CH 6.1

The new girl worked very hard and it only took her a while to chop enough firewood for the day. Moreover, they were all uniformly sized and neat, fulfilling both quality and quantity requirements. Aunt Hong praised her to everyone she saw and for a while, Lei Lei became famous all over and even Butler Zhao was more pleasant when he saw her.

Early the next morning, the young master had just arrived at the martial arts training place when Lei Lei was already waiting there. Beside her, there were six logs.

“Can you split each of them into eight pieces with one strike?”

“Let me try.”

With an extra piece, the task difficulty had increased and it was very challenging. The young master thought this was very helpful for practising martial arts so without hesitation, he unsheathed the sword and instantly split the wood as required.

“Good effort, good sword skills! There’s progress!”

“This wood…”

“Leave it to me, leave it to me, you keep practising.”

“Thank you.”

In the early morning of the third day, Lei Lei was also waiting in the bamboo forest with seven logs beside her.

The young master swung his sword and split them into 56 pieces as required.

Really, this “Xiao Bai”. Lei Lei smiled and left with the firewood in her arms.

On the fourth day, Lei Lei was waiting with eight logs.

Eight logs should have been split into 64 pieces, but with the one strike this time, there were only 58 pieces.

Lei Lei praised as usual, “Good! Good sword skills!”

Being challenged to the limit, the young master was unsatisfied with the results and was ashamed, “It can only be like this, too slow.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Lei Lei waved her hand and encouraged him, “It’s already good to be able to do this. Just keep practising and strive for 64 pieces with one strike!”

The young master was very disturbed. He thought that in order to accompany him to practise sword skills, this woman always spared no effort to set up props and clean up the mess, so he decided to make the most of things, “I’ll try again.”

Before Lei Lei could react, the wood on the ground flew up again and a cold light flashed before her eyes. He did not move at all, but the sword seemed to have a life of its own and it flew and danced in the air. Sawdust scattered all over the sky.

In the blink of an eye, half the firewood was destroyed.

“Don’t—” Seeing that he did not follow the requirements, Lei Lei rushed forward to hug his hand in panic, “Don’t, don’t chop! If you chop it again then they can’t be burned!”

The young master was stunned, “Burn?”

Lei Lei let him go then crouched down to pick up the remaining firewood, complaining, “You, if you want to chop them again just tell me, I can go and bring a few more logs. Look, how can it be burned after being split like this?!”

The young master finally sensed something was wrong and his expression darkened, “You wanted to chop firewood?”

Lei Lei realised her tongue had slipped. She straightened up, holding a piece of firewood in each hand and explained, “Since you already practised your sword skills, it would be a pity to waste all this firewood!”

The young master took two steps forward with his sword firmly in hand. He said coldly, “You wanted me to chop firewood with Xiao’s Xiao Phoenix Crying Blade?”

Thinking that this person wanted to kill her, Lei Lei was so frightened that she threw the firewood away and took two steps back, spreading her hands, “What chopping wood, of course I just wanted to help you practise your sword skills, but after you’re done, this firewood would be wasted so I’m just taking them to the kitchen to burn.

The young master took another two steps forward. There was a hint of anger in his voice, “The sword is a weapon, how can you treat it like this?!”

Lei Lei took another two steps back and retorted, “A sword can also cut vegetables and kill chickens, why can’t it chop firewood?”

The young master was very angry but did not know how to reply. After a long while, he said, “Xiao’s Xiao Phoenix Crying Blade is used to uphold justice, punish evil, and promote goodness. It is world renowned and countless wicked have died from it. How could you insult it like this?!”

Lei Lei still insisted on her point of view, “How do you know it’s a waste? It’s good to punish evil and promote goodness, but helping with firewood chopping is also doing a good deed. Look, it would take me half a day to chop this pile of wood. You lifted a finger and saved time and effort. When you finish practising your sword skills, there’s enough firewood to use in the kitchen for a day, it’s killing two birds with one stone!” She swallowed her saliva, her tone turned soft and comforting, “Besides, if you don’t chop firewood, you still have to chop bamboo. Isn’t that the same?”

“How could it be the same?” The young master was angry.

“It’s all being chopped, what’s the difference,” Lei Lei hurriedly shut up when she realised his expression was getting more and more unpleasant. She seemed to understand something, “If you’re afraid of wearing out your precious sword, then next time I’ll find a shabby one for you to use.”

“You!” The young master took two steps forward.

All his reactions were like paper tigers! Lei Lei did not retreat any further. In order for her work to go smoothly in the future, she decided to persuade him with a glib tongue, “Actually, the division of labour in the village is inappropriate. There are so many people who know martial arts but the one chopping firewood doesn’t know any. What a waste of skills and time. What is the point of learning martial arts if not to use it?!”

“Martial arts are not for chopping firewood!”

“Of course, martial arts are of course used for chivalrous acts, but don’t you think it’s also very convenient to chop firewood with martial arts? It saves time and you can also practise…”

His face was as black as coal as he tried to suppress his urge to strangle her to death. He sheathed his sword and turned around to leave.

Lei Lei knelt down and continued to grieve over the wasted firewood.

On the fifth day, the young master went to the bamboo forest as usual. Seeing that Lei Lei was waiting there again, his face immediately sank and he turned around to leave.

“Don’t go,” Lei Lei rushed up to stop him. “I’ve thought it through and understand now. Love whatever profession you learn. I understand how you feel, your sword is sacred and used to punish evil and promote goodness. It can’t be used to chop wood. Look, I didn’t bring any logs today.”

The young master turned his face and saw that there were indeed no logs. His expression softened.

Lei Lei intended to establish a good relationship with this person. She pointed to the Phoenix Crying Sword in his hand and praised, “Good sword!”

It originally was already a good sword. The young master nodded.

Lei Lei touched the blade, “Is it from your ancestors?”

The young master nodded.

“Having used it for so long, has it gone blunt?”

“…”

“It won’t wear out?”

“…”

The young master thought about it and finally organised his words to explain, “It’s controlled with internal energy so naturally there are no issues.”

The hero’s magic weapon really did not need to be maintained and it had been used for hundreds of generations with no problems. Who said diamonds are of the best quality? Lei Lei clapped in amazement, “Good sword! Good sword! Your sword skills are so good, can you teach me a few moves?”

The young master thought she was studious so did not think about it. After a little thought, he gave serious advice, “Swordsmen are steady and strong, the emphasis is on strength. Women are weaker by nature and there are very few who have mastered the sword techniques. It would be better for you to learn the sabre.”

“No need, I don’t have to use it all, just a few moves will do.”

“A few moves?” The young master felt an ominous premonition.

“The moves you used to chop firewood,” explained Lei Lei, “Your sword cannot be used to chop wood, but I can learn to chop it myself. Besides, my sword wouldn’t need to be sacred. From now on, you can be dedicated to killing people and I’ll specialise in chopping firewood. It’s so fast and highly efficient, and wouldn’t take much effort.”

The young master was astonished and his expression gradually darkened. He snorted and started to leave.

Lei Lei held him back in panic, “Having martial arts but not using it and actually chopping wood slowly with an axe, don’t you think it’s stupid?”

“Let go.” His voice was tolerant.

The firewood for today had yet to be chopped, how could Lei Lei be willing to let go? “Just practise a move or two…”

“Let go!”

“Xiao Bai, good Xiao Bai, I can’t chop it, help by practising a move or two…”

The young master finally lost his patience. Angrily, he flung off her hand and left.

Lei Lei’s voice came from behind, “Hey, hey, if you don’t chop, you won’t be able to eat lunch at noon!”