Chapter 13: Apprenticeship!

After a moment of silence, Mei Shuangfeng spoke:

"Go ahead and leave the city first. I'll follow along for a look. If what you've said is true — if it really is a silver-backed treasure fish — my Mei Martial Hall will not shortchange you."

Whew...

Shen Xiuhan exhaled deeply, and the boulder hanging over his heart crashed to the ground.

This gambit had paid off.

He bowed low:

"The Hall Master's generosity is beyond measure. I'll lead the way at once—"

"No need."

Mei Shuangfeng raised a hand:

"Go on ahead. The inner city has too many eyes. To avoid drawing attention, I have my own ways of following at a distance. Just go."

"...As you wish."

Shen Xiuhan wasted no words. He cupped his fist once more, shouldered his creel, and withdrew from the chamber with due respect.

...

After his footsteps faded into the distance.

The martial-garbed woman stepped forward quickly, worry shadowing her eyes as she whispered:

"Mother... can we really trust that boy?"

"Eight or nine chances out of ten."

Mei Shuangfeng stood with hands clasped behind her back, her voice calm and steady:

"The human heart is treacherous, though, and even I can misjudge. But... if he dares use something like this as a pretense to waste my time..."

She paused. A flash of murderous light exploded in the depths of her eyes:

"No matter what earthshaking reason he might have, I will make sure he can neither live nor die."

The warm chamber.

Fell into a brief, suffocating silence.

Charcoal crackled softly, painting half her face in flickering light and shadow.

A moment later, something else seemed to cross Mei Shuangfeng's mind. The corner of her mouth curved:

"Heh... that boy just said I'm known for my integrity?"

"Hahahahaha!"

A piercing laugh erupted through the hall — raw and ragged as the shriek of a blood-weeping owl. The sound raised every hair on the back of the neck.

"The Mei clan of old was indeed a house of the righteous path. From top to bottom, we carried ourselves with unyielding, upright spirit!"

The laughter died as abruptly as it had come.

Mei Shuangfeng's regal, beautiful face twisted with venom:

"But ever since..."

"Ever since your little brother was seized by those beasts — creatures lower than pigs and dogs — and cast into a cauldron of boiling water... boiled alive..."

CRACK!

Five fingers clamped onto the rosewood desk.

The corner of the desk — harder than iron — crumbled to powder beneath her grip, the dust pattering down around her feet.

"From that day forward, all that remained was the ruthless, eye-for-an-eye..."

"Face-Ripper!"

...

Leaving the hall, Shen Xiuhan made for the city gate at a brisk pace.

Passing the teahouse, he deliberately swept the area.

The two Golden Dragon Gang lookouts from before had vanished.

Gone to stake out the fish market for me, maybe?

Shen Xiuhan turned the thought over, never breaking stride.

He walked without pause all the way to the depths of the reed beds.

He dug the tightly frozen block of ice out from beneath the snow and brushed it clean.

Then he sat cross-legged on the spot, held his breath, and waited in silence.

Cold wind threaded through the reeds. Dead stalks rustled.

After some indeterminate stretch of time, his ears caught a faint rustle of movement.

She's here!

Shen Xiuhan's heart seized. He made to stand—

"Where is the fish?"

A glacial female voice materialized behind his neck, with no warning whatsoever.

Every hair on Shen Xiuhan's body stood on end. Cold sweat instantly slicked his spine!

He whipped around, and to his horror discovered Mei Shuangfeng standing like a specter, hands clasped at her back, a mere three feet behind him!

On the surface of the remaining snow — forget footprints — there wasn't so much as a single dent.

So this was what a martial artist could do?

Truly... unfathomable as ghosts and gods!

Shock roared through Shen Xiuhan's chest, but his hands moved without delay. He lifted the heavy block of ice and presented it respectfully:

"Hall Master, this is the silver-backed fish."

Mei Shuangfeng took it in one hand. A block that must have weighed over a hundred pounds sat in her palm like it was nothing.

She studied it through the ice for a moment, and her expression visibly softened. A glint of something appreciative passed through her eyes:

"Not bad..."

"Vigorous vital energy, luminous silver scales — this is the genuine article."

"Judging by its growth, it's at least five years old."

Seeing the blank look on Shen Xiuhan's face, she gave him a sidelong glance and explained coolly:

"Among aquatic treasures, the older the specimen, the more formidable the vital energy it contains — and the more priceless it becomes."

"An ordinary silver-backed fish is a second-tier treasure fish. Not especially rare — around Yunshui Lake and the two neighboring counties, a few are caught every two or three months."

"A young one might fetch ten taels of silver. But this one..." Mei Shuangfeng considered briefly. "I'd value it at twenty taels."

Twenty taels of silver!

A jolt ran through Shen Xiuhan.

His mind flashed to the silver-backed fish Shen Sanhuai had caught years ago.

From what he recalled, its size had been comparable to this one.

Yet the Bai family steward had taken it for a single, paltry tael of silver...

The Bai clan.

Ma Xianyang.

In this world that devoured men whole, those at the bottom were worth less than weeds!

He had to learn martial arts!

Only martial arts offered a way out!

Shen Xiuhan clenched his jaw, dropped to both knees in the snow, and spoke in a voice like iron:

"This humble one, Shen Xiuhan, is resolved to walk the martial path! I offer this fish as a gift and beg Hall Master Mei to accept me as a disciple!"

Mei Shuangfeng gazed down at him. She did not answer immediately:

"There's no need for gifts. My Mei Martial Hall has its own rules for enrolling disciples."

"Whatever this silver-backed fish is worth in silver, I'll pay you in full."

"As for taking you on as a student..."

She paused, appraising him:

"How old are you?"

"Just turned seventeen."

"Seventeen... a touch late for laying a martial foundation."

Before her words had finished landing, Mei Shuangfeng's right hand shot out. Talon-like fingers seized his shoulder blade and squeezed.

HISS!

A searing, bone-deep pain tore through him, as if the bone itself were being crushed!

Shen Xiuhan broke into a drenching sweat, his teeth grinding audibly against each other — yet he didn't let out a single sound.

"Hm. The bone sutures haven't fully closed, and the fascia still has some elasticity. There's room to work with."

Mei Shuangfeng withdrew her hand, but her tone turned stern:

"I'll say this plainly."

"Becoming my student requires tuition. How much you pay determines how much you learn. If your purse runs dry down the road, don't blame my hall for being cold-hearted... am I clear?"

Shen Xiuhan answered without a heartbeat's hesitation:

"Perfectly. Whatever tuition is owed, deduct it straight from the silver for the treasure fish!"

"So be it."

Mei Shuangfeng deliberated for a moment, then untied a cloud-patterned pouch from her waist:

"Outer-court tuition is eight taels of silver per half-year term. Six months is more than enough to test whether you're a dragon or a worm on the martial path."

"If you show some fire — say, cracking open Blood Tempering and stepping into the initial stage of Manifest Strength — then you'll earn a place in the inner court to continue your training."

"If there's no improvement whatsoever... best cut your losses early and find another line of work."

Joy surged through Shen Xiuhan. He cupped his fist once more in a deep bow:

"Your disciple will burn the midnight oil and train himself to the bone! I will not waste the grace Master has shown me!"

Mei Shuangfeng looked at the blazing hunger for the martial path in the young man's eyes, and something shifted imperceptibly behind her own — a fleeting flicker, as though some old memory had been stirred.

For one brief instant, that face perpetually sheathed in frost thawed into a trace of softness, there and gone.

Mei Shuangfeng collected herself and spoke again:

"Report to the outer court tomorrow before the si hour (Before mid-morning). Someone will teach you the foundational stance arts. How far you advance from there depends on your own fortune."

With that, she reached into the pouch, rummaged for a moment, and a faint blush of embarrassment crept across her face:

"Ahem... your master left in haste today and didn't bring the full amount."

She pursed her lips, withdrew her hand, and in her palm sat three thumb-sized ingots of snowflake silver:

"Take these three taels for now. After deducting the eight taels for tuition, the remaining nine..."

"I'll settle the balance when you come to the hall tomorrow. Will that do?"

"Of course."

Shen Xiuhan accepted the silver ingots respectfully.

Perhaps feeling self-conscious about owing him money, Mei Shuangfeng's tone grew noticeably warmer:

"The moment a treasure fish leaves the water, the refined vital energy inside begins to dissipate rapidly. Fortunately, you had the wits to preserve it in ice — that's what barely saved its potency."

Shen Xiuhan blinked.

He didn't know the first thing about that.

He'd frozen it into a block purely to hide it from prying eyes.

But since Mei Shuangfeng had read it that way, he could only nod along shamelessly and accept the credit.

"We'll discuss the rest tomorrow. I'm off!"

With the details settled, Mei Shuangfeng hoisted the silver-back's ice block in one hand, and her form blurred into motion!

The tip of her foot brushed a reed stalk, and her entire body launched skyward like a swallow piercing the clouds.

Black gauze whipped and snapped in the bitter wind as she glided through the air, clearing dozens of zhang in a single arc, touching down on the snow without leaving a mark.

Two, three bounds, and her silhouette dissolved into the white veil of wind and snow at the horizon's edge.