Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road, Part Five
Before anyone could even make out its appearance, the bird flapped its wings and flew into the sky, blending into the darkness. Leaving Xiang Wu standing there, stunned.
"Looks like your skills aren't quite there yet," Nana teased him.
"I've never seen a bird like this before," Xiang Wu said with a look of regret.
As they drew closer to the Misty Rain Pavilion, Nana's mood grew increasingly heavy. Only seeing Xiang Wu in this state could she feel a little relieved.
Xiang Wu walked to the fire and sat down, taking the wooden stick from Lin Zhenna's hand and continuing to roast the fish he had just caught from the river. "Are you still nervous?" Xiang Wu asked.
“Much better,” Nana replied.
“I understand. Before, every time Master came back from outside, I would be so nervous that I couldn’t sleep.” Xiang Wu smiled bitterly: “I could only chant sutras in front of Buddha all night.”
"All night long?"
“Not entirely,” Xiang Wu said. “Usually, I fall asleep while reciting.”
"I'm hungry," Nana said thoughtfully, tucking her hair back. She seemed to be speaking off the cuff.
"There's still some dry food in the bundle." Xiang Wu thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we eat a couple of bites to tide us over?"
"I won't eat it." Nana suddenly became willful. "It's too dry, it'll make me choke."
Xiang Wu was both amused and exasperated, and could only say, "I don't know why the fire won't light. If we want to eat grilled fish, we'll have to wait a little longer."
"It's too damp." Nana stared blankly at the weak flame.
"Is that so?" Although it was a rather pointless answer, and Xiang Wu didn't even know if Nana was right, he just habitually didn't want Nana's words to fall flat.
After a while, Nana seemed to remember something and perked up again. She turned her head and leaned closer to Xiang Wu, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall. "Feel it," she said enthusiastically. "It's really damp; you could wring water out of it."
Xiang Wu was stunned for a moment, then finally raised half of his hand and wrung it out on his sleeve, saying, "It is indeed too damp."
Nana pulled her hair back, lowered her body, tilted her head, and looked up at Xiang Wu Huo Guang's profile.
"What's wrong?" Xiang Wu felt a little awkward under her gaze and finally couldn't help but ask.
Nana asked with a gloating drawl, "Were you shy just now?"
"No, I didn't."
Before Xiang Wu could refute, a sharp whistling sound shattered the silence of the night and interrupted their conversation. Lin Zhenna stood up abruptly, her face instantly turning icy.
"What's wrong?" Xiang Wu kept asking this question every night.
Nana looked at him, her breathing becoming rapid: "It's a distress signal from the Seven Rain Girls. They're in danger."
Xiang Wu put down the branch he was holding, picked up the longsword beside him, and said, "Let's go take a look."
“Yes!” Nana nodded.
The fish landed in the center of the firewood, sending sparks flying. In the flames, the tender white flesh sizzled with oil.
*
Although she had imagined many different scenarios for the meeting, Nana (Im Jin-ah) certainly did not expect it to be like this.
She and Xiang Wu moved as fast as they could towards the direction from which the sound came. Soon after, fireworks, resembling the shape of white clover flowers, rose again from the woods, small and closely packed.
Nana adjusted her direction and headed towards the fireworks. Before she could see anything, she heard the crying.
Yin's hands and long dress were stained red. She held her junior sister, whose eyes were lifeless and who was coughing up blood, and cried out in heart-wrenching sobs. The other two girls, who were wearing the same light blue dress as her, stood to the side with their heads down, their shoulders trembling, and their lower lips bitten until they were a bright red.
Another person, dressed in a light green dress, stood some distance away, the long sword in her right hand still dripping blood. She was the first to notice Nana and Xiang Wu's arrival.
Nana called out somewhat timidly, "Master."
The woman with the sword glanced at her, a hint of surprise on her face at first. But upon seeing Xiang Wu beside Nana, that fleeting joy instantly turned into undisguised disgust.
Qian Shu and Wan, who were standing, also turned around. Wan's mouth opened slightly, but quickly closed again, pressing her lips into a thin line. Her eyebrows, nose, and mouth were all pointing in different directions as she looked at Lin Zhenna with a complicated expression.
When Qian Shu saw Nana, tears welled up in her eyes and burst forth. She had just taken a step towards Nana when Wan stopped her and shook her head. And so, she remained there, gazing at Nana from afar.
Hearing the noise, Yin, who was kneeling on the ground, raised her head, her eyes bloodshot. After a brief moment of blankness, she looked at the two of them with eyes filled with utter hatred. "It's all because of you!" Yin said.
"It's all because of you!" Yin Chong repeated.
The last time they met was at Senluo Temple, when Nana begged Sister Qing to let her go so she could reunite with her then-lover—the unfaithful man from the Hall of Longevity—Yu Hui. She had expected a story like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but the ending was cold and cruel.
Senior Sister Qing took the blame for her leaving the sect without permission; she must have had a tough time these past few days, Lin Zhenna thought.
But why did things turn out like this when they met again? Nana's hand twitched, and finally she clenched her fist and asked, "What happened?"
"If it weren't for finding you, Junior Sister wouldn't be like this." Yin gritted her teeth, her face contorted. "It's all because of you!" She pressed her face against Qing's forehead again and burst into tears.
Nana looked at Cheonju, seeking an answer. Cheonju was sobbing and unable to speak properly. Nana then turned her gaze to Wan, who seemed calmer.
“It was a one-armed man.” Wan tried hard to control her emotions and said, “Senior Sister Qing, as well as Senior Sisters Fengyanyuxue, were all killed.”
Yin suddenly stood up. Xiang Wu immediately took a step forward and stood in front of Lin Zhenna.
"It's the same sword style as mine." Wan immediately sensed the aura emanating from Xiang Wu, which was exactly the same sword intent as hers.
However, Yin didn't seem to be targeting Nana. "That old bastard has been seriously injured by Master. We'll split up and search; we absolutely can't let him escape." Yin said this to her two junior sisters, then turned and disappeared into the woods.
Wan and Qian Shu wiped away their tears and turned to enter the shadows of the woods.
"You," the woman with the sword spoke, her voice icy, "you defied ancestral teachings and passed on your martial arts to this man. Are you here to declare war, together with that man?"
Nana knelt down with a thud. "This disciple would never lay a hand on her own siblings."
The woman looked at Nana. After a moment, she wiped the remaining blood from her sword, glared fiercely at Xiang Wu, and spoke to Nana. "If you still have any remorse, find the man who killed your fellow disciple."
Nana stood up and whispered in Xiang Wu's ear, "I'm worried about my junior sister. Please look after her for me. I'll go with my senior sister."
Without a nod, Xiang followed Qian Shu in the direction Nana had pointed out. Nana herself, however, chased after Yin, who was on the verge of emotional collapse.
Before being completely swallowed by the shadows, Nana glanced back. Her master's figure had vanished, leaving only Qing leaning alone against the tree trunk. Her eyes were closed, as if she were asleep.
*
The wind whistled in my ears.
Pain and hatred filled Yin's heart. But that wasn't enough to make her lose the most basic vigilance of a swordsman. Sensing someone approaching from behind, she immediately placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to strike at any moment.
“It’s me, senior sister,” Nana said.
“If you’re going to leave,” Yin said, “why not just disappear completely?”
"What?"
"It's all because Liu Shi'en brought you news. If we hadn't come out to find you, we would still be at Yanyu Tower. Qing wouldn't have died at that person's hands."
Nana understood. They had received news of her and had come out of the Misty Rain Pavilion to take her back.
“If it were that man next to you,” Yin paused, then said in a deep voice, “I would definitely kill him too.”
"So I didn't let him come here."
"Now that things have come to this, what do you want?" he asked menacingly. "You have violated the ancestral precepts; do you still expect the sect to bestow blessings upon you?"
"Junior sister wouldn't dare."
"Whether it's you or that man, Master will not let you get away with it."
A silver glint in the darkness caught Yin's eye. A one-armed figure held a long sword, with Qing's handkerchief draped over its blade.
That was an arrogant provocation.
"No, Senior Sister. Let's send out the signal first." Nana tried to grab Yin, who was standing nearby. "Keep an eye on him, and we'll surround him together when Master and the others arrive."
Yin felt her blood rush to her head, and she transformed into a bolt of lightning, plunging down from the treetop. Lin Zhenna had used this sword technique once before in front of Heian-in. It was an absolutely unstoppable sword technique; nothing could stop it, nothing could make her halt.
In the blink of an eye, the sword was firmly embedded in the man's heart. Yin pulled the man forward, slamming him into the ground.
Then Nana saw the fluttering leaves and heard a short, mournful cry.
The handkerchief that had been in the air fluttered with the leaves, splattered with bright red blood.
*
The temperature has dropped slightly.
After consuming dry rations and a small amount of water, Li Letian and his two companions rode camels in a long, single-file formation and continued westward.
"If we were at Sword Manor, it would probably be dark by now," said Lee Na-kyung, who was in the middle of the group, looking at the sun in the sky.
“If we stay here too long, we’ll definitely go crazy.” Li Letian, who was at the front, raised his hand and peered through his fingers at the sun hanging in the sky. “We don’t know the seasons, and we can’t distinguish between day and night.”
Li Najiong chuckled softly. That cool laughter seemed to bring a sense of relief to the two heroes. She said, "I've heard that many great heroes used to come to this desert to train when they encountered a bottleneck in their skills."
"Huh, really?"
“I’ve also heard my father say that,” He Zi’an, who was at the back of the line, added, “Our ancestors learned about family traditions in this desert.”
"It not only refines the body, but also tempers the spirit."
The camel caravan was traveling uphill. A gentle breeze blew, and the yellow sand drifted neatly to the right, flying into the distance. As the altitude changed, it seemed as if a yellow ribbon was dancing beneath the camels' feet.
"Has Young Master He accepted the family's legacy?" Lee Na-kyung asked curiously.
"Not yet." He Zian raised a hand to block the sandstorm flying from his left. "The old man originally said he would pass on his skills to me after the trip to Black Mountain." He Zian said leisurely, "If I had known that Brother Li had such abilities, I would have asked the old man to pass on his skills to me first."
This self-deprecating remark made Lee Na-kyung laugh again. She replied, "I actually have a legacy, but my father didn't give it to me. Now that I've found him, I'll definitely make him give it to me as soon as possible. Otherwise, if I meet a Sister Lee one day, it will be too late for regrets."
The open-mindedness of young people is no less impressive than this vast and boundless world.
"And you, Young Master Li," Li Najiong said coquettishly, "You're too cunning when it comes to just the two of us."
Li Letian's body swayed slightly from side to side in rhythm with the camel. He looked at the apricot-colored down on the camel's head and neck, wanting to reach out and stroke it, but he had to give up because it was too far away.
"Me?" Li Letian looked ahead and said, "I don't have any inheritance either, but my master taught me hammer techniques."
“Oh, right.” Lee Na-kyung suddenly realized, “Young Master Lee, you used to be a famous blacksmith in Sword Forging City.”
"It's not really famous."
"It doesn't matter anymore, you're famous now." Lee Na-kyung sincerely praised, "You are all amazing people. At such a young age, you have reached this level through your own efforts."
The three were lucky. Before it got completely dark, they found a mud house that was half-buried in the sand. They had a temporary shelter.
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