"I'm not worried about you having inappropriate ideas—even if you had any, they wouldn't do you any good. What I fear is that her shadow will remain in your heart, and in the future, when you look for a wife, you'll judge everyone against that shadow..."
Chen Chong sighed, leaving an unspoken thought in his heart: *That would truly be the tragedy of a lifetime...*
Why shouldn't one meet someone too stunning in their youth? Because... after that fleeting, breathtaking glimpse, it becomes a sight one can never forget for the rest of one's days.
Xu Yao was momentarily dazed. Along with Chen Chong's words, Ning Wuxia's visage flashed across his mind.
Those clear, large eyes of hers, crinkling at the corners as she called him: *"Big Fatty! Big Fatty! Once I get back, I'll send people over with things for you!"*
In the torrential downpour.
She had held onto him, fluttering white silk in her hand, lightly and gracefully soaring into the sky to vault the cliff while pulling seven strapping men behind her...
After tending her wounds, she rolled her eyes at him and said, *"We've shared life and death together, yet you still call me 'Sir Ning' so formally..."*
Her eyes rolled thoughtfully, looking so serious as she pondered before saying, *"You can just call me Sister."*
...
Fleeting memories flickered through Xu Yao's eyes.
At the time, all of it had seemed ordinary.
Through the constant bustle of recent days, he had seemed to forget it, unable to recall it easily.
Yet hearing Chen Chong bring it up now, it sprang back to life in his mind so vividly—as vivid as if a heavenly god had carved it into his heart with a chisel.
Whenever he thought of it, he could still seemingly see the fluttering white robes, the drifting silken hair, the bright, sparkling eyes, and that charming smile.
Pouting aggrievedly, she had complained, *"You wouldn't even give me a peach!"*
Looking at him with eager curiosity, she had mused, *"I really want to see double eyelids..."*
As he thought about it, Xu Yao's clear eyes seemed to mist over, as if lost in a dream.
Seeing the look in the youth's eyes, Chen Chong sighed inwardly: *It's over.*
*Utterly finished!*
He knew all too well what tremendous destructive power a woman like Ning Wuxia held over a mountain village youth like Xu Yao, who had never seen the world!
Even a single frown or smile was an unforgettable landscape for an entire lifetime.
Moreover, as Xu Yao walked into the wider world in the future and met more people, seeing more women, the impression from this experience would only grow more beautiful, more ethereal and untouchable among the clouds in his heart.
Because he would truly come to feel that nothing he saw in his lifetime could ever compare to Ning Wuxia!
This wasn't merely the filter of youth; it was an objective fact: across the entire world, women like Ning Wuxia were exceedingly rare.
There might be those who could match her beauty, figure, or family background, but among the upper classes, someone who could match her temperament, who put on no airs whatsoever, and who could genuinely respect common folk from the bottom ranks was truly one in ten million.
"Didn't Sir Ning send you a parcel? What's inside?" Chen Chong could only change the subject.
He placed particularly heavy emphasis on the title "Sir Ning."
"I haven't opened it yet," Xu Yao replied.
"Open it and take a look." The words *haven't opened it yet* made Chen Chong sigh again. He understood what sort of sentiment that implied.
Such a woman truly ruined a man.
Xu Yao grinned sheepishly, brought the parcel over, and carefully untied it. Inside lay a large bundle of pale-golden tobacco leaves along with some pale-golden shredded tobacco, easily weighing several jin.
Wrapped in a handkerchief embroidered with an orchid at the corner was a sparkling silver bracelet.
A gleaming silver hairpin.
And a cold-gleaming dagger encased in a black sharkskin scabbard.
Chen Chong was startled the moment he saw the dagger.
Sitting up at once, he picked up the dagger, examined it, then fished an iron block out from under the bed and sliced down hard against the thick iron block with the dagger.
Xu Yao was taken aback. This dagger looked so exquisite and delicate; what if the blade chipped?
Then his eyes went wide: Chen Chong exerted only a slight bit of force with the dagger, yet shiny shavings of iron peeled off the iron block one after another.
It was just like peeling potato skins.
"A true treasure." Chen Chong looked at the dagger, lavish with praise.
Aside from these items, there was also a letter.
Xu Yao opened it carefully.
It bore Ning Wuxia's handwriting.
*"Big Fatty: Seeing my words is like seeing my face.*
*The dagger is from my brother, meant for self-defense. Don't let people see it. The shredded tobacco, bracelet, and hairpin are from me. Thoughtful of me, aren't I? Heh heh. Big Fatty, cultivate diligently, okay? The world out there is magnificent; when you get the chance, you must come out and see it.*
*Perhaps one day, we will cross paths in the jianghu. If you say to me, 'Sister, we meet again,' then no matter what you've grown into, I'll definitely recognize you.*
*I have to go out with my brother for training. Sigh, having an old pedant following me around every day is so annoying. I can't say this, I can't do that. Big Fatty, I'm so annoyed, but I don't dare rebel. Heaven knows what a deathly torture it is to have a stiff, pedantic elder brother staring at you all day long, ahhh!*
*I originally wanted to bring you some gold, silver, or pills, but my brother stopped me, saying it would only bring you trouble and danger. Sigh, don't blame me, okay?*
*When leaving the reward silver in the southeast this time, I wanted to leave twenty thousand taels so you could get a bigger share, but your own people actually refused! In the end, they only took six thousand taels, saying that was already the absolute limit... Turning down free money—what a bunch of big fools.*
*Also, don't be so stingy next time we meet. You wouldn't even let me eat one of your peaches. Hmph, I'm very mad, you know!*
*Heh heh. Also, taking after you, I bought things for my parents when I got back. My mother hugged me and praised me for a long time, saying how filial I was. My father was flat-out stunned; he pinched my ear in pleasant surprise, asking if his daughter had been possessed, hahaha... Ah, that felt so good.*
*Thank you once again. You made me realize that when traveling away from home, one ought to bring things back for one's parents. They were so happy, and I've been happy for days, still grinning even now, hahaha...*
*You have to remember to practice your martial arts, okay?*
*The bracelet and hairpin are for your mother, and the tobacco is for your father, understand? You're not so silly as to give them the wrong way around, are you? Heh heh heh.*
*The shredded tobacco is made from Heavenly Fragrance Golden-Thread Jade Leaf. Each time, you only need to grind a tiny pinch and mix it into several jin of tobacco leaves. Don't smoke it directly—the spiritual energy is far too dense, and your father won't be able to handle it. This much is enough to blend into five hundred jin of regular tobacco, got it? It nourishes the body.*
*I really wanted to spend a few more days having fun on your side, but I couldn't.*
*Big Fatty, keep your eyes on the path beneath your feet as you climb higher. You don't need to look at how high the heavens are; just keep walking, just keep climbing. Remember that!*
*Aargh, so annoying! Can anyone cure my brother of his habit of preaching, ahhhh! I'm not a child anymore, and even if I were, I wouldn't want to be lectured like this, ahhh..."*
The letter was written entirely in the tone of a close friend, reading just like having an in-person conversation with her.
As Xu Yao read it, a smile surfaced on his face.
It was as if he could see Ning Wuxia standing right before him, grumbling and chattering away with a petulant pout.
Chen Chong didn't read the letter, only inspecting the other items that had arrived.
"Why shredded tobacco and a bracelet?"
Chen Chong found it baffling.
Xu Yao smiled and said, "Sir Ning once asked me what my plans were next. I said I wanted to buy some good tobacco leaves for my father, and buy my mother the silver bracelet and hairpin she'd been dreaming of for so long... This dagger was given by Sir Ning Weiyu."
Chen Chong fell silent.
The emotions stirring in his heart were now complicated beyond description.
These so-called 'silver bracelet' and 'silver hairpin' looked like ordinary silver on the surface, but they were absolutely nothing of the sort!
As a veteran of the jianghu for so many years, Chen Chong could tell at a glance that these items were not made of ordinary materials; they were immensely valuable.
That included the dagger and that shredded tobacco.
Only one feeling resonated in his chest: *Miss Ning, are you trying to ruin this mountain village boy for the rest of his life?*
*With just a few days of interaction and these things you had sent over, do you realize it's enough to give an honest, simple youth a lifelong lovesickness?*
Yet he could not say it aloud, because even he knew perfectly well that Ning Wuxia had dispatched these gifts without the slightest intention of causing harm.
That girl had no malice in her heart; she was thoroughly sincere and truly treated Xu Yao as a friend. She had not even considered their disparity in status, treating him purely as an equal.
Yet precisely this was the most fatal aspect for Xu Yao.
For Ning Wuxia, she could have thousands of friends like this, and as the winds and rains of the jianghu blew by in a few days, she might forget all about him. But for a mountain village boy like Xu Yao... she was that single ray of light that remained forever visible yet forever out of reach for a lifetime.
"Little fool, having received these things, how do you feel?"
After a long silence, Chen Chong finally asked Xu Yao the question, rendered entirely speechless.
Chapter 39