Chapter 08 – Useful Assumptions

Under the cloudy afternoon sky, wind blew through the trees. Wisps of wind entered through a window of a house and caressed the cheeks of an amber eyed boy.

Shen Jian sat on his couch, staring blankly at the cast on his left arm.

He had been careless.

After his resolution to let things happen naturally, Shen Jian had set out to the sparse forest in the hope of some exercise via hunting. However, his mind had still been distracted thinking of ways to start a conversation with Mei.

Being distracted, carefree and uncharacteristically unalert of his surroundings, he had been ambushed by a giant boar charging headfirst towards him from the side.

He had just barely got his arm up when the beast crashed into him and sent him flying. Sent tumbling through the air, his body spun several times and ended with him crashing into a tree right on his just hit arm, injuring it further.

In the time it took him to recover his wits, the boar had come charging in again but Shen Jian dodged it with a leap this time. Afterwards, the fight proceeded much more easily. Though one of his arms was rendered useless, his dominant sword arm was still fine and he had enough experience to be able to defeat the boar in a couple minutes’ time.

Once the fight was over and the adrenaline began to wear off, the pain started to filter in. Shen Jian almost cried when his left arm went from almost numb to unbearably painful in a matter of minutes.

Trying his best not to break down into sobs, he returned to the village on shuffling feet, holding his injured arm gingerly.

The old hunters and harvesters were rightfully alarmed to see him stumbling towards them with a pained look on his face and were quick to check what happened.

Their diagnosis was a cracked or broken bone. Shen Jian almost had to run because they seemed ready to physically manhandle him all the way to the doctor. Instead, he went to the doctor himself.

Unlike the hunters however, the doctor rather calmly applied some strange ointment and wrapped his arm in a cast with further instructions to not move it too much and to consume some specific food for the time that he was healing, which was estimated to be a month or two at most.

He was also very strictly instructed not to go hunting anytime soon.

Shen Jian was slightly dejected but agreed to follow the instructions. He was quite mindful of his health anyway so he wasn’t interested in pushing himself recklessly like some empty-headed protagonist.

Besides, the doctor hadn’t instructed him not to do anything too strenuous, just to not hunt. That being the case, he was still free to do his exercises, though he would have to modify them so his injured arm wasn’t included.

He didn’t mind. Such was life. All he could do was go along with it.

On the upside, he was getting free food. Specifically, from his neighbours.

Apparently, the news of his injury had already spread around by the time he came home. And there, the neighbour aunties had gathered and were discussing how to split the responsibility of making him meals three times a day.

Shen Jian had of course tried to resist and convince them that he could look after himself even with one working arm.

His opinion was overruled.

Thus, their schedule was set and he was given lunch that one of them had already made.

Shen Jian felt both thankful and embarrassed.

Now once again left with nothing to do and his routine drastically shortened, Shen Jian shrugged and left his house to go look at the animals in the nearby farm.

It was irritating that they were so few modes of entertainment in the village. Perhaps he would have been busier if he had friends that he could hang out with but he didn’t. Because of his own introverted nature and his abnormal strength, the very few people even near him in age kept away from him because of some unseen intimidation factor.

It was sad that he didn’t have even one casual friend to bother but he didn’t mind too much. He was used to it and it was somewhat his own fault anyway.

Shen Jian spent an hour sitting on the grass in the shade of a tree, watching the cows, goats, pigs and chicken frolic a distance away. Unexpectedly, he found himself admiring the peacefulness around him.

“There you are!” He almost jumped out of his skin at the shout that reached his ear.

Looking around wildly, he stared in surprise as Mei the cultivator girl hopped over a fence and marched toward him, her ponytail swaying behind her.

Standing next to him, she planted her hands on her hips and peered down at him reproachfully. “I understand your intentions but did you really have to go that far?” She spoke, frowning at the cast on his arm.

Shen Jian blinked owlishly. Was he missing something? Was she mistaking him for someone else? Did he magically forget some previous interaction that he’d had with her?

“What?” He finally spoke dumbly.

Mei didn’t reply. She just sniffed haughtily and sat on the grass beside him, her legs folded to the side.

She looked at the cast on his arm with a frown. “How is your injury? I heard that your bones cracked or something.”

Shen Jian stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and deciding to go with the flow. “Not too bad. Doctor says it’s probably a small fracture. It should take about two months to heal at most. Probably less.” He answered.

Inwardly, he was a bit tense. After all, whether it was his past life or his present life, he had always been skittish when talking to girls. And Mei being so pretty made it even more difficult for him to look her in the eye for too long.

He once more cursed his introverted nature. Or rather, he cursed his loner tendencies from his previous life. He longed for the days when the only people he had to talk to was his parents and the occasional villager.

Thankfully, it was something that got better with time.

Mei nodded in satisfaction. “Good.” But then she shook her head. “Still, you could have just called me instead.” She gave him a slightly disappointed look.

Again, Shen Jian struggled to understand what she was talking about. Maybe she was talking about the previous day where she passed him by with a glance. Perhaps she expected him to call out to her.

But what did that have to do with his current situation?

“Really.” Mei shook her head again. “That was too reckless. What would your parents think?”

Shen Jian froze. He pursed his lips for a moment before he put on a small forced smile and scratched his cheek. “My parents… passed away about a year ago. I live alone.” He mumbled in a low voice.

It hurt him to say those words but he pushed through. He couldn’t keep denying reality forever and similarly, he couldn’t keep grieving forever either.

Mei stiffened at his admission, getting the feeling of stepping on a trap. Among the many things she’d overheard about him, that was not something she’d heard of.

The air between them was silent and awkward for a long minute, one feeling too shy and the other feeling too awkward to restart the conversation.

“Are you… also a cultivator? Like Elder Mo?” Shen Jian asked slowly, trying to broach the topic on his mind.

Mei brightened at his question. “That’s right! I’m at the first stage of… never mind. Anyway, yes. I am a cultivator!” She raised her head, as if expecting him to applaud.

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Shen Jian for his part, did as she wished, letting out an awed exclamation. “Amazing! Then… what can you do?”

“Huh?” Mei tilted her head in confusion.

“I mean, I heard cultivators are super strong, breaking boulders and stuff with just their fists. Can you do that too?”

“Oh!” Mei made a noise of understanding. Then a smug look came to her face. “That’s right. Well, I can’t break boulders yet. But watch this!”

She stood from her spot and went to the trunk of the tree they were resting under. Then she took a stance. She breathed in and out slowly a few times, then suddenly thrust her fist forward.

It slammed into the tree with a loud sound. Leaves fell from above, shaken off by the impact. Amidst it all, Mei pulled her fist out from the tree and let Shen Jian see what happened.

There was a hole in the tree trunk, looking as if it had been caved in. It was deep enough for an entire fist to fit in. And considering it was caused by someone punching it, it was clearly a display of unnatural physical strength.

“So, how is it? Amazing, isn’t it?” Mei asked, smugness oozing from her face.

Shen Jian smiled at her, trying to hide his awkwardness. He remembered causing a deeper crater in a tree with a punch when he was younger than he was now. “Yes, you’re amazing, big sister Mei.” He tacked on the ‘big sister’ title to distract her from his awkwardness.

“Big sister Mei?” She mumbled under her breath. Her face lit up. “Hey, say that again.”

“Yes?”

“Say that again!”

“… You’re amazing, big sister Mei.”

“Again!”

“… you’re amazing… big sister Mei.”

“Hm! Call me that again!”

“… Big sister Mei.”

“Hehe.” Mei covered her mouth and giggled, looking extremely pleased by the flattery and title.

Shen Jian on the other hand was trying to resist the feeling of wanting to crawl into a hole and hide. This was the most embarrassing experience he’d ever had outside of his family.

He didn’t even think of her as a sister, damn it. To his adult mind, she felt like a kid.

But at this point, with nothing to lose, he went all in on the flattery.

“Big sis Mei is really strong! No one’s stronger than you!” He spewed lies from his mouth one after another.

“That’s right, that’s right! I’m strong, aren’t I? And soon, I’ll be even stronger! Stronger than everyone. Even stronger than…” Her boastful speech slowly fizzled and trailed off, her expression turning dark.

Shen Jian’s smile became strained. Did he accidentally remind her of something bad?

Mei shook her head to clear away her thoughts and focused back on the present. “Right. Anyway, what is there to see in this village? Guide me!” She demanded.

He shuffled awkwardly. “Big sis Mei, this is just an ordinary village. There’s nothing special here.”

“Oh come on, I’ve lived in a city my entire life. There has to be something interesting.”

“Well…” Shen Jian thought for a moment. “It’s nothing special but there are some good-looking sceneries around.”

“Do you mean beautiful natural places?”

“Yes.”

“Guide me!” She demanded again. “The city I lived in was just filled with buildings and people all around. I want to see some nature!”

“… Didn’t you come here by flying on that elder’s sword?”

“Yes. So?”

“… Weren’t you flying across the forests and mountains? Were there no good sights to see then?”

“How could I see anything? He was driving the sword so fast, I could just barely hold on to him, never mind opening my eyes and admiring the sights.”

“Well… alright then. Follow me. I know some good places around here.”

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From then on, the two of them hit it off. Though their first encounter was awkward and filled with unresolved misunderstandings, the boy and girl became fast friends.

Since Shen Jian was still injured, he mostly showed her the spots that were within the safety bounds of the village. And thankfully for him, Mei was rather easy to please.

“Ooh” Mei let out an awed noise as the two of them stumbled into a tiny clearing at the edge of the village.

With the noon sun right above them blocked by a thin canopy from trees all around the clearing, the area they stood in had dozens of light shafts peeking through the leaves, with the grassy ground filled with spots of light like there were numerous candles everywhere.

Mei looked around in awe at the light show. Shen Jian stood beside her with a smug smile.

“Hm. 7 out of 10.” Mei commented with a hum.

The smile was wiped from Shen Jian’s face. He angrily shoved his cast at her face.

Mei skipped out of the way with a laugh.

Another day found the two of them going up the banks of the nearby river.

“That’s a big waterfall.” Mei announced as the two of them stood at the shore of a small pond at the base of a waterfall.

Shen Jian peered at the waterfall. Personally, he didn’t think it was that big. He’d seen bigger ones in his past life. This one was only about as high as the average tree.

While Mei was admiring the gushing waterfall, Shen Jian glanced around in boredom until he caught sight of a small frog next to his foot.

He glanced at Mei. A mischievous smile came to his face.

A moment later, he walked over to her and called out. “Sister Mei”

Mei turned around.

A small green frog was placed on her nose.

Mei froze.

Shen Jian watched her with a grin.

Mei’s eyes were locked onto the amphibian that was content to just sit on her nose. Her eyes flicked to Shen Jian. They started to water.

Shen Jian breezily ignored her silent tearful request to ‘get it off, get it off, GET IT OFF’ and peacefully admired the scenery next to a shaking Mei.

In similar ways, whether it be a simple scenery of nature or a sight of animals frolicking, Mei was delighted by many such simple views. Both of them enjoyed their time together more than either of them expected to.

“Hey, Shen Jian! Hurry up! You’re so slow!” Mei shouted with a smile as she ran through a field of flowers.

“Why… why are we running?!” Shen Jian asked, running slower so as to not jostle his injured arm too much.

Mei didn’t reply, just laughing in delight.

Shen Jian smiled wryly. He supposed there was nothing wrong with a city girl enjoying the countryside for the first time.

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One day found the two of them sitting under the shade of a tree next to the local river, eating a few snacks while watching fish jump out of the water every now and then.

“This is delicious. Did you make these?” Mei asked munching on a dumpling, then paused. “You better not have made these.” She said threateningly, eyeing the cast on his arm.

“I didn’t.” Shen Jian said with exasperation. She didn’t have to be that conscious of his arm. It was a painful injury but not a crippling one. “The neighbour aunties made them and told me to share it with you.”

Part of him thought those gossiping aunties were trying to play matchmaker. After all, he and Mei had been consistently spending time with each other for almost three weeks now. It was more than enough time for strange rumours to be born.

He wondered if people had forgotten about the fact that Mei was a cultivator and the status of a cultivator in general.

“O-Oh…” Mei stuttered, a pinch of red appearing on her cheeks as she turned away. She was embarrassed.

Shen Jian nodded, seeing her reaction. That’s right, hearing the implication of the aunties, she should have either felt embarrassment… or anger, for normal peasants daring to try to pair a cultivator with anyone. Thankfully, she was only embarrassed and not offended.

It was possible he was exaggerating the prestige of a cultivator slightly but it was best to be cautious. Anyway, because of their age and the small amount of time spent with each other, Shen Jian still only thought of Mei as a friend at most.

A while later, Mei was tossing some peas into the water and watching with curiosity as the fish munched on them. Shen Jian meanwhile was leaning on the tree and watching the dark clouds slowly filling the sky.

He unintentionally let out a loud sigh.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Mei asked, turning her head, her green eyes peering at him.

“Oh, sorry.” Shen Jian said, realizing his action. Giving her an apologetic smile, he spoke softly. “It’s just… There’s nothing to do in the village.”

“Yes?” Mei wasn’t quite sure what he meant.

“I mean that literally. There’s nothing fun to do while living in this village. There aren’t many books to read, there isn’t much news from outside the village and… just nothing happens here.”

“It’s so… boring for me here. Always has been, even when I was younger.” Shen Jian admitted.

“Well… you’re not wrong.” Mei agreed with him. Though it was true she was having fun for now, that was more because of the company than the activities themselves. Already, they’d done some things multiple times. Visited the same places, played the same games.

She wasn’t blind to the fact that the village was slowly starting to lose its appeal to her. It was only because of Shen Jian’s presence that she was even out and about still. Otherwise by now, she would have been cooped up in her house and cultivating for the majority of the day.

Mei was intrigued by Shen Jian. Despite being just a normal-seeming villager, he was abnormally smart. Not even considering the fact that he was better at math than her, he was more… eloquent with his words.

Not to say that he had a silver tongue but more that he was… oddly knowledgeable. They’d traded stories and fairy tales at one point and while her stories were common ones, his own were ones she’d never heard of. His stories of fictional mythology were both fascinating and hilarious.

But getting back to the point, Mei agreed with him that village life was boring. So she thought about what they could do solve that.

“Hmm…” Mei held her chin for a minute before she snapped her fingers. “That’s right! When I left home with Elder Mo, I packed some books with me to read when I was bored. I forgot about them until now.”

“Books?” Shen Jian asked with interest.

“Yes.” Mei nodded. “Story books mostly. How about I bring them tomorrow?”

“That sounds great. Reading a book under a tree sounds nice.” Shen Jian smiled. “Well, if it’s a good book that is.” He teased.

Mei sniffed theatrically. “Of course they’re good. I picked them!”

Shen Jian snickered. “Yes, yes. Big sis Mei’s tastes can’t be wrong.” He appeased her with a smile. “So over here tomorrow then?”

Mei opened her mouth to affirm when she was interrupted with a drop of cold water falling on her nose. She blinked a few times and looked up at the sky. The dark grey clouds loomed ominously.

“Maybe it’s best if we read indoors…” She said, giving the clouds a wary look as it started to rain.

Shen Jian did the same and agreed. Thankfully, they were under a tree at the moment. “Yes. Don’t want to get the books wet after all.”

Mei nodded decisively. “Right. You come to my house tomorrow morning. I’ll show you my collection!” She said proudly.

Shen Jian stiffened a little at the invitation. Trying his best to hide his awkwardness, he accepted her demand. “Alright, big sis Mei. I’ll visit tomorrow.” He then got up from the ground and stretched his limbs – minus the injured one. “So what do we do now?”

Mei’s eyes went back to the clouds above, rain already pouring down, then to the canopy they were under. The leaves were starting to tilt downwards. “Maybe run so we don’t get wet?” She said, while taking slow steps away from the tree

“Eh?” Shen Jian tilted his head before the rain falling above the canopy crossed the threshold and dumped a lot of water on his head all at once. He yelped and jumped to the side, shaking his head vigorously.

Hearing the sounds of laughter, he saw Mei running away, laughing. Putting on a look of mock annoyance, he chased after her. “Mei! No fair!”

Mei didn’t reply, just looking back at him with a grin. Both of them ran back towards the village, trying and failing to avoid the rain pouring from above.