Chapter 5: First Entry into the World of Martial Arts

  One night without a word, the next day, when Su Feng woke up in a daze. Chang Ming had been up for a long time and not only that, he also prepared breakfast and luggage for Su Feng.

  Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he looked out the window and saw that it was still dotted with stars. Winter days originally dawn late, and now it's even earlier, not to mention the fifth watch has just passed. He slept extremely comfortably last night, unlike his previous days of wandering around, where could he enjoy such a soft bed? He carefully tied the Qingjian sword to his left waist, and washed up slightly.

  Changming, being a big man, didn't know how to cook either, so he simply made some thin porridge and heated up a few buns. The ordinary breakfast was indeed a rare delicacy in the eyes of Sui Feng. The uncle and nephew sat quietly, eating their breakfast silently, neither of them speaking, breaking the rare stillness.

  "Since ancient times, many emotions have been hurt by separation." Changming had watched Xiangfeng grow up from a young age, and later they were separated. This time, they were finally reunited, but before a day had passed, they would have to part again. Changming's heart was filled with reluctance and worry. He also wanted to keep Xiangfeng for a few more days, but after thinking about it, he knew that as a martial artist of the Liu family, he couldn't reveal even a hint of weakness. In the end, reason overcame emotion, and he couldn't gamble with Xiangfeng's safety, so he steeled himself.

  After a while, the two of them finished their breakfast. Changming felt a bit reluctant to part with Xiaofeng, but as an elder, he couldn't show weakness in front of his younger relative. He handed over a package and said: "Xiaofeng, there are some spare clothes and fifty taels of silver for your travel expenses inside. Don't be too frugal on the road, take care of yourself. There's also some yellow paper and candles inside, remember to visit your parents' graves later and pay your respects."

  Changming paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, as if it was related to some important matter. He said in a low voice: "In the future when you have achieved success, you must return to Yangzhou once. Not only is it to avenge your father, but also in the blessed land of the Su family, there is something prepared for you. What exactly it is, I don't know either. Since your father left it behind with great purpose, it must be very useful."

  Following the wind, he wasn't particularly interested in the things his father left him. On the contrary, after Changming finished speaking, his face darkened a few shades again. His eyebrows were tightly locked, revealing deep furrows on his forehead, as if they had appeared overnight. It was unclear whether it was his reluctance to part or his concern for his future prospects.

  After all, Su Feng still has a young heart. Although it's hard to part with his loved ones, the freedom and independence that are about to come, even the thrill of venturing out on his own, give him a subtle joy and longing. Seeing Chang Ming's somewhat worn face, Su Feng felt a pang in his heart.

  "Uncle Changming..." wanted to speak but hesitated, having a lot to say, yet in the end couldn't utter a single word.

  "Good boy, it's getting late now. It's just the right time for merchant caravans to be on the move. If you wait any longer, it will be daylight soon. Be careful every step of the way after you leave, and from then on, you'll have to rely on yourself." Changming said, his voice choked with emotion.

  My nose suddenly felt sour, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. My eyes turned red, and tears rolled down. "I don't want to go, I don't want to go to Mount Tai. Uncle Changming, can you teach me martial arts instead?"

  The childlike side of Feng was fully exposed, although he had been tempered for several years, but after all, it was still a child's nature. Changming sighed inwardly, thinking that Feng was not mature enough and staying here was absolutely not the best strategy.

  "Now, suppressing the reluctance in his heart, he said: 'Xiao Feng, I don't want you to leave either. But a man must be strong and not cry, how can we retreat just because of a little danger? If you stay here, avenging your parents would be an empty phrase. Your uncle Changming is incompetent, no matter how hard he tries, he can't teach someone to become a great hero. So all this requires you to strive for it yourself, the road ahead must be faced bravely, and never avoided, do you understand?'"

  At the sound of these words, Sui Feng's heart skipped a beat, as if he had suddenly grown up a lot. "I understand, Uncle Changming! I will definitely learn to return to heaven! I won't let you and my parents down!"

  Changming felt relieved in his heart, previously he thought it was too heavy for a child like Sui Feng to accept such reality. But Sui Feng is so sensible, and now he also starts to have some expectations for the future.

  But he said, "Don't be so mushy, it's time to say goodbye. Take care on the road ahead, most of the sects in the martial arts world have some connection with your father, if you're really in danger, you can go ask for help. I'm sure they'll lend a hand because of their relationship with your father. However, since you want to make a name for yourself in the martial arts world, don't rely too much on external forces, that's the only way to temper yourself."

  He said not to dawdle, but Changming still instructed him meticulously. Nodding slightly in the wind, he shouldered his bundle and said to Changming: "I'm leaving, Uncle Changming take care. When I've achieved something, I'll definitely come back to settle all this. These years you've endured humiliation and hardship at the Liu's are truly too difficult."

  Changming was deeply moved. There's nothing in the world that can move one's elders more than a child's growth. Changming didn't say anything, just quietly looked on like that.

  Dazed by the wind, I knew it was time to leave. Turning around, I saw Changming's eyes see me off as I walked further and further away.

  Watching the back shadow disappear in the night, Changming sighed and smiled self-deprecatingly, "I'm really old!"

  It's still a long way from dawn, and the snow that fell yesterday has accumulated on the streets. After a night of freezing, the snowflakes have turned into ice shards, crunching underfoot with a crisp sound. Listening to the sound beneath his feet, he feels an unusual sense of loneliness. He also knows that this is not the time to lament here, and it's more important to find a way out of the city to look for his parents' graves.

  Taking advantage of the starlight and moonlight in the sky, he barely identified the direction with the wind. Pangu Mountain is located in the southwest direction of Yangzhou City, from the path, it's closer to leave the city from the west gate. However, Liu's family is also in the west of Yangzhou City, at this moment, they might have already started moving around. If he were discovered by Liu Jia, who knows, he might be bullied again. That experience of being unable to fight back and just watching himself get beaten was something he never wanted to go through again. He thought about turning around and heading south.

  Suddenly, the sound of horses and pedestrians came from the side, and when he turned his head to look, it was a merchant group heading towards the west gate. "A merchant group...nowadays, even if it's early in the day, they might not have a permit, and if they arouse suspicion from the officials, it'll be bad." Suddenly, Su Feng thought of something and headed towards the west gate where the merchant group was going.

  At this time, in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, those in power had indeed put their minds to it for the sake of peace. For example, if one wanted to leave the city before dawn, they would need a pass. This was not a problem within the country, but mainly to prevent spies from sneaking into the city under the guise of leaving and leading enemy troops into the city. Having spent many years wandering in Yangzhou, he had long since become familiar with it and quickly thought of a way to deal with it.

  With the wind, he carefully put down the load on his back, took out the pure sword from his waist and put it in the load. He followed behind the merchant group at a steady pace, and had to say that under the prosperous world, merchants came and went without end, which was also the prosperity of Yangzhou.

  Looking from afar, the merchant team left the city and ran wildly with the wind, panting to arrive at the city gate. "Hey, hey, kid, stop!" As he had expected, he was indeed stopped by the guards at the city gate.

  "Uncle, is there something wrong?" Xiangfeng asked in a childish voice, pretending to be very anxious.

  "If you want to leave the city, you must have a token. Do you have a token? Without a token, you'll have to wait until dawn." The guard saw that he was just a child and didn't want to make things difficult for him, so his tone was very gentle.

  "I'm in a hurry to catch up with my dad, they just left the city. I accidentally got separated from them earlier and it was easy to catch up with them." He pointed ahead at the merchant group that had almost walked far away, with a look of urgency on his face.

  "You're also from the Huizhou merchant group, and a young master at that?" Guardian Bing was shocked, carefully sizing up Su Feng. He wore brocade clothes, had clear eyebrows and bright eyes, and carried a jade-embroidered package on his back, looking nothing like an ordinary person. At once, he believed seven-tenths of what he said.

  As soon as he saw his expression, although there were still some doubts, he basically believed it. Then he said: "This time, Father brought everyone from Huizhou to Yangzhou to do business and specially visited the governor uncle of this place. If you don't believe me, why not let me go and ask him to come over to verify?" Su Feng furrowed his brow, as if he had thought of this "method" with great difficulty.

  Is this the Governor's nephew? Since you can call him that, his father, the leader of the Huizhou gang, must have a close relationship with the Yangzhou governor. Who dares to doubt it? If they don't let him go, they'll really invite the governor over, and if this young master adds some more complaints, the governor will blame them, how can these lowest-level guards bear it?

  No matter which dynasty, officials and nobles have always been the existence that ordinary people and soldiers look up to. When they heard that Feng wanted to find the governor to verify, they didn't dare say anything more. The guard hurriedly said: "I don't know your identity, I'm sorry for my offense. Your respected father just left the city not long ago, now it's still possible to catch up."

  He glanced at the guard with a look of wind, and then looked at the business team that was already running out of sight in front of him. He nodded helplessly and said, "Okay, thank you." After finishing speaking, he left the city and ran towards the direction of the business team.

  The guards thought they had escaped disaster, but didn't realize that the child in front of them was already plotting against them. He had long seen that the previous guard was somewhat suspicious and intentionally made those remarks. "As the saying goes, 'soldiers are not afraid of deceit', haha!" He chuckled lightly and followed the merchant group at a leisurely pace.

  He was just a big kid, how could he find his way in the wilderness? The time Chang Ming had calculated was based on an adult's walking speed, and he didn't even know where that old broken temple was. Where could he go to pay respects at his parents' graves within a day? Zhen Feng was also helpless, only now did he think of this point, which was a bit too late. He could only follow the merchant group with difficulty, since it was a merchant group, there must be a place to rest, if they met a local on the way and asked for directions, that would also be a good choice.

  Time passed bit by bit, and when he looked up at the sky again, it was almost noon. However, the road ahead still seemed endless, and the merchant group showed no signs of stopping to rest. All Feng could do was nibble on dry rations as he walked.

  "This road going west out of the city doesn't even have a single fork, how am I supposed to find Luoyun Temple?" Su Feng muttered to himself, looking ahead, his face suddenly filled with surprise.

  Finally, a fork in the road appeared ahead, which meant he no longer had to follow behind the merchant group. He was tired of the same scenery along the way, but if he didn't follow the merchant group, he wouldn't know where to rest. Just as he hesitated whether to continue following the merchant group, an old man carrying a large bundle of firewood came walking down the fork in the road towards Su Feng's direction.

  Hearing the noise of horses and people, the old man was first stunned, then recovered as usual, and watched with interest as the merchant team passed by his side, gradually walking away. Following the wind, somewhat curious, he didn't care about the merchant team, walked up and asked: "Old man, please tell me which direction is Lu Yun Temple?"

  Luoyun Temple had been here a long time ago, so he still had some impression, but didn't remember the specific path. But next, the old man's reaction made Luofeng feel hairy, as if something bad was going to happen.

  The old man was taken aback at first, and it seemed that he hadn't heard this place name mentioned in a long time. Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly looked startled, and then gazed at Su Feng with an unusual and somewhat pitiful look. Su Feng felt even more uneasy, asking: "Old sir, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with Lu Yun Guan?"

  "Ah, no. Nothing, it's just that in recent years, due to the decline of incense and few visitors, hardly anyone goes there anymore." The old man tightened his clothes, thought for a moment, and said: "You follow this road on the left for ten miles, then on the right, there will be a wild path. It may not be easy to find, but if you follow it all the way forward, you'll reach a mountain called Luoyun Mountain. The Luoyun Temple is at its peak. Due to its remote location, it has been declining over the years, and all the Taoist priests on the mountain have moved away, leaving only an empty temple, which hasn't been mentioned for many years."