Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 533 - 176: The Story of the Fish Baker (1/2)

Behind Lin Qiaofu, a slender woman was dozing off with her arm as a pillow. Hearing the words "roast fish," she trembled violently and awoke from her slumber with a start.

However, her face didn't show anticipation or longing. Rather, it was filled with fear, as if she had encountered a ghost while walking at night. With hands and feet flailing, she began to crawl backward.

It wasn't until she realized that there were no charred objects in sight that she let out a sigh of relief. Sitting up straight, she wiped off the nonexistent cold sweat and said to Lin Qiaofu earnestly,

"Qiaofu, let's not make roast fish."

"Crucian carp tofu soup is much better, right? You should also have some nourishment..."

Her gaze landed on the young girl's thin and flat body, paused for a moment, and then with slightly more emphasis and a sigh, she added,

"Indeed, you do need some nourishment."

Lin Qiaofu's face flushed with embarrassment. She stamped her foot and turned away, ignoring her dazed senior sister.

Gong Yu and Wang Anfeng had already firmly positioned themselves on the summit of Myriad Swords Peak. Wang Anfeng had recognized Lin Qiaofu and Lv Baiping earlier and the clear mention of "roast fish" had only served to confirm their identities, hadn't it?

Feeling the gaze from Gong Yu beside him, Wang Anfeng couldn't help but find amusement in his resignation. He thought to himself that from then on, aside from discarding their garments, they had also acquired a foolproof manner of identification; and even amidst a sea of blue robes, they would manage to find each other with ease.

Amused by this thought, he chuckled and called out to Lin Qiaofu,

"Miss Lin, it's been a long time since we've met, and yet you remember only roast fish?"

Lin Qiaofu's face flushed again and without responding to Wang Anfeng's jest, she looked down slightly and gave a respectful bow towards them, murmuring,

"Qiaofu pays her respects to Uncle-Master and Brother Wang..."

In the presence of Lin Qiaofu, Gong Yu's noble countenance, which seemed almost as if an Immortal's, softened considerably. He hummed softly in acknowledgment and reached out to pat Lin Qiaofu's hair, while Wang Anfeng smiled and nodded, shifting his gaze back to the woman behind the young girl and said with a smile,

"Miss Lv, it has been a long time since we've seen each other as well."

"Has it been that long? Merely two or three years, not such a long time," she replied.

The slender woman behind them rose to her feet with a push off the ground. Wang Anfeng was tall now, but this woman was nearly his height without appearing overbearing. Instead, she was graceful like a willow by the riverbank, without an inch of superfluous presence.

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Lv Baiping caught a glimpse of Wang Anfeng and Gong Yu, placed her hand in front of her, and took a deep breath, sighing repeatedly,

"So it really is 'roast fish' who has come."

"Thank goodness, I thought Qiaofu had taken it upon herself to cook again today. I've told you before, no matter how well something is described in a book, your little head might understand it, and your eyes too, but your hands are still clueless, utterly clumsy."

"I am not clumsy..."

"Not clumsy? Then tell me, what's the difference between the things you cook and the charred wood left after roasting fish?"

Lv Baiping almost completely pushed Wang Anfeng out of her mind.

Heaven knows how horrified she was just moments ago when she faintly overheard the words "roast fish" in the midst of a lovely dream.

Lin Qiaofu fiddled with the hem of her garment, stammering,

"But... but you ate it, didn't you?"

"I did eat it, and then I ended up visiting the Pill Pavilion's granny, arriving there horizontally."

Lv Baiping said expressionlessly.

Lin Qiaofu's face became even redder.

Standing three steps away, Wang Anfeng and Gong Yu simply observed the exchange between the two girls.

Both the young and the slightly older girl were guardians of the Library, and Wang Anfeng had spent quite some time perusing the archives there three years ago. When he got hungry, he would catch fish to roast, sharing the meal with the two girls, with whom he had become quite acquainted.

At first, Lin Qiaofu had strongly advised against it, saying that the creatures in the river below Myriad Swords Peak should not be harmed and that if he was hungry, disciples were available to bring food from the Qingfeng Edge, thus there was no need to commit unnecessary killing.

Wang Anfeng was naturally easy to talk to, but there was also the shameless, brazen glutton, Taotie.

Jiu Zizai was even capable of consuming poisonous creatures accidentally bred by the young girl, and any medicinal parts were promptly tossed into his gourd, large enough to fit a child's head, to brew alcohol. He would then casually carry it around, flaunting it in front of the young girls.

How could one possibly overlook the large, fat, and delicious black carps under Myriad Swords Peak?

To let them slip away alive, right under one's nose, was a great humiliation; even if one closed their eyes forever, they would never be at peace with it.

Back then, Lin Qiaofu had been deeply saddened for a long time after discovering her pet had run away.

But she didn't know that right beside her, the unconventional old man who comforted her with tales of Jianghu, had been steeping her beloved pet within his gourd, assuring her with platitudes that all creatures were spiritual and the little animal probably went to where it desired to be.

After downing a mouthful of medicated wine, the young girl asked where it had gone, and Jiu Zizai made up stories on the spot: It might have become a mountain spirit or encountered another fortune, perhaps going to the Confucian Temple, Martial Temple, or Taoist Mountain.

The only ones who knew that if the creature really had a spirit, it was probably at the Five Viscera Temple, not far from the tearful girl, were Wang Anfeng and Lv Baiping. That day, taking advantage of the girl's distress that exhausted her and put her to sleep, the old Taotie sneaked to the foot of the mountain.

He searched up and down the stream and, choosing the fattest black carp, gave a wave of his sleeve. When Lin Qiaofu woke up, she saw three people sitting in a row on a stone, gnawing on fish meat in their hands.

The young girl's spirit was unsettled, and she nearly fell back asleep; Lv Baiping threw down the roasted fish she was holding and was about to press the girl's vigor point when Jiu Zizai fortunately ended up eating half a roasted fish more.

However, Wang Anfeng later realized that aside from the old glutton who had eaten his way through the lands of Great Qin, it was this young girl who ate the most fiercely.

Looking back on those days, Wang Anfeng laughed out loud, his expression warm and mellow. He looked away and turned to Gong Yu, speaking softly, "Miss Gong, is the companion referred to by Senior Zhu Ling none other than Miss Lin and Miss Lv?"

Gong Yu nodded slightly and replied lightly:

"Indeed."

"Qiaofu has a bright and keen spirit. She has perused many classics, yet she has no interest in studying martial arts. Master probably wants her to leave the mountain to travel and witness the lives of others. Bai Ping has always been inseparable from her, so they set off together."

"What do you think?"

Wang Anfeng looked at the young woman and the girl, lost in thought. He felt that although Lin Qiaofu's martial arts were mediocre, their current mission was just to search for the traces of Jiu Zizai and not to directly interfere with White Tiger Hall matters.

As long as they were careful not to attract trouble, they weren't likely to encounter any danger.

Moreover, even if they did face danger, with his and Gong Yu's twin swords, they could easily protect Lin Qiaofu and Lv Baiping, unless a Fourth Rank expert who was the master of a sect attacked, or if three to five hundred armored soldiers arranged a formation to surround and kill them. Otherwise, they would surely be safe. With that in mind, he nodded and said with a warm smile:

"Since that is the case, I have no objections."

"Good, let's meet at the training ground tomorrow at the end of Chen time, shall we?"

Gong Yu spoke indifferently, setting a time, and after seeing Wang Anfeng nod, she took three steps forward and went to Lin Qiaofu and Lv Baiping's side to quietly inform them of the plans within the sect.

Wang Anfeng felt it wasn't appropriate to approach, so his gaze moved past the three of them to the wooden hut on the mountain peak that had been standing for nearly a century. In his view, the construction was rather shabby, too low and old, and probably hadn't been renovated for the entire hundred years.

Yet from his eyes, there was Sword Qi soaring to the skies, comparable to Beichen, dominating the breath of the entire peak. It had originally only a hundred longswords, but now, they were numerous and out in full force, easily a couple of hundred, and soon up to a thousand, like a grand torrent surging toward the sky.

Although the mountain was small, its aura was overwhelming, living up to the name of Myriad Swords.

And now, that longsword lay quietly within the hut, not resonating continuously with a roar as rumored in Jianghu, causing one's heart to tremble, making it unbearable to stay within for long. But then again, many things in Jianghu were often exaggerated and could not be taken as truth.

Wang Anfeng laughed and withdrew his gaze, noticing that the trio in front of him were in the midst of a lively conversation. Deciding not to interrupt, he stepped back and let gravity pull him off the peak, falling like a plummeting rock with a whoosh.

Below was the clear stream. Wang Anfeng's eyes glimmered with light, surveying the stream thoroughly, just as Jiu Zizai had done three years ago, pinpointing the spot where the fish were fattest. He fell straight as a stubborn stone, but just when he was about to smash into the water, he stopped abruptly.

A wind swept in, converging before him, and took the force of his fall, compressing it over the stream.

In an instant, it was as if dozens of rapids had collided, creating a visible vortex on the surface of the water at the base of the mountain.

Wang Anfeng's body used the momentum to pivot and he landed steadily on the ground. The water resumed its flow, but by then, several fat black carps were already flying in the air.

Wang Anfeng stretched out his right hand and, amid the swirl of Vigorous Qi, pulled a branch from ten meters away. The branch was stripped of its bark by the wind before it even arrived, and Wang Anfeng held it in his hand.

With a thrust, the sword like radiance flared, skewering four of the fattest black carps in the blink of an eye, while the remaining scattered back into the water in a panic.

Wang Anfeng eyed the black carps on the branch and chuckled.

It had been three years since he'd last savored the taste of Qingfeng Edge, and he truly missed the flavor. The fish around Myriad Swords Peak, steeped in the sharp Sword Intent of chilly winter water, had a firmness unlike elsewhere.

Since he would be leaving the next day, he thought, why not indulge now, lest he regret it for the entire journey?

PS: The first update of the day is hereby presented...