Chapter 355 What a coincidence, I am also
The bonfire on the grassland was blazing. At the same time, the flame of the sword-making furnace in the Paektu Mountain Lantern Temple gradually dimmed.
The old man and Huo Luyu stood by the stove, quietly waiting for the final moment of the sword's completion.
"No, there's still something missing." The old man shook his head, looked around, and finally set his eyes on Huo Luyu, smiling cunningly:
"Girl, do you know what the last and most important step in sword-forging is?"
Huo Luyu said he didn't know. The old man smiled and said:
"When this Cheng Ying was forged and released, a sky-high black python was fused into it, giving the sword a soul. This is also why the sword is so incredibly heavy that only those who cultivate Qi can lift it. Now the sword has lost the python soul, and a new sword needs a new soul, so there's still something missing."
Now Huo Luyu understood.
I have heard for a long time that when famous swords were forged in ancient times, the swordsmen had to sacrifice their lives for the swords. I never thought it was true.
Huo Luyu's face turned pale for a moment, but only for a brief moment.
Then, without any hesitation, she jumped onto the sword-making platform, lifted her skirt and jumped into the furnace.
The old man was so frightened that his hair almost stood up. He didn't care about etiquette and rushed over to stop the man and hold him down, shouting:
"I was just kidding, old man! Just kidding!"
They both fell to the ground. The old man, still in shock, beat his chest and stamped his feet.
"How can there be people like you in this world who would die without blinking an eye? Ouch, you scared me half to death!"
Huo Luyu didn't react at all. He looked at the tempered sword and whispered:
"Yes, I am so dirty, how can I be worthy of her sword."
The old man has witnessed with his own eyes how Huo Luyu has been guarding the sword-making furnace without any slackness for the past thirty days. If he didn't love it so deeply, how could he be so attentive?
He got up from the ground, brushed the dirt off his clothes, stood by the stove with his sleeves tucked in, and said in a light tone:
"What is 'clean' and what is 'dirty' in this world? People are always obsessed with bathing cleanly and dressing neatly, but it is nothing more than a piece of ugly cloth gradually decaying and covered with dirty pus. Only a pure soul can be truly clean."
Huo Luyu gently touched his chest, as if asking, "Is my soul clean?"
The old man smiled and handed her a dagger:
"The so-called sword sacrifice is actually because even the finest blade will have tiny cracks invisible to the naked eye when it's forged. Grease is needed to fill and coat these cracks to make them indestructible. This sword only had its hilt and blade recast. It doesn't cost much, and your hair is just right. Having long hair tied up to embrace your lord's heart is a good omen."
Huo Luyu was very surprised. She didn't expect that the old man could see through her feelings for Yun Chen without a trace of contempt.
Long hair ties up your heart.
Well, even if she can't be with Yun Chen forever, she can let this beautiful hair that she was born with and has never been cut, this thick black hair that is as longing as she misses you, accompany her. I wish her victory!
Huo Luyu untied her ink-black long hair, leaving only a short part at the neck. He cut the rest with a dagger and threw it all into the sword-making furnace.
The hair quickly caught fire, emitting dazzling flames and melting into the sword.
Huo Luyu suddenly had a feeling: she had never felt so close to Yun Chen.
This sudden feeling of intimacy made her both happy and frightened. She felt the temperature of the sword-making furnace getting higher and higher, almost burning her to the point where she couldn't breathe.
After hurriedly saying "I'm going to get some fresh air", Huo Luyu turned around and ran out of the lantern temple. He took several deep breaths of cold air before calming himself down.
Looking around, when Yun Chen and the other three left, there was still only white snow on the open space in front of the lantern temple.
Now, thirty days have passed, and the ground is filled with black square iron boxes, all of which were sent by the Wuyi Blood Guards of the Shanji Sect.
Huo Gannian said that after the sword was forged, he would entrust the most trustworthy person to escort Huo Luyu away from the battlefield.
This "most trustworthy person" is Shan Ji.
Since receiving the letter of commission, Shan Ji has sent Wuyi Blood Guards to carry five or six iron boxes and climb up the snow-capped mountains every day.
Even though Wuyi Xuewei had outstanding martial arts skills, he was still exhausted and out of breath when he climbed up. Without saying anything, he just put the iron box in front of Huo Luyu, then jumped and went down the mountain again.
Twenty-nine days in a row, without a single day missing.
One hundred and seventy-three iron boxes, not one less.
At first, Huo Luyu felt terrified, but she guessed what was in the box.
Although the snow wrapped the thing tightly and it was frozen hard due to the cold weather, no blood was seeping out, but she still didn't dare to get close.
Later, when she no longer had those embarrassing nightmares at night, she suddenly felt happy again.
She couldn't help but use tree branches as swords and swing them wildly, slashing at the air hundreds of times every day until she was sweating profusely. Then she fell asleep guarding the sword furnace, and had no dreams all night long.
Yesterday was the last iron box, and for some reason, she didn't feel the slightest bit of joy at having avenged her great hatred. Instead, she felt empty from the bottom of her heart.
Looking at the iron boxes piled up like a hill in front of him, Huo Luyu's eyes gradually filled with hatred.
She still wanted to kill a Black Scale Cavalryman with her own hands.
Only kill one, not for herself, but for Hua Jue.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the old man coming out of the lantern temple.
Seeing the incompatible murderous look in Huo Luyu's eyes, which was as abrupt as the black iron box placed on the snow, the old man was stunned for a moment, then inserted the sword into the snow in front of her, interrupting her thoughts.
The black-gold sword body trembled slightly, flashing with a faint luster.
The temperature on the sword's edge gradually dissipated, condensing into a chill even colder than the winter wind, as if it was enough to split everything in the world apart.
The evil of the Blood-Drinking Sword and the power of Cheng Ying, the perfect combination of the two, made the new sword hum continuously, as if it couldn't wait to rush out and kill people.
Huo Luyu grasped the hilt of the sword. According to the old man, although it was no longer too heavy to lift, he still needed to use both hands and use all his strength to swing it.
Huo Luyu was really happy for Yun Chen to have such a great sword, and he couldn't help but said excitedly:
"This time Yun Chen will surely be able to inflict great victory! He will win every battle!"
The old man looked deeply at Huo Luyu, who was immersed in this inappropriate and strange joy.
Taking another look at the pile of over a hundred human heads piled on the ground, the old man looked into the distance and said solemnly:
"Have you ever asked, does Yun Chen really like killing people? Does he like fighting?"
Huo Luyu was stunned. She had never thought about this question before.
So Yun Chen is so brave and fearless, a female general who terrifies the enemy, does she really want to be an invincible hero?
The old man said, "Soldiers returning from the battlefield, each filled with a passion to serve their country, return filled with war-weariness and pain. Winners are heroes, losers are murderers. Both take the lives of others like snuffing out a candle, so what's the difference?"
This question once again stumped Huo Luyu. Seeing this, the old man knew that the girl had just stepped into the quagmire and had not yet fallen into an irreversible situation.
Perhaps to make up for his regrets, or perhaps because he couldn't bear to see a pure soul fall into darkness, the old man said earnestly:
"There's no peace in a world of chaos. But just like the relationship between Nan and Luojiang, if you dig deeper and really want to say who's right, Nan isn't necessarily innocent. Luojiang is provoking us so many times now because, in the previous dynasty, their princess was married to our country and was murdered.
The army of the previous dynasty took the opportunity to attack the royal court in the name of delivering the spirit. After the battle horn sounded, the royal court was almost slaughtered. The king and queen both committed suicide. Luojiang was flooded with blood and was almost destroyed.
For more than a decade since then, Luojiang has been mired in chaos and power struggles, and the people have suffered immensely. "Tell me, who is right and who is wrong in this war?"
Huo Luyu was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.
She had always thought that the wars between countries were just a fight for land and wealth, but she didn't expect that Luojiang and Nan Kingdom had such a bitter and grudge past.
It seems that the Lion Army is currently in the wrong in its Northern Expedition.
"But the war has to be fought." The old man understood what Huo Luyu was thinking and continued:
"If we don't fight, our people will suffer. So even if he knows the past, Yun Chen will still take up his sword and fight for his country and people.
But whether she wins or not, she will never be the winner. Merits and faults, right and wrong, will only linger in her heart until she is torn to pieces."
The old man patted the iron box closest to him, sighed, and said:
"There are executioners and common people here. Do you know whose father this is, and whose son this is? Do you know if he volunteered to go to the battlefield and kill, or was he forced to do so by orders? Do you know if he was born a cannibalistic and murderous devil, or if the world forced him into this state, where it's either you or me?"
After hearing the old man's words, a picture suddenly appeared in Huo Luyu's eyes.
She seemed to see the head of a black-scaled cavalryman rolling to the ground, and a thin mourning letter traveling thousands of miles back to his hometown. The ones who received the mourning letter were his weeping wife and young children.
She seemed to see a black-scale cavalryman taking off his black-scale armor. He put down his sword, picked up a hoe, and walked towards the distance of the field with a smile.
These images flashed before her eyes, and when they landed on the iron box, she felt only remorse welling up from the depths of her heart.
Before him were the heads of one hundred and seventy-three Black Scale Cavalrymen.
But she knew that none of them had ever violated her.
Since she herself didn't even recognize those faces, how could Shan Ji know that he was just randomly killing 173 Black Scale Cavalrymen to vent her anger.
In an instant, the stubborn murderous intent that grew wildly from his bones and blood disappeared without a trace.
Huo Luyu's legs went weak and he knelt in front of the iron box, tears dripping onto the snow.
The old man gently stroked her head. "Child, I'm not saying this to blame you, nor am I saying you're wrong. Who in this world is wrong?"
He looked back at the Lantern Temple, smiled bitterly, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and said quietly:
"They all say to me, 'Just keep the lights on, why make yourself so miserable?' Little do they know that everyone in the world suffers, and that suffering is inevitable. If I suffer a little more, others will suffer less. Why not do it?"
After saying this, the old man turned and left, but his words were like a slap in the face, completely waking up Huo Luyu who was immersed in hatred.
She threw the iron boxes off the cliff one by one until the area in front of the lantern temple became pure white again.
She wiped away her tears, looked at the snow-capped mountains, and her expression gradually returned to calm.
At this time, the sound of footsteps on flying snow came towards the mountainside, and a blood-red figure jumped out of the cliff and landed in front of Huo Luyu.
Shan Ji stood tall in a red robe, holding a sword that had killed countless people in one hand and a branch of fragrant purple camellia in the other.
He naturally wanted to pin the flower on Huo Luyu's head, but found that her hair was only as short as her chin. Her hair was gently blown by the wind, making her face look as white as jade.
Shan Ji curled up the corners of his mouth and chuckled, "Wrong, the colors don't match." Then he threw the flower casually and went to pick up the new sword beside him with great interest.
He raised his sword and slashed at the air, performing a dozen or so graceful moves before lowering it and nodding with satisfaction.
"Yes, a good sword."
Huo Luyu did not respond to his words, but looked straight at Shan Ji:
"Thank you. But I'm sorry, I don't like men."
Shan Ji was stunned for a moment, and replied without thinking:
"Coincidentally, me too."
After saying that, the two looked at each other for a moment and couldn't help laughing.
Being rejected by a woman like this, and the first woman he was interested in in his life, Shan Ji did not feel frustrated. Instead, he looked at Huo Luyu with even more appreciation, with a mischievous and unruly smile on his face:
"The battlefield is boring. Where do you want to go? I'll take you there."
After thinking about it, Huo Luyu's eyes became gentle.
"Let's go to her hometown - Youzhou."
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