Volume 1: Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu Chapter 347

Although Little Orange was worried that her young mistress would be taken advantage of by Zhang Xiaohua, she couldn’t manage on her own, and was also afraid of being hunted by villains. Left with no choice, she had to pinch her nose and let Zhang Xiaohua help. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohua acted like a gentleman; he kept his eyes shut, even carefully wrapping his hands in cloth, and helped Little Orange support Miss Nie. Only then did they successfully change her into peasant clothing.

Once the clothes were changed, Zhang Xiaohua finally opened his eyes and couldn’t help but praise: “Little Orange, look at your young mistress. Wearing these peasant clothes, she actually looks even more like a true country girl than I do, and I was born in the countryside! Could it be that your family was originally rural landlords?”

“Pah!” Little Orange almost spat at Zhang Xiaohua’s face again. This guy looked so ordinary and plain, and just this morning he was acting like a proper bookworm. How did he become so glib-tongued in just half a day? And yet, she herself couldn’t help but want to spit at him?

“Sigh, better have some water first. Once we’re hydrated, we can talk.”

Little Orange shot Zhang Xiaohua an annoyed glance, picked up the water pouch from the carriage, and gulped down several mouthfuls.

After she finished, she thought for a moment and handed it to Zhang Xiaohua, saying: “Ren Xiaoyao, you’ve been busy all morning and haven’t had a drop to drink. You must be tired, have some water.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled as he took it, but just as she handed over the pouch, Little Orange regretted it. Wait a minute, she had just drunk directly from the mouth of the pouch, and if Zhang Xiaohua did the same… wouldn’t that be, in a way…

At that thought, Little Orange’s face flushed bright red.

Unfortunately, the pouch was already in Zhang Xiaohua’s hand. Even if she wanted to take it back, she had no good excuse.

She could only lower her head, glancing at him from the corner of her eye from time to time.

Zhang Xiaohua noticed her odd behavior, but at first didn’t understand. When he was about to drink, he sensed Little Orange’s subtle shiver. Glancing at the pouch, he immediately understood and laughed: “I’m not thirsty, not tired. Being able to help you and your mistress is sweetness in my heart.”

With that, he tossed the water pouch back onto the carriage and said: “This pouch belongs to someone else anyway. Let’s just leave it.”

Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua didn’t drink, Little Orange couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. But immediately, she felt a faint trace of disappointment, so faint it was almost imperceptible.

Afterwards, with Zhang Xiaohua’s help, Little Orange very carefully lifted her young mistress onto the battered carriage. In truth, Zhang Xiaohua could have done it alone, but Little Orange was fiercely loyal and worried her mistress might be taken advantage of, insisting on doing it herself. Zhang Xiaohua could only help support Miss Nie’s injured arm. Helplessly, he wrapped his own hands in cloth once more and stepped forward to assist.

After moving the most important person, Miss Nie, onto the rickety carriage, it naturally fell to Zhang Xiaohua to handle the rest of the belongings. This time, Little Orange didn’t object in the slightest. Though the luxurious carriage didn’t look especially large from the outside, it was surprisingly packed inside. It was no small feat that Little Orange had managed to tidy everything up so neatly, stuffing every bit of spare space in the old carriage until it was packed tight. Zhang Xiaohua frowned as he looked over the items. This wouldn’t do at all. No matter how you looked at it, these weren’t things a country family would own.

When he voiced his concerns to Little Orange, she agreed it wasn’t quite right. Yet, looking at all the items, she couldn’t bear to part with any of them; this one was useful, that one was necessary. She was just as much of a miser as Zhang Xiaohua. In the end, Zhang Xiaohua had no choice but to coax and scold her, finally getting her to abandon a small portion of the less valuable and more cumbersome items, tossing them back onto the luxurious carriage. The rest he covered with a worn-out felt blanket, which would at least help keep things hidden from prying eyes.

Zhang Xiaohua led the black horse, driving the luxurious carriage onto the main road. After moving a short distance and making sure no one was around, he slapped the horse’s rump. With a sharp neigh, the black horse bolted forward, hooves pounding the earth as it sped away. Zhang Xiaohua easily leaped off the carriage and ran back.

Little Orange, cramped and uncomfortable inside the narrow canopy of the battered carriage, asked when Zhang Xiaohua returned: “Ren Xiaoyao, why didn’t you find a slightly bigger carriage?”

Zhang Xiaohua shrugged. “This is already the best we could get. This market town is small, there isn’t even a proper place to buy carriages. Besides, our current identities are just country folk. If we had a big carriage, it would look suspicious.”

Little Orange muttered: “I know the reason, but I’m just worried that when Miss wakes up, she’ll feel uncomfortable and blame me for it. And now, we’ve even abandoned her carriage. Do you think she’ll scold me?”

After Miss Nie took the medicine from the clinic, her complexion had already improved, and her high fever was gradually subsiding. With her mistress out of immediate danger, Little Orange could finally relax and allow her mind to wander to other matters.

Zhang Xiaohua looked at Little Orange in puzzlement and said: “You’re the one who’s her maid, not me. How would I know your young lady’s temper? Who can say if she’ll blame you or not?”

“Alright, alright, pretend I never said anything. Hurry up and drive the carriage, or the villains might catch up.”

In truth, Zhang Xiaohua understood very well that news of the villains’ complete defeat would likely not reach their pursuers until later that afternoon. Even if they sent more people, it would probably be tomorrow before they arrived, not to mention the time they’d spend deliberating. So, he actually had more than enough time. But seeing Little Orange so anxious, he didn’t say anything more. He walked to the front of the Sibu Xiang, affectionately patted its head, and the creature began to pull the carriage forward at a slow pace, with Zhang Xiaohua walking alongside.

The inn Zhang Xiaohua found was neither large nor new, located in a rather remote part of the market town. Who knew what the innkeeper was thinking, opening a place in such a spot? Judging by the innkeeper’s indifferent attitude toward customers, the reason was perhaps not so mysterious after all.

The courtyard Zhang Xiaohua rented wasn’t inside the inn, but next to it, a small, rather dilapidated yard, much like the one at Ji Xiaohua’s home. It clearly had once housed a family. The courtyard had its own main gate, as well as a small door connecting to the inn. Following the guidance of an inn attendant, Zhang Xiaohua drove the carriage into the yard, then handed over a few copper coins to send the attendant away.

The attendant was delighted with the tip, as if it was a rare occurrence, which made Zhang Xiaohua regret his generosity. Had he known, he wouldn’t have given so much.

The little courtyard had three rooms. Little Orange carefully tidied up the largest one, and, with Zhang Xiaohua’s help, carried Miss Nie to the bed. Before Zhang Xiaohua could say a word, Little Orange promptly shooed him out, declaring grandly: “This is the young mistress’s boudoir-no idlers allowed!”

Zhang Xiaohua didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This little maid really didn’t stand on ceremony. He himself couldn’t wait to get rid of this heavy burden and travel light, so why would he go out of his way to provoke her? Of course, this was just a fleeting thought. Since he had already helped them this far, as the ancients said: “A good deed should be done to the end, escort the Buddha all the way to the West.” One or two more days wouldn’t make a difference. If he were to just abandon them now, would he still be considered human?

Looking at Little Orange, Zhang Xiaohua swallowed the words he’d been about to say and turned to leave. He untied Huanhuan from the carriage, casually tossed the broken carriage into a corner, and found a nearby small room to enter.

The little room had been cleaned quite well, but after all, it was a small rural town. The air held an indescribable earthy scent, which Zhang Xiaohua found comforting. It reminded him of his little room in Guo Village, which had the same smell.

“Sigh,” Zhang Xiaohua sighed, wishing he could sprout wings and fly home to Guo Village. But for now, he would have to wait until the young lady’s health improved.

He then took out a yuan stone from his robe, sat cross-legged, and prepared to cultivate the Carefree Heart Sutra. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind-“sprout wings?” If only he could obtain the later stages of the Piaomiao Steps technique, maybe he really could soar through the sky. The Piaomiao Sect had already been wiped out, but when the opportunity arose, why not go to Piaomiao Manor and take a look? There were surely some immortal cultivation treasures hidden within their forbidden grounds. If he could find a suitable technique, he’d strike it rich!

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but let out a sly chuckle.

“What would it feel like to soar into the sky? Ah, that day in the teahouse at Songning Town, I felt as if I truly flew upward, higher and higher. That couldn’t have been divine sense, so what was it? Could it have been my consciousness? These past days, I’ve been rushing home and haven’t had a moment to properly reflect on what I gained that day. Such an insight into flight isn’t something easily attained, and I risked my very consciousness dissipating to achieve it.”

With that thought, Zhang Xiaohua quietly circulated his cultivation technique, absorbing spiritual energy while carefully pondering the insights he gained from that experience of flight.

That day, it was as if Zhang Xiaohua had sat atop a tall building, gazing down at the bustling crowds below. It felt as if he was high above, overlooking the myriad forms of the mortal world. In a single instant, his consciousness left his body and soared toward the boundless sky. It was akin to the legendary state of “unity of heaven and man” in immortal cultivation. As the name suggests, this state is where one’s consciousness merges with the will of the heavens. In Zhang Xiaohua’s perception, that endless sky was merely the simplest manifestation of the heavenly Dao. The path of immortal cultivation is, at its core, a process of exploring, seeking out, and grasping the Dao of Heaven. This unity of heaven and man is a shortcut, fusing the essence or meaning of the Dao into one’s consciousness.

Yet, such a state is exceedingly rare. Even in the ancient days when immortal cultivation flourished, only a handful ever achieved it. Those few were all outstanding figures among cultivators, and by seizing that fleeting glimpse into the essence of the Dao, they comprehended certain laws of heaven, allowing them to make breakthroughs unimaginable to ordinary practitioners.

The reason Zhang Xiaohua was able to enter such a rare and precious state was not only because of the deep foundation he built over four years on a deserted island, but also due to the profound feelings stirred by his sudden return to the mortal world after so long. As the saying goes, “The bodhi tree is not a tree, the bright mirror is not a stand; originally there is not a single thing, where can dust alight?” Zhang Xiaohua’s pure and clear mind, upon encountering the mundane world, saw everything with such clarity that it could not help but inspire his sense of the Dao of Heaven!