Chapter 11: Good Fortune Comes

Seeing Er Mao in a daze, the young man who had given him money earlier became dissatisfied and spoke with a grim tone, "You took the money, and if it takes more than fifteen minutes, I'll chop off your hand."

Er Mao, who had been contemplating whether to return what he had picked up to them, was dissuaded by the threat in the young man's words. He decided against it, pulling his thoughts back and continuing his work.

Though the young woman appeared frustrated and disheartened, she waved her hand and said, "Senior Brother, don't blame the innocent." She then turned to Er Mao, "Don't rush, take your time."

Sometimes, a change of heart happens in an instant. Seeing the young woman's kindness, Er Mao changed his mind again and decided to give them what he had found.

However, he didn't act immediately. There were two reasons for his hesitation. First, it seemed these three were in conflict with the officials, which he gathered from their earlier conversation. He wasn't sure whether getting involved with them would lead to trouble.

Secondly, he wasn't sure if they were good people or what they were looking for the dragon's horn for. The crippled man had taught him many lessons over the years, one of which was to think carefully before acting.

Er Mao had planned to listen a bit more before making a decision, but the three stopped talking and just sat there, brooding.

In less than fifteen minutes, Er Mao had replaced the horseshoes on the two horses. The three didn't delay and immediately led the horses, preparing to leave.

Seeing them about to depart, Er Mao grew anxious. After some quick thinking, he rushed forward and grabbed the young woman's reins, "Beautiful sister, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" the young woman casually asked.

Er Mao turned and pointed to the crippled man not far away, "My old uncle is very sick, but we don't have money to treat him."

Er Mao had been worried that not informing the crippled man beforehand might cause the old man to give himself away. But to his surprise, the crippled man appeared startled, "When did you find out?"

Before the young woman could respond, the senior brother frowned sharply, "This little brat is not only slick-tongued but also full of tricks. Now he's trying to scam us."

Another young man also suspected Er Mao was lying and gave him a disdainful glance.

The young woman looked up at the crippled man, then took a pouch of money from her waist and handed it to Er Mao, "Take it."

To her surprise, Er Mao didn't thank her after accepting the money pouch. Instead, he extended his hand again, "This isn't enough."

The senior brother was furious, "Greedy beyond measure, do you really think we're fools?"

"Ungrateful," another young man added, showing disgust.

The young woman turned to the other young man, "Second Brother, give him your money."

"Little sister, he's clearly a scammer," Second Brother frowned.

"He probably isn't. The old man looks pale and sick; he must have a serious illness," the young woman said, reaching for the money pouch, "Give it to me."

Second Brother had no choice but to untie his pouch and hand it to her.

Just as the young woman was about to hand the money pouch to Er Mao, the senior brother stepped forward to stop her, "Little sister, being too kind is a bad thing. If you trust people so easily, you'll suffer in the end."

The young woman pushed the senior brother aside and handed the pouch back to him, "Money can cure sickness, but it can't save lives."

Er Mao didn't understand what the young woman meant, and while he was confused, the three had already mounted their horses and were ready to leave.

Seeing this, Er Mao quickly rushed forward and grabbed the young woman's reins again.

Before Er Mao could say anything, the senior brother unsheathed his sword, "Do you believe I'll cut you down with one strike?"

Seeing the weapon drawn, the crippled man hurried over to stand in front of Er Mao, repeatedly bowing and apologizing to the others.

At that moment, Er Mao handed the two pouches of money to the young woman, "I don't want your money. I have something to give you."

"What is it?" the young woman asked, puzzled.

Before she could react, Er Mao had shoved the money pouches into her hands and walked over to the cart. "We stayed overnight at a seaside village. There was a storm in the middle of the night, and something fell from the sky, which I picked up."

Hearing this, the three's expressions changed drastically. They quickly dismounted and rushed to the cart, where Er Mao had already pulled the item out from his bedding.

The senior brother was about to reach for it, but Er Mao sidestepped him and personally handed the item to the young woman, "Is this the thing you've been looking for?"

The young woman took the item, which had been cleaned by Er Mao. She looked it over and her face immediately showed joy, "It's really a dragon's horn!"

She happily passed it around to the others, and both the other men were overjoyed. They had never expected that the dragon's horn they had been searching for so desperately would be found by this young boy, nor had they expected him to give it to them in this way.

The young woman approached happily and shook Er Mao's head, "You little thing, you're clever but still tried to test me."

Er Mao, who usually only interacted with women who gave injections or sharpened knives, had never spoken so closely with a young woman before. The fresh scent from her made his heart race, and his face turned red.

The senior brother, who had misunderstood Er Mao earlier, was now embarrassed and awkward, "Our friends are still searching by the seaside. I'll go tell them to stop looking."

"I'll go too," Second Brother said, clearly not wanting to stay either.

The young woman nodded, "Go ahead, I'll stay here. This boy has done a great deed; I need to think of how to reward him."

After the two left, the young woman sat down under a tree, pulling Er Mao to sit on a stone slab beside her. "What's your name?"

Er Mao thought he wasn't easily embarrassed, but for some reason, he felt nervous today. "I'm Er Mao, uh, my surname is Li."

The young woman wasn't surprised. Er Mao was a common name for country children, not the most elegant, but better than names like Er Gou or Er Dan.

"You're called Er Mao. Do you have an older brother?" she asked.

Er Mao nodded, then remembered his brother had died long ago, so he shook his head.

The young woman didn't press on the subject but instead asked him in detail about how he had found the dragon's horn the previous night.

Er Mao briefly explained, then casually asked, "At first, I thought you were looking for dragon scales. I didn't know you were after dragon horns. What exactly are these horns for?"

"I'm not telling you because I don't know either," the young woman said, "I only know that my father and various sects are working on a big project. We've already obtained one dragon horn, and with this one, it will be enough."

"But this horn was shed by a flood dragon, so it's not a true dragon's horn," Er Mao asked, confused.

"It's true, it's not a real dragon's horn," the young woman nodded, "A real dragon's horn is called 'Chi Mu.' If you obtain Chi Mu, you can enter the Nine Heavens or descend into the Nine Hells. How could ordinary people like us get it?"

Er Mao scratched his head, still puzzled.

Not wanting to see his confusion, the young woman spoke softly, "The horn shed by a flood dragon that has successfully transformed into a dragon carries a bit of Chi Mu's essence. I suspect that possessing it may allow one to enter the Nine Heavens or Nine Hells once."

"Oh, so you need two for a round trip," Er Mao seemed to understand.

Without giving Er Mao more time to ask, the young woman quickly changed the subject, "You've done a great deed this time. I must reward you. Tell me, what do you want?"

Er Mao said, "I just think you're not only beautiful but also kind-hearted. When I heard you were looking for a dragon's horn, I gave it to you. I didn't think about any reward."

Hearing this, the young woman couldn't help but smile, "You're so smooth. Who taught you to say these things?"

"I'm telling the truth," Er Mao also smiled. It's said that people are treated poorly away from home. He had traveled a lot with the crippled man and had many hardships. If he had a bad temper, he might have been beaten to death by now.

"Think carefully, what do you want?" the young woman asked again.

"I really don't know what I want," Er Mao shook his head.

"That won't do," the young woman said, "My father once said, the most important thing in life is knowing what you want. Only when you know what you want can you figure out what to do next."

This was something Er Mao had never thought about before. The crippled man had taught him how to survive, how to live through dangerous situations, but he had never told him what to do when he grew up, nor had he offered any advice.

Not knowing what to think, Er Mao looked towards the crippled man, but the man was busy packing up his tools and didn't look at him.

Seeing Er Mao glance at the crippled man, the young woman misunderstood and shook her head, "Life and death are fated. Some things are beyond human control."

Er Mao didn't understand what she meant, but he didn't dwell on it either.

Noticing that Er Mao was still unsure, the young woman gently reminded him, "If you didn't have to worry about making a living, what would you want to do?"

Er Mao frowned and didn't speak.

"Don't you want to travel around, see the world?" the young woman asked.

"No, I've traveled enough, seen enough," Er Mao shook his head.

"Don't you want to help people in need?" the young woman asked patiently.

"Of course I do," Er Mao nodded, "But our lives aren't easy either. Not everyone is as generous as you."

"Do you want to fight bad people?" the young woman asked again.

"Of course I do," Er Mao nodded, "But I can't beat them."

"If you learn skills, you'll be able to beat them," the young woman smiled.

Er Mao wasn't a fool and had figured out by now that the young woman wanted to take him with her, but he didn't want to leave the crippled man. He spoke, "Thank you, but I think I'm fine like this."

The young woman, having finally guided Er Mao to clear his thoughts, was surprised when he hesitated again. She patiently asked, "Don't you want to practice martial arts?"

Knowing that she practiced martial arts, Er Mao casually declined, "Hmm, I feel like martial arts aren't as powerful as magic. I want to learn magic. I've seen sorcerers fly in the sky."

"You silly boy, if you master martial arts, you can fly too," the young woman said, "Moreover, magic is very powerful, but it comes at a cost. If you use magic to go against the heavens, it could bring misfortune or shorten your life."

"I really don't need it, thank you," Er Mao said, standing up and walking over to the cart to get his food bowl.

The crippled man had overheard Er Mao's conversation with the young woman, but after Er Mao returned, he didn't say much. He only helped Er Mao reheat the cold salted fish.

After sitting quietly for a while, the young woman stood up and walked over, "There are eighteen sects in the world that practice magic. It's hard to rise in a big sect, but you can go to Xuan Yun Sect in Liangzhou. I'll have my father write a recommendation letter for you…"