I, Liu Xiu, Never Hold a Grudge!

The next day, the eighteenth of the fifth month. Five Fingers Alley, in Wuyue Town. Little Yizhuang, in Five Fingers Alley. A piercing scream shattered the quiet of morning, and at the same time made up for the Yizhuang's lack of a rooster kept to crow at dawn. Liu Xiu, in the middle of washing up, blinked at Shi Shaojian as he ran out of the bedroom with his hair exploded into a frizz, and asked in astonishment, though he already knew the answer. "Senior Brother, what's wrong with you?" "What do you think? Your transformer leaked electricity!" Still trembling from the shock, Shi Shaojian stormed up to Liu Xiu in a rage. At those words, Liu Xiu said in puzzlement: "Eh? Senior Brother, you didn't toil at cultivation all night, did you? Impressive! Worthy of my senior brother, to be so diligent. Junior Brother's admiration for Senior Brother is like a torrential river..." "Shut up. Don't change the subject! Hurry and fix that transformer for me!" Shi Shaojian went on in anger, though both his tone and his expression had eased a good deal. "I'm going, I'm going. But Senior Brother, isn't this a bit too diligent? Cultivating the whole night—Junior Brother truly feels he can't compare! For Master to have a disciple like you is truly a great blessing!" "Cut the nonsense and fix it, quick. Shock me again, and I'll... I'll hit you!" Shi Shaojian's tone eased once more. The anger on his face was already entirely gone. There was no help for it—his junior brother simply spoke too pleasantly. He wanted to lose his temper and couldn't. Damn it. He was so angry! But he couldn't take it out on his junior brother!! "All right, all right. Oh, right—Senior Brother, how is your cultivation of the Shangqing Jade Pivot Palm-Thunder Secret Instruction coming along?" Liu Xiu asked with a beaming, curious smile. Don't misunderstand. There was only the most sincere concern in that smile. There was absolutely no intent to seize the chance and mock Shi Shaojian. After all, Shi Shaojian was the senior brother he respected most. He would absolutely never get angry and write this grudge down just because Shi Shaojian had roared at him at six thirty and twelve seconds that morning. How could that be possible? He, Liu Xiu, never held a grudge! "..." Honestly, this junior brother said truly unpleasant things! Having cultivated all night and gained nothing, and been shocked on top of it, Shi Shaojian's face darkened as he glared at Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu blinked, shut his mouth, and went into Shi Shaojian's bedroom to inspect the coffin-nail transformer he had newly made for Shi Shaojian after returning to the Yizhuang last night. He had actually wanted to change the material and not use coffin nails as the main material. But there was no help for it. Coffin nails were the one thing this Yizhuang of his had no shortage of. "Uh, the transformer shouldn't be broken. It should be the high humidity in the morning... that is, there's dew. Together with the poor insulation, that caused the leak. Once the sun comes out in a bit, it'll be fine..." Having come into the bedroom, Liu Xiu checked the transformer over. After making sure it was not broken, he said this. Shi Shaojian gave a grunt and frowned at Liu Xiu, a little doubtful in his heart. He meant nothing else by it. He only felt this junior brother was brushing him off, actually fobbing him off with things he could not understand... A dozen seconds later, delight and urgency showed on Shi Shaojian's face as he looked at this good junior brother of his, Liu Xiu. "Junior Brother, is everything you said true?" "Well, Junior Brother doesn't dare be sure either. But Senior Brother, you took so much of a shock... cough, cough. Senior Brother, you're so resistant to electricity. I think it may be that this transformer's output voltage is too low, which is why Senior Brother cultivated the Shangqing Jade Pivot Palm-Thunder Secret Instruction all night and gained nothing!" Liu Xiu spoke. He was not talking nonsense. He really thought so. After all, Shi Shaojian truly was very resistant to electricity. An ordinary person, shocked three times, would long since have been hurt. But Shi Shaojian? The skin on his hands was only a tiny bit scorched. Aside from his hairstyle having become very fashionable! Honestly, Liu Xiu even wondered whether Shi Jian had often shocked him in the past. Otherwise, where had such fine resistance to electricity come from? "Please help me, Junior Brother!" Shi Shaojian spoke with earnest pleading all over his face. Liu Xiu immediately shook his head. "Senior Brother, what a thing to say. We're senior and junior brothers. Junior Brother will adjust the transformer's current for you right away..." As he spoke, Liu Xiu suddenly stopped. An awkward look came over his face, and he halted what he was doing. Shi Shaojian stared, then grew anxious. "Hurry up and adjust the voltage!" "Uh, it can be adjusted. But I'm afraid that if I'm careless and the voltage happens to be turned up too high, I'll end up shocking Senior Brother..." A troubled look showed on Liu Xiu's face. Shi Shaojian patted his chest, utterly unconcerned. "It's fine. Senior Brother isn't afraid of electricity. You said it yourself—Senior Brother is fairly resistant to electricity. Hurry and adjust the voltage!" Shi Shaojian's tone was full of urgency. This was his longing to cultivate the thunder arts. There was no help for it. He had cultivated for more than ten years and had not even managed the simplest palm thunder. Now that he had a chance to succeed, how could he not be anxious? "All right!" A dozen minutes later! Liu Xiu looked at Shi Shaojian, whose exploded hair was even wilder and who had been shocked three more times, and silently crossed out, in the little notebook in his heart, the grudge recorded at six thirty and twelve seconds. Mm. He had already paid it back! "Ju... Junior Brother... how about... we just forget it..." Shi Shaojian, his voice buzzing with electricity, spoke through his trembling. He suddenly felt that if he could not master mere thunder arts, then so be it. If this went on, he was afraid he'd really be a goner in a moment! He was only eighteen! He had not even taken a wife yet!! "Uh, this time it ought to work..." Having suddenly remembered how to control the output voltage by adjusting the coils, Liu Xiu began tuning the coils again. Once they were adjusted, he took the initiative and touched it with the back of his hand. Feeling a slight numbness, he pulled his hand away at once. "I have not failed my charge..." Liu Xiu said no more. Speechless within, he watched as Shi Shaojian shoved him aside and began cultivating while gripping the neutral and live wires. Fine. He was still too merciful! He ought to have shocked this senior brother of his a few more times! Liu Xiu walked out of the room and, without a change of expression, glanced at a certain Daoist who was peeking—old yet ever firmer, firm as a great rock. He drew his gaze back, washed up once more, mainly his hands, then went to the kitchen and began making today's breakfast. When the meal was ready he called them to eat. Liu Xiu carried the food out to the stone table in the courtyard and saw Shi Jian, who had come to sit beside the stone table, speak with a bland face. "What were you two saying just now about adjusting the voltage?" "..." Didn't you hear all of it? Speechless within, Liu Xiu looked at Shi Jian—who clearly cared a great deal about his own son, yet did not know how to show it—and explained: "I found that Senior Brother didn't seem to feel much from the low voltage the transformer put out, so I turned the voltage up a bit. That way it might help Senior Brother succeed at the Shangqing Jade Pivot Palm-Thunder Secret Instruction..." Liu Xiu put particular stress on Shi Shaojian being fairly resistant to electricity. To tell it as it was, Shi Shaojian really was very resistant to electricity. Although he had no tool for measuring voltage, from the data of the coils he could still work out that the output voltage of that transformer of Shi Shaojian's was at least around 110V. He himself had felt the numbness, yet Shi Shaojian felt nothing and was concentrating on his cultivation there. Pretty outrageous, and pretty resistant to electricity! As he spoke, Liu Xiu added that a voltage like this did Shi Shaojian no harm. After all, he had been watching the whole time just now. There was no help for it. He was afraid that if he was careless and really got Shi Shaojian killed, Shi Jian would then come out with a line like "He's dead—what are you still living for?" and then he himself would truly be done for. "Oh, oh..." Shi Jian let out a breath in his heart. His taut expression eased a little. With the comfort of an old man's heart, he glanced into the room at Shi Shaojian, who was concentrating on his cultivation, and said to Liu Xiu: "No need to call him. Let's eat!" "Oh, oh. All right..." Liu Xiu nodded. Once Shi Jian had taken his seat, he sat down after him and began to eat. They had not eaten long before Shi Jian spoke. "How is your cultivation going?" "Eh? Master, how did you know my eldest uncle came by first thing in the morning and gave me a pocket watch!" Liu Xiu said, all surprise, and took the pocket watch from his pocket. "???" Did I ask you about a pocket watch? I didn't even see your pocket watch, all right! Shi Jian's expression was faintly blank, and the corner of his mouth twitched. In a daze, he suddenly saw Shi Shaojian's shadow in Liu Xiu. "Hehe. This time it's truly thanks to Master. It wasn't even light out when my eldest uncle came by, giving me money and a pocket watch besides..." Liu Xiu spoke with a smile. Reputation follows a man as a shadow follows a tree. After last night's affair at the Tan household, the original body's eldest uncle and the other clansmen no longer wanted merely to restore their kinship with him. As he spoke, Liu Xiu took from his bosom the two silver notes the original body's eldest uncle had newly given him, each with a face value of one hundred silver dollars, drew one out, and handed it to Shi Jian. "Master, here. One for each of us!" "Enough. You keep them yourself." Shi Jian was stunned for a moment. He forced a somewhat stiff smile onto his face. The smile flashed past, and Liu Xiu only felt his eyes blur. "Master, then what about this for you?" Putting on a pained and unwilling face, Liu Xiu held the pocket watch out to Shi Jian. Shi Jian did not take the pocket watch. He only looked helplessly at Liu Xiu, who was deliberately acting childish. "Eat!" "Oh, oh..." But they had not eaten long before Shi Jian asked, "How far have you gotten looking over Daoist Wang's inheritance?"