The trees were lush and green, the stream babbling softly.
Deep within the dense forest stood a small wooden hut, where a woman in blue robes, her hair cascading over her shoulders, quietly washed clothes by the creek.
Water droplets splashed lightly, casting faint rainbows in the gentle sunlight. Fish leaped from the water in the distance before diving back in. A black-and-white bird perched briefly beside her before fluttering away, creating a scene of serene tranquility.
A melancholic flute melody drifted through the woods, filled with sorrow and complex emotions. Midway through, the flutist lowered the bamboo flute and sighed softly, "You... you seem to be in good spirits."
The washing woman paused her movements. "Xiao Hong, dwelling too much on your troubles will only make life harder. Things you can't obtain or hope for endlessly... if they're meant to be yours, they will be. If not, no amount of sorrow will change that." The flutist, Hong Guniang, slowly rose from the woods. "You, who bask in favor, how could you understand others' feelings? Only when you too are cast aside by him will you know the taste of it."
The washing woman was none other than A Shui. She smiled faintly at the words. "Everyone thinks he is perfection incarnate, but I..." She hesitated slightly, then shook her head. "In my heart..." Hong Guniang's eyes flickered. "Is there someone else in your heart?" A Shui gazed at the stream and sighed softly. "That was a long time ago. Bringing it up now serves no purpose." Hong Guniang pressed, "Who is this person in your heart? Could it be that the Revered Master pales in comparison?" A Shui submerged the clothes in the water, her pale fingers shimmering like jade beneath the surface. A faint, thin scar became suddenly visible on the ring finger of her right hand. "He... is not Tang Lici." Hong Guniang stiffened slightly—A Shui had indeed guessed her suspicion. "I never mentioned Tang Lici. Who is he?" A Shui slowly lifted the clothes, wringing them dry. "He's just a cook." Hong Guniang's eyes gleamed. "A cook? From where?" A Shui smiled. "A rather unskilled one. Though I often went to watch him, he never noticed me." Hong Guniang frowned. "He didn't notice you?" A Shui nodded, placing the wrung clothes into a bamboo basket before standing. "Of course he didn't. His... his eyes were only for the turtle he kept." Hong Guniang blinked. "A turtle?" A Shui let out a light laugh—the first genuinely joyful expression Hong Guniang had seen from her in the year they'd known each other. "He kept a very large turtle. In his free time, he would watch it, following wherever it crawled. He only spoke to the turtle. Sometimes he'd sit on its back, and even when it carried him into the water, he didn't care. It was quite amusing."
Hong Guniang was astonished, and a hint of disdain crept into her thoughts. "You... you like someone like that?" In her mind, A Shui possessed an innate charm, her elegance restrained yet striking—a beauty rarely seen in a century. Bing Chuanhou had abandoned his wife and child for her, ultimately dying for her sake. Liu Yan, wild and unrestrained, who held the power of life and death in the Dissolute Shop, still suffered for her. Even Tang Lici had once taken A Shui hostage at Peony Pavilion, inviting her to share a night of wine—undoubtedly with ambiguous intentions. How could such a woman pine for a turtle-keeping cook? It was utterly baffling."Hmm... Some people, when you look at them, all you feel is worry and concern. You fear that even if you do everything for them, it still won’t be enough to keep them safe and whole. The Revered Master... and Young Master Tang are both that kind of person," A Shui said softly. "They are both highly skilled in martial arts, incredibly intelligent, and wield great power—true dragons among men. Yet... they only make people worry, worry... and then worry even more... until it becomes a constant, gnawing anxiety. Because you never know what people like them will do today, tomorrow, or the day after, what dangers they’ll face, or how many others they’ll put at risk..." She sighed faintly. "Loving such people is exhausting, and it never brings happiness, does it?"
Hong Guniang chuckled lightly. "But if they weren’t like that, would they even be worth loving?"
A Shui picked up her basket. "But he isn’t like that. When I look at him, everything feels simple, my heart is at peace, and it brings me joy." She carried the basket and slowly walked into the woods. Hong Guniang picked up a small pebble and tossed it into the water. She had always resented that she lacked A Shui’s innate charm, but at this moment, she couldn’t help but look down on her. A turtle-raising cook—what was so great about that? Dirty and foolish.
"I heard we’re leaving tomorrow?" A Shui suddenly asked from within the woods.
"Yes," Hong Guniang replied indifferently. "Wan Yu Yuedan of the Azure Fall Palace is also a man worth anticipating, someone worth meeting."
A Shui sighed softly. "I think..." She trailed off, hesitating. "Be careful."
Hong Guniang smiled gracefully. "Are you trying to say that Fu Cui sent me to deal with Wan Yu Yuedan out of ill intent? I know. But precisely because he’s betting I’ll die at Wan Yu Yuedan’s hands, I’ll go anyway—and I won’t die. I... am not someone to be toyed with."
"You must take care of yourself for the Revered Master’s sake. Though he may not express it well, he relies on you deeply in his heart," A Shui said gently before walking away.
Hong Guniang sat alone by the stream. Before long, she too rose gracefully and returned to the woods, entering a small wooden hut.
A figure leaned against a tree behind her. Seeing this, they silently took a step forward, their form flickering as they followed Hong Guniang’s footsteps, stepping precisely where she had stepped, soundlessly trailing her to the back of the hut. Peering through the window, they saw Hong Guniang enter the house—only for her figure to vanish in an instant. Inside, the tables and chairs remained undisturbed, as if it were an ordinary home, yet it was eerily empty, as though everyone who entered disappeared without a trace.
This house must have a hidden passage, and of course, it must also have traps. The person investigating outside quietly retreated, melting back into the woods. After sprinting several dozen yards, they suddenly halted—someone stood blocking the path ahead, leaning on a sword.
"Are you Yu Qifeng’s son?" The sword-bearing figure rasped, their back tall and broad-shouldered, their scarred hand gripping the sword in a way that was both striking and horrifying.
The investigator shuddered violently. "You... you..."
The figure turned around, revealing a face covered in scars, the left eye missing, the features utterly ruined. At the neck was a dark, gaping wound. Their mouth remained tightly shut—the voice came from the wound in their throat, hoarse and indistinct. "Yu Qifeng never married in his life. How could he have a son like you?"The figure lurking in the shadows wore a green robe with a sword strapped to his back—it was Yu Furen. At the sight of the scarred swordsman, he trembled uncontrollably. "You—you're not dead?"
"Heh," the man replied. "Yu Qifeng has roamed the martial world for decades. Did you think mere gunpowder could kill me? Who exactly are you?"
Yu Furen stared fixedly at the scarred swordsman. "I... I... Who are you really?"
The man's voice was low. "If not for your resemblance to my younger self and your ambush on Tang Lici at Good Cloud Mountain last night, I would never have shown myself. Who am I? Heh—" With a swing of his sword, an earth-shaking boom erupted. Trees swayed, leaves scattered, and four intersecting sword marks split the ground before Yu Furen—each precisely two and three-tenths inches deep, not a fraction more or less. As he sheathed his blade, a crisp crack sounded, and the earth before Yu Furen sank another three-tenths of an inch, collapsing into a bowl-sized pit. Had this strike landed on a person, the hidden force behind it—though only three-tenths deeper—would have been enough to shatter their organs.
"Celestial Orbit..." Yu Furen murmured. "You... you really are Yu... Yu..." Mid-sentence, he suddenly jolted in realization. "You have spies at Good Cloud Mountain?" Otherwise, how would Yu Qifeng know about his ambush on Tang Lici last night? That incident had been extremely covert—only the three involved could have known. Who had leaked it?
"Whose child are you?" the scarred swordsman who had executed Celestial Orbit rasped. "Do you know Jiang Siqi?"
Yu Furen staggered back two steps. "Jiang Siqi... You actually remember her. She was my mother." Could this scarred swordsman truly be Yu Qifeng? Even someone as sharp and composed as Yu Furen felt his mind reel in chaos. "You really are Yu Qifeng."
"She was your mother..." A violent coughing fit suddenly wracked Yu Qifeng, his neck wound convulsing. " Cough ... cough ... Then you are my son. How is Siqi now?" Bloody spittle sprayed from the hole in his throat as he spoke, his left eye twitching uncontrollably. His appearance was ghastly and pitiable—a far cry from the majestic, revered "Sword King" who once commanded universal respect.
"She... She once went to Sword Manor looking for you, only to be driven out by your servants," Yu Furen said, each word deliberate. "You’ll claim you knew nothing about it, won’t you?"
" Cough ... I truly didn’t know. How is Siqi now?" Yu Qifeng replied. "I regret not marrying her back then, so I vowed never to wed another. Where is she now?"
"She’s dead," Yu Furen said. "Thankfully, she died early—spared from a lifetime of your deceit, from wasting her days and nights still believing... still believing you were a good man." By the end, his voice trembled. "Why did you take forbidden drugs? Why become a lackey for the Dissolute Shop? You... You were the Sword King of the Central Plains Sword Association, revered and admired by all. Why destroy your own legacy? Did you know... even though you were faithless and cruel, you were still the hero in my heart all along...""Heh, the affairs of the jianghu are far more complex than what you youngsters imagine," Yu Qifeng laughed sharply. "To be a hero, one must naturally pay the price! Boy! You saw it—you saw how Tang Lici set explosives to destroy my Sword Hall, how he reduced me to this wretched state! Didn't you?" Though his appearance was pitiable, the sword in his hand still exuded an imposing aura, setting him apart from others.
"A hero wields his sword to right injustices, forged through blood and sweat. Even with ninth-rate martial skills, one can still stand tall, punish the wicked, and vanquish evil—how is that not heroic?" Yu Furen gritted his teeth. "Why must you collude with the Dissolute Shop and stoop to such despicable acts?"
"The world knows I was defeated by that brat Shi Tinghe, but none know he was nothing but a deceitful, cunning fraud! How could I allow my name to be tarnished by defeat at the hands of such a man? Everyone believes I’m inferior to him—what a colossal joke! Only by tearing him limb from limb can my hatred be quelled!" Yu Qifeng said coldly. "If Chi Yun hadn’t struck first, his death would not have been so easy!"
"So you’re determined to ally with the Dissolute Shop, deluded into thinking you can dominate the jianghu one day?" Yu Furen’s heart chilled with disappointment at his words. "Victory, defeat—are they truly so important? You... you never cared for my mother at all."
"Boy! Believe it or not, Jiang Siqi was the only woman in Yu Qifeng’s life," Yu Qifeng snarled. "Even if she was hideously ugly, even if she was covered in sores and missing limbs, she remained the most beautiful woman in my heart." He paused. "Now Siqi is dead, and Tang Lici has reduced me to this—blinded in one eye, my body covered in wounds. Yet the Liu of the Dissolute Shop did not scorn me. He took pains to heal me, and that is why your father stands before you today! When Yu Qifeng was at the height of his glory, you never came to acknowledge me as your father. Now that I’m crippled and disgraced, I suppose you’ll reject me even more?"
Yu Furen exhaled slowly. "Hah, others scorn the poor and fawn over the rich, but I scorn the rich and cherish the poor. I refused to acknowledge you when you were renowned, but if I abandon you now in your downfall and misguided path... wouldn’t that be turning my back on you?" He gripped his sword and drew Azure Jade. "I’ve trained with the sword for eighteen years, all for this moment—to defeat you. To defeat you for your own good, because I acknowledge you as my father—"
Yu Qifeng’s eyes flickered. "With just you? Just you?" His thoughts raced—one moment wanting to kill this unexpected son, the next wanting to keep him by his side, then realizing this foolish boy was an obstacle to his ambitions. Suddenly, he said, "Liu Yan of the Dissolute Shop saved my life. Tang Lici is Liu Yan’s mortal enemy. If you truly kill Tang Lici, you’ll avenge me and repay my debt to Liu Yan... Perhaps then, Yu Qifeng, disillusioned, might retire with you." He cast a disdainful glance at Yu Furen’s sword. "Right now, boy, you’re no match for me. Sheathe your sword. Once you’ve killed Tang Lici, you’ll see me again."Yu Furen urgently shouted, "Halt! Come back with me!" His roar shook the treetops, sending leaves rustling down. Yu Qifeng laughed heartily, twisted his longsword, and executed a "Celestial Orbit" slash straight at Yu Furen's chest. Yu Furen hastily blocked with Azure Jade, only to hear a clang of metal as four streaks of Sword Qi swept past him, leaving four intersecting two-and-three-tenth-inch marks on the ground—the strike had been a feint. Amidst Yu Qifeng's wild laughter, he strode away. Yu Furen gripped Azure Jade, cold sweat dripping from his palm—he couldn't even block a feint from Yu Qifeng! Yu Qifeng's strength was formidable to begin with, and after consuming forbidden drugs, he became utterly indomitable. Without such power, how could he have survived the gunpowder explosion? Just as Yu Furen stood stunned, white figures flitted around him, a dozen silhouettes encircling him—all veiled young women in fluttering white robes. A faint fragrance wafted through the air as a distant voice commanded, "Let him go!" The white figures scattered handfuls of gray powder before vanishing like mist. Yu Furen held his breath and retreated, his mind in turmoil. If Tang Lici were killed, would Yu Qifeng truly retreat into seclusion with him? And if Tang Lici died, who could eradicate the Dissolute Shop? Yet Tang Lici had wounded Yu Qifeng grievously, costing him his left eye and pushing him further down a path of no return. How could such a grudge go unavenged?
The faint fragrance lingered, seeping into his senses. Yu Furen wandered back to Good Cloud Mountain in a daze, unaware of the fine gray powder clinging to his clothes—now settling on his skin and drifting into his nostrils with the breeze.
It was the powder of the Dustless Flower, a bloom that ensnared the soul and clouded the mind.
"Yu, my boy, I've been looking for you." Jiang Wenbo approached with a smile as soon as Yu Furen stepped into the Hall of Sharp Virtue. "Tonight, we explore Windbreak Forest together."
"Mm." Yu Furen responded absently, gripping Azure Jade as he brushed past Jiang Wenbo and entered the courtyard.
Hm? Jiang Wenbo frowned in puzzlement—Yu Furen hadn't sheathed his sword. Had he just been in a fight? And with whom, to leave him so utterly distraught?
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