Chapter 18: The Spring Silkworms Die

Er Mao wanted to refuse again, but as the words came to his lips, he swallowed them. He didn't want to waste the lame man's time, but he also wasn't ready to part with him.

"These things won't be of use to us anymore," the lame man said, pointing at the items on the donkey's back. "We might as well get rid of them, so we can travel faster."

Er Mao shook his head repeatedly. "That won't do. What if Xuan Yun Sect doesn't want me? I'll still need them to earn a living."

"That won't happen. With Mi Tiangang's backing, Xuan Yun Sect will certainly take you in," the lame man replied.

"Then I won't throw them away," Er Mao said firmly.

Seeing that Er Mao was determined, the lame man had no choice but to give in.

Yuzhou is located at the center of the Nine Provinces, and the imperial capital of the Great Xia Empire is also in Yuzhou. Once they reached the official road in Yuzhou, the number of travelers noticeably increased.

Er Mao still led the donkey ahead, and the lame man continued limping along behind him. However, after entering Yuzhou, the lame man wasn't focused on just walking like before; instead, he kept looking around. At first, Er Mao thought he was watching the passersby, but soon he realized the lame man wasn't being cautious—he was observing the forests and mountains surrounding the official road.

By evening, the two stopped at a town to rest. The lame man went out to buy food and handed it to Er Mao before turning to leave.

"Where are you going? Aren't you eating?" Er Mao asked.

The lame man replied, "Eat your food. I'm just going for a walk."

Er Mao sighed. "What's with you? Why are you acting like this again?"

"You don't understand," the lame man waved dismissively and walked off.

After finishing his dinner, Er Mao tied the donkey and lay down to rest. The lame man often went out at night, and Er Mao was already used to it.

When he woke up, the lame man was already lying beside him, though he didn't know when he had returned.

The next morning, they continued their journey.

"Your eyes still haven't healed. They seem worse than before. If it doesn't get better, you should see a doctor," Er Mao suggested.

The lame man casually replied, "Don't you know who I am? Do I need to see a doctor?"

"Your eyes are so red, don't they hurt?" Er Mao frowned.

"Stop nagging. Let's go," the lame man urged.

Seeing no one around, Er Mao whispered, "I still don't know your name."

"What do you want to know my name for? Are you planning to put up a monument for me?" the lame man asked with a smile.

"You raised me. I can't not even know your name," Er Mao said.

"My name? You're not worthy to know it yet," the lame man replied.

Er Mao was used to these kinds of responses and didn't get angry. "When are you planning to leave? If I ever make something of myself, how can I find you?"

"Wait until you've made something of yourself," the lame man answered casually.

In the afternoon, at the time of Wu, a patch of pine trees appeared on the hillside to the right of the road.

"Let's go pick some mushrooms," the lame man raised his hand and pointed to the north.

"It hasn't rained recently. Where are we going to find mushrooms?" Er Mao didn't stop walking.

After a few steps, he realized there was no sound behind him. He turned around and saw that the lame man had already run into the northern woods.

Er Mao could only turn back, leading the donkey into the forest.

The pine forest was on the side of the mountain, quite a distance from the official road. There were low, scrubby oak trees on both sides of the road, making it difficult to walk with the donkey, so Er Mao unloaded the luggage and let the donkey graze nearby.

After pushing through the oak trees and climbing halfway up the mountain, they finally reached the pine forest, but as Er Mao had predicted, there were no mushrooms, since it hadn't rained recently.

The lame man didn't care about Er Mao's grumbling. He was carefully searching the forest floor. Eventually, he didn't find any mushrooms, but he did discover a very hidden cave beneath a large cypress tree.

The cave was found by the lame man. By the time Er Mao hurried over, the lame man was already leaning forward to peer into the entrance. The entrance was low and narrow, surrounded by thick weeds. Unless you looked closely, it would be hard to spot it, even if you passed by.

"What's inside the cave?" Er Mao asked, curious.

"Nothing. It's empty," the lame man replied.

Er Mao pushed aside the weeds to peek inside. The cave was small, barely large enough for one person to stay in, and it was completely empty.

Er Mao withdrew his gaze and turned to leave. "I told you there were no mushrooms. Now we've come all the way for nothing."

"Do you know what kind of tree this is?" the lame man asked, pointing to the giant cypress above the cave.

"It's a cypress tree," Er Mao replied casually. Although people often compared pines and cypresses, there was a noticeable difference—pines were crooked, while cypress trees stood tall and straight.

"This is a rare Dragon Cypress," the lame man said.

"Dragon Cypress?" Er Mao stopped and turned around, surprised, as he had never heard of such a tree before.

"Yep, Dragon Cypress burns intensely and can melt black iron to forge divine weapons," the lame man explained. "Remember the location of this tree, you may need it in the future."

Er Mao nodded in agreement, taking note of the surroundings.

Satisfied that Er Mao had remembered, the lame man led him back the same way, with the donkey in tow, and they continued west.

It was just another ordinary day. That night, they didn't make it to the next town and had to camp under a tree by the roadside.

Er Mao cooked porridge. The lame man seemed to have something weighing on his mind, and when he took the porridge handed to him, he set it aside.

"You didn't eat yesterday. You'd better eat something now," Er Mao urged.

"I can only accompany you for three more days," the lame man said with a sense of melancholy.

Although Er Mao knew the lame man would leave sooner or later, hearing him say it still left him feeling down. "Oh."

The lame man took out a small cloth bag from his chest. "Take this money."

"I don't need so much," Er Mao shook his head. "You'll need money too. Just give me a little."

"Is it that hard for me to get money?" the lame man shoved the bag into Er Mao's hand. "I really don't want to leave you, but I've dragged it on long enough. I have no choice."

Er Mao said, "I know you have something important to do, but once you've finished what you must do, you can come find me at Xuan Yun Sect."

"I definitely can't come find you, but once you've made something of yourself, you can come find me," the lame man said, pulling out an oil-paper wrapped scroll from his sleeve. "This is where I'll be living from now on. Keep it."

When Er Mao reached out to take it, the lame man said seriously, "My place is extremely dangerous. Unless you can fly, you'll never get there."

"Where is this place so dangerous?" Er Mao asked, pinching the small scroll in his hand. It was tightly wrapped in oil paper and bound with string.

"You'll know in the future," the lame man said. "Swear to me, you won't open it until you can fly."

Er Mao frowned. Over the years, he had wandered with the lame man. Although he wasn't part of the martial world, he knew something about it. The cultivation of Qi was divided into three stages and nine levels, from the lowest to the highest: light red, dark red, light blue, dark blue, light purple, dark purple, with only the top-tier experts in purple Qi capable of flying. Currently, there were fewer than twenty people with purple Qi.

"I can't do anything now. How many years would it take to cultivate purple Qi?" Er Mao sighed in frustration.

"Without purple Qi, if you come looking for me, you'll die," the lame man said seriously.

Seeing that Er Mao didn't respond, the lame man reached for the scroll. "Forget it, don't come looking for me."

"Don't, don't," Er Mao quickly grabbed it back. "I swear to Heaven, I won't open it until I cultivate purple Qi."

"What if you break your oath?" the lame man asked.

Er Mao sighed, "Heaven and Earth won't tolerate me."

Seeing that Er Mao had sworn sincerely, the lame man nodded in satisfaction.

Er Mao suddenly remembered something. "By the way, don't lie to me. This scroll definitely has your address in it?"

The lame man nodded seriously. "I'm not lying. This is where I'll be living in the future. Once you open it, you'll be able to find me."

"That's good," Er Mao sighed. "Now tell me the truth, do you actually want me to find you in the future?"

"Of course I want you to find me. There's still something I need to tell you," the lame man said, but then changed the subject. "Unless you've cultivated purple Qi, I'll keep it to myself."

"Why wait for me to cultivate purple Qi? That'll be years from now," Er Mao said.

"If you haven't cultivated purple Qi, telling you would only get you killed," the lame man said with a smile. "Some things are better for you not to know. Once you do, you won't be able to pretend you don't."

"What? I don't understand," Er Mao was confused.

"You'll understand later. Go to sleep now, I'm tired," the lame man said, turning over to lie down.

Er Mao still had questions, but seeing that the lame man wasn't answering, he gave up.

After some time, Er Mao vaguely felt someone touching his head. He was half asleep and turned over impatiently.

The next morning, when Er Mao woke up and opened his eyes, he found that the lame man was no longer by his side.

He got up and looked around, only to see a few words written in branches on the ground: "I'm gone..."