Fang Henshui had often imagined being chosen by a highly skilled hermit, who would impart to him his unparalleled martial arts, allowing him to dominate the martial arts world. On his journey from his small county town to Chang'an, he had also fantasized countless times about whether a handsome young man like himself would have any romantic encounters. If neither happened, it would be a bit odd.
In reality, he was already twenty-two years old and hadn't experienced either.
His life for the first twenty-two years had been uneventful. He had practiced martial arts since childhood, but his talent was not exceptional. His family was relatively wealthy in the county town. His father, gritting his teeth, gave two hundred taels of silver to the county magistrate's father-in-law as a birthday gift, securing a constable position for his son. Fang Henshui was lucky; after two years as a constable, the head constable died of a stroke while drunk at a brothel. As the second most skilled martial artist in the small county town, he naturally became the head constable after the death of the most skilled.
However, in the past twenty-two years, not a single reclusive master had appeared.
As for romantic encounters, Fang Henshui had dressed up carefully before leaving the small county town. He had heard that the women in the capital were not only as beautiful as celestial beings but also incredibly passionate. After carefully examining himself in the bronze mirror, he was certain he had some assets. However, he overlooked one thing: the small county town was too far from the capital. While there were many boats in the small county of Jiangnan, the county government didn't even have a single horse. Furthermore, the travel expenses given to him by the county magistrate were extremely limited, forcing him to travel frugally.
After only a few hundred miles, his brand-new constable's uniform was already covered in dust. He then realized that unless he resolutely went to a brothel, he wouldn't have any romantic encounters.
But does visiting a brothel count as a romantic encounter? Does it? Does it?
Fang Henshui came to the capital because a murder had occurred a year ago in a fishing village in his small county. The deceased were a dozen or so bald monks, so the county magistrate dared not delay and immediately wrote a report, sending it via official post to the Ministry of Justice in the capital.
The Ministry of Justice felt it necessary to investigate thoroughly the deaths of over a dozen monks within the imperial territory. They ordered the magistrate to send someone to the capital to report the details. Fang Henshui was in charge of the case, so he had no choice but to travel thousands of miles from his small county to the capital.
A single word from above can exhaust a person's legs.
Fang Henshui had once been proud of the vast territory of the Sui Dynasty, taking pride in being a citizen of the largest nation in the Central Plains. But after setting off, he realized that such a vast territory was not a good thing for him. Reaching the capital on foot, even if he didn't die from exhaustion, he would at best be half-dead.
Fortunately, his family was relatively wealthy. Before he left, his father, who had never been to the capital before, gave him a bag of silver, repeatedly reminding him not to embarrass himself in the capital. Fang Henshui's father had said, "Do you know how big the capital is? It's at least ten times bigger than a county town! Do you know how big the imperial palace is? It's at least ten times bigger than the county government office! Do you know how rich the rich people in the capital are? They're at least ten times wealthier than our family!"
Fang Henshui's father's imagination was quite vivid, but Fang Henshui only realized his father had lied to him after leaving the small county. Even the prefectural capital was at least thirty times larger than the small county town; even the prefectural government office was at least thirty times larger than the county government office; even the rich people in the prefectural capital were at least three hundred, three thousand, or even thirty thousand times wealthier than his family.
The longer he traveled, the more insignificant Fang Henshui felt.
He hadn't dared to spend much money along the way, but by the time he reached the capital region, he couldn't even afford a carriage. Now he understood that travel was truly not a lifestyle for the poor. How shamefully ignorant the county magistrate had been to believe that thirty taels of silver was enough for a round trip to the capital!
After entering Gyeonggi Province, Fang Henshui began walking, heading north along the official road. Finally, while asking for water in a small village beside the road, he learned that the capital, Chang'an, was only seventy li away. He saw a dilapidated temple in the distance and planned to rest there, empty the sand from his boots, and remove the blisters from his feet. He intended to eat some dry rations, and if a clean place appeared, even take a nap before continuing his journey.
The sun overhead was scorching; his exposed neck was already peeling from the sun.
But just as he was about to reach the dilapidated temple, his vision suddenly went black, and he fainted. When he awoke, he found himself in a small grove of trees. Two people, an old man and a young man, sat not far from him.
"Who are you?"
Fang Henshui asked, then, remembering his earlier unconsciousness, quickly stood up, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you both for saving me, but I am penniless and have no way to repay you. May I ask your names, my benefactors, so I can set up a memorial tablet for you when I return home?"
He waited a while but received no reply. He straightened up and looked over, momentarily dazed, then suddenly realized what he was doing and jumped back a step.
"A monk?!"
He instinctively reached for his waist knife, only to find that the young monk had taken it sometime earlier. The young monk was using his knife to chop tree branches, then deftly tied together a simple sedan chair, which looked similar to a palanquin.
"Come here."
After tying up the sedan chair, the young monk beckoned to Fang Henshui: "You stay in the back, I'll stay in the front."
"What do you mean?"
Fang Henshui asked instinctively.
Then he saw the old monk sit in the sedan chair, quite naturally. His posture suggested he was born to be revered, born to be carried, born a great man.
"You mean, you want me to carry this old monk with you? No way! Although you saved my life, I have official business. I need to report a case to the Ministry of Justice in the capital. You two go yourselves. I'll spare you from reporting me to the authorities out of consideration for your saving me, but if anyone sees a monk in the Sui Dynasty, you'll be in big trouble!"
Speaking of food, he didn't understand why the young monk was looking at him so strangely.
"Either you carry him, or you die."
Chen Ya pointed to the large rock beside Fang Henshui, and a smooth, round hole appeared in it. It was as if someone had poked a hole in a block of tofu with chopsticks. Fang Henshui was startled, went over to look, touched it with his finger, and then exclaimed, "Don't scare me! This rock already had a hole like this!"
Chen Ya paused slightly, cursed him as an idiot, and pointed again. Another hole appeared in the rock. Fang Henshui's face changed; suddenly, his legs felt weak, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to stand.
...
...
The old monk in the sedan chair was eating Fang Henshui's rations, as was the young monk walking ahead. Fang Henshui alone couldn't get his own rations. Not only that, but the two monks had even taken his water. As a constable, Fang Henshui was prepared to fight the bandits to the death, but he hadn't yet mustered the courage.
When he left home, his father told him that if he encountered bandits on the road, he should never be reckless. Give them money if they want it; at worst, he could beg for food. As long as he was alive, when couldn't he take revenge?
This was the most reasonable thing his father had ever said, because he thought the same way. Although he had practiced martial arts for over ten years and could recognize the scars left by various weapons... This had nothing to do with his own cultivation level; his hometown was too small, so small that no one capable of cultivation existed there.
But now, beside him were two people capable of cultivation.
Monks capable of cultivation.
"Where are you taking me?"
Fang Henshui hesitated for a while before finally asking, because he realized that the route they were taking completely avoided the official roads, constantly traversing fields and forests, getting further and further away from the capital, Chang'an. The old monk remained meditating with his eyes closed, while the young monk remained silent.
"If you didn't take me with you, you'd be able to leave much faster."
Fang Henshui shifted the position of the carrying pole, feeling a sharp pain on his shoulder. "I can tell you two are cultivators. It seems cultivators can fly, right? I don't care what heinous things you've done, just fly! Why are you carrying me? It's so slow... What if we get caught? To you, I'm just a burden, aren't I?"
"Shut up!"
The young monk glared at him. "There's a reason I took you."
Fang Henshui didn't dare look into the young monk's sinister eyes. From those eyes, he knew this monk had killed people. An ordinary person could never have such chilling eyes. So, he wisely chose to shut up, then secretly plotted his escape.
After several failed attempts at using methods like urinating, using excrement shields, searching for water, or searching for food, and after receiving several beatings, he finally realized he was truly doomed this time. He simply couldn't understand why those two monks insisted on taking him along. If they had truly committed crimes in the Sui Dynasty, why weren't they in a hurry to escape?
So, during his subsequent moments of boredom, he pondered this question.
As a constable, he was used to thinking from the perspective of a criminal. After some thought, he arrived at an answer he considered quite reasonable.
The two monks must have committed a grave crime, hence their pursuit by the Sui Dynasty. Their cultivation levels were undoubtedly exceptionally high, meaning their pursuers must also be exceptionally powerful. In his understanding, those who cultivated could fly. Therefore, logically, for the two monks to escape, they would have to fly incredibly fast. And their pursuers would naturally have to fly incredibly fast as well.
If he could think of this, then the two monks must have thought the same way. Their pursuers must have assumed the monks would run fast, so they would have chased them very quickly. Therefore, the two monks, instead of fleeing quickly, were walking slowly, as they were doing now. This was to shake off their pursuers.
Fang Henshui felt he had guessed correctly; in fact, he had.
What puzzled him was why these two monks had taken him along.
...
...
As night fell, Fang Henshui finally vaguely understood his purpose.
Since these two monks had decided not to rush away but to travel slowly, they needed someone to fetch water, find food, and scout the way. The two monks couldn't show themselves, and he was their tool.
"Go find water."
After stopping in a forest, the young monk coldly ordered and sat down to rest. Fang Henshui's shoulders ached, his legs ached, and his blistered feet ached even more. But he knew that if he hesitated, that man would surely devise some new way to torture him.
So without hesitation, he immediately turned and picked up his water bag to search for a water source.
"If you try to escape again, I'll cut flesh from your body. I'll cut off pieces, bandage them with medicine, keep cutting, keep applying, I guarantee you won't die until only bones are left. You won't even be able to die if you want to."
The young monk said coldly, then leaned back on a rock and closed his eyes to rest.
Fang Henshui cursed under his breath, a chill running down his spine as he imagined his flesh being cut. He'd heard that Buddhists preached compassion, but now he realized it was all a lie.
"Why wait until he tries to escape before cutting flesh?"
Just then, the old monk suddenly opened his eyes and said gently, "Only after you've cut flesh will he truly stop trying to escape. He won't know the horror of pain until he feels it. The Sui people have no reverence, so you should teach him what reverence is."
The young monk was startled, then bowed and said, "Disciple understands."
At that moment, Fang Henshui felt his heart stop beating. Then… he turned and ran. But running was pointless.