Chapter 134: A Song for the Journey

“Why, look at our noble Boss Cao. You actually know how to beg now?”

Ye Qiu regarded Cao He with a beaming smile, his face filled with disbelief. Under that gaze, Cao He began to feel a little embarrassed.

But for the sake of looking impressive, he gritted his teeth and nodded firmly.

“Shopkeeper, teach me, please. In any case, I’ve followed you for more than twenty years. You can’t let me stay this weak forever, can you?

“If word gets out, it won’t do your reputation any good either. What would people say if they learned that the great Boss Ye’s right-hand man was nothing but a muggle? Wouldn’t that make you the laughingstock of the entire world?”

Ye Qiu shook his head, unmoved.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it. It’s not as if you’ve only been useless for a day or two. Everyone in the Great Wilderness knows it…”

“Don’t be like that! Shopkeeper, I’m begging you. How about this? Just deduct my wages for next month—and the month after that, too. Teach me even one or two moves…”

For the sake of looking impressive, Cao He decided to throw caution to the wind. He had never expected to receive his wages anyway. Not only had Ye Qiu already deducted a great deal, Cao He was even in debt to him.

To Cao He, wages were nothing more than a decoration. He might as well learn a skill he could use to show off.

The moment money was mentioned, Ye Qiu’s eyes lit up. He said cheerfully, “You said it yourself. I’m not forcing you.

“As your employer, I’ve always been considerate toward my subordinates. I’ve never forced anyone to do something against their will.

“You’d better think it through carefully. Don’t come blaming me later for deducting your wages…”

Cao He silently cursed him. What a shameless man. He was even trying to make himself look virtuous. How was this not coercion? Hadn’t he done this countless times before?

He certainly did not dare say any of that aloud, however, and hurriedly replied, “Yes, yes, yes. The shopkeeper is the best. You’ve never bullied your employees or docked their wages.”

“All right, then! Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll teach you a couple of moves. Now tell me… what do you want to learn?”

Ye Qiu was delighted. He had intended to teach Cao He in the first place, but had not yet found the time. The boy had unexpectedly asked on his own.

This had spared Ye Qiu the trouble of giving him a lecture, while also providing him with a perfectly reasonable excuse to dock Cao He’s wages. It killed two birds with one stone.

Heaven, this was perfect! If more good things like this happened in the future, he certainly would not complain…

Had Cao He known what was going through Ye Qiu’s mind, he probably would have been so furious that he would have smashed his head against a wall.

How infuriating. Ye Qiu was plucking wool from the same sheep over and over again. What a vile capitalist…

Unfortunately, Cao He had no idea what Ye Qiu was thinking. All he knew was that Ye Qiu was finally going to teach him a skill with which he could show off. He said excitedly, “Shopkeeper, I want to learn something that lets me soar through the heavens and dive beneath the five seas to catch turtles; something that can take a beating, throw a punch, look impressive, and still let me run away when things get dangerous…”

Ye Qiu: “…”

You don’t want to learn martial arts. You want to ascend to heaven…

And what was with the rhyme? It actually sounded pretty catchy.

“Soar through the nine heavens to pluck the moon, dive beneath the five seas to catch turtles, take a beating, throw a punch, look impressive, and run when necessary? Hmm… that’s rather difficult…”

Ye Qiu pondered carefully, looking deeply troubled.

To be honest, he wanted to learn a skill like that himself. The problem was that he did not know one.

What was he supposed to do? He had already boasted extravagantly, and had even docked Cao He’s wages with a clear conscience. If he failed to teach him now, he would feel guilty.

“Ah! I’ve got it!”

Ye Qiu suddenly brightened. He had remembered something extremely interesting. He reached behind himself and produced a lute.

He said solemnly, “Soaring through the nine heavens to pluck the moon won’t be difficult. Diving beneath the five seas to catch turtles is no problem either. As for taking a beating, throwing punches, and looking impressive… those are all well within reach.

“Come. Today I’ll teach you the Songstep Journey! With a single melody, it can accompany you as you brave the ends of the earth. From this day forth, you’ll rely on nothing but style—and row a boat without oars…”

“Really? There’s actually such a miraculous immortal art in this world?”

Cao He stared at him in disbelief. But Ye Qiu’s eyes were brimming with confidence, and that confidence made Cao He believe him despite himself.

The Songstep Journey was the immortal art Ye Qiu had mastered most thoroughly so far. At his current level of proficiency, accomplishing all those things would be no problem at all.

The Songstep Journey could not only let one fly through the air; it was also astonishingly fast. It could pierce mountains, cross seas, and enter the void, darting freely across the world like a shooting star. Even forbidden zones and calamities could not restrict its movements.

Most importantly, the Songstep Journey was not merely a technique for escaping with one’s life. It also possessed formidable offensive power. It was the very embodiment of killing without a trace—one melody, and a thousand miles away, hearts and guts would be shattered.

The only thing in this world truly capable of killing someone silently from a thousand miles away was the lute in Ye Qiu’s hands.

And aside from being able to attack, the Songstep Journey could also withstand blows. Once the melody began, a powerful gale would form around the user, blocking every attack that came near. It was practically perfect.

Ye Qiu had used this technique before, so he understood it thoroughly and was utterly confident. Once Cao He mastered it, looking impressive would certainly be no problem.

“Of course! Could anything I teach you possibly be inferior? Just learn it. If you can’t use it to look impressive, come back and find me…”

Ye Qiu continued to deceive him. Then he handed the lute to Cao He and said seriously, “This lute has accompanied me for twenty years. Starting today, it belongs to you!

“Here. This is the score for the Songstep Journey. Once you master it, you’ll become an extraordinarily impressive figure.”

With only a few words, Ye Qiu washed his hands of the entire matter and happily lay halfway up the slope, cracking sunflower seeds.

What? You expect him to teach Cao He personally?

Heh. Impossible. He had already given him the score and the technique. Whether Cao He managed to learn them had nothing to do with him.

Want him to teach you step by step? Forget it—unless you were a beautiful young woman, and an exceptionally gorgeous one at that. Otherwise, no one was getting such treatment.

Of course, there was another reason. Ye Qiu himself did not truly understand the technique. He was afraid of being exposed and making a fool of himself, which was why he had not taught Cao He personally.

The Songstep Journey was barely within Ye Qiu’s ability to explain. But the Ninefold Mystical Art and Seventy-Two Transformations of Azure City were already far beyond his understanding. In his mind, those techniques were merely the creations of a group of wildly imaginative netizens with too much time on their hands. He had never expected them to become peerless divine arts.

After receiving the Songstep Journey, Cao He’s eyes brimmed with hope. He seemed to see visions of his future exploits, and a smile crept across his lips.

“Heh heh, Songstep Journey, no matter what, I’m going to master you. Once I do, I’ll be able to show off everywhere just like the shopkeeper…”

Cao He was so excited that he could hardly contain himself, and he bitterly regretted the past. If he had studied alongside Ye Qiu back then, practicing all those so-called frivolous pursuits that wasted one’s talents and encouraged idleness—the lute, chess, calligraphy, and painting—perhaps he would have become just as impressive as Ye Qiu by now.

So the sheet music he had regarded as worthless all these years had actually been a treasure?

Once he understood this, Cao He regretted it so deeply that his intestines turned green. So the clown had been him all along?

He opened the Songstep Journey, and the very first line left Cao He completely stunned.

“The barbarians’ guests wear loosely knotted caps;
Their frost-bright Wu hooks gleam.
Silver saddles shine beneath white steeds,
Who flash and thunder like shooting stars.
With ten steps, one man falls;
A thousand miles leave no trace.
When the deed is done, I brush off my robes and depart,
Burying both my name and myself in silence.

“Hiss… Elegant, dashing, handsome—this suits my temperament perfectly. This is what I’m learning…”

At first glance, Cao He seemed to see his own future self: elegant, dashing, and heroic. He became completely entranced, discovering for the first time that sheet music could be so wondrous.