Chapter Twenty-One: Xiao Li’s Persistent Pestering to Become an Apprentice

Meng Xiaoli had no direction and no goal. Her only intention was to learn martial arts from the great Master Dugu to protect herself, but Master Dugu had no intention of taking on an apprentice, so Meng Xiaoli simply followed him from a distance.

After walking a few paces, Master Dugu stopped, turned around, and asked impatiently, "I have saved you and talked to you; what more do you want by following me?" Meng Xiaoli replied weakly, "To be your apprentice." Master Dugu paced back and forth in frustration, then flicked his sleeves and said, "I am going to find Chief Biao Chen to drink. Stop following me, or I swear I will kill you." Meng Xiaoli tightened her grip on her bundle and retorted, "The road is wide and belongs to everyone; you walk your path and I will walk mine. Who says I am following you?" Master Dugu’s mustache bristled with anger, but he had no choice but to turn around and keep walking.

Meng Xiaoli followed the path of Master Dugu from summer into autumn. When the cold wind blew, she added an outer garment. She watched as Master Dugu went to drink with Beggar Sect disciples, chatted with members of the Shenmu Sect, or even, at nearly sixty years old, frequented the Kuanghua Pavilion, theaters, and gambling dens with the escorts of the Nifan Escort Agency. He indulged in food, drink, and gambling without restraint, traveling from the north to Shaanxi, then back to Shandong, visiting famous mountains and traversing great rivers.

On a whim, he would head to Hangzhou just to watch a top-tier dancer perform, then suddenly move to Hubei to listen to local folk songs, or dash to the Songlin Temple to listen to scriptures with the pilgrims. He would climb the Wudang Mountains to exchange martial arts pointers with the Taoists, then head to Yingtian Prefecture for fine wine or to Chongqing for local snacks.

Along the way, performing acts of chivalry was merely a trivial exertion for him; punishing the wicked was as simple as a wave of his hand. It was not strange for such a man to appear anywhere in the world. Alone and unburdened, dressed in red with a flask of wine, he had traversed the ends of the earth. With no home to return to, following Master Dugu became Meng Xiaoli's only pleasure.

Autumn passed in a blink, and winter arrived. In the season of deep snow, Meng Xiaoli had to add a padded jacket and find shelter every night, lighting a fire to stay warm or risk freezing to death.

Master Dugu, possessed of profound martial arts, feared neither extreme heat nor biting cold. He slept soundly in a stone cave, while Meng Xiaoli gathered dry branches outside to build a fire and roast the wild chickens she caught.

The savory aroma of the roasting meat drifted into the cave on the cold wind, reaching Master Dugu’s nose. Too proud to ask for any, he tossed and turned in his sleep. Hearing Meng Xiaoli tearing into the meat and swallowing, he finally reached his limit. He sat up, pointed at her, and snapped, "If you must eat meat, why must you make such a racket?" Meng Xiaoli wiped her greasy mouth and beckoned, "If you are hungry, come over and eat with me."

Master Dugu’s eyes lit up. He pulled a wine flask from his side, rose with a smile, and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. After all, I did save your life." He sat by the campfire and sighed, "Little girl, you are quite persistent. You have followed me for half a year. The last person who followed me like this was a spy from the Fengyun Pavilion, and he has been dead for years."

Meng Xiaoli tore off half a chicken and handed it to him, saying, "The story between us cannot be explained by a single chicken." Master Dugu was about to eat but paused, startled, "Then how many chickens would it take to explain it?"

Meng Xiaoli waved her hand with a smile and replied, "I mean nothing else. It’s just that by following your path and learning your way of life, I truly feel you are the most carefree person in the world. Why do you still struggle so hard in pursuit of freedom?"

Master Dugu took a swig of wine, relaxed, and sighed, "Carefree is one thing, but I have no money. Without money, everything is difficult; where is the freedom in that? Although I go around sponging off others, they only fear my martial arts. Few treat me as a true friend. They are people who value profit above all else; I am the only one who brings them no benefit, yet they still associate with me."

Meng Xiaoli asked, "With your skills, are you afraid of not having money? You could open a martial arts school and make a fortune."

Master Dugu sipped his wine and laughed, "For an ordinary person to make money, they must always be obsequious. Even if I didn't have to be submissive, it would still consume my time. Using my limited time to achieve things for others is, to me, a waste of life. Though people die for wealth and birds for food, life is always about trade-offs. Between the things I love and money, I choose to give up money. The money I win at the gambling den is spent on wine or given to women at the Ruyi Pavilion."

Meng Xiaoli took a sip of wine and countered, "Is it necessary to spend it at a brothel?" Master Dugu tore off a piece of chicken, shook his head, and said, "I am a man. Don't look at my age; I am still a man. It is normal for humans to have desires. While I am not a man of excessive lust, there is no need to suppress human nature, is there?"

Meng Xiaoli frowned in confusion, "Then why don't you find a proper woman?" Master Dugu waved his hands quickly, "No, no! Which woman wouldn't need to be supported for a lifetime? If she had a child, would I have to drag a family everywhere I go? Besides, if I am alone, missing a meal won't kill me, but with a woman and child, there is never a day without expenses. If the woman has a taste for jewelry and trinkets, wouldn't you have to buy them? Such trouble is endless; just thinking about it is terrifying. You must know that I am too afraid of being needed. If that happens, I lose yet another shred of freedom. What is wrong with women in a brothel? We are even, a normal transaction, and there is no need for the entanglement of love. Isn't that comfortable?"

Meng Xiaoli nodded and smiled, "Fine. You are pleasing yourself. Since that is the case, what is it that makes you unfree?"

Master Dugu drank, gazed at the heavy snow outside the cave, and sighed, "It is like when I watched my beloved woman being snatched away to be a concubine by a powerful official, and I was suppressed by that very power. Now, my hometown of Qingzhou is facing a dire situation, and no matter how high my martial arts are, I am powerless to help. Being human, there are always things you cannot change."

Meng Xiaoli had drunk a few mouthfuls of wine and felt a bit tipsy. She asked, "With your martial arts, who would dare to snatch your woman?"

Master Dugu let out a deep sigh, "When I was young, I had nothing. I fell in love with a girl from my village, and we were deeply in love. Later, she caught the eye of a passing general and was locked away in his manor. I had no way to seek justice. The last time I saw her was in her family's backyard; she was crying behind the wall, begging me not to think of her anymore. Since that day, I knew I would never see her again. I watched from the crowd as she was married into a grand mansion, and there was no news of her after that, until I heard of her death from old age and illness years ago. Forty years passed in the blink of an eye."

Meng Xiaoli pressed, "Did you never marry because of her?" Master Dugu drank and shook his head, "I grieved for a while, but it wasn't entirely for her. I simply focused on martial arts, dedicating myself to perfecting my skills, and didn't put my heart into romance. When I don't think of it, my heart is like still water; when I do, there is only a hint of nostalgia. Who would have thought that one missed opportunity would last a lifetime?"

Meng Xiaoli, eyes half-closed with intoxication, looked at Master Dugu and asked, "Did you ever seek revenge on that general?" Master Dugu waved his hand and laughed heartily, "He was high and powerful, and I was a mere commoner; how could I do anything to him? By the time I achieved success and fame, he was already long dead." With that, he tore off another piece of chicken and chewed.

Seeing Master Dugu open up to her so candidly about his heart, Meng Xiaoli felt that such a man, so blunt and honest, could not be dark-hearted.

She shifted her gaze to his clothes and asked curiously, "Why do you always wear red?"

Master Dugu patted his clothes, stood up, and gestured, "I like red. It is as passionate and unrestrained as fire, just like this heart of mine, which still beats wildly," then he sat back down and said seriously, "Mainly, it makes me look younger." Meng Xiaoli burst into laughter, but unexpectedly, Master Dugu pointed at her and interrupted, "Didn't you say that Jin Xiaodao doesn't know martial arts? If you hate her so much, why didn't you kill her before leaving?"

The question stopped Meng Xiaoli’s laughter instantly. She leaned against the cave wall, dejected, and said, "I told you, I am no match for my husband in martial arts. He is determined to protect her, so I have no choice. Besides, he is kept in the dark. If I were to kill Jin Xiaodao rashly, he would truly resent me."

"You have already left; why do you care what he thinks?"

Meng Xiaoli, her mind clouded by alcohol, her cheeks flushed, sighed, "I still love him!"

Seeing this, Master Dugu said nothing more. Noticing she was swaying from intoxication, he helped Meng Xiaoli into the cave to rest. Returning to the entrance, he reached out to move her bundle and saw a small garment for a young girl inside. He realized it must have belonged to Meng Xiaoli’s deceased daughter. Looking at her again, he felt a deeper sense of pity. He set the bundle inside, sat alone at the cave entrance, and gazed at the falling snow, his thoughts drifting to parts unknown.

The next morning, as soon as Meng Xiaoli woke up, her first words were, "When will you take me as your apprentice?" Master Dugu picked up his wine flask and walked away, ignoring her entirely.

Meng Xiaoli followed quickly, pleading, "Don't worry, I know you are unrestrained and love freedom. I will learn martial arts only when you are idle; I won't interfere with your drinking and playing. I don't need you to support me, and I can help ease your loneliness."

Meng Xiaoli nagged him all the way. Master Dugu initially ignored her, but eventually, he grew annoyed and stopped, curbing his patience to say, "In that case, show me a few moves so I can see your foundation."

Upon hearing this, Meng Xiaoli’s eyes lit up. Thinking he had agreed, she was overjoyed, set down her bundle, and said, "Really? I will show you a few moves right now."

Meng Xiaoli performed the techniques of the Xuanmo Sect, drew her sword, and practiced a few moves in the air, then hopped back to Master Dugu, looking at him expectantly. "How was that? Is it okay?"

Master Dugu watched carefully, his expressionless face unchanged. When asked, he nodded and said, "Hmm, it's okay. Your martial arts are good enough; no need to learn anything else."

"Hey?" Seeing Master Dugu walk away, Meng Xiaoli quickly grabbed her bundle and chased after him. "Didn't you want to see my foundation to see if I could learn your martial arts?"

"No," Master Dugu answered firmly without looking back.

"Why not? Explain yourself!" Meng Xiaoli persisted. Master Dugu turned his head slightly while walking and said, "I, the great Master Dugu, have never taken an apprentice in my life. If I were to finally take a female apprentice, and one with such poor foundation at that, my reputation in my twilight years would be ruined. The end of the year is approaching; let me have a peaceful new year."

Meng Xiaoli trotted along behind him, asking, "Poor foundation? That can't be true, right? Are you lying to me? New Year? Where are you spending the New Year? Can you take me with you? Are you having dumplings or sweet rice balls..." Amidst Meng Xiaoli's persistent chatter, their figures grew smaller and smaller, leaving nothing but the deep blue of the mountain sky.