Chapter 55: Third Mistress

Li Po paced back and forth, his expression gradually growing serious. Teaching the art of killing was, after all, an exceedingly solemn business.

The reason he had suddenly made this decision was twofold: first, he was intensely bored and needed something to occupy his time while helping to strengthen his body; second, since he had brought Li Chun into the commandery office, teaching her some form of self-defense was imperative. Now that they were no longer lacking in food and clothing, the time was right.

As for Yuan Lang, he was purely an afterthought.

"I’ve heard that some people train their palms until they are as hard as blades, striking a person with the force of an axe or a knife; the power is truly beyond what a fist can achieve."

"But think about it: once a hand is trained to that extent, can you even call it a hand anymore? It can only be used as a dagger. Any other task requiring the slightest bit of dexterity becomes impossible, and most fatally, holding an actual saber becomes terribly clumsy."

"Tell me, since we already have steel sabers, why go through the exhausting effort of turning your hands into such grotesque shapes? It’s simply gaining nothing while losing much."

"Naturally, anyone with any sense wouldn't do something so foolish..."

"Ah, well, later on, there arose a Grand Master... Remember, she was a woman, probably during the Qin Dynasty. The First Emperor banned all weapons in the realm, yet his rule was cruel and tyrannical, making life a misery for everyone."

"This Grand Master was exceptionally clever from childhood, but fortune did not favor her. In her youth, she drifted from place to place, suffering all kinds of hardship until she fled into the mountains and was rescued by an eccentric hermit. Pitying her loneliness and admiring her intelligence, the eccentric taught her everything he knew. Once her training was completed, she traveled the world, and under her three-foot green blade, no one could stop her. She ended up slaying quite a few villains."

"Yet the strength of a single person could not hold back the tide of the realm. The world grew increasingly chaotic, with commoners displaced and corpses littering the fields. In deep despair, the woman retreated to the mountains to live in seclusion, never wishing to concern herself with worldly affairs again."

Li Po's fabricated story was becoming increasingly elaborate, almost causing him to lose track of the original point. Meanwhile, the two youngsters listened with wide, glowing eyes, utterly entranced as if hearing a bedtime story.

None of the three noticed that two figures had quietly appeared at the entrance of the stable.

Li Po continued weaving his tale.

"Yet, filled with universal compassion and loneliness, the woman reflected upon her own life and felt that the suffering of women in this world far exceeded that of men—that the heavens were far too unjust. Thus, racking her brains and exhausting her heart, in her twilight years she finally created a martial art tailored specifically for women. In close-quarters combat, it relied almost entirely on short strikes, with every movement anticipating the opponent's actions and every technique spelling certain doom..."

"However, on the day her art was completed, the woman's soft heart got the better of her. Believing her creation to be too vicious and venomous, she erased several techniques entirely before passing the rest on to three disciples, hoping they would later recruit widely and secure peace for the women of the world."

"Unfortunately, while she possessed the vision, she lacked the ruthlessness, and even worse, the discernment of character. Her three disciples acquired the supreme art only to successively become hired assassins for others. All her painstaking efforts thus came to naught..."

"Still, speaking of which, among those who practice martial arts, few can hold the world in their hearts, and even fewer practice solely to save lives—especially a woman who could pioneer her own school of thought. Therefore, the title of Grand Master is a designation she richly deserves."

At this point, Li Po paused, looking at the two children who had been completely hoodwinked. He felt a surge of pride; his skill at making up stories wasn't half bad.

It was just a pity that these two blockheads had listened to such a magnificent tale without even knowing how to applaud. Truly, children carved from rotten wood could not be taught.

Before he could continue his fabrication, however, the applause arrived.

"Well spoken! Could such an extraordinary woman truly exist in this world? What was her name? A figure from the Pre-Qin period? How is it that I've never heard even a whisper of her? Ah, it must be that her disciples were unworthy and deliberately concealed it..."

She even came with her own mental supplement.

"What relation are you to her? How do you know this so clearly? Could it be that you learned her techniques? Wasn't it said to be custom-built for women?"

Uh...

A rapid-fire series of questions, delivered in a voice that was hardly quiet. Startled, Li Po almost choked on his own breath.

Angrily, Li Po turned his head to look. A person was walking over, accompanying the old man. The old man walked while sizing up Li Po as if seeing him for the first time, occasionally casting disgruntled glares at his companion. Clearly, the old man had enjoyed the story and resented the interruption.

Li Po was already sick of looking at the old man's face, but as for the companion beside him, the more Li Po looked, the more familiar she seemed.

Not only was this person young, but she was also female, wrapped in a filthy, worn-out fur robe and covered in exhaustion and dust.

Yet even in such a disheveled state, she could not conceal her beautiful features and that innate, almost superior air of grace and poise. Perhaps even someone draped in lavish silks standing before her would have felt a sense of inferiority. Her shining eyes and tall stature only added a few parts of heroic martial vigor to her bearing.

None of this, however, could prevent Li Po from recognizing her. Such a unique woman—he had no choice but to remember her.

Back then, when he was trekking through the wilderness, this very woman had led a group of people and quite unreasonably robbed him of his roasted meat... What he never expected, however, was that the young woman who had looked like a nomadic noblewoman that night would now swagger into the Mayi commandery office.

It all felt a bit too surreal.

The young woman evidently did not recognize the wild punk who had fiercely drawn his blade to kill in the wilderness that day.

Walking up to Li Po, she raised her chin slightly, as arrogant as she had been that night.

Before she could speak, however, Yuan Lang shouted out, "Ah, Third Sister! Where on earth have you been playing? I haven't seen you in ages. Huh? How did you end up looking like this?"

Without waiting for the young woman to reply, the old man skillfully raised a foot and kicked his obnoxious son out of the way.

Then, pointing at Li Po, he said, "He's the new stable hand in the commandery office, named Li Po. The boy is quite sharp, sensible, and diligent. He does a good job here with Uncle."

"What are you standing there daydreaming for? Why haven't you paid your respects to Third Mistress?"

Hearing the title "Third Mistress," a strange sensation prickled across Li Po's skin. Yet he realized this must be the third young lady of the Li family. He had heard Yuan Lang mention that when Li Jing assumed office, he brought only this one daughter with him. But calling the old man "Uncle"—damn it, how was that relationship even calculated?

Besides, what was a noble aristocrat family's daughter doing running around the woods pretending to be a wandering ghost?

Amidst his chaotic thoughts, the one feeling that ultimately remained was relief. This young woman had poor eyesight and failed to recognize him; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stay in this commandery office any longer. Judging by her ghost-like demeanor that day, he might even have faced mortal danger.

The moment Li Po thought of the threat to his life, he instantly rallied twelve-tier mental alertness, cupped his fists, and bowed deeply. "This humble lad pays his respects to Third Mistress."