The next day, the news that the culprit behind the Lu family's murder was caught quickly spread through the village.
Shu Yang, sitting on the porch, had gradually recovered his state of mind after a night's rest.
"Dad, what happened to your arm?" Tianyue asked, looking at his bandaged arm with concern.
"It's nothing," Shu Yang said, "I just had a little accident, it will heal soon."
Even if Shu Yang wanted his children to be somewhat aware of the dangers of the world, he wasn't cruel enough to tell them about the events of the previous night.
If the children knew a murderer had appeared outside their home, they would have trouble sleeping for a long time.
Only Qianyue knew the truth of the matter; he couldn't hide it from her.
After the family had breakfast, Shu Yang monitored Tianren and Tianhu as they practiced in the yard. Shu Yang himself would have to take a break from training for a while.
'Tianren is already eight years old, and he has always been mature. That, along with his martial arts talent, might be enough for him to start really practicing the true martial art soon.'
Tianhu and Tianren had only been taught the various postures and movements of the martial art, there was no danger involved. But that would only keep their bodies healthy, they didn't have any progress on the path of a true martial artist.
The true martial art was a lot more complex, flexing specific muscles, understanding mantras, and ultimately consciously controlling blood and qi to a small degree. Only in this way can their strength explode, and the path toward the 3rd grade stage begin.
But that also came with its own dangers. Just learning the movements, no matter how clumsy you were, nothing serious would happen. But as soon as you began involving blood and qi, the smallest mistake could result in injury. In serious cases, you could even become crippled for life.
'Forget it, let's wait until he's a little older. There is no rush.'
"Dad," Tianan, sitting on the porch beside him, pulled his sleeve with an aggrieved expression, "Can I also practice? Please?"
Shu Yang was about to refuse out of habit, but then he remembered that Tianan was 5 years old already. That was the age Tianhu had begun his training.
'Tianan doesn't have Tianhu's steady personality, but perhaps that's even more reason for him to start getting familiar with these things early.'
'Besides, there is no real danger with just learning the movements. As long as I keep a careful watch over him so he doesn't learn wrong, it will be fine.'
"Alright," Shu Yang said with a nod.
"But Tianhu-...Wait, you agree?" Tianan asked, shocked.
"Tianren!" Shu Yang called out, "Teach Tianan the movements. Make sure he doesn't make any mistakes."
"Okay," Tianren said, wiping away some sweat and calling for his brother.
Tianan ran away excitedly to join him.
Shu Yang could teach him himself, of course. But he tried giving responsibility to the older siblings whenever possible. That would make the brothers closer to each other. He didn't want to see them fighting each other when they grew older; he wanted a tight-knit family staying together even as the next generation arrived.
"Dad, can I also go?" Tianyue, sitting on Shu Yang's left, also asked.
"You're too young still, just focus on your book," Shu Yang said, patting her head lovingly.
"Oh," Tianyue said, nodding obediently. She was a lot more interested in books than training anyway.
'I should travel to Kuo City and buy some more advanced literature for Tianyue when I get the chance.'
'I'll do it when I reach the 1st-grade stage. That should be safe enough to travel. I'll see if I can find some martial arts while I'm there, so I can deduce a more versatile martial art than the one I'm using.'
For the moment, however, he was injured, and he didn't think about these matters any longer. He just enjoyed watching his children in the morning sun.
A while later, Qianyue came out with Tianxu. The little guy immediately left his mother and ran to join his brothers in the yard.
Qianyue shook her head helplessly and took a seat next to Shu Yang and Tianyue.
"That child is already so lively, I wonder how chaotic it will be around the house once the boys grow older," Qianyue said.
"It's good to be a little lively," Shu Yang said, "Besides, both Tianren and Tianhu are mature and calm most of the time. With them around, we don't have to worry much about their younger brothers too much."
"I guess that's true," Qianyue said. She leaned into Shu Yang's arms, smiled, and said, "Tell me a story."
"What do you want to hear?" Shu Yang asked, chuckling.
"Anything," Qianyue answered.
"Well," Shu Yang said, thinking, "Did you know that there was once a famous warrior, but he didn't travel across the mountains; he had a big ship and sailed the seas, fighting villains and monsters."
"Oh, the sea!" Qianyue said excitedly, "Continue."
Shu Yang had told Qianyue countless stories over the years, a lot of them based on memories from his previous life.
As far as Shu Yang knew, there was no sea in the area around the Yan Kingdom, so when he first told Qianyue about it, she had been mesmerized by the image of water stretching out into the endless horizon.
"This warrior was called…Qingxiao," Shu Yang made up, "He was renowned throughout the world, and everyone knew the stories about him, his ship, and his crew. For many years, they sailed the open sea, and whenever they docked in a harbour, the townspeople would celebrate, believing that just having seen the famous ship of Qingxiao was worthy of telling their grandchildren in the future.
"Qingxiao himself would be invited to spend the night in the mansions of the wealthy. Even if you emptied your coffers, it would be worthwhile in order to share a meal with the legendary Qingxiao.
"Of course, Qingxiao wasn't interested in any of this. He only spent a few days on land every year, so he had to make the most of it. Besides getting supplies, the thing he cared most about was the maintenance of his ship. Every old piece of wood or rusty nail had to be replaced, so the ship would always be in top condition.
"Years passed, and Qingxiao's tales spread across the land, building more and more interest. Which is why what happened next caused such a huge commotion.
"One day, a wealthy man claimed to have Qingxiao's ship, stationed securely in a certain town in the south. He said that the one Qingxiao was sailing was just a copy, and the true ship was in his hands. No one believed him at first. How could some random person possibly be in possession of Qingxiao's ship? Wouldn't Qingxiao himself know where his ship was?
"But the rumors of this matter didn't die down; quite the opposite, it continued to spread. Soon, everyone who knew about Qingxiao also knew the rumor that he was sailing a fake ship, the true ship belonging to a wealthy man in the south.
"Eventually, Qingxiao himself couldn't ignore it anymore. He took his crew and sailed south, determined to confront the man claiming to have the 'True ship of Qingxiao' in his hands.'
"But when he arrived, he was stunned. It actually seemed like…the wealthy man indeed possessed his own ship! The one he himself had sailed over in was nothing but a fake."
"How did he do it, Dad?" Tianyue asked excitedly from the side, completely forgetting about her book and focusing on Shu Yang's story.
"Guess?" Shu Yang said, smiling.
"I don't know," Tianyue said, shaking her head.
"It turns out…" Shu Yang said, building suspense for his wife and daughter, "That the wealthy man had long been an admirer of Qingxiao. Ever since his first adventure, the man had stood at the port, watching as the ship sailed off to new adventures.
"By chance, the man stumbled upon a few pieces of wood lying on the dock. After asking around, he found that these were old planks that Qingxiao had replaced from the ship, as they had suffered some damage after a fight.
"The man thought that this was a rare opportunity, so he bought the few pieces of discarded wood to keep as a memento.
"Over the years, the man's wealth grew, and he gradually developed a special interest. He started collecting the discarded pieces from Qingxiao's ship. No matter how far away, the man would order someone to go over and collect them for him. At first, it was simply a small hobby, and he would store the pieces in his study.
"But as time went by, and the pieces he collected couldn't fit in the small room anymore, he got the idea to use the materials to reconstruct Qingxiao's ship. He hired a famous shipwright to recreate Qingxiao's ship to scale. When it was finished, the man would use his collected material to replace the corresponding pieces on the newly built ship.
"Years passed, and piece by piece, the materials on the ship were replaced with the discarded pieces of Qingxiao's ship, until one day, every last piece of his ship was built using pieces from the real ship.
"This is what the wealthy man told Qingxiao when he arrived, and no one knew Qingxiao's ship better than Qingxiao, so he could tell that the man was telling the truth; the small damages from previous fights he had experienced didn't lie.
"By taking care of his ship so well, without even noticing it, he had lost the ship he so loved, and something else had unnoticed taken its place."
"Wow," Tianyue said, looking a little dazed.
"So what do you think?" Shu Yang asked, "What is the 'true ship of Qingxiao'? Is it the one rebuilt from discarded pieces by the wealthy man, or the one sailed by Qingxiao himself?"
"Doesn't the story say so? It's the one with the wealthy man," Tianyue answered.
"I think it's the one Qingxiao sailed," Qingyue said, "It's 'Qingxiao's ship' after all. The one he sails and calls his is the true one."
"Is that so, Dad?" Tianyue asked.
"I don't think there is a perfect answer," Shu Yang said, "If you think it's the old reassembled ship, then that's fine."
"Could it be both…no," Tianyue murmured to herself, trying to figure out the answer.
Shu Yang laughed happily, letting his daughter think it through. He didn't know the answer himself, so it would be perfect if his daughter could come up with an answer for him one day.