Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

"Xiuning Jie?" 

"Xiuning is a sister who takes care of me. She lives with me in the manor on the mountain. Why did you call me a monster?" 

"This is the back mountain. I've never seen anyone here, and this is my first time coming to the back mountain," the young Daoist said. He secretly glanced at Yanhuo again. After realizing Yanhuo was human, the Daoist became a little shy. "Hehe! I don't understand everything you said, but I find it really funny." 

Yanhuo had never had a conversation like this with anyone outside the manor before. His mood lifted, and he felt indescribably happy.

"What's your name? Or do you just go by 'Daoist'?" Yanhuo sat down next to the Daoist. 

*Cough, cough!* The Daoist cleared his throat, stood up, and introduced himself seriously. "I am a humble Daoist, my secular name is Zhang Feng, my Daoist name is Shulingzi, and I'm a third-generation disciple of Daoqing Temple." 

"Hehe! Your Daoist name is actually 'Shulingzi,' that's such a weird name," Yanhuo pointed at the trees and laughed. 

"That's not what it is! It's 'Shulingzi,' not 'Shulinzi.' 'Shu' is from Mount Shu, 'ling' means clever or quick-witted, not 'trees,'" Zhang Feng corrected him, looking a little annoyed. 

"Oh! I don't know how to read, so I didn't know what you meant by those words." 

"Don't know how to read!? Oh!" Zhang Feng thought to himself. "Alright, let me teach you what these characters mean!" With that, Zhang Feng began drawing characters on the ground with a stick. 

"No need. My father…" Yanhuo stopped himself, thinking, "With the way he treats me, how can I still call him 'father'? He doesn't let me learn to read, so I'll learn it secretly. Now's a good opportunity!" 

Yanhuo decided to focus and carefully watched Zhang Feng as he drew the characters.

Time passed quickly, and Yanhuo became more and more interested in learning to read. Zhang Feng, too, was thrilled to teach. In Daoqing Temple, Zhang Feng had only ever been the one learning, never the teacher. But today, he had the chance to teach someone. Yanhuo's eagerness to learn completely fed into Zhang Feng's vanity. However, Yanhuo's speed in learning left Zhang Feng stunned. He could hardly believe how quickly Yanhuo picked it up. After a few hours, Zhang Feng had drawn over a thousand characters on the ground.

"Have you remembered all these characters?" 

"Yes." 

"Do you understand what each one means?" 

"Yes, I understand them all," Yanhuo nodded. 

"Then tell me, the four characters 'xia gan yi dan' (侠肝义胆) that I taught you half an hour ago—how do you write them and what do they mean?" 

Yanhuo immediately picked up the stick and began drawing. Although his handwriting was crooked, the four characters were written perfectly, and after finishing, he said, "The liver of a chivalrous person, the courage of a righteous man. It describes someone who is brave, fights for justice, and helps the weak." 

"Y-You... you... my heavens! Are you really human? Not a monster or something!?" 

"How annoying! Why do you keep asking that?" 

"Is it really your first time learning to read? You're not lying to me?" 

"It's really my first time. And the words I just used were all the ones you taught me!" 

"… Yeah, they were all the ones I taught you." 

Zhang Feng's face turned pale, his expression full of disbelief. He almost wanted to cry. The characters Zhang Feng had learned when he was a child had taken him three months to master. Yet Yanhuo had learned them all in just a few hours. "It's just not fair! People really do get better as time goes on, huh?"

"A prodigy!" Seeing Zhang Feng staring blankly, Yanhuo didn't know what was going on, so he asked, "Zhang Feng Ge, what's wrong?" 

"You just called me what?" 

"I called you Zhang Feng Ge! Is there something wrong?" 

"Hehe! No, no, hehe!" Zhang Feng was an orphan, raised in Daoqing Temple. He had never experienced the warmth of familial love, so when Yanhuo called him "Zhang Feng Ge," it filled his heart with joy. 

"Alright, it's getting late. I should return to the manor. If I'm late, Xiuning Jie will come looking for me." The few hours spent with Zhang Feng had been the happiest time in Yanhuo's life. Though he felt reluctant to leave, the sun was setting, and if he didn't go back now, Xiuning would surely notice. If she found out that he had been with Zhang Feng, he might never be allowed to leave the manor again. 

"Ai yo! It's already so late, I should go back to the temple," Zhang Feng said, thinking to himself, "Sigh, I didn't even get to chop any firewood. I wonder if I'll get any dinner tonight." 

"Zhang Feng Ge, I'll be here every afternoon. Tomorrow... will you come again? I want to learn more characters," Yanhuo asked, his eyes filled with pleading. 

"I'll come if I can. At worst, I'll just forget to serve tea to my master. Having such a smart student, it's worth it even if I get scolded more and eat less. Hehe! And he calls me Zhang Feng Ge! Hehe!" Zhang Feng smiled to himself as he thought. "But teaching characters is not going to be enough. My few books and brushes won't be enough for him to learn. Hehe! I'll bring a few more books tomorrow." 

"I'll come up the mountain tomorrow afternoon, you wait for me here." 

Zhang Feng agreed to Yanhuo's request. 

Perhaps because Zhang Feng had become familiar with the mountain paths, or maybe his leg injury had healed, his descent down the mountain became noticeably lighter. Yanhuo, as usual, maintained his behavior and habits. He didn't want Xiuning to notice anything different. 

At lunchtime, it was still Xiuning who came to call him, but this time, Yanhuo obediently followed her to the dining hall. After lunch, Yanhuo prepared to go out. Today, he had specifically asked Xiuning to prepare a small snack. He said it was for himself to enjoy while playing in the forest, but in truth, the snack was meant for Zhang Feng. Yanhuo wanted to thank Zhang Feng for teaching him how to read, so he thought he should return the favor somehow. 

When Yanhuo arrived at the forest, the sun was already high in the sky. 

"Why hasn't he come yet? Did I come too early? I must've come too early; I was too eager," Yanhuo thought. After waiting for another hour, he could no longer sit still. "Why isn't he here yet? Could it be that his master didn't let him come up the mountain?" Just as Yanhuo grew anxious, Zhang Feng finally appeared from the mountain path. He was walking and laughing, holding two books in his hands. 

"Yanhuo, look at what I brought you! It's a good thing!" Zhang Feng shouted joyfully. 

From then on, Zhang Feng came up the mountain every day, bringing books for Yanhuo. At first, he only brought two books each day, but Yanhuo's reading speed was so fast, and his memory so good, that by afternoon, two books were never enough. Zhang Feng gradually increased the number of books he brought, and when it reached ten, he was too scared to bring more. It wasn't because Yanhuo couldn't keep up—it was because Zhang Feng was worried that the senior brothers in the Daoqing Temple's library would notice if he brought too many books.