Chapter 199: The Depressed Black Bear

This day, Xiao Zongting's work of year-end inventory was finally finished.

At dusk, Xiao Zongting, Shen Ping, and Duan Rong sat in the pavilion of Liu Lu, drinking wine and chatting.

Duan Rong had specifically gone to the shops on the street to stir-fry a few hot dishes; the food containers were almost filled to the brim.

Then he went to the beef soup shop to buy a few sesame flatbreads and brought back a small pot of yellow wine.

In the evening courtyard, a cool breeze blew, and the chirping of cicadas and crickets was deafeningly noisy...

The three of them ate and drank together in the pavilion.

Shen Ping drank a cup of wine, looked at Xiao Zongting, and said, "Old Xiao! If it weren't for you, this old life of mine would likely have rotted on the street this time."

What Shen Ping said was the truth; while in Death Row, he had been running a fever for several days in a row, and it was clear he was nearing the end of his rope. If he had just been thrown on the side of the street without anyone caring for him for a day or two, he likely would have breathed his last.

However, Xiao Zongting had been keeping an eye on news about him for a long time and had bribed an old jailer in Death Row, which was the only reason he could get first-hand information. The moment Shen Ping was thrown onto the street, he was carried to Duan Rong's place, without the slightest delay in treatment.

Shen Ping raised his cup and said, "I am a man covered in debts, with nothing else to my name, and I have nothing to thank you with. I'll borrow Young Master Duan's wine and food to offer a Buddha with borrowed flowers and toast you a cup!"

"Get lost! With me, why are you still being so pretentious?"

Although Xiao Zongting scolded him with a smile, he still raised his wine cup and clinked it with Shen Ping's, then said, "Old Dog Shen, I won't lie to you; seeing you like that this time, I really thought you were going to kick the bucket. I didn't expect you to actually pull through; you are still a man of good fortune!"

Hearing this, Shen Ping glanced at Duan Rong with a faint, imperceptible look in his eyes and laughed, "I am naturally a man of good fortune, otherwise how would I have met you big and small devils in the pugilistic world?"

As the two spoke, they burst into loud laughter.

Taking advantage of a lull, Duan Rong stood up to refill Xiao Zongting and Shen Ping's wine, but the wine pot hit the bottom after filling Xiao Zongting's cup only seven-tenths full.

Duan Rong smiled awkwardly and said, "I bought too little wine. You two wait a moment, I'll go to the street and get some more."

Just now, with his hands full of food containers and sesame flatbreads, Duan Rong had only bought one small pot of wine. He had originally thought that since Shen Ping had just recovered from a major illness, the two would only have a small drink, not expecting them to get more and more into the spirit of it.

Duan Rong took the wine pot and left Liu Lu.

Shen Ping watched Duan Rong's back and said, "This kid is good material! It's a pity that my dantian is ruined, otherwise, I would really like to take on an apprentice."

Hearing this, Xiao Zongting's expression suddenly soured, and he said, "Then you're too late; I've already taken this kid in."

Shen Ping glanced at Xiao Zongting and said coldly, "Others might think you're capable. But Old Xiao, let me tell you, I really don't think much of your meager skills."

"You've always been arrogant," Xiao Zongting snorted coldly and said, "It's a pity that you yourself are also mediocre."

Shen Ping said, "No matter how mediocre I am, I practice both Medicine and Martial Arts; I walk on two legs!"

Hearing this, Xiao Zongting's anger flared up instantly. Shen Ping seemed to be using the metaphor of practicing both Medicine and Martial Arts as walking on two legs, but in reality, he was mocking Xiao Zongting for being a cripple.

Xiao Zongting's face flickered between shades of light and dark, and he said nothing more, actually standing up and flicking his sleeves as he left.

Duan Rong had just returned with a jar of wine; as he reached the entrance, he saw Xiao Zongting walking away with a dark face, limping as he went.

"Xiao Lao!"

Xiao Zongting acted as if he hadn't heard Duan Rong calling him.

Duan Rong walked into Liu Lu, completely confused, and looked at Shen Ping, who was sitting alone in the pavilion, asking, "What's wrong with Xiao Lao?"

Shen Ping snorted coldly, didn't even look at Duan Rong, and stood up to return to the Inner Room bedroom.

Duan Rong looked at the two of them, feeling suddenly depressed.

These two stubborn old men, at their age, why were they still like children? When he left, they were chatting and laughing, and in the blink of an eye, they were at odds.

With no other choice, Duan Rong could only sit in the pavilion by himself and eat and drink.

Two days later, early in the morning, Duan Rong had just gotten up and was washing up by the large water vat when Shen Ping suddenly walked over, looked at him, and said, "Young Master Duan, go to the carriage rental later and hire a carriage to take me out of the city."

"Out of the city? Where to?"

"Just go rent it if I tell you to," Shen Ping said, standing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

Duan Rong curled his lip and muttered to himself: This old guy really has the airs of a master!

Despite his grumbling, after finishing breakfast, Duan Rong still trotted off to the carriage rental to hire a carriage.

Duan Rong parked the carriage at the entrance of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, went into Liu Lu to call Shen Ping out, and asked, "Old Shen, where are we going with the rented carriage?"

"East suburbs, Wild Boar Mountain!"

"Wild Boar Mountain?" Duan Rong was surprised; he had been to Wild Boar Mountain quite a few times.

"Yes. You come with me, you drive the carriage!" Shen Ping said in a casual tone.

Duan Rong rubbed his nose, not knowing what medicine Shen Ping was selling in his gourd.

Duan Rong was already very familiar with the road to Wild Boar Mountain. Shen Ping sat inside the carriage, and Duan Rong drove the carriage toward Wild Boar Mountain.

Driving a carriage was, after all, not as fast as riding a horse; it was already late at night when the two reached the edge of the village at the foot of the Wild Boar Mountain range.

A bright moon floated above the Wild Boar Mountain range, and amidst the misty sea of clouds, the moon looked like a mysterious, veiled goddess.

Duan Rong had originally planned to go bother Qin Laohan and head into the mountains overnight.

But Shen Ping said to rest in the carriage for the night and head into the mountains tomorrow.

Duan Rong thought that since they weren't in a rush this time, unlike last time when he had to rush back for the promotion assessment, there was no need to disturb Qin Laohan's family in the dead of night.

Besides, Shen Ping's appearance was so ugly; he shouldn't scare the old man in the middle of the night.

Duan Rong tied the horse to a tree by the village, and the two squeezed into the carriage to sleep for half the night.

The next day, as soon as it was bright, Duan Rong drove the carriage to Qin Laohan's house, gave the old man a piece of broken silver, gave him some instructions, and then entered Wild Boar Mountain with Shen Ping.

Duan Rong soon discovered that the path Shen Ping was taking him on was completely different from the ones he took when he came to Wild Boar Mountain himself.

When Duan Rong came to Wild Boar Mountain, he usually went to the old forests in the valleys... but the paths Shen Ping took Duan Rong on were mostly steep cliffs and precipices, not even looking at the vast stretches of valleys.

The Wild Boar Mountain range stretched for hundreds of miles. The two had walked for a full half-day, and Duan Rong saw that Shen Ping still had no intention of stopping. This old man's body was truly sturdy; after his illness was cured, even though his dantian was ruined, he hadn't even panted heavily after walking mountain roads for so long...

This showed that before his dantian was ruined, he was accustomed to walking mountain roads...

As the two walked to a mountain peak, they suddenly encountered a black bear scratching an itch on the trunk of an Old Pine Wood.

This black bear was a black bear.

An adult black bear could weigh up to four hundred pounds; when it charged, it was like a meat-missile tank, and a single swipe of its paw could kill a person.

The moment Duan Rong saw the black bear, his heart jumped, and he was about to draw his blade to attack.

But just at this moment, that black bear took one look at Shen Ping, suddenly as if it had seen a ghost, turned tail and ran, scrambling and tumbling down the hilltop, heading into the old forest in the valley...

Duan Rong looked at Shen Ping suspiciously; he did not understand why that black bear had been so terrified the moment it saw Shen Ping.

Shen Ping naturally noticed Duan Rong's gaze, smiled, and explained: "I mixed honey with a sedative to drug that black bear and extracted its bear gallbladder for a few days."

"At that time, I was concocting a medicine and happened to need a bear gallbladder, so I made it suffer a bit. But once the medicine was finished, I let it go, and I even healed the wound on its belly! I didn't expect this beast to be so ungrateful; it turned and ran the moment it saw me!"

"How truly impolite!"

Hearing these words from Shen Ping, Duan Rong was left speechless.

Are you alright? You sliced open its belly, extracted its bear gallbladder, and you still expect it to be grateful to you?

(End of this chapter)