Chapter 5 Fu Chenyu: A Vast Landscape, Empty Yearnings

The woman arrived very quickly; almost as soon as she spoke, she had already floated onto the training platform.

The sound of the Feitai Waterfall was like muffled thunder. The sunlight was dim, and the damp air was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe. The air was thick with moisture, making even one's sleeves feel heavy.

Zhou Ziheng stepped back, leaving the training platform to the woman, while he silently thought to himself:

It's going to rain.

The woman's eyes were cold, and she carried nothing but a mottled iron sword.

At that moment, she was holding her sword, pointing the tip at Li Jin.

"Why won't you tell me?" she gritted her teeth. "Why won't you tell me how you deceived my mother, had a one-night stand with you, and then heartlessly abandoned her?!"

After he finished speaking, the viewing platform erupted in cheers!

"No way... Where did this vixen come from, spouting such nonsense?"

"It's hard to say about these things..."

Compared to the whispers and various gazes from the audience, Li Jin appeared quite calm. He didn't speak, but simply drew his Liyang sword and used the blade to push aside the mottled, rusty sword.

The woman continued speaking: "Twenty years ago, you were dissatisfied with your wife and life in Liyang Valley, so you left alone with only your sword and settled in Fanhua Village, didn't you?"

Li Jin remained silent. He twirled the Liyang Sword, and in the humid air, a faint green line of water was visible as it was rubbed against the blade.

The woman said, "Fragrant Flower Village is located in a remote area, a veritable paradise. You met a woman there named 'Yao Niang.' You concealed your identity and lied to her, telling her that you were just a down-on-your-luck swordsman who had escaped from your enemies and fled here, asking her to take you in for a few days, is that right?"

Li Jin gave the burly men a wink, and soon, several burly men sprang into action, politely dispersing the volunteers and spectators. In an instant, only Zhou Ziheng, Li Jin, and the woman remained on the entire Feitai Danpu Waterfall.

"You and Yaoniang lived in seclusion, and over time you fell in love. She admired your chivalry, and you loved her tranquility. You two secretly pledged yourselves to each other and pledged your lives to one another. She gave up all her status for you and was willing to stay by your side. Even if you were to leave, she would be willing to wander the world with you. Isn't that right?"

With a deafening roar, a tremendous sound rang out, making it impossible to tell whether it was the sound of the waterfall crashing against the rocks or the thunder from the horizon.

The sky suddenly darkened, and dark clouds spread across the heavens, instantly swallowing up the last ray of light.

"Yao Niang's feelings were genuine, but little did she know you were not some down-on-your-luck hero at all! You exposed your whereabouts and were found by your wife, but you only thought about how to explain it to her, without asking how heartbroken Yao Niang was, wasn't that right?"

Large raindrops began to fall, starting as just a few scattered drops, but quickly forming lines, then a curtain, and finally turning into a torrential downpour.

The woman was soaked through, trembling uncontrollably, whether from the cold or from anger: "You abandoned Yao Niang, and Yao Niang had already given up and wanted to sever all ties with you. Who knew you would be so heartless, allowing her to hire assassins to attack Yao Niang in order to appease your wife!"

"Li Jin, can you swear that you didn't interfere when your wife hired gangsters?! Can you say you didn't fuel the fire?!"

Li Jin flicked his wrist, and raindrops fell from the Liyang sword. He slowly and carefully examined the Liyang sword, which flashed with a bluish light, and then gripped the hilt tightly.

He slowly gave the woman a smile.

The moment the other person finished speaking, he was already in front of the woman. A flash of green light pierced through the rain and went straight for the woman's brow.

The woman felt a blur before her eyes, and before she could even open them to see clearly in the pouring rain, the Liyang sword was already within reach, and all that remained in her world was a bright, green mark.

The woman did not flinch, but stared intently at Li Jin, and continued, "Have you ever considered that Yao Niang escaped the pursuit and even gave birth to a daughter?"

Just as Li Yang was about to pierce through his brow, Zhou Ziheng arrived in time, and Hong Chen sent Li Yang flying from above.

He stood between the two, facing the calm Li Jin.

Zhou Ziheng laughed: "Valley Master Li, why not wait for her to finish speaking? It's really ungentlemanly to attack a weak woman."

The woman walked away from Zhou Ziheng, her eyes glistening with tears, it was hard to tell if they were rain or tears.

"Father, will Mother and I ever get an apology from you?"

After the other party finished speaking, Li Jin remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, he looked up at the sky, letting the rain slide down his face.

In the torrential rain, his gray hair was particularly blurred.

He said, "Chenyu, I knew all along that you were my daughter."

The woman in front of me is none other than Li Jin's "adopted son," Fu Chenyu!

Fu Chenyu trembled slightly, seemingly not expecting Li Jin to say such a thing.

Li Jin gazed into the distance and saw Huo Qin slowly approaching with a shocked Li Zhiheng. He paused for a moment, then sighed, "I'm very sorry about Yao Niang's matter."

"But that's not the case."

The gale-force winds whipped the rain against everyone, and in this chaos, only the unsheathed Liyang revealed its sharpness.

"More than twenty years ago, I had just grasped the true meaning of Liyang. My parents were happy and thought it was time for me to shoulder the heavy responsibility of Liyang Valley, so they were eager to find me a wife. I really didn't want to, firstly because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with a strange woman, and secondly because I felt it was far from the time to take on such a heavy responsibility. The responsibility of Liyang Valley was too heavy for me."

So I left a letter and went off to travel the world.

Just as Chen Yu said, in Fan Hua Village, Yao Niang and I fell in love at first sight. At that time, I also thought that we could live in anonymity and be a happy couple.

But I couldn't do it. Liyang Valley was declining day by day, and my parents had enemies in the martial arts world. If I took the Liyang Sword, wouldn't that be abandoning them? Later I learned that it was my wife, Zhiheng's mother, who, despite her family's objections, resolutely married me, this missing scoundrel, and used her family's remaining influence to protect my parents.

Later, as her parents grew old and their days were numbered, she had no choice but to ask someone to pursue me and invite me home.

I only had time to see my parents one last time before they passed away. In the last moments of their lives, my mother told me that she knew I didn't like Qiao'er, but over the years, she had managed Liyang Valley and had come to regard her as her own daughter.

She made me swear that I would treat Qiao'er well in the future and never let her down.

I remember it was a rainy day too. I was drunk, and half-heartedly, I ended up sleeping with Qiao'er.

...

I know that in this matter, neither she nor your mother is at fault.

The fault lies with me; I am a cowardly and incompetent person who lacks responsibility.

When I left your mother, I didn't know she was pregnant.

Fu Chenyu's body trembled violently, and intense grief, like a torrential downpour, soaked her heart.

"So why did you hunt down my mother?!"

Li Jin remained silent, his profile displaying a cold indifference.

"Qiao'er is my fault, and Yao Niang is also my fault."

"Then naturally we must end another mistake."

Fu Chenyu was in tears, her heart aching so much she could hardly breathe.

She disguised herself as a man and became Li Jin's "adopted son." Although she was Li Zhiheng's older sister, she could only call him "Young Master." Despite her diligent cultivation, she could never gain Li Jin's favor.

She had initially thought that Li Jin might have had his own unavoidable difficulties, but when he revealed the truth himself, it seemed so brutal.

At Feitai Waterfall, everyone remained silent.

Zhou Ziheng and Huo Qin were uninvolved, but Li Zhiheng looked bewildered and speechless.

The rain was torrential.

After a long silence, Fu Chenyu said with a sorrowful expression, "Fine, fine. I understand right and wrong now."

She wiped away her tears: "I heard that Valley Master Li is looking for a successor for the Liyang Sword. I wonder if I am qualified to spar with you?"

Only then did Li Jin look at Fu Chenyu properly.

Fu Chenyu no longer disguised herself as a man, but her heroic spirit was still evident in her eyes and brows. Her face still had some youthful sharpness, with her sword-like eyebrows slanting upwards towards her temples.

Rainwater slid down her chin, brightening her eyes.

Li Jin remained silent, seemingly pondering whether she was worthy of him.

Fu Chenyu revealed a mocking expression: "For so many years, you have never given me a second glance, so naturally you are unaware of my current swordsmanship. Even now, you still refuse to give your child this chance?"

Perhaps it was the word "child" that touched Li Jin. He didn't look at Fu Chenyu, but instead turned to look at Li Zhiheng, only to see a pair of sorrowful and bewildered eyes.

He felt indebted to Qiao'er, who died young, to Yao Niang, who was betrayed, and even to Fu Chenyu, who lost her identity. But he was completely helpless when it came to his good-for-nothing son.

Li Zhiheng's lips moved, and after a long while, he finally managed to say, "Father...Father...please let...let my sister try."

Such hesitation and confusion easily shifted from Li Zhiheng's eyes to Li Jin's.

It was precisely because he knew that Fu Chenyu was his child that he was willing to teach her swordsmanship, but not Liyang swordsmanship; he was willing to take her as his "adopted son," but not his "biological daughter."

Because there is both love and fear.

Li Jin was timid, but he knew perfectly well that Fu Chenyu was more talented than Li Zhiheng and more deserving of the Liyang Sword.

Li Zhiheng's voice drifted from afar: "Father... I have no talent, everyone knows that... Since we have Chenyu and my sister, what's wrong with that?"

In the end, he still bowed with his sword in hand and said, "Please."

Through the rain, Fu Chenyu seemed to smile. She picked up the rusty iron sword and earnestly introduced herself: "Yao Niang's daughter, Fu Chenyu, please enlighten me!"