Chapter 309: Worldly Affairs

Chen Wuji and Qin Feng talked about many things.

From when the sun was near West Mountain until the moon rose above the willow tips, they talked, and the more they talked, the more matters arose.

Qin Feng sent someone to buy a table of dishes at Li Si Fencha and also got several jugs of wine; the two drank and chatted under the moon, having settled the general direction, but many petty details still needed to be settled.

For example, the mixed forces in Yunan City made them finish a jug of wine.

Worldly affairs are best enjoyed with alcohol.

Qin Feng drank until his chest was full of resentment; finally he drew his sword and danced wildly in the courtyard, shouting that the state was not a state, and loudly cursing that everyone in the imperial court were worms and vermin.

Chen Wuji could not sword-dance, so he hid all his thoughts in the wine.

Someone who expends all their effort to give away their own territory—what else could they be but worms and vermin?

Actually, Chen Wuji has never quite understood this matter.

For the sake of court factional struggles, abandoning such strategically important border territory—whoever made that decision seems to have brains growing in their butt crack, utterly lacking sense; how could such a person hold high office?

Qin Feng was somewhat drunk; the more he drank, the more urgently he drank, and his sword dance grew denser, killing intent rising, stirring the courtyard with crisscrossing sword qi, giving off a stern killing aura like icy snow from beyond the frontier blowing in on the wind.

His words also grew increasingly foul.

This fellow dug up the eighteen generations of ancestors of those nobles in the court and greeted them one by one.

This also greatly surprised Chen Wuji.

This kid actually remembers the ancestral names of those people; he really is calling them out by name and cursing them.

At one moment, Qin Feng seemed not to be sword-dancing but to be thrusting his sword at those worms and vermin and their ancestors; the killing intent in his sword climbed higher and higher, frightening Chen Wuji into simply clutching the wine jar and huddling under the eaves.

When the county magistrate went into a wine-fueled frenzy, his lethality was quite astonishing.

Chen Wuji felt he could not withstand two blows from that fellow; he would be stabbed into a straw man used as a target for arrows.

"Lord Qin, it's a real shame you don't become a wandering sword knight of the Rivers and Lakes, freely repaying grudges and kindnesses!" Chen Wuji shouted loudly.

Qin Feng's sword in his hand snapped back, he flung it and stuck it into the ground, then with his left hand lifted the wine jar, tipped his head back, and gulped a mouthful, saying, "This is my lifelong ambition, but I was born into an official family, I cannot be willful—how sad."

Chen Wuji watched the sword that Qin Feng had casually stuck into the courtyard bricks like cutting tofu, and remained silent for a long time.

"How about you teach me a couple moves?" he said, regaining his composure, speaking seriously.

This sword technique made him somewhat envious.

A casual toss can sink several inches into brick; if used to kill, it would undoubtedly be even sharper.

"What sword technique? Just find a sword and practice." Qin Feng said offhandedly.

Chen Wuji pointed at his own nose, "Do you think I look like an idiot?"

"No, but I truly don't know sword technique. As a child I liked swords, so I picked one up and practiced in a daze; I thought it fun, later it became a habit, that's all." Qin Feng walked over and flopped down beside Chen Wuji, arms and legs spread.

Chen Wuji remained silent for a while.

He wanted to believe Qin Feng's words, but this fact was simply too absurd.

If sword technique could be mastered this easily, then everyone in the world would be an expert.

Suddenly, snoring sounded.

Chen Wuji glanced sideways, then simply lay down as well.

He was also somewhat drunk.

At this moment the moon was bright and the stars sparse—just the time to sleep.

……

Chen Wuji and Qin Feng slept under the eaves for a night; upon opening their eyes, they were filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.

Though their sleep was somewhat disheveled, both Chen Wuji and Qin Feng actually felt they had slept very comfortably, with a sense of returning to simplicity and truth, of sinking into the embrace of heaven and earth.

"That Zhu surname brat is no good, but I really like the flowers and grasses he planted—clean, elegant, very much to my taste." Qin Feng smiled and beckoned to Chen Wuji, "Come on, wash up, I'll treat you to breakfast at Li Si Fencha."

"Mm."

Li Si Fencha remained bustling; the commotion outside the city seemed to have no effect on the people inside.

Led by the shop's attendant, Chen Wuji and Qin Feng went to the rear courtyard's elegant room, where they had a refined breakfast and then took a few small drinks to revive their spirits.

After parting with Qin Feng, Chen Wuji took the two jars of fine wine and several dishes he had obtained from Li Si Fencha and went to Ciji Monastery.

As for taking over as head of Ciji Monastery in the future, it currently seems there is no chance.

But as for this master Zhang Lao, Chen Wuji cannot fail to acknowledge him.

Ciji Monastery seemed to have just opened; Little Fish was holding a clean white cloth to wipe the medicine cabinet. Seeing Chen Wuji enter, he tossed the cloth aside, performed a nimble flip from behind the counter, and enthusiastically took what Chen Wuji was holding, saying, "Senior brother, I should have a share too, right?"

"Of course." Chen Wuji handed the items to Little Fish, "Is the Old Master not here?"

Little Fish glanced toward the rear courtyard, "In the rear courtyard, a guest arrived this morning."

"Looks like an extremely important guest; then I'll wait a bit," Chen Wuji said.

Having come to Ciji Monastery so many times, Chen Wuji had yet to see Zhang Lao invite which guest to the rear courtyard for a talk.

Little Fish nodded and said softly, "Probably, but the master seems to dislike that person especially; when he sees them his face sinks and his tone becomes impatient."

Chen Wuji felt a stir in his heart; it seems to be a troublesome guest.

A guest the master dislikes, yet he treats them with such solemnity—the matter they bring must not be simple.

However, Chen Wuji merely thought about it briefly and then tossed it aside; he had no inclination to pry into others' privacy, for Zhang Lao holds high standing in the Rivers and Lakes, his identity is extremely mysterious, and contacting mysterious people and affairs is quite normal.

Chen Wuji sat in the front hall for about two quarters of an hour when an old man dressed in tattered black clothes, leaning on a bamboo staff, slowly walked out from inside.

He glanced at Chen Wuji and Little Fish, smiled and nodded, then left through the door.

Seeing this person, Chen Wuji spontaneously thought of a line of poetry: "A bamboo staff and straw sandals, lighter than a horse."

This old man fulfilled all three conditions of that poem.

His hand held a bamboo staff polished until it shone, its core having become jade-like; on his feet were a pair of straw sandals with vine soles, his steps light, giving a sense of floating.

Although this old man is old, he gives the feeling of a transcendent hermit.

Compared to him, Zhang Lao is entirely an ordinary old man hidden in the dust, with no secrets at all.

Not long after that person left, Zhang Lao's voice came from the back courtyard, "Wuji, you've come, right? Come in."

Chen Wuji picked up the wine jar, then snatched a portion of stewed, mushy elbow and a portion of Dongpo pork from Xiaoyu's hand, and walked into the back courtyard.

He had come to the Charitable Relief Hall many times, but the number of times he had entered the back courtyard was few.

Zhang Lao's back courtyard, like him, exuded vulgarity everywhere.

Medicinal herbs tossed about everywhere took up a large area; the only open space left held a stone table, on which a chessboard was carved, and in the corner were stacked various tools, as well as a huge wooden tub.

Chen Wuji placed the things he had brought on the table and opened them.

"Why do you make this old fellow eat so much meat early in the morning?" Zhang Lao asked, stroking his beard and furrowing his brows.

Chen Wuji chuckled, "I even brought you some liquor to cut the greasiness, didn't I?"