At dinnertime, the Demon Kings did not eat together.

Zheng Fan naturally ate with Siniang.

Liang Cheng had led the army into the mountains to transport the treasury; he wouldn’t be back for a while, and even when he returned, he would eat in the barracks.

Of course, Liang Cheng ate in the barracks mainly to foster an atmosphere of everyone sharing from the same pot. His current need for food wasn’t great. He primarily absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth while sleeping and occasionally found some unmarked common graves to recharge.

Ever since the blind man married, he ate at home with his wife. Yuexin’s hands were not only good with an abacus but also skilled at cooking. With some Qian State side dishes and a couple of small cups of wine, the blind man was living a very pleasant life.

A Ming drank blood and did not eat food.

So, only two remained to eat together—one big and one small, the last bachelors.

Food prepared by a little lady was set on the table: a small bowl for one and a large rice tub for the other.

Such a stark contrast was almost comically exaggerated.

Fanli entered first. He ate more and got hungry faster than anyone else. He sat before his rice tub, picked up his spoon, and began to eat.

Two little ladies stood on either side of him, one adding vegetables to his rice tub, the other peeling garlic for him.

When Xue Three came in, he sat down in his place. After a couple of bites of rice, he suddenly stopped.

He lifted his head, looking at Fanli.

Fanli also stopped scooping rice into his mouth, looking at Xue Three, a simple, honest grin on his face.

Xue Three threw the chopsticks in his hand directly at Fanli,

and cursed loudly,

“FUCK!”

“We know our mistake!”

“We know our mistake!”

The two little ladies hurriedly knelt to apologize, thinking they had prepared food that didn’t suit his taste.

In fact, Xue Three was usually quite amiable with these slaves and servants. He enjoyed making suggestive jokes with the young little ladies until their faces turned red with embarrassment and they fled, or engaging in racy banter with older women, after which Xue Three would flee, clutching a playfully swollen leg, amidst their merry laughter.

But the rules of hierarchy had long been imprinted on everyone’s heart in this era. Even if they were cordial on normal days, that depended on the noble’s mood. If they were annoyed, a single word could cost them their heads.

Fanli picked a grain of rice stuck to his face, put it into his mouth, and continued to smile his simple, honest smile at Xue Three.

“You bastard, you bastard, you bastard! AHHH!!!!!”

Xue Three was furious and felt deeply wronged.

Mo Wan being ahead of me? Fine. After all, he’s My Lord’s biological son, and we, who are like children from a stepmother, know our place. Siniang being ahead of me? That’s only natural. If Siniang were behind me, it would mean something was wrong with My Lord. A Ming got ahead because I foolishly helped him—my own big mouth, I’ll own that. But how did this lout get ahead of me too?

“What did you do for My Lord?” Xue Three asked.

“He made a toilet for My Lord,” A Ming said, walking in while holding a glass of red wine. He looked at the two little ladies kneeling on the ground and said, “You two can leave.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The two little ladies immediately left.

Xue Three sat back down in his chair, fuming, and said through gritted teeth, “A toilet, a toilet! Fuck! You bastard, yesterday you told me your ass was too big and you needed a comfortable toilet, so you even asked me to draw up a blueprint for you, and in the end, you…”

Fanli kept smiling foolishly, then lowered his head and ate his meal.

A Ming shook his head, swirling the wine glass in his hand, and said, “So, you’ve made another assist? What’s this called? An encore assist?”

“You’re doing this on purpose to annoy me!”

“Just wait. Maybe the blind man will come looking for you to have a heart-to-heart, hoping for a hat trick of assists from you.”

“ARRRGGHHH!”

Xue Three vented his frustration with a couple of loud roars.

“I’m not eating anymore!”

He said, and stormed out of the room.

「……」

The moon hung high in the sky. Outside Shengle City, a tall figure carried a small one, strolling around the city wall.

The sword boy liked sitting on Fanli’s shoulder because she was short and liked being high up.

Fanli seemed to have gotten used to this as well. Since returning, every night after dark, he would walk around Shengle City with the sword boy once or twice, simply as a post-dinner constitutional.

“You guys killed quite a few people when you went to the mountains this time, didn’t you?” the sword boy asked.

“Hmm.”

“I saw them, those wild people working on the construction site wearing shackles. They looked quite pitiful.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t you think that’s cruel?”

“Hmm.”

“You still do it even though it’s cruel?”

Fanli stopped walking and began to think.

The sword boy waited patiently for Fanli to gather his thoughts.

After a while, Fanli turned to look at the girl in boy’s attire sitting on his shoulder, and said, “Then would you do it?”

“…” The sword boy was speechless.

A simple counter-question left the sword boy speechless. Did the city wall need to be built? Yes. Did houses need to be built? Yes. Did workshops need to be constructed? Yes. So, someone had to do the work. If captives weren’t available, they would have to do it themselves. The only difference was, would you rather hold a sword or a shovel?

Over the years, the little sword boy had traveled extensively with Yuan Zhenxing. Her master might have been a little reckless, but he never turned a blind eye to injustice. Except for the time he met an unjust end at the Bian River bank, his sword could always punish evil and promote good.

Because of this, for a long time, the street, in the little sword boy’s mind, was actually that simple. I’ll reason with you, and if you refuse to listen to reason, then I’ll use my sword to make you listen.

But in this world, not everything could be reasoned with. In fact, many things had no reason at all.

She hadn’t felt this way when following her own master. But over the last few months, accompanying the various Demon Kings from Qian State to Yan State, then from Yan State to Jin State, and finally arriving at Shengle City…

She suddenly gained many insights, which caused her much trouble. Her previous worldview could no longer fully explain the things happening before her. It was like how a young person might only see the Liangshan heroes feasting and drinking merrily, but upon gaining more experience, starts to wonder where their meat and wine came from.

“I can’t figure it out,” she grumbled.

Fanli replied, “If you can’t figure it out, don’t think about it.”

“But can you really do that?”

Fanli pondered for a moment, then said, “Whether they figure it out or not, they’re still doing hard labor. Does it really matter if they figure it out?”

The little sword boy blinked. Patting Fanli’s head with her hand, she said, “Even though I think you’re just spouting nonsense, your words do make sense.”

Fanli continued to laugh his simple, honest laugh.

“Whatever, whatever, I need to start practicing my sword.”

Hearing this, Fanli gently lowered her from his shoulder.

The little sword boy drew a small wooden sword. Her master originally had three swords, but Zheng Fan had confiscated them all. Now, she only used a wooden sword Fanli had carved for her with his axe.

She called it sword practice, but it was mostly practicing stances.

Under the moonlight, the little sword boy practiced with intense focus.

It was too early for her age to train her body to its limits or to try and channel Sword Energy. Doing so before her bones had fully developed would be like draining a pond to catch fish. However, practicing stances while simultaneously thinking and gaining insights was very important. This could allow her to improve by leaps and bounds when she truly began to wield a sword.

Fanli sat at the base of the city wall, watching her practice.

After she had gone through her routine twice, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and said to Fanli, “Now it’s your turn.”

“Alright,” Fanli nodded, picked up his axe, and took a few steps forward.

After their evening strolls, the little sword boy, afraid of being lonely during her practice, would also teach Fanli swordplay.

In this regard, the little sword boy held nothing back. Although young, she had not only inherited her master’s swordsmanship but had also absorbed much of the Baili Family’s sword techniques.

Initially, she was just bored and wanted a companion. After all, Fanli looked simple and foolish, and his attempts at sword practice were always comical.

But this time, when Fanli picked up his axe and began to swing it, the little sword boy watched, dumbfounded. Streams of Protective Aura were circulating around the axe. Though it wasn’t a sword, he was wielding it with Sword Energy.

Fanli’s physique bore no resemblance to the typical graceful swordsman, yet what he manifested at this moment was an incredibly profound aura.

Especially as he completed a full cycle and lowered his axe, strands of Sword Energy around his feet cleanly cut through all the newly sprouted spring weeds.

From thought, control the sword; from sword, guide thought.

The little sword boy let out a long sigh, frowning. She sat on the ground, tossed her wooden sword aside, and sulked.

The class dunce, always at the bottom, had actually surpassed her. How frustrating!

Fanli put down his axe, squatted in front of the little sword boy, and continued to smile his simple, honest smile.

The little sword boy pouted.

Fanli kept smiling.

The little sword boy grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Fanli.

Fanli just kept smiling.

The little sword boy felt helpless.

She stood up, walked over to Fanli, and said, “I know the next level of sword forms. Do you want to learn?”

Fanli looked puzzled.

“Are you daft? Don’t you want to learn? This is a grand opportunity many swordsmen seek their entire lives but never attain!”

Fanli shook his head.

“So, do you want to learn or not?!” The little sword boy stomped her foot in frustration.

At this moment, she felt just as her master used to when dealing with her mischievous self.

If she was a natural Sword Embryo, then this big oaf before her likely was too—perhaps even a finer one than herself. Yet he seemed completely indifferent to it.

“Hey, do you want to learn or not?! Speak up, speak up, speak up!!!”

Fanli scratched his head and said, “If you’re bored, I guess I’ll learn.”

“…” The little sword boy was speechless again.

“You big log, you’re infuriating me! Such incredible swordplay, and I have to beg you to learn it? Then tell me, if you don’t learn this, what will you learn? Is there anything else more worth learning?”

Fanli nodded with his simple, honest smile.

“I don’t believe you,” said the little sword boy.

Fanli didn’t argue, just continued his simple, honest smile.

“Then what did you learn before?” the little sword boy asked.

“Myself.”

“HA. And what do you plan to keep learning in the future?”

“Still, myself.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep