Chapter 26 Ghost Shadow: Can You Bring Her Back?
On the bluestone road, Guan Ye saw Lou Cangyu hesitating. He was carrying his own earthenware urn and pacing back and forth. When he saw Guan Ye, he started to move but then stopped. His mouth opened, but his face turned red. He lowered his eyes and rubbed the soles of his feet, as if he dared not speak to Guan Ye.
Guan Ye stomped on the stone slabs in a fit of anger, not even giving Lou Cangyu a second glance. After walking half a zhang, a cry of "Guan Ye" stopped her in her tracks.
"Ah Jiu, he..." Lou Cangyu stammered, "Is he alright?"
"Whether it's alright or not, you'll know once you go and take a look," Guan Ye said without moving or turning her head.
“If you can spare the time to see the young master, then Ajiu is alright.” Lou Cangyu followed behind Guan Ye. “Then I will go with you to deliver the medicine to the young master.”
Guan Ye stamped her foot, spread her arms to block his way, and snatched the earthenware urn he was carrying. "Whether he's alright or not isn't up to me. Lou Cangyu, we're brothers, what's wrong with you going to check on him?"
“They might not even want to see me.” Lou Cangyu squatted down, tapping his head in frustration. “It was just a sword test… I don’t know why… Guan Ye, I didn’t mean to hurt A Jiu.”
"Swords have no eyes, and bloodshed is inevitable. Only by going to see A-Jiu can you have a clear conscience." Guan Ye turned around and said, "To avoid seeing her is to have a guilty conscience."
"That Meteor Sword!" Lou Cangyu shouted, "You saw it yourself, that sword is captivating and alluring. Not just Ajiu, but any swordsman would be tempted. Even the master of the sword shop said he lost himself in the experience while testing it..."
“Keep these words for Ajiu.” Guan Ye held up the Lou family’s earthenware urn. “Don’t worry, I will tell the young master that you stewed this squid.”
As Guan Ye walked, she couldn't help but turn her head to look again. There was no one on the bluestone road. She didn't know if Lou Cangyu had really gone to see Ajiu or gone somewhere else.
Tingzhuxuan
Pei Chu on the bed looked even thinner than yesterday, his face pale and his cheekbones high, his forehead covered in fine beads of cold sweat. The candlelight was dim, casting long shadows on his long eyelashes. His thin, withered hands hung limply off the bed, motionless, as if he were fast asleep. Guan Ye put down the earthenware pot, and Pei Chu suddenly opened his eyes. His deep-set eyes revealed a chilling calmness. Guan Ye carried the bowl to the bed, and Pei Chu made a gesture of holding a sword with his withered hand, thrusting an invisible sword at Guan Ye, as if it were aimed directly at someone unseen.
The night wind blew through the window, ruffling Pei Chu's already disheveled hair. Pei Chu's two fingers seemed to be stroking the blade of a sword as he looked at Guan Ye, revealing a tired yet enigmatic smile.
“I didn’t misjudge you.” Pei Chu put two fingers to her lips, signaling Guan Ye to be quiet. “You did it.”
"Did the young master see him?" Guan Ye's heart tightened.
"They won't let me see it." Pei Chu straightened up and took the bowl from Guan Ye's hand. Ignoring the scalding soup, he gulped it down in large mouthfuls. He greedily swallowed it all. As he drank the last mouthful of soup, he tilted his head and looked out the window, his eyes bloodshot.
Guan Ye had heard that when people are extremely sad, they should cry it out. If they keep it all inside, it is not uncommon for people to die of depression. Now that Pei Chu has lost his beloved, it is easy to imagine how grief-stricken he is. Guan Ye wanted to help him, but she didn't know how. She could only stand next to him with an empty bowl, not daring to move, afraid that if she turned around, Pei Chu would die on the bed.
Pei Chu stared into the void for a long time. Seeing Guan Ye standing stiffly by his bedside, looking ridiculously funny, Pei Chu laughed mockingly. As he laughed, tears welled up in his eyes. His dry throat screamed Jiang Muyun's name over and over again.
He finally…cried. Guan Ye sighed inwardly. When her mother passed away, her father, a man of unyielding spirit, had also been holding back for a long time. At that time, she was also very afraid, afraid that her father would develop health problems from holding it in. She had already lost her mother; what would she do if she lost her father too? She would be completely lost, with no direction to run away. Finally, her father wailed, crying that his mother had abandoned him, crying that he had spent half his life on the run, crying for all those who had died unjustly, and crying for the hopeless second half of his life.
"Cry it out, and everything will be alright." Guan Ye squatted down and gently stroked Pei Chu's thin back, as if petting a dying cat.
Guan Ye described the Meteor Sword to Pei Chu, and Pei Chu's eyes gleamed with determination. "Have you seen her?"
“As long as the sword is there, the person is there.” Guan Ye nodded. “I stared at her, and I had a feeling… she could see me too.”
“She’s watching you from not far away.” Pei Chu glanced out the window. “Watching me.”
Pei Chu's words were chilling, a cold wind swept over Guan Ye, making her feel cold all over. "Young Master, you should rest early."
"I've been asleep all day and I'm already tired." Pei Chu handed his thin robe to the trembling Guan Ye. "Grand Preceptor Cui will be sending people to take away the Meteor Sword soon. The departure of Xingguo Ward from the island is imminent. What are your plans?"
“Me?” Guan Ye pulled her thin shirt tighter. “Last time, I even told Steward Pei that I would kill anyone who disturbed our peace.”
“Peace of mind?” Pei Chu sneered. “Jiang Muyun sacrificed himself for the sword. No one, whether on the island or outside, can find peace. You must follow Xingguofang back to Rongdu.”
Guan Ye knew, of course, that Xingguo Workshop had very few blacksmiths, and apart from the Heavenly Furnace, they had almost no skills. Pei Chu could tell her background, and Pei Yuan, though he didn't say anything, was already testing her today. Perhaps he already knew who forged the Meteor Sword, but... the smuggling boy couldn't tell others. No matter what the boy's background was, he could only grit his teeth and accept it. Once they left Canglang Island, everyone in Xingguo Workshop had only one life left.
“If we could turn back time by more than ten years, only Tianhu Workshop could forge the Meteor Sword.” Pei Chu saw through Guan Ye’s thoughts. “You were able to do it, which is enough to prove that you are related to Tianhu Workshop. In today’s world, that would probably be a capital offense, wouldn’t it?”
"I wasn't even born then, so it doesn't apply to me." Guan Ye wanted to slap herself as soon as she said it. Pei Chu was too cunning. She shouldn't have cared about his life or death. She should have just kept quiet about it.
"As expected, you are a descendant of Tianhu Workshop." Pei Chu revealed a triumphant look. "Your surname is Guan, not Lu. Either you are hiding your identity, or you are not a descendant of the Lu family. You must be a descendant of the blacksmiths in the workshop. It's a pity that my family has been out of the public eye for many years. I am also curious about how skilled the blacksmiths in Tianhu Workshop are."
“I’m curious too.” Guan Ye was determined to win this round. “The young master said that his family has been out of touch with worldly affairs for many years. How did you know about the blood crossbow case? And Hu Xian, who sent us to the island, is also quite familiar with Steward Pei.”
"You think you're so smart?" Pei Chuyou looked at Guan Ye's serious face. "Xingguo Fang swore never to leave the island, but that doesn't mean others can't come here, nor does it mean we're isolated from the world. Hu Xian smuggled young men, but which of you has a clean background? Don't think that helping Xingguo Fang today will make a difference. You help us, but aren't we helping you in return?"
Pei Chu spoke every word to the point, and Guan Ye opened her mouth slightly but couldn't utter a single retort. It seems she still hasn't studied enough.
"You absolutely must leave the island," Pei Chu said fiercely again.
Guan Ye remained silent, seemingly unable to hear what Pei Chu was saying, or perhaps she had already made her own decision.
"Did you find so-called peace on the island?" Pei Chu seemed to see through Guan Ye's thoughts.
An Sheng, also got a few years... Guan Ye recalled when she first came to the island, those days were really comfortable. The work was heavy, but she felt at peace. She really wanted to live like that until she died, and it would be best if she opened her eyes one day and was all white-haired, dying on the soft bed in the Lou family.
But it only lasted a few short years. No one could stop the grand treasure ships from the capital. If they had come for the Blood Crossbow Incident that day, even if they risked all their lives on the island, they still couldn't have driven off the ship full of soldiers. Everyone was glad that the treasure ships brought a gift, a great gift that would allow Xingguofang to return to the capital. Even if there were hidden undercurrents behind this gift, they were willing to take the plunge and fall into the abyss.
And Jiang Muyun, whom they thought they could save…
Pei Chu is right. Peace? What peace? No matter where I run, it feels like someone is always following me in the shadows. Did my father take me with him to find some peace?
Father's greatest regret in life was that the Blood Crossbow case could not be redressed. The world went from being able to forge weapons to having no one skilled in it anymore. Father said that he never wanted to be the world's number one forger. For him, promoting skills far outweighed monopolizing skills.
This is probably why he brought me here to Tangshui City. My father asked me if I wanted to ride a big ship, a big ship? A big ship going to...?
If you want to find a place where no one knows you, there's always somewhere in the world, but only Canglang Island. Here lies the only remaining weapons workshop in the world, the eternal furnace, and the ever-renewing soul-forging power.
What Father didn't expect was that Xingguo Workshop was no longer as glorious as it once was, but as long as the furnace remained and the people were still there, the skills could be passed on, just as if he had died but his blood and bones remained.
Guan Ye knew that the place her father wanted to go was Canglang Island, a place he couldn't reach. She stood here for him. Her father not only wanted to live, but if he could, he would also be willing to return to Rongdu with Xingguofang, back to where it all began. He was powerless to change the past, but he could fulfill his wish.
He must have wanted his daughter to do it for him.
“What can I do if I go back to Rongdu…” Guan Ye murmured to herself.
“If you don’t go, you can’t do anything.” Pei Chu propped herself up, her long-lost spirit radiating as if she had been rejuvenated. “Go back to Rongdu and do what you want to do. You are Guan Ye of Canglang Island, a person from Xingguo Ward. Your knowledge of casting is as natural as a Confucian scholar being literate.”
"Will the young master leave with everyone?" Guan Ye had known Pei Chu for three years, but they had only recently become closer. For some reason, every word Pei Chu said made her feel at ease. He was bound by his crippled leg, yet he saw further than anyone else. Guan Ye hoped that Pei Chu could leave with everyone.
Pei Chu shook her head sadly. Seeing the night wind blow open the window, she reached her hand out through the crack, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here and wait for her to come back."
—Wait for her to come back…
"The shopkeeper said that Rongdu will soon send someone to take away the Meteor Sword," Guan Ye said with difficulty. "If you come with us, you can stay closer to her, right?"
"She will come back here, back to my side." Pei Chu lowered his withered hand, his eyes filled with a turbulent emotion. "One day, Guan Ye, will you be able to bring her back?"
Guan Ye froze, her heart pounding for a moment, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Lou Shitou's words echoed in her ears again—"She's gone." Guan Ye's heart felt like it was being struck by a hammer, her heart pounding with anxiety. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a word. The bloodstains wrapped around the Meteor Sword reappeared before her eyes, and through the hazy vision, she saw layers of blood shadows revealing Jiang Muyun's innocent, beautiful face.
—She's gone, Guan Ye, can you bring her back?
Guan Ye, she's watching us. Pei Chu's voice was like a ghostly whisper, "Can you see her?"
Guan Ye couldn't help but look out the window. She saw Jiang Muyun smiling at her, then disappearing into the breeze.
A note from the author:
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