Three people were walking on the mountain road holding lanterns. It was pitch black around them and the weather was freezing. The steps on the mountain road were almost all covered with snow, and the steps could hardly be seen. Only under the dim light of the lanterns could one barely see some traces of the mountain road around them. Every step left a footprint more than half a foot deep, making it difficult to walk.
There were no more stars or moonlight in the sky, only leaden clouds. There were no more insects chirping in the woods on both sides of the mountain road, only the whistling of the cold wind.
Today's work is destined to be much more difficult than in the past. Not to mention anything else, even fetching water up the mountain is not easy.
Yan Liqiang and two other people each took a shovel used for farm work from the yard, and went up the mountain while shoveling away the snow on the mountain path, revealing a small path that was barely big enough for people to go up and down the mountain and to stay.
Yan Liqiang walked in the front and cleared the way. With his brute strength, he stuck a shovel into the snow, put one side of the shovel against the steps, and then pushed sideways. A large pile of snow was blown onto the hillside beside the mountain road. Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng next to him used shovels to clear the snow left and right, and a step was barely ok for people to walk on. Then Yan Liqiang took another step forward and swept out another step. The three of them walked up step by step, moving towards the top of the mountain.
“That bastard named Huo, when I become famous in the Sword God Sect one day, I will definitely not let him off…” Gu Zexuan cursed while working, “It’s because you have a good temper, Li Qiang, that you can persist in such a job for several months. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it for seven days…”
"The mountain road is a little difficult to walk on today. It's not so hard on normal days..." Yan Liqiang said calmly while using a shovel to scatter the snow on the mountain path. Having just advanced to the level of a warrior, Yan Liqiang felt as if he had endless energy all over his body. His body, hands, and eyes were extremely coordinated. For him, shoveling snow up the mountain was as easy as sweeping fallen leaves with a broom. It didn't feel strenuous at all. The change between these days was just like he had just passed the horse stance test. He was a completely different person.
After cleaning toilets for several months, Yan Liqiang's biggest gain was the discovery that so-called cultivation can be completely integrated into life. As long as one is willing, one can find ways to improve oneself everywhere.
For example, in the job of carrying water up the mountain, after a few months, Yan Liqiang felt that his strength, reaction, pace, and physical fitness had completely improved to a new level. His Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps and Tiger Roaring Chain Fists had unknowingly been elevated to a higher level. His hands, eyes, legs, and body were more coordinated. Even when cleaning the toilet, Yan Liqiang could let go of his anxiety little by little and become extremely calm and serious.
This job is just a chore, but Yan Liqiang sees it as a form of cultivation.
Just like at this moment, Yan Liqiang was shoveling snow, when his shovel stuck into the snow, he used the "Zha" technique of spearmanship, and when he swept the snow back, he used the "Lan" technique of spearmanship. These are the basic skills of the three-word formula of spearmanship. You can practice while working, and you can gain enlightenment while practicing.
Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng did not notice anything unusual about Yan Liqiang, and they did not know that Yan Liqiang had advanced to the level of a warrior in just one day. The two of them were standing behind Yan Liqiang and just felt that the strength in Yan Liqiang's hands seemed unusually great. Every time he cleared a step, Yan Liqiang's movements were crisp and neat, like flowing clouds and water, and there was a pleasing sense of rhythm.
In this way, the three men shoveled a path up the mountain from the bottom of the mountain in the dark of the night.
When they arrived at the toilet on the mountain, the eyelashes of the three people were covered with ice and snow. When Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng saw the toilet, they were both extremely surprised, because this toilet was completely different from what they had imagined. It was so clean that the two people wondered if someone had cleaned it.
The toilet was not only clean, but also had no peculiar smell.
"Has anyone cleaned this toilet?" Gu Zexuan looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise, "Did the senior brother on Tianqiao Peak feel sorry for you and cleaned the toilet himself?"
Yan Liqiang smiled and said, "It hasn't been cleaned yet!"
“Then why is it so clean?”
"If you want to know why, then come with me down the mountain to fetch water, and we'll talk on the way!" Yan Liqiang laughed. He put down the tools in his hands, picked up two buckets with a lamp hanging on them, and walked down the mountain. Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng followed him, each carrying a bucket.
With Yan Liqiang's current eyesight, he felt that he could see the way up the mountain clearly even without a lantern. However, since he did not want to expose his ability, many times, especially when the weather was bad, he would still carry a lantern as a tool to conceal his actions.
"Li Qiang, why is this toilet so clean?" Zhao Huipeng, who rarely speaks, asked curiously after catching up. Gu Zexuan also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what Yan Liqiang had to say.
“My grandfather was a traveling doctor in the past. He traveled all over the country and once discovered a very interesting thing. One time when he came to a small town, he found two horse-drawn carriages parked next to the inn where he was staying. One of the carriages belonged to someone else and was parked next to the inn. One of the two carriages was intact and clean, while the other was a bit old, with a hole in the window that had not been repaired…” Yan Liqiang turned his head slightly and described the classic “Broken Window Theory” that he knew in his previous life in a context that Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng could understand.
After explaining the Broken Window Theory, Yan Liqiang concluded, "So, if you want to make this toilet so clean, the simplest way is to clean it even cleaner than this. People who come to the toilet will naturally pay attention to it at all times and will not make it dirty. If the toilet is dirty, then people who come here will pay even less attention to it and will not care if it is dirty. This is people's psychology..."
Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng listened to Yan Liqiang's interesting words with great interest. After listening, Gu Zexuan clapped his hands happily, "I see. The so-called strong will always be strong, and the weak will always be weak. Isn't this the truth? For the strong, such as the direct disciples and core disciples of the Sword God Sect, such as the Seven Heroes and Three Heroes, everyone around them flatters them, giving them good resources and good training conditions, they will naturally become stronger and stronger. For example, for outer disciples like us who have no background, anyone can come and step on us. Over time, we will become weaker and weaker..."
"It's similar, but we are not a broken car!" Yan Liqiang smiled, "A broken car cannot make the broken part better, but as human beings, we can constantly strive for self-improvement and make ourselves better and better, just like that Huo sent me here to clean toilets. If I complained about myself and did my daily work carelessly, then this toilet on Qiaofeng Peak that day would become my first broken window in Jianshen Sect. Anyone who sees this broken window can come and step on me in the future. But if I repair the broken window and do my best to inlay it with gold and silver, who would dare to step on me for no reason in the future?"
"I'm convinced!" Gu Zexuan sighed, "I didn't expect that just cleaning a toilet could make you realize so many truths. I used to wonder why you were so dedicated to cleaning a toilet. It turns out that you have your own ideas, and I am ignorant..."
Zhao Huipeng looked at Yan Liqiang with admiration, his eyes sparkling and his expression a little excited. After hearing what Yan Liqiang just said, Zhao Huipeng felt his heart suddenly open up, as if a world of enlightenment had suddenly dawned on him.
…
When they arrived at the creek at the foot of the mountain where they usually fetched water, the water flowed slowly and the surface of the creek was frozen. Yan Liqiang had to use a stone to break the ice so that he could fetch water successfully.
The three of them fetched water, then carried it up the mountain together, and then came down to fetch water again...
Naturally, three people could fetch water much faster than Yan Liqiang alone. In less than half an hour, after a few trips, the three of them had filled the water tank in the toilet. And in just half an hour, a small layer of ice formed on the surface of the water in the full water tank.
The three of them broke the ice and continued working.
Although it was the first time for Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng to clean the toilet, they were inspired by Yan Liqiang's story and worked enthusiastically with Yan Liqiang. Following Yan Liqiang's demonstration, they chatted and laughed while cleaning the entire toilet until it looked as spotless as new. Even though the three of them had their hands frozen red by the cold water, no one cared.
"Li Qiang, I found that Zhao Huipeng and I were fooled by you. The vinegar you asked us to make to remove toilet odors was used by you alone. These days, we took the vinegar to the market, but we didn't sell a single bottle..." Gu Zexuan, who was wiping the toilet floor with vinegar mixed with water, suddenly came to his senses.
"Hahaha..." Yan Liqiang laughed, "If we want to sell local vinegar, we need someone to advertise it..."
"Ah, what advertisement!"
"Just spread the word and wait and see. This can't be rushed..."
…
When the three people cleaned the toilet thoroughly and walked out of the toilet, it was still dark outside. However, when the three people walked out of the toilet, Yan Liqiang found that someone had been standing outside the toilet at some point.
The man was a bald man with a full beard, who seemed to be in his fifties. It was a very cold day, but he didn't feel cold at all. He just stood outside the toilet in a casual open-chested short shirt. He glanced at the three people who came out of the toilet with a burning gaze, and finally fixed his sharp eyes on Yan Liqiang's face.
While Yan Liqiang was still guessing who this person was, Gu Zexuan's face changed and he immediately bowed to the man, "Outer sect disciple Gu Zexuan greets Hall Master Su..."
Upon hearing that this person was actually the hall master of the Sword God Sect, Yan Liqiang and Zhao Huipeng did not dare to neglect him and quickly saluted.
The man smiled and looked at Yan Liqiang. "Since you started cleaning the toilets on Tianqiao Peak, you have been doing this for a full hundred days without a single day of slacking off. You clean the toilets here so cleanly every day. Don't you find it dirty or tiring?"
"In my eyes, the senior brothers on Tianqiao Peak are not dirty at all. Therefore, I don't feel dirty or tired when serving the senior brothers on Tianqiao Peak. I just want to do what I can well!" Yan Liqiang said calmly.
"Hahaha, well said..." The Su Hall Master laughed, "Starting tomorrow, you will change your job. We are still short of a steward on Tianqiao Peak. I think it's you. Go to the Gray Robe Hall to handle the formalities this afternoon..."
(End of this chapter)