A Gift from Father
Zheng-Fu started to make a pill with the second medicine formula right after he handed the first pill to Sue-Wu. And not long after he started…
Vroom!
Boom!
White smoke projected from the medicine mixing bowl with the same kind of good smell as before. Zheng-Fu grabbed that pill and handed it to Sue-Wu again. Then he turned to mix the next pill energetically. It looked like he was someone who was so experienced in medicine production…
Sue-Wu could not do anything much but stood and watched from afar with care. When Tong-Lang saw the look on Sue-Wu’s face, he thought of the time that he first taught martial arts to Zheng-Fu. He felt exactly like Sue-Wu was feeling right now. He could only stand and watch from afar with care…
Tong-Lang: “Don’t worry, Elder Sue-Wu. It was exactly like this when I started to teach him martial arts. I hardly gave him lessons. He was the one who showed us great things…”
“Showed you great things!”
Tong-Lang nodded with a slightly sad face, but that was the truth. If Zheng-Fu had not told him and Tong-Tieng the tips on eliminating movements on the Belt Sword skill, they would not have broken through to the next level of the skill…
Not long after that, Zheng-Fu finished the third pill and gave it to Sue-Wu and acted innocent like a good kid who did a good thing and expected a compliment from a kind adult…
“Heh heh!”
Sue-Wu could do nothing but smile dryly because he realized that all three pills that Zheng-Fu produced had a better quality than his own…
Sue-Wu: “It’s good that you know how to produce medicines now. And don’t forget to continue to better yourself along the way. If you have any questions, you can come to me anytime. I’ll have someone prepare a medicine mixing room for you. I’ll get a medicine mixing bowl for you too…”
“Thank you, Master!”
*I’ll have my own medicine mixing room to myself, so no one would suspect me when I want to mix my own medicines. If father and mother asked me about this, I’ll tell them that I’m learning alchemy with Master Sue-Wu!*
Tong-Lang: “So, I’ll have to excuse myself now. I have to take these pills to the people who got injured from hunting monsters…”
“Alright!”
When Tong-Lang finished the sentence, he soared into the air with his Qinggong skill instantly…
“Hunting monsters!”
Zheng-Fu remembered that there were a lot of monsters in the forest that was next to the forbidden forest. They usually broke into the clan’s estate, so the people in the clan had to go out there and chase them away. They also used the opportunity to hunt those monsters to get their essence because monsters’ essence could be injected into weapons during the production process. They could be used to make medicines that help to strengthen the physical body too…
Sue-Wu: “Why don’t you just go home, Zheng-Fu? Come back here tomorrow and I’ll have someone prepared a medicine mixing room for you…”
“Yes, Master!”
Sue-Wu held all the pills that Zheng-Fu made while watching his little body gradually disappear from his sight. He looked at Zheng-Fu with admiration and joy. Ever since he became an alchemist of his level, he never got promoted to the next level because he failed all three tests. But he was in love with alchemy, so he thrived to come up with new medicine formulas regularly, although he was merely a beginner alchemist…
“I hope Master Sue-Wu did not suspect me.”
As Zheng-Fu was thinking that thought, he slammed into something…
Slam!
“Ouch!”
“Ouch!”
Zheng-Fu covered his head while feeling dizzy. When he looked ahead of him, he found out that he slammed into a person, not a thing…
“Y…y…you!”
The person that Zheng-Fu slammed into was Tian-Qi, who was on her buttocks right now due to the impact. When she saw that Zheng-Fu was the one who slammed into her, she shouted at him with extreme anger. Then she rushed to stand up and wiped off the dirt…
Tian-Qi: “Don’t you look at people when you walk?”
People!?
“What people? I only saw you on your buttocks there! Hahaha!”
“Y…y…you!”
Clomp!
Tian-Qi was so angry that she had to stomp her feet while making a mad face…
Tian-Qi: “Don’t act like a fool! Did you intend to slam into me!?”
“Intended to slam into you? If I had known that you would walk this way, I would have gone the different way!”
Tian-Qi: “What did you say? You!”
Clomp!
Tian-Qi stomped her feet with angst again. She was actually looking for him to ask about what happened in the fight that day. She decided to walk to his house, but she slammed into him on the way first. That made her forget about asking him about the day that they fought in the clan’s martial arts test…
“This is the way to my home, so it’s unavoidable that I have to come this way. You are the one who is in my way!” Zheng-Fu said while looking at her suspiciously…
“Darn you, Zheng-Fu! Who would want to be in your way? I just happened to have to pass this way! *Tian-Qi blew a raspberry.*” Then she ran off to her place. Her face got red because of anger, but for some reason, she felt something else that she could not explain either…
“Just wait and see, Zheng-Fu! I’ll find some way to get back at you!” Tian-Qi grunted with rage after running away for a short while from the scene…
Bang!
“Agh! I guess I should be staying away from her. It’s not safe to be close to a girl like that.” Zheng-Fu would not wait to rush back home. He did not want to pay attention to Tian-Qi much. At the same time, Zheng-Fu was being monitored by someone, but he did not realize it…
*That kid is not bad at all. He’s good at studying, martial arts, and alchemy. That’s a real genius.*
Whoosh!
“Who’s that!?”
Zheng-Fu could now sense something that made him goosebumps. He felt like someone was watching him, but when he turned back to see, there was nobody there. There were only wind and birds in the sky…
“Am I thinking things?” Zheng-Fu said before scratching his head…
“Mother! Father! I’m home!”
…?
*No one answered Zheng-Fu.*
“Mother!”
“Father!”
“Anyone!?”
“Why? Where have father and mother gone?”
Squeak!
When Zheng-Fu walked into his house, he had to crinkle instantly because it was strangely dark in his house. He looked around but saw nobody there. So, he decided to walk in slowly…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
“That’s…!”
When Zheng-Fu arrived at the hall in his house, he felt shocked to see a long wooden box placed on a table in front of him…
“That’s the box that keeps the Sword of the Eagle of the Wind! How come it’s there?”
Zheng-Fu walked towards the box, slowly and slowly. He was a few paces away from the box. This is the second time that he got to see it, but the first time that he got close to it. As he approached it, he could feel the aura and energy that was radiated from the wooden box…
“How come father put this box here?”
Thud!
“Who’s that?”
Zheng-Fu turned back to a noise behind him while throwing his punch in that direction. But when he saw the person behind him, he tried to stop the punch instantaneously…
“Whoa!”
“Father!”
“That’s dangerous, son!” The person behind Zheng-Fu turned out to be Kong-Shi…
“Why did you come in without giving a word? Who would know that it was you? It’s good that I could hold my punch, otherwise, I would have hurt you.” Zheng-Fu said while pretending to be upset…
“There, there!”
Tang-Ling: “There, there! Your father didn’t mean it, my dear son…”
Kong-Shi: “That’s right. I didn’t try to frighten you!”
“Tsk!”
Kong-Shi: “Don’t be angry at me! Come! I have a gift for you!”
“A gift!?”
“That’s right. Your father was so determined to get it for you!” Tang-Ling said while pushing Zheng-Fu towards the wooden box in front of him…
“Are you telling me that this wooden box is the gift that you’re going to give me?”
Kong-Shi: “You’re right, son. Do you know it’s not just a regular wooden box? Open it!”
Zheng-Fu knew well what was in the box, but he had to pretend that he did not know it. If he did not act that way, he would look too strange as a small kid his age…
Squeak!
Zheng-Fu walked up to the wooden box and opened it instantly…
Whoosh!
When Zheng-Fu opened the box, the aura of the sword radiated throughout the room. Then he saw the soul of the Napa Eagle soaring around the sword…
“Wow! It’s a sword!” Zheng-Fu smiled while acting joyfully…
Kong-Shi: “This is a high-rank sword, son. It’s as powerful as the Sword of Fiery Lizard. The sword’s name is the Sword of the Eagle of the Wind. Do you like it?”
“Yay! The Sword of the Eagle of the Wind! I love it, father! Thank you.”
When Zheng-Fu lifted the sword, he could feel the force that circulated it. The force was so fierce that he felt like it could cut a whole mountain in half. And all of a sudden, Zheng-Fu thought of something…
“Is the Sword of the Eagle of the Wind could make me the Master of the Sword of the Wind?”
“Agh!”
Kong-Shi’s face got pale the minute he heard Zheng-Fu mention the name ‘the Master of the Sword of the Wind’…
“Whoa! Are you alright, father? How come you turn pale like that?”
“I…I…I’m fine!”
“What do you think about that name? I must become the Master of the Sword of the Wind someday!”
“Ahh…”
Kong-Shi could not make any sense because he did not know how to react to that. There were not a lot of people who knew about this name. He never told the story about this name to Zheng-Fu, either. So, when the boy mentioned the name, it caught him a little off guard…
Tang-Ling: “Zheng-Fu! Since you now own the sword, you have to take the best care of it. Alright?”
“Yes, mother. I’ll take the best care of it because it will help me to become the Master of the Sword of the Wind…wind…wind.”(He even added echos to the word ‘wind’)
Heh heh.
Kong-Shi: “I know that eventually, you’ll have to fight in the martial arts event among the five influential clans, so I wanted you to have this sword because it’ll help you a lot…”
“Thank you, father! I bet it must be very expensive.” Zheng-Fu said while making a sad face. He actually knew the price of the sword…
Kong-Shi: “Don’t think too much about it. No matter how expensive it is, I would be willing to get it for you…”
Zheng-Fu felt neglected that his father did not try to tell him the story about how he became the Master of the Sword of the Wind. However, he thought that his father must have some kind of reason why he did not do so. After all, he was his father…
“Thank you very much, father, for this invaluable gift.” Zheng-Fu thanked Kong-Shi while walking to hug him with extreme warmth. Kong-Shi hugged him back too. He looked at Zheng-Fu with affection and felt the peace in him…
*I hope you won’t be like me.*