Chapter 1 Descending the Mountain
Hengbo has locked himself in his room for three days, and Liu tried to go see him several times, but Qingxuzi stopped her each time.
Madam Liu was indignant: "You, as the master, don't care about the child, but I, as the master's wife, do."
Qingxuzi ignored her complaints, lowered his head to look at the thin layer of snow at the foot of Biyun Mountain, and stroked his long beard: "This snow will eventually melt."
Liu couldn't stand the old man's pretentious manner, so she pouted and went to the kitchen to make the silver carp that Hengbo girl loved the most.
Biyun Mountain is located at the junction of Zhongzhou and Jiangnan Road. Every spring, when the weather turns green, it is covered with white clouds, and from a distance it looks like a continuous stretch of jade, hence the name Biyun (meaning "green cloud").
It was March, and the scenery outside was breathtaking, but Yokohama sat alone in her wooden hut.
On the wooden table in front of me was a black broken knife wrapped in cloth, with bloodstains winding and dried on the back of the blade, like a flower outlined with a few strokes of cinnabar.
This knife is called Jufeng, and it belongs to Ruan Wangshu, Hengbo's senior sister.
Now, the knife is broken and the person is dead.
Ruan Wangshu descended the mountain one day three months ago. Before she left, she found Hengbo and said, "Ayu, I estimate that the peach blossoms at the foot of the mountain will be in full bloom when I come back. Would you like me to secretly bring you some peach blossom wine?"
Hengbo was still angry and just turned his head away, refusing to pay attention to her.
Helpless, Ruan Wangshu could only approach Hengbo and pull her head into her arms, gently comforting her: "My dear Ayu, your senior sister has something she has to do this time. I'll stay with you until I get back, okay?"
Hengbo buried her face in Ruan Wangshu's arms, so she didn't see that the ever-smiling face was now filled with sorrow and determination.
However, Hengbo knew he couldn't shake Ruan Wangshu's resolve, so he could only nod slightly.
And so, on a chilly winter day, the man and his sword descended the mountain, watched by Yokoha.
However, three months later, what Hengbo received was not sweet peach blossom wine, but a blood-stained broken knife.
Gently stroking the back of Jufeng's blade, Hengbo thought, "I should have insisted on not letting her go. My senior sister loves me so much. If I had acted like I did when I was a child, she would definitely have stayed."
But what reason could she give to keep her here?
It seems like everyone on Biyun Mountain has something to do, except for themselves.
The master had to teach the new recruits martial arts, the mistress had to take care of the whole family's daily needs, and the senior sister also had her own reasons for having to leave the mountain.
And what about herself? After the bone-chilling sorrow, Hengbo was left with only a sense of bewilderment.
"If you really can't figure it out, go see your mother." A frail voice suddenly came from behind. Hengbo turned around and saw Qingxuzi's slightly hunched back standing against the light at the door. Ruan Wangshu's death had obviously hit him hard. In just three days, Hengbo felt that he seemed to have aged more than ten years.
Seeing Hengbo nod, Qingxuzi sighed and slowly left.
The next day, Yokobo packed some dry rations and went alone to the other side of the mountain, trudging through the soft snow.
Unlike this side of the mountain where there are a few lonely wooden houses, there is nothing on the other side.
However, Hengbo knew that there was more to this mountain than nothing; her mother was there. Here, the wind was her mother, the water was her mother, and everything within her five senses was her mother.
Even thirteen years ago, on that night when she was awakened by blood and fire, her mother had already completely abandoned her.
In the evening, Hengbo returned with an old wooden box that still smelled of earth.
After worrying all day, when she saw that her child had returned safely, she held her hand with tears in her eyes and said, "My dear child, there is no obstacle in this world that cannot be overcome."
Hengbo dared not look her in the eye. She swept her skirt up, knelt down on the spot, and kowtowed three times.
Looking at the person kneeling before her, Liu noticed the wooden box in Hengbo's hand. She was struck dumb. "Yu'er, what are you doing?" Her voice was already trembling with sobs. "Your mother, she doesn't need you to do this..." By the end, she could no longer speak.
Because she knew that since Hengbo entered the Earth Rank with her innate sword body three years ago, she was ready to leave the mountain at any time.
Although Qingxuzi had expected this, he was still filled with a sense of vicissitude. He did not look at the horizontal waves on the ground, but only looked towards Zhongzhou on the other side of the mountain. "Since you have made up your mind, you will descend the mountain soon. I only hope that you will always remember that on Biyun Mountain, your master's wife and I will always be waiting for you."
After receiving Qingxuzi's words, Hengbo finally stood up.
Liu's eyes were already red. Hengbo couldn't bear to see her sad, so he hugged her waist like when they were children and deliberately rubbed his head against her dress.
There was nothing Liu could do about her, so she had to put aside her sadness and take her to eat first.
These past few days, Liu has been cooking Hengbo's favorite dishes. Hengbo can see the sadness beneath her strong exterior. But since Hengbo has already decided to leave, any attempt to comfort her is futile, especially since... she can't speak.
Yes, she is mute.
Even so, seven days later, this deliberately created tranquility finally vanished like a bubble.
The snow on the mountain had completely melted, and Hengbo, who had lived on the mountain for thirteen years, also came down the mountain.
A bundle, a blood-stained broken knife, a wooden box that hadn't seen the light of day for over ten years, and a sword called Hengbo that Qingxuzi had given her before her departure—a sword that had once belonged to her mother.
However, she thought that she would be poor and alone from then on, but little did she know that she also left with a letter personally sent by Qingxuzi from Biyun Mountain.
This letter, carried by the still chilly spring breeze, flew over green mountains and clear waters, crossed yellow sands and long rivers, greeted the morning dew and the first rays of the sun, and paused in the fading light of dusk, finally arriving at the northwestern pass along the ancient, creaking road.
...
As the sun rises and sets, amidst the rosy clouds, a calloused hand gently unfolds a small piece of letter.
The letter contained only one sentence: "Yu'er has descended the mountain, her sword pointing towards the capital. I do not ask for help, but only hope for protection."
There was no signature, no source, but he did not hesitate, simply because he had been waiting for this day for far too long.
Looking at the man who had been standing there for a long time since receiving the letter, a scholar dressed as a Confucian official shook the fan in his hand, which was meant to be elegant.
He looked back at the endless expanse of yellow sand and sighed inwardly, thinking that the wind that had been trapped in the Gobi Desert for fourteen years was finally about to be swept back to the Jade Palace in the sky.
However, whether the steps will be forged from yellow sand or turned to dust remains to be seen.
Suddenly, the man, towering like a mountain, moved. He handed the letter to the candlelight and watched it slowly being licked away by the flames.
He turned around and walked out of the military tent with heavy yet light steps. The soldiers working around him stopped what they were doing and saluted him, but this time he did not stop at all until he reached the middle of the camp.
He scanned the faces before him, some blank, some anxious, and they corresponded to the vivid, youthful faces in his memory.
The smoke signals from the borderlands have turned their jet-black hair white, but they cannot obscure their yearning eyes; the northwest winds have wrinkled their smooth skin, but they cannot extinguish their burning souls.
They may be emaciated, but they will forever remain indomitable.
He lifted his robe, knelt on one knee, and what he saw in his eyes was not their bodies worn down by time, but their still burning belief: "Fourteen years has passed, and it won't be any longer."
...
Mount Biyun is towering high and the mountain roads are rugged. Even though Hengbo has practiced martial arts since childhood, it took him two or three days to reach Biyun Town at the foot of the mountain.
However, this was the moment when Hengbo was most bewildered. Since he came up the mountain at the age of five, this was the farthest distance Hengbo had ever reached in the past ten years.
She first took the broken knife to the contact point between Biyun Town and the mountain. In response to her question, the tailor shop owner recalled carefully: "The man was wearing a cone-shaped hat and did not show his face, but judging from his voice, he seemed to be a young man."
"He didn't leave any message, only saying that the young lady asked him to pass it on."
There were only two girls on Biyun Mountain, and the elder girl was naturally Ruan Wangshu.
Hengbo, having failed to obtain any useful information, looked rather dejected. He politely declined the landlady's offer to stay for dinner and wandered aimlessly down the street.
At that moment, the conversation between the two people in front of him caught Yokobo's attention.
"I heard that Madam Zhang's wine shop has new wine in stock, I have to go and take a look."
“My wife loves Zhang Niangzi’s peach blossom wine the most. Judging from the season, it must be peach blossom wine. I must bring her two bottles back.”
"That's what women like to drink. We men should drink strong liquor."
Hengbo keenly grasped the words "peach blossom wine," and while deep in thought, his body involuntarily followed the two to a wine shop, staring blankly at the scene before him.
In front of the wine shop, a woman who was no more than ten years old was rolling up her sleeves to serve wine to customers. The woman had bright and elegant features, and her eyes and brows were full of warm smiles. She must be the owner of this wine shop, Madam Zhang.
Although she didn't look like her, Hengbo suddenly thought of Ruan Wangshu when he looked at her. Ruan Wangshu was a woman as gentle as the moon, just like her name.
When Hengbo first arrived at Biyun Mountain, she was extremely insecure due to a series of recent events. Qingxuzi was not good at taking care of children, and Liu Shi was unable to provide for everyone on the mountain. Ruan Wangshu, who was only a teenager at the time, took the initiative to take on the responsibility of caring for Hengbo.
Although Hengbo was still young at the time, he was already quite aggressive, and this temperament tormented Ruan Wangshu for who knows how long.
However, whenever she thought Ruan Wangshu would never care about her again, Ruan Wangshu would always just smile tolerantly, then pat her head and say, "I know, our Ayu is actually the most obedient, she's just in a bad mood right now, it's okay, your senior sister will always be with Ayu."
Over time, the sharp edges of the transverse waves were gradually eroded by the moonlight.
Thinking back to the past, Hengbo suddenly felt a pang of heartache.
"Girl, girl, why are you crying?"
When Hengbo came to his senses again, he saw Zhang Niangzi's puzzled and helpless face. It turned out that she had been standing there for a long time, and the customers who had been swarming to buy wine had long since dispersed.
Faced with Zhang Niangzi's question, Hengbo wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, silently shook her head, and left without looking back, her steps so fast it seemed as if a flood or a ferocious beast was chasing after her.
That's true, isn't a heart-wrenching memory just as terrifying as a raging flood?
Only at this moment did she truly realize that her senior sister had really left.
Although it was Hengbo's first time coming down the mountain in over a decade, he had pestered Ruan Wangshu to tell him many interesting stories about the area while he was on the mountain. With Liu's detailed instructions before he left, he managed to find an inn to rest at.
After having some food, he asked the waiter for a room and went upstairs to rest. Perhaps because he was tired from traveling for the past few days, he slept very soundly.
However, Hengbo, who should have felt refreshed upon waking, suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with a start. Before she could even recall the dream, she felt weak all over and had no energy.
This state is definitely not normal. Hengbo never expected that the robbery plot he had read in the storybook his senior sister brought back would happen to him. It was probably because the food he ate today was drugged. He quickly used all his internal energy to neutralize the drug's effects.
Fortunately, the drug was just a common sleeping potion, and Hengbo was fine in no time. She guessed that the person who drugged her must have a backup plan, so she remained lying in bed pretending to sleep.
She simply couldn't understand how she, having just come down the mountain and having no grudges against the people here, could have encountered such a thing.
It can only be said that Hengbo is too young and doesn't understand the meaning of "when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer".
Sure enough, after a short while, heavy footsteps were heard in the corridor of the inn. Judging from the sound, there were at least four or five people.
One of them gave an order, and the rest of them scattered to their respective rooms.
Those who practice martial arts have sharp ears and eyes, and this group of people were discussing things almost right in front of Hengbo's door. Hengbo clearly heard the person say, "Let's split up and go find someone."
Since that's the case, Hengbo will hold back for now and see what these people's purpose is.
A short while later, someone opened the door to her room. The person saw a beautiful young woman lying on the bed, searched around for a place to hide, and when he found no one else in the room, he prepared to leave.
It seems that what they are looking for is not here.
Before Hengbo could even breathe a sigh of relief, the man glanced at the long sword wrapped in a quilt as he closed the door and suddenly noticed it lying horizontally on the low table by the bed. His eyes seemed to light up, and his breathing became rapid.
He took a few quick steps forward, about to grab the sword, when suddenly a slender white hand pressed down on the hilt before he could.
The young woman, who should still be unconscious, was staring at him with her clear, emotionless eyes.
A note from the author:
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Next book: Ruyi (pseudo-incest): Men who kill dogs don't need two knives.
A caged bird rises from the ashes to become a phoenix (female protagonist) × A man who goes from loving without realizing it to loving everyone in the world (male protagonist)
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