Seeing me staring motionlessly at the Soldier’s Classic, Mistress seemed to understand what I wanted to say, so she smiled and said, “I’ve only ever studied the Sishu Wujing and other poetry and literary books. All those military texts, I just happened to bring along with me. If you’re interested, I can teach you to read and write, but as for the true intricacies within, you’ll have to study them yourselves. Oh, right, your Master does know a bit about these things—he can teach you in his spare time.”
Of course, a refined woman like Mistress clearly had nothing to do with matters of war.
Naturally, even if she let us look, the matter of learning would have to wait until three days later. In Mistress’s eyes, these three days were precious time to play and run with the children among the flower fields.
But precious time always flies by. On the fourth day, Old Man completely ignored Mistress’s resentful glare—she still hadn’t played enough, but to no avail—and called Zhao Yun and me outside.
By the way, Mistress, who still had a child’s heart, actually wanted to throw a tantrum, but Old Man firmly refused her. So, feeling wronged, she hugged Bing Qiao and Leng Yu, hiding to one side and pitifully watching us.
You just want to hold the kids, don’t you…
“Listen up, you two.” Old Man stood before us, holding his head high. “From today on, I will officially pass on my skills to you. Study hard, you hear me?”
“We hear you…” I replied, less than enthusiastically, while Zhao Yun’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Too quiet!”
“We hear you!”
“Good!” Old Man nodded, then pulled out a spear from behind him. “Let me first tell you a bit about what your Master is skilled in, so you’ll know what to expect.”
“The weapon I’m best at, yes, is the spear. And what I’m going to teach you, naturally, is spear techniques.” Old Man spun the long spear in his hand and continued, “The sword is the king of all weapons—a gentleman wields a sword to protect. The saber is the tyrant of all weapons—the overlord wields a saber to dominate the battlefield. Now tell me, what is the spear?”
“Uh… a stick?” Zhao Yun asked timidly.
“……”
“It’s not!” I looked at Zhao Yun with disdain, then, catching Old Man’s expectant gaze, I smugly said, “It’s obviously a sharpened stick… Ah! That hurts!”
“Wrong!! It’s the king! The spear is the king of all weapons!” Old Man’s face flushed as he knocked Zhao Yun and me on the head with the spear’s shaft, grumbling, “Idiots! Utter fools!”
Old Man couldn’t help but start doubting his usually sharp judgment. Were these two children really the rare talents he thought they were? The two disciples he’d taken before had turned out well enough, but who knew about these two?
“A king follows the sword as sovereign and the saber as overlord—brave without losing sharpness, dominant yet not without subtlety. Able to advance or retreat, to attack or defend—that is a king.” Old Man spoke confidently. “Now, tell me, what’s the advantage of the spear?”
Zhao Yun rubbed the sore spot, tears in her eyes, thought for a while, and said, “It’s long?”
“That’s right. Obviously, it’s the length. But remember, while length is the spear’s strength, it’s also its fatal weakness. Just remember this; you don’t need to fully understand it yet.” Old Man nodded with satisfaction, raising the long spear in his hand. “What I’m going to teach you is my own unique spear technique—the Hundred Birds Facing Phoenix Spear.”
“Hundred Birds Facing Phoenix Spear?” Zhao Yun and I asked in unison.
Well, Zhao Yun’s question was clearly because she didn’t know, while mine… let’s just say I was playing along with Old Man. After all, this famous spear technique did leave an impression in my few remaining memories.
“Yes, the Hundred Birds Facing Phoenix Spear.” Old Man’s desire to teach was obvious. Seeing us cooperate so well, he was quite pleased. “The foolish boy should remember, because I demonstrated it for him once before.”
“I’ve said, my specialty is the spear. If you want to learn other weapons, I do know a bit about swordplay—after all, of all techniques, one should start with the sword. As for other weapons, I only know a little, not enough to teach. If you want to learn them, you’ll have to figure it out yourselves. So, what do you want to learn?”
Zhao Yun fell into thought, clearly hesitating. But just then, Yun’s Mother, who had been quietly watching from the side, spoke up: “Yun’er, you should learn the spear.”
“Why?” Zhao Yun asked.
Yun’s Mother smiled, and in that smile, there was hope, remembrance… and bitterness.
“You’ll understand in the future, all right?”
Zhao Yun nodded obediently, then turned to Old Man and said, “Master, Yun wants to learn the spear.”
Zhao Yun didn’t hesitate, because there was only one reason: Yun’s Mother wished it so.
“I’ll learn the spear too.” I answered, without the slightest hesitation either. Because my reason was also simple… I’ve already taken you as my master—if I don’t learn the spear, what else would I learn? If I wanted to learn something else, I’d have done it on my own. Why would I come to you?
Old Man nodded in satisfaction, though I bet if he knew I was complaining about him in my heart, he’d give me a good scolding.
“Wait!” Just as Old Man was about to continue, a childish voice interrupted him. We turned toward the voice and saw it was the little maids, Bing Qiao and her sister.
Bing Qiao and Leng Yu, those adorable twin sisters, held hands and, encouraged by Mistress’s gaze from behind, walked over to me. “Young Master, my sister and I have a small request.”
“What is it?” It was rare for them to ask for anything, so I was genuinely curious.
“My sister and I… we want to learn martial arts with you, Young Master.” Bing Qiao hesitated, lowered her head, but still spoke up.
I was a bit puzzled—why would they suddenly bring this up?
Leng Yu, maybe, but Bing Qiao’s frail and sickly body couldn’t possibly endure the hardships of martial training.
“Why? You know your own health, don’t you?”
“Yes, exactly because I know, I must do this.” Bing Qiao lifted her head. Gone was her usual weakness, replaced with rare determination. “Young Master saved me, so my life belongs to you. If I train with you, maybe this useless body can someday be of use to you. Even if it costs me my life, I’ll do it willingly.”
So, it’s this line again.
“I’ve told you, I didn’t save you just so you’d be good to me.”
“But you saved me, and I want to be good to you.”
“There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself.”
“But I have my reasons to repay your kindness.”
To repay… huh.
For the future, maybe there are some things I need to make clear… Now is the chance.
I fixed my gaze on Bing Qiao, my tone turning serious. “If you’re doing all this just to repay me, then let me tell you, I saved you on a whim—it wasn’t out of any great kindness. Besides, it was my mother who truly decided to take you both in. You’re repaying the wrong person. So there’s no need for you to force yourself like this, understand?”
“Even if what you say is true, and you saved me on a whim, it doesn’t change the fact that you saved me. And… yes, it was Madam who decided to take us in, but wasn’t it you who asked her to? Whether it’s for Madam or for you, I can’t back down.” Normally, Bing Qiao never argued with me, but now she was unwavering.
But I had my own reasons I couldn’t give in. I’d long wanted to change this girl’s blind obedience out of gratitude.
It’s not that I disliked Bing Qiao—if anything, I liked her most. But some things, she needed to understand sooner rather than later.
Just as I was about to retort, Bing Qiao spoke up again, cutting me off.
“Though I don’t believe you lack kindness, even if that’s true, from the moment you reached out to us, I made a vow I will never betray in this lifetime.”
Bing Qiao put her hands together in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and gave me a gentle, beautiful smile that made my heart race.
“In this life and the next, never to part, never to abandon.”