Borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha - Part 1 (Newly Revised)
"Shi Xi, are you really not going to set off with me?" Su Yishan said goodbye to Pei Jiangxi while riding his horse.
“Yes, Boyu and I will wait here for the eminent monks from Xinyuan Temple to come and retrieve the Buddha statue.” Pei Jiangxi stroked the horse’s mane and said, “Don’t worry, with Boyu here, there won’t be any problems.”
Pei Jiangxi then proudly raised her arms and said, "Besides, your sister here has also practiced martial arts. Ordinary petty thieves can't do anything to me."
Su Yishan laughed heartily and said, "Brother, you've been worrying too much."
"I'm entrusting Shixi to you, young hero Boyu." Su Yishan urged his horse forward and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Wang Boyu.
"Don't worry, Master Su, I will protect Miss."
Everything was as usual, just the man and his horse, accompanied only by the sound of hooves and the heavy sword case behind him.
“Brother Yishan,” Pei Jiangxi suddenly called out.
Turning around, I saw Pei Jiangxi waving her arms enthusiastically.
Goodbye Montenegro.
"Okay, goodbye, Black Mountain," Su Yishan replied softly.
Pei Jiangxi and Wang Boyu watched Su Yishan's figure disappear into the horizon.
Wang Boyu removed the sword case from his back, gazed into the distance, and asked, "Has the 'Shattering Star Sword' been replaced?"
Pei Jiangxi nodded.
“Let’s head to Longting Town as well,” Wang Boyu said.
“The situation has changed,” Pei Jiangxi said as she walked toward the tavern. “Come with me to another place first.”
"Where do we go next?" Wang Boyu picked up the sword case and followed behind her.
“Let’s go to Sword Forging City.” Pei Jiangxi walked towards the tavern, saying with a sense of relief, “Let’s go to the holy land of sword forging in the south and broaden our horizons.”
*
Sword Forging City, an inconspicuous blacksmith shop.
Li Letian stepped across the threshold with light, quick steps.
"You brat, you've run off to the city to fool around again."
With each strike of the hammer, the shadow on Meng Jizhen's face briefly dissipated. Sweat dripped onto the crimson blade, and fleeting sparks scattered in all directions.
Li Letian took off his clean clothes, carefully folded them, changed into his sword-making uniform, and replied, "It was a wasted trip."
"Le Tian," a voice suddenly came from the doorway. Tao You'an, holding several long swords, stood at the door and peeked out, saying, "You're back."
"Uncle Meng." Tao Youan bowed respectfully upon seeing Meng Jizhen.
"Where are you going with that sword?" Li Letian asked, straightening his clothes.
“There’s a guy from who-knows-where in the east of the city who’s been offering a reward of five hundred taels of silver to anyone who can cut his sword.” Tao Youan shook the long sword at his chest and said, “So, I took the sword and went over to give it a try.”
"Can you even make a sword yourself?" Li Letian teased.
"How about I borrow your sword?"
“Go away, go away,” Li Letian waved his hand, “I’d rather you make the money than make it myself.”
"You didn't go today?" Tao Youan winked at Li Le.
"Don't even mention it."
“You’ve come back just in time,” Tao Letian said mysteriously. “I ran into Miss Xin today. She’s probably just left the city after taking her sword from my house. If we go after her now, we might still be able to catch up.”
Why would I chase after someone?
"Anyway, I've already told you, whether you go or not is none of my business," Tao Youan said. "I'm not going to argue with you anymore, I have to hurry up and make some money, otherwise someone else will beat me to it."
Tao Youan turned to leave
"Wait a minute." Li Letian stopped tidying his clothes, took the long sword from the wall, and threw it to Tao Youan.
"Thanks, brother," Tao Youan caught the longsword Li Letian threw to him and said with a grin, "It'll be split 50/50 between us now."
Li Letian changed back into the clothes he had just taken off, pulled a pink sword tassel from the inside of the wardrobe, and hurriedly walked out, saying, "Dad, can I borrow your horse?"
Meng Jizhen brought down his hammer again, and a flash of light suddenly appeared behind Li Letian.
*
Sword Forging City, east of the city.
The Shattered Star Sword rested on a stone stand with its blade pointing upwards. Although the blade had some scratches, there wasn't a single nick or nick.
Around the longsword lay a pile of broken swords. Behind it, Wang Boyu, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, sat listlessly on a bench, his left hand steadying a square wooden plaque. The plaque read:
"One tael for each cut, the one who cuts it will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver."
A crowd gradually gathered in front of Wang Boyu and his longsword.
Across the street, at the Quanjun Teahouse, Pei Jiangxi sat on the second floor, sipping freshly brewed tea and watching the crowd on the street with great interest. One after another, sword attendants were happily carrying their swords and rushing towards the teahouse.
In contrast, the sword boy in front of Wang Boyu was not so happy.
As the sound of metal cracking rang out once more, another swordsman retreated dejectedly to the side of the street.
To Wang Boyu's right was a basket large enough to fit one person; the bottom of the basket was gradually being filled with silver-gray, obscuring the yellow of the bamboo strips.
Among the crowd surrounding Wang Boyu, some were disappointed, some were astonished, and some were eager to try.
Han Yizhi sat down opposite Bae Kang-hee.
"Is it done?" Pei Jiangxi picked up the fairness cup to pour tea, then pushed the teacup from the table toward Han Yizhi.
Han Yizhi took a sip and said, "The news has spread, so people will probably start arriving gradually in a while."
A crisp metallic clanging sound rang out, and another tael of silver was tossed into the basket.
"I'll do it." A young but spirited voice rang out.
Standing in front of Wang Boyu was none other than Tao Youan.
*
"Then this humble woman thanks Master Letian."
"You flatter me, Miss. I wish you the best of luck in winning the championship."
After seeing off the guests who came to collect the sword, Li Letian looked at the broken swords scattered on the ground and Meng Jizhen, who was fast asleep beside the sword-forging platform, sighed helplessly, and continued to bend down to clean up.
Two of the three walls in the shop were covered with longswords, while one wall was empty.
Another person walked to the doorway. The pale yellow sunset cast a long shadow, which stretched past Li Letian and into the shadow behind him.
"Sorry, the store is closed today."
“Uncle Meng has cut his own sword again,” the man said with a pained expression. “I knew it. I should have asked him to give it to me a long time ago.”
Tao Youan walked into the shop empty-handed and helped Li Letian tidy up the place with ease.
Li Letian looked up at the dejected Tao Youan and said with some surprise, "You just got back?"
"Yes," Tao Youan suddenly remembered something, excitedly jogging over and grabbing Li Letian's arm, "Is there any left?"
"What?"
"Uncle Meng's sword."
“Look,” Li Letian pointed to the long wooden table by the wall.
Tao Youan picked up the longsword and walked into the sunlight to examine it. Sure enough, it was undamaged, except for a few nicks in the blade. After swinging it a couple of times, Tao Youan contentedly put the sword back into the empty scabbard on his back.
Li Letian grabbed Tao Youan, whose eyes were shining, and said, "Wait, let's finish tidying up first."
*
Has the person you're waiting for arrived?
"Who is it?" Pei Jiangxi asked, picking up a piece of meat and putting it in her bowl before shoveling a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth.
“They got a fake boat in Wenqu City before, and last time they poisoned the grass along the way to Suyishan.” Wang Boyu served Han Yizhi a bowl of clam soup and then continued, “Don’t you need me to do anything this time?”
“You did a great job.” Pei Jiangxi opened her arms and looked around, finally looking into Wang Boyu’s eyes and said, “Without your hard work during the day, how could we have come to such a luxurious place to have a quiet meal?”
Pei Jiangxi stopped Wang Boyu from reaching for a bowl, saying, "I can't eat this, you two can eat it."
"Is it alright?" Pei Jiangxi turned to Han Yizhi and asked.
Just then, the waiter brought in a hot stewed chicken, placed it in the center of the table, and said, "Young Master Wang, a blacksmith downstairs has brought a sword and says he wants to see you."
Wang Boyu looked at Pei Jiangxi, who then said to the waiter, "Tell the young master that Young Master Wang has already rested and that they can come back tomorrow."
Okay.
As the waiter's footsteps faded into the distance, Han Yizhi put down her spoon and said, "Booking an entire floor like this in such a grand manner must be more than just a simple meal and rest."
“Could there be an even better sword in this city?” Wang Boyu asked in surprise. “Although it looks old, I thought Su Yishan’s sword was unparalleled in the world.”
The three of them involuntarily looked at the long sword hanging on the wall. Wang Boyu said, "Even if it were my master's sword, I'm afraid it couldn't cut it."
"You really want to know?" Pei Jiangxi stood up and waved to Wang Boyu with a smile.
The two leaned closer to each other across a table. Pei Jiangxi's palms faced outwards, her delicate hands covering her ears and lips.
The conversation ended quickly amidst the crackling of the candle wick.
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