Chapter 28: Can you be more decent?

  "Big dog, I have a question for you."

  Fang Jie was squatting on the ground, roasting a rabbit that he had shot not long ago. It had been eleven days since they left Fang Gu Castle, and the stewed dog meat and buns sent by the landlady had already been eaten up. In the past few days, they hadn't even seen a flying bird in the places they passed through, and after eating dry rations for several days, he and Da Quan were craving meat so much that they couldn't bear it. Fang Jie's love for meat was not as violent as Da Quan's, but he still wouldn't be happy without meat. As for Xiao Yao... there was no need to worry about her being picky about food, because she only drank wine.

  In the carriage, apart from necessities and books to pass the time on the road, there was only wine and dry rations left. The amount of wine far exceeded that of dry rations, knowing that Mu Xiaoyao would drink at least five kilograms of wine a day. It's unknown why she had no desire for food other than wine after all these years.

  She doesn't even drink water.

  The big dog loves meat, but he'd rather eat raw meat than bother cooking it himself.

  "What's wrong?"

  He crouched on one side watching Fang Jie roast meat, occasionally wiping away the drool that flowed from the corner of his mouth.

  Fang Xie smiled and looked at the rabbit meat that was almost cooked, leaving two rabbit legs behind and handing the rest to Da Quan: "You are called Shang Guo Hen... I remember hearing a story when we were exiled to Nan Yan. Fifteen years ago, Nan Yan was not yet Nan Yan, but Shang Guo... Fifteen years ago, the Emperor of Sui appointed Luo Yao as the Grand Marshal of the Left Front Guard and led an army of 150,000 to invade the south, breaking through the capital city of Yongzhou, and Shang Guo perished. It is said that the Crown Prince of Shang Guo escaped and re-established the country under the protection of his officials, but did not dare to call it Shang Guo again, instead changing its name to Yan Guo and surrendering to Sui."

  "Now the city of Rongyao is guarding the state of Yong, which was the capital of the Shang Dynasty's state of Yongzhou back then. In that war, it's said that the royal family of the Shang Dynasty was slaughtered by Rongyao. Only one crown prince escaped, and not a single member of the royal family survived."

  "Are you from Singapore?"

  The big dog was taken aback for a moment, and then sneered: "If calling Shang Guo Hen is called Shang Guo people, then the leader of Buddhism is called Dari Ming Wang, why isn't Buddhism called Da Zong? The emperor of Datang surnamed Yang, why isn't Datang called Dayang but called Datang?"

  Fang Jie said while gnawing on a piece of meat, "What's your hurry? I'm just idly speculating."

  The big dog tore at the golden-brown rabbit: "Luo Yang is a ruthless man... When he led his army to conquer the south, before breaking into Yongzhou City, Emperor Daxu had issued an edict that if King Murong Luo of Shangguo surrendered, he would be granted the title of king and the Murong clan would be treated well. But Luo Yang didn't listen to the emperor at all. After entering Yongzhou City, not only did he kill off the entire imperial family of the Murongs, but also every single one of the noble families in the city was slaughtered. The so-called escaped crown prince you mentioned... is actually the current Emperor Murong Chi of Southern Yan, who is a fake. Don't you think that the emperor of Daxu would really tolerate an enemy living on and even establishing his own country?"

  "How did you know?"

  Square root of question mark.

  "I am indeed from the merchant nation."

  The big dog quickly devoured the rabbit, his eyes drifting to Fang Jie's hand holding another rabbit leg. Fang Jie gave him a white look but still handed over the rabbit leg. The big dog looked at him with gratitude and almost swallowed the small rabbit leg whole, bones and all.

  "I am a Shangguo person, but before the fall of Shangguo, there was no surname 'Shang'. After the country fell, my father, who was a loyal minister of Shangguo's last emperor, changed our surname. It was because of this that our family suffered a great change. My father had been a high-ranking official in Shangguo and naturally knew some secrets. The current Emperor of Southern Yan does not have even a drop of the blood of the imperial house of Shangguo; he is just a petty person who rose to power by taking advantage of the situation. I even suspect that the Emperor of Southern Yan might be one of the spies sent to Shangguo by the Emperor of Great Sui."

  "He not only called himself a subject of the great Sui Emperor, but also called himself a filial emperor, without any courage of the Shang people... However, if it weren't for this, his Southern Yan would not have been preserved. It was precisely because he humbly pleased the Great Sui Emperor that his Yan state, which was only one-third the size of the original Shang state, was able to survive."

  "Is this a tragic history?"

  Fang Xiangxiao asked.

  "My ass!"

  The big dog sighed: "My old master was just stubborn and loyal, if not so, the family would not have been destroyed. In memory of him, I will keep this surname. At that time, I was also a young master who wore brocade and ate delicacies, but after the family was destroyed, I escaped and later took care of you on behalf of others."

  "Tell me, who entrusted you with protecting me? This half rabbit leg is yours too."

  The big dog licked its lips, wrapped its clothes tightly and lay down in the grass behind: "Full."

  Fang Jie muttered a curse under his breath and resentfully finished eating the rabbit leg, almost gnawing on the bones.

  "Large dog."

  "Huh?"

  "Let me ask you one more thing."

  "Should I ask if it's you who wants me to protect you or not? This thing is rotten in my belly and won't be said. If you're really suffocating... either go ahead and find those little girls to vent your anger, okay? I'll give you the wind, you solve it yourself?"

  "Get out!"

  Fang Xie scolded him and sat down beside the big dog, hesitated for a moment before asking: "Cultivation... what kind of feeling is it? You know I can't cultivate, so my understanding is a bit shallow. It's precisely because I don't feel it that I want to know what that feeling is like."

  "What do you think it should be like?"

  The big dog asked back.

  "It should be wonderful."

  Direct answer.

  "Things that cannot be obtained are always wonderful."

  A big dog pulled out a withered grass and held it in his mouth: "To be honest, I still don't know what the feeling of cultivation is until now. If it's just physical changes in my body, I can tell you about it. But if it refers to the enlightenment gained from cultivation... I have no enlightenment at all, except that I eat more than before."

  "What changes will occur in the body?"

  "The simplest way is that the Qi Sea expands and becomes larger, and the strong energy cultivated in the Qi Sea enters the four limbs and hundreds of bones. This makes a person stronger and more powerful. The most basic cultivation is to let the strong energy in the Qi Sea flow through the meridians and eventually merge with the flesh and blood. Once you can run the strong energy throughout your body, that's first-class cultivation... A first-class cultivator has a body much stronger than an ordinary person and can easily draw a bow of two stones and a half. An ordinary person would need to train for many years to be able to draw a bow of two stones and a half."

  "Ordinary people practice their muscles, while cultivators practice their inner energy."

  "It can also be said like this."

  The big dog looked at Fang Jie and said, "However, you are an anomaly. At your age, just by looking at your physique, you can already compare to a second-rate cultivator, which is extremely rare. I know of... the great general Luo Yao who destroyed the Shang Kingdom, he might be someone like you, unable to cultivate but purely through physical training has reached the 9th rank."

  "There's nothing strange about this."

  "Scientists have studied that ordinary people can only exert a tiny fraction of their muscle power. If they could use the full force of all their muscles in one place, they would have the strength of ten thousand pounds."

  "What is a scientist?"

  Big dog asks.

  "A... someone even more terrifying than a 9th rank master."

  ……

  ……

  Fang Jie squeezed in beside Xiao Yao and sat down, smiling obsequiously: "Today, there's not a single breeze outside, the warm sunshine is like being by a fireplace. On such a great day, Little Waist, aren't you thinking of going out for a walk?"

  "Speak if you have something to say, fart if you need to."

  Fang Jiebai glanced at the back of her head and said, "Just now I was talking to Daquan for half a day, but he couldn't make sense either. I didn't plan on disturbing your sleep, but you know my temper, once something is on my mind, I won't be able to sleep."

  "I know your temper, you can't sleep when you're worried about something, but this thing I really don't know."

  Mei Xiaoyao sat up, not bothering to adjust the red skirt that had already rolled up to her waist. She crossed her legs and sat properly, exposing her two white and slender thighs under Fang Jie's gaze. Unfortunately, this enchanting woman was completely unaware of her own femininity and didn't mind at all that her beautiful thighs were being ogled by Fang Jie.

  It seems that she had slept for a bit too long, so her body was slightly stiff, and she stretched her waist to loosen up. As she stretched, the waves on her chest naturally became more alluring. Red skirt, white legs, slender waist, full breasts... scattered long hair, lazy face, no matter what, this was enough to make men's hearts skip a beat.

  This kind of waist, Fang Jie has been looking at it for 15 years.

  Mei Xiao Yao watched Fang Jie grow up, and wasn't Fang Jie also watching her "grow up"?

  "What's wrong?"

  After stretching her body, Xiao Yao casually tied up her hair behind her head.

  "What does it feel like to cultivate oneself?"

  Square root of question mark.

  Ascetic practices...

  Mei Xiao Yao looked at Fang Jie and asked: "Why did you suddenly think of asking this question?"

  Fang Jie laughed and said, "When I was about to leave Fan Gou, wasn't it a coincidence that an acupuncture point opened up? I thought to myself, the imperial capital is so big, with many talented people emerging, who knows if I might encounter someone like a god who can help me unblock all my qi points? Since this possibility exists, shouldn't I consider it?"

  "If someone can really help you unblock all your energy points, you will naturally know what it feels like to cultivate."

  Mu Xiao Yao was not moved by Fang Jie's passionate expression at all.

  Fang Jie opened his mouth, sighed helplessly and got off the carriage. Just as his butt had left the horse cart, behind him, Mu Xiao Yao, who was lying down to sleep again, faintly said a word.

  Ouch.

  "Hurt?"

  He turned his head back and asked, "What hurts?"

  "Like your dantian is this big..."

  "Can't you be a bit bigger?"

  "Practicing is just constantly expanding your Qi Sea, and the reason why practicing starts with physical training is that as your Qi Sea gradually expands, your body naturally needs to become stronger first in order to adapt. Practicing only the Qi Sea without training the body will ultimately lead to a tragic end of exploding and dying. So, practicing isn't all that wonderful... because as you practice more deeply, your Qi Sea becomes larger, and at the same time, your meridians also expand, just like..."

  She stretched out her thumb: "Hardly, she pried open the little thumb into a big thumb, and then pried it open into an arm, into a thigh... Every time you refine yourself, your body will be tempered once, and you will also bear the pain of being pried open once."

  She looked at Fang Jie and said seriously: "I don't know how to describe the intensity of this pain, I can only tell you that when I first started practicing, the first time I expanded your Qi Hai was the most painful. You can imagine... it's like childbirth."

  Fang Jie said with a smile: "I really can't imagine what kind of pain it is to give birth... but I can understand, the first time will definitely be more painful, and later on, you'll get used to the pain. After experiencing the pain many times, maybe you'll slowly start to feel pleasure."

  "Get out!"

  Mei Xiao Yao scolded a sentence and immediately closed her eyes, turned over and continued sleeping.

  She didn't even realize the lewd tone in her own words, thinking that Miao Xiaoyao was scolding her because of her strange temper. She turned around and left the carriage, returning to Da Quan's side once again.

  "Big dog, how many times do you have a period in a month?"

  He asked.

  The big dog was shocked and couldn't help but exclaim: "What did Mu Xiaoyao say to you?!"

  "It hurts"

  "It hurts every month, that's a woman's thing! Of course, not all women will hurt, some will and some won't. Some more, some less... It depends on individual physical condition, but I'm a man, you ask me how many times it hurts... She... she told you this for what!"

  Fang Jie was shocked and immediately looked at the big dog with disdain: "Can you be a bit more decent?"