Chapter 3 Young Master
Unfortunately, what he thought was a swift and decisive move turned out to be full of flaws in Hengbo's eyes.
It's no wonder he wasn't skilled in martial arts. His combo was actually quite exquisite, with extremely fast attacks and seamless transitions. If his opponent were an ordinary martial artist, a moment of carelessness could have cost him his life.
But Hengbo was even faster and more fluid than him. He didn't even see how Hengbo moved. When everything settled down, there was an unsheathed sword silently blocking his sword. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move forward even an inch.
His heart sank, but the woman in front of him simply looked down quietly, her eyes not even blinking.
Little did they know, Hengbo was merely describing the heavy black iron sword lying across his face, feeling a pang of regret for it.
Most swordsmen love their swords as much as their own lives, and she was no exception. However, while other swordsmen loved only their own swords, she loved every good sword equally.
The heavy sword before me was made of black iron. Although it wasn't as slender as the light swords that Hengbo often used, it possessed a powerful and imposing aura, as if one man could hold off ten thousand. Furthermore, unlike the double-edged swords commonly used by swordsmen today, the spine of this sword consisted of two parallel, deep, blood-red ravines that converged at the blade. Generally speaking, heavy swords are mostly made of solid and heavy materials, which makes it difficult to forge a thin and delicate blade. This sword, however, was different. Its blade was extremely sharp, and when it thrust diagonally, it resembled a ray of light suddenly breaking through the sky.
After admiring the sword for a while, Hengbo raised his head and carefully examined the uninvited guest.
Surprisingly, the person in front of her was not a vicious and desperate criminal, but a young man who looked not much older than her.
The boy was in a terrible state, his clothes tattered as if torn by weapons. The parts that were still intact were covered in mud and had several barely noticeable traces of dried blood. The hair ornament that held his hair in place was nowhere to be seen, and his hair was loose and disheveled, even mixed with a few leaves. His face was as dirty as a cat's, and apart from his dark eyes, nothing else could be seen.
So much so that Hengbo's first reaction after seeing the other person clearly was to frown, simply because he found them dirty.
The young man clearly saw the undisguised disgust on Hengbo's face, and his face turned bright red in an instant, so much so that even the thick layer of ash couldn't cover it up.
After surviving a near-death experience, they hid in a mass grave for three days without eating or drinking.
After finally escaping to Yun County, he was mistaken for a beggar on the street and even received a small piece of silver.
After finding a boat back to Changzhou, he realized he had lost all his silver during his escape and had no money for the fare.
He finally decided to rob someone against his conscience, but when he became a robber for the first time, he encountered a tough guy who was stronger than him.
Having never experienced hardship since birth, yet having tasted all these sufferings in the past few days, the young master of Cangjian Manor, who still persevered despite all this, finally fainted in anger after seeing the undisguised disgust on Hengbo's face.
Hengbo was startled to see the man suddenly collapse before her. Even when faced with a sword pointed at her throat, she remained unmoved and took a small step back. This was not because Hengbo was timid; she had heard many stories from Ruan Wangshu about hooligans faking accidents in the mountains when she was young, and she was very wary. After all, Qingxuzi was very poor, and he had given Hengbo even less money this time.
After observing for a moment and seeing that the man was not moving, Hengbo carefully poked him a few times with the scabbard to confirm that he was really unconscious. Hengbo breathed a sigh of relief and then dared to go forward to check on the situation.
At that time, the social customs were open and there was no strict separation between men and women. In addition, Hengbo had lived in the mountains for many years with only one large family, and had never been afraid of such things. So she directly touched the forehead of the disheveled boy with her hand, and sure enough, it was burning hot.
But now that they were on the ship, it was difficult to find a doctor. Besides, the boy looked like a fugitive. To avoid alerting him and causing unnecessary trouble, Hengbo simply asked the ship's manager for a bottle of strong liquor, took off the boy's shirt, wiped it with the liquor, and then left the boy lying on the ground.
Yokobo felt he had already done a good deed, and left the rest to fate. Of course, it would be even better if this person could repay the life-saving grace with his sword after waking up.
The young master did wake up at night, but he was woken up by the cold.
The nights in March are already cold, and with his clothes stripped off and thrown on the ground, he naturally felt the cold once his high fever subsided.
The young master was still in a daze, only feeling a chill on his body. Unexpectedly, when he subconsciously reached out to touch it, he only touched his smooth skin, which startled him awake. He even let out a terrified scream.
With such a large person in his room, it was impossible for Hengbo to sleep too soundly. Almost the instant he made a sound, Hengbo got up from the bed, lit a candle, and stood in front of him.
The young master looked at his bare upper body and then at Hengbo, who was staring at him expressionlessly. He was incredulous and trembled for a long time before he finally managed to ask, "What exactly did you do to me?"
Seeing his reaction, Hengbo knew he had misunderstood, and couldn't help but chuckle. He pointed to a dim bronze mirror in the room, indicating that he should look at his current appearance.
The boy understood Hengbo's meaning, and for a moment he was only embarrassed and angry, and no longer cared about being panicked.
He picked up his tattered clothes from the ground and put them on, only then noticing the strong smell of alcohol on him, and the sharp pain from the cuts he had suffered earlier. He then realized that Yokobo had saved his life.
"Thank you for saving me, heroine. I was harmed by thieves. I only wanted a place to hide temporarily and had no ill intentions. If you are willing to take me in, I will reward you handsomely once I return home safely."
Upon hearing this, Hengbo's expression shifted slightly. Wasn't this exactly why she had saved his life? So, she naturally took out the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword, which she had carefully cleaned earlier, from beside her bed, waved it in front of the young master, and then put it back to her side.
The young master stared in disbelief, his gaze following his sword back and forth before finally settling on Hengbo's satisfied face. No wonder he felt something was missing after waking up; it turned out this rogue had taken his sword without his knowledge.
Yes, his impression of Hengbo changed from an innocent woman he was about to kidnap to a female hooligan who harassed him, then to a female knight who saved his life, and finally back to a female hooligan.
However, he originally thought she was after his body, but he never expected that she was after his sword!
In a fit of rage, he mustered a sliver of strength from somewhere and roared, "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated! If you want my sword, take my life first!" With that, he tightly closed his eyes, looking as if he were offering his neck for execution.
His shout startled Hengbo quite a bit. After all, although she loved swords, she had never been so desperate for any sword. Moreover, she was just trying to negotiate with this person. Since he was unwilling, she would not force him.
With a clang, the expected pain in his neck didn't come; instead, his foot seemed to have been hit. He instinctively looked down and saw that it was his own sword.
He looked at Hengbo blankly and found that she had already sat back on the couch. Only then did he belatedly realize that she no longer wanted his sword.
A strange feeling welled up inside him. He gently picked up the sword from the ground and mustered his courage to say, "I can give you anything except this sword."
The offer sounded tempting, but Hengbo didn't know his identity, and she was still in the midst of the disappointment of missing out on a precious sword. She had no intention of paying attention to him. Thinking about how the bottle of wine she used to treat his wounds cost her three hundred coins, she casually gestured "three".
“Alright, when I get home, I will take three thousand taels and return it to the young lady.” The young master, who was never short of money, did not understand Hengbo’s meaning at all. After thinking about his daily expenses, he felt that three thousand taels was in line with his status.
But these words were like a thunderbolt to Hengbo. Before going down the mountain, Qingxuzi had scraped together thirty taels of silver for Hengbo, which was a huge sum of money for him.
Hengbo suddenly realized that he wasn't averse to money, but rather that he hadn't seen enough of the world. He even began to fantasize about returning home in glory after settling all his worldly affairs.
However, what the young master, who was anxiously staring at Hengbo's face, saw was Hengbo's initial dissatisfaction with the low amount of money, followed by consideration of whether to end things with him now.
When life and death are at stake, money is just an external thing. After a moment of hesitation, the young master still felt that his own life was the most precious thing. Besides, as long as he still had the sword in his hand, he was the rightful next master of Hidden Sword Manor. Surely those people wouldn't refuse to pay him for his life.
So he compromised again: "Thirty thousand taels is not out of the question, but you have to guarantee that I will get home safely."
Little did he know that his step back was actually the entire world moving forward in a transverse wave.
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