Ning Chen admitted, he was a person that treasured his life deeply. He would never offend a person he couldn’t afford to do so. For example, Zhang Sun. Also, for example, Zhang Sun.
Of the countless life forms in this world, there was always something above the other. Even if he became a Xiantian, he still wouldn’t dare to act out in front of Zhang Sun, let alone now, when he was millions of miles away from becoming a Xiantian.
While his confidence had surged since he recovered his cultivation, that depended on who he was facing. The senior —he couldn’t beat him. Zhang Sun —he didn’t dare to offend her. At the end of the day, his seventh-grade cultivation was only enough for him to bully outsiders.
Ming Cheng could clearly see the desire to stall for time in his words but chose not to point it out. He needed time as well to investigate the origins of these two strangers.
After all, Yannie’s marriage wasn’t some trivial matter, how could they simply hand her over to someone they didn’t even know.
“Brother Ning, may I know what’s the purpose of your visit? If there’s anything we can help you with, feel free to bring it up.” Ming Cheng asked in a casual tone.
“We were just passing through, nothing else.” Ning Chen laughed as he replied.
“Where is Brother Ning planning to visit?”
“The royal capital.” Ning Chen answered earnestly. “Ning Chen has long heard tales of the miracle of the desert, the Mongolian royal capital. He has long admired the capital but had no chance to visit it till now. Thus, he took this opportunity to visit the royal capital along with this one’s senior.”
“Don’t tell me Brother Ning isn’t a Mongolian?” He displayed a look of surprise as he said so.
“Hah” Ning Chen laughed as he shook his head and said, “We’re from the small state of Ni, it’s nothing worthy of Brother Pei’s attention.”
Ming Cheng frowned at that answer but said no more. He hadn’t, in fact, heard of such a country. However, there were countless kingdom states in this world so it wasn’t strange that he hadn’t heard of Ni. Should he continue pressing this issue, it would be disrespectful on his part.
“Rest well, Brother Ning, this one will take his leave for now and stop bothering you.” Ming Cheng cupped his fists and bid his farewell.
Ning Chen returned the gesture and with an earnest smile, said, “Brother Pei’s blade techniques aren’t bad, if there’s time, Ning Chen would love to partake in a quick lesson.”
“Brother Ning is welcome anytime!”
After leaving, the prince who was still drinking his tea finally said something in his usual calm voice, “Aren’t you a patient one.”
Ning Chen lightly smiled and said, “It’s our first visit to this area, there’s no way we can obtain the information we want so quickly. An earnest impression would go a long way. However, that Ming Cheng was indeed a hasty one, he asked too many questions that he shouldn’t have asked.”
“Not everyone is conniving like you.” The prince blandly stated.
“…” Ning Chen had nothing to say to that. It wasn’t as if he wanted to be like that. He wanted to be an innocent teen as well but he couldn’t do so in this chaotic world. Given how fickle the human heart was, if he didn’t learn to hide a dagger in his smile, all that awaited him was a dagger in his back.
“Is there truly a country of Ni?” Prince Yan asked in an offhand manner.
“Who knows, the world is so big and there are so many countries in it. We might just end up meeting someone from Ni.”
“Hah.” Prince Yan couldn’t help but chuckle. So it was a pack of lies after all, exactly how did Wuyou pick up such a kid.
“Senior, how should we settle the matter of that lady?” Ning Chen asked in a slightly distressed tone. That was the biggest issue they had to solve now, everything else could be set aside for now.
“I’ll leave it up to you, you’re the one who wanted to watch the festivities, you’re also the one who asked to stay behind. Obviously, this matter should be resolved by you.”
Prince Yan rarely said so much yet when he did so, he unceremoniously dumped all the responsibility onto this junior of his.
Hearing that, Ning Chen was flabbergasted. That wasn’t how things worked. Who was the one who caught that ball, who was the one who had the sash draped on him?
So what if he was a Xiantian, so what if he was a legend, that didn’t mean he could bully his junior like that.
“Senior, you’re being irresponsible.” Not willing to be the scapegoat, he did his best to dispute it.
“So what if I am?” Prince Yan in that same tone that was neither too emotional nor too emotionless.
“…” Ning Chen was stunned. How arrogant, how could he do that?
Ning Chen couldn’t help but be reminded of a saying from his previous world, the term foreign affairs only applied to world powers. The senior truly epitomized this saying.
So what if I am? Such arrogance, such tyranny, all that in just one sentence. But then what could Ning Chen do about it? Nothing, he didn’t dare to do a thing.
“Senior, you’re good!” He gnashed his teeth as he heaped that “praise” onto Prince Yan.
“Hah” Not minding that one bit, Prince Yan continued drinking his tea.
The tent fell quiet instantly as he contemplated how to deal with the situation in front of him. On one hand, he had the senior’s trouble, on the other, he had to tackle the matter of Zhang Sun’s attempted assassination.
He wasn’t particularly adept at handling matters such as the senior’s but the matter involving Zhang Sun shouldn’t be that hard for him.
In the entire Mongol Horde, there weren’t that many people who used such scimitar. In fact, it might just be a single faction. All he needed was a single clue and he could follow that thread all the way back to its source.
With the walking nuclear bomb known as Prince Yan by his side, even the strongest faction was nothing but melons and cabbages in front of this handsome kitchen knife.
Just as the two of them were mulling over this matter, a beautiful girl pulled open the tent flaps and entered.
Seeing who she was, Ning Chen immediately panicked. He glanced at the girl and then at the prince. Unable to think of a solution, he finally decided to leave the two alone and not be a third wheel.
“You guys have a chat, I’m feeling a little peckish so I’ll go have a snack.”
Having said that, Ning Chen hurriedly wheeled himself towards the exit. At this very moment, he almost hated himself for pretending to be a cripple.
“Bring back some for this Prince.” Prince Yan flatly declared.
Ning Chen’s body staggered upon hearing that and nearly fell over. Immediately fixing his balance, he answered through gritted teeth, “Definitely.”
Once the tent flaps fell, Ning Chen finally wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and gazed at the distant blue sky and the white billowing clouds. Immediately, he felt his mood improving.
In his eyes, other than that not-at-all adorable Fan Lingyue, the other Mongolians were rather lovable.
By now, the nomads were already starting to busy themselves with the preparation for the start of the growing season. With the passing of winter and the onset of spring, the sparse plains began to show signs of greenery. Though it still wasn’t enough to raise horses or sheep, the plains were, at the very least, no longer that desolate.
Night fell and the members of the settlement began preparations for dinner. The butchers slaughtered the lambs and the fire tenders tended to the fires. Throughout the tents, the nomads could be seen bustling about.
Ning Chen couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy over their idyllic life as he continued wheeling himself along.
His plan was to fit into the local culture but he was mercilessly shut out by the aloofness of other men of the tribe. All of them knew who he was –the bad person who had just offended their precious pearl.
However, the thickness of Ning Chen’s skin wasn’t something the people of this world could fathom. Even if he no one paid him any attention, he would cling onto them with a smiling face. Whether it was gathering water or starting fires, he did them all. In short, no matter how cold the opponent was, he would be the spring to their winter.
It wasn’t long before the ladies and aunties of the tribe began to accept this hard working, affable and kind teenager. Under duress from their wives and mothers, even the men of the Steppes began to change their attitudes towards him.
“Little Brother Ning, you have no idea how dangerous it was then. That plains wolf was less than a zhang (3.33m) away from me. His eyes which shone clearly like a lamp were staring right at me but I didn’t show any fear at all. I pounced on it and after a couple of kicks and punches, killed it.” Seated before a bonfire, Ning Chen patiently listened as a man boasted about his heroics.
“Big Brother Ah Hu, you’re amazing.” His eyes glittered with admiration as he said that.
“Little Brother Ning, don’t listen to his nonsense. Back then he was so frightened, his legs were frozen. It was the tribe’s legendary marksman, Ah Shui who saved him by putting an arrow through that wolf’s eye.” It was at that moment that Ah Hu’s wife walked in with a platter of mutton and mercilessly exposed him.
“Hah.” Ah Hu scratched his head in embarrassment before weakly arguing, “I was the one who finished it off in the end.”
“Even if you didn’t beat it to death, it would’ve died on its own.”
“Big Brother Ah Hu is still amazing. I remember the first time I met a plains wolf, I nearly wet my pants.” Ning Chen promptly came in to save the day.
“Oh? Little Brother Ning has encountered these wolves before?” As expected, Ah Hu’s attention was immediately drawn to that.
“That’s right, back then your little brother still wasn’t a cripple and still hadn’t learnt any martial skills. I was scared stiff by that wolf and continued puking even after it died.” He shyly answered.
“Haha.” Ah Hu laughed uproariously. This little brother of his truly suited his tastes. Not only was he earnest and simple, he seemed really down to earth as well.
Ah Hu’s wife laughed warmly as well upon hearing that. To the people of the Steppes, a wolf or two was still manageable but the moment they formed a pack, they became a lot more terrifying. Being scared to death by the wolves wasn’t an embarrassing reaction at all.
“Big Brother Ah Hu, are there any carpenters in the tribe? Your little brother’s wheelchair is slightly broken and needs some repairs.” As he said that, his voice lowered and took on a slightly distressed tone.
Hearing that, the couple laughed.
“Just leave it to your Big Brother Ah Hu, he’s the best carpenter in the tribe.” Ah Hu’s wife answered with a smile.
Ning Chen was stunned by what he heard. Turning towards the man and seeing the proud look on his face as he nodded, his astonishment grew even more. He had never expected that this forthright and brawny man would have such skill to him.
One truly couldn’t judge a book by its cover after all. Who said that there was no way Zhang Fei knew embroidery, even a brawny man like Ah Hu could perform a precision task like carpentry!
(TL: Zhang Fei- Some manly man from the Three Kingdoms.)
“Then I’ll be in your care, Big Brother Ah Hu.” Ning Chen gave a courteous bow as he said that.
“Little Brother Ning Chen is too kind.” Ah Hu laughed.
As the two continued their idle chatter, the bonfire crackled beside them. Soon, the fragrant scent of lamb meat began to waft through the air. At the side, Ning Chen’s eyes were immediately drawn to the meat roasting above the fire pit. Mouth watering, he was struck with the sudden urge to grab a piece of meat. Back in his previous world, he had always wanted to try lamb meat but unfortunately, he never got the chance to do so.
Ah Hu’s wife was the more observant of the two and immediately noticed the hunger in his eyes “Here, Little Brother Ning, have a leg of lamb.” She said while handing over the first piece of meat that was cooked.
“Then I won’t hold back.” A wide grin was plastered on his face as he reached for the meat and without caring about its heat, chomped down on it with a look of bliss on his face.
“Your senior doesn’t plan on coming out to eat?” Ah Hu asked out of curiosity.
“He isn’t hungry.” Ning Chen continued wolfing down his lamb meat, clearly not intending to waste any time to explain the situation other than giving that short answer.
Thus, the three of them sat around the bonfire and calmly, hungrily, ravenously, gobbled down the lamb meat. It wasn’t long before half of the lamb was reduced to bones.
Ah Hu’s wife ate a little while Ah Hu had a leg himself. As for the rest, Ning Chen ate it all…
Having filled his stomach, Ning Chen thanked the couple for their warm welcome and left for his own tent. As he continued walking, he couldn’t help but feel that he had forgotten something. He gave it some thought but came up with nothing in the end so he simply ignored it. Since he couldn’t recall what it was, it had to be something unimportant so screw that.
