The Oriole is Behind - Part Four (Newly Revised)
It was a slender sword with three small, slanted square holes carved into its blade. The width of the blade was less than half that of an ordinary sword, and the length of the sword was longer.
"An inch longer, an inch stronger." Meng Jizhen always taught Li Letian this. In his own words, if the length of a sword could be extended infinitely, then that sword would approach its strongest point.
Unfortunately, no one in the world can wield such a sword. Even the most unparalleled swordsman cannot escape his own limitations. Height, weight, left-handedness, right-handedness, eyesight, strength, and so on are all factors that restrict the ability to wear a sword.
It is not the sword that limits people. Rather, it is people who limit the sword. This is what Meng Jizhen said.
Long before Li Letian could forge swords on his own, Xin Ruien was already a regular customer at the shop. Xin Ruien would bring his sword to the shop for repairs about once a quarter. This simple task was usually handled by Li Letian, but Xin Ruien's sword was different.
Meng Jizhen forbade Li Letian from touching Xin Ruien's sword. Whenever Xin Ruien came to the Sword Forging City, Meng Jizhen would personally tend to her sword. Each tending session would take Meng Jizhen two to three days. He would lock himself in his room for three days and three nights, oblivious to the passage of time, abstaining from meat and only eating vegetarian food and drinking water.
So this was the first time Li Letian had seen Xin Ruien's sword in its entirety. The blade was supple and slender, with three equally spaced diagonal square holes. Under the cool moonlight, the cold iron reflected a faint pink hue.
“I didn’t leave you a letter,” Li Letian replied to Xin Ruien’s question.
In a flash, Xin Ruien drew the longsword from her waist.
Li Letian felt a chill run down his spine, but he still raised his arms high, keeping his hands away from the hilt of the sword at his waist. To prove that what he said was true, he adopted a posture of complete submission.
However, Xin Rui'en's longsword was clearly not aimed at him. The sword moved from left to right, aiming directly at the stone surface beneath their feet, creating a series of sparks. At the point where the sparks were at their peak, Xin Rui'en's sword flicked upwards, sending the sparks flying towards a nearby pine tree.
Suddenly, the tall pine trees crackled and burst into flames, illuminating the pitch-black night.
Li Letian didn't dare to move. "Miss Xin, everything I said is true. I had no intention of harassing you."
Xin Ruien glanced at him. But soon, Xin Ruien's attention moved past Li Letian and looked towards the area diagonally behind him.
"Young Master Li, it would be better if you kept your hand on your sword." Xin Ruien looked into the distance, showing no intention of sheathing his longsword.
"A keen insight and excellent handling skills." A slightly familiar male voice came from behind Li Letian. "I understand now why the old man of the He family insisted on keeping you by He Zian's side."
Li Letian hadn't sensed his presence until he spoke.
“Now, turn around slowly,” Xin Ruien whispered to Li Letian. After speaking, she called out loudly to the man in the distance, “Prime Minister, I didn’t expect you to be interested in coming to Yunxia Peak to admire the starlight of Black Mountain.”
Li Letian now understood why the man's voice sounded familiar. This man was none other than Zhao Zheng, who had kindly offered to arrange a marriage for Li Letian on the sword-testing platform during the day. Recalling Zhao Zheng's kind smile, Li Letian's already tense body stiffened even more.
Unlike his elegant and relaxed attire during the day, Zhao Zheng wore a sleek black night outfit, with six scabbards and five longswords strapped to his back. He stood atop pine needles, almost blending into the ancient pines.
Zhao Zheng glanced at the night sky, then looked at Xin Ruien, who stood with his sword in hand, and said regretfully, "But there is no moon tonight. If it were me, I wouldn't invite my beloved out at this time."
Xin Ruien kept a watchful eye on the darkness behind Zhao Zheng, beyond the reach of the firelight. "So, the Prime Minister has an appointment here with someone else." Xin Ruien grabbed Li Letian's wrist. "Then we shouldn't disturb him. Let's go down the mountain."
Li Letian seemed rooted to the spot. Xin Ruien exerted force, but instead pulled herself towards Li Letian.
"Since you're here, why rush to leave?" Zhao Zheng said slowly. "I like you very much and can give you a chance to join the Hall of Longevity."
"So, the Palace Master and the Dharma Protectors have also arrived." Xin Ruien's face turned pale instantly. She forced a smile, and her hand holding Li Letian was trembling uncontrollably.
Li Letian broke free from Xin Ruien's grasp and grabbed her wrist in return. The appropriate force gradually calmed Xin Ruien down.
Shin Ye-eun turned to look at the man who had grabbed her hand behind her back; the tension on his face had vanished completely.
“The Hall of Longevity is his advisor,” Xin Ruien lowered her voice and frowned urgently, reminding him, “We don’t know where he is hiding, so don’t be careless.”
“Since the master did not invite Miss Xin, then it must be me.” Li Letian pulled Xin Ruien behind him to protect her and suggested, “Why don’t we let Miss Xin leave first? The night is long, and I can have a long talk with the master.”
“Although I don’t know why you’re on this mountain, as long as you kill this man, I’ll give you a chance to join the Hall of Longevity.” Zhao Zheng’s gaze passed over Li Letian’s shoulder and went straight to Xin Rui’en: “With me as your backer, the Xin family will no longer be a vassal of the He family.”
Shin Ruien looked at the man in front of her who was holding her hand and didn't even turn his head, and thought to herself: This man is so unguarded, is he really not afraid of me making a move?
“Otherwise,” Zhao Zheng’s voice turned cold, “I can only make you two a pair of star-crossed lovers.”
Taking a step forward, Xin Ruien leaned close to Li Letian's back and whispered, "Young Master Li, the enemy is in the dark, while we are in the light. The best of the thirty-six stratagems is to flee."
“He should be the only one here,” Li Letian said decisively, his gaze sharpening.
"Oh?" Zhao Zheng finally made a move and jumped down from the branch.
"Everyone knows that the Prime Minister has a Golden Protector of the Hall of Longevity under his command, whose martial arts are extraordinary," Li Letian said calmly. "It is said that the Master of the Hall of Longevity is also under Prime Minister Zhao's command, but no one has ever seen his true face."
Shin Ye-eun has regained her initial composure.
“Actually, it’s not that they didn’t see this mysterious Lord of the Hall of Longevity,” Li Letian continued, “but that they saw him without realizing it.”
A disdainful smile appeared on Zhao Zheng's face.
“You are the Lord of the Hall of Longevity.” Li Le released Xin Rui’en’s hand and asked Zhao Zheng, “Am I right, Prime Minister?”
"What I dislike most are those who are ignorant of their own limitations and try to leap over the dragon gate." Zhao Zheng pulled out the swords from behind him one by one and stuck them into the boulder at his feet. His movements were fluid and effortless, as if he were simply inserting a sharp blade into a block of smooth tofu.
Four longswords were lined up in front of Zhao Zheng. The cold glint of the swords, the brilliance of the vast starry sky, and the firelight from the burning pine trees complemented each other, leaving a unique impression on Zhao Zheng's face.
“I didn’t expect the person the Chen family found. A mere blacksmith from Sword Forging City could ruin my plans.” The flames of the pine tree resembled golden-red banners, fluttering in the wind. The light on Zhao Zheng’s face also changed constantly. “But none of that matters anymore. Both you and the Chen family have reached the end.”
"Miss, be careful!"
With a startled cry, before Xin Ruien and Li Letian could even turn around, a powerful gust of wind whipped against their backs, almost knocking them forward.
Su Yishan, sword in hand, stood behind the two women, his back to them.
"Brother Yishan!"
"Brother Su!"
The two were both surprised and delighted, but dared not turn around to look at the man who had shielded them from an attack.
Su Yishan's hands trembled. Not from fear, but because the sword intent he was facing was too powerful, and its residual force lingered for a long time.
Those involved are often blinded, while bystanders see clearly. These wind blades, arriving in an instant and heading straight for Xin and Li, merged with the fierce winds at the mountaintop, so much so that the two of them were completely unaware of them. If it weren't for Su Yishan's intervention from the side, the two of them would probably already be beheaded.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Letian's forehead. "Did you see him make his move?"
Xin Ruien quickly glanced back. Directly in front of Su Yishan, a sword was tied with a rope and hung from the branch of a pine tree, swaying in the wind.
The three of them moved closer to each other without prior arrangement.
“It’s a treacherous sword,” Xin Ruien said.
"A treacherous sword?" Such a term was nothing short of a fantasy to Li Letian, a newcomer to the martial arts world.
“Brother Li,” Su Yishan said, panting, using teasing Li Letian to ease his tense nerves, “you can see at a glance that Zhao Zheng is the master of the Hall of Longevity, but do you not know what the treacherous sword is?”
Li Letian's lips moved, but he did not answer immediately.
Pei Jiangxi had told him that if he became the leader of the alliance, the first person to kill him would be the Lord of the Hall of Longevity. However, he had no way of explaining the source of his information to the two people beside him, nor could he tell them who Pei Jiangxi was.
“You see that sword as a person,” Shin Ruien explained to him, “a being powerful enough to kill any one of us.”
“That’s right,” Zhao Zheng chimed in, “I’m growing to like you more and more.”
"Thank you for your appreciation, Prime Minister." Xin Rui'en replied, "I am truly humbled."
Zhao Zheng extended his hand to Xin Ruien. "I'll give you another chance. If you come here now, I promise you I will train you to be the next protector of my Hall of Longevity."
"You flatter me, Prime Minister," Xin Ruien declined. "It's just that a young lady like me is not worthy of the high position of the three great sword sects."
"Is that so?" Zhao Zheng lowered his eyes. When he raised them again, his gaze had become sharp: "Then please die."
Zhao Zheng kicked away the two swords in the center, and then used a double-flying kick to knock away the swords on either side. The four swords flew towards the three people standing back to back, one after the other. Zhao Zheng himself was in the center of these four swords.
Without exchanging a word, Su Yishan and Li Letian instinctively shielded Xin Ruien behind them. The two then charged straight at Zhao Zheng.
At that moment, the malevolent sword on the treetop once again released its powerful sword intent, forcing Xin Ruien to separate from the two. She desperately protected their backs.
Four longswords twirled under the starlight.
Su Yishan found it hard to describe that special feeling. This was the first time he had encountered or seen something like this in his twenty years of martial arts training.
Su Yishan could see every single sword strike Zhao Zheng made clearly.
It was like being caught in a downpour; the wind howled like cranes, and the raindrops were as clear as soybeans. Even if you could see everything clearly and try to hold up a large oil-paper umbrella to resist, you still couldn't avoid getting soaked.
"Brother Yishan!"
Su Yishan was like a kite with a broken string. In his eyes, there was only the endless starry sky.
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