Chapter 43: An Unsharpened Knife

The Taiping Medical Clinic had always been a place of detachment from the world. On Anxi Street, regardless of how many merchants came and went, through spring and autumn, or winter and summer, the clinic remained constant, providing a sense of peace to all who saw it.

But suddenly, the Taiping Medical Clinic became a bustling place.

The Heir and the Princess scaled its walls; Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er sought lodging there; there was laughter, the glow of kitchen fires, and a continuous stream of travelers from the martial world...

Standing outside the door, Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao with a complex expression. "Master, did you do this just so he would teach me saber techniques?"

Old Man Yao stood outside with his hands behind his back, replying indifferently, "The Liang family's saber dao is unrivaled in Yuzhou. In this world, there are many who possess skill, but few who seek the Way. Learn well."

Curious, Chen Ji asked, "What is the difference between skill and the Way?"

Old Man Yao answered slowly, "The Way is a void-like direction; skill is the path beneath your feet. Remember: use the Way to drive the skill, and the skill will surely succeed; use the skill to drive the Way, and the skill will surely decline."

"Then why did you make me learn saber skills first?"

"Learn them first. How to transition from saber skill to the saber Way is the Liang family's own secret. But since the Liang family has no heir, this skill might be lost one day. What if Liang Gou'er has a sudden whim and passes it to you... By the way, you've been making quite a bit of money lately. You're paying for the food for these two Liang brothers."

Chen Ji grew wary. "You're actually eyeing my meager coins?"

Old Man Yao: "I am."

Chen Ji: "..."

At that moment, Liang Mao'er's voice rang out from the backyard: "Excuse me... where are we going to sleep?"

Chen Ji hurried inside. "Sleep in the apprentice dormitory. Our communal bed is big enough for five."

Liang Mao'er quickly replied, "No, no need. A communal bed for five would be too cramped. My brother can sleep here, and I'll sleep in the kitchen."

Chen Ji smiled. "It's fine, a little crowding won't hurt. Winter is coming soon; the kitchen will be freezing."

"Alright then..."

Liang Gou'er was already snoring loudly. Liang Mao'er placed him gently on the bed and removed his shoes and socks.

However, after finishing this, Liang Mao'er did not go to sleep. Instead, he turned to Chen Ji and said cautiously, "Um... I can help with the work. Cleaning, cooking, laundry—anything. I'm not afraid of hard work."

Before Chen Ji could respond, Liang Mao'er fetched a wooden basin, took the dirty clothes and socks from the dormitory, and went to the kitchen to get some wood ash. He squatted in the courtyard, scooping up several ladles of water to begin scrubbing, looking as if he feared the clinic might change its mind and refuse to take them in.

Wood ash and soap pods were the natural detergents of this era. Wealthier households would add mint, Scutellaria, or lotus leaves to the mixture, leaving a faint fragrance on the clothes after washing.

Liang Mao'er was chubby, and squatting on the ground was a struggle for him. After a moment's thought, Chen Ji brought him a small stool. "Sit while you wash."

Liang Mao'er looked up and smiled. "Thank you... Sorry for the trouble."

Chen Ji observed him. Without Liang Gou'er by his side, this Liang Mao'er didn't look like a figure from the martial world at all; he looked more like a hardworking laborer in a food stall.

"Do you two not have any money left?" Chen Ji asked, puzzled.

"Actually, I've been secretly saving a little, but I can't let my brother know," Liang Mao'er said with an honest smile. "I plan to save enough to buy a few acres of land in the countryside of Luocheng. That way, even if my brother doesn't sell his life to a wealthy family, the two of us can still survive."

"That won't even cover your brother's wine money."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it..."

By the time Liang Mao'er finished washing all the accumulated clothes of Liu Quxing and She Dengke, his stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.

Liang Mao'er looked embarrassed. "Um... is there anything to eat in the clinic? Anything is fine, I'm not a picky eater."

Chen Ji brought Liang Mao'er a large bowl of leftover corn grits from the previous night, a plate of pickles, and four multi-grain cakes.

To Chen Ji's surprise, Liang Mao'er finished them all in one go, wiped his mouth, and then looked at him silently.

Chen Ji took a deep breath and brought out four more multi-grain cakes and another plate of pickles...

Once Liang Mao'er finished, Chen Ji said gloomily, "Your brother needs to hurry up and teach me saber techniques."

"Huh? Is it that urgent?" Liang Mao'er was stunned.

Chen Ji said seriously, "If your brother doesn't teach me soon, I'm afraid I'll change my mind..."

Liang Mao'er asked hurriedly, "Have you practiced the saber before?"

"No."

Liang Mao'er thought for a moment. "Then I can teach you first! I know all the basic saber skills."

As he spoke, he brandished his chubby arms a couple of times. "When my father was teaching my brother, he also let me follow along. It's just that I don't have much talent, so I couldn't learn it."

Watching Liang Mao'er's clumsy movements, Chen Ji raised an eyebrow and changed the subject. "Was your brother always like this?"

"No, he wasn't," Liang Mao'er said quickly. "My brother didn't drink before, and he didn't go to those places of pleasure. Back then, he was the unrivaled great saberist of Yuzhou. He killed bandits across three mountains all by himself. Ordinary martial artists coming to Luocheng had to seek him out first to pay their respects."

As Liang Mao'er spoke of his brother's former glory, his eyes were filled with reminiscence and longing.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "What happened after that?"

Liang Mao'er's tone dropped. "Then my sister-in-law appeared. She was very beautiful and gentle, and she was very good to my brother and to me. When she saw my brother practicing his saber, she pestered him to teach her, but after she learned it, she vanished. Since then, my brother stopped practicing the saber and took to drinking."

The Liang family saber techniques were not to be passed on. This was not only a family ancestral rule but also because the family knew the secret of cultivation: one cannot practice two paths simultaneously.

Yet, by passing on the saber techniques, Liang Gou'er had met this end.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Did your sister-in-law ever reappear?"

Liang Mao'er thought about it. "My brother said she might have returned to the Jing Dynasty in the north..."

Before he could finish, Liang Gou'er, drunkenly leaning against the doorframe, roared, "I told you, don't mention that again!"

Liang Mao'er shrank his neck. "Not mentioning it, not mentioning it."

Liang Gou'er glanced sideways at Chen Ji. "Do you really want to learn the saber?"

"I do," Chen Ji said sincerely.

"Then let me ask you, what do you want to learn the saber for?" Liang Gou'er asked.

"Self-defense."

Liang Gou'er burst into laughter. "Then you shouldn't learn the saber! Saber techniques are grand and sweeping. A practitioner must first have the confidence to cleave mountains, not some nonsense about self-defense. The moment you seek self-defense, you have already abandoned your saber!"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "Then what should I learn?"

Liang Gou'er tossed his saber to Chen Ji and pointed at the kitchen. "Get a piece of firewood. Once you strike it once, I'll know what you should learn."

Chen Ji fetched a piece of wood and stood it in the courtyard. He drew his blade and struck downward, following the natural grain of the wood.

The long blade stuck in the surface of the wood. Only then did he realize that Liang Gou'er's saber was unsharpened!

How was that possible? An unsharpened blade could cleave through Lin Chaoqing's bamboo hat mid-air?

He looked at Liang Gou'er. "Why is this blade unsharpened?"

Liang Gou'er said nonchalantly, "Because there's no need."

Chen Ji was momentarily speechless. Between a "serious" answer and an "unserious" one, Liang Gou'er had chosen the most pretentious one.

At this time, Liu Quxing and She Dengke were also startled awake. They peered out from behind the doorframe.

They saw Liang Gou'er carefully examining the strike mark left by Chen Ji, though it was unclear what he was looking for.

Without a word, he took the long blade from Chen Ji's hand and gave it a casual swing. The wood standing in the courtyard was split in two, the cut surface perfectly smooth.

Liang Gou'er turned to Chen Ji. "The saber is domineering. My family's saber technique is neither biased nor evasive. Regardless of whether you have an opening, once I strike, your entire body becomes an opening. When the saber is in your hands, it doesn't act like a saber; it acts more like a sword that seeks out flaws and uses unorthodox angles. Therefore, you shouldn't practice the saber; you should find someone to teach you the sword."

"Does personality determine one's Way?" Chen Ji mused.

"The heart and the intent must align. If the Way you walk does not match your heart, you will not go far," Liang Gou'er explained.

Beside them, Liang Mao'er asked in confusion, "Brother, you said before that the sword is the King's Way, and that it's very similar to our family's saber technique."

Liang Gou'er looked at Chen Ji and said meaningfully, "The sword I speak of is not the longsword at one's waist, but the 'Sword Seed' in the Martial Temple of the Jing Dynasty. So, you shouldn't come to me to learn the saber; you should go to the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple to learn the sword."

Chen Ji froze.

He had once been brought to that ancient battlefield by the ice flow, and the person in that battlefield had asked him: *Who has stolen my Sword Seed?*

Did the "Sword Seed" that person mentioned have a connection to the Sword Seed of the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple?

Chen Ji asked, "Can I only learn it at the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple?"

Liang Gou'er thought about it. "There should be people practicing it in the Ning Dynasty as well, but the last time they made a move was over ten years ago, and everyone who saw them act is dead."

Chen Ji fell into deep thought.

If he truly had to go to the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple to cultivate, would he have to perform great feats in the Ning Dynasty, rising through the ranks until he was eventually transferred back to the Jing Dynasty?

But how long would that take?

Liang Gou'er looked at him and said, "Stop practicing the saber. Practicing it now will only lead you astray, and it won't be easy to correct it later."

Liang Mao'er whispered, "Brother, if he doesn't practice the saber, where will we live? What will we eat..."

Liang Gou'er immediately corrected himself: "He can practice stances and footwork first! As the saying goes, 'Teach the fist, but don't teach the steps, or the student will strike the master!' Footwork is the foundation of power throughout the body. If you don't practice footwork, your punch only uses the strength of one arm, but how much strength can a single arm have? With footwork, power flows from the legs to the hips, from the hips to the waist, and from the waist to the arms. Only then can the strength of the whole body converge into a single point to..."

Before he could finish, someone shouted at the clinic entrance: "Chen Ji! Chen Ji!"

She Dengke looked up abruptly, while Chen Ji frowned. Both of them recognized that it was Chunhua's voice.

After much hesitation, She Dengke did not step out of the room. Chen Ji went to the clinic entrance and asked curiously, "Miss Chunhua, is something the matter?"

Chunhua's eyes were still swollen from crying. She pulled out an invitation and whispered, "My lady invites everyone from the clinic to attend a literary gathering at the Prince's Mansion this afternoon. She says she has important matters to discuss with you in detail."

Chen Ji opened the red invitation. It read: *A banquet is prepared for the evening of the tenth of September, inviting the literati and scholars of Luocheng to enjoy a long-awaited reunion. We hope you will not decline; he will meet you later.*

*—Zhu Yunxi of the Prince Jing's Mansion.*

The literary gathering was organized by the Heir, but was Consort Jing using this gathering as an excuse to discuss the Liu family matters with him?

Chunhua looked at Chen Ji expectantly and gently lifted her sleeve, revealing whip marks from rattan lashes.

Chen Ji shook his head. "Miss Chunhua, showing me this is useless. If I do not wish to go, it makes no difference to me even if you are whipped again."

Chunhua grew anxious.

But then, Chen Ji's tone shifted. "However, tell Consort Jing that I will attend."