Martial Cultivator

The old man, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly asked, “This old man also has a question. When people first set out to do something, they must have thought about what they would accomplish in the future, and what kind of person they wanted to become. Each of us say one? This old man will go first. When I first learned to brew tea, I wanted to become the one person in this world whom later generations could not avoid mentioning whenever they spoke of brewing tea.”

The scholar seemed to have caught some interest as well, and followed up, saying, “Then I’ll say mine too. Back then, when I studied, I only thought of changing the world, making it a better place.”

Back then there was boundless ambition; later, that same world wounded the heart beyond repair.

Chen Chao asked curiously, “Isn’t that more or less the same as those four sentences of Mister Zhang?”

The scholar laughed and said, “More or less, more or less.”

After saying this, the scholar and the old man both looked at Chen Chao, seemingly eager to know why this young martial artist had begun his cultivation in the first place.

The young martial artist, however, gave an answer that was both laughable and touching: “I started cultivating only to seek revenge and protect my life.”

But the scholar and the old man didn’t feel disappointed at this answer; on the contrary, they smiled with a sense of relief. The answer was honest.

The young martial artist quickly added, “Later, my cultivation was to accomplish something.”

The scholar asked curiously, “Accomplish something?” Chen Chao took a deep breath and smiled, “At first, it was to prevent martial artists from being looked down upon, and then to allow the common people to live with dignity. Of course, I also wanted to do something for the girl I like. But these two things are roughly the same, they don’t actually conflict.”

The scholar said sincerely, “This is truly a step-by-step process, from nothing to something, progressive and methodical. From this, it’s clear that sir's martial cultivation must have been built very solidly from the foundation up.”

Chen Chao laughed heartily. “You flatter me.”

The old man said softly, “Drinking tea at this moment isn’t really appropriate. It’s a pity I don’t have any wine here.”

“No matter, talking happily is already a good thing.”

The scholar said, “Though these words are indeed suitable for drinking along with wine.”

Chen Chao asked, “I do have some wine, though it’s not very fine. If you and the old shopkeeper don’t mind, shall I bring it out so we can have some together?”

The scholar said, “Certainly.”

The old man clicked his tongue and smiled, “Alright, this old man hasn’t had wine in many, many years. Drinking some now will probably have its own taste.”

Since both of them agreed, Chen Chao brought out the wine, giving each a jar. He didn’t bother with wine vessels and simply intended to drink straight from the jar.

The scholar seemed to notice something and smiled, “Without proper vessels... why not let the old shopkeeper take out some tea bowls to use?”

Chen Chao hesitated. Though he didn’t fully understand the etiquette in tea preparation, he knew well enough that using tea bowls as wine cups was inappropriate.

But the old man seemed entirely unconcerned. He tossed out a few tea bowls, poured a large bowl of wine for himself, and drank heartily, nodding in satisfaction.

“Years ago, watching Old Yue drink wine, it didn’t seem to have any flavor. But now, somehow, it tastes a bit better. If only I had learned from Old Yue back then how to brew wine. That punk's skill isn’t something ordinary people can match.”

Drinking, the old man thought of an old friend and felt even more sorrowful.

Old Yue seemed to have passed away many years ago.

Recalling their last meeting, the old man remembered how he and his old friend had argued endlessly over wine and tea, and in the end, neither had yielded an inch.

One drank wine, the other drank tea.

If they could do it over again, they would have just both drunk wine.

Just yield a bit, they were friends either way. After all, it was their final meeting.

Thinking of this, the old man’s eyes glimmered with tears. Some things seemed ordinary at the time, but later, they filled him with regret.

Who would have expected that what seemed like an ordinary meeting would turn out to be the last one?

The scholar looked at the old man, sensing the change in his emotions, and sighed, though he truly did not know what to say.

Back then, the three of them were truly very good friends.

So the young scholar also drank quite a bit, and didn’t try to fight off the drunkenness. He simply let himself get completely drunk, gulp by gulp, pot after pot.

After drinking so much, he began talking more. The young scholar murmured, “Heaven is the progenitor of all things; all things are the children of Heaven.”

“The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is life; the great treasure of a sage is position.”

He chattered on endlessly, without any sense of fatigue.

Chen Chao also reeked of alcohol, but he picked up a fruit, peeled it, and chewed slowly. The old man chuckled and said, “Eating that with alcohol... well, that’s a novelty.”

Chen Chao simply smiled in acknowledgment; by this point, he no longer felt like talking.