Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 672 - 672 207 Are There Any Rooms Left【Extra Chapter

Chapter 672: Chapter 207: Are There Any Rooms Left?【Extra Chapter for Alliance Master DongQi 1】 Chapter 672: Chapter 207: Are There Any Rooms Left?【Extra Chapter for Alliance Master DongQi 1】 Zhao Changhai smiled warmly, reaching out to push open the window, clearly wanting to see more clearly.

As the window opened, the cold wind immediately gusted in, soft snowflakes gently fell on Zhao Sihai’s wrinkled face.

His apprentice near him was greatly alarmed at this.

“Master, the weather is cold, your body is old… Let’s close the window.”

“No need.”

Zhao Sihai let the snowflakes fall on his face. Once that thought occurred to him, being brushed by the chilly wind did not make him feel cold, instead, he felt as though it was his family caressing his face.

He closed his eyes, a look of enjoyment on his face, he gently said, “In my life, the only thing I loved was the snow.”

The expressions on the faces of the other apprentices were full of worry.

Liking the snow… it wasn’t a surprise, everyone under Old Zhao knew it, but the old man’s body couldn’t withstand it.

“You guys, who have learned under my wing for less than a year, why have you traveled such a long way to come…”

Zhao Sihai sighed, “I really haven’t taught you much more than words of guidance. I even fell short on simple demonstrations. I truly feel unworthy of the title ‘master’.”

The apprentices stood up all at once, their faces solemn, “What we’ve learned from our master is far beyond mere martial arts.”

“Being with a master, what we learn and comprehend is more about life and understanding the world.”

“Though we’re not fortunate enough to serve our master frequently, the less than a year we spent together has benefited us greatly. Our gratitude to our master for his nurturing is beyond words, not even our shattered bodies could repay it.”

“We hope our master can keep calm here and wait for the divine doctor to come, even a slightly better recovery of your physique… would give us brothers some peace of mind.”

Zhao Sihai gave a bitter smile, saying faintly, “I don’t want to keep my disciples by my side for too long, because I fear attachments.”

“As one grows old, emotions become fragile and are easily distorted by these attachments. The human heart is often not straight, it’s not a matter of mere words.”

He stared transfixed at the snowflakes outside the window, whispered, “While it may hurt to hear this, I didn’t teach you for a longer period because I feared you might replace Ah Da and Ah Er… their place in my heart. I fear that one day, the warmth and prosperity of the world would erase them from my heart.”

“They are my greatest pride, my greatest consolation, the people I miss the most, and the ones I feel most guilty towards.”

“I want to keep them.”

Zhao Sihai, touching his chest, his gaze fixed on the snow outside the window, pledged solemnly as if taking an oath, “I will forever keep them here in my heart.”

The apprentices stood still, their faces full of admiration.

Finally, the oldest of them, a man in his forties, said, “Master, you have to believe that, if there were an outbreak of Demon Beasts again, we would unhesitatingly follow behind you to fight again at the Four Seas Pass!”

“Even if it means we die in the wild or are swallowed by beasts, we will have no regrets! Among us, not a single one is a coward!”

They all puffed out their chests, almost in unison.

“What I’m scared of is this.”

Zhao Sihai sighed: “They shouldn’t have died. Just because they called me master and I rushed forward… they had no choice but to follow me.”

“I would rather you not excel in literature or martial arts, and live an ordinary life, experiencing the colors of life, appreciating the world’s prosperity, and enjoying a few years of peace.”

Zhao Sihai turned around, his cloudy eyes looking at his apprentices, and said, “While still young… don’t waste your best years. When you should be unrestrained, be so. Live your days freely, don’t end up like me.”

“Do not waste this life.”

“Yes, we will follow our master’s teachings.”

“Nowadays, our greatest wish and pride is to keep our master healthy.”

A young apprentice said.

“Ah, naïve child.”

Zhao Sihai didn’t speak anymore, after being lost in his thoughts for a while, he stretched out his hand to catch the falling snowflakes from the window.

His hands, thin and dry, with only a layer of flesh left enveloping the thin bones, the so-called thin-skinned and weak, were just like this.

Watching the snowflakes fall on his fingertips and slowly melt away, Old Zhao’s face unexpectedly showed a child-like joy.

Feeling the cooling sensation, it seems to permeate into his heart and embed into his soul.

“Master, after the huge fight that year…”

One of the young apprentices, after hesitating for a long time, finally crouched down in front of him. He raised his face, looking at his master with reverence, and asked softly and nervously, “after that year, have you ever regretted it?”

The middle-aged man’s expression changed: “Xiao Qi! What are you saying!”

But Zhao Sihai just laughed, saying, “He’s speaking human language! That’s a good question!”

He looked at the snow, his eyes distant: “Speaking of regret… how could I not have regrets? Since then, for decades on end, at every second, every moment, there wasn’t a day I didn’t regret it.”

“It’s a heart-wrenching regret, it’s too late to undo it!”

His white beard trembled, and very little hair left on his head also trembled as he murmured: “Aren’t we all human beings? As human, can we not have feelings? Who wouldn’t regret? My wife, four concubines, eleven sons, twenty-three daughters-in-law, over sixty grandsons, hundreds of great-grandchildren…fourteen daughters, sons-in-law, over thirty grandchildren, and twelve hundred disciples… Not one of them survived!”

“Alone and lonely, am I not alone and lonely?”

“I watched them fight, soaked in blood, howling, getting injured, bleeding, struggling in the Demon Beast tide, and then becoming still; then their corpses were gnawed… finally, they disappeared…”

“All of it happened before my eyes, I saw everything…”

“Regret? How could I not regret?”

Zhao Sihai was mumbling, his old face looked lost, his eyes filled with a distant look as if he had returned to that day.

Hearing the valiant shouts of his disciples.

“Master, we will not retreat!”

“If we retreat, it’s over!”

“Everyone else has retreated, if we also retreat, the civilians behind us will be done for!”

“Master, isn’t learning martial arts from you for today?”

“I won’t retreat! I’ve been saying I would protect my home and country, how could I retreat!”

That was the shout of his disciples when he ordered them to retreat.

He seemed to see the boundless tide of beasts in front of him again, smelled the strong stench, and watched each disciple fight desperately.

Each disciple slew a Demon Beast, their corpses piling up like mountains, but then the disciple would eventually disappear into the tide of beasts, their bodies obliterated.

He thought that a lifetime of hard work would produce countless talents.

Who would have thought that just one battle would be…the end… for all…all his disciples, without exception.

The few disciples who managed to escape were no longer accepted by the old man, he doesn’t recognize them as his disciples anymore.

Even though they still come back every year, bowing down and crying in front of him.

He doesn’t blame them, everyone has their choice when faced with life and death.

But he doesn’t accept those who fled the battlefield, he doesn’t see them as his disciples anymore.

“It’s not that I don’t want to acknowledge you, it’s that I can’t. If I still recognize you, the disciples below would feel it’s unfair!”

“Let your fellow disciples enjoy this fairness. They’ve lost their lives, and that’s all they have.”

“You all leave, don’t come again.”

But those people would still visit him yearly, even visiting several times a year.

The snow was falling heavily.

Lightly touching the ground.

Only after a long while did his bewildered thoughts return, mumbling: “How can one talk about death in one’s prime?”

It seemed that he was talking to the disciples in front of him, but also as if he was addressing the sacrificed ones, and perhaps… the ones who had fled those years ago, his voice was exceptionally indifferent.

“Wait another three days, then let’s go back.”

Zhao Sihai sat tiredly on the chair: “You’ve done your best. Nowadays, Yuezhou City is a place of disputes, just like a melting pot, all sorts of people from all over Anping Continent are congregating here. Once you get more people, disputes and conflicts are unavoidable, let alone this whole event being a trap for the divine doctor by those with ulterior motives.”

“Any discerning person can see, there are those who are unwilling to let Great Qin acquire this divine doctor.”

“That’s why this event was instigated.”

“But who’s willing to give up this life-saving straw? Knowing that they’re going to be caught in this trap and used as pawns, they still keep coming incessantly. That’s human nature.”

Zhao Sihai said dismissively: “Our presence here is inadvertently aiding this trap aimed at the divine doctor. With both my status and former reputation…, they not only add fuel to the fire but they use my past fame to coerce others.”

“I, Zhao Sihai…, disdain to do such a thing, and my disciples should not be a part of this either.”

His gaze suddenly grew sharp, looking at his disciples and said: “Wait another three days, and to fulfill your filial piety, after three days, we are leaving Yuezhou City.”

“Master!”

“After three days, if you still insist on not letting me go back, then… take my casket back.”

Zhao Sihai spoke with unusual determination.

“Yes, Master. After three days, regardless of the outcome, we’ll head back together.”

The eldest disciple wiped his eyes and agreed in a muffled voice.

The other disciples also lowered their heads sadly.

The disciples all knew their master’s character. He was a man of his word, he never deviated from his words.

They also knew that there are many people in Yuezhou City right now who are looking for treatment and hold ranks much higher than their master’s, their backgrounds even more powerful and not in the minority. These people have waited so long in Yuezhou, and the divine doctor hasn’t shown up yet.

What good is waiting another mere three days?

The so-called three days of waiting is no different compared to declaring there’s no hope now, isn’t it?

But the doctor who took care of the Master has disclosed, the Myriad Year Peach effect around the Master’s physical body has reached its end.

The Master’s life span… would only last for a year and a half or so.

What to do then?

Are they to just watch the master die?

Just then, a voice came from up ahead.

“Excuse me, do you have any vacant rooms?” A clear voice asked.