"Disciple, move the deck chair for me, I'm getting roasted here."

The peach blossoms on Peach Blossom Mountain bloomed and withered, nine years of seasons passed, and Shi Fu remained the same lazy and handsome Tao Mian, while the disciple grew tall like a willow twig.

Under the guidance of the lazy Tao Mian, Gu Yigou barely managed to walk the path of a normal person.

As a nine-year-old child, he would wake up every morning to make breakfast for Shi Fu, feed the chickens, chop wood, make lunch, weed, chop wood again, turn over Shi Fu who was napping in the courtyard, and make dinner...

Day after day, it was the same routine.

Gu Yigou was about to protest.

He slammed the kitchen knife onto the chopping board, embedding it halfway, and turned to glare angrily at Tao Mian.

"Shi Fu! You said that when I turned nine, you'd teach me cultivation techniques!"

"Haven't I taught you?"

Tao Mian's face was covered with a large bamboo fan, his hands resting behind his head.

"What have you taught me?!"

Gu Yigou widened his eyes in disbelief, a child destined by the heavens, blessed with boundless potential, already showing the early signs of a face that could captivate thousands of young girls.

"Besides chopping wood and cutting vegetables, what else can I do?!"

"Impatience. I've told you, Shi Fu is teaching you the 'Wood-Chopping Sword Technique' and the 'Vegetable-Chopping Knife Technique'. Master them, and they'll be greatly beneficial. Young people just can't endure hardship."

Gu Yigou was unconvinced, spreading his hands, palms facing Tao Mian.

"My hands are full of calluses, and you still say I'm impatient!"

"Impatience refers to your mindset, not your diligence," Tao Mian removed the bamboo fan from his face and shook it leisurely a few times, "Good disciple, every word Shi Fu says, you must understand well."

The child turned his face away, sulking, seemingly not listening to a single word.

Tao Mian opened one eye, staring at Gu Yigou's thin back, the fan waving faster.

Every strand of hair seemed to be throwing a tantrum.

It seemed this method of teaching wasn't working, the child wasn't listening.

Yigou was good in every way, except for his temper, which needed coaxing.

"How about this," Tao Mian closed his eyes again, "go inside, under Shi Fu's bed there's an old pair of shoes, in the left shoe there's three coppers, go to Wine Seller Li at the east end of the village and buy a jug of wine."

Wine Seller Li, surnamed Li, was known for his stinginess and bad temper.

Gu Yigou didn't want to go, Shi Fu was ordering him around again.

"You're really not going?" Tao Mian asked lazily, "Oh dear, Shi Fu doesn't have long to live, I still have a set of ancestral peerless sword techniques, if there's no one to pass them on to, they'll be lost forever, what a pity."

Yigou's ears perked up, and he quickly stood up and headed to Tao Mian's room.

"Don't worry, Shi Fu! This small task, your disciple will handle it right away!"

Tao Mian smiled with his eyes closed, covering his face with the bamboo fan again, plotting some mischief.

In no time, hurried footsteps passed by, it was the rushing Yigou.

"Little disciple, take your stick with you!"

Just as Yigou was about to leave, he heard his Shi Fu shouting from behind. Though puzzled, he still took the three-foot-long peach wood branch he usually used.

He had picked up this branch in the peach grove, using it as a wooden sword to practice a few moves.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Shi Fu only taught him to chop wood and cut vegetables, he couldn't possibly train himself to be an excellent odd jobs servant.

The footsteps faded away, and Tao Mian covered his face with the fan, taking another nap.

***

An hour later, the disciple returned.

"Shi Fu!"

"Oh, you're back—"

Tao Mian turned his head, seeing Gu Yigou's bruised and swollen face, he burst into laughter.

"Shi Fu, you're laughing!"

"Shi Fu doesn't usually laugh, unless I can't help it."

"I got beaten up by that wine seller! He said three coppers aren't even enough to send off a beggar!"

"Is the begging profession so competitive now that three coppers aren't enough?"

Tao Mian finally got up from the deck chair, stretching lazily.

"Shi Fu, you're not even listening to me!"

Gu Yigou stomped his foot hard, clenching his small fists tightly.

Tao Mian glanced at the branch in his hand, noticing a clearly broken section, it seemed the little disciple had quite some strength.

The peach trees here were thousand-year-old tree spirits, each one priceless.

"Yigou, let me ask you," Tao Mian spoke leisurely, "when they hit you, did you fight back?"

"I did! Wine Seller Li had two bodyguards! They were—this—tall! And—this—strong!"

The child first stretched his arms high and low, then pulled them wide horizontally to describe his opponents.

"Did you win?"

"I, I won!"

"No, you didn't win, you just escaped."

"No, I—"

"You used the branch to protect yourself. That Wine Seller Li isn't someone to mess with, he crippled a thief who tried to steal money just a few days ago."

"So, so I'm... pretty amazing?"

Seeing the little disciple open his hands in confusion, curling his fingers.

"Of course, Shi Fu's 'Wood-Chopping Sword Technique' and 'Vegetable-Chopping Knife Technique' aren't learned in vain. Not to boast, but mastering these two techniques will make you unrivaled."

"Really?"

Gu Yigou felt a bit fooled, but seeing Tao Mian's confident face, he thought maybe he had underestimated Shi Fu.

Turns out Shi Fu really was a reclusive expert!

Yigou's gaze became firm and excited, he clenched his hands, promising Shi Fu.

"Rest assured, Shi Fu, your disciple will diligently practice the two techniques! I will bring glory to our sect!"

"Good, ambitious! Then Shi Fu will leave everything to you! Make it big and strong, create new brilliance!"

"Go, go, go!"

With the disciple's promise, Tao Mian lay back down contentedly.

The fan waved again.

"Disciple, later go to Shi Fu's room, in the right shoe of that old pair, there's a tael of silver. Go to Wine Seller Li and buy a jug of wine."

Yigou: Huh?

"Shi Fu... are you still half-asleep?"

"Shi Fu told you to go, so go."

"I'm not going," Yigou's stubbornness flared up again, "he whipped my leg with a horsewhip, I'm not going!"

"You don't need to say anything, just show him the silver. Didn't you say you wanted to make it big and strong? Are you giving up halfway?"

Yigou didn't want to be someone who went back on his word, so he reluctantly took the silver and went down the mountain.

This time, he returned in just a short while, his face full of disbelief.

"You're back?"

"Shi Fu, I'm back." Yigou showed Tao Mian the two jugs in his hands, "I did as Shi Fu said, showed him the silver right away. That Wine Seller Li, it was like he was seeing me for the first time, he smiled so cheaply and even gave me an extra jug!"

Tao Mian smiled with his eyes closed.

"Disciple, pour the wine and take a sniff."

"Oh."

Yigou did as told, pouring a small cup and bringing it close to his nose.

The scent was so faint it was almost undetectable.

"Shi Fu, this is basically water! How much did he dilute it... No, I need to demand an explanation!"

Tao Mian lazily turned over, sunning his back.

"Impatience. You have a tael of silver, you should go to a better tavern to buy wine."

Yigou nodded, half understanding, Shi Fu was indeed Shi Fu.

At that time, he was too young to understand that when Shi Fu talked about wine, he wasn't really talking about wine.

***

When he finally understood the deeper meaning, the peach blossoms had bloomed red for another seven years.

Yigou was sixteen, still making breakfast, feeding chickens, chopping wood, making lunch, weeding, chopping wood, turning over Shi Fu napping in the courtyard, and making dinner...

He had become a graceful young man, exuding an extraordinary demeanor with every move, causing the village girls to blush when they saw him.

Yigou was oblivious, his life consisted only of Peach Blossom Mountain, Peach Blossom Temple, three chickens, Flying Cockroaches... and Shi Fu.

On his sixteenth birthday, Tao Mian made Yigou a cake, with sixteen candles inserted.

"Make a wish, disciple. This is Shi Fu's unique Surefire Wish Granting Cake, whoever makes a wish will know."

Yigou smiled, his personality had changed drastically from his childhood, becoming much more reserved.

"Then I'll wish for the peach blossoms to bloom red every year, for the three Senior Brother Chickens to be healthy. And for Shi Fu, to have much joy and long-lasting peace."

Yigou wanted to make another wish, but Shi Fu had just said, only three wishes, more wouldn't work.

So he had to keep the last one secretly in his heart.

***

The next morning, a pair of strangers knocked on the door of Peach Blossom Temple.

"Shi Fu, I'll get the door."

Yigou called out to Tao Mian, who was battling cockroaches in the courtyard, and without waiting for a reply, he went to open the door.

Two unfamiliar faces looked at him, their eyes filled with undisguised joy and excitement.

"Young Sect Leader, we've come to take you back to the sect!"

That day, the young man talked with the two unexpected visitors for a long time, the young man barely spoke, only the other two were speaking eagerly.

It wasn't until noon that the young man said his first words.

"I need to make lunch for Shi Fu, you two should leave for today."

"Young Sect Leader, you shouldn't be doing such menial work. We can handle it—"

"No need to trouble you two," the young man rarely showed a gentle expression, "my Shi Fu is picky, he even dislikes his own cooking, let alone someone else's."

After that, the young man bid farewell to the two and returned alone.

Making lunch, weeding, chopping wood, turning over Shi Fu napping in the courtyard, making dinner...

After dinner, Tao Mian usually went back to his room to rest, reciting scriptures, and within five counts, the sound of even breathing would be heard.

Yigou cleaned up the dishes and returned to his room.

But tonight, Tao Mian didn't return.

He didn't ask anything during the day, but seemed to know everything, he asked the young man.

"Yigou, are you leaving?"

The young man put down the dishes, faced Tao Mian, and knelt, the moonlight casting a desolate glow.

"Yes, Shi Fu. I have a blood feud that must be avenged. Otherwise, I would have no face to meet my parents in the underworld."

Afraid Tao Mian would be sad, he added.

"Peach Blossom Mountain will always be my home. Once my great revenge is accomplished, Shi Fu, your disciple will return here, cooking and chopping wood every day, without complaint or regret."

But Tao Mian was still sad, the young man had never seen such a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains, beyond the peach blossoms, there are more peach blossoms. Yigou, you're going to chase the peach blossoms beyond the horizon."

"Shi Fu..."

The young man gritted his teeth, lifted his head, his eyes bright.

"If Shi Fu is willing, come down the mountain with me! Fame and fortune, wealth and glory, whatever I have, I will give Shi Fu the best!"

Tao Mian shook his head.

"I only want the peach blossoms here."

Before parting, Tao Mian gave his best possessions to his first disciple.

A thousand-year-old peach wood sword, and two cultivation techniques.

One named 'Cloud-Piercing Sword Technique', the other 'Nether River Saber Technique'.

And his Reed Flower Chicken, a great tonic.

Finally, a promise.

"Shi Fu doesn't want to get involved with the mundane world, but if you ever find yourself in trouble, just send a letter."

He gave much, but Tao Mian took back one thing.

"The name Yigou was given when I took you out of the bath, fearing you wouldn't survive, so I gave you a lowly name. But Shi Fu, well-read, calculated that you would achieve great things. The name, you can return it to me."

Shi Fu's generosity didn't stir the young man's expression, but when Tao Mian wanted to take back the name, the young man's eyes filled with tears, he bowed deeply to the ground.

"Take care, Shi Fu!"

From then on, there was only Gu Yuan in the world, no more Gu Yigou.