Connecting Blades
Biyue Mountain Villa is perched atop the southwestern peaks.
A steep stone staircase paved with huge bluestones winds its way up into the sky and disappears into the misty gate of the manor.
On either side of the stone steps are bottomless valleys, where the mountain wind is fierce, making people's clothes flutter and their footing unsteady.
Nangong Ya had climbed less than a third of the way when he was already panting heavily, leaning against a protruding rock to catch his breath.
"No, no... my legs... they have their own thoughts and won't obey me!" she wailed at Yunwei, who was still walking steadily ahead as if on flat ground.
Yunwei stopped and turned around. The mountain wind fluttered her white clothes, but she remained motionless.
Aya's cultivation foundation is still shallow. This long journey and steep stone steps have greatly depleted her physical strength and spiritual energy, leaving her at her limit.
Allowing her to continue following would not only be unhelpful, but could also put her in danger.
“Aya, you’re exhausted. Find a sheltered spot down the mountain to rest first.”
"Huh?" Nangong Ya was taken aback, then shook her head. "No, no, I have to go with you! What if there's any danger..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanchen, who was standing to the side, subtly curled his lips, inwardly scoffing: Danger? With him by her side, why should Nangong Ya worry? Going there would only get in the way, adding unnecessary burdens and variables.
Yun Wei looked at Nangong Ya, her tone softening slightly, but her insistence remained unchanged: "If you successfully meet Master Xu, I will come down the mountain to fetch you. In your current condition, it is not advisable for you to go up. Go find a sheltered place and do not move around."
She emphasized "don't move around" to prevent Aya from running around at the foot of the mountain and causing trouble.
Nangong Ya glanced at the towering stone steps and then at Xie Lanchen's cold face that seemed to say, "Be smart and don't cause trouble." Finally, she gave up, resignedly turned around and walked back, waving her hand behind her back: "Alright, alright, I'll go down and wait!" She understood that Yun Wei's consideration was for her own good, but she was still somewhat unwilling.
Yun nodded slightly, confirming that Aya had left safely, and then turned to continue climbing the steps.
The mountain wind grew stronger, whipping her white dress into a fluttering sound.
This bit of hardship is nothing compared to what I endured when practicing swordsmanship on the lonely peak.
Xie Lanchen quickened his pace to walk alongside her, turning his head to ask, "Do you... need to stop and rest?" The concern he uttered sounded particularly abrupt.
Yun Wei didn't stop walking, nor did she even glance at him. Her mind was focused, and she simply replied, "No need."
At the end of the stone steps, two heavy bronze doors were tightly closed, and the four gilded characters "Biyue Manor" on the lintel were faintly visible in the thin mist.
The two guards at the gate, dressed in gray cloth outfits with long swords at their waists, looked wary, clearly indicating that things had been unusual at the manor recently.
As soon as Yun Wei stood still, the square-faced guard on her left shouted in a deep voice, "Who goes there? State your name!"
"Please inform Master Xu that an old friend has come to visit." Her voice was cool and her tone was indifferent.
The guard on the right immediately replied, his tone implying dismissal: "The master is not here! You shall leave at once!"
Xie Lanchen took half a step forward, his voice icy: "Not here? Such a large manor, the manor lord just says he's not here? Is he avoiding us, or is he looking down on us?"
"Insolence!" The square-faced guard's expression changed drastically, his left hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. "How dare you question the whereabouts of the master! Recently, thieves have been lurking around, and I find your behavior suspicious; you must be accomplices of the thieves!"
A flash of light slashed through the air.
Yun Wei's heart sank. She had come to ask for a favor and had no intention of causing trouble, especially not to reveal her identity. But the other party had acted so aggressively, and the blade was already at her doorstep. If she retreated any further, it would only attract more guards and increase the risk of being exposed.
Her eyes turned cold, she slightly turned her body, and reached out with her right hand to grasp the other person's wrist pulse point.
"Ugh!" The square-faced guard felt a sharp pain in his wrist, as if it were cracking. His longsword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He staggered backward, his eyes filled with horror.
The other guard was horrified and shouted, "How dare you! You've hurt someone!"
He hurriedly pulled a dark iron whistle from his pocket and was about to put it in his mouth and blow it.
A flash of cold light was faster than his movements.
Xie Lanchen's Lone Goose Sword had been silently drawn from its sheath at his waist, its cold tip pressed against the throat of the sentry on guard duty.
The iron whistle froze at his lips; he couldn't decide whether to blow it or not.
“If she really wanted to kill you,” the boy’s gaze lazily swept over the guards’ pale faces, his cobalt blue eyes filled with gloom, “you two would already be corpses by now.”
The deterrent effect is sufficient; killing and creating enmity will only completely block any future path.
Yun Wei released her grip, took two steps back, and was about to signal the boy to sheathe his sword when, unexpectedly, the square-faced guard took advantage of her distraction and drew a short dagger from his waist, stabbing it into her ribs.
"careful!"
The boy's pupils contracted sharply, and without thinking, he stepped in front of her to block her path.
There was no sound of a blade piercing flesh.
Xie Lanchen lowered his eyes, his gaze first falling on the blade that gleamed with a cold light, then shifting to Yun Wei's hand that was tightly gripping the blade.
Crimson blood instantly gushed from between her fingers, dripping and splashing onto the stone steps, a shocking sight.
The boy's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a fleeting look of surprise crossed his eyes, which was then covered by a cold and fierce rage.
He practically yelled, "Are you crazy?! Let go!"
Yun Wei's brows remained unmoved, as if she herself had not been the one who was cut.
She shoved the boy aside and coldly snapped, "Get out of the way."
With a crisp "clang," she snapped the dagger in two.
Yun Wei hurled the blood-stained broken blade with her backhand. It grazed the square-faced guard's ear and embedded itself deeply into the doorpost behind him. The blade was mostly buried, and the end was still vibrating and humming violently.
The square-faced guard stood frozen in place, the hilt of the knife in his hand falling to the ground.
The other guard's legs went weak and he almost knelt down, trembling like a leaf as if he had seen a demon reborn.
Yun Wei glanced at the two stiff figures with a calm expression, her tone completely flat, and said simply, "We are here only to find Master Xu, and we have no ill intentions, much less are we accomplices of villains."
After saying that, she lowered her eyes, tore a strip of cloth from her clothes, hastily wrapped it around the wound, and tied a knot.
This minor injury was something she was already used to. In the past, when she was practicing swordsmanship at Guiyun Sect, she had suffered countless injuries from broken blades and fractured bones, and it was common for her to soak in ice to regulate her breathing in the dead of winter.
But the boy's out-of-control shout sent a strange feeling through her, but it was fleeting and she had no time to delve into it.
"Why waste words with them? Just charge in. Are you afraid we won't find Xu E?" Xie Lanchen said coldly, pointing the lone goose in his hand directly at the two of them, his knuckles turning white from the force.
His gaze swept over her hastily bandaged hand, and the nameless fire in his heart burned brighter and brighter. He was angry at her recklessness and even more angry at his own momentary loss of composure and panic.
Yun glanced sideways at the young man beside her who was about to make a move, and thought to herself: The young man is too eager to kill, and acts only according to his likes and dislikes, without considering the consequences.
If they were to force their way into the manor, it would surely result in bloodshed and harm to the innocent. Although these two guards were reckless, they were merely doing their duty to protect their master and were not wicked.
Xu E was her old friend. As for the people of the manor, the less they were injured, the better for their future.
The two guards exchanged a glance, their hostility fading and replaced by shame.
The square-faced guard looked at Yun Wei's still bleeding hand and said in a low voice, "It was...it was our recklessness that led us to attack without knowing the facts, and we are truly sorry for hurting you, young lady."
The guard on the right chimed in, "The master is indeed not currently in the manor. There has been much trouble here lately, young lady... it would be best if you didn't come again."
"Do you two know where he went? When will he return?" Yunwei pressed.
The square-faced guard said in a low voice, "We really don't know the whereabouts of the master. Please leave, young lady."
Yunwei's gaze lingered on their faces for a moment, knowing that asking any further questions would be pointless.
Her journey was thwarted, the clues were broken, Xu E's whereabouts were unknown, and there seemed to be hidden dangers at the manor... All these thoughts flashed through her mind, but she showed no emotion on her face, only nodding slightly: "I understand." After speaking, she turned and left, her clothes fluttering, without any intention of lingering.
Xie Lanchen stopped in his tracks, his eyes sweeping over the two guards with a sinister look: "Where is the nearest clinic?"
The guard felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze and quickly pointed down the mountain: "Three miles to the east, there is Huichun Hall in Qingshi Town."
The boy snorted coldly, looked away, and turned to hurry down the mountain.
He walked very fast, catching up with Yun Wei in a few steps, and grabbed the sleeve of her uninjured side.
Yunwei paused, a sudden displeasure rising within her.
"Let go," she said coldly.
A flash of anger crossed the boy's face. He released her hand and walked alongside her, his voice filled with obvious rage: "If you dare to catch a blade with your bare hands again, I will..." He paused, seemingly unsure how to threaten her, and finally forced out a stiff sentence, "...it won't be so easy to let it go."
Yun Wei kept his eyes straight ahead, his steps steady, as if he hadn't heard a thing. "No matter who is by my side today, I will not stand idly by and watch others get hurt because of me. Protecting the innocent is the duty of a swordsman."
Her tone was calm, but in her heart she thought that the boy's agitation made him seem genuinely frightened.
Although the covenant of life still exists, he has always been stubborn and cold-hearted, so this reaction is a bit excessive.
"Behave yourself?" Xie Lanchen scoffed, trying to cover up his momentary slip of the tongue. "You can't even protect yourself now, what are you talking about protecting the innocent? Who in this world is innocent? Who is worth protecting? Those two hurt you, they deserve to die. But you, you're trying to reason with them."
His gaze swept over her bandaged right hand again, the mockery mixed with annoyance becoming more and more obvious. He was angry that she was always so reckless with her life, and even more angry that he couldn't turn a blind eye to it.
Yunwei felt a faint pain in her palm, but it was far less important than the matter weighing on her mind, and not worth worrying about.
The boy was always extreme, and his actions were entirely based on his own likes and dislikes. Arguing with him was like playing music to a cow.
What are these minor injuries compared to the muscle and bone pain from practicing swordsmanship in the sect, or the torment of having my soul torn apart when my father killed me?
The most important thing right now is to find Aya and then devise a plan to visit Xu and E.
"And what about you?" Yun Wei continued walking, her voice as cold as frost, deliberately asking, "Why were you in such a hurry to ask where the clinic was just now? And why did you follow me so closely? Isn't this just slapping yourself in the face?"
She pointed out his contradiction not because she cared, but because she disliked his constant distraction.
His tendency to get angry, argue, and justify himself has nothing to do with her.
The boy was taken aback by what he heard, and his steps faltered slightly.
Why did he follow her? Why did he ask about the clinic? Why did his heart pound so hard when he saw her catch the blade with her bare hands?
He had just made some harsh words, but now he was paying close attention to her injuries. Doesn't that just prove her point?
No, he was simply bound by the covenant of life and death, and he was afraid that if something happened to her, it would implicate him as well.
It's definitely not because of anything else... it's definitely not.
He pursed his lips, suppressing the inexplicable unease and anxiety in his heart, and took a few steps to catch up, forcing himself to remain calm as he said, "Who's following you? We're just going the same way."
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