Chapter 4: Settling Down and Kindness
Yuan Zhao followed the sound and looked over, only to see a little girl with pigtail braids walking toward her.
The girl was short and small, with slightly dark skin, but her features were delicate and pretty.
Unfortunately, there was a thumb-length scar at the corner of her right eyebrow, which greatly marred her otherwise lovely face.
The girl was smiling at Yuan Zhao, a bright, radiant smile—like a blooming cactus flower in the desert, exuding resilience and strength.
She walked up to Yuan Zhao’s bedside and placed a bowl and a kettle on the table next to the bed.
“Big sister, are you hungry? Have something to eat!”
Yuan Zhao looked at what was on the table. On the tray sat a kettle, a cup, and a bowl of steaming noodles.
There were even two pieces of meat in the noodles, which looked like beef.
As she propped herself up, Yuan Zhao asked the girl,
“Did you take care of me?”
Only then did she realize that her clothes had been changed and her body had been washed clean.
The girl quickly replied, “No, it was my grandpa who found you outside the town!”
Noticing Yuan Zhao looking at the loose clothes on her, the smart girl explained right away,
“I changed your clothes, and I also washed you! But the clothes are my grandpa’s, mine wouldn’t fit you.”
Yuan Zhao nodded.
“Thank you.”
The girl grinned, eyes squinting with joy.
“No need to thank me!”
As she spoke, she picked up the bowl of noodles and held it in front of Yuan Zhao.
“Big sister, eat quickly, or the noodles will get soggy. My grandpa’s noodles are really delicious!”
“Thank you!”
Yuan Zhao didn’t stand on ceremony. After thanking her again, she pulled the noodles over and began eating ravenously. She had been starving.
And the girl wasn’t wrong, the noodles were incredibly tasty. They were chewy and springy, the broth was rich and flavorful, and the beef was perfectly stewed, tender but not mushy.
It wasn’t just hunger making them taste good, they truly were delicious.
Watching Yuan Zhao slurp up the noodles, the girl smiled gently.
She squatted by the bed, resting her arms on the edge and propping her chin up with her hands.
“Big sister, what’s your name?”
Yuan Zhao replied through her chewing, “I’m Yuan Zhao.”
The girl beamed. “Then I’ll call you Sister Yuan Zhao! My name is Ah Qing. You can call me Ah Qing!”
“Okay, Ah Qing!” Yuan Zhao nodded.
“Yay~” Ah Qing responded cheerfully, smiling even brighter.
And just like that, Yuan Zhao ate noodles while chatting with the girl.
Through their conversation, Yuan Zhao learned that she had been unconscious for two days and three nights.
She also learned that she was now in a small town called Tianmen Town, which lay on the border between the Liang and Xiao Kingdoms.
The two countries often had border skirmishes, so a buffer zone had formed between them. Tianmen Town was a small town that existed in this buffer zone, not clearly belonging to either Liang or Xiao.
Although the two kingdoms clashed from time to time, there was still trade at the border. Tianmen Town was one of the trading posts for merchants traveling between the two lands.
Ah Qing’s grandfather was named Zhao Daguai, a native of Tianmen Town. People called him Old Zhao. He relied on his ancestral noodle-making skills to run a small noodle stall and lived a modest but peaceful life with Ah Qing.
Though their life wasn’t wealthy, it was stable and happy.
Yuan Zhao wanted to ask Ah Qing more about the Liang and Xiao Kingdoms, but Ah Qing had never left Tianmen Town and knew little about either nation. She couldn’t help much.
The big bowl of noodles was quickly finished—even the broth was gone.
After that, Yuan Zhao drank a full cup of water.
“Hic~” After letting out a burp, she felt completely satisfied. The feeling of fullness reminded her she was truly alive.
“Hehehe~” Seeing Yuan Zhao’s satisfied expression, Ah Qing couldn’t help but laugh.
Yuan Zhao also smiled.
“By the way, Ah Qing, when your grandpa found me, did he see an old wolf with me?”
Ah Qing nodded enthusiastically, like a pecking chick. “Yes! That stinky old wolf. Grandpa tied it up in the yard.”
After all, it was a wolf—even if it was old, Grandpa Zhao was still worried it might hurt someone, so he tied it up with a rope.
Yuan Zhao asked quickly, “Is it okay?”
Ah Qing tilted her head and replied with uncertainty, “It should be… It eats and drinks well…”
During the time Yuan Zhao was unconscious, the old wolf had stayed quietly in the yard. Grandpa Zhao fed it, and it ate obediently. Most of the time, it just lay there with its eyes closed.
Ah Qing was a little afraid of it, so she never dared to go near.
Knowing the wolf was okay, Yuan Zhao breathed a long sigh of relief and finally let go of the anxiety in her heart.
She and the old wolf had a bond forged through life and death.
After chatting a while longer, Ah Qing said, “Big sister, your injuries are serious. Get some rest. If you need anything, just call me!”
With that, she took the empty bowl and skipped away, humming a tune as she left.
That evening, after a busy day, Yuan Zhao finally met Old Zhao.
Her savior had a dark face, almost entirely white hair, and looked around sixty or seventy years old. He wore coarse cotton clothes, the same style as Ah Qing’s.
Despite his age, Old Zhao’s body was sturdy and strong, and his voice full of vitality.
If he hadn’t been in good shape, he wouldn’t have been able to bring both Yuan Zhao and the old wolf back from outside town.
As soon as he entered the room, Yuan Zhao tried to get up and thank him, but he gently pressed her shoulder down and said, “Girl, don’t! With injuries like that, you’d better stay still!”
Gratefully, Yuan Zhao said, “Sir, thank you for bringing me back, taking me in, and treating me.”
Her wounds had been treated by an old doctor from town. According to the doctor, if she had been found even a little later, nothing could have saved her.
And that was thanks to her strong constitution.
“You speak so formally, girl. What ‘sir’? Just call me Old Zhao, or Grandpa Zhao if you don’t mind,” he said with a hearty smile. “Helping you was just a small favor. I couldn’t just leave someone to die, could I?”
“Grandpa Zhao, no matter what, you saved my life. I’ll never forget this kindness,” Yuan Zhao said solemnly.
Old Zhao waved his hand dismissively and then asked, “Girl, where are you from? What are your plans?”
Tianmen Town was surrounded by endless desert. It was common for fleeing travelers to collapse just outside the town—some lucky enough to be saved, others dying in the sand.
So Old Zhao didn’t ask how she got injured or why she had a wolf with her when she was found.
Yuan Zhao fell silent at his question. Her eyes showed a trace of confusion. For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer.
She had been struggling to survive in the desert all this time and hadn’t had the luxury to even consider this question.
Indeed, in this unfamiliar world, where was she supposed to go?
Seeing Yuan Zhao remain silent, Old Zhao quickly slapped his own mouth and said,
“Listen to me babbling nonsense again, always asking things I shouldn’t. Girl, just pretend I didn’t ask.”
After a brief moment of thought, Yuan Zhao replied, “Uncle Zhao, you misunderstood. To be honest, I really don’t know what I should do from here on.”
Old Zhao said, “Then just stay with this old man for now. Leave whenever you feel like it.”
Yuan Zhao gratefully said again,
“Then I’ll shamelessly impose on you for a while.”
And so, Yuan Zhao temporarily stayed in Old Zhao’s home.
A month quickly passed.
Because her injuries were quite severe, Yuan Zhao spent most of the month bedridden.
Unable to move much while lying in bed, she dedicated her time to studying the Tai Xuan Canon, the Yin-Yang Ode, Heaven-Sweeping Hand, and Hellgate Blade.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t comprehend the Tai Xuan Scripture, but she did manage to make some headway with the Yin-Yang Ode.
As expected of a high-level technique that allowed Bai Yi Ke to become a top-tier expert, just by reaching the entry level, Yuan Zhao already felt her internal energy grow stronger and purer.
During this month, she also became very familiar with both Ah Qing and Old Zhao.
Ah Qing was a cheerful, lively little girl who was always smiling. She’d often come by to chat and chatter away about trivial events in Tianmen Town.
Since she had never had a playmate before, Ah Qing was especially fond of Yuan Zhao, who was like an older sister close to her age.
Ah Qing was 11 years old, while Yuan Zhao, based on her internal energy sensing her bone structure, guessed that this body was around 14.
Having only just begun learning martial arts, she wasn’t confident in how accurate her guess was.
Old Zhao was honest and hardworking, spending most of his day busy at the noodle stall in front of the house, working from dawn to dusk.
That day, Yuan Zhao, feeling that her injuries had mostly healed, finally got out of bed.
After lying down for a whole month, her bones felt stiff and sore.
She changed out of Old Zhao’s clothes and put on her own dark-colored short fighting outfit.
Ah Qing had washed it thoroughly, mended the worn areas, and even kept the headscarf intact.
Though young, Ah Qing was very capable. She handled all the household chores, big and small.
Because of that, Old Zhao could focus on running the stall out front to make money.
When Yuan Zhao stepped out of the house, she saw Ah Qing crouched in a corner of the courtyard, poking at something with a small stick.
Old Zhao’s home was made up of a few earthen rooms, very simple. Most houses in Tianmen Town were like that. But the courtyard was quite large.
In a place this poor, land wasn’t valuable—it couldn’t be farmed or planted.
“Ah Qing!” Yuan Zhao called out.
Hearing Yuan Zhao’s voice, Ah Qing looked up with a start.
At the same time, the old wolf dozing in the yard suddenly perked up, its cloudy eyes gleaming with joy.
It was the first time in a month it had seen Yuan Zhao. It desperately wanted to run to her but was tied up and couldn’t move.
After a month of recovery, the old wolf’s spirit had improved a lot. But due to its age, its condition was still poor. It probably didn’t have much time left.
Its fur was still filthy, not because Ah Qing or Old Zhao didn’t want to clean it, but because water was extremely precious in Tianmen Town. There was only one well for the whole town, barely enough for people to use, let alone to bathe a wolf.
People here rarely bathed.
“Sis, why are you up already?” Ah Qing shouted.
Over the past month, it was Ah Qing who had been applying medicine to her wounds. Though the medicine wasn’t rare or expensive, it had cost Old Zhao a fair bit of silver.
Yuan Zhao silently kept the kindness of the old man and his granddaughter in her heart.
During this time, the town’s old doctor also came a few times to check on her, so Yuan Zhao got to know him too.
His medical skills weren’t extraordinary, but he could handle fevers, colds, and injuries just fine.
As Ah Qing ran over to her, Yuan Zhao smiled and said,
“My wounds are mostly healed. It’s time to get up and move around a bit, or my body will start to rust!”
Ah Qing exclaimed excitedly,
“That’s great! Now you can play with me again, sis!”
Yuan Zhao patted her head and then walked over to the old wolf.
Seeing how dirty and smelly it was, she thought for a moment and decided to cut off its filthy fur.
With that, she drew the dagger she always carried.
Soon, the old wolf’s coat was patchy—some parts bald, others uneven.
“Ha ha ha~” Ah Qing burst into laughter. “So ugly! Too ugly! A stinky and ugly old wolf!”
“Woof!”
The old wolf glanced at its mangy coat and angrily glared at Yuan Zhao, then quickly tucked its head into its neck, refusing to look at her.
Yuan Zhao chuckled, turned to Ah Qing, and asked, “Is Grandpa Zhao still busy at the stall in front?”
“Yup!” Ah Qing nodded hard.
She had originally been helping at the stall too, but seeing how tired she looked, her grandpa told her to come to the backyard and rest.
Yuan Zhao asked again, “Can I go take a look?”
“Of course!” Ah Qing grabbed Yuan Zhao’s hand and happily bounced forward.
They passed through the open courtyard, then through a wooden gate enclosed by earthen walls, and arrived at the main street of Tianmen Town.
Grandpa Zhao’s noodle stall was right outside, very modest—a simple canopy made from oiled cloth, with a few worn tables and chairs beneath it.
At that moment, three or four people were seated, slurping noodles noisily, occasionally taking big gulps of soup. They were eating heartily.
Judging by their looks, they were probably wandering martial artists.
Grandpa Zhao was busy behind the steaming stove. Just as the leader finished eating, he laughed and said to Old Zhao:
“Old Zhao, your noodles still hit the spot. We’ve traveled all over, and haven’t found anything like this elsewhere. Every time we pass through Tianmen Town, we always think of your stall.”
Old Zhao laughed, “As long as you like it, come often. This old man’s humble little business depends on your generous support.”
The others finished eating too. The leader cupped his hands and said, “We’ll come again next time.”
Then he placed a few copper coins on the table, grabbed his broadsword, and left with his companions.
“Safe travels!”
Old Zhao walked over to collect the money. Looking up, he saw Yuan Zhao and Ah Qing standing at the gate, and asked with concern:
“Yuan girl, you’re up? How’s your body?”
Yuan Zhao replied, “I’m mostly fine now. Don’t worry!”
“That’s good, that’s good!” Old Zhao nodded with a smile. Then he turned to Ah Qing and said,
“Ah Qing, perfect timing—there’s no water in the jar. Watch the fire for Grandpa, I’ll go fetch some.”
Yuan Zhao, feeling bad about freeloading all this time, offered to help.
“Grandpa, let me go instead!”
