Borrowing Flowers to Offer to Buddha - Part Two (Newly Revised)
Meng Jizhen, hunched over, walked around the room with her hands behind her back. Inside, Li Letian's blankets were neatly folded, and the warmth of his body on the bed had long since dissipated.
Walking up to the charcoal stove, Meng Jizhen reached out and touched the cold bricks on the inside. Looking around, not only was the broken sword on the ground gone, but the longswords on the table and hanging on the wall were also nowhere to be seen. The room was cold and tidy, unlike a blacksmith's shop.
Stepping out of the store, the sunlight was so bright that Meng Jizhen couldn't open his eyes. He raised his hand to shield his eyes and it took him a while to recover.
For some reason, the familiar streets now felt strange to Meng Jizhen.
Meng Jizhen grabbed a passing sword-wielding boy and asked, "Where are you going?"
The swordsman was startled and asked in a panic, "Uncle Meng, are you home?"
"Don't talk about me. Where are you all rushing off to?" Meng Jizhen asked, pointing to the panicked crowd on the street.
After carefully observing the pedestrians on the road, Meng Jizhen suddenly realized what was different from usual: there were too many people wearing blacksmith's brown uniforms walking on the street.
At this time, blacksmiths should be holed up in their shops, banging their hammers away. Only the sons and daughters of wealthy families would dress in brightly colored clothes, impeccably dressed and adorned with jewels, and solemnly evaluate the ironware from various shops on the street.
The colors that should have stood out were now submerged in a brown torrent, as the crowd surged eastward like a river. The faces of the people showed either anxiety or joy, but the relaxed demeanor of the past was nowhere to be seen.
"Didn't Brother Le Tian tell you?" The sword boy, who had been pulled back by Meng Jizhen, calmed down and said, "Someone came to the East City Market to cause trouble, claiming that there is no sword in our Sword Forging City that can compare to his."
The swordsman shook the sword he was holding to indicate this, and continued to explain, "The city lord is furious and has ordered us to go and deal with him as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Meng Jizhen snorted coldly. The sword boy didn't take it to heart; everyone in Sword Forging City knew that Meng Jizhen didn't respect the city lord.
"It looks like Brother Le Tian has already taken the sword over," the sword boy peeked into Meng Jizhen's shop, then looked at the dark-faced old man in front of him, and mustered his courage to ask, "Would you like to come with me?"
*
The Quanjun Teahouse has never been as bustling as it is today. It was midday, and the lobby on the first floor, as well as the corridors on the second and third floors, were packed with customers. Hot tea was no longer available, so they could only serve some simple snacks.
At the shop entrance, the proprietress bowed repeatedly, full of apologies, refusing customers entry—a first for her in her life. The weary-looking customers at the door glanced at the throng of people inside, knowing that complaining would be useless. Their eyes searched the streets, lined with people, as they walked along the sides, looking for a place to sit.
Across the street, the scene was even more horrific than Li Letian's house, with broken swords and shards scattered everywhere. In just half a day, the basket beside Wang Boyu, which had been filled with silver, was overflowing.
Pei Jiangxi rested her chin on her hand, looking at the crowd with great interest from the fourth-floor window. Li Letian held his broken sword, looking slightly forlorn.
“You seem quite interested in this little guy,” Han Yizhi remarked astutely.
“Boyu?” Pei Jiangxi asked, tilting her head.
Han Yizhi rolled her eyes at her.
Under the blazing sun, Tao Youan stood ramrod straight, his hands raised high above the longsword forged by Meng Jizhen. As he exerted force, the shadows on his arms shifted. A bead of sweat slid down his cheek. He glanced at Wang Boyu, who sat on the bench in a daze, and suddenly his resolve to cut the sword before him hardened.
*
A group of swordsmen dressed in black suddenly surged into the street, which had just quieted down, and stood in front of Meng Jizhen's house. A carriage slowly came to a stop, and a richly dressed middle-aged man stepped out of it.
The man slowly walked into the house, and he was surprised to find that the shop was somewhat cool and dark.
"Is your business closed today, senior brother?" the man asked, facing into the shadows of the room.
Seeing that no one answered, he looked around and said with some sadness, "It's been quite a while since I've been home."
The man waved to the guards behind him, dismissing them, and said, "You can all leave now. My senior brother and I were just having a family talk; it's nothing serious."
"Yes, Lord City Lord." The guard bowed respectfully and withdrew.
After the door closed, the room became even darker, like a black box isolated from the world. After a moment of silence, there were some scattered footsteps and noises inside.
After a while, the fire in the sword-forging furnace lit up, and the man squatted in front of the furnace and clapped his hands.
"After all these years, the furnishings in the house haven't changed." The man paused and said, "Senior brother, you're still a sentimental person."
The man stood up and looked towards a corner of the room.
Meng Jizhen, who had just been completely hidden in the darkness, now appeared indistinctly in the firelight of the sword furnace. He was wearing tattered clothes, and his calloused hands held a pipe. His face was still shrouded in shadow.
Meng Jizhen exhaled a long breath, the white smoke appearing and dissipating in the darkness. He said coldly, "I have nothing to say to you, not even a family matter."
"After all these years, are you still angry with me?"
The only response to the man was the white smoke dispersing in the shadows in the air.
“That young girl who came to the city is no ordinary person,” the man said, unconcerned by Meng Jizhen’s indifference. “She’s from Yijian Mountain.”
The man walked to the opposite side of Meng Jizhen, sat down on the whetstone, and said, "Senior brother, you should have heard that this little girl brought a sword with her and claimed that no one in Sword Forging City can cut her sword."
The flames of the sword furnace flickered in the man's pupils. He sighed and stared directly at Meng Jizhen in the shadows, saying, "The Black Mountain Sword Trial Tournament is imminent. Their intentions are despicable. They want to proclaim to the world that the swords of my Sword Forging City are no match for the swords of her Yijian Mountain."
As if avoiding the gaze of the darkness, the man turned to look at the sword furnace and said with undisguised shame, "My sword has been broken by her."
"You should have known this day would come the day you handed over the 'Black Wind Sword' to someone else."
“I know you want to say that I brought this upon myself.” The man suddenly deflated, looking exhausted, and said, “Back then, we were just a little short of forging the divine sword and fulfilling our master’s last wish.”
“But if I had to choose again, I would still give ‘Black Wind’ to them,” the man said again. “That’s a sword of evil. Senior brother, I don’t want you to repeat Master’s mistakes.”
“You gave away the sword that Master risked his life to bring back, and you also gave away the only chance for your sect to break through its bottleneck. It was destined long ago that Sword Forging City would be inferior in skill.” Meng Jizhen said in a completely calm tone, “If you think you did nothing wrong, then why are you coming to me?”
“Even if it’s not for me, it’s for Master,” the man said. “Senior brother, with your sword, you can definitely do it. All along, your talent has been the most promising to come close to Master’s.”
"I've always believed that even if you couldn't master 'Black Wind's' sword-making skills, you would still be able to forge a divine sword that will be unparalleled." The man said excitedly.
"You may leave, Tao Xin." After a long while, Meng Jizhen spoke from the darkness: "Things have come to this point, let the Sword Forging City end with some dignity."
*
Tao Youan stared blankly at his numb hands, even this slash full of courage and determination could not shake the long sword in front of him.
"Boyu," a clear female voice pierced through the layers of sound waves, reaching the ears of everyone present with perfect clarity.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Pei Jiangxi standing smilingly, leaning against the windowsill. She deliberately turned slightly to the side, revealing the "Yijian Mountain" embroidery on her left shoulder.
Upon seeing such a young face, Li Letian couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "To transmit sound so secretly, even a maid has such profound inner strength. This is the foundation of a noble family."
“Take it, Boyu,” Pei Jiangxi said.
Pei Jiangxi bowed to the crowd again and said, "I apologize, everyone, that's all for today."
Pei Jiangxi seemed to have heard something, and stared intently into the room. After a while, she turned to the crowd and said, "My young lady said that she appreciates everyone's support. If you don't mind, please come again at sunset. My young lady will treat you all to some wine."
"Good!" A man holding a long sword clapped his hands and shouted, "As expected of the 'Sword-Bone Heroine' of Yijian Mountain, she is truly a forthright and heroic woman."
As soon as he finished speaking, the others echoed his praise.
Pei Jiangxi also cupped her hands and nodded to the crowd once again.
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