Sword of Coming

The young woman paid no heed to the brocade-robed boy that was approaching her. Instead, she looked over his shoulder and cast her gaze toward the old man as she said with a displeased expression, ”Just now, you tried to kill me out of the blue. You had your reasons, but I still think what you did was wrong.”

The brocade-robed boy stopped a few meters away from the young woman, looking at her with an earnest expression as he said, ”My name is Gao Zhen, and I am from Yiyang County of the Great Sui Nation. If Grandpa Wu has caused you offense in any way, then I am willing to apologize on his behalf and offer you compensation.”

The old man’s heart was filled with mixed emotions as he stood behind the brocade-robed boy. While the boy hadn’t told any lies in his self-introduction, he hadn’t told the full story, either. During the entire 1,200 years in which the Great Sui Nation had been in existence, the Gao Clan had always ruled over the empire as its imperial family, and Yiyang County was the home of the emperor of the Great Sui Nation.

The young woman remained unmoved by the boy’s offer, and she tightened the bandages around her hands as she said to the old man, ”In the face of a master martial artist who’s most likely already at the Windsoar Tier like yourself, I definitely wouldn’t stand a chance in the outside world, but here in this world, all I have to do is call upon my flying sword, and your demise will be sealed.”

A cold sneer appeared on the old man’s face. ”That assassin just now was only a peak Lesser Grandmaster, yet even for him, if he had been aware of that flying sword of yours in advance, all he would’ve had to do is protect his vital regions, and you would’ve been powerless to do anything. Even if you ran your sword through his body dozens of times, you still wouldn’t have been able to kill him. As for myself, I am two entire stages above him, and the Windsoar Tier between us is seen as a virtually insurmountable hurdle for martial artists. I don’t know what gives you the confidence to proclaim that you can seal my demise.”

The young woman’s brows furrowed slightly, and she rested her hand on the hilt of her saber once again as she said, ”There are few things I detest more than having to bicker aimlessly with others. If you’re not convinced that I can back up my claims, then how about we settle this argument with a fight?”

It had been a very long time since the old man had last been threatened like this, and he was seething with fury. If it weren’t for the fact that they were stuck in this godforsaken place, regardless of how exceptional the young woman’s aptitude was, there was simply far too massive a cultivation base disparity between them, and the old man would’ve been able to crush ten of her at once with ease.

Furthermore, he was bound by his duty to protect the young prince, who was the pride and hope of the entire Great Sui Nation. Otherwise, even if he had to risk being suppressed and severely wounded by the self-sustaining Great Dao in this place, he would’ve been determined to teach this little brat a lesson. She was like a little calf who was provoking a tiger, and her courage was commendable, but that certainly didn’t mean that the tiger would spare the calf.

”If you insist on pursuing this matter, I am willing to offer you this item as compensation,” the boy by the name of Gao Zhen hurriedly interjected, trying to defuse the situation.

He opened the cloth pouch hanging from his waist as he spoke, then pulled out the jade seal inside, placing it on the palm of his hand before offering it to the young woman. ”I hope this will suffice as a gesture of apology. In exchange for this seal, all I ask is that you do not pursue this matter any further. I understand that Grandpa Wu is in the wrong, but it’s his loyalty to me that led him to do what he did, and he bears no personal grudge against you.”

The old man was horrified to see this, and he hurriedly knelt down on one knee as he exclaimed, ”Please reconsider, Your Highness! I am nothing but a useless old servant, yet that seal is a treasure of immeasurable value! Such a treasure could alter the fate of our entire empire! If you insist on handing over the seal just so I can be spared, then you’re forcing me to take my own life, Your Highness!”

Gao Zhen’s expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this.

The young woman seemed to have lost her patience, and she sneered, ”What a pair of pitiful fools you are. Just because you see this seal as a priceless treasure doesn’t mean it’s worth anything in my eyes. You can keep that thing for all I care. A righteous individual does not steal from others.”

After that, she turned and departed without any hesitation.

Gao Zhen was very relieved to see this, and he turned to the old man as he said, ”Get up, Grandpa Wu, you’re making a fool out of yourself. The twelve chief eunuchs of our Great Sui Empire have only ever knelt down to the past emperors. If the imperial censors of the six supervisory divisions or anyone from the Ministry of Rites were to see this and decide to kick up a big fuss, you and I will both be in deep trouble. Thanks to the blessings of my ancestors, I was able to obtain what I came to this town to acquire, so let’s not stay here any longer and risk running into further unforeseen trouble.

“Furthermore, even after we meet back up with our people on the outside, we can’t afford to get complacent. Among the six pillar nations of the Great Li Empire, the Yuan Clan and the Cao Clan may be in opposition with one another, but unfortunately for us, both of these pillar nations are sworn enemies of our Great Sui Nation. If anything were to happen here that negatively impacts your ability to perform in battle, then it’ll be very difficult for me to return safely to our Great Sui Nation.”

The old man nodded in response as he slowly rose to his feet. ”I am well aware of this, Your Highness.”

At this point, the young woman in the veiled hat was already over 20 meters away from them.

All of a sudden, a gentle breeze blew past Gao Zhen, rustling through his hair and causing his robes to flap incessantly.

As it turned out, the old man had never intended to let the young woman off the hook, and he rushed toward her from behind, stomping heavily down on the ground with his first three steps, causing the earth to rumble violently, penetrating all the way down to over 10 feet beneath the ground. With his fourth step, he sprang high up into the air before throwing a punch at the back of the young woman’s chest.

The young woman immediately twisted around with the tip of her left foot as a pivot point, and at the same time, she drew her saber with her right hand, sending a streak of white light that was even more dazzling than the radiance of the sun sweeping through the alley.

The old man swooped down from above, using gravity to his advantage, and his fist slammed straight down onto the sharp edge of the saber, but only a light gash was sliced into the back of his hand. Upon landing on the ground, the old man continued to charge forward, forcing the saber-wielding young woman back in retreat. The old man then casually extended his palm in what appeared to be a very calm and slow gesture, but in reality, his palm reached the young woman’s forehead like lightning.

He was just about to exert more force through his hand to completely crush the young woman’s head when he suddenly stepped to the side, just in the nick of time to avoid an attack coming from behind. The sound of blade plunging into flesh rang out, and he looked down to find the tip of a sword protruding out of the right side of his chest. As it turned out, the young woman’s flying sword had swooped in to save its owner.

Despite this, his expression remained completely unchanged as he gripped the tip of the sword between two of his fingers before pushing it backward, forcing the flying sword out of his chest.

Due to the fact that he was hindered by the flying sword, not only did the old man fail to crush the young woman’s head, she was able to spring back in retreat, and taking advantage of this brief window of respite, she sprang away like an agile panther, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Gao Zhen was absolutely livid, and his fists were tightly clenched as he yelled with a furious expression, ”Seal Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Horses, Wu Yue, why are you going against my wishes and doing as you please? Do you really think you’re invincible in this town? We are the ones in the wrong, yet not only did she not try to extort us, she was willing to let bygones be bygones, so why would you do something so ungrateful and underhanded? This is an outrage!”

The old eunuch, Wu Yue, withdrew his gaze from the direction that the young woman had just fled toward, and he stood up straight as he turned around before making his way back to Gao Zhen. With each step that he took, his aura became more and more imposing, and it was as if he were treading directly upon Gao Zhen’s heart.

In the face of Wu Yue’s suffocating aura, Gao Zhen became even more indignant and incensed, feeling as if he were being oppressed by his own servant, and his eyes were wide fury as he yelled, ”Wu Yue, you have committed a crime punishable by death!”

Wu Yue remained completely unfazed as he replied in an indifferent voice, ”Your Highness, whether my transgressions are punishable by death will be up to His Majesty to decide. In my eyes, your safety is of paramount importance, and protecting you is my sole objective. I have deemed that woman to be a potent threat to your safety, so in order to ensure that no harm befalls you, I had no choice but to go after her. Only with her dead can I rest easy, knowing that I have fulfilled my duty.”

Looking at the barely repressed rage in Gao Zhen’s eyes, Wu Yue sighed, ”I have worked in the imperial city for over 60 years, and during my time there, I’ve seen far too many sinister schemes and machinations. For the pursuit of power and prized resources, there are no lows that people aren’t willing to stoop to, and I simply have no faith left in humanity. While protecting members of the imperial family, I’ve dealt with no fewer than 30 assassination attempts over the years.

“Your Highness, you must understand that these assassins are far more cunning and sinister than you can imagine. There are some who are so demented that they are willing to give up even their own lives for their cause, and it’s impossible to imagine the lengths that they’re willing to go to in order to achieve their objectives. Take that masked assassin and that woman just now as examples...”

Gao Zhen stabbed a finger in Wu Yue’s direction with a cold look on his face as he furiously interjected, ”Shut your mouth, you old, castrated donkey! I don’t want to hear any more of your senseless ramblings! All I know is that you’ve completely gone against my wishes and foiled my plans to recruit that woman as an ally! Even an idiot would be able to tell that she possesses exceptional aptitude.

“Even if we compare her to the most talented prodigies out of the cultivators on the mountain, she would still be among the cream of the crop! A prodigy of her caliber is exceedingly rare even across the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, let alone our Great Sui Nation or the Great Li Empire! All I would have to do is nurture her for 10 years, 20 years at most, and she would become the most lethal assassin at my disposal!

“With her at my side, no one would dare to stand against me, regardless of whether it be terrestrial gods or Superior Grandmasters in the martial arts! Don’t ever forget that I, Gao Zhen, will be the future heir to the Great Sui Nation’s throne, and you’re nothing but a castrated old geezer who will serve me until you die!”

Strangely enough, not only was Wu Yue not incensed by the scathing tirade directed at him, his eyes gradually lit up with a sense of gratification. After Gao Zhen had finally gotten everything off his chest and was panting from exertion, Wu Yue smiled as he said, ”Your Highness, there are some things that you’ve never experienced, so you’re unaware of just how perilous and sinister human nature can be. However, you are the spitting image of His Majesty’s younger self, and I couldn’t be more proud to see how you’ve developed over the years.”

An awkward atmosphere descended upon the alley.

After taking a moment to calm down, Gao Zhen realized that he had severely overstepped his boundaries. He still hadn’t been officially chosen to become the heir to the throne, yet he had just displayed the utmost disrespect to the Seal Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Horses and one of the three gatekeepers of the Great Sui Imperial Palace. In addition to that, Wu Yue was an extremely trusted subordinate to Gao Zhen’s parents, the emperor and empress of the Great Sui Nation.

With that in mind, Gao Zhen was struck by a sense of remorse, but right as he was about to say something, Wu Yue smiled and said, ”Your Highness, I know what you want to say, and I have this to tell you: do not apologize to your servants. There’s simply no need to do so, and not only is it unbefitting of your status, the servant may not accept your apology anyway. Even if you feel guilty, you must bury that guilt deep in your heart. The rulers of nations are revered as dragons among men, and everything they say is to be taken as law, so they cannot afford to waste their precious words apologizing to servants.”

”Given my current status, it’s still too early for you to be saying this to me, Grandpa Wu,” Gao Zhen said.

All of a sudden, Wu Yue’s entire body abruptly tensed up as if he could sense the presence of a formidable foe nearby, and he dragged Gao Zhen behind him before casting his gaze toward the lifeless body of the masked assassin.

A tall and graceful middle-aged scholar had appeared at the end of the alley without any warning, and he slowly made his way into the alley, arriving near the assassin’s body before crouching down to remove his mask, revealing a strange face with its nose and eyebrows removed, and some characters tattooed onto its cheeks.

It was clear that this man had once been a prisoner.

The scholar looked on in silence, having already anticipated this. The root of this plot most likely stemmed all the way back from that Confucian temple.

A fervent look appeared in Gao Zhen’s eyes as he made his way out into the open from behind Wu Yue, then extended a salute as he asked in a respectful voice, ”May I ask if you are Mr. Qi from Mountain Cliff Academy?”

The scholar stood up straight again as he turned to Gao Zhen and said, ”If it wasn’t for the fact that you’ve already claimed that fated opportunity, the two of you wouldn’t be able to leave this place so easily.”

According to the earliest rules set by the four sages, outsiders who engaged in battle in the town were to be punished. The punishment wasn’t very severe, but it wasn’t just going to be a light punishment, either. If an outsider were to kill any of the mortal residents of the town, they would be evicted without exception, but there were loopholes to be exploited when it came to battles between outsiders, and for three of the groups of outsiders who had entered the town, including Gao Zhen’s, they had all brought ”servants” with them precisely because they knew that there was a chance that this rule could be broken.

In the case that the rule was broken, they would be able to use their servants as scapegoats and place the blame squarely on them. It had cost half of the wealth saved up in the imperial vault of the Great Sui Nation’s emperor just to earn entry for a single person into the town. The imperial vault contained what was essentially the emperor’s private stash, so half of the wealth in the entire vault was naturally an exorbitant amount. If it weren’t for the possibility that battles could break out between the factions of outsiders entering the town, there was no way that Wu Yue would’ve been sent in alongside Gao Zhen.

Essentially, they were paying for insurance.

However, it was no exaggeration to say that mountains of gold and silver were being moved to purchase this layer of insurance, and the residents of the town couldn’t even begin to imagine what it had cost for these outsiders to set foot in this place.

Despite the hostility displayed toward him by the scholar, Gao Zhen remained calm and respectful as he said, ”Mr. Qi, if you ever get the chance to do so, would you be willing to come and teach at our Great Sui Academy? I am willing to keep the position of imperial preceptor open for you, and it would be a great honor for our entire Great Sui Nation if you could accept the position.”

After a brief hesitation, Wu Yue decided not to interject.

If Gao Zhen really could convince the scholar to accept the position of imperial preceptor at the Great Sui Nation, the emperor would undoubtedly be ecstatic.

The scholar merely smiled and offered no response.

Against the young woman from earlier, Wu Yue had been as merciless and ferocious as a hunting lion, but in the face of this middle-aged scholar, his attitude was completely different, and he cupped his fist in a respectful salute as he said, ”Please forgive us for causing a disturbance in your territory, Mr. Qi. I only lashed out at that woman from earlier out of necessity and loyalty to my master, and I had no intention to cause offense to you.”

”Begone,” Qi Jingchun said with a dismissive wave of his sleeve.

Gao Zhen and Wu Yue could only take their leave before departing, and they just so happened to take the same route as the one that the young woman had fled in.

”Is she dead?” Gao Zhen asked in a low voice.

Wu Yue shook his head as he replied, ”She definitely won’t be alive for much longer. That flying sword of hers will only be delaying the inevitable.”

Gao Zhen hesitated momentarily before asking in a curious manner, ”Grandpa Wu, when did you notice that it wasn’t actually as easy and effortless for her to control her flying sword as she made it appear?”

”I could tell from very early on that she was putting on an act to try and intimidate me,” Wu Yue replied.

Gao Zhen was very surprised to hear this.

Wu Yue led Gao Zhen out of the alley, then said, ”Let me ask you this, Your Highness: having seen all types of exotic and luxurious things in this world, are you still interested in the mundane chinaware produced in this town?”

Gao Zhen patted the pouch strapped to his waist with a smile as he replied, ”Of course not. Only this jade seal or objects of a similar caliber to it would be enough to catch my interest.”

Wu Yue nodded in response. ”That’s the correct response. While using her flying sword, the young woman had appeared to be extremely calm and collected, looking as if she had done something completely pedestrian and mundane. However, after detecting my cultivation base, she immediately decided against engaging me in battle, and she was particularly afraid that I would see through her act, so she intentionally provoked us as a form of intimidation.

“In reality, she was trying to defuse the situation in a roundabout way. She was afraid that I would be intent on killing her in order to eliminate her as a potential threat, which was why she felt like she had to act the way that she did. Of course, I was able to see through her guise in the end, so she didn’t do as good a job as she thought she did, but it’s already quite remarkable that someone her age is so bold and cunning.

“However, it’s exactly because of this that if she were to be left to develop unchecked, she could eventually become an extremely potent threat to you, which was why I was determined to kill her. For a girl her age, it would’ve been no surprise for me at all to see her rush recklessly into battle without considering the consequences, but it’s extremely abnormal that even in the face of the threat posed by me, she was able to remain so calm and calculating, killing that assassin in such a composed fashion before putting on quite a convincing act to try and fool me.

“This is something that can only come from extensive experience, and it has nothing to do with her aptitude. Regardless of whether it be among cultivators or martial artists, countless prodigies have suffered premature demise due to various personality flaws, and certain things simply can’t be taught.”

”In any case, it’s quite a pity that things had to end that way,” Gao Zhen sighed.

”Your Highness, if you’re going to lament and grieve over everyone you encounter that perishes while you’re on your way to the top, then you’re going to be a very busy man by the time you reach the peak of the mountain,” Wu Yue jibed.

”I’m not convinced of that,” Gao Zhen replied with a smile.

All of a sudden, a serious look appeared on Wu Yue’s face as he said, ”I’m not sure if it was just a false perception, but I sensed that even though that Mr. Qi possesses unfathomable power, there seems to be something very wrong with him.”

Gao Zhen shrugged in an uncaring manner as he replied, ”In any case, this trip would’ve been a resounding success had we just obtained this seal. Who could’ve anticipated that this seal would be completely insignificant compared with the other treasure that we obtained? We’ve already gotten far more than we came here for, so we should be more than satisfied. Now that I mention that golden carp, I can’t help but think of that boy.”

”Are you thinking about giving him a further reward as a gesture of gratitude if the opportunity arises in the future?” Wu Yue asked with a smile.

Gao Zhen shook his head in response. ”Not at all, I’m just lamenting over that pouch of copper coins that I gave him.”

Wu Yue couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.

It seemed that the Great Sui Nation was going to have a very miserly and conservative emperor in the future.

There was a peaceful alley in the town that led from the north to the south, and only the sound of rolling cart wheels could be heard.

The cart was being pushed by a young Daoist priest with a lotus flower hat on his head, and he had packed up his stall very early on this day. All he wanted was to return home as quickly as possible without any mishaps arising along the way.

All of a sudden, a slender figure in black suddenly stumbled out from another alley intersecting with this one. She then leaned her back against the wall and slowly moved along it, reaching a hand under the light veil hanging from her hat to clasp a hand over her own mouth, while raising her other hand to point at the young Daoist priest.

The Daoist hurriedly lowered his head as he quietly chanted to himself, ”You can’t see me, you can’t see me, may the Buddha and the Bodhisattva shower me with their blessings...”

He was a Daoist priest, yet in an atrocious act of blasphemy, he was praying to the Buddha and the Bodhisattva as opposed to the Three Pure Ones of Daoism.

Sure enough, the Buddha and the Bodhisattva seemed to have no interest in blessing a Daoist who didn’t even follow in their teachings. The young woman in the veiled hat mustered up the last of her strength as she stumbled toward the Daoist priest, then fell heavily onto the ground, but in the end, she was able to lock her hand tightly around the Daoist priest’s ankle.

The young Daoist priest threw his hands onto his own head with an aghast expression, as if he were asking the heavens: ”Why have you dumped such a massive bundle of mishap upon my lap? What have I done to deserve this? For all these years, I’ve been traveling to all parts, embarking on arduous journeys, often being bitten by dogs even as I’m just walking along the street, minding my own business! My life is already difficult enough without this! Curse you, Gao Clan of the Great Sui Nation and that old dog of a eunuch! I’m nowhere near strong enough to be able to handle such a burden!”

The young Daoist priest was completely panicked and distraught, and he was on the verge of tears as he said in a trembling voice, ”Please spare me out of the kindness of your heart, fair maiden. I promise you that I’ll find a scenic location for you with exceptional fengshui that’ll be sure to bless your descendants... Oh wait, you’re still a virgin... In that case...”

Unfortunately for him, the young woman was already completely unconscious, so his panicked ramblings fell upon deaf ears.

The young Daoist priest looked around to ensure that there was no one nearby, then crouched down to pry the young woman’s fingers loose from his ankles.

All of a sudden, the flying sword hurtled directly toward him, stopping no more than three inches away from his glabella.

The young Daoist subtly released the young woman’s hand, then put on a sympathetic expression as he declared in a righteous manner, ”A man as upstanding and kindhearted as myself naturally can’t just turn away a fair maiden in her hour of need!”

The Daoist priest then sat down with his legs crossed, and a troubled look appeared on his handsome face. ”But the problem is, where am I going to take her?”

The flying sword immediately advanced an inch further, bringing it to no more than two inches away from the Daoist priest’s glabella.

The Daoist priest patiently explained, ”In order to save your owner, I require a helper. Go to the old locust tree and fetch one of its leaves for me so that I can ensure that she survives until I can get her the help that she needs. Your owner is a special case, so I have to take extra care in saving her so I don’t accidentally hinder her future in cultivation. What have I done to deserve being thrown into this mess?”

The tip of the flying sword was trembling slightly, as if it were hesitating about how to proceed.

”Hurry up! The sooner you come back, the sooner we can treat your owner! If you delay for too long, we’ll all be screwed,” the Daoist priest snapped.

The flying sword vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving the Daoist priest to murmur to himself alone in a furious voice, ”There have to be mutual feelings for a relationship to blossom, yet that bastard, Qi Jingchun, is going around assigning couples as he pleases without any regard for the consequences!”

The Daoist priest rested his cheek on his palm while counting on the fingers of his other hand to read the fortune of the young woman on the ground before him. ”Let me see who I can send you that’ll both ensure your survival, while also sparing that person from a premature demise. The Lu Clan won’t do... The Zhao Clan isn’t suitable, either... The Song Clan...”

Right as the Daoist priest was speaking to himself, the door god visages plastered on all of the doors in the Song Manor on Fortune Street suddenly became completely devoid of luster in unison, and plumes of smoke that were invisible to the naked eye were rising up into the air.

Deep inside the manor, a bare-foot old man pushed open the door of his room, then stormed out into the courtyard as he yelled, ”Which bastard is plotting the downfall of our Song Clan? Come out and fight me right now!”

The Daoist priest cleared his throat as he continued musing to himself, ”The Liu Clan on Fortune Street seems to be capable of weathering this storm. Perhaps I should go to them...”

Right at this moment, a series of cracks abruptly appeared without any warning on the family plaque that had been passed down for over 1,000 years in the Liu Clan.

An old woman thumped her dragon cane heavily down onto the ground as she challenged in a deep and resonant voice, ”Who goes there? Come out and face me!”

The young Daoist priest pretended as if nothing had happened as he continued, ”Let’s go to the Wei Clan on Peach Leaf Alley instead. The Wei Clan has clearly done many good deeds and accumulated a great deal of good karma, so they’ll definitely be the right people to turn to.”

Shortly thereafter, the furious voice of an elderly man was transmitted to the private school through a secret technique. ”Qi Jingchun! Are you just not going to do anything about this? If you can’t do anything about him or are too afraid to intervene, then hurry up and piss off so Ruan Qiong can take your place and give that sneaky bastard what he deserves! Hold on, I see what this is. You’re trying to get back at me through that bastard, aren’t you?”

There was a man on the bank of the creek to the south of the covered bridge, and he was in the process of digging wells with some other people when he suddenly rose to his feet and turned to the south with his lips moving ever so slightly.

A voice that resembled rumbling thunder instantly rang out above Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley. ”That’s enough! You are not to disrespect Mr. Qi, and I will not interfere in the matters of the town before Chunfen arrives.” [1]

Following the intervention of this authoritative voice, everyone immediately fell silent.

Meanwhile, the culprit behind all of this, the young Daoist priest, was in the process of picking up the hand of the unconscious young woman on the ground before him. With his other hand, he took the locust leaf that had been brought to him by the flying sword, then placed the leaf onto the palm of her bloody and mangled hand.

As soon as the locust leaf came into contact with the injuries on the palm of her hand, those injuries instantly melted away like snow and ice under the scorching sun.

The Daoist priest mused to himself in amazement, ”Whenever I see the power of this world in action, I can’t help but be...”

He scrambled to find a suitable adjective for what he was feeling for a while, but was unable to come up with anything that could fully encapsulate what he felt.

In the end, he looked down at the young woman, who was looking very much worse for wear, and he still had no idea what to do with her. ”Seeing as there’s more that rests on your fate than I first imagined, I have no choice but to take the exact opposite course of action to what I’ve been attempting to do up to this point.

“Out of the roughly 600 households in this town, all of them have had the aura of this secret realm rub off on them for generations, so it’s a simple task for me to find someone blessed by fate and good fortune, but finding a penniless pauper here is even more difficult than trying to ascend to the heavens! It’s the equivalent of sending me to the imperial court, but instead of asking me to find an official, you ask me to find a beggar! This simply seems to be a hopeless task!”

All of a sudden, a potentially suitable candidate sprang into the Daoist priest’s mind, but instead of being elated by this find, he became even more aghast, and he closed his eyes as he thought about whether it was right to potentially bring more misfortune upon someone who already had nothing.

After a while, he reopened his eyes as he sighed, ”In any case, the choice is up to you, and I definitely won’t force you to take on this bundle of mishap against your will. If you’re unwilling to accept such a burden, then I’ll just have to bear it on my own.”

He then brought his palms together, much like a monk would, then prayed, ”May the almighty Buddha and the merciful Bodhisattva assist me in transcending this tribulation.”

Soon, the young Daoist priest wheeled his cart onto Clay Vase Alley, then stopped in front of a certain courtyard before knocking on its gate. ”Is Chen Ping’an there?”

Placed in a corner of the cart was a longsword in a pristine white scabbard. The flying sword was lying within the scabbard in a sullen manner, as if it were silently expressing its displeasure toward the Daoist priest for bringing its owner to such a run-down place.

1. Chunfen is another one of the 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese calendar. ☜