Riding horses to hasten our journey, our speed was indeed much faster.
In just a few days, we arrived at the old man’s hometown—Changshan.
Horses weren’t suited for mountain paths, so Cao Zhen bid us farewell at the foot of the mountain.
Before leaving, that rascal lightly pinched my earlobe and left with a flirtatious laugh while I stood there, my face flushed red.
“See you later, you mature little pervert.”
She was definitely teasing me in front of everyone on purpose…
In this rigid, feudal society, she was truly an oddity.
The old man shook his head dramatically, lamenting the decline of morals, and started walking up the mountain.
Bingqiao, witnessing me being teased, blushed and lowered her head.
Lengyu, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed but stared at me with a peculiar look.
I shook my head with a wry smile and helplessly followed the old man up the mountain.
“Old man, where’s your home?”
“Call me Master!” the old man said, exasperated.
“It’s at the top of the mountain.”
“Got it, old man.”
“No, you absolutely don’t get it!” I could tell the old man was already regretting taking on a disrespectful, lazy disciple like me.
Speaking of which, I never imagined the old man would live in the wilderness like this.
I didn’t expect someone like Tong Yuan, a recluse, to live in a city, but living at the top of a mountain was a bit too desolate, wasn’t it?
Sigh, to think that I, a young master, would have to experience life in the wilds…
Thinking about the bleak life ahead, I let out a deep sigh.
“Hm?”
As I sighed, I suddenly heard the sound of chopping wood, which piqued my curiosity.
Who would come to such a desolate place?
After walking a bit further, I finally saw the person chopping wood.
To my shock, it was just a young girl.
The girl had messy silver hair and was about my age.
Her frail frame was dressed in tattered, dirty gray clothes, and her dust-covered face made it hard to see her features clearly.
Barefoot, she struggled to chop at a tree with an axe, giving me the impression that the recoil from the chopping might shatter her.
She was just a poor girl forced to help her family in these hard times, a common sight in this era of suffering—nothing particularly noteworthy.
But the stark contrast between her fragile, wind-blown frame and the massive tree she was desperately chopping left a deep impression on me.
It was odd that she’d come to such a place to chop wood, but seeing her attire, I understood.
She was probably from some family living deep in the mountains.
As we were about to look away, something unexpected happened.
Perhaps the sound of chopping disturbed a creature in the forest.
A large wild boar, letting out a roar, appeared behind the girl.
“Watch out behind you!” Bingqiao shouted first.
The girl heard the noise at the same time and turned to see the massive creature.
Terrified, she stumbled back a few steps.
She wanted to run, but the terrain didn’t allow it—behind her was a steep slope, and with her frail body, jumping down would be disastrous.
The old man rushed forward first, and I followed closely, trying to reach the bottom of the slope quickly to create an escape route for her.
Unfortunately, we were too far away to get there in time.
The boar approached the girl step by step.
With no other choice, she held her only weapon, the axe, in front of her, her trembling body retreating uncontrollably.
“Roar—!!”
With nowhere left to retreat, the boar charged at her with a ferocious bellow.
Damn it… were we too late?
In that moment, the Bingqiao sisters closed their eyes in fear.
The old man cursed under his breath, “Damn it.”
No one doubted that the massive boar would tear the frail, almost skeletal girl to pieces.
The boar reached her in an instant, its sharp tusks aimed to gore her.
The only outcomes seemed to be her being impaled or knocked off the cliff.
But then, something unexpected happened.
To our disbelief, at the very moment the boar was about to hit her, the girl leaped backward.
The boar, unprepared for this, couldn’t stop its charging body and plummeted off the cliff with her.
In midair, the girl grabbed the boar’s sharp tusk with her left hand and, with her right, swung the axe, slicing a gruesome gash into its side.
As the boar let out a pained howl and thrashed wildly, she used her grip on its tusk to flip herself onto its back.
After a brief free fall, the boar served as a cushion, allowing the girl to land unscathed, completing her astonishing feat.
By the time we reached her, the girl had tossed the axe aside and was curled up in a corner, trembling.
Though her long bangs covered her eyes, they were surely filled with tears.
That frail, quivering figure and the faint sounds of fear she made—it was hard to believe this was the same child who had just performed such a daring, almost insane act.
The old man and I, having witnessed the scene, looked at the girl as if she were a monster.
Could a normal kid my age do what she just did?
Obviously, the answer was no.
Thus, this girl, who turned the impossible into reality, seemed utterly extraordinary.
The old man, being the fastest, reached her first.
“Are you hurt?”
The girl, too scared to speak, weakly shook her head, her bangs swaying, and shrank further into the corner as if frightened of the old man.
The old man sighed in relief and went to check if the boar was still alive.
The Bingqiao sisters and I arrived soon after, helping the girl up.
Bingqiao gently dusted her off while softly comforting her.
After confirming the boar was dead, the old man returned and asked the girl, “Where’s your home?”
“N-not far, just over there,” she replied.
It was the first time I heard her voice—sweet and delicate, paired with her trembling, petite frame, instantly conjuring the image of a small hamster in my mind.
“Good, we’ll take you home. I’d like to have a word with your parents.”
The girl tilted her head in confusion but didn’t dare ask questions.
I knew what the old man was thinking.
That old guy had clearly taken a liking to her talent.
Seeing her performance, he was already considering taking her as a disciple.
Indeed, the reaction, speed, courage, and boldness she displayed in that moment were beyond ordinary.
In terms of courage and spirit alone, many adults wouldn’t measure up—how many people would dare make that suicidal leap backward?
The girl, naive and still shaken, didn’t hesitate when the old man said he wanted to meet her parents.
She led us toward her home.
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