Chapter 90 The Promise: I've Found My Sister
The child quietly rested on her shoulder, watching the strange boy on the deck, reaching out his little hand to him, tilting his head back and softly calling out, "Uncle."
"What's his name?" Lu Xiaojun suddenly snapped back to reality and shouted at her sister's retreating figure.
The child tilted his head and made a face at Lu Xiaojun. Lu Chaoge walked slowly, the wind whistling past his ears, as if he hadn't heard it, or perhaps... didn't want to answer.
For the next three years, Lu Xiaojun would sail to Canglang Island every year on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, quietly visiting her sister under the cover of the morning mist. They would talk about old family matters and old friends in the neighborhood, but they never mentioned that person again. Her sister didn't mention it, and Lu Xiaojun never brought it up either. Although her sister was still talkative and cheerful, Lu Xiaojun could feel her sadness. Sitting with her sister by a large rock, she would be talking, but whenever she saw the children picking up shells in the sand, an unconcealable sorrow would appear between her brows.
But as long as they are both still alive, even if they can only meet once a year, Lu Xiaojun is willing.
Lu Xiaojun wanted to tell A-Jing about finding her sister. A-Jing had said he'd send her a message once he found a place to stay. She waited and waited, until she was as tall as A-Jing herself, but still no letter arrived. Could something have happened to A-Jing? A-Jing was a troublemaker she couldn't afford to offend; how could something have happened to him? He must still be wandering the martial world. She'd wait for him to settle down and write to the fishing village, or come looking for her… If A-Jing knew her sister was still alive, he'd be overjoyed.
With Ah Jing by my side, if we try to persuade my sister more, perhaps next time, or the time after that, she will leave Canglang Island with them.
Wan Qixi suddenly felt a heat on his face. He wiped his face blankly and realized that he had been crying without even noticing.
The fourth year after he saw his sister again, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, he set sail early to keep his promise to his sister, but he never saw her again.
Along the long coastline, there was only an unfamiliar old woman with a child—the sister's child—but the sister was nowhere to be found. Lu Xiaojun anxiously pulled up the sail, and the boat sped off like an arrow. The child saw the familiar fishing boat and recognized Lu Xiaojun. Taking advantage of the old woman's inattention, he waved his hand sharply at Lu Xiaojun on the boat, signaling him not to approach and to leave immediately.
Seeing that Lu Xiaojun had no intention of turning around, the child pointed to his heart. Lu Xiaojun suddenly stopped and slid softly onto the deck. She had found her sister, but she had still lost her.
"Even hurricanes can't kill us. As long as we siblings care for each other, what does it matter if we meet again next year or not?"
Not long after returning home, one day when Lu Xiaojun returned from fishing, a familiar figure stood on the shore, calmly watching him skillfully move on the deck. The man wore a sky-blue Taoist robe and held a dashing whisk. He watched Lu Xiaojun lightly flick the whisk, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"—Ah Jing?" Lu Xiaoyun stopped what she was doing, rubbed her eyes, and saw the Taoist priest's face clearly. "Ah Jing!"
Ah Jing, his cloth shoes crunching on the sand, walked towards him against the salty sea breeze. His steps were imposing, yet carried an air of otherworldly grace. Lu Xiaoyun was dumbfounded. He practically jumped off the boat, twisting his ankle on the ground. Ignoring the pain, he limped towards Ah Jing, grabbing his arm and looking him over again. "Ah Jing? Ah Jing, you really came! You...you've become a Taoist priest?"
"To become an immortal, one must forget oneself; if my heart does not die, there is no way to attain the Dao." A-Jing said loudly. Seeing that Lu Xiaojun was acting foolishly, he added seriously, "Little benefactor, this humble Daoist greets you."
Lu Xiaojun wiped her face with the back of her hand, stared at A Jing for a long time, and suddenly her eyes reddened. "A Jing, why did you take so long to come?"
"To become an immortal, one must forget oneself..."
"Ah Jing, why are you so late!" Lu Xiaojun's voice trembled with tears. "Sister, I've found you..."
Wanqixi remembered that when Ajing loosened his grip, the whisk fell to the ground with a thud, and the last sentence, "My heart is not dead, but there is no way out," was never uttered again.
After listening to Lu Xiaoyun recount everything that had happened over the past few years, A Jing stayed on the fishing boat for seven days. He even taught Lu Xiaoyun a set of sword techniques. He asked Lu Xiaoyun if she wanted to get a precious sword. Lu Xiaoyun shook her head and said, "A gentleman carries a sword, for the sword symbolizes protection. I no longer have anyone to protect. I will integrate the sword techniques into my horizontal sword and use this sword to slay demons and monsters. Once I have mastered it, I will definitely seek justice for Tianhufang."
"Ah Jing, will you help me and my sister?"
A-Jing raised her clean face and looked at Lu Xiaojun, who was sharpening a knife. "I'm not helping you, I'm doing this for the young lady. I'll ask you one more time, on Canglang Island, you only saw the young lady?"
Lu Xiaojun didn't know why he brought this up again. He tried his best to remain calm, but his hand, which was sharpening the sword, involuntarily rubbed against empty air. "Who else can we see on the island?"
Ah Jing's face turned cold, but he didn't press the matter. He knew the Lu siblings' stubbornness all too well. With a knife to their throats, if Lu Xiaojun didn't want to talk, he couldn't force her to utter a single word.
"Then can you promise me?" A-Jing's eyes were burning. "On the road to revenge, just follow me. I... have my own plans."
"Ah Jing?" Lu Xiaojun hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
A-Jing suddenly gripped the blade with his bare hands, large drops of blood seeping from his palms. "I swear by blood that I will dedicate my entire life, even my life itself, to help the young master avenge the massacre of his family."
"I promise you!" Lu Xiaojun was filled with excitement. "I will definitely study martial arts diligently. If you need me to do anything, just send me a message. But I... can't go with you. I want to stay here."
Lu Xiaojun pictured the small figure on the beach. She couldn't take him away, but she was determined to see him grow up. Perhaps one day, she would take him away.
"Stay here?" A hint of doubt flashed in A Jing's eyes.
Lu Xiaojun glanced back at the thatched hut behind her. "This couple has taken me in for many years, and now they are old and can no longer go out to sea to fish. I am grateful for their kindness and have no way to repay them. I just want to take care of them for as long as possible."
“Alright.” A-Jing pressed Lu Xiaojun’s shoulder heavily. “A true man repays kindness. As long as we are of one mind, we will surely succeed in our revenge.”
—If we are of one mind, this matter will surely be accomplished.
The next time I saw A-Jing was not long ago in Rongdu. He was no longer the spirited swordsman of Tianhufang, nor the green-robed Taoist priest who appeared in the fishing village a few years ago. He was wearing a black robe, had gouged out one eye, and his face was covered with ink, making him look like a terrifying ghost. He was like a ghost walking in the night in the imperial city, moving around Rongdu and inside and outside the palace as if he were in a deserted place.
He was no longer A Jing, but Cui Jin, the Grand Tutor of Jin.
The tattoos on his face showed his determination to take revenge, but Wan Qixi didn't know if he could really do it.
In Xingguo Ward, early this morning, Pei Yuan summoned Guan Ye and asked her to go with Pei Bi to the inner workshop to bring back the twenty blacksmiths promised by the Emperor.
Guan Ye was puzzled. Could someone really bring twenty people just by saying that casually? Pei Bi was both amused and annoyed. He didn't need to take a casual remark from someone else seriously, but that was the Emperor. What the Emperor said was called an imperial edict. An imperial edict, you know?
Seeing that Guan Ye still didn't quite believe it, Pei Yuan waved his hand impatiently and said he would take her to see for herself.
Stepping into the inner courtyard, the Xingguo Fang group felt much more confident. Outside the Jingwu Pavilion, two rows of blacksmiths stood, each one burly and imposing. Pei Bi looked them over one by one, counting exactly twenty, but he couldn't find the manager, Shen Ao. Pei Bi looked doubtful, "Twenty blacksmiths, were they personally selected by Manager Shen?"
"It was our Miss Wushuang who chose this place for Xingguo Ward. Manager Shen said that this matter should be handled by Miss Wushuang, and he doesn't need to get involved."
Wushuang… Guan Ye suddenly remembered something and glanced towards the Jingwu Pavilion, “Wushuang…where is she?”
"You want to see her?" The steward of the inner quarters frowned.
Guan Ye gently bit her lip, staring at the tightly closed door of Jingwu Pavilion. "The blacksmiths she selected for Xingguo Workshop are all highly skilled. I would like to... thank her. I hope the manager can convey my thanks."
"You can even tell that his skills are excellent?" A light, melodious voice drifted from the Jingwu Pavilion. "Xingguo Workshop is located on a secluded island. I thought there were no more skilled casters there."
Guan Ye faced the direction from which the sound came and said loudly, "After all, it was once a major weapons workshop that was on par with Tianhu Workshop. As long as the people are here, the skills are here. The fire of the Heavenly Furnace can light up half of Rongdu's sky. How could there be no one who can master casting?"
Before the words had even finished, a clear yet assertive male voice rang out from inside the pavilion, "You're in the inner quarters, yet you still dare to speak so arrogantly? Do you know who you're talking to?"
Guan Ye smiled and said, "That was Miss Wushuang just now. As for you now... I really don't know."
"Hahahaha." The man found it amusing, as if chatting casually with the people in the room, "Wushuang, this person has an aura that's no less than yours."
“This young lady,” the steward of the inner quarters said, sweat beading on his forehead, “is also in the Jingwu Pavilion.”
Pei Bicao's face turned pale. He was about to pull Guan Ye away when Guan Ye took a few more steps forward. "I am Guan Ye, and I truly did not know that His Highness the Second Prince was also in the inner quarters. I have met His Highness the Second Prince before."
"No need." Inside the Jingwu Pavilion, Mu Lexiu scrutinized Wushuang, who was grinding colored stones. "Guan Ye, have you heard of this person? What kind of person is he in Xingguo Ward?"
Wushuang lit a piece of colorful stone dust. "That's how it is."
“That’s insignificant,” Mu Lexiu said with disdain.
Wushuang rubbed the dazzling light on her fingertips, "It is different from Tieying's, though it can be scattered with a flick of the finger, it is still full of brilliance."
"Oh?" Mu Lexiu seemed intrigued. "You know her?"
"I don't know her." Wushuang glanced casually out the window, her voice low and languid. "But, to be able to come to the inner quarters to pick someone up, Pei Yuan must be looking at her differently. Besides, aren't women in the men's profession just a bright spot in the dark iron world?"
Mu Lexiu's eyes lit up as he savored Wushuang's words, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "Why don't you come with me to meet this Guan Ye?"
Wushuang chuckled softly, a laugh as light as a feather yet carrying immense power. Mu Lexiu stopped, halting his steps. "Fine, there's nothing to see here. Could she possibly be a blacksmith? Just a sword slave. I'll have them sent away."
After a while, when there was no sound from the Jingwu Pavilion, Guan Ye mustered her courage and said again, "I, Guan Ye, have long admired Miss Wushuang's name. Now that I have come to the inner quarters, may I request an audience?"
"See me? What for?" Wushuang's voice carried a chilling tone that kept people at a distance. "Guan Ye of Xingguo Ward, take the twenty blacksmiths back and tell Pei Yuan that it is true that the Pei family's Heavenly Furnace can light up half of Rongdu, but they still need to forge truly good weapons in order to gain a foothold in Rongdu."
"Guan Ye, that's enough," Pei Bi said in a low voice. "Everyone's here, why aren't we going back? Wushuang broke Cangyu's sword on the testing platform, why should we invite further humiliation?"
Guan Ye didn't know where the courage came from, but the image of the woman who shared an umbrella with Lou Cangyu on that rainy day flashed before her eyes again. Although only a blurry silhouette was visible, she looked exactly like the person in her nightmares. Wushuang was right there in the Jingwu Pavilion, just half a zhang away from her. She couldn't possibly be the dead Jiang Muyun, but Guan Ye still wanted to see her one last time.
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