Chapter 64 Testing the Sword: If only I were Ajiu

Mu Chenbi brandished his sword, ready to strike. He was somewhat worried that Guan Ye's body might not be able to withstand his strength, but the girl in front of him could carry a fifty-pound bag, so how could he underestimate her? Guan Ye's eyes were resolute, the veins on the back of her hands bulged, all her strength was concentrated in her hands, and the word "courage" seemed to be written on her forehead. With such courage, how could she not be able to resist the sword in his hand?

Mu Chenbi calmed his mind and shouted, then swung his sword down. Guan Ye raised her sword to block. Sparks flew between the flashing blades, and the sound of clashing weapons echoed throughout the ghost market, startling everyone who turned to look. Inside the cave, the deep lake rippled, and the water rippled and lingered.

With this strike, Mu Chenbi exerted almost all his strength, causing Guan Ye's tiger's mouth to go numb and her vision to see stars. Her body swayed a few times, but she was still able to stand steadily. Wan Qixi watched this and was amazed.

Guan Ye presented the sword to Mu Chenbi and Wan Qixi. The blade was intact, without even a nick. Wan Qixi grinned and said, "How about my horizontal sword?"

“Very good.” Mu Chenbi handed it to him to see. “Evenly matched, both are rare and good items.”

Wan Qi smiled smugly and said to Guan Ye, "Your sword is also a good thing. Are you willing to let it be cut in half? Perhaps you should just forget about it."

Guan Ye took out the Kunwu Stone, stared at it for a moment, and then stroked the blade without hesitation. "If it breaks, I can forge another one. I'm not going to let it go like this."

"Such a stubborn temper." Wan Qixi shook her head and looked at Mu Chenbi. "You're going to have a lot to suffer in the future."

Mu Chenbi lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, "What I cherish about her is precisely this personality of hers."

"Again." Guan Ye gripped the sword hilt tightly and raised her eyebrows at Mu Chenbi.

Mu Chenbi adjusted his posture. Could Guan Ye withstand the successive heavy blows? Mu Chenbi didn't have time to think. He swung his sword and broke through the waves, striking Guan Ye's blade fiercely. The swords clashed again, and Guan Ye hesitated for a moment before staggering back several steps. The sword in her hand broke into several pieces and fell to the ground with a clang. Mu Chenbi stood still, slowly lowering the horizontal sword in his hand. He then saw blood flowing from Guan Ye's tiger's mouth, and the white cloth on the hilt of the sword was instantly stained crimson.

"Your hand..." Mu Chenbi's brows furrowed suddenly, and he brought his sword down with a clang.

"My knife!" Wan Qixi cried out, getting up to pick it up with heartache. Suddenly, he saw Guan Ye's fox mask come loose and fall to the ground with a drip, revealing her pale, frost-like face.

Guan Ye's eyes were moist, her back was slightly bent and she could hardly straighten up. Her body was trembling from the heavy blows she had taken. The deep cave was dark, reflecting Guan Ye's bewildered face. Blood seeped from the corner of her pale lips as she stared intently at the broken sword on the stone surface, letting out low gasps.

This was the first time Wan Qixi had seen Guan Ye's true face beneath the mask. The girl's features were exquisite, yet she possessed a deep-seated stubbornness. With such a headstrong spirit, it was no wonder she clung to him relentlessly. Wan Qixi silently picked up the horizontal knife, his cloudy eyes, still covered in sleep, glanced at Guan Ye again, then turned away and pulled the dirty cloth covering his face up a little higher.

"Guan Ye." Mu Chenbi held her shoulders with both hands, gently wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth with his fingertips. He leaned closer to her face, looked at it again and again, pried open her trembling fingers to pull out the hilt of the sword, and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wrap around her hand. "Guan Ye, Guan Ye?"

Wan Qixi sheathed his sword and gathered his belongings, glancing at her coldly before saying, "You're incredibly strong. Even a man might not be able to withstand you. Luckily, she's made of steel. Don't worry, she's just scared out of her wits, she won't die."

Mu Chenbi felt deeply ashamed and angry at herself for using her full strength. What good was being able to carry such a heavy bag? Deep down, she was still a woman who deserved to be cherished. She blamed herself for not knowing how to be gentle with a woman. It was just a test of her sword. What would she do if she had really hurt her?

Seeing Guan Ye blink and tears fall, Mu Chenbi's heart ached. He couldn't help but raise his fingers to wipe away her tears. His hand hovered in mid-air before he paused, finally gently touching her eyelids, his fingertips lovingly caressing them.

"Does it hurt?" Mu Chenbi choked back a question.

Guan Ye opened her palm with trembling hands, and Mu Chenbi picked up the Kunwu stone and gripped it tightly. "The sword from Xingguo Ward has indeed been tampered with."

“There’s nothing wrong with our sword.” Guan Ye swallowed the blood in her mouth. “The sword hasn’t been touched by outsiders. It must have been the swordsman who was careless and tricked on the testing platform. Kunwu stone. The inner workshop must have Kunwu stone. This material is extremely hard. Just rub the blade of a sword made of diamond sand with a piece of stone. The blade is thin and brittle. It will break with a little weight. The swordsman from the inner workshop used this method to win against Xingguo Workshop.”

"So what if you know?" Wan Qixi chuckled. "You still think you can seek justice from the inner workshop? It's a government workshop. If you say the inner workshop is cheating you, then the government is cheating you. Guan Ye, is that it? I'm just trying to advise you to let it go."

"What do you want to do?" Mu Chenbi bent down and picked up the broken sword.

Guan Ye spread out her old clothes, wrapped the broken sword pieces inside, tied them diagonally around her body, and tightened them. She didn't answer Mu Chenbi's question about what to do. She had so many things she wanted to do, but she didn't know how to do them.

"Have you heard of the sword-testing incident a hundred years ago, in which Xingguofang was defeated and fled to Canglang Island?" Guan Ye turned around and waved to the old woman rowing the boat at the other end.

Mu Chenbi nodded. "When Xingguo Fang returned to the capital, old stories from years ago were brought up again. It was also a sword test before the emperor, and Pei Chong's sword was broken by Lu Wenting." Mu Chenbi thought of something, and his eyes narrowed slightly for a moment. "Could it be that you suspect that the sword test was also tampered with?"

Guan Ye recalled the desolation of Pei Chong's former residence. For twenty years, Pei Chong had imprisoned himself, never ceasing to reflect on why he had fallen. His sword, forged from the diamond sand of the northern desert, was like a flowing gold blade; even if his skill was inferior, it could never be broken to such a state. Time flew by, and Pei Chong grew old. He died without knowing that the sword from Xingguo Ward was not the problem at all, that the Pei family had not truly fallen, but rather…

"Nonsense." Wan Qixi muttered as he hoisted the sack over his shoulder. "The art of forging is profound and complex. Does losing people and swords necessarily mean it's all a conspiracy? It's just an excuse for not being willing to accept defeat. Guan Ye, you win today's test, but to use today's test to assume events from a hundred years ago is far too arbitrary. If Tianhu Workshop relied on underhanded tricks like the Inner Workshop, could it have been famous throughout Jin for over a hundred years? The spirits of the more than one hundred members of the Lu family are still alive; you can't tarnish their reputation."

"You, a visitor from the Western Regions, also know about the old stories of the Jin Kingdom's foundries?" Mu Chenbi asked, somewhat displeased.

Wan Qixi rubbed his nose. "Don't you even know what kind of business I'm in? If you don't even know this much, how are you going to make a living?" As he spoke, he saw the canoe approaching and was about to jump on when he called out, "The boat is here, the boat is here! Why don't you two give me a ride? I haven't asked you for your money yet for borrowing the knife today."

Four people, including the old woman, squeezed onto the small dugout canoe. Wan Qixi sat cross-legged at the stern, rubbing his old sword through the burlap sack. His cloudy eyes occasionally glanced at the man and woman at the bow. Perhaps because he had been covered by the dirty cloth for too long, he felt a little stuffy. Wan Qixi gently pulled the dirty cloth, stared at the backs of the two people, and breathed heavily a few times, suppressing his emotions.

"If," Mu Chenbi tentatively spoke, "if you want to go to the inner quarters to seek justice... I can..."

“Between victory and defeat, a hundred years can be lost.” Guan Ye sighed to the sky. “I am willing, but others may not dare to take the risk. If I insist on fighting to the end, Xingguofang is a family with one life. If I drag everyone into danger, am I being too selfish?”

Mu Chenbi pondered for a moment, then clenched his fist and said, "The current emperor is wise and the crown prince is skilled in casting. If you can explain everything to them, it may not be a dangerous mission, but rather a mission to clear Xingguofang's name. If you really want to... perhaps I... can make arrangements for you."

"You?" Guan Ye's gloomy expression suddenly relaxed. The face under the fanged mask, which resembled A Jiu's, could actually say with great seriousness—arrange for her to...meet the emperor?

"What?" Mu Chenbi felt a little flustered by her question. "You don't believe me?"

Guan Ye suppressed a laugh, raised her handkerchief-wrapped tiger's mouth, and said, "Thank you for this. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Mu Chenbi swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. The girl in front of him was bold and fearless. She was sure she wouldn't be afraid to reveal her identity as the Crown Prince. However... in the future, there might be a barrier between them, and they might not be as at ease as they were now.

Mu Chenbi, Mu Chenbi, the longer you keep it a secret, the less you'll want to tell her. But what if one day she finds out on her own? She'll never trust you again, and you'll lose this bond. What will you do then?

"Guan Ye, actually I..."

"We're here!" Wan Qixi scrambled to his feet, threw off the dirty towel covering half his face, and pointed to the dim sunlight filtering through the passageway, shouting, "What were you two whispering about the whole way? Tell me!" He actually leaned in to listen, and seeing the two fall silent, he chuckled dryly a few times, "It's just some embarrassing sweet talk, isn't it? Everyone's been young once."

As he spoke, he climbed ashore, shouldered the sack, took a few steps, then turned back to look at Guan Ye, gesturing towards her face and saying, "The Ghost Market is full of demons and monsters; you mustn't reveal yourself rashly, or you'll be targeted and suffer the consequences."

"Thank you for reminding me." Guan Ye clasped her hands in a fist salute to him, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and shouted, "Wan Qixi, I thought you were ugly, but looking at you now, your face isn't bad at all!"

Wan Qixi was startled and thought she had accidentally revealed herself. She hurriedly covered herself with her hand, only realizing she had been tricked when she touched the dirty cloth. As she turned around, she tripped over her own foot and almost fell to the ground. Wan Qixi glared at Guan Ye in embarrassment and anger, poked her hard with her finger, and muttered that she would get what's coming to her later.

Mu Chenbi burst into laughter, watching Wan Qixi stumble forward, savoring the image of his eyebrows and eyes on his dirty turban, "Speaking of which, these people from the Western Regions are indeed not bad-looking."

“That’s not necessarily true.” Guan Ye looked at his fanged mask. “You have such piercing eyes. If you take off the mask, you’ll look almost exactly like A-Jiu.”

"You mean, that Ah Jiu and I are ugly?" Mu Chenbi pretended to be unhappy.

Seeing that Guan Ye did not respond, Mu Chenbi slowly took off his mask. Guan Ye looked at him closely for a long time. Mu Chenbi and A Jiu looked alike, but they were two completely different people. Their faces overlapped, but once you saw them clearly, you would not mistake them.

"You... like A-Jiu?" Mu Chenbi's mind was buzzing; he didn't know why he would ask such a stupid question.

Guan Ye seemed to be touched by something, and she lowered her eyes and walked out of the passageway. Mu Chenbi followed half a step behind her, and a sense of tension instantly arose in his heart.

"Why should I tell you?" Guan Ye kicked at the pebbles at her feet.

"You said I look like A-Jiu," Mu Chenbi said, forcing a smile. "Then... when you see me, do you feel the same way you see him?"

"That's ridiculous." Guan Ye stopped in her tracks. "He is him, and you are you. Are you going to be someone else's shadow? Ajiu would never want to be someone else's shadow."

Mu Chenbi walked on without looking up, when Guan Ye suddenly stopped. After taking a few steps, he realized Guan Ye was gone and hurriedly turned back to look for her. Seeing Guan Ye standing behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief. Guan Ye couldn't help but laugh at his clumsy attempt, but deliberately looked up at him.

"Who wants to be someone else's shadow?" Mu Chenbi turned away sullenly, his words not exactly pleasant.

Guan Ye stepped forward. "When I said something wrong, you are you, you are Mu, Mu what was it again?"

"Mu Chenbi," Mu Chenbi said, her voice blazing with anger, "Is my name really that hard to remember?"

Guan Ye chuckled, and Mu Chenbi realized he had been tricked. His tense face showed a helpless expression. The sun was shining brightly, and Mu Chenbi almost opened his mouth, but he did not want to break the beautiful and quiet moment. Even just walking silently with Guan Ye, he could feel a rare sense of joy.

"Guan Ye." With their parting imminent, Mu Chenbi broke the silence, "Can I...go to Xingguo Ward to find you?"

Guan Ye, with his hands behind his back, adjusted the bundle containing the sword. "What, you want to find Xingguo Workshop to forge weapons?"

"Why not?" Mu Chenbi was amused by her. "Perhaps it could even be a big deal."

Guan Ye laughed. "Xingguo Ward's Attendant-in-Waiting is a royal merchant. Seeing that your family is also a prominent family in Rongdu, fine. If the Ward Master refuses, I'll put in a good word for you. Consider it a thank you for lending me the Kunwu Stone and helping me... test my sword."

Guan Ye was unhappy before entering the Ghost Market, but now that her heart is at peace, her open-mindedness is on full display. The young girl is clear about her grievances and has a heroic spirit. Mu Chenbi listened and felt a little more admiration for her.

"Okay, you said it yourself." Mu Chenbi stretched out his open hand to her, indicating that the two of them should give each other a high five to form an alliance.

Unexpectedly, Guan Ye did not follow the usual pattern and punched his palm, shocking Mu Chenbi into standing still. As if possessed, he covered Guan Ye's clenched fist.

Guan Ye pulled out her sword as if it were a needle, and raised her fist as if to punch him. "If the workshop master won't agree, I'll forge a sword for you. Do you think I'm going to lie to you?"

Mu Chenbi knew that Guan Ye was giving him a way out for his lapse in composure. He lowered his eyes and smiled self-deprecatingly. He saw the Eagle Guards looking out from the cave entrance. Mu Chenbi glanced at Guan Ye, who was walking beside him, and sighed softly in his heart.

Watching Guan Ye's departing figure, Mu Chenbi stood there for a long time, unable to come back to his senses. A thought flashed through his mind—if he were A Jiu… he would not have been separated from her.