Chapter 35
Chu Wen stood firmly, holding the knife in one hand with the tip slightly upturned.
"Miss Shen, after watching the competition for two days, I wonder how much you've improved?" he asked proactively.
"You've learned a lot. Who do you want to fight?"
Chu Wen chuckled: "If you were offstage, you'd probably be attacked by everyone. Can't you watch your words?"
"The trick I learned is my own skill. Using your own weapon against you, isn't it all for the sake of winning?"
"Do you know how many people are secretly thinking that if someone from who-knows-where were to use martial arts from another school, would their victory or defeat truly represent the superiority or inferiority of their techniques?"
"What does this have to do with me? Are you going to fight or not?"
Shen Yu had never met an opponent who loved to chat so much, so she urged him on before Chu Wencai made his move.
Chu Wen's first move was extremely fast; his blade swept across like a torrent.
Shen Yu moved lightly, his sword following his body, and with a slight flick, a Shadow Breaker was unleashed.
"Studied under Dou Qixue? You're quick on the uptake."
Chu Wen dodged while praising Dou Qi. He had never fought Dou Qi before, but he had traveled with the people of the Fuyun Sword Sect two years ago, so he was naturally familiar with him.
This Shadow Breaker can instantly deflect a heavy blow by borrowing force, making it a very practical move in combat swordsmanship.
He unleashed three more strikes, each carrying immense destructive power, but Shen Yu countered each one with the same tactic—
Avoid direct confrontation; let the sword move with the blade, skillfully deflect attacks, and then seize the opportunity to counterattack.
Dust billowed on the arena, swords clashed and flashed, the situation changing in an instant. Chu Wen was secretly astonished. Shen Yu not only knew how to imitate, but could also integrate newly learned moves into her own rhythm?
With a single move, Shen Yu slid to the side, flicked his sword tip, and struck Chu Wen's blade with a swift motion.
"I'm not playing anymore, I admit defeat!"
Chu Wen swiftly sheathed his sword, his movements so fast that they nearly caused a stir among the audience.
He showed no sign of annoyance, but rather a cheerful expression.
He didn't want to be as stubborn as others, because losing such a good weapon in a competition would be a huge loss.
Besides, after what happened in the sect, everyone's mind wasn't on the Hundred Gates Sacrifice. He was pushed up by his fellow disciples to do hard labor for a few days, so he didn't care about winning or losing.
"You've won, young lady. I concede defeat."
Shen Yu's strength missed its mark, and he almost lost his balance. He was amazed at how quickly this person could change his expression; one second he was being confrontational, and the next he was all smiles.
"You learned martial arts so quickly?" Chu Wen took two steps forward in three, then two, and asked in a low voice, not wanting the people below to hear.
"They're just copying what others do."
"You know swordsmanship and saber techniques? Do you know anything else?"
"We'll only know after we fight it."
She didn't deny it, so Chu Wen assumed she knew it and became very interested.
"How about we practice privately after this is over in a couple of days?"
"Chu Wen!" The people from the Guanzhong Knife Society called to him to come down quickly, lest he do something improper in front of everyone.
"Coming!" he called out, then turned to Shen Yu and asked, "Chang Le Inn, right? You're not moving, are you?"
Shen Yu: "...You should leave now, don't delay my fight."
The noise from the audience continued, but Chu Wen was even more decisive than Dou Qi had been that day. Victory and defeat were common occurrences in war, and he did not take it to heart.
Watching from the sidelines might offer a better perspective, so he jumped off the stage and his eyes met Dou Qi's. The two looked at each other, and everything was understood without words.
The biggest takeaway from this trip was encountering a very good opponent.
After defeating five opponents in a row, Shen Yu's sword had been chipped.
It's understandable that even though the sword is in her hand, it's not used as a sword; instead, it's used for slashing, hacking, and even channeling internal energy. Fortunately, Kai Ping also wants to give it her all, otherwise all the swordsmiths in the world would avoid her like the plague.
Just as they were about to rest, another person slowly walked forward from the stage.
The man was dressed in a gray cloth robe, with an ordinary face, a quiet expression, and even a somewhat indifferent demeanor.
“Cheng Xiu, a disciple of Mount Song.”
Shen Yu had heard of this name before. He was a palm practitioner. It was said that he had been practicing his internal energy by forging iron since he was ten years old, and now he could even shatter huge boulders piled up on mountains with a single palm strike.
When she realized it was him, she sheathed her sword and stood empty-handed.
“Miss, there’s no need for that.” Cheng Xiu thought she had put away her weapon for the sake of fairness, so he spoke up to stop her.
"It's none of your business, but I should change things up too."
These words are alarming. Surely this woman can't be proficient in all eighteen weapons?
Cheng Xiu didn't dwell on it too much. He stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Excuse me."
Before he finished speaking, his palm strike had already landed.
The palm strike was silent, yet it carried a heavy current of air, as if pressing down on the entire atmosphere as it attacked Chen Yu.
Shen Yu quickly took two steps back, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and slid away. A deep mark, about an inch deep, appeared where he had just stood.
The palm strike was truly powerful. Shen Yu couldn't help but admire it; if it were a contest of who could clap the loudest, she couldn't compete.
Cheng Xiu remained unmoved, only taking another step forward before his second palm strike arrived.
This time, Shen Yu did not retreat, but instead took half a step forward.
A whooshing sound erupted between the two. Shen Yu twisted her hand, using the momentum to strike her opponent's wrist. The force of their palms clashed, and her arm bones ached, but she still managed to steady herself.
"Miss, you must not leave any room for maneuver," Cheng Xiu frowned and reminded her closely.
"Why take a fight so seriously? As long as I win, that's all that matters." Shen Yu loosened her arms, her eyes still shining.
"If you don't give it your all, you might be forced to step down."
"Then give it a try."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiu stopped talking to her.
Good opponents also need to be cultivated.
He secretly turned his dantian, and a subtle internal energy flowed along his meridians. His palm technique suddenly changed, like a mountain pressing down, from stillness to violence.
Shen Yu's eyes narrowed, her sleeves were lifted by a strong wind, and her hair danced wildly.
Such powerful internal strength.
She shifted her body, her palm shadows overlapping, as if she were about to be drawn into that force, but in an instant, taking advantage of the swirling momentum of the opponent's palm wind, she pressed herself against it.
Where the two palms collided, the airflow surged like waves.
Cheng Xiu felt a tightness in his chest; the force was both gentle and ruthless, not pure hardness, and thus it somewhat restrained his own strength.
But he was no novice in the martial world. His palm strikes were even more ferocious, and his inner energy surged from his dantian, making him appear as if a mountain had collapsed and thunder had broken, shattering the blue bricks beneath his feet.
Shen Yu was forced to take a step back.
This opponent is different from the previous ones; he seems determined to fight to the bitter end.
She enjoys practicing martial arts and exchanging skills, but not this time. Before the final battle, she cannot reveal too much of her strength and must win the previous matches in the safest way possible.
Cheng Xiu attacked again, but she suddenly bent down to avoid it, her palm pressed against his elbow, and she secretly exhaled a wisp of energy.
In an instant, Cheng Xiu's ribs went numb from the shock, and his breath caught in his chest.
Taking advantage of the situation, Shen Yu turned around, her fingers slightly bent.
That long-lost, adrenaline-pumping impulse almost made her forget that she was in a competition.
But the palm strike abruptly stopped at the last inch, and was changed to a horizontal push.
boom--
The shockwave sent Cheng Xiu staggering back several steps, landing on one knee with his chest heaving, but he managed to regain his footing.
"Thank you, Miss Chen." He stood up and clasped his hands in thanks.
"Your left shoulder injury hasn't healed, and your internal energy isn't full. Why force yourself to fight?"
Cheng Xiu smiled helplessly after hearing this.
He had practiced diligently for many years and was confident that his refined palm technique could compensate for his physical shortcomings, but now she had completely dismantled his skills with just a few words.
"This defeat was not unjust and had nothing to do with the injury. Miss Shen, there is no need to be modest."
The sword-wielding contest took a full day.
The air was thick with the smell of blood from the arena, and the crowd was buzzing with discussion, but her figure had vanished amidst the commotion.
Gong Er and Yao Liuliu waited for a long time, but in the blink of an eye, they couldn't find him.
However, they did discover Qiu Chiyan.
He sat under the bamboo shed in the western corner, his clothes still simple and plain, but his face was terribly pale. He looked calm, but his breathing was unsteady.
"You can still come out?" Gong Er looked him up and down as soon as he saw him, his tone half concerned and half teasing.
"I saw her... running towards the inn?"
Qiu Chiyan dragged Tang Huazhi to the Hundred Gates Sacrifice Knife early in the morning and watched it all day. Unexpectedly, Shen Yu ignored everyone and ran away.
But when they returned to the inn, she was nowhere to be seen. Grandma Chen said that when Shen Yu came back, she went straight upstairs, saying that she had something to do and needed to be alone for a while.
"...Could it be that your internal energy is disordered? Let's go up and regulate it!" Yao Liuliu's expression immediately changed, and she was about to rush up.
Gong Er grabbed her: "Don't disturb people when you're meditating! If you barge in, won't all your efforts be wasted?"
Qiu Chiyan looked up at the building; the wooden door was tightly closed and no lights were on.
.
Inside the room, Chen Yu sat cross-legged on the bed.
But she just kept her eyes closed.
Her fight with Cheng Xiu hadn't injured her in the slightest; however, her breath lingered in her chest, and she couldn't calm her mind.
She remembered that moment on the stage very clearly.
As Cheng Xiu's palm strike came, she countered with a palm strike. Just as the force of his palm was about to touch his heart, a familiar yet strange impulse surged from the depths of her heart.
That's not about winning.
Shen Yu's breathing became slightly sluggish, and her fingertips tightened on her knees.
She also remembered that she almost followed that impulse and pushed her palm force another half inch.
That impulse seemed to have nothing to do with her will.
Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.
"Chen Yu?"
"…What's up?"
"May I come in?"
Shen Yu jumped out of bed, straightened her clothes, and ran to open the door: "Why did you come here?"
"...I was there during the day too." Qiu Chiyan's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, judging that she was alright. "But what about Cheng Xiu's palm strike...?"
“No.” Shen Yu helped him to the bed and said dejectedly, “It wasn’t difficult to hit him, it’s just that… I didn’t control my strength.”
Qiu Chiyan was watching the field from a distance at the time, so he couldn't see it clearly.
However, the battle with Cheng Xiu was one of the longest she had ever experienced.
"Cheng Xiu is perfectly fine, you don't need to worry."
"I know. But..."
Shen Yu didn't know what to say, so she simply leaned back and fell onto the bed.
Qiu Chiyan was silent for a moment, then gently placed a handkerchief on her forehead: "When the boundaries between power and boundaries are too clear, there will be occasional impulses. You just haven't experienced this kind of confrontation for too long."
“…”
He paused, his gaze both gentle and profound, and then said, "Forcibly suppressing emotions is not good. Since emotions have arisen, let them flow. First, understand them, then know yourself, so you can know when to stop and when to be decisive. With your abilities, Lady Shen, are you afraid you won't have another chance in the future?"
Shen Yu remained lying dead, but she slightly moved her fingers, her fingertips lightly touching the back of his hand, as if to confirm the other's presence.
"So, put your mind at ease first."
"When you're a constable handling cases, have you ever felt like killing someone to end it all?" she suddenly asked in a low voice.
“There are many.” Qiu Chiyan chuckled. “I’m not usually a patient or good-tempered person.”
Shen Yu suddenly sprang up, curled up, hugged Qiu Chiyan's intact right arm, and buried her face in his shoulder.
Once resilience is shed, only the most primal reliance and trust remain.
After a long silence, she whispered:
“I’m afraid that once this thought takes hold, it will come up every time I try to take action.”
She's seen plenty of people lose to her, with all sorts of bizarre reasons that no one but the person who lost can understand.
She didn't want to fall into that predicament herself, at least not now.
"It's impressive that you're even aware of this. Our little manager Shen has always been like a protective mother eagle, seemingly fearless of anything in the world. Why is he being so sentimental today?" Qiu Chiyan couldn't move his arm, so he could only move his mouth.
"...Then I don't want to."
"So fast?"
"Let's get the acupuncture. Lie down and take your clothes off."
"...Here?"
"I need to distract myself."
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