Chapter 4: The Fall of Love and the Early Graying of Hair in Young People
Chapter 4: Falling Love and Returning
If Lu Guiyan was really here, it would be a real trouble. She touched her wrist. If he insisted on intervening, Shen Juansheng's plan would probably become even more difficult to guess.
"Brother Lu?" The Dian Cang Sect girl raised an eyebrow. "Lu Guiyan, the Imperfect Sword? I heard he's a master swordsman, but we in the Dian Cang Sect are no pushovers."
Murong Qing was a newbie, still somewhat naive and reckless, while the two Dian Cang Sect disciples seemed much more mature, especially the young man who seemed quite experienced. He immediately shouted, "Junior sister, be careful with your words."
He turned to Qing Guiyu, looked him over, and asked, "Who are you? Why are you here? How did you know about Medicine King Valley?"
She lowered her voice, pretending to speak Yuzhou dialect, and lied casually, "I'm a local herbal medicine dealer in Yuzhou. As a peddler, how could I not follow a doctor? People say that the heroes of Medicine King Valley are here. I thought it was the best way to make money."
Then he sighed and bowed, "It's really dangerous. I have to leave now."
She turned to the ragged old man that Murong Qing was supporting and said, "You are so lucky, old man, to have met all these righteous men in the martial arts world." After that, she turned and walked towards the other side of Baidukou.
In late spring, the river breeze at Baidukou still carried a damp chill, making her clothes flutter. In the distance, the reeds swayed in the wind, making a rustling sound.
He was able to escape from these people so easily and was secretly delighted. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly saw a figure coming towards him.
The man was tall and slender, wearing plain clothes made of thin material that looked like they would be blown away by the wind at any time.
His eyebrows were cold, his jaw was well-defined, and his hair was as black as ink. However, a few strands of hair were lifted by the river breeze, giving off a faint silver glow, as if they had been stained by frost and snow.
Lu Guiyan of Yaowang Valley.
The young man walked over with a sword in his hand. There were spots of mud and dark blood on the hem of his clothes, but his white clothes were still as graceful as snow. He walked straight towards this place without saying a word and without even looking at Qing Guiyu.
Suddenly, there was a long and melodious sword chant, and the long sword "Wuwang" was unsheathed. Lu Guiyan's figure rushed forward, and the sword flashed, actually coming towards her.
For a moment, a conflict arose in her mind: should she risk exposing her identity and fight back, or gamble that the sword would not kill her? Finally, the closeness and trust she had felt towards Lu Guiyan since childhood and over the years prevailed.
She simply closed her eyes.
The sword energy arrived before the sword, which was one of the secrets of the Bingxi Ximai Jue practiced by Lu Guiyan.
Before the sharp blade was applied, he first used icy cold to cut the meridians. Under heaven, only he could do this. Even Chen Jiansheng, who was also famous in the martial arts world for his cold internal force "Cold Marrow Skill", could not achieve such an effect.
But she did not encounter the cold air she expected. When Qing Guiyu opened her eyes, Lu Guiyan had already passed by her. The sword was curved, and the place where the sword rose was like the moon rising in a cold pond, and it was heading towards the ragged old man that Murong Qing was supporting.
The sword passed by the old man's throat, cutting off a few strands of gray hair.
Murong Qing screamed and fell to the ground. The two Dian Cang Sect members simultaneously pressed their swords, and a hint of darkness flashed in the old man's murky eyes. Qing Guiyu gripped the bamboo tightly, his knuckles turning white. This was the look of a Jianghu warrior with murderous intent.
"bite!"
The bamboo stick in the old man's hand suddenly broke into three pieces, and a dagger made of fine steel popped out from the rotten bamboo, and sparks flew off the blade of the Wuwang sword.
Qing Guiyu took a half step back, his back pressed against the damp reeds. Lu Guiyan's sword was still in motion, and a faint chill washed over him. The flash of his sword sent the old man stumbling back.
The old wound on her wrist suddenly hurt, and she seemed to see frost spreading from the tip of the sword. However, the frost that should have sealed her meridians strangely melted away when it touched the old man's body half an inch away.
The old man's skinny wrist turned like a snake, and several silver rays shot out from behind the dagger.
The sword of the Dian Cang Sect girl had just been unsheathed half an inch when it was pushed back by her senior brother.
"Be careful!" Murong Qing screamed. Lu Guiyan spun to block, his sword aroused, and the hidden weapon fell to the ground with a clang. Lu Guiyan glanced at it. "Bone-eating nail," he frowned slightly, "--Tianji Pavilion."
"Give my regards to your Pavilion Master Chen for me." His tone was calm, and his sword moves became faster and faster. Every time he said two words, the moves changed, so the rhythm seemed to be a bit gnashing of teeth.
These three swords were more dangerous than the last. When he said the word "An", the tip of the sword was already at the old man's throat.
The old man suddenly fell backwards and retreated to the side in a very strange posture.
Lu Guiyan swung his long sword, and the sword turned around and returned to his backhand. Murong Qing and Dian Cang were knocked back by his sword energy and avoided the old man's very vicious claw.
Qing Guiyu only felt the flash of sword in front of his eyes. When he looked again, Lu Guiyan had already held his sword in front of everyone, and the old man had already retreated two feet away.
"Hehe, what a shrewd fellow! My pair of mirrors are doomed." A strange laugh escaped from the old man's throat. "I wonder how Master Lu can see through this? He'll teach me how to be a wise ghost!"
Lu Guiyan flicked his sword, "Your disguise is nearly perfect, but as someone with mobility issues, relying on a cane, the marks should be deep and the footprints light. Where I came from, I saw the opposite, without needing to rely on anything. This is one of the reasons why I'm exceptionally light-footed."
He glanced at the bamboo stick that had been broken into three pieces on the ground, and continued, "There's no bamboo forest for miles around here. You've traveled so far alone that your straw sandals are all worn, but your bamboo stick has no signs of wear or cracks. This is the second reason."
The old man was speechless, and suddenly spread out his ten fingers, and a flash of light appeared between his fingers.
"Be careful!" Her warning was a little late.
The crystal thread that the old man had hooked on his fingertips suddenly tightened, and the sound of flesh tearing mixed with the crackling of bones. A red line suddenly appeared on his neck, and his entire head was pulled backward by some mechanism.
——It was not the horrifying sight of the head being separated from the body, but the wrinkles on the skin that were originally full of wrinkles suddenly became more severe, and the entire human skin mask suddenly softened and fell off.
Beneath the mask was a sinister face of a man no more than thirty years old, with silver threads twisting and tightening around his throat at a strange angle.
"Pavilion Master Chen also asks about the well-being of Medicine King Gu!" The man grinned, his jaw twitching slightly, and black blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
From the neck to the heart, the silver wire blades had already cut into a rotten web, and there was not even enough time to cut the veins and seal the throat.
Lu Guiyan sheathed his sword, and Murong Qing turned around and vomited in discomfort. The Dian Cang Sect girl, her face pale, clung to her senior brother.
The fishy smell of the reeds, mixed with the stench of blood, grew stronger. Qing Guiyu stared at the twisted corpse on the ground, its crystal silk gleaming coldly in the sunlight like a snake's tongue.
"Tianji Pavilion..." The young man from the Dian Cang Sect used his foot to move the bone-eroding nails hidden weapons on the ground.
Lu Guiyan shook his head and used the tip of his sword to pry open the corpse's clothes, revealing the dragon tattoo on the left chest. His expression changed slightly.
He frowned.
"Pavilion Master's Wings. — Deeply engraved voice."
Murong Qing finally stopped retching and clutched her brother's sleeve, asking in a trembling voice, "Chen Juansheng? Is he the one from the Tianji Pavilion who got the world's information?"
The two Dian Cang Sect members exchanged glances. The Tianji Pavilion's arrival in Yuzhou posed a far greater challenge than Yaowang Valley. They clasped their fists and addressed Lu Guiyan, saying, "This matter is of grave importance. We must return to report immediately. Master Lu, please forgive us."
Lu Guiyan nodded and waited for the two to leave. He turned to Murong Qing and said, "Junior Sister Murong, send a message to the Valley Master immediately and report the situation here."
He paused, then added, "It must be made clear that Chen Jiansheng may have taken control of a key position in the Tianji Pavilion."
Murong Qing gripped the hilt of her sword, turned around, and walked away. Seeing the medicine bag dangling from her sleeve, Qing Guiyu felt relieved, remembering the custom of Medicine King Valley disciples using the scented powder in the bag as a signal when in danger.
So she took advantage of their situation, looked for an opportunity, and left.
"Young lady," Lu Guiyan spoke after walking a few steps, his voice still cold, "Why are you wearing Mi Li?"
She paused, her heart sinking. She slowly turned around, and through the veil, she met Lu Guiyan's cold eyes. "The world is treacherous, and women should be cautious when they go out."
Lu Guiyan lowered his eyes, his expression uncertain.
She was very nervous, afraid that he would ask her to take off her Mi Li, so she felt like a long time had passed. When he finally raised his head, she heard him say lightly,
"Caution is good."
Lu Guiyan's gaze was still fixed on the lower end of Mi Li's hanging gauze curtain, and the river breeze blew the broken catkins between the two of them.
Standing here, one could clearly see the dark brown bloodstains on the hem of his clothes. His sword-holding hand suddenly trembled, and his bony knuckles turned an unnatural bluish-white.
Seeing that he had no intention of saying anything else, or even moving, she could only bow to him and turn away.
She didn't dare to look at Lu Guiyan's expression at all, and the old scar on her wrist started to throb.
She had seen Lu Guiyan at the moment when he was least like himself. Seven years ago, Lu Guiyan, who had just reached adulthood, held her hand, almost crying in pain.
"Is it worth it?" he asked. She was young then, and her spirit was high. There was no fear in her heart, only desolation.
She looked up at Lu Guiyan, and seeing the despair hidden under his cold face, she suddenly felt sorry for him and whispered, "Brother Lu, it's not necessary to be like this."
Qing Guiyu couldn't understand why Lu Guiyan had lost control. He was the pride of the valley, a man of unparalleled talent and unrivaled swordsmanship. His peers revered him as a god. But that day, a god fell to earth, nearly collapsing.
Seven years later, I was actually able to look at him, and I still felt a little sad. Compared with the junior brother back then, the current Lu Guiyan seemed to be wrapped in some kind of years-long, scattered moonlight.
She walked away for a while, then looked back and saw that he was still standing there. She opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally called out to him from a distance, making sure he couldn't catch up.
"Mr. Lu, you are young but your hair has turned gray so early. You should take good care of yourself."
The last syllable was carried away by the river breeze, and it was uncertain whether he heard it or not, but Lu Guiyan seemed to nod, and finally walked towards the other side of Baidukou.
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