"Big Dog, let me ask you a question."
Fang Jie was squatting on the ground, roasting a rabbit he had shot not long ago. Eleven days had passed since they left Fangu City, and the stewed dog meat and steamed buns the landlady had given them were long gone. They hadn't seen a single bird in the places they'd passed through in the past few days, and after eating dry rations for days, he and Big Dog were craving meat terribly. While Fang Jie wasn't as voracious as Big Dog, he still couldn't live without meat. As for Mu Xiaoyao… there was no need to worry about her being picky about food, because she only drank alcohol.
In the carriage, besides necessities and books for Fang Jie to read to pass the time, there was only alcohol and dry rations. And the amount of alcohol far exceeded the amount of dry rations; Mu Xiaoyao drank at least five catties of alcohol a day. It was a mystery why, after all these years, she had no desire for food other than alcohol.
She didn't even drink water.
Big Dog loved meat, but he preferred to eat raw meat rather than bother cooking it himself.
"What is it?"
He squatted to one side, watching Fang Jie grill the meat, occasionally wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
Fang Jie smiled, glanced at the rabbit meat which was almost cooked, and handed the rest to Da Quan, leaving two rabbit legs. "Your name is Shang Guohen… I remember hearing a story when we were exiled to Nan Yan. It's said that fifteen years ago, Nan Yan wasn't Nan Yan, but the Shang Kingdom… Fifteen years ago, the Sui Emperor appointed General Luo Yao as the Grand General of the Left Vanguard, leading 150,000 troops to invade the south, capturing the Shang capital, Yongzhou City, and destroying the Shang Kingdom… It's said that the Shang crown prince escaped and, under the protection of his court officials, re-established the kingdom, but dared not call it Shang anymore, instead calling it Yan, and submitting to the Sui Dynasty."
"The Yong County that Luo Yao is currently guarding is the former Shang capital, Yongzhou City. In that battle, it's said that the Shang royal family was slaughtered by Luo Yao. Only the crown prince escaped; none of the other royal family members survived."
"Are you from the Shang Kingdom?"
Da Quan paused, then scoffed, "If being named Shang Guohen means you're from the Shang Kingdom, then Buddha…" "The leader of the sect is called the Great Wheel Bright King, so why isn't the Buddhist sect called the Great Sect? The emperor of the Sui Dynasty was surnamed Yang, so why isn't the Sui Dynasty called the Great Yang but the Great Sui?"
Fang Jie said while gnawing on meat, "What's the rush? I'm just guessing out of boredom."
The big dog tore at the golden-brown roasted rabbit: "Luo Yao is a ruthless man… Before he led his army south and captured Yongzhou, the Sui emperor issued an edict that if the Shang emperor Murong Luo surrendered, he would be made a king and the Murong clan would be treated well. But Luo Yao didn't listen to the emperor at all. After entering Yongzhou, he not only wiped out the royal Murong clan, but also slaughtered all the powerful families in the city. That prince you mentioned who escaped… who is now the emperor of Southern Yan, Murong Chi, is a complete fraud. Don't you think the Sui emperor would really allow an enemy to live in the world and even establish a country?"
"How do you know?"
Fang Jie asked. "I am indeed from the Shang Kingdom."
The large dog devoured the rabbit in a flash, its eyes drifting to the other rabbit leg in Fang Jie's hand. Fang Jie rolled its eyes at it, but still handed it the leg. The large dog looked at it gratefully, then practically swallowed the small rabbit leg, bone and all, in one gulp. "I am a citizen of the Shang Kingdom, but before the Shang Kingdom's demise, there was no surname 'Shang.' After the kingdom's fall, my father, a loyal subject of the Shang, changed his surname, which led to the tragic downfall of our family. My father was once a high-ranking official in the Shang Kingdom, so naturally he knew some secrets. The current emperor of Southern Yan has not a trace of Shang royal blood in his bones; he is merely a petty opportunist. I even suspect that the emperor of Southern Yan might be a spy sent to the Shang Kingdom by the emperor of the Sui Dynasty."
"He not only submits to the emperor of the Sui Dynasty but also calls himself a 'son emperor,' lacking even the courage of a Shang person… However, if it weren't for this, his Southern Yan would not have survived. It is precisely because he humbly flatters the emperor of the Sui Dynasty that his Yan Kingdom, which is only a third the size of the original Shang Kingdom, has been preserved."
"Is this a history of blood and tears?"
Fang Jie asked with a smile. "Blood and tears my foot!"
The big dog sighed. "My old man was just stubborn and blindly loyal. If he hadn't been, our family wouldn't have been destroyed. To commemorate him, I kept the surname Shang. Back then, I was a pampered playboy, living a life of luxury. After my family was ruined, I fled and was later entrusted to take care of you."
Fang Jie gestured with the half-eaten rabbit leg in his hand. "Tell me, who entrusted you to protect me? This half-eaten rabbit leg is yours too."
The big dog licked its lips, pulled its clothes tighter, and lay down in the grass behind it. "I'm full."
Fang Jie cursed under his breath, angrily finishing the rabbit leg, even chewing almost all the bones.
"Big Dog."
"Hmm?"
"I have one more question for you."
"Forget about who asked me to protect you. I'll keep that to myself. If you're really feeling pent up... why don't you go find some young girls up ahead to vent your frustrations? Okay, I'll keep watch for you, you take care of it yourself?"
"Get lost!"
Fang Jie cursed, sat down next to Big Dog, hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Cultivation... what does it feel like? You know I can't cultivate, so my understanding is a bit shallow. And precisely because I can't feel it, I'm even more curious about what it's like."
"What do you think it should feel like?"
Big Dog countered.
"It should be wonderful, right?"
Fang Jie replied. "The things we can't have are always wonderful."
The big dog plucked a dry blade of grass and put it in its mouth. "To be honest, I still don't know what cultivation feels like. If it's just about changes in the body, I can tell you. But if you're talking about insights gained from cultivation… I haven't gained any insights, except that I eat more than before."
"What changes occur in the body?"
"The simplest thing is that the dantian (energy center) expands, and the energy cultivated in the dantian enters the limbs and bones. This makes one stronger and more powerful. The most basic cultivation is to let the energy in the dantian circulate through the meridians and eventually merge into the flesh and blood. Once you can circulate the energy throughout the body, that's first-grade cultivation… A first-grade person's body is much stronger than an ordinary person's, and they can easily draw a bow with a weight of two and a half stones. For an ordinary person to draw a bow with a weight of two and a half stones…" "A strong bow requires many years of training."
Fang Jie hummed in agreement: "Ordinary people train their muscles, while cultivators train their internal strength."
"You could say that."
Big Dog glanced at Fang Jie and said, "But you're an anomaly. At your age, your physique alone is comparable to a cultivator at the lower second rank. That's extremely difficult, even rare. The general Luo Yao who destroyed the Shang Kingdom might be similar to you. He couldn't cultivate, but he reached the ninth rank simply through physical training."
"That's not strange."
Fang Jie said naturally, "Scientists have researched that ordinary people can only exert a negligible amount of muscle strength. If you can concentrate the strength of all your muscles in one place, you can have the strength of ten thousand jin."
"What are scientists?"
Big Dog asked. "Uh... someone even more terrifying than a ninth-rank master."
...
...
Fang Jie squeezed in next to Mu Xiaoyao, smiling obsequiously, and said, "There's not a breath of wind outside today, and the sunlight is so warm it feels like sitting in a fireplace. Such beautiful weather, Sister Xiaoyao, don't you want to go for a walk?"
Mu Xiaoyao turned over and said gently and politely, "Get to the point."
Fang Jie rolled his eyes at the back of her head and said, "I talked to Daquan for ages, but he couldn't figure it out either. I didn't mean to disturb your sleep, but you know my personality—I can't sleep if I can't figure something out."
"I know your personality, but I really didn't know you couldn't sleep if you couldn't figure something out."
Mu Xiaoyao sat up, ignoring the red dress that had almost reached her waist. She sat cross-legged, her two fair thighs exposed to Fang Jie's gaze. Unfortunately, this alluring woman had absolutely no awareness of her own womanhood, completely unconcerned that Fang Jie had seen her beautiful legs so thoroughly.
Seemingly having slept too long, her body was a little wrinkled, so she stretched to loosen up. As she stretched, her ample bosom naturally became even more seductive. Red dress, white legs, slender waist, full breasts… disheveled long hair, a languid face—she was undeniably captivating enough to make any man's heart flutter.
Fang Jie had seen Mu Xiaoyao like this for fifteen years.
Mu Xiaoyao had watched Fang Jie grow up, and hadn't Fang Jie also watched her "grow up"?
"What is it?"
Having finished stretching, Mu Xiaoyao casually tied her hair back.
"Cultivation, what exactly does it feel like?"
Fang Jie asked.
"Cultivation..."
Mu Xiaoyao looked at Fang Jie: "Why did you suddenly think of asking this question?"
Fang Jie smiled and said, "When I was leaving Fan Gu, I accidentally opened an acupoint, and I was thinking, the capital is so big, full of talented people. Who knows, maybe I'll meet a god-like figure who can help me open all my Qi Seas? Since that possibility exists, I have to consider it, right?"
"If someone can really help you open all your Qi Seas, you'll naturally know what cultivation feels like."
Mu Xiaoyao was completely unmoved by Fang Jie's enthusiasm.
Fang Jie opened his mouth, sighed helplessly, and turned to get off the carriage. Just as his bottom left the carriage, Mu Xiaoyao, who had lay down behind him to sleep, uttered a single word.
"It hurts."
"It hurts?"
Fang Jie turned around, puzzled, and asked, "What hurts?"
Mu Xiaoyao held up her little finger and gestured, saying, "For example, if your Qi Sea is this big..."
Fang Jie said in annoyance, "Couldn't you make it bigger?"
Mu Xiaoyao rolled her eyes at him and continued, "Cultivation is about constantly expanding your Qi Sea. The reason cultivation starts with physical training is because as your Qi Sea gradually expands, your body naturally needs to become stronger to adapt. Cultivating the Qi Sea without training the body will only result in your body exploding and dying. So cultivation isn't wonderful... because the higher your cultivation level, the larger your Qi Sea becomes, and consequently, your meridians will also open up, just like..."
She then... She held up her thumb: "Forcibly stretching your little finger into a thumb, then into an arm, then a thigh... With each advancement, your body is tempered, enduring the pain of being stretched."
She looked at Fang Jie earnestly and said, "I don't know how to explain how intense the pain is, I can only tell you that the first time you expand your Qi Sea during your initial cultivation is the most painful. You can imagine... the pain of childbirth."
Fang Jie stammered, "I really can't imagine the pain of childbirth... but I understand, the first time will definitely be the most painful, but you'll get used to it. After many times of pain, maybe you'll slowly develop pleasure."
"Get lost!"
Mu Xiaoyao cursed, then closed her eyes, turned over, and continued sleeping.
Fang Jie himself didn't realize the lewdness in his words, thinking Mu Xiaoyao's cursing was just her strange temper. He turned and left the carriage, returning to Daquan's side.
"Daquan, how many times a month do you experience pain now?"
He asked. Big Dog was startled and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "What did Mu Xiaoyao tell you?!"
Fang Jie replied, "It hurts."
"It hurts every month, that's a woman's problem! Of course, not every woman experiences it, some do, some don't. Some experience more, some less... it depends on individual constitution, but I'm a man, and you're asking me how many times it hurts... why... why did she tell you this?!"
Fang Jie was shocked, then looked at Big Dog with disdain: "Can you be a little more innocent?"