"What?!"
"You girl are leaving the mountain!"
A cry of astonishnt ca from the blacksmith's shop.
As soon as the words were spoken, the originally closed doors on both sides of the street opened one after another, and n and won erged, gathering towards the blacksmith's shop.
Oddly, among the crowd, the n were almost all elderly, well over the age of sixty, with only a few middle-aged n in their forties and fifties.
The won ranged from young ladies in their bloom, at the age of twenty-eight, to old grandmothers who were also well over sixty.
In the small mountain village, it seed that only these elders and won, along with so children, were left behind.
The working-age n had all left the village.
"Qing, you're leaving?!"
The leading middle-aged woman grabbed Qing's hand with a face full of concern and asked.
The others also looked at Zhan Qing with eyes full of concern.
Zhan Qing nodded slightly, and with a smile, said, "Yes, I'm leaving. The ti set by Grandpa has passed, and I've t the conditions he set."
"Really? To enter that realm at the age of fourteen or fifteen, you girl are indeed a little monster!"
The middle-aged woman said with a face full of surprise.
As for the others, they also wore expressions of amazent, but strangely, not a single one was shocked or baffled by Zhan Qing's ability to enter the imperial realm at the age of fourteen or fifteen.
It seed as if Zhan Qing reaching this coveted realm of martial artists at her age was nothing out of the ordinary!
Old Sun from the blacksmith shop took out two items wrapped in oilpaper from the cabinet beside him and handed them to Zhan Qing.
"Two sets of chainmail, one for a male, one for a female."
"There are many bad people at the foot of the mountain; you need to be very careful on your journey to find your senior apprentice brother," Old Sun said with concern.
Zhan Qing placed the two packages into her backpack, then smiled and said, "I know!"
"Fellow villagers, I am going down the mountain to look for my senior apprentice brother. Won't you all show so gesture as well?"
After receiving the gift from Old Sun, Zhan Qing also looked towards the other people around.
The crowd showed no signs of displeasure and instead turned back into their shops, soon bringing out various sizes of parcels and handed them all to Zhan Qing.
"Qing, Widow Zhang from our village has been constantly ntioning you; why don't you go see her?" the middle-aged woman suddenly suggested.
Zhan Qing was montarily startled, then nodded imdiately and said, "Sister Zhang has always been good to . Now that I am leaving, I should indeed go see her!"
With that, she walked out of the crowd and headed towards the edge of the village.
As they watched Zhan Qing's figure grow distant, the middle-aged woman sighed softly, and with heartfelt emotion said, "The old village chief once said, Zhan Wuya in his life had no sons, but he was blessed with a dragon and a phoenix..."
"Ye Ling as the dragon, Qing as the phoenix; the dragon has long since left the mountain, and now the phoenix is about to depart as well. One wonders what changes the union of the dragon and the phoenix will bring to this world?"
Old Sun shook his head with a smile, and said lightly, "What's your hurry? Old Zhao from the neighboring pharmacy always liked bothering the old village chief about the dragon and phoenix matter."
"When it cos to the dragon and phoenix, Old Zhao knows best. Qing just ca from Old Zhao's place, and since Old Zhao didn't say anything, what's there for us to worry about?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman nodded her head.
As the people discussed old tis, Zhan Qing had already reached the courtyard of the house at the edge of the village.
A small yard, planted with many fruits and vegetables, and a slightly low flat house sat in the middle of the courtyard.
"Sister Zhang! I'm here!"
Zhan Qing called out to the courtyard.
As her voice fell, a figure walked out from the flat house.
A flowing green dress danced with the wind, and the newcor was a woman in the pri of her youth, just twenty-eight years old. Though she wore no makeup, her natural beauty was enough to cause a sensation!
This was Sister Zhang, also the widow ntioned by the middle-aged woman.
The widow Zhang's real na was Zhang Xiulan, and she was only twenty-eight. Just a week after she left the mountain village as a bride eight years ago, she returned there alone.
Only upon questioning did people learn that her husband died in an accident on the fourth day after her wedding, leaving her a solitary and helpless widow, forcing her to return to the village.
However, in their hearts, villagers understood that Zhang Xiulan never really cared for that man; his death ant little to her.
As for the rest, the villagers didn't pay much attention; they were just relieved that Zhang Xiulan was okay.
"Qing has arrived? Co in, co in!"
"You haven't seen , your sister, in a long ti. I wonder if you have forgotten ?"
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Zhang Xiulan hurriedly opened the gate of her courtyard and said with a smile.
Zhan Qing shook her head, "Sister Zhang, I've been busy trying to make a breakthrough recently!"
"I just succeeded three days ago, and as soon as I left seclusion, I ca to visit you!"
Zhang Xiulan took Zhan Qing's hand and led her into the courtyard.
In a corner of the courtyard, there stood a stone table and four stone stools.
"You've always been the type to not visit unless there's a reason, so you must have sothing on your mind today, right?" Zhang Xiulan asked with a light chuckle.
Zhan Qing's face turned slightly red with embarrassnt, "Sister Zhang, don't talk nonsense. Do you really see like that?"
"What else then?"
Hearing Zhang Xiulan's response, Zhan Qing pursed her lips, imdiately looking downcast.
Seeing her reaction, Zhang Xiulan covered her mouth and laughed softly, "Out with it, then. What do you need?"
"Sister Zhang, I am going to leave the mountain," Zhan Qing said solemnly and in a low voice.
At this, Zhang Xiulan raised her eyebrows and then stood up to go inside the house.
Zhan Qing didn't think too much of it, simply assuming Zhang Xiulan was preparing to give her sothing for the journey.
Soon after, Zhang Xiulan erged from the house with a package on her back.
Seeing her dressed as if for a long journey, surprise showed in Zhan Qing's eyes, and she imdiately asked, "Sister Zhang, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Of course, I am leaving the mountain with you!"
On hearing this, Zhan Qing raised her eyebrows and responded imdiately, "I am descending the mountain to find my senior brother, why would you co with ?"
"Ah? Naturally, to help you find your senior brother!"
Zhang Xiulan put on an innocent look and spoke with a delicate tone.
Seeing her act this way, Zhan Qing imdiately beca wary.
"Sister Zhang, for all these years I've treated you as my own sister, I can't believe you would do this!"
"You actually want to compete with for Senior Brother?!"
Zhan Qing spoke in a hurt tone.
Zhang Xiulan shook her head with a smile, her face painted with resignation, "Oh, please, the Martial Artist Ye Ling? Since when would your sister care for soone like him?"
"I'm accompanying you down the mountain because of what Grandpa Zhan told before."
"Enough talk, let's head out!"
With that, Zhang Xiulan grabbed Zhan Qing's hand and started walking out of the mountain village.
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