The sky was just beginning to brighten at dawn.
After working up a sweat bustling about at Captain Duan's Residence, Ji Xiu rushed back to the Lin Residence stables without a moment's rest.
"Young Brother Ji, morning,"
Old Yao, hands stuffed in his pockets and humming a little tune, brightened upon seeing him. Grinning, he pulled out two warm eggs and stuffed them into Ji Xiu's hands.
"Thanks, old man."
Seeing no one else around, Ji Xiu glanced about before casually accepting them. After another word of thanks, he went to ready the fodder, preparing to feed and care for the horses.
Ji Xiu walked off and started on his chores.
Watching the boy's back as he bustled about, already sweaty from his work before he had even arrived, Old Yao grumbled to himself:
'Youths these days...'
'A while back, he was just putting on a show. But then he saw that no one from the main family ever came, not even the Second Miss, and realized there was no point in performing for an empty audience.'
'And look at him now. Not even showing up before dawn. Wakes up later than this old man.'
'Still, it's good that he's willing to work. As long as he does the work, it's fine. Yes, as long as he works...'
After watching for a while, he saw that Ji Xiu was methodical and made no mistakes.
Old Yao, hands tucked in his sleeves, squatted under the eaves of his wooden hut. He gathered some dry firewood, arranged it around a piece of charcoal, and lit a stove. Then he sat on a stool, watching and nodding in satisfaction from time to time.
Ever since that kid, Ji Xiu, had come to the stables,
he had taken on all the chores without complaint.
Fine rice and flour, eggs and beans—Ji Xiu would only take a bag of leftovers for himself after Old Yao had taken his pick, never fighting or snatching.
On top of that, his superb horse-rearing skills actually made the horses grow sleeker and stronger.
The other day, in a rare appearance, Master Lin himself had deigned to visit, taking several horses for an outing.
As it happened, the boy wasn't around, so Old Yao had received all the praise. To this day, the memory was as sweet as honey to him.
And so, watching the back of Ji Xiu as he bent to open the paddock and lead the horses out for exercise, Old Yao couldn't help but think:
'Kid, whatever you do, don't you dare leave...'
'If you go, this old man's good life is over.'
Just then, Yao Shi, who had managed to wake up half a beat later than the man who was both his 'Master' and 'Grandfather', emerged with a yawn.
The sight displeased Old Yao instantly. Making a mental comparison, he decided not to indulge his grandson and promptly kicked him.
"You little brat! Waking up later than your own granddad, you useless layabout! Get over there and help Brother Ji shovel manure!"
"Or do you not want to eat today!"
"Ouch!"
...
The commotion from nearby barely registered in his ears.
Ji Xiu, however, was too preoccupied to pay it any mind, busy leading a horse around a gravel path, urging it on with the reins.
Because at this very moment,
Ji Xiu's eyes were flickering as he stared at the radiant Daoist Talisman appearing before him—
[Fed horse, added fodder, led and tamed. 'Horse Riding Skill' progress +1!]
[Horse Riding Skill: (1000/1000)]
[A thousand horses tamed, the skill is complete. The Tutor has fully mastered 'Horse Riding Skill'!]
[Number of Martial Arts or Skill Daos that can be advanced: One.]
When the last horse had been obediently returned to its stall by Ji Xiu's hand,
he looked at the Daoist Talisman, at the 'Art' it now showed as completely mastered...
Ji Xiu glanced at the water in a wooden bucket to the side.
He saw his own reflection.
His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. His entire being screamed exhaustion, and a wave of bitterness washed over him.
Lately,
he had been waking up at the fifth watch to go to Captain Duan's Residence, where he would light the stoves, feed the horses hay, muck out the manure, and wash the clothes.
It took up the better part of a double-hour every day, leaving him not even a spare moment to practice his swings.
After that, to avoid being marked absent by the Lin Residence's Steward, he had to jog all the way back to the stables to feed and exercise the horses, working a full day before he had any free time.
Then he would rush back to the Duan Residence to finish his chores there, after which he might finally have a few scattered moments to borrow a blade from the rack in the Headquarter Courtyard for a little practice.
Perhaps it was the lack of time,
or maybe the utter exhaustion...
but he remained completely fogged about the secrets of the blade and Captain Duan's occasional explanations.
To this day, after practicing for several days...
he had achieved absolutely nothing.
It was enough to make him give up any notion of being some kind of 'martial arts prodigy'.
'So I'm not a prodigy, so what? As they say, "Of the three thousand great Daos, all roads lead to the same destination." It's just different paths to the same end. It still comes down to my own hard work!'
After a brief moment of disappointment,
Ji Xiu's spirits lifted, and he touched the copied Secret Manual tucked in his shirt.
His gaze gradually grew fervent and intense.
'Isn't this just another, more unorthodox path that relies entirely on myself?'
'There's no difference!'
[Advance... 'Celestial River Saber Technique'?]
'Advance,'
he recited in his mind.
The next moment,
a torrent of memories that felt like his own, yet not his own, flooded his mind.
They were the memories of a 'Swordsman'.
That Swordsman was also named Ji Xiu.
He watched a young man who looked exactly like him, standing before a waterfall that resembled a 'Celestial River hanging upside down'. Holding a single-edged blade, the young man practiced his Art day after day, seemingly without fatigue.
He practiced until his eyes, once dull and listless, became as sharp as a Cangying's;
He practiced until his rough palms grew saber calluses as thick as stone;
Until at last, after hundreds of days and nights—nearly a year of single-minded focus—
there came a moment when the 'Swordsman' seemed to achieve a sudden enlightenment. The fragments of Spiritual Light from a thousand days of practice finally coalesced into a single point—
He swung his blade...
and it moved like a flash of light, drawing the blade to sever the water. It cut through a section of the waterfall behind him, leaving a perfectly smooth gap and sending a thousand sprays of water into the air!
With that,
the saber was mastered.
He withdrew the blade,
and sheathed it.
The memories rushed into Ji Xiu's mind like a flood.
From a blur...
they grew ever clearer.
At that moment,
Ji Xiu unconsciously spread his palms.
He saw that thick saber calluses had already formed on his thumbs and index fingers;
He looked again at the wooden bucket full of water,
and saw that the young man who should have been sallow-faced with dark circles under his eyes...
had, at some unknown point, gained eyes as sharp and bright as the edge of a blade.
It was as if,
those hundreds of days and nights were real, as if it had truly been he, Ji Xiu, who had stood on that rock, piously practicing his blade day and night, drawing his saber to sever the water until he finally achieved mastery.
And thus, a complete Transformation!
[Celestial River Saber Technique: Introductory]
[Advancement Condition: Draw the blade ten thousand times to achieve success!]
"I... I've mastered it?!"
Ji Xiu muttered to himself. Never before had he felt such a powerful craving... to hold a blade!
Just then,
"Brother Ji, move aside, the old man told me to come help you cle—"
Yao Shi, carrying two wooden buckets, came clattering into the east side of the stables and in a flash saw Ji Xiu turn around.
Their eyes met by chance.
But when he saw that pair of 'unmistakably sharp' eagle eyes...
he let out a yelp. He was so startled that he stumbled and nearly fell to the ground!
Fortunately,
Ji Xiu reached out and grabbed his collar, saving him from a face-full of dirt.
Ji Xiu lowered his gaze slightly, closed his eyes, and took a breath.
When he opened them again,
the intimidating glint of a blade in his eyes was gone, and they had returned to normal.
"Are you alright?"
"Be more careful." He smiled gently.
But in Yao Shi's eyes, this only left him more shaken, even making him question his own reality.
"I'm... I'm fine."
He dusted himself off. Having just gotten to his feet, he looked like he wanted to say something but held back.
But by then, Ji Xiu's figure was already receding into the distance.
'I must be seeing things. That look in his eyes...'
'How could it be exactly the same as the look of the Tributors and Stewards from the inner courtyard—the ones who have maids and servants to wait on them, who even have their own private courtyards?'
'Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Am I still half asleep?'
Yao Shi rubbed his eyes and scratched his hair, unable to make sense of it. He thought about chasing after Ji Xiu to ask, but he didn't quite dare.
In the end, he could only shake his head, put the matter out of his mind, and get back to work, a grimace on his face as he picked up his buckets.
However, from this day forward, a shadow of this moment would be forever buried in the young boy's heart. Whenever he saw Ji Xiu again, he would, perhaps unconsciously, begin to treat him with a newfound respect.