Chapter Seventeen Sorry Curiosity Has A Price

  Thank you ioio6699 for your reward, I have been supported by Di Chu from the very beginning, and I am even more grateful.

  The prairie people are a very strange nation. If you arrive alone at a tribe, almost no one will look down on you because of your poverty and hardship. They will enthusiastically entertain you, give you meat to eat, give you wine to drink, and if you're lucky, there will even be beautiful girls coming to visit your tent. Their smiles are infectious, making people sigh with emotion that such a pure and friendly nation still exists in this world, and they don't want to leave.

  It is they who, once they mount their horses with curved knives in hand, become the coldest and most ruthless bandits in the world. When they burst into your home, they will not put down their slaughterous blades because of the cries of the elderly and children, nor will they give up plundering just because your family is destitute, even if all you have left is a broken iron pot. They will leave no one alive as they massacre village after village, and burn city after city without leaving a single house standing.

  In short, you can go to his home as a guest, but never invite him to your home.

  Daxi Zhangru would not lead the Blood Riders to brazenly run onto the Khitan's territory, for even if the grassland people were hospitable, they would still welcome him with feathered arrows and curved blades. He stopped at a small unknown mountain and had his soldiers set up camp. Although this small mountain was not very high, it looked quite majestic and magnificent.

  They set up camp here because this is the boundary between the territories controlled by the Xi and Khitan tribes. People from both sides rarely approach this place to avoid causing trouble. The Blood Riders can hardly be discovered when they are camping here, and even if they are discovered, neither the Xi nor the Khitan people will take the initiative to provoke them.

  Because they were going to live here for a long time, the Blood Knights began to build their camp. The fact that more than 100 Blood Knights who were good at hiding were hidden in the mountains was not a problem, just like hiding 100 ants on ten tons of coal made no difference. There was water at the foot of the mountain and trees on top, and no matter how you looked at it, this was a great place to hide.

  Li Xian sat on a rock, watching the busy Blood Riders at work. He was too lazy to help, not because he was lazy, but because he was very tired. The number of times he drew his sword every day had already increased to two thousand, and Li Xian didn't know if he would be like a fool every day, constantly drawing his horizontal sword in and out for a year or so. The four words "drawing in and out" did not necessarily represent the climax of intense pleasure, but rather the dullness and pain of fatigue.

  Two thousand draws completed, Li Xian may not be as half-dead as he was at the beginning, but he won't become as vigorous as someone who has eaten a certain brother. Even if it's that kind of soul-selling thing, drawing out and inserting for an entire day without shooting still doesn't feel particularly comfortable. Every time he finishes practicing, Li Xian's arms will become much thicker, and they still feel hard to the touch... His arms don't have any sea sponge-like texture, and that thing isn't very durable either. Nearly a month of uninterrupted training has made Li Xian's biceps and triceps very strong.

  Gently massaging his arm, Li Xian looked at the busy silhouettes of the Blood Riders and was inspired to recite a poem: "A mountain doesn't have to be tall, as long as it has trees; water doesn't have to be deep, as long as it has fish; a woman doesn't have to be beautiful, as long as she has...

  "How's your wrist feeling? Can you still move it?"

  Da Xi Zhang Ru walked over and asked.

  Li Xian said: "It's okay, at least I can still hold the little chicken to pee, don't mind me trying it out on you?"

  Daxi Zhangru was already accustomed to the shamelessness and rascality of this little scoundrel, he picked up a small wooden stick from the ground and placed it on the stone, saying to Li Xian: "Cut it off."

  Li Xian didn't know what the purpose of Da Xi Chang Ru was, but he was sure that this would be another start to training. He jumped down from the stone and drew his horizontal knife with a smooth motion, without any flaws, swinging it down with a "ding" sound, chopping both the wooden stick and the stone, splashing out sparks. The small wooden stick flew in two directions, leaving behind a white mark on the stone.

  Da Xi Long Rong picked up the two small wooden sticks that were about to be cut off, put them together for comparison and said: "The eyesight is still pretty good, not much different."

  Li Xian smiled shyly and said: "Talent..."

  Da Xi Chang Ru didn't continue to praise him, but instead picked up a small wooden stick from the ground and placed it on the stone again. Then, with a swift motion, he drew his knife and chopped down! After the flash of the knife's light, the wooden stick on the stone didn't even move. Li Xian curiously walked over, picked up the wooden stick, and examined it. The small wooden stick had been cut in half, equal in length, without a single difference. There was no mark left on the stone, and Li Xian's eyes widened instantly.

  Daxi Changru looked at Li Xian, who was staring blankly, and said: "Don't tell me about any nonsense about innate talent. I don't believe in innate talent. If you can do what I'm doing now after two years of practice, then I'll admit that you're a genius. If you think this is already incredible, then you might as well not touch a sword again."

  After finishing speaking, Da Xi Zhang Ru turned around and left.

  Li Xian looked at the small wooden stick in his hand for a long time without speaking, and he didn't know how long he had been silent. The young man who let out a sigh narrowed his eyes slightly, telling himself in his heart that the world was really big after all.

  He bent down and gathered dozens of relatively straight small sticks from the ground, not placing them on stones, but instead choosing a cleaner piece of land to arrange them. He did this because he was worried that the knife would break. He sat on the ground, looking at the dozens of sticks in front of him, then took a deep breath.

  Draw sword, cut down.

  The Blood Riders set up their camp quickly, and in just over twenty days, they had built all the basic facilities. This included a fence, stables, a row of houses, a watchtower hidden deep in the woods, a kitchen, a bathroom, and of course, a latrine. During these twenty-odd days, Li Xian hadn't even noticed the progress of the camp, he simply didn't have the time to go take a look.

  In the morning, he would practice archery for an hour while his energy was still full. The rest of the time, except for eating, going to the toilet and sleeping, was almost all spent on fighting with wooden sticks. In these twenty or so days, if the small wooden sticks cut down by Li Xian were made into chopsticks, they could be distributed to each blood cavalry soldier a thousand pairs. This was a very wasteful behavior, so Da Xi Chang Ru let Li Xian choose slightly thicker wood to chop, and the cut wood could still be used for firewood and cooking.

  When a beautiful and practical camp was finally built, Li Xian also finally chopped out the first pair of wooden sticks that were exactly the same length. He didn't get excited, nor did he go to find Da Xi Chang Rong to show off. It wasn't a miracle to chop out a pair of sticks of the same length in over a month's time, probabilistically speaking.

  At first, every time Li Xian chopped a knife, he would leave a mark on the ground. As the days passed, Li Xian's greatest gain was not that one pair of wooden sticks that happened to be cut off at the same level, but the marks on the ground were getting shallower and shallower. It sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult to do. The force of the knife is hard to control so perfectly, a little lighter and either the knife would be withdrawn before cutting through the stick or it wouldn't cut through at all. If it was heavier, it would leave marks on the ground.

  The pain is not just in my arm, but also in my eyes.

  Li Xian's eyes were dry and painful from staring at the wooden sticks all day. Every time his eyes couldn't see things clearly, he would stop and apply some residual snow from the mountain to them. This could make his eyes feel better and also make his dizzy head clearer.

  He chopped all the wooden sticks in front of him, and Li Xian's tense nerves relaxed, exhaling a mouthful of stale air.

  Du Gu Rui sat down beside him and handed Li Xian a water bag: "Anzhi, can you tell me why you're practicing so desperately?"

  "Desperate?"

  Li Xian took a big gulp of water and wiped his mouth, saying: "I don't think this is desperate."

  Dugu Ruiji changed his words and said: "Why is the practice so bitter?"

  Li Xian smiled, stretched out his body with force, and lay down on the ground in a sloppy manner: "Maybe it's to live a more substantial life? In any case, if my own strength is stronger, the possibility of others being able to hurt me will be smaller. There isn't much difference between people in this world, except for the place where they pee and their thoughts. My thoughts are simple, I just don't want to die at someone else's hands."

  Du Gu Rui Zhi looked at Li Xian with a sullen expression: "You, such a young man, how do you have so many sentimental thoughts? Listening to your tone, it seems like you have many enemies. And they seem to be very powerful too?"

  Li Xian faintly smiled and said, "Very strong, strong to the point that... in order to ensure I don't die, Tie Foutu has already lost dozens of brothers over the years. In order not to die, and also to reduce the number of deaths, I mustn't let myself live a muddled life. I have become stronger, so I can help my deceased brothers take revenge. Xiao Niao Ge's body has seven deep wounds that expose his bones, I will always have to get an explanation for him."

  Dugu Rui's sharp eyes were filled with curiosity as he asked: "What is your identity? Why do so many people want to kill you? Why do the Iron Floating Pavilion people want to protect you?"

  Li Xian looked up at the sky through the gaps in the leaves, then smiled faintly: "I'm an ordinary person, but many people think I'm not ordinary."

  He sat up abruptly and got up to look for a stick that could be chopped: "If you really want to know what's different about me, go ask my master."

  Du Gu Rui stood up and patted the dust off his butt: "I must go ask, otherwise I won't be able to sleep."

  Li Xian picked up a wooden stick and put it on the ground, then continued his dry and mechanical movements. He drew his sword, chopped, sheathed it, drew it again, and chopped again.

  He chopped the stick he had picked up to death again, Li Xian raised his head and looked at the distant figure of Du Gu Ruo Zhi gradually disappearing into the distance, smiling apologetically.

  "Sorry... it's not that I want to pique your curiosity, but... if you knew about the prophecy of the true dragon reincarnation, Da Xi Chang Ru would only let you join the ranks of those who would die protecting me. Sorry... I still need people to protect me now."

  Li Xian's line of sight was a bit blurry, but soon brightened up.

  He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

  So, I must become stronger as soon as possible, or else more people will be dragged down with me.

  Not very far in the future, I will definitely be able to protect myself and everyone with my own strength.

  His face was very calm, but more determined.