Joy of Life - V1C11
Chapter 11
Farewell for now, Master Fei Jie
As another year passed, fall arrived again, and chrysanthemum flowers blanketed the mountains.
Fei Jie’s teaching career in Danzhou Harbor was initially scheduled to end in the summer, but he loved the air, the ocean breeze, and the cuisine at Count Sinan’s villa. In particular, he enjoyed teaching Fan Xian so much that he decided to stay longer.
After those two years, Fei Jie, an expert in taking life by poison and prolonging it, rubbed his fattening tummy. He had regrettably received a letter from the capital and reluctantly informed Count Sinan’s mother of his leave.
Knowing that the capital sent Fie Jie, the Old Mistress made no effort to persuade him to stay. Instead, she comforted him and gave him a red envelope as a token of thanks.
Down by the road heading west of Danzhou Harbor, the teacher and student said their goodbyes.
“Why don’t you listen to my advice and discontinue your Zhenqi training? It won’t end well.”
“I haven’t encountered any major problems with it; at least, not yet.”
“If there are no problems, then why did you go through barrels of alcohol in the kitchen?”
“It was an accident,” Fan Xian answered distressfully. In recent months, the Zhenqi in his body became increasingly aggressive, and these incidents occurred often. Due to these incidents, Fan Xian had to sacrifice his bedtime ghost stories with the maids. He was afraid that his hand might run astray on one of the maids' bodies in the heat of the moment, and he would make a deeply regrettable mistake.
“Learning the art of poison is learning the world’s greatest killing method. What’s the need to learn anything else?”
“Because poison can easily harm the innocent.”
Fie Jie stared into the little boy's eyes and asked, “Are you sure you just turned seven this year?”
Fan Xian looked at his teacher innocently. “It’s not my fault I’m an early bloomer.”
Fei Jie sighed and tutted. It wasn’t easy keeping his mind sane around the little rascal for so long.
It was time to leave. Fei Jie rubbed the back of the boy’s head and looked back towards Danzhou City.
“In the future, if you ever come to the capital to be a doctor, remember to look me up.”
“Very well.” Fan Xian bowed in respect. He truly liked the eccentric old man. Over the two years, his old soul longed for someone to converse with. Blind man Wu Zhu was considered too cold, so this teacher, with an impressive background, filled the role. Throughout the time they knew each other, he could sense how they had grown close.
“Stop practicing Zhenqi…”
“You can be quite loquacious sometimes, sir.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m too old.” Fei Jie rubbed Fan Xian’s soft black hair with one hand while messing his white hair with the other.
“Anyway, that Zhenqi is worthless. It’s too powerful and uncontrollable.” Fei Jie hadn’t given up on changing Fei Xian’s mind. “A formidable swordsman in Dongyi City owes me a favor. I could introduce you to become his student.”
Fan Xian inhaled a cold breath. “Are you talking about the formidable sword master of Dongyi City?”
“That’s right,” Fei Jie said enticingly. “One of the Four Grandmasters. His practice is much more powerful than yours.”
Fan Xian was interested in something else. “How do you know him?”
“Well, when he was eight, his father called me to treat his sickness. Judging by the fact that he hugged trees all day, the little monster was dumb. I treated him halfheartedly and left with my money. I never would have known that a few years later, I’d hear that he learned the Sigu Sword style and became a Grandmaster.”
Fan Xian looked at him with disdain. “You treated him halfheartedly? Let’s not mention that you practically stole your pay; you nearly killed a world-class warrior. That is quite worthy of contempt.”
Fei Jie feigned anger and walked towards the carriage in the distance. “I have taught you everything about biological poisons and all related knowledge. However, I have yet to tell you one key piece of information.”
Fan Xian ran after him, his tiny legs working as fast as the wind. “What is it?”
“Finding the right antidote is easy. Finding the right poison is easy. The hardest part is the administration of the poison.”
Without turning his head, Fei Jie kept walking and did not look back. He resolved not to let this seven-year-old child see how upset he was about leaving.
Fan Xian, however, stopped and carefully turned those words over in his mind. With Fei Jie, he learned that the hardest thing to do in the field of poison was to find a colorless, odorless, and tasteless poison.
So, the secret was in how the poison was administered.
He began to giggle suddenly. It’s not like he was preparing to be a master assassin or planning on killing anyone. Why was he stressed out over this matter? All he needed to do was be confident that he wouldn’t fall victim to poisoning at the hands of the concubine in Count Sinan’s estate.
He watched the carriage disappear into the distance, dust following its trail. Left at the side of the road, Fan Xian performed a deep bow. He realized that the eccentric old man had not wanted to come to Danzhou at first, but after two years of running around together, cutting up dead bodies and frog legs, they had grown to like each other. Neither of them would ever forget this relationship.
With the lonely departure, Fan Xian could not help but feel sad. “Fei Jie is a great man. I will miss him.”
After Master Fei Jie’s departure, time seemed to stretch out endlessly, with each passing year dragging on more slowly than the last. The days blended, often feeling monotonous and heavy as if the absence of his teacher had cast a long shadow over the months that followed.
Fan Xian struggled to adapt to this boring life. Unlike most noble boys his age, who would likely be playing with friends, Fan Xian found himself alone in Danzhou. Although he was the only noble child in the area, several potential playmates were close to his age. However, by the end of the day, Fan Xian knew he would be unable to relate to his peers.
With a mental age far beyond that of other children, he often felt like he was babysitting them. Not everyone desires to take on the role of a leader among their peers to compensate for their limited abilities.
After Fei Jie left Danzhou, Fan Xian lost the only person he could converse with and began feeling bored and lonely. Seated on the front steps of Count Sinan's villa, he watched crowds pass by, feeling increasingly isolated and unsure how to fill his time, trapped in a child's body.
I can recall all the content of the books from my past and present life. I am now a master of poisons. I can climb a cliff effortlessly and quickly. But for what purpose? Fan Xian snorted, and I barely controlled the Zhenqi in my body.
When he first arrived in this world, he had envisioned all the wonderful things he could accomplish and found himself laughing at the possibilities. In his former life, his limitations were evident when he lay sick in bed. He had foolishly thought that, compared to the people in this world, he would possess some unique skills, like making soap or crafting glass cups. This idea sparked a list of simple yet useful tasks he could undertake.
Staring at the ceiling above his bed, Fan Xian experienced a moment of deep reflection about his life and future. He wasn't too disheartened when he realized that both soap and glass already existed in this world and were nothing extraordinary. However, when he noticed that Fei Jie had left his precious steel-point pen[1] on his desk, he felt a sense of failure.
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