"I was just a kid, you know, so I hadn't mastered the Pile Skill yet..."
Pei Guanli's voice was barely a whisper.
If not for the stillness of the night, Chen Yi would have missed it.
His eyes swept over the bell at the base of her neck. "You don't need to rush to open four more Main Meridians," he said. "First, establish your Elixir Field and Sea of Qi, then patch up the gaps."
"Oh."
Pei Guanli seemed to notice his gaze and self-consciously lifted her hand to play with the bell on her neck.
JINGLE, JINGLE.
The clear jingle of the bell echoed through the tranquil Purple Bamboo Forest, a sound that accentuated the silence rather than breaking it.
Not long after.
After Chen Yi finished giving Pei Guanli pointers on her Body Technique and Fist and Foot arts, he said:
"That's all I can see for now. Try cultivating this way for a few days. I'm sure you'll have a breakthrough soon."
"I'll do as you say, Brother-in-law." Pei Guanli nodded vigorously, a hint of reverence showing in her eyes as she looked at him.
'Brother-in-law is amazing.'
'He only watched me cultivate once and found so many issues, even showing me how to correct them. He's even better than Ah Ma and my brother.'
Chen Yi glanced at the sky. "Let's stop here for today. Remember to stay hidden so no one finds you."
Pei Guanli giggled. "Don't worry, Brother-in-law. I'm very confident in my Body Technique."
"But if I am discovered, I can just poison them. I guarantee they won't remember a thing."
Chen Yi asked thoughtfully, "Your poisons aren't low-grade, are they?"
"Of course not! Ah Ma gave these to me for self-defense. An ordinary Lower Third-Grade Cultivator would pass out from just a tiny drop."
Pei Guanli's eyes darted around. "Brother-in-law, do you want some? I brought a lot with me on this trip."
Chen Yi held out his hand. "Yes!"
'A sedative that can take down a Lower Third-Grade Cultivator? It'd be a waste not to accept. I'll just consider it payment for my guidance on her Pile Skill and Technique.'
Pei Guanli then excitedly pulled a handful of bottles and jars from the inner lining of her sash and began to explain them one by one:
"This bottle is the sedative. The one next to it is a poison, extracted from five venoms. You only need a fingernail-sized amount to kill any Cultivator below the Eighth Grade Realm."
"And this one is the most powerful—it's a Gu Insect that Ah Ma bred. It causes an unbearable itching and numbness all over the body. Even a Sixth-Grade Realm Cultivator would be hard-pressed to resist it..."
The more Chen Yi listened, the stranger his expression grew. He realized he should be grateful she'd held back the night he subdued her.
'She wouldn't have even needed that bottle of Gu Insect; a tiny bit of the sedative would have been enough to knock me out completely.'
With that in mind, Chen Yi only took the bottle of sedative and its antidote, telling Pei Guanli to put the rest away.
"Brother-in-law, if you ever need any, just ask. Don't be a stranger."
"Alright."
After leaving the Purple Bamboo Forest, the two of them quietly returned to their own rooms.
Chen Yi didn't rush to rest. Leaning against the window, he looked at the two palm-sized bottles in his hand.
'How does that girl hide so many bottles and jars in her sash without any of them showing?'
'After mulling it over, he could only attribute it to some unique natural gift.'
Chen Yi tucked the sedative and antidote into his sleeve, his mind replaying the Fist and Foot arts and Body Technique Pei Guanli had demonstrated.
After a moment of thought, he began to slowly practice them in his room.
The Fist and Foot Technique wasn't difficult. After just two repetitions, he got the hang of it; it was a Palm Technique that focused on agility.
The Light Body Technique, however, required more effort. It took him a full hour, and only as the Zi hour approached did he achieve Initial Insight.
[Cultivation of Palm Technique: Hundred Flowers Palm (Profound Tier) successful. Level: Initial Insight]
[Cultivation of Body Technique: Meteor Butterfly Step (Earth Tier) successful. Level: Initial Insight]
Chen Yi glanced at the messages on the light screen and stopped, slowly calming the restless Qi Mechanism and Power within his body.
'So "Martial Arts: Palm" didn't show up as a separate category. It seems Fist and Foot arts are all classified under Fist Dao. Hmm... I should find a Leg Technique to practice when I have the chance.'
He chuckled at the thought.
'Fist, Palm, and Leg united... sounds like the Three-Part Returning Primordial Qi, doesn't it?'
'Still, I learned Pei Guanli's Technique and Body Technique and even took a bottle of her sedative. I'll have to find a way to repay her in the future.'
Just then, the sound of the Night Watchman's drum echoed from outside the door.
Chen Yi focused his attention on the panel again, checking the new intelligence that had appeared for the day:
[Daily Intelligence · Profound-rank Middle Grade: At a quarter past noon, the Third Place Scholar Li Huai'gu will parade through the streets, enjoying unrivaled fame. However, when he returns home, flush with success and hoping to marry his sweetheart, his mother will forcefully separate the lovers. A small Opportunity can be obtained.]
Oh? Chen Yi's eyes lit up. "Profound-rank Middle Grade?"
This was, without a doubt, the highest-grade intelligence he had seen in months.
The previous two Profound-rank Lower Grade tips had brought him considerable rewards; the Opportunity from a Profound-rank Middle Grade one would surely be even richer.
After a moment of thought.
Chen Yi gazed at the bright moon outside his window and thought, 'Looks like I'll need to pay the Old Marquis a visit tomorrow.'
...
The night passed uneventfully.
Halfway through the Yin hour, Chen Yi woke as usual. He stretched his limbs, then washed up and dressed with Xiaodie's help.
"Has anything noteworthy happened in the mansion recently?"
"Have you forgotten, Young Master?" Xiaodie said with a smile as she smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes.
"A few days ago, that birthday poem you wrote for the Old Master spread throughout the mansion. Many people are praising your extraordinary talent for poetry!"
"Is that so?"
The realization dawned on Chen Yi slowly; he had been completely oblivious to the outside world for the past few days.
He vaguely recalled Xiaodie mentioning it before, but he must have been too preoccupied to pay it any mind.
"And that's not all."
After straightening his collar, Xiaodie launched into a torrent of gossip.
Some said the Old Master was delighted and ate a hearty meal with Old Duke Zhang and Master Sun Fu that very day. It made the mansion's Physician so happy he couldn't stop smiling, saying the Old Master's increased appetite was a sign that his bottled-up frustrations had finally eased.
The masters from the second branch of the family even personally copied the poem and took it to the Government Office the next day to show off to their colleagues. It's gotten to the point where many people throughout Shu State City are reciting it.
Even the top courtesan in the South City brothels quickly composed a melody for it, attracting scores of scholars and learned men to her establishment.
Chen Yi was taken aback. "They've already turned it into a song?"
Xiaodie wrinkled her nose and nodded. "Those people have no sense of propriety. The Old Master's birthday isn't even here yet, and you haven't officially presented the poem, Young Master, but they're already singing a song about it."
Chen Yi chuckled. "Poems are written to be shared with the world. It doesn't matter if others copy or sing it. We can just consider it their way of celebrating the Old Master's birthday."
Xiaodie nodded, her hair buns bobbing as she smiled with innocent charm. "You see things so clearly, Young Master. I would never have thought of it that way."
Chen Yi smiled and walked outside.
'With the Xiao Family's status in Shu State City, they have plenty of ways to stop the poem from spreading if they wanted to.'
'The fact that it's circulating through Shu State means the Xiao Family doesn't mind.'
'Or rather, someone in the Xiao Mansion is intentionally letting it happen.'
'Either way, for him, the creator, it was all upside and no downside.'
Two hours of Pile Skill practice passed.
Chen Yi washed up again, then had Xiaodie wake Xiao Wuge. They finished their breakfast in the pavilion.
Remembering the day's intelligence report, he looked at Xiao Wuge and said, "The Old Master should be awake. Come with me to pay respects."
The last time he went to the South City brothels, Xiao Wuge had tagged along, making it impossible for Chen Yi to cover his tracks and landing him the punishment of being confined to the mansion.
Now that he was going to the Old Master to try and get the ban lifted, he was definitely dragging the main culprit, Xiao Wuge, with him.
Without even wiping his mouth, Xiao Wuge said happily, "Brother-in-law, you finally decided to go see Grandfather!"
"Why? Has the Old Master been asking about me?"
"Brother Heir mentioned it when he visited yesterday. He said that for the past two days, Grandfather and the Lord Duke have been talking nonstop about you... and that poem you wrote. He's even been demanding meat at every meal."
Xiao Wuge couldn't help but smile as he recalled Zhang Heng's exact words—the runaway groom had finally made good.
Chen Yi gave a helpless laugh. He never imagined a single poem could revive the Old Master's ambition.
"Let's go. The Old Master was still furious the last few times, so he wouldn't see me. I hope I don't get the door slammed in my face this time."
"He won't, he won't... Grandfather will be overjoyed to see you."