Mountain Stream Spirit Sword
Hearing Wu Zi's assurance, Xu Yi finally felt relieved. By the time Wu Zi finished meditating and healing his injuries, it was already broad daylight.
Xu Yi and Wu Zi returned to the village and were warmly welcomed by the villagers. They happily ate the steamed buns provided by the villagers and listened to the women gossiping about this and that...
After a while, one of the women came over and said to Wu Zi, "The two masters can go to Xunxin Town. It is said that there is a demon there, and a wealthy merchant is offering a large sum of money to hire masters to exorcise the demon."
Wu Zi chuckled and said, "How did you come to know I was a master, ma'am?"
The old woman said matter-of-factly, "There's a mass grave right next to our village, it's often haunted. The two of you slept in the wilderness last night and are both unharmed today, you must be a master!"
Upon hearing the words "heavy money," Xu Yi strained her ears, waiting for Wu Zi's reaction. Wu Zi, of course, noticed and smiled slightly, "Alright, thank you, ma'am. We'll consider it."
Considering? So you don't necessarily have to go? Xu Yi pouted and remained silent.
Wu Zi was straightforward; he patted Xu Yi and asked her directly, "Xu Yi, do you want to go to Xunxin Town?"
"Huh?" Xu Yi didn't expect to be asked that question and almost stammered. She quickly composed herself and said weakly, "A lot of money can buy a lot of delicious food..."
"But since it involves a large sum of money, it must be a very difficult matter..."
Yes, a large sum of money definitely means high risk. Thinking of what happened last night, Xu Yi quickly shook her head: "Then, I won't go."
"Hahaha..." Wu Zi laughed heartily: "It's alright, I'm good at handling tricky situations."
Xu Yi then realized that Wu Zi was deliberately teasing her, so she sniffed and turned her head to the side, but heard Wu Zi say, "Xu Yi, you must not let yourself become a vengeful ghost again like you did last night, understand?"
"Can't your long needle kill ghosts?" Xu Yi regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth, but the words were already out and couldn't be taken back.
“I knew you were still thinking about yesterday…” Wu Zi shook his head, paused for a moment before continuing, “That’s right, my long needle can kill ghosts, but you’re never one of those that need to be killed… That’s why I don’t want you to become a vengeful ghost again.” Wu Zi turned Xu Yi’s head so that it was facing him directly before saying seriously, “Xu Yi, when you become a vengeful ghost, my only way to control you is with my long needle… So, promise me, unless absolutely necessary, never become a vengeful ghost again, understand?”
"If I become a vengeful ghost again, will you really kill me?"
“If…if you become a vengeful ghost and harm innocent people, I…” Wu Zi let out a long sigh: “I can only…I can only…”
Xu Yi's eyes reddened without her realizing it. Unwilling to hear Wu Zi utter those words, she quickly stopped him, saying, "Alright, you...you don't need to say anymore...I...I understand..."
Wu Zi grasped Xu Yi's hand, applying some force: "So, let's not let things get to that point, okay?"
Xu Yi's tears were already about to fall, but she held them back and whispered, "Okay, okay..."
The meal was finished in this quiet atmosphere.
After the meal, they set off for Xunxin Town.
Halfway there, he came across a stream. Wu Zi casually splashed water, and Xu Yi, who was standing nearby, spotted a transparent longsword lying in the water. Xu Yi reached out to touch it... but before he could even touch the sword, it automatically flew out of the water and hovered in front of them, revealing its true form.
Xu Yi saw the blue and white longsword in front of him, exchanged a glance with Wu Zi, and reached for it again. Unexpectedly, the longsword took two steps back and dodged Xu Yi's hand: "You are not my master, don't touch me."
"A longsword can talk?" Xu Yi stared wide-eyed at the longsword. Wu Zi smiled and explained, "This is a spirit sword."
"Spirit Sword?" Xu Yi repeated, then asked the longsword, "Spirit Sword, Spirit Sword, do you have a master?"
After a long pause, the spirit sword finally replied, "Hmm."
"And what about your master?"
“Master…Master has something to do and said he’ll come to pick me up after he’s done.”
Wu Zi naturally noticed something was wrong, so he asked the spirit sword, "How long has your master been gone?"
“Hmm…” Spirit Sword actually started counting the days: “It’s been three years, hasn’t it?”
"Three years?" Wu Zi asked, "Are you... sure your master will come back for you?"
"Of course, my master said he would come to pick me up after he finished his business, and told me to wait for him."
Xu Yi naturally noticed that Wu Zi's attitude was off, so she relayed a message to Wu Zi, asking, "Do you mean that its owner doesn't want it anymore?"
Wu Zi nodded and then guided the spirit sword, saying, "If I had a spirit sword, I would carry it with me every day. Why would I throw it away in the wild?"
"What do you mean?" The spirit sword was displeased. "Are you trying to sow discord and make me go with you because I'm a spirit sword? You're dreaming. My master said he would come to take me, and he definitely will. You don't need to waste your energy."
Wu Zi rolled his eyes: "You know that many people like spirit swords, right? If you had such a powerful sword, you would naturally keep it close to your body for fear that someone would steal it. How could you be left here for so many years without being noticed?"
"You're lying..." Lingjian was enraged and stabbed at Wu Zi.
Xu Yi watched Wu Zi and Ling Jian fight, extremely nervous, and shouted to stop them, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" But Ling Jian wouldn't listen, each move more vicious than the last. Xu Yi quickly comforted Ling Jian, "Don't listen to him, your master might have something to do, that's why we're delayed..."
The spirit sword indeed stopped: "Yes, Master was delayed by something and that's why he couldn't come."
Wu Zi snorted coldly: "Hmph...you really can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep..."
"What did you say?" The spirit sword was enraged again, spinning as it was about to stab Wu Zi. Wu Zi clenched his fists and blocked it with force, his mouth still twitching: "If you really thought your master would come, why would you get angry just because someone said they were abandoned? You know perfectly well in your heart that your master doesn't want you anymore, does he?"
"You...you...you're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense..." Ling Jian's voice grew increasingly shrill, causing Xu Yi to cover her ears beside him...
“Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, you know very well,” Wu Zi said, his hand flying out with a burst of force, successfully repelling the spirit sword. “You don’t need to argue with me, do whatever you want.” He then turned to Xu Yi and said, “Xu Yi, let’s go, let it wait.”
Xu Yi glanced at the spirit sword, and finally took out a communication talisman from Wu Zi's pocket and handed it to the spirit sword: "If you need anything, you can send us a message. We'll be leaving now. Take care."
Lingjian stared at the communication talisman in Xu Yi's hand for a long time before finally taking it and lying down at the bottom of the stream.
Xu Yi felt somewhat relieved after seeing Ling Jian accept the talisman, so she pursed her lips and left with Wu Zi... She sighed all the way, which made Wu Zi glance at her sideways: "Don't think about it. What can teach people is never advice... It's always a dead end. You have to hit it yourself, hit it until you're bleeding and still can't break through it, before you'll understand and be willing to let go..."
"I just... feel sorry for it having to go through such a bloody journey to finally understand..." Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, Wu Zi's eyes lit up immediately, and he praised, "Xu Yi, you're quite good. It's rare that you can understand this level."
Xu Yi, thinking of herself going to her death, felt a sense of empathy and couldn't help but ask a question that had long been on her mind: "Wu Zi, why is there a south wall? Why must people go through these things?"
Wu Zi raised an eyebrow and said dismissively, "Everything in this world has its own destiny. Perhaps Heaven is taking pity on you... taking pity on you for being kept in the dark without realizing it."
"But... people who don't understand can still live well, so why do we have to understand something?" Xu Yi asked, puzzled.
Wu Zi looked at Xu Yi for a few deep moments before speaking: "That's right, people don't necessarily need to understand everything to live; but there are always some people who have no choice but to understand... If the connection is shallow, one can still extricate oneself, but if the connection is deep, how can one control oneself?"
"Is it still possible to extricate myself if our connection is shallow?" Xu Yi murmured repeatedly.
Wu Zi chuckled and ruffled Xu Yi's hair: "Alright, little Xu Yi, don't worry about it. It has its own path to follow, so don't fret."
"Mm." Xu Yi nodded.
They walked for a long time before finally reaching Xunxin Town. As soon as they entered the town gate, they saw a notice posted on the bulletin board offering a large reward for a master to exorcise a demon. They tore down the notice and, following the directions of the locals, found the wealthy merchant surnamed Qi. Upon hearing that a master exorcist had arrived, the servants led them directly into the mansion.
The steward explained as they walked that Master Qi had attended a play three months ago and was completely captivated. He had intended to buy the opera troupe, but the owner refused, and since the troupe was located outside the city, they went out early every morning and didn't return until very late. The last time they returned late at night, they were not the same person…
That night, Master Qi returned exceptionally late... It was Qi himself who opened the door, and as soon as he opened it, he noticed that Master Qi's eyes were lifeless and his expression was vacant. No matter what Qi asked Master Qi, Master Qi did not answer and simply went straight back to his room to rest.
The next day, when he went to wake the master, he found him unconscious... They consulted many doctors, but all of them said there was nothing wrong with his health. So they invited a master to come and see, and everyone said that their house was haunted by evil spirits.
But the masters had tried everything, and the old man still wouldn't wake up... In desperation, they posted a notice.
The steward kept sighing about how many things were going on in the household, and how the whole family was waiting for the master to wake up. He said that if they could wake the master up, it would be a relief to their urgent needs, and they would reward him handsomely, and so on...
Led by the butler, they went directly to Master Qi's bedroom. Upon entering, they saw Master Qi's bedside surrounded by kneeling women of various appearances, all weeping bitterly; the bed was so crowded there was barely any room to step…
After hearing that Wu Zi was a master exorcist, they all rushed over, some pulling on his sleeves, some wiping away tears—all with the same goal: to get Xu Yi and Wu Zi to wake up Master Qi as soon as possible.
Wu Zi must have been through all of this before. Among these women, he assured one that he would do his best and comforted another not to be sad... He seemed very easy to talk to, but he never guaranteed that he would definitely save Master Xingqi...
Xu Yi, on the other hand, was pushed to the side by the crowd of women. She stood aside, secretly marveling at how difficult these women were to deal with, and also genuinely admiring Wu Zi's ease in handling the situation...
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