Chapter Seven: The Greatest Fear Is Deceiving Oneself

“Master Zhang, are you just leaving like this?!” Still waiting for Zhang Qian to continue testing him, Ren Cong was caught off guard when his counterpart announced his departure without preamble. Unable to stop him, Ren Cong jumped up in frustration.

Except for the words “Master Zhang,” Zhang Qian understood nothing else that Ren Cong said. He turned back, smiled, cupped his hands in a gesture of farewell, and strode briskly toward Jixiang Temple.

“Master…” Ren Cong, both angry and anxious, stood in place, stamping his feet repeatedly.

The experts he’d brought home in the past had all proven to be frauds, never teaching him any secret skills. Yet, at least for the sake of money and fine food, they always tried to please him. Yet today, this Master Zhang had not even the mood to test him, asked a few inexplicable questions, and then simply walked away.

“Young master, this Master Zhang is certainly extraordinary!” Just as Ren Cong hesitated, considering whether to leap onto his mount and chase after Zhang Qian to give him a sound beating, his retainer Ren Quan suddenly lowered his head and whispered in his ear.

“Nonsense!” Ren Cong, simmering with anger, immediately found an outlet. He turned his head coldly away and growled in a low voice, “He’s obviously strange, do you need to tell me?! Some lose their way, but who loses track of the years and months?! He’s clearly testing me, clearly mocking me! This man, this man has no sense whatsoever! Ren Quan, chase after him and teach him a lesson! Whether he’s an expert or not, even if I give up learning from him, I must vent this anger today!”

“Young master, please calm down!” Hearing Ren Cong’s words growing more outrageous, Ren Quan hurriedly grabbed his arm. “I said he was extraordinary, not because he’s lost track of time, nor because he deliberately neglected you. I meant that not only is his attire unusual, but his actions are also different from ordinary men.”

“Nonsense, how can a normal person behave so rudely? When I heard cries for help, I immediately risked myself to come to the rescue, only for him to mock me again and again!” Ren Cong’s face remained flushed with anger, but his shouting had diminished, and he made no further moves.

“Please, young master, let me finish!” Fearing Ren Cong might cause trouble, Ren Quan shook his arm vigorously and quickly added, “The item in his hand is not a unique weapon but a bundle wrapped and sewn with straps. It originally contained a book, but he stuffed it with rocks on the spot!”

“So what? If he didn’t want to be eaten by wolves, of course he’d put something hard inside!” Unclear about what Ren Quan was getting at, Ren Cong rolled his eyes and replied irritably.

“The wolves were killed, two of them, yet the bundle remained intact. The book inside seems unharmed as well!” Ren Quan’s powers of observation were far sharper than those of his wealthy young master. He continued quietly, “When the master poured out the stones just now, I stole a glance inside his bundle. There were several compartments, each sealed with rows of golden studs, each stud no bigger than an ant, placed with perfect precision.”

Fearing his young master might not understand, Ren Quan pinched his thumb and forefinger together to illustrate the size of the golden studs.

Yet most of his efforts were wasted. Ren Cong saw nothing remarkable in the rows of ant-sized golden studs set with exacting precision. Instead, he focused completely on Ren Quan’s first point: “That bundle really wasn’t damaged at all? Did you see clearly?”

---

“Master, I’ve protected the lord for many years, wandering far and wide—my eyes have never failed me!” Annoyed that Ren Cong doubted his abilities, Ren Quan flushed and asserted loudly.

Ren Cong, however, ignored his embarrassment, slapped his hands together and laughed. “I understand now, that bundle is a treasure! On the surface it’s just for carrying things, but in reality it’s a magical weapon!”

“Master!” Ren Quan was caught between laughter and tears, but could not deny the logic. Gritting his teeth, he revealed his true intention. “Even if those studs aren’t pure gold, making them so small and so precisely placed is extremely rare. And to have a bundle sewn with several rows of golden studs, used only for carrying books and smashing wolf heads—what a lavish life the master must lead! To spend gold as if it were dirt is no exaggeration. Moreover, even though the master doesn’t eat meat, those two wolf pelts could be tanned and traded for hundreds of coins. Yet he didn’t even glance at them, leaving them in the wild!”

“Nonsense, someone who uses golden studs for bag fastenings wouldn’t care about wolf pelts!” Ren Cong’s anger vanished in an instant. He turned to gaze at Zhang Qian’s receding figure, quickly calculating in his mind.

If Master Zhang had always lived so extravagantly, it was understandable that he’d ignore Ren Cong’s modest “sincerity.” After all, the Ren family, near Chang’an, was only comfortably well-off. They owned fields and businesses but had produced no famous scholars or high officials.

As the legends went, true masters rarely involved themselves with ordinary folk, and the greater their skills, the loftier their standards.

Thinking this, Zhang Qian’s earlier refusal to accept his invitation no longer seemed offensive. As the saying goes, the phoenix will not roost in ordinary trees. If Ren Cong couldn’t attract the master, it was his own lack of sincerity or that his estate didn’t meet the master’s standards.

Still, to miss the chance to study under such a master—how could Ren Cong accept that? He racked his brains, wondering what else he could offer to move “Master Zhang.” Just then, Ren Quan’s incessant chatter buzzed in his ear again. “And, young master, even I would need a weapon to kill two wolves. That master used only his bundle to smash them. His arm strength must be unmatched in the entire Ren estate!”

“I told you, that bundle is a treasure!” Ren Cong, eager to learn, rebuked impatiently. “What’s the use of all this? The master’s gone, he didn’t even bother to test me!”

“This…” Ren Quan, blushing from the scolding, hesitated and pressed on, “But young master, you never mentioned apprenticeship! I think the master wasn’t disdainful of testing you, but simply didn’t want to associate with us.”

“Isn’t that the same?!” Ren Cong stomped his foot, eyes brimming with tears.

He looked mature, but he was actually just over eighteen years old. So being shut out for the first time, he couldn’t help but feel dejected. Ren Quan, a seasoned veteran, saw his young master’s distress and quickly comforted him. “It’s not the same. He refused to visit the estate, but didn’t refuse to travel with you. If you follow him and stop mentioning hospitality, just treat it as coincidental, then adapt to the situation. From my observation, although Master Zhang’s identity is mysterious, he’s not difficult to approach—he’s actually a bit awkward with people. If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely his first time leaving his monastery. In that case, if you offer some practical help, it would be as precious as snow in winter.”

“Yes, young master, a persistent suitor always wins the maiden’s heart!”

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“Don’t talk rubbish, that’s called ‘sincerity moves even stone and gold!’”

...

Ren Wu, Ren Liu, and other servants all crowded forward, offering advice and suggestions.

The greatest danger is self-deceit. Many scams in the twenty-first century are not clever at all, but some people willingly fill in all the gaps for the fraudsters, making themselves easy prey.

The same logic applied in the eighth-century Tang dynasty. Zhang Qian’s actions and words were nothing like those of a master, but Ren Cong’s eagerness for guidance, combined with the mysterious attire and items Zhang Qian carried—none of which Ren Cong had ever seen—was enough to convince him otherwise.

Thus, after recovering from the blow of rejection, the wealthy young master Ren Cong strode after Zhang Qian. He left his mount in the care of Ren Wu and Ren Liu, fearing that riding would make him seem aloof and offend the master.

“If we can bring Master Zhang home, even if he’s not an expert, just learning the origins of his attire and belongings would be a great achievement for the Ren family! If we can find craftsmen to imitate them, the family business could reach new heights!” Watching his young master’s devout figure, Ren Quan exhaled with relief and satisfaction. “Perhaps the master will reward my hard work by transferring me to a position in Chang’an as a shopkeeper!”

He’d spent years searching for masters alongside Ren Cong, and was thoroughly weary. Ren Wu, Ren Liu, Ren Qi, and the others felt the same.

“Caw, caw, caw…” Several crows, returning from foraging, flew overhead, cawing loudly as they dropped several messy splatters onto the group below.