Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Humming a happy tone, Tie Linglong wiped her narrow saber over and over multiple times, and then slowly inserted it into the sheath, as if she were undergoing a sacred ritual.
Standing ten steps away, Chu Nanping stared at her silently. His eyes had been fixed on her the whole time.
"Why don't you forge two swords that are better paired with each other?" asked Tie Linglong, as if she had forgotten about her resentment towards him.
"The Dragon King gave this sword to me, and a Central Plainsman gave me the other. Both of them are… good swords." Chu Nanping was very glad that he could talk to her in a normal manner again.
"Oh." Tie Linglong raised her head slightly as if understanding had suddenly dawned on her, her green eyeb.a.l.l.s gleaming like gemstones by the candle light. "So you do attach sentiments to things people gave you as gifts… But don't you want to be ruthless and emotionless? Isn't this going to adversely influence your swordsmans.h.i.+p?"
Tie Linglong asked these questions in a curious tone, but even Chu Nanping could tell that they were laced with sarcasm. He pondered over the questions carefully for a while. "This is different. I don't have true feelings for these swords. If they break one day, then I'll just get another one. But you're different-"
"Don't mention me," interjected Tie Linglong severely. Her att.i.tude had instantly changed.
"Some people are… different," Chu Nanping adjusted his words. "They're too important to me, and they become irreplaceable, which makes me feel like I have something to lose, which then influences the strength of the Emotionless Swordsmans.h.i.+p."
Tie Linglong snorted coldly. Chu Nanping frequently accidentally said some sweet words that moved her, but this time, he just displeased her. "So how's it going? It's been two months since we stopped seeing each other. Has your swordsmans.h.i.+p recovered?"
"More or less."
"But you still want to make progress."
"After forgetting you, I still have to forget myself. There's a long way to go yet." Chu Nanping told the truth without considering the damage it might cause.
"So you haven't completely forgotten about me yet?"
"I don't know. Everything's fine when you're not in my sight, but once I see you-"
"I'm sorry, but it was the Dragon King who ordered us to perform this task together. Do you want me to cover my face up right now?" Suppressing her indignation, Tie Linglong uttered these words in a tone so calm that one would almost think that she was genuinely sorry.
"No, no, no. This isn't your fault." Chu Nanping hastily explained, "My will is not strong enough. It has nothing to do with you."
Tie Linglong let out a couple of cold snorts, put on a mask, and left the room.
Chu Nanping followed her, finally realizing how hard it was to truly end a relations.h.i.+p.
Xu Xiaoyi immediately told them the address. Then he grabbed Chu Nanping's arm and wanted to talk with his good friend briefly. Tie Linglong walked out of the room with her head erect and waited outside.
Both of them had been in Jade City, but they seldom had any chances to meet. Looking at his best friend, Xu Xiaoyi suddenly felt very embarra.s.sed. It felt just like two little birds who had grown up in the same nest only to realize that one of them was a magpie and the other was a sparrow, and that they barely had anything in common.
"Little Chu, what exactly are you doing?" Xu Xiaoyi hoped to regain the feeling of friends.h.i.+p between them by talking to him.
"Following the Dragon King's orders and monitoring a house."
"Not that. I mean - her." Xu Xiaoyi pointed towards the outside. He knew that killers had sharp ears, so he deliberately lowered his voice. "You've got yourself such a good girl. To be honest, you really surprised me. Why did you give her up? I'm confused."
"Um…" Chu Nanping pondered over how to clearly explain this issue. "The first year after I met you, I once tried to kill you."
"I know. You wanted to practice that Emotionless Swordsmans.h.i.+p, but we played around for a full day and you still didn't do it." Recalling the past, Xu Xiaoyi felt his feelings for this friend swelled in him. "Seriously, Little Chu. You're hurting both yourself and others."
Xu Xiaoyi had a lot of clichés in his mind, but none of them were appropriate for this occasion. After pausing for a while, he continued, saying, "I think that you can see it yourself. Tie Linglong's a pretty girl, and she's no longer a child. Tsk, tsk… Little Chu, when another guy lands her, you'll regret it, but it will be too late by then."
"If I regret it, then it means that my swordsmans.h.i.+p cultivation will have failed," Chu Nanping replied blandly. He didn't seem convinced at all.
"Alas, you're my best friend. I'm your best friend too, aren't I?"
"Um," after thinking for a while, Chu Nanping answered affirmatively.
Xu Xiaoyi knew him well. And he also knew that this "Um" after a brief hesitation was more valuable than ten thousand sweet words from someone else. "Then let me be honest with you. You won't make a good killer, much less a ruthless swordsman. That's not who you are. Practicing the Emotionless Swordsmans.h.i.+p is a mistake for you. Stop this while you still can and be a normal guy. n.o.body is forcing you to be invincible - the Dragon King wouldn't do that either. He's a reasonable man… "
"Thank you," Chu Nanping interjected inexplicably.
"For what?" Xu Xiaoyi was confused.
"From now on, we're no longer friends." Chu Nanping turned and left.
Stroking his moustache, Xu Xiaoyi mumbled, "It's so much easier to be a fair weather friend. Alas."
But he was not anxious, since this wasn't the first time that they had gotten in trouble with each other and he believed that they would eventually make up. Then he thought of Tie Linglong. "She's grown up," he mumbled. Putting aside any immoral thoughts, he was truly worried about his best friend.
Lotus had been hiding Shangguan Shaomin and Han Xuan in a large courtyard in northern Jade City and the owner of this courtyard was the King of An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake.
When the Dragon King and the Unique King were fighting for the control of Xiaoyao Lake, King An had been the first one to take sides, and it was for that the very reason that he lost any room to maneuver and eventually had been left with no choice but to retreat to Jade City with Golden Roc Army, letting the crown fall into the hands of another royal family member who was of a younger generation.
Xu Xiaoyi had discovered this shelter totally by accident and he had always wondered how King An had ended up colluding with Waning Moon Hall.
After crossing a river and climbing over some walls in southern Jade City, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong sneaked into a small dwelling near King An's mansion. Along the way, they had cooperated tacitly and not spoken a single word.
Xu Xiaoyi had prepared this small dwelling in advance. A merchant with an innocent background had been living here. For a considerable sum of fixed income, the merchant agreed to deliberately "ignore" one of the rooms in this dwelling and had forbidden anybody from entering, including himself. As regards for who would sneak into it, he didn't care, and neither did he want to know.
On the other side of the room, there was a small window squarely facing King An's mansion, but this window was only useful during daytime. At night, they still had to go outside to monitor the mansion.
"Let me take the night s.h.i.+ft," said Chu Nanping.
Tie Linglong blandly answered, "No. I can't afford to commit the crime of weakening a great swordsman's will. I'll take the first night s.h.i.+ft. We'll rotate the s.h.i.+fts from then on."
Surveillance was always boring, especially for Tie Linglong. She had wanted to sneak into King An's mansion several times, but eventually, she managed to control herself each time. If the Dragon King believed that the mansion was a trap, then it probably was. She wanted to be on her best behavior and couldn't afford to make any mistakes.
The two stayed in the same room. Most of the time, one of them slept while the other monitored the mansion. They even had to take turns having meals.
Xu Xiaoyi had stored enough food and water in the room to last them five days, and the owner of this dwelling didn't provide anything either.
Chu Nanping gradually got used to the existence of Tie Linglong. The look in his eyes became more and more restrained until he no longer fixed his eyes on her. Whenever he sat beside the window, monitoring, he was as still as a wooden statue, only breathing and occasionally grasping his sword as his only movements.
On the third night, it was Tie Linglong's turn to go outside the room to monitor the mansion. She hid herself at a usual position. As she stared at King An's mansion, which was totally dark inside, she believed that nothing would happen tonight either.
With the Dragon Army stationed only thirty miles away outside the city, King An seemed to be more afraid than anybody else. The gate stayed closed during both daytime and at nighttime. The vendor who came to the mansion to sell water and vegetables every day had to stand outside the door and send the food in through a narrow crack.
Tie Linglong still believed that infiltrating the mansion was the right thing to do, so gradually her heart left the boring surveillance. She was indignant about Chu Nanping's bland att.i.tude, but she didn't know how to retaliate.
For a man who had made up his mind to rid himself of all emotions, all retaliation seemed motivational.
She couldn't help but sigh and suddenly thought of that teenager named Nie Zeng.
Nie Zeng had left with Norlanders. If it weren't for the fact that his love confession had been firmly rejected by Tie Linglong, he probably would have still been working for the Dragon King.
Even if she had known that things would end up this way, Tie Linglong still would have declined. She had never liked Nie Zeng and didn't want to know why. She just didn't like him.
This sigh drew an uninvited guest to her.
Tie Linglong abruptly turned around, her saber halfway unsheathed.
Under the cold moonlight, Han Wuxian seemed like a translucent spirit and her tender smile sounded like a soundless spell. More than half of the vigilance in Tie Linglong dissolved upon seeing it was her.
"What a coincidence. I never expected to see you here," said Han Wuxian gently.
"The Dragon King sent you here?"
"No. I work for the Dragon King, but I don't have to follow his orders in all things," Han Wuxian said as she looked around. "Let's find another place to talk."
Tie Linglong believed that she should decline, but when Han Wuxian turned around, she involuntarily followed.
"You're a girl who's as beautiful as a fairy. Why did you sigh? Do you have romantic grievances as well?" Han Wuxian asked intimately as she stood close beside Tie Linglong.
Tie Linglong raised her head and looked at her, discovering that Han Wuxian was even taller than she had remembered. "I… It's none of your business."
"Sure. But I merely want to help you - with my experience."
"The Dragon King forbade me from getting close to you." Tie Linglong suddenly thought of the Dragon King's warning.
"He doesn't have to know. Apart from me, you're the only one who has learned all the moves of the Jueyin Finger Energy. I can't help but care about you."
Since she started practicing the Balanced Power with the Dragon King, Tie Linglong hadn't practiced the Jueyin Finger Energy for quite a while. She couldn't stop herself from blus.h.i.+ng slightly. "It was that Chu Nanping. He humiliated me, but I… "
Tie Linglong couldn't continue.
"I understand," Han Wuxian said as she nodded considerately. After thinking for a while, she explained, "The body is a woman's most powerful weapon. You see, Lotus lost her virginity, so Dragon King will never like her. However, he can't stop herself from longing for her."
Tie Linglong was even more confused. "Dragon King likes Sister Ru. That's why he… "
Han Wuxian just smiled, before she unexpectedly turned around and disappeared.
Tie Linglong returned to her original position and kept monitoring the mansion, gradually forgetting about her conversation with Han Wuxian as if Han Wuxian had never shown up. Then she started thinking about Jueyin Finger Energy. It was a set of very powerful kung fu moves, and it was more interesting than the Balanced Power which required long-term cultivation.
At dawn, Tie Linglong returned to the room. Chu Nanping was sitting by the window, looking outside.
Tie Linglong sat on the bed. "I'll be seventeen years old in a month."
"Um," Chu Nanping answered.
"I'll give my virginity to the Dragon King on my birthday."
Chu Nanping didn't say anything.
Finally, Tie Linglong felt the pleasure of retaliation.
