Chapter 43: Departure and Discovery

The village had returned to normal. Or at least, it was uncertain if it could ever truly return to normal.

The village needed these people to be a village, but these people no longer necessarily needed this village.

For them, this place had become a place of heartache.

The old man with a cane had discussed with everyone. They seemed to have made a decision. They would still stay here.

The young girl didn’t understand why they would do that. For her, she could make a home anywhere, go wherever she wanted. So she didn’t know how difficult it was to relocate an entire village.

After she woke up, on that day, the village was going to hold a celebration.

Why hold a celebration when the village had suffered a heavy blow, resources were scarce, and the people were exhausted?

This was something the young girl couldn’t understand either.

Sometimes, the more that happened, the more a celebration was needed to help everyone move past the gloom.

Everyone brought out food. They made the celebration a good one. At least for today, everyone could eat their fill. No one could complain of hunger.

The young girl still wore her simple, loose-fitting clothes. She watched everyone’s songs and dances. Moved by the atmosphere, she hummed the only tune she knew, “Guangling Melody.”

As soon as she began, everyone stopped. They listened intently.

The melody seemed to have a strange power. It could make one’s heart feel light and carefree. Even though there was no wind, it felt like a spring breeze. Even though there was no rain, it felt like the dust had been washed away, as if one had been reborn.

After the song, the young girl seemed to understand something. She took out those jewels and handed them to the old man.

These jewels couldn’t change anything for her, but they might be able to change things for these people. Give them more choices.

The old man hesitated. His face told him he shouldn’t accept, but his sense of responsibility told him that accepting these jewels could change many lives, help the village move past the gloom faster.

In the end, the old man accepted. Tears streamed down his aged face. He didn’t know what to say.

He gestured for a long time, then led the young girl to the center of the village. There was a huge stone there. The villagers were carving it, but had only just started.

The young girl understood the stone’s purpose. At the very top, there was a large circle. Wasn’t that just like her hairstyle?

They wanted to erect a statue in the village.

The young girl was surprised.

She had no chance to refuse. The decision had already been made.

After the celebration, the next day, some villagers returned. They had gone to purchase supplies elsewhere and also to spread the news that the village had returned to normal. The village needed the help of merchants to develop better.

The old man with a cane was arranging everything.

The young girl rested in the village for three more days. Her body recovered quickly, with astonishing recuperative ability.

Her skin remained as warm and smooth as jade. There was no trace of the severe injuries she had suffered.

She put on her white feathered robe again. She dressed neatly.

Suddenly, she remembered the shoes. She took them out and looked at them again.

First, she measured them against her feet. Strange. They fit perfectly.

The shoes were unlike anything she had ever seen before. In her half year of travel, she had seen the cloud-climbing shoes of Daoists, the hemp sandals of wanderers, the leather boots of hunters, and the wooden clogs worn by some in the cities.

But these shoes were completely different from any she had seen. They had a ∠ shape. You could say they had heels, but it seemed like there was no real heel, as if the back part was suspended in the air.

Was this a style favored by cultivators from hundreds of years ago?

Doubt, understanding, attempt.

She tried to put on these shoes, which were both high-heeled and not.

That strange feeling came over her again. The shoes looked brand new, not like they were hundreds of years old. And they fit perfectly, as if custom-made for her feet.

She took a few steps to test them. She was a bit unsteady. Her center of gravity felt shifted forward. She had to use the balls of her feet to support her body, instead of her heels like before. It felt a bit like walking on tiptoes.

Yet she didn’t take them off right away. She sensed a strange connection between the shoes and the feathered robe. A comfortable sensation flowed through her body, making her spiritual power move more smoothly.

If she were to fight that dried corpse again now, she would only need five months. No longer half a year. She could kill it in one blow.

Her mind was filled with more and more questions. Why were these shoes connected to the feathered robe? They were obtained from two places that had nothing to do with each other, yet they seemed to belong to the same set of equipment.

Many questions. But she wore them anyway.

She walked a few more circles inside the room. She had gotten a bit more used to the new shoes. She could walk more normally.

After dressing fully, she checked the tomb one more time today. She confirmed there was no danger inside.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the villagers.

Everyone came out to see her off. Even though the language was a barrier, they could communicate with basic gestures. They could roughly understand each other’s thoughts.

The old man with a cane couldn’t help wiping his tears again. He seemed to understand that this farewell would be a permanent one.

The young girl didn’t understand that. She thought she could come back to the village later.

After saying goodbye, she began her journey back alone.

On the way, she didn’t see the middle-aged man’s horse again. She didn’t know where it had gone. Of course, her own horse was also missing. So she had to walk.

After walking two li, her feet hurt a little. She still wasn’t used to the shoes.

She changed back to her ordinary shoes. Her feet felt comfortable, but the smooth flow of her spiritual power decreased. It returned to its previous level.

It was a bit difficult to go from luxury to simplicity. After walking for a while and resting her feet enough, she put the new shoes back on. She enjoyed the feeling of using her spiritual power more smoothly.

She also switched weapons. She kept testing the difference between the iron axe, the sounding-copper axe, and the silver axe. Over these days, she had already reached a preliminary conclusion. The silver axe suited her best. The sounding-copper axe was second. The worst was the iron axe.

The iron axe and sounding-copper axe were temporarily kept as spares. She no longer used them as her main weapons. She extravagantly used the silver axe.

The journey back was fairly smooth. After walking for several days, she encountered merchants again. She hitched a ride back to Weiyuan Fort by carriage.

When they saw the young girl again, the soldiers guarding the fort ran over excitedly to welcome her. They sensed that she had successfully solved the problem.

They shouted loudly, soon summoning the post clerk and the innkeeper of Fulu Inn. There were also two elite soldiers of the assistant commander who had stayed behind. They also came out to greet her.

Looking at the young girl’s expression, everyone knew the matter was resolved.

The post clerk asked again, just to be sure. The young girl nodded. Then he wept tears of joy.

He was worried about the young girl, but also about his own career. If the young girl hadn’t solved the problem, or had met with an accident, the post clerk felt he would be held accountable. If the problem was solved, he might not get merit, but at least he would have no fault.

After receiving the affirmative answer, the post clerk quickly released a message-carrying pigeon. One elite soldier rode a fast horse to deliver the news by person. This good news was worth sending by both methods.

Another elite soldier rode towards the village to survey the results.

The young girl stayed. She returned to Fulu Inn to rest.

The post clerk also posted an announcement outside Weiyuan Fort. It stated that the danger at the village had been eliminated. The meaning was clear: he hoped merchants would travel more and do business with peace of mind.

Some merchants saw the announcement but remained skeptical. They held the attitude that it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. They had no intention of going there.

It could be predicted that the village would need to actively go out to trade for a long time. It would take a long while to rebuild trust with the merchants.

Two days later, the assistant commander came in person.

While waiting for the elite soldier’s survey results, he had already treated the young girl according to the protocol of a successfully resolved incident. Besides hosting a banquet, he also gave her a generous reward.

What was precious to ordinary people? Gold, silver, jewels.

The things the young girl dismissed were the lifeblood of these people.

Even though the Liaodong army’s pay was tight, the assistant commander still managed to get a chest of gold.

The young girl didn’t know much about these intricacies. She didn’t understand the relationship between military pay, warfare, and border stability.

Since someone gave it to her, she accepted.

She continued to stay for many more days. The elite soldier returned and reported the survey results. The young girl had indeed solved the village’s problem.

Then everyone learned how earth-shattering that battle had been. According to the villagers, that day, the immortal had summoned nine celestial thunders and delivered divine punishment to the filth.

In short, it was blown out of proportion.

This couldn’t really be blamed on the villagers. That was what they saw. They didn’t understand the details of the fight.

After learning this, the assistant commander respected the young girl even more. He decided to build a temple for her, right here in Weiyuan Fort.

A temple?

The assistant commander began to describe the future scene. They would build a temple to praise the young girl’s deeds, attracting thousands of people to worship and pay homage.

The young girl neither opposed nor agreed.

The assistant commander took that as consent.

Taking this opportunity, the young girl took out the painting of the blood-red shadow and showed it to the assistant commander. He shook his head. He had never seen such a thing. When he learned that the young girl was looking for this thing, he said he would keep an eye out in the future.

Thus, the matter at Weiyuan Fort was concluded.

As she was about to leave this place, the young girl saw the middle-aged man’s horse again.

It was dirty. When it reached Weiyuan Fort, it stayed outside to rest. The innkeeper of Fulu Inn, being kind, brought some hay outside to feed it.

The young girl tried to lead the horse one last time, wanting it to follow her. It refused again, strongly resisting. So she gave up and didn’t force it.

The young girl left this place. She said goodbye to everyone. She didn’t know when she would return. She had a feeling it would be a long time.

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