Chapter 6 Life and death are lost in the falling flowers, and the wind and rain only deepen the sorrow of spring.
Zhou Ziheng and Huo Qin watched from afar, remaining indifferent as it was none of their business. He turned to the other and asked, "Who do you think will win?"
Huo Qin replied calmly, "Naturally, it's Li Jinsheng."
"Is that so?" Zhou Ziheng concealed his smile. "I think Fu Chenyu will win."
Li Zhiheng, standing beside them, remained expressionless, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Unlike Zhou Ziheng and Huo Qin, who were sharp-eyed and perceptive, he couldn't see anything on Feitai Waterfall through the thick rain.
Li Zhiheng had never hated himself so much, hated his own incompetence, hated his own ignorance.
She hated herself for being powerless to change what had happened years ago, and hated herself for knowing nothing about her older sister, Fu Chenyu.
He recalled that afternoon when Fu Chenyu arrived at Liyang Valley.
It must have been spring. He still remembered that the forsythia in the valley was in full bloom, and Fu Chenyu, carrying a wooden sword, walked step by step from the Suijin Mountains to find Liyang Valley. He kowtowed day and night until he finally knocked on the gate of Liyang Valley.
When Li Jin saw the dusty-looking boy standing on the high steps in front of the mountain gate, looking down at him, he remained silent for a long time.
Fu Chenyu knelt on the ground, maintaining the kowtow posture, sweat dripping into small puddles.
"My name is Fu Chenyu. I have come to Liyang Valley to study. I humbly request the Valley Master to accept me."
Hiding behind Li Jin, Li Zhiheng, still possessing the compassionate nature of a child, tugged at his father's sleeve and whispered, "Dad, please accept it..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Jin had the burly man take him back to his room.
Only after Li Zhiheng had completely walked away did Li Jin look at Fu Chenyu again.
Fu Chenyu kept her head down and didn't see his complicated expression.
Even with the vibrant forsythia in the way, the moment Li Jin saw Fu Chenyu, he was reminded of an old friend through those remarkably similar eyes.
He had actually made up his mind, but he hesitated to speak because of his confusion.
Until Fu Chenyu spoke again: "I am—"
Seeing her swollen forehead, Li Jin interrupted Fu Chenyu, saying, "Alright, from today onwards, you are my godson."
Fu Chenyu looked up in surprise.
She never imagined that Li Jin would be willing to take her as his "adopted son"!
Li Jin looked away and said ruthlessly, "Although you are my adopted son, you still need to call me 'Valley Master' and Zhiheng 'Young Master'."
These words shattered Fu Chenyu's expectations, and she lowered her head again, silently agreeing.
Li Jin realized once again that he was a failure. A failure as a husband, a failure as a father.
However, when he saw the wooden sword on Fu Chenyu's back, he realized that he could be a qualified master.
Li Jin had the strong man pick out a suitable iron sword for Fu Chenyu, and then left her to go find Li Zhiheng.
Li Zhiheng was taken away by the burly man, initially somewhat resentful, but seeing his father return quickly, he became curious: "Dad, that person..."
Li Jin remained silent, not answering the question, but instead posed a new question to Li Zhiheng: "Are you really unwilling to learn the Liyang Sword Technique?"
Li Zhiheng intended to nod as usual, but upon noticing his father's serious expression, he inexplicably began to think it over carefully.
“Father, I know you want me to inherit the Liyang Sword Technique. But as you can see, I really don’t have the talent… Over the years, I’ve suffered a lot, from being full of ambition at the beginning to giving up now. I’m truly not interested in this,” Li Zhiheng said sincerely.
Li Jin closed his eyes: "If someone kills me with the Liyang Sword Technique in the future, they might kill you too. Even so, you're still unwilling to learn it?"
Li Zhiheng was stunned.
After a long silence, he said sullenly, "Father, you are in the prime of your life and have a profound understanding of the true essence of Liyang. How could anyone use the Liyang sword technique to kill you?"
Li Jin, however, was very serious: "Answer me."
Li Zhiheng: "..."
"If that day ever comes—"
"I will try my best to live, study the Liyang sword technique, kill that person, and avenge you."
"In the same way."
...
The rain poured down, with large raindrops pattering on the ground and creating a white mist.
Seeing Zhou Ziheng's confidence, Huo Qin asked with some doubt, "Why do you think Li Jin will definitely lose?"
Zhou Ziheng asked, "Have you ever seen the Liyang Swordplay?"
Huo Qin shook his head.
Zhou Ziheng: "Then how do you know that Fu Chenyu hasn't studied it?"
With a thunderous roar, the waterfall plunged down like an enraged silver dragon.
The deafening roar drowned out Zhou Ziheng's last words.
"Moreover, he wants to atone for his sins."
On the Flying Platform Waterfall, the two's sparring had reached a fever pitch.
The torrential rain washed away Fu Chenyu's worldly impurities, and at that moment, she fully grasped the true essence of the Liyang Sword Technique.
Cut ties with the past and face the future!
Even with only an iron sword, she was not at a disadvantage. The iron sword clashed with the divine weapon, sparks flying in the rain.
At this moment, every drop of rain seemed to be driven by Fu Chenyu, every drop of rain reflected the sword light, and the entire rainstorm became her sword.
Li Jin remained calm, only defending and not attacking, passively watching Fu Chenyu fully comprehend the true meaning in the rain.
Fu Chenyu felt embarrassed and annoyed: "Why didn't you use your full strength?!"
Is this charity?!
Li Jin sighed, flicked his wrist, and shook off the rainwater from the Liyang sword.
In an instant, a brilliant blue light blazed forth!
The Liyang Sword, like a bolt of lightning, tore through Fu Chenyu's sword intent and pierced towards her face!
However, even faster than the Liyang Sword was an ordinary iron sword.
It lay hidden beneath the heavy rain, aiming straight for Li Jin's throat.
At the last moment, Li Jin stopped his attack, but Fu Chenyu couldn't stop. The iron sword went astray, failing to pierce Li Jin's throat but instead piercing his left chest.
The dull thud of the sword piercing flesh was drowned out by the thunder.
The Liyang sword clattered into the mud. Li Jin spat out blood, which immediately gushed from between his fingers, spreading a glaring red in the rain.
Rainwater streamed down his chin, washing the blood into a pale pink creek.
Fu Chenyu seemed to wake from a dream, and the iron sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
She stepped forward to help Li Jin up, still somewhat bewildered, her voice bitter: "Why didn't you dodge? Why didn't you avoid me?"
Li Jin already had a pre-existing ailment, and now his injuries were even more severe and difficult to heal. He coughed up a lot of blood again, his voice weak: "This...this is the Liyang Sword."
As he spoke, he trembled as he raised his hand and placed the Liyang sword into Fu Chenyu's arms. Then he slowly raised his hand and wiped the water off her face.
"Yao Niang... Has Yao Niang arrived?"
Fu Chenyu gripped the Liyang sword tightly, and also gripped Li Jin's cold hand tightly.
"Mother, Mother is currently being cared for in Liyang Valley..."
Li Jin nodded, knowing the other party was still alive, and had no intention of seeing him again. He looked at Li Zhiheng and saw his son trying to rush forward, but was firmly stopped by Huo Qin.
He was relieved and looked at Fu Chenyu again: "Over the years, I have been sorry to your mother and to you."
Li Jin also wanted to say that he had his own reasons for what happened in the past, but after thinking about it, he realized that even if he had great reasons, they could not cover up the fact that he had hurt two women.
So he closed his eyes, not wanting to say anything more, nor wanting to damage Fu Chenyu's Dao heart.
“You hate me,” he said, “but don’t hate Zhiheng.”
Fu Chenyu still held Li Jin's hand tightly, her voice trembling: "Don't sleep..."
"Your mother wants to see you..."
"Please don't sleep..."
"Father……"
Li Jin closed his eyes completely.
Under the torrential rain, the world seemed to be soaked in endless tears.
The Liyang sword, along with Li Jin's hand, fell from Fu Chenyu's arms.
The Liyang sword lay scattered to the side, its tassel soaked by the wind and rain.
The torrential rain blurred the boundary between heaven and earth, and also blurred the tear stains on Fu Chenyu's face.
From afar came Li Zhiheng's roar: "Father—!!"
However, Li Jin didn't hear either of the two calls of "Father," one soft and near, the other loud and distant.
Huo Qin stopped Li Zhiheng and saw that the other man's eyes were red and he was so anxious that he even tried to bite him, so he quickly knocked him unconscious.
Zhou Ziheng was shocked: "Is it really okay to not let him see his father one last time?"
Huo Qin hoisted the unconscious Li Zhiheng onto his shoulder: "I was entrusted with this task."
Then, he turned to Zhou Ziheng and asked in confusion, "How did you know that Li Jin would definitely die today?"
Zhou Ziheng slowly drew the Red Dust sword, using its gleaming blade to admire his handsome face.
"Guess why I'm the Sword Master of the Mortal World?"
"Greed, ignorance, love, anger, and hatred—this is the world of mortals."
...
Yao Niang ultimately failed to meet Li Jin.
She was just an ordinary person with no martial arts skills. Traveling all the way to Liyang Valley was already her limit, and she had no intention of going up the Flying Platform Waterfall. However, she did not expect Li Jin to be so resolute.
Years of love and hate, reduced to ashes.
The mother and daughter buried Li Jin, and Zhou Ziheng comforted them, saying, "Don't be too sad. Everyone dies eventually, and Li Jin was not going to live past this winter anyway."
"Back then, those assassins went to great lengths to kill Yao Niang. If it weren't for his secret protection, you wouldn't be alive today—"
Yao Niang and Fu Chenyu turned around at the same time, their eyes red, staring at him in disbelief.
"Oh dear, look at my mouth, I'm talking nonsense again." Zhou Ziheng pretended to let something slip, ignoring the shocked, sorrowful, and bewildered looks in the two people's eyes. He carried the Red Dust Sword in one hand and the Drunken Flower Wine in the other, and slowly walked out of Liyang Valley.
The autumn day is bleak, but the Feitai Waterfall is magnificent, as if it could overturn the world.
Huo Qin had already "packed up" Li Zhiheng and sent him away, and was now leaning against the gate of the valley alone.
Zhou Ziheng asked, somewhat puzzled, "Weren't you going to protect Li Zhiheng?"
Huo Qin sneered: "His old man's money is only enough until the Liyang Conference ends. My mission is complete, so he should naturally get out of here."
"But you," Huo Qin sized up Zhou Ziheng, "didn't Li Jin tell you not to say anything? Aren't you afraid that Fu Chenyu's Dao heart will be damaged?"
Zhou Ziheng laughed: "To sever ties with the past and face the future, one must naturally sever ties with the real past and face the real future."
"If she really lacks talent and is affected by the truth, then she will naturally pay the price many years later."
As he spoke, Zhou Ziheng turned to leave, but unexpectedly Huo Qin followed him as if they were old friends, as if they were going to "wander the world together".
Zhou Ziheng stopped walking, and Huo Qin stopped as well.
He went left, and Hochin went left too.
He went to the right, and Hochin went to the right as well.
Zhou Ziheng was speechless: "Don't you have anything else to do? Why are you always following me around?"
Huo Qin bluntly stated, "I'm interested in your worldly affairs, and I happen to have some free time lately..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ziheng interrupted with a cold laugh: "Thank you, I don't lack companions for traveling the world."
Huo Qin said "Oh," and turned to leave, but before leaving, he deliberately kept everyone in suspense: "Then it seems that someone doesn't need a way to break the curse."
Before Zhou Ziheng could even process what was happening, he had already grabbed Huo Qin's arm to stop him.
"But then again..."
"Now I'm missing one more."
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