XIAO SHUXIANG'S

19 - Travel In The Forest [Revised]

Yang Shu and his four disciples were currently enjoying grilled fish. It seemed that the four disciples were so eating voraciously.

"Teacher, is our journey still far away?" Jing Mi started to open the conversation.

Yang Shu rubbed his mustache and beard, he then looked at the faces of his four disciples who seemed to be waiting for an answer from him.

"Ehm... Master doesn't want to break your spirits, but it will take us at most two and a half months to get to the Lotus Flower Sect,"

Jing Mi, "Ja-so we have to run in the forest for that long?!"

Xiao Lu, "I don't know if we can..."

The two children looked lethargic, they did not believe they would say this. But, they were really tired of walking.

Yang Shu again spoke, "Grandfather did not say we will forever be in the forest for two and a half months. After passing through the forest, we will find the village, then continue the journey through the market. So it's not always that we're in the woods,"

Xiao Lu, "Haah... Mercifully. At least we still have hope of meeting someone else."

Jing Mi, "Yeah... I'm relieved, too,"

Yang Shu, "Grandfather also did not forget to explain this to you guys. There are many dangers in the forest, so you should always be vigilant and careful."

Qi Xuan and his three brothers nodded. When they finished eating, they continued their journey. This time, they did not have to fight with the scorching sun.

"Grandfather, does our Onion Grass still exist?" Xiao Lu asked as he turned his head towards Yang Shu.

"His Onion Grass is still three, but Lu'Er need not worry. Our drinking place is already full-fledged and this forest is also full of juicy fruit..." Yang Shu gently rubbed his granddaughter's head, his eyes then turned to Xiao Shuxiang, Qi Xuan and Jing Mi who were walking quite a distance in front of him.

Qi Xuan and Xiao Shuxiang looked solemnly listening to Jing Mi's story. Along the way, Jing Mi kept raving nonstop. He tells the story of his uncle as well as their food stall in the village.

Jing Mi's story begins with her continuing to praise her uncle's smoke duck, then ends with a story that tells of her uncle's experiences in the big city.

"... I heard that big city has a lot of nice houses! Full of colored lights and always crowded all day...!" Jing Mi was so enthusiastic, her eyes seemed to sparkle as she imagined the story from her uncle.

Qi Xuan, "I've never seen a city, but I hope that place is indeed as good as you said Brother Jing,"

Jing Mi, "Of course it's good! And you should know, in that big city there are a lot of beautiful girls. I've also heard from my uncle, he said there was a place where many beautiful girls gathered there...!"

!?

Xiao Shuxiang gasped when he heard Jing Mi's words, he became curious about the true age of this fellow disciple. "Is this boy really 14 years old? In my first life... When I was fourteen... I never thought about pretty girls, but rather which village I should destroy. But he's.. Ck ck ck...!"

The journey of Xiao Shuxiang, Jing Mi, Qi Xuan, Xiao Lu and Yang Shu impressed smoothly. The more into the forest, the more difficult sunlight to find a gap in the leaves. It made the atmosphere inside the forest feel calming.

Xiao Lu then joined Jing Mi, Qi Xuan and Xiao Shuxiang. They talked about their shadow of the city and also the places they might visit.

Xiao Shuxiang just listened to the stories of Xiao Lu and Jing Mi. He did not intend to discuss the world outside their village because he did not want to be suspected.

The story of Xiao Lu and Jing Mi then led to the reward they would get when they won the Young Cultivator Tournament. Xiao Shuxiang did not expect the confidence of these two children to be so high. Though Xiao Lu and Jing Mi could lose with just one move, or maybe they would give up immediately before competing.

He finally opened his voice, "Do you feel that you can win just by relying on the three movements of the incomplete book?"

!?

Xiao Shuxiang's words made Jing Mi, Qi Xuan and Xiao Lu flinch. The three stared directly at the boy.

"I-it's... Whoever said we only learned that style, we-we also learned another..." Xiao Lu became nervous, and it made Xiao Shuxiang even more certain that the three of them had indeed only learned those three moves.

!!

Xiao Lu and Jing Mi were as if choked, Xiao Shuxiang's guess was just right. They had indeed only learned three moves from an incomplete scripture. Another technique they learned was just casual wrestling.

Xiao Shuxiang exhaled softly, "There's no need for me to ask about how to use Qi, I already know the answer..." In his opinion, Xiao Lu and Jing Mi were so confident in their extremely weak strength.

Qi Xuan thought of Xiao Shuxiang's remark earlier. "It is true what you said, Brother Xiao. We have only mastered three of the five movements of the incomplete scripture. And there is also nothing to be proud of from our level of practice. Huh... We don't even know of any other way than to channel Qi into the sword while it's fighting..."

Xiao Shuxiang looked at the boy beside him without saying anything, he was thinking of something.

Both Qi Xuan, Xiao Lu and Jing Mi were unaware that flowing Qi on an ordinary sword was a talent that cultivators rarely mastered.

During this time cultivators could only flow his Qi into their weapons if the weapons were made from special materials. If they were to flow Qi on an ordinary weapon, then that weapon would be destroyed or even turned into dust.

Xiao Shuxiang knew, and that was why he assumed that these children were quite great. Unfortunately, it is these children who are unaware of his talent.

Qi Xuan sighed, "... If we knew how to use Qi to strengthen the body, but.." he was disappointed in himself for being too weak.

"Did Grandpa not teach you?" Xiao Shuxiang glanced towards Yang Shu, and when his glance was realized-soon Old Bangka immediately turned his gaze in the other direction while rubbing his long beard.

Qi Xuan and Xiao Lu fell silent, they simply rubbed their noses slowly. Unlike the two who could not answer the question from Xiao Shuxiang, Jing Mi was so eager to complain about Yang Shu to this seven-year-old.

"Brother Xiao, the way we teach Master is simply not understood. All that the teacher says is... Use your feet and woosh, hit up Baam! Until words like 'Duar duar jedeer and Boom!!'... Hiish, I don't understand..!!" at all...!!" Jing Mi shook her head as she massaged her forehead imagining how to teach Yang Shu.

Xiao Shuxiang raised next to his brows, he looked at Jing Mi with an expression of astonishment. "Why don't you understand? Grandpa said it clearly,"

!!

Xiao Lu looked at Xiao Shuxiang, "Obviously you said?" he had not expected the words of his sister just now.

Jing Mi also voiced, "Obviously from where, Brother Xiao?"

The two shook their heads, including Qi Xuan. "It seems you don't understand what Brother Jing is trying to say, Brother Xiao..."

Xiao Shuxiang, "Qi Xuan. I was confused with the three of you. Even though Grandfather had said it clearly that if you use a sword technique, you should be able to make a big explosive effect towards the opponent. Even when the sword is swung it should be able to make a sound as if it were cutting through the wind."

!!

On hearing Xiao Shuxiang-Jing Mi's words, Qi Xuan and Xiao Lu were completely dumbfounded. How could words like 'woosh, jeder jedeer, and boom!' it has the meaning as intended?!

"I can't believe anyone understands Grandpa's strange words..." Xiao Lu massaged his forehead, he was like a fool.

Qi Xuan looked at Yang Shu, he also did not believe Xiao Shuxiang's remark. "Elder, is it true that the Elder's explanation while teaching is as Brother Xiao said...?"

Yang Shu rubbed his mustache and beard. "Well, that's what I mean. I can't believe Xiao'Er understands it better than you..."

Yang Shu thought all along that his teaching was wrong, because none of his students understood his explanation. He did not think that there was a child who could understand his words to such a detail.

Jing Mi scratched her non-itchy head, "This... We who are too stupid to not understand or Brother Xiao who is too strange because we can understand what Master said...?" he felt being played with by his parents as well as the little boy younger than him.

Not only Jing Mi, but Xiao Lu and Qi Xuan also thought so.

***