Chapter 242 (Final Chapter): I knew you would come back...
He…it was him? In her stunned silence, A-Jiu had already grasped Guan Ye's cold hand. "Let's go."
Guan Ye looked at Lu Xiaojun's familiar face again, her lips parted slightly but she ultimately didn't ask any more questions.
On the morning of the eleventh day, the large ship finally arrived at Canglang Island. Guan Ye originally thought that Ji Fang would lead the islanders elsewhere as instructed, but to her surprise, Ji Fang and his men gathered on the beach, not to welcome them, but to confront an enemy.
In the morning mist, the leading man was Ji Fang. Dressed in a dark, close-fitting outfit, he stood tall and straight, long sword in hand, like a statue against the howling sea wind. Beside Ji Fang was… Guan Ye rubbed her eyes and looked closely. Who else could that tall figure be but Lou Shitou? Lou Shitou, carrying a large hammer on his shoulder, looked towards the direction the large ship had come from. Several times he tried to rush out, but Ji Fang stopped him each time. It had been a while since she'd seen him, and Shitou still had that same silly look on his face. The woman on Ji Fang's other side… Mei Xiaojing, it was Mei Xiaojing. Guan Ye's heart tightened. They still hadn't managed to bring Xiao Ma back.
Looking up again, she saw the familiar bamboo chair. "Young Master..." A soft voice came from behind Guan Ye. Wu Shuang, holding a sword box, stood side by side with Guan Ye. The figures standing by the sea gradually became clear, as did the people coming from the ship.
"—She...she's back." Lou Shitou broke free from Ji Fang's grasp, dropped his sledgehammer, and plunged into the sea. "She's back!"
"It's...they." Ji Fang rubbed his eyes in disbelief, threw down his longsword, and followed Lou Shitou towards the large ship docked at the shore. "Ajiu, Guan Ye...they're back! It's them!"
"Young Master." Ji Yuan, who was pushing the bamboo chair, had sand in her eyes. "I still can't see clearly whether they are friend or foe. Big Brother said we should kill the enemy and protect the island, why has he changed his mind again?"
Pei Chu braced himself on the chair arm, straightening up to try and get a clearer look at the person who had just arrived. He had a pair of all-seeing eyes, but at this moment he suddenly couldn't see anything clearly. He tried his best to see the person clearly, and the person's face transformed into the one he had been longing for day and night. No, it wasn't a transformation; it was the face he had engraved in his heart. The dead her... had returned.
"Is that you?" Pei Chu murmured, a sound only she could hear. "You've finally come back to me."
Mei Xiaoqing looked at the familiar faces on the deck: Guan Ye, Ajiu, Lu Xiaojun… but not him, not Xiao Ma. Where was Xiao Ma? Shouldn’t Xiao Ma have come back with everyone? Xiao Ma… Mei Xiaoqing took out a folded piece of oil paper from her bosom. This was the last thing Xiao Ma left for her. Mei Xiaoqing squatted down stiffly, tears streaming down her face as she pressed her face against the oil paper. She knew Xiao Ma wouldn’t come to pick her up.
Ji Fang, who had rushed far away, suddenly remembered something, paused for a moment, then turned back and knelt directly in front of Mei Xiaoqing.
As the large ship docked, Guan Ye jumped off first, just like she had back then. She strode towards Pei Chu, a thousand words stuck in her throat, unsure of where to begin.
"Guan Ye," Pei Chu forced a smile, "did you do it?"
Guan Yeyao pointed at the woman in blue holding the sword box on her fingernail and said, "Young Master knows, you've always known, haven't you?"
"You're back! I knew you'd come back." Lou Shitou took out a handkerchief he had hidden and handed it to Wushuang. "I've come to see you off. I know you were on the ship. You left on a big ship."
Wushuang took the silk handkerchief and stared at Lou Shitou's infatuated gaze. She suddenly felt confused. Who exactly was Lou Shitou thinking about?
Pei Chuqing's jade-colored face trembled with excitement. He knew, yet he didn't know. He thought he had lost them, and he longed to have them back. Heaven had eyes, and the gods had mercy, finally bringing them back to his side.
With her feet firmly planted on the sand, Wushuang finally returned to the island that had nurtured her. Their eyes met, and there were faces that had haunted each other's dreams a thousand times. Now, they reflected each other like an illusion.
Her eyes, usually brimming with tears and fearless even in the face of death, suddenly showed a hint of timidity. The sword case in her arms seemed to weigh heavily on her, preventing her from approaching Pei Chu.
"May I ask your name?" Pei Chu's voice was dry and hoarse.
"—Mu Yun." Wu Shuang lowered her brows and stroked her sword. "I am Mu Yun."
Pei Chu tried to lean forward, but his legs gave way and he was about to fall. Wu Shuang rushed to support him, and when they touched each other's wrists, they both trembled. Pei Chu clumsily took her hand, his movements extremely careful, as if afraid that a slight force would shatter the dream before him. Feeling the warmth of her skin, Pei Chu finally felt at ease. She was back. No, it was them.
"You brought her back too?" Pei Chu reached for the sword box in Wushuang's arms.
Wushuang opened the sword box, and a meteor inside suddenly appeared, its light flashing and dancing. "We're all back. From now on, we'll never leave our young master again."
"Great, that's wonderful." Pei Chu picked up the Meteor Sword and carefully polished it. The bloodstains on the blade seemed to be responding to Pei Chu's feelings. "From now on, we will never be apart again."
Ji Fang did one thing as instructed: he found Lu Chaoge's burial site, erected a tombstone with the finest stone, and inscribed it with the words "Tomb of Lu Chaoge," painting it a fresh red so it would be visible from afar. Cui Jin and Lu Xiaoyun knelt before the tomb for an entire day. Cui Jin murmured something, but Lu Xiaoyun couldn't understand what he was saying. Was he expressing his love for his sister, or repenting for the mistakes he made in his quest for revenge? Lu Xiaoyun didn't know, and didn't want to know.
Finally, Lu Xiaojun heard Cui Jin say that he was not leaving, that he would stay on the island forever, guarding Lu Chaoge's grave until he died.
Cui Jin asked Lu Xiaoyun if she blamed him for stabbing her. Lu Xiaoyun shook her head. That stab hadn't killed her; she was still alive and well, so what was there to blame? She had always known that everything A-Jing did was for her sister, and A-Jing's hardships were all for her sister.
Mei Xiaojing also didn't want to return to Rongdu. She said Rongdu was full of bloodshed, and the thought of going back made her feel nauseous. She wanted to stay on Canglang Island. Xiao Ma had spent the happiest years of his life there, and she wanted to stay there to protect the others on the island for Xiao Ma. Ji Fang asked Guan Ye to pass on a message to Mei Shiyu that he would definitely take good care of Mei Xiaojing and never let her suffer. When Ji Fang said this, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he pounded his chest like a hammer. He also secretly told Ajiu that when Mei Xiaojing felt better, he would take her back to Rongdu to see Mei Shiyu. They were each other's only living relatives, and there was no reason not to see each other again.
The ship arrived fully loaded, but only Guan Ye, Ajiu, and Lu Xiaojun remained on the return journey. During the ten-day voyage, Lu Xiaojun mostly stared blankly at the sky. One day, a rather frightening storm arose. Lu Xiaojun lazily got up, nimbly climbed onto the mast, and fiddled with it for a few moments. The ship then stabilized again, carving a path through the storm.
“She’s definitely been through some tough times,” Lu Xiaoyun said to Guan Ye from the mast. “She’s not even afraid of raging waves.”
Guan Ye looked up at Lu Xiaojun and said, "When Ajiu and I came to Canglang Island, we encountered even bigger storms than this. The boatman was very skilled. Your technique is very similar to his, so you can naturally protect us as well."
"Protect them?" Lu Xiaojun smiled wickedly. "Aren't you afraid I'll harm you?"
Guan Ye shook her head, "You are Young Master Lu, how could you harm us?"
Between heaven and earth, Lu Xiaojun laughed loudly, the raindrops perfectly concealing the tears on his face. Guan Ye looked up at him, and after a while, her eyes stung and tears welled up as well.
When the ship arrived at Rongdu Wharf, Lu Xiaojun did not disembark. He said he would wait at the wharf and go out to sea whenever someone needed him, anywhere was fine—the South? Japan, either way. Japan? He had never been to Japan before.
"Do you really have to wander all your life?" Guan Ye couldn't help but ask.
Lu Xiaojun flicked her nose and pulled at the sail, "Saving others is also saving yourself, it's none of your business."
"When you're too old to pull the sails, let's see what you do then."
Lu Xiaojun gently stroked the edge of the boat, "Then I'll just do the same as Pei Yuan and end it all."
"No!" Guan Ye cried out anxiously.
Lu Xiaojun laughed with satisfaction, then turned and flicked Guan Ye's head with a finger. "You silly girl Guan, you're too old to pull the sails anymore. I'll go to your family's workshop. Will you take care of your senior brother in his old age?"
Guan Ye nodded, "Father also wants us to be able to look after each other. If Ajiu bullies me, I'll still have my senior brother to back me up, right?"
Lu Xiaojun gently stroked Guan Ye's hair, "With Mu Chenbi around, would Ajiu dare to bully you? This time next year, just bring a little kid to the dock to see me." As she spoke, she vaguely felt as if she had heard it somewhere before. Lu Xiaojun lowered her eyebrows and smiled, no longer thinking about it. Suddenly, she pointed to a spot not far away, "What I said has come true. Mu Chenbi has come to welcome you."
Guan Ye turned around and saw several rows of spirited foundries standing by the dock, dressed in neat black outfits, their eyes blazing like dragons just awakening from hibernation—"Master Guan is back!" Huangpu Ying, who was at the head, shouted, pointing to the bow of the ship.
The queue parted to make way, and Mu Chenbi, dressed in dark brocade robes, stood like a pine tree. The golden light of the rising sun shone on his raised phoenix-feather eyelashes, making even the scar on his brow bone appear gentle.
Just as Guan Ye was about to disembark, fireworks suddenly burst across the sky above Rongdu, illuminating the entire imperial city. As Guan Ye stepped onto the land of Rongdu, it felt as if she had trampled the mortal world beneath her feet.
"Guan Ye." Seeing Guan Ye looking at him, Mu Chenbi raised the twin swords in his hand high. "I knew you would come back."
In the 105th year of the Great Jin Dynasty, Crown Prince Shen Bi ascended the throne. The nation's master craftswoman, Guan Ye, returned to court. The emperor personally welcomed her through the Vermilion Bird Gate. Guan Ye established a workshop to cast weapons, benefiting the country and its people. The emperor bestowed upon her the title "Imperial Blade Workshop" and rewarded the craftsmen, greatly enhancing the nation's prestige. Historical records describe her in detail: Guan Ye, the supervisor of craftsmen, was skilled in casting techniques and made numerous contributions. As a woman, she shouldered the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation, embodying the spirit of a great nation's craftswoman, a testament to her enduring legacy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
