground and could not stop panting, his sweat pooling on the floor around him.
The man in the bamboo hat moved swiftly and was beside the young lad in a blink of an eye. He then turned towards Shen Lian. Slowly, he removed the bamboo hat, revealing a head of grey hair and silver facial hair. His physique remained the same, like that of an oak tree.
However, he did not carry with him the cane knife that had accompanied him for over a decade. He had laid down the knife in his hand and stopped using weapons altogether.
A confused look came into Jin Daowang's eyes. He could not see any marks of aging on Shen Lian.
"You're Shen Lian?" Jin Daowang could not comprehend at all. By right, Shen Lian would have been over thirty, but he looked exactly the same as when he first saw him. It was as though the years had been heartless to him yet treating Shen Lian really well.
Of course, Jin Daowang noticed something very quickly. Ever since he gave up on weapons and transitioned from martial arts into Dao, his senses had grown more sensitive and accurate. Now, with five percent of his martial art skills, he was able to do the things that had required ten perfect of his martial art skills. It had also gotten much easier to perform his martial art skills.
This concentrated state was helpful in condensing his orifices points and entering a higher level. It was just that he could not inherit the celestial method and the Qi of vitality in the human realm was thin. He was afraid that he could not find the awakened entrance in his lifetime.
The Stream Sword technique was his only hope. This technique was not well known, to begin with; it was passed down by an ordinary martial arts school. It was only much later that the martial arts school enrolled a skillful student that, within a month's time, actually defeated eighteen famous masters using this technique. After these fights, he drove through the skies and disappeared into the clouds.
In the beginning, no one had known about the technique taught in the school. Even now, the descendants of the martial arts school did not realize the truth from it.
It was not until a few months ago that this news spread, which attracted disastrous events for the martial arts school. Everyone in the school was wiped out entirely, save for one young man who escaped.
Jin Daowang was a part of the organization responsible for the deplorable act and so he knew many details about it.
He was now already in his old age. If it had not been for the spirit ginseng he took ten years ago, he could not have achieved what he had achieved today.
As he aged, he got more paranoid about death and greedy for life. He refused to give up on any hope of breaking through.
Shen Lian said, "I see you still recognize me. Your age has not muddled you."
Jin Daowang was quiet for a while and then, pointing towards Bai Shaoliu, he said, "If you want to defend him, I'll go."
If he was at the level he was ten years ago, he would exert his utmost effort to fight because at that time, he was not yet on the level to realize just how formidable Shen Lian was.
Now that his senses were one level higher, even with Shen Lian sitting there with a faint smile on his face, he dared not make eye contact with him. Simultaneously, he felt a small bit of fear within him.
The Shen Lian of sixteen years ago was already an exceptional master of this world and he was not even an a.d.u.l.t at that time. He was then unfathomable, naturally, after the years of training.
"You should go," Shen Lian answered.
Jin Daowang nodded and did not even spare a glance at Bai Shaoliu again.
He put on his bamboo hat once again and prepared to leave.
It was then the lady owner spoke, lazily adding, "Leave the money for my tables and chairs, and this young lad's medical fee or do not even think about leaving."
Jin Daowang hotly humphed. He was slightly irritated with the request.
Shen Lian's voice rang out again, "You're not lacking this small amount of money she requested, so just leave it. While you're at it, foot my bill too."
Jin Daowang suppressed his anger and went to the counter. He took out a small ingot of silver and slammed it down hard enough that is was now embedded into the top of the counter. He huffed, "There."
Never had he been so embarrassed in his entire life.
Once Jin Daowang left, Shen Lian held Ruoxi and prepared to leave as well.
The lady owner came strolling over to them, the small ingot of silver that was previously lodged in the countertop in her hands.
She said, "You have a rather good heart, mister, even saving that old man from a fight he could not win."
Shen Lian heard the second meaning to her words. If it was not for Shen Lian to scare Jin Daowang off, the lady owner would have had to deal with the perpetrator herself. There was no chance Jin Daowang could have survived.
This was why Shen Lian had Jin Daowang foot his bill. After all, his life was more expensive than a small ingot of silver.
"We've known each other for a while. Since we are now quite close, if it's not too much trouble, lady owner, you can drop by from time to time." Shen Lian could see that the woman was also a cultivator. He just did not know which faction or which school she came from or the celestial method she had learned.
"No need to call me lady owner. Your name is Shen Lian, right? Which 'Lian' is it?" Her brows arched beautifully in question. Even though there were slight wrinkles at the corner of her eyes, it only added to her appeal.
"The 'Lian' is that of the gold metallurgy's 'Lian'. You can call me Qing Xia," Shen Lian answered politely.
"My surname is Zhou, the Zhou dynasty's 'Zhou'. My given name is 'Ling'—the 'Ling' of that of the bier."
Shen Lian gave a small nod and, pulling Ruoxi along, he leisurely moved past Zhou Ling and went off into the evening. However, despite his cool demeanor, he thought to himself, "'Zhou' is not only for 'Zhou Dynasty', it is also the surname of the Empress."
Bai Shaoliu knew the two were speaking but could not understand a word. He had already come to remember one thing: that it was Shen Lian who saved him that night in the alley.
He wanted to scramble to his feet but he could not do so. His mouth was dry as he watched both Shen Lian and Ruoxi leave. Inside, however, he fussed. He now owed Shen Lian two lives. 袖袍 - A loose garment with large sleeves.