Chapter 4: Don’t Ask Where I Came From

“Who did I offend? Chasing me is not worth the time or energy!” If he kept quiet, it would still be okay, but as soon as Nan Feng opened his mouth, all traces of his heroic air disappeared.

At this moment, the fast-moving large pleasure boat caught up. Due to its speed, the waves it carried were quite big, and the impact caused the ferry to sway. This made Nan Feng, who had never ridden in this kind of ferry before, lose his balance and fall into the River. Fortunately, he managed to grab the gunwale with one hand.

“Damn it! Blind people, get out of our way!” Nan Feng cursed out loud, he was extremely angry because this was also an unexpected misfortune.

“Hehe! This young master has a hot temper. Sorry, allow me to invite this brother to drink and apologize.” A bamboo pole extended from the pleasure boat, held by a young man dressed in a green brocade robe. Standing next to him was a white-robed youth; from their appearance and manner, both were young masters.

The young man holding the bamboo pole had a smile on his face and stood there, unintentionally exuding an air of nobility. The youth next to him had rosy lips and white teeth. However, since men couldn’t be described as beautiful, the youth could only be described as delicate.

“No need; since I’ve fallen in, I’ll take a bath first. I’ve been having bad luck lately, so a bath will wash away the bad fortune and cleanse my eyes.” Nan Feng leaned on the ferry with one hand, took off his outer robe, and left only a small jacket before dipping into the river . Then he started doing some fancy swimming in the Lan Jiang River. In fact, it was more like fancy dog paddling, but he was good at it and swam quickly.

After playing around for half an hour, that is, two quarters of an hour in this world, Nan Feng finally climbed onto the ferry and then changed into a new robe. By then, the ferry had already been hung on the pleasure boat.

“I heard the singing of the young master and wanted to make friends, but I ended up bumping into your ferry. Please accept my apology!” The young man in a brocade robe cupped his fist in the palm of his hand and bowed slightly toward Nan Feng.

“There’s no need to apologize; it’s not a big deal. Do you have hot water or hot tea?” Nan Feng sat down without waiting for someone to invite him.

“Hehe! Servant, bring here some tea. Where are you from, young master?” The youth in the brocade robe and the youth in the white robe sat across from Nan Feng.

“Heroes don’t ask where one’s from!” Nan Feng tossed out a phrase and then started drinking the hot tea.

It was the beginning of winter, the fog was rising on the Lanjiang River, and the water felt a bit chilly. But while in the water, Nan Fen didn’t notice how cold it was. So after getting out, he needed to warm up.

Nan Feng continued drinking his tea, while the people present were a bit bewildered because they had never had such a conversation before. The young man in the brocade robe had met many people and made friends with different types of men, but he had never encountered someone who greeted others like this, and for a short while he didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“Hehe! These words are truly domineering: from now on, whoever asks me where I come from, I’ll answer the same way. My name is Yilin.” The young man in a brocade robe cupped his hands and greeted Nan Feng.

“I am Yi Xuan.” The white-robed young man also cupped a fist toward Nan Feng.

“My name is Nan Feng. However, I’m not talking domineeringly; I said that because people always ask where I’m from and what my background is. But where I’m from and my background are either a place name or a reputation earned by others.” Nan Feng spoke.

“Young Master Nan’s words are a bit profound.” Yi Xuan shook his head.

“It’s simple, for example, if you say you’re from a prestigious family in Lanjiang County, what’s the point? After all others already know your family. However, If you were to state your name, letting others know Lanjiang County and your family through your own name, that’s what’s truly impressive! Let’s drink tea and meet again if fate allows.” Nan Feng stood up and greeted Yilin and Yixuan with a salute before taking his leave. He went on the boat to see what other people in the world were like and nothing more.

“Where are you headed? Maybe we’re going the same way.” Yilin was taken aback, as Nan Feng had only had one cup of tea and their conversation had just begun.

“Where to? Maybe Tieshan County, maybe somewhere else. The wind is bleak and the river is cold; a hero goes and never returns; farewell, Lanjiang County!” Nan Feng stepped out of the boat, jumped onto the ferry, and then signaled the boatman to continue on their way.

Nan Feng quickly left, leaving behind Yi Lin and Yi Xuan, who were dazed. They really didn’t understand what was going on.

“Young master, Miss, if this one doesn’t get beaten to death, he will have a bright future ahead of him. Look at his clothes; they may seem simple, but the material is not something a commoner can afford. He only brought a small bag with him, which indicates that he ran away, and he doesn’t seem to want to go back.” An old man in a black robe sitting at the front of the boat spoke up.

“Beaten to death? No way. He may speak a bit frankly, but what he says makes sense and doesn’t inspire any resentment.” Yilin shook his head and said.

“Brother, he said he’s going to Tieshan County, which is in the same direction as the ferry. Maybe we’ll see him again. This guy is a bit interesting.” Yi Xuan spoke up. She was a woman dressed as a man for the convenience of traveling.

“Our Lanjiang County Martial Arts Academy is not as large and advanced as Tieshan County’s. I hope we can see and visit Grandmaster Yi this time,” said Yinlin, nodding. Like Nan Feng, the two of them were going to Tieshan County, but they had a clear purpose, whereas Nan Feng was just going to the martial arts academy blindly.

Back on the ferry, Nan Feng felt a little tired. He had been swimming inside the Lanjiang River for half an hour, and he was a little exhausted. It could be said that his body was not in good shape, and he felt that his physical strength couldn’t keep up. In the past, when he was in military school, Nan Feng never had a moment where his physical strength wasn’t up to par, no matter if it was armed cross-country running or any other kind of training.

At first, the pleasure boat and ferry were moving side by side, but slowly, the ferry began to pull away from the boat. As they left Lanjiang County, the Lanjiang River flow was fast and tumultuous, so even though the ferry had a relatively low speed, it was also not very stable.

Getting tired of Mu Mu and the boatman’s steamed and boiled fish, Nan Feng took to grilling fish on the ferry. With no air of superiority, he would often call for Mu Mu and the boatman to join him and gleaned tidbits about the world from their conversations.

The journey from Lanjiang County to Tieshan County was a long one, mainly because the path was not a straight one. Ultimately, it took seven days for the ferry to reach Tieshan County.

After bidding farewell to the boatman, Nan Feng and Mu Mu disembarked and arrived at the dock of Tieshan County town.

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Tieshan County is a well-known county, and the county town has another name—Wangjiang City.

The traffic was intense, as Wangjiang City was much more prosperous than Lanjiang City. The streets were filled with dignitaries and nobles. Nan Feng could even spot people with blonde hair and blue eyes. But he was not surprised, as the noble culture he was familiar with in his previous life was Western culture, so it was not uncommon to see Westerners.

After asking around, Nan Feng learned that Tieshan Martial Arts Academy would not be accepting students until a month from now.

Nan Feng said to Mu Mu, “Let’s find an inn to stay in for now. We arrived a bit early.”

“Everything is up to the young master; I’ll go see the young lady in the capital as soon as the young master has made arrangements.” Mu My said.

“It doesn’t matter whether you go or not, she left me at that house and left on her own. Regardless of whether I live or die, she may not care about my affairs. The only important thing is for me to live well.” Nan Feng smiled. He had his own opinions about some things. He felt that if Tang Yun really cared about him, she shouldn’t have forced him into such a position where he had to fend for himself to survive.

“Young master…” Mu Mu was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.

Nan Feng instructed Mu Mu, “Find us an inn and ask for a spacious and quiet courtyard.” He planned to use this month to improve the physical fitness of his body; otherwise, he was afraid of being expelled from the Tieshan martial arts academy or, even worse, not passing the qualification to enter.

Mu Mu nodded and went into the inn. He felt that his master had changed. His actions and words along the way were completely different from before.

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“英雄不问出处” is a phrase that means “Heroes don’t ask where they come from.” It is often used to describe someone who is brave, noble, and not concerned with their background or origins. The phrase emphasizes the idea that a hero’s actions and character are more important than their origin or background.