Chapter 91: Chapter 83: Teaching and Guiding Others
After listening to the old man’s story, Du Chengfeng gained a deeper understanding of the so-called evil qi of the war soldiers.
Originally, not all war soldier evil qiwould drive people crazy. Just like after Yang Sanlang sacrificed himself for the saber, not only did the heavy great saber lose the madness-inducing evil qi, but it also had a calming effect — you must know that Du Chengfeng was almost on the verge of completely losing his reason, turning into a beast-like monster. Yet, with the saber in hand, the frenzy and madness vanished in an instant.
Even this thick great saber, which had already broken before, was as good as new.
It even became stronger than it was before it broke.
Clearly, a dead weapon isn’t impossible to repair. However, the conditions for this repair are extremely harsh — according to Du Chengfeng’s understanding of the story, it first requires someone who trusts him enough, even willing to die for him, and then this person must hold a strong belief and use the broken blade to become a martyr.
"This..."
Du Chengfeng started scratching his head.
He indeed knew such people, at least that carpenter Li, or Yang Xuan, could be considered as such life-saving friendships — but merely for a saber, for them to lose their lives, even if they both were willing, Du Chengfeng couldn’t agree to it.
Is the saber more important, or is a friend’s life more important?
Du Chengfeng felt that a friend’s life was more important. After all, with sabers, as long as life goes on, new ones would eventually be encountered. As for friends... once dead, they’re truly gone.
Furthermore, he thought of other ideas.
"So, can we do it this way?"
After pondering for a moment, Du Chengfeng proposed his scheme.
"How about I go to the street, randomly find a desperado, give him a resettlement fee, and then let him use this Broken Horse to cut his throat?"
"How can you be so reckless with people’s lives!"
Hearing Du Chengfeng’s insane proposal, the old man named Ruan Shantao slammed the table in anger, then forcibly held Du Chengfeng down, lecturing him hard.
Du Chengfeng initially wanted to run away directly; unfortunately, the old man’s overwhelming pressure was too strong.
Not just because of strength, but more due to the majestic aura, which made Du Chengfeng feel like he was back to his student days, facing an angry headteacher — the scene was almost identical, especially because the old man indeed had valid points, making Du Chengfeng acknowledge his fault, leaving him speechless for quite some time.
Beside him, Liu Bolun pretended to be dead, taking out a wine gourd to pour wine onto the heavy great saber, trying to apologize and connect emotionally with it.
Leaving only Du Chengfeng alone to face the old man’s fervor.
"Moreover, even if you spend money to buy a life, the other party dies for money, not for you. Today, he can sell his life for money, tomorrow this weapon could sell you out for money."
After speaking at length, the old man with a dry throat snatched Liu Bolun’s wine gourd and took a swig.
"Virtue is the heart of humanity, righteousness is the way of humanity; if you don’t know virtue and righteousness, acting recklessly, you don’t understand why the warrior insisted on sacrificing a life for you... Forget it, it’s getting late, go back. Come to the mountain to listen to lectures four times a month, I need to refine your character properly as an old man."
At this point, the old man added.
"Don’t think you can skip it because you have a governmental position. If you don’t come to listen, I’ll come to the city and catch you myself."
"..."
Du Chengfeng’s expression was subtle.
To him, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing?
Anyway, he intended to seriously study the normal way to sharpen sabers in this world; he was considering finding an excuse to engage in discussions here. The old man’s command to come to the academy to study instead gave him a reason to hone and learn.
And without the need to pay tuition.
Having gained a free learning slot, and also figuring out a way to revive the Broken Horse Long Saber, his visit to Ziyang Mountain was quite fruitful.
However, on the way down the mountain, Du Chengfeng didn’t give up on those unconventional methods. Some things he had learned spun in his mind, making him feel he might think of better ways — like using deceptive means or bluffing tactics to make someone voluntarily die for him, might it work?
And at that moment, he encountered a familiar face on the mountain path.
Moreover, it was a familiar face with high status.
"Cui Yuan?"
Seeing the crazy swordsman with the sword at his waist appearing on Ziyang Mountain, Du Chengfeng was taken aback.
No wonder the ten pounds of gold bounty outside couldn’t find this guy, turns out he hid in the mountains.
"Sir!"
At this moment, the crazy swordsman Cui Yuan also saw Du Chengfeng.
As their eyes met, a blazing fighting spirit ignited in Cui Yuan’s eyes!
But contrary to Du Chengfeng’s expectation, Cui Yuan didn’t draw his sword.
Instead, he cupped his hands towards Du Chengfeng to show respect.
"Sir, your talent, this ’non-killing way’ is truly part of cultivation!"
"...Ah?"
For a moment, Du Chengfeng was quite confused.
He almost forgot what this was about, how did it turn into a ’non-killing way’?
But after Cui Yuan started talking about his recent experiences, Du Chengfeng gradually remembered.
It all started from the time he let Cui Yuan clear the site, encountering him unexpectedly in a robber’s den, defeating him but not killing him, instead instructing Cui Yuan to find the rangers and warriors hiding in Yanzhou City and drive them away — this was arranged to prevent He Xiqing from hunting them, considering those rangers and warriors had good intentions, he also asked Cui Yuan not to kill anyone.
It’s just that his casual remark added great difficulty to Cui Yuan’s actions.
With Cui Yuan’s skills, he could kill those rangers and swordsmen. Moreover, Cui Yuan had already mastered the use of evil qi, and with a lift of his broken sword, he could produce a five-foot sword aura, easily piercing transparent holes in people as easily as eating and drinking water. But if the premise was not to kill anyone, this five-foot sword aura would become useless, and even most of his vicious swordsmanship couldn’t be performed.
Furthermore, among those rangers and swordsmen, quite a few were fierce and brave, their skills matching Cui Yuan’s, and some were even more skilled.
This difficulty was even greater.
But precisely because of this, Cui Yuan instead became more confident in Du Chengfeng’s words.
"This is indeed a part of self-cultivation!"
At that moment, Cui Yuan had an epiphany.
Such a great difficulty, something almost impossible to achieve, if this wasn’t considered self-cultivation, what was?
Hence, Cui Yuan adopted a genuine attitude towards self-cultivation to deal with this matter.
And now, Cui Yuan had achieved success in his self-cultivation.
"Thanks to the master’s guidance, my swordsmanship has already entered a new level."
Speaking so, Cui Yuan bowed in the direction of the mountain longhouse.
"Coincidentally, Mr. Ruan in the mountains is also proficient in the Way of Non-killing, and he calls it ’Benevolence’. Therefore, I have been following Mr. Ruan recently, practicing the Way of Benevolence."
"Ah, I see..."
Du Chengfeng forced a smile, one that looked quite strained.
The Way of Non-killing, he had no idea about that. To be honest, his journey from Jibei to Yanzhou was basically carved through killing—so how did Cui Yuan’s mind work? Was it that the thoughts of someone mentally unwell were wider-ranging?
But thinking of this, the bit of mischief Du Chengfeng had just suppressed began to stir again.
"Well... you wish to practice self-cultivation, right?"
As he said this, Du Chengfeng took out his Broken Horse Long Saber.
"Why don’t you try using this saber to... finish yourself?"
"...Is this really self-cultivation?"
Cui Yuan’s brows immediately furrowed.
"Master, please do not deceive me."
"See, I’ve already guided you several times, haven’t I? Would I, Du Chengfeng, deceive you?"
Du Chengfeng laughed.
"This is also part of self-cultivation."
"Master, please stop joking."
Cui Yuan couldn’t help but shake his head repeatedly.
"If this is also part of self-cultivation... the bounty of ten catties hanging in Yanzhou City couldn’t also be considered part of self-cultivation, could it?"
"Ah, this."
Du Chengfeng was immediately lost for words.
Oops, this fool didn’t fall for it this time.
But to think about it, this Cui Yuan is just mentally ill, not truly inept. Moreover, judging by his talent in swordsmanship, one might even consider him a smart person—and from his mention of the bounty, it was clear to Du Chengfeng that Cui Yuan hiding in the mountains was not merely for learning.
Moreover, from the hint of complaint in his words, Du Chengfeng could tell that Cui Yuan likely already realized he was carrying the blame for Du Chengfeng from Jibei.
"Sorry for the disturbance, we’ll talk later."
With his face a bit embarrassed, Du Chengfeng pulled his horse and left in a hurry.
However, this could be seen as a good thing, at least Cui Yuan seemed to have some success in his mountain cultivation, his mental state more normal—since Cui Yuan was no longer chasing him for martial duels, Du Chengfeng saw no need to find a way to get rid of this lunatic.
"But that sword... Ah, come to think of it."
Recalling something, Du Chengfeng slapped his forehead.
He had forgotten that he currently held the position of armory chief in Jizhou while serving in Yanzhou, meaning he was qualified to access the Yanzhou armory—so why should he fret over a long saber modeled after the Broken Horse Sword? Wouldn’t it be better to simply obtain a real Broken Horse Sword?
As for the Broken Horse Sword being military equipment... this was a minor issue. At most, he could just fill another war soldiers position, given his combat prowess he could actually serve as a vanguard on the front lines.
Having already served as the vanguard, holding a Broken Horse Sword wouldn’t be out of place, right?
"Let’s do it!"
Urging his horse, he galloped back to Yanzhou City.
Compared to the thrilling night saber fights, Yanzhou City seemed quite peaceful during the day with no assassinations or ambushes, only the constant calls of various shopkeepers echoing in the air—so the journey went smoothly, and Du Chengfeng returned directly to the government office.
Within the government office, the permit to open the armory for Du Chengfeng had long been prepared, for ever since the armory incident, all of Yanzhou was in a flurry. Meanwhile, Du Chengfeng acted decisively, taking the permit and heading straight to the armory, with the clerks expressing immense relief, praising this official as truly reliable.
What these clerks didn’t know was that Du Chengfeng opened the armory this time merely to select a suitable weapon.
