Chapter 25: Isn't the Pursuit of Cultivation Simply to Live More Freely?

Two or three more days passed.

Chen Zhi'an continued his cultivation in the courtyard in an orderly fashion, while Shen Haohao still visited every day for meals. Life seemed unchanging.

However, today, as Chen Zhi'an was watering the pear trees in the courtyard, a familiar shout rang out from outside the gate.

"Chen Zhi'an!"

Hearing the voice, Chen Zhi'an went to open the gate. Standing there was Wang Huan, who had painted alongside him at the Huangmen Art Academy for a year. The youth, who was about the same age as Chen, still wore the same familiar yellow robes and a familiar, slightly flippant smile.

"How do you have time to visit my courtyard? Is the academy not busy these days?" Chen Zhi'an asked.

"How could it not be?" Wang Huan complained habitually. "You left without a word, and it made things miserable for Liu Sichi and me. There are more and more bandits gathering around Sunan Prefecture, and we haven't been home for days, working through the night to finish the paintings."

"Master Painter Liu originally wanted to invite you back, but Chief Wu Peilin of the Huangmen said that you had come into a windfall and no longer cared for the monthly salary of one tael of silver. He told us not to waste our breath and just to focus on painting."

Chen Zhi'an recalled that day in the prefecture’s workshop when Chief Wu Peilin had promised Zhou Xiujing that he would raise his salary from one tael a month to three. Since then, however, Chen Zhi'an had been resting daily and had no time to visit the Huangmen Art Academy. Strangely, there had been no news from the academy, and no one had come looking for him.

It seemed the entire Huangmen had forgotten him, until today, when Wang Huan came specifically to find him.

"There were still many paintings to finish today, but Master Liu specifically gave me a half-day off to come and notify you," Wang Huan said. "Your bed and personal belongings are still piled up in the courtyard. If you don’t intend to return to the academy, the Master wants you to come and clear them out."

He leaned in closer, winking at Chen Zhi'an. "The Chief said you struck it rich. Tell me, what kind of fortune did you come across?"

Chen Zhi'an knew Wang Huan’s personality. Though he appeared flippant, he was actually a man of loyalty. When Chen first arrived at the academy, Wang Huan had looked after him quite a bit.

Chen Zhi'an smiled and said, "A fool insisted on giving me some money, and I couldn't stop him. You know, when luck comes, one is bound to get rich."

Wang Huan chuckled and teased him. Chatting and laughing, the two walked together to Xingyuan Street.

The Huangmen was located on Xingyuan Street. As they entered, they found that the usually bustling place was much quieter than usual. Especially in the courtyards surrounding the academy, there was not a sound.

Wang Huan and Chen Zhi'an found it strange, but assumed the other workers were out on assignments. It wasn't until Chen Zhi'an stepped into the academy that he realized otherwise.

"Master Wu," Wang Huan greeted from afar. Wu Peilin was standing with his hands behind his back near the academy's notice board. Master Painter Liu stood behind him, smiling obsequiously and looking cautious.

Chen Zhi'an raised an eyebrow, a sudden, ominous feeling dawning on him.

Then, a soft sound echoed. The doors of the art academy were suddenly closed by several Huangmen guards. These guards held shackles and wore long blades at their waists, their expressions menacing.

Master Liu and Wang Huan’s faces paled, unaware of what was happening. Chen Zhi'an, however, narrowed his eyes.

"Chen Zhi'an, you are a junior worker at this academy, yet you have been absent for many days without cause. You accepted the workshop's salary but neglected the prefecture's work. Do you know your crime?"

Wu Peilin turned around, his aged face expressionless. He had held the position of Huangmen Chief for five or six years—long enough to master the art of intimidating the junior workers under him.

Chen Zhi'an sensed the guards closing in. He pretended to turn toward them, whispering a quick word to Wang Huan. Wang Huan’s face remained pale, but he cast a subtle, composed glance at Chen.

"Chief, I was delayed by some personal matters at home," Chen Zhi'an said, turning back. "However, the academy’s wages are paid monthly. Since I did not come, I naturally received no salary, so I have not taken anything from the workshop. Even if I were absent without cause, does the Chief intend to use shackles and behead me?"

The Chief grinned, turning to Master Liu and Wang Huan. "The two of you may leave. What happens today ends today. If I hear any loose tongues, I will strip you of your rice bowls and smash your livelihoods."

Master Liu hurried away. Wang Huan looked angry, but ultimately followed him out.

Only Wu Peilin, the four guards, and the surrounded Chen Zhi'an remained in the courtyard.

"Absence without cause wouldn't earn you chains or a death sentence," Wu Peilin’s goatee twitched as he chuckled. "But you stole money orders from the Huangmen—money meant for the wages of a hundred workers, plus the operating expenses for the next half-year. Two hundred gold taels. That is more than enough to have your head ten times over."

Chen Zhi'an realized the game.

Wu Peilin continued, "Gold dust was found on your bed, and we sent people to investigate. We discovered that you exchanged a full fifty gold taels at an official bank on Xingyuan Street. Tell me, Chen Zhi'an, where did you get so much gold? If I may be blunt, even if we sold you, you wouldn't be worth fifty gold taels."

"However... I am a kind-hearted man. If you hand over the gold you stole from the Huangmen, I will let this matter slide. After all, you have spent some time at the academy; you are like a junior to me."

Hearing this, Chen Zhi'an widened his eyes, then let out a helpless laugh. "Master Wu, let me ask you one thing."

Wu Peilin frowned.

"Does a person's skin thicken with age?" Chen Zhi'an asked. "Otherwise, how could a man be this shameless?"

Wu Peilin’s frown smoothed out. "Will you hand it over or not? Let me tell you the consequences: if you do, I will act as if this never happened. If you don't, I have witnesses from the bank. Even if I kill you right now, I can simply claim you resisted arrest and were killed by the guards by mistake. Who would care about a thief who stole government gold?"

"You want the gold?" Chen Zhi'an said. "That’s simple enough."

Wu Peilin thought Chen was about to surrender the money orders, but Chen continued slowly, "In these past few days, I have met many people and received many cold shoulders."

"A noble young master from the capital acted rudely and gave me the cold shoulder, likely to humiliate me and, through me, my father. Young Master Zhou Xiujing did the same because I caught that embroidered ball; he believes his status is so high that things he cannot have, someone like me should never possess."

"The young master of the Xu family let me in only to berate me, wanting to drive me away so I would abandon any thought of entering his house."

"But Master Wu... you are a Huangmen Chief. You have sat in this position for five or six years; even if the Huangmen isn't very lucrative, you should have made a decent living. Two hundred gold taels is a lot, but not enough to justify risking your position to target me like this. This is a blatant disregard for the law. In the border provinces, perhaps that is normal, but this is Sunan Prefecture, the wealthiest and most lawful place in the Great Yu. As a ranking official, why take the risk?"

"Furthermore, Zhou Xiujing gave me those two hundred gold taels in the presence of Magistrate Zheng. I doubt your courage is so great that you would dare set a trap to seize them back the moment after the Magistrate witnessed the gift."

"So, Master Wu... tell me, who spoke to you, and what did they say to give you such reckless courage?"

Chen Zhi'an spoke calmly. Wu Peilin was momentarily dazed, looking at the boy surrounded by guards, finding him unnervingly composed. But then, anger surged in him.

"A mere commoner, and you dare question me?" He sneered. "Your frame is too thin, and two hundred gold taels is too heavy. You cannot carry it. I will take it for you. If you refuse, that gold will crush your very heart and liver. What is more important: your life or the gold?"

With those words, Wu Peilin ended any hope of Chen Zhi'an handing over the money easily. "Take him, put him in shackles, and we shall see if he still has so much to say."

As soon as Wu Peilin finished speaking, the four guards lunged like wolves. They practiced basic combat techniques—nothing profound, but their bodies were tempered to be as solid as iron. Compared to ordinary people, they were like ferocious demons whose heavy fists could easily shatter bones.

Taking down a small youth should have been easy. But Chen Zhi'an was no ordinary youth.

As the guards pounced, a sharp, rapid cracking sound erupted from Chen Zhi'an’s bones, like the tolling of a great temple bell!

*Accumulated yin becomes heavy snow, falling in chaotic drifts; blood and breath roar in the cold night, forging the golden bell within!*

Through his diligent practice in recent days, Chen Zhi'an had unknowingly cultivated the "Blood and Breath Golden Bell."

*Bang!*

His foot cracked the tiles of the courtyard floor. The seemingly thin youth turned suddenly, his "Tiger Embrace Fist" unleashing like a phantom. His fist, like a tiger’s claw, smashed into the chest of the lead guard.

*Crack!*

A crisp sound echoed. The guard was not sent flying; instead, his chest buckled inward as if struck by a beast, and he vomited blood before collapsing to the ground.

The move was too fast—too fast for the aged Wu Peilin or the other three guards to react. But Chen Zhi'an’s momentum did not wane.

He stepped back and then forward, his arm sweeping like a tiger's tail to smash into the neck of another guard. With over a thousand pounds of force, the guard didn't even have time to scream before his neck snapped, and he fell dead.

The remaining two guards drew closer. One threw his chains, hitting Chen Zhi'an on the shoulder. Chen Zhi'an let out a grunt, channeling his energy to withstand the blow.

With a flash of his eyes, he ignored the guard with the chains and leaped with incredible agility, his left knee rising like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, smashing into the third guard's face.

The guard collapsed. Chen Zhi'an landed, drew the sword the fallen guard hadn't managed to pull, and lunged forward.

The sharp blade sliced across the arm of the last guard holding the chains. In an instant, the guard's arm was severed, blood spraying everywhere. Chen Zhi'an kicked him to the ground but spared his life, leaving one witness alive.

He turned his gaze toward Wu Peilin. Everything had happened so fast that Wu Peilin stood frozen, seemingly unable to process what he was seeing.

Only when Chen Zhi'an strode toward him did Wu Peilin shriek, "Chen Zhi'an, don't kill me!"

"Who wants to kill you?" Chen Zhi'an said, his expression unchanged. "Sometimes, death is much easier than living."

With a few steps, he caught up to Wu Peilin and kicked him to the ground. Without a word, he stomped several times, shattering the bones in Wu Peilin’s limbs until they were pulverized, beyond any hope of repair.

"Master Wu, you said I couldn't carry two hundred taels of gold," Chen Zhi'an stood over him, looking down at the man groveling on the ground. "If I can't carry it, what makes you think you can?"

Wu Peilin fainted from the pain. Before losing consciousness, he could not fathom how Chen Zhi'an had mastered such powerful martial arts, or where he had found the nerve to rebel. Killing Huangmen guards and crippling a prefecture official were capital crimes!

But at that moment, Chen Zhi'an felt only a sense of profound liberation.

"Cultivation," he murmured, "isn't it all about living freely?"