Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword Chapter 1-10

Chapter 1: Up the Mountain, Down the Mountain

On the eighth day of the first Lunar month, there was heavy snow.

The maid, Fu Hua, carried a large bamboo basket in her hand. She wasn’t that tall and donned a simple cotton dress, trekking lightly on the steep mountain road.

At this time, the snow fall started to intensify and it covered the Heavens and Earth in a blanket of white. Upon the treetops was another thick layer of snow. The mountain road was steep and Fu Hua’s pace was not quick. She seemed to be hindered by the heavy snowfall, however, if one were to look carefully, they would see the distance between her footprints were all equal—not an inch farther and not a millimeter less.

There were no birds or animals in the mountains, only the rustling sound of falling snowflakes. Not knowing how long she had walked, Fu Hua expressionlessly exhaled a mouthful of white wisp and the corners of her mouth curved gently into a smile. She couldn’t help but quicken her pace as she rounded a tall twisted pine tree and soon, a tall pavilion came into her view. 

The pavilion was built on top of a cliff, a direct contrast with the twisted pine trees surrounding it. The pavilion had two levels and it was surrounded tightly by a bamboo curtain. Although the bamboo curtain looked ordinary at first glance, in fact, it hid a small mechanism that shielded the pavilion from the cold, no matter how big the wind or heavy the snowstorm.

Fu Hua walked to the front of the pavilion and her smile gradually widened. She reached out to lift the bamboo curtain, calling out in a sweet tone: “Young master……” The moment she called out for her young master, she noticed that the pavilion was empty. The smile on her face froze, before turning into exasperation and worry. She stiffly placed the heavy bamboo basket on the ground, then turned around, and started to make her way to the mountain behind her. 

Fu Hua held in her annoyance and followed the mountain path all the way up. Finally, she saw the person she was looking for on a large boulder halfway up the mountain.

It was a young man draped in snow-white fox fur. The youth had his back turned to Fu Hua. He seemed to be gazing intently at something in the distance and was unaware of the presence behind him. His long black hair was held in place by a laburnum patterned hair stick with a few strands of hair that swayed along with the cold wind, hanging by his ears.

He did not know how long he had been here but his head and shoulders have already accumulated a thick layer of snow, as if in the next moment, he would melt completely into the white scenery surrounding him.

Fu Hua furrowed her brows and softly called out, “Young master.”

The youth turned his head, revealing a handsome face. He had delicate features, thin lips, a fine nose, clear eyebrows, and dark eyes. His eyes should have been black, but the color was lighter than normal. At first glance, it gave people the illusion that his eyes were vacant. Maybe because he was out in the cold for too long, his lips started to turn into a faint purple. Though not unpleasant to look at, there was a kind of ink-like elegance to it. However, this elegance, made people feel like he was about to disappear at any time.

“Young master!!!” Seeing the man’s appearance, Fu Hua was annoyed, and without much thought, she quickly stepped forward to voice her complain, “How long have you been out here? With such cold weather, what would happen if you froze to death?”

The man, who was originally sitting on the boulder, showed a somewhat guilty expression after hearing his maid reprimand him. He hastily stood up and brushed the snowflakes off of himself before saying in a warm voice: “I stayed in the pavilion for too long and got bored, so I wanted to come out for a walk.”

“Young master!!!” The maid wanted to say a lot of things, but when the words reached the tip of her tongue, she forcibly swallowed them back down. Looking at the man’s appearance, she could only whisper a couple of complaints before urging her young master to return to the pavilion quickly.

Her young master responded, but didn’t move his feet. He blinked his pale eyes and said innocently: “Fu Hua, I found something interesting.”

Fu Hua said: “What is it?”

Her young master said: “Come over and look.”

Fu Hua pursed her lips and walked to her young master’s side, she looked towards the direction he pointed at. What she saw was a boulder covered in snow and a small beige flower on top of it. It was trembling and seemed fragile, as if in the next moment, it would be uprooted by the bitter, cold wind.

“How can there be a flower?” Fu Hua questioned, “It’s the middle of Winter ……”

“I also felt curious about it.” Her young master smiled, “So I stood looking at it for a while. Come, let’s go back.” He said as he gently caressed the tender petals of the small flower with his delicate fingers. His action was very gentle.

Fu Hua saw her young master’s action and furrowed her eyebrows, but she did not say anything. Instead, she quietly followed behind her young master, softly urging him to go back quickly.

The beige flower still swayed in the cold wind, until out of nowhere, a sudden sword Qi came and sliced through the air. The flower was cut off at the root before crumbling into fine dust that was then carried off by the wind.

Her young master slowly walked back to the pavilion and lifted the curtains. Immediately, he felt a wave of heat rushing towards his face. In the middle of the pavilion, several pots were burning with charcoal. This kept the entire interior of the pavilion dry and warm. But the smoke from the charcoal caused the youth to uncontrollably bend down and cough a few times. His face, that was originally as pale as paper, suddenly flushed into a dizzy red. Fu Hua looked at him worriedly with knitted eyebrows.

“Young master.” Fu Hua hurriedly said. “I have prepared some pear water for you, it will help with the coughing. These pears are ones that I asked Yu Rui to buy yesterday, they are still fresh. Come, you should drink it while it is still hot.”

Her young master waved his hand, “I’ll drink it later.” He sat down on the recliner, casually placed the white fox fur onto the side, and propped his chin up with his hand. He carelessly observed the snowy scene outside through the gaps of the bamboo curtain. Although this bamboo curtain had gaps, the cold wind could not get inside. It was as if an invisible force had separated the outside from the inside.

“Young master.” Fu Hua said softly, “It’s time for you to eat.” She bit her lower lip and her delicate features twisted in concern, “You haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Her young master ignored her and asked, “Has the sword competition started yet?”

“It has started.” Fu Hua quietly answered, “Second young master said that if you want to go see it……”

“Not going.” Her young master replied, “Let’s eat.”

Fu Hua happily agreed and brought out the food plate by plate from the bamboo basket she had carried and laid it out in front of her young master. In a distracted tone, she said, “The cherry blossoms at the foot of the mountain have bloomed. However, the vendor, Old man Zhang, who sells candied hawthorn hasn’t opened for a while. Originally, I wanted Yu Rui to buy two sticks for young master since young master loves the one from this vendor. And then there’s Chen’s store white rice cake…… young master…… young master……” She repeated, but only to find that the man in front of her had stopped moving his hands. His head was slightly tilted, and his breathing gradually evened out. Even his eyes were closed.

Fu Hua opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She didn’t bother waking the man and instead sat quietly beside him. The food in front of them still scattered off a rich aroma and the charcoal pots in the room occasionally emitted a crisp crackling sound. She stared at the person in front of her, suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape her chest. In the end, it was replaced with a dull ache.

The Kunlun Mountains had jade, which was famously known amongst the world. However, even more famous than the jade found on the Kunlun Mountains was the swordmaster surnamed Lin who lived upon said mountain.

Amongst the cultivators who seek the path of immortality, there were only a few elites. But the family surnamed Lin, on the Kunlun Mountains, have been able to produce elites far beyond anyone’s understanding; generation after generation and would continue for thousands of years.

Fu Hua’s young master was the youngest son of the Lin family, named Lin Rufei. When Lin Rufei was born, the skies bestowed upon him a sign—thousands of birds in the evening blaze took the form of a phoenix that encircled the Kunlun Mountains until finally scattering at nightfall.

As a result, the Lin family also had high hopes for their youngest son, thus bestowing upon him the name Rufei[1].

Fei, the King of all jades. They hoped that this child, like the most beautiful jade on the Kunlun Mountains, would be as brilliant.

However, things didn’t go as planned.

At the age of three, Lin Rufei was confirmed by the Lin family ancestors that he would be unable to practice the sword. His body was weak and even frailer than common people. And he barely managed to walk at the age of two. At three years old, his first words were of his parents and with such aptitude, he could only be described as a fool.

Lin Rufei slept lightly. With a tilt of his head, the weight would cause him to nod. As a result, he would wake himself from his shallow dream with a jolt. With sleep still in his eyes, he saw his maid Fu Hua half-kneeling on the cushion in front of the table. She was staring dully at the food that was still steaming. Lin Rufei shook his head to wake himself up from the sleep daze and lazily picked up the chopsticks to continue eating.

Fu Hua also returned to her senses, her face showing joy.

The food was intricately prepared, every dish was Lin Rufei’s favorite, but he ate inattentively and seemed to be lost in thought.

Fu Hua asked, “What is young master thinking about?”

Lin Rufei said, “Now that the cherry blossoms are blooming at the foot of the mountain, are the monkeys still there?”

Fu Hua said in a warm voice: “Naturally, the monkeys are still there. Does young master want to see the cherry blossoms?”

Lin Rufei sighed defeatedly: “Then I won’t go to see them.”

Fu Hua said, “If young master is unhappy, I will go to the bottom of the mountain and drive away the monkeys.”

Lin Rufei shook his head and did not say anything.

The weather was very different above and below the mountains. At this time, it was Spring at its foot and the plants were in full bloom. Near the Kunlun Mountains, there was a cherry blossom forest at its most glorious. With the beauty of the cherry blossoms, it would attract a lot of passing visitors. However, this forest also had a group of annoying monkeys. The number was quite large and they would often disturb the passers-by. Furthermore, this group of monkeys was also very discerning. They would never harass the ones that they believed they could not handle, therefore they always targeted the weak, like scholars and young misses.

“You go ahead.” Fu Hua still wanted to say something, but Lin Rufei waved his hand as a signal for her to leave, “I’m a little tired”

“Young master, let’s go down the mountain.” Fu Hua begged, “This mountain is so cold, and your body is weak. If your health really deteriorates, second young master would have my head.”

Lin Rufei laughed, “It’s okay, I’ll stop him.”

Fu Hua continued to urge: “If you don’t want to stay in the mountains, we could walk around the area for a change of pace.”

Lin Rufei did not move. Instead, he closed his eyes, indicating that he was going to sleep. Fu Hua saw the situation and felt frustrated with tears in her eyes. Only after a long time did she finally give in: “Then Fu Hua will really go.”

“Go on, go on, remember to be careful.” Lin Rufei said, “Next time bring me some more books, I’m almost done with the ones here.”

Fu Hua mumbled an agreement and could only reluctantly get up before heading out of the pavilion.

Lin Rufei closed his eyes, as if he was truly asleep. Only when Fu Hua’s figure disappeared into the wind and snow did he reopen his eyes. What sleepiness did he have in those eyes, it was clearly full of deviousness.

Lin Rufei casually picked up the fox fur next to him and draped it over his body. Without even putting on his shoes properly, he ran as fast as he could all the way towards the mountain behind the pavilion. Only, when he arrived at the place, he didn’t see what he wanted to see.

“Huh, where did the little flower go?” Lin Rufei covered his mouth and coughed a few times, “It was just here a while ago……” His eyes patrolled the boulder for a long time, but still did not find the small beige flower that was once there. It was strange, but before he could ponder too much about it, his shoulder was gently tapped.

He turned and saw a man donned in green clothes. He had a long sword hanging by his waist and was looking gently at him.

Lin Rufei’s expression froze and only after a while did he quietly call out: “……Brother.” This person was his second brother, Lin Bianyu.

Lin Bianyu asked, “What are you looking at?”

Lin Rufei said, “…… Just looking around.”

“How long will you stay in the mountains?” The man asked again.

Lin Rufei felt an itch at the back of his throat. He knew his current situation wasn’t good and tried to cover his mouth with his hand to suppress it, but his body still shook violently.

Lin Bianyu saw this and let out a soft sigh: “Cough if you want, it’s not like I can blame you.”

Lin Rufei laughed bitterly and when his hand loosened, he coughed until he was out of breath and nearly passed out.

“The scenery at the foot of the mountain is good, and the cherry blossoms are in bloom.” Only when Lin Rufei had calmed down did Lin Bianyu continue, “Go down and take a look, it’s cold on the mountain so it’s not advisable to stay for a long time.”

Lin Rufei knew in his heart that it was for his own good, so he could only nod his head in solemn agreement.

Men weren’t easy characters to fool. His brother raised his chin slightly, signaling Lin Rufei to pack his things, and then he would personally take him down the mountain.

Lin Rufei had no choice but to slowly walk towards the pavilion. His brother did not urge him and instead, slowly followed behind him.

There was nothing to pack back at the pavilion. Lin Rufei looked left and right and finally only took a volume of “Mountain and River” that he had just read halfway last night.

Lin Bianyu looked at the book in his hand and asked him how much he had read.

“I’ve read more than half of it.” Lin Rufei smiled and asked, “When second brother went on his travels below the mountains, did he go to all the places written in the book?”

“Most of them.” Lin Bianyu said plainly, “There wasn’t much to see.”

Lin Rufei just smiled and did not say anything else.

Seeing that Lin Rufei had finally packed, Lin Bianyu stretched out his hand and hoisted Lin Rufei into his arms to carry him. Lin Rufei was about to protest when Lin Bianyu gave him a look, “Would you rather Fu Hua carry you down?”

Lin Rufei was immediately speechless. Being carried down the mountain by a maiden was not any better.

“I am your brother.” Lin Bianyu’s voice was as cold as ice, “Anyone who dares to gossip, I’ll cut off their tongue.”

Lin Rufei could only keep silent and let Lin Bianyu do as he pleased—he knew that Lin Bianyu was not joking.

Back then, because of his ineptitude, gossips emerged on the Kunlun Mountains. And Lin Bianyu, who had returned from his travels, found all the gossipers, challenged them one by one, defeated them one by one, and cut off their tongues one by one with his sword, Tian Xiao[2]. From then on, no one on the Kunlun Mountains dared to say a word against Lin Rufei, even if he was a loser who couldn’t even wield a sword.

Lin Bianyu carried Lin Rufei out of the pavilion. With his toe pointed and steps light, he hurried all the way to the foot of the mountains.

The wind and snow in the air were parted by a slash from a sharp sword Qi and Lin Rufei closed his eyes halfway. His long eyelashes casted a faint shadow against his pale skin and the frost that tinged his nose gradually melted away. When he opened his eyes once again, he was surrounded by a beautiful Springtime scene.

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[1] Rufei – “like jade” 

[2] Tian Xiao – “Heavenly Night” 

Chapter 2: A Walk in Spring

Lin Rufei’s courtyard was very large and it was surrounded by wooden fences. The courtyard was home to many luxuriant plants and trees. As it was Spring, the black soil was covered with a layer of green grass, and when stepped upon, it felt as soft as a carpet. In the center of the courtyard, there were various trees with blooming flowers—pears and cherry blossoms, all of which were in full bloom. It was such a lively scene. However, in a lone corner, stood a cherry blossom tree that stood out compared to its surrounding. The tree was barely any taller than the average person and its branches were thin and dry. There was only one bud of cherry blossom hanging on the tree—unbloomed, making it look particularly sluggish.

Lin Bianyu had just placed Lin Rufei onto the ground when he immediately stepped towards the cherry blossom tree. He stopped in front of the tree and looked at the frail cherry blossom before sighing: “Just why won’t it grow?……” He reached out his hand, and stroked the rough tree trunk a few times. And once again sighed in a tone that was like coaxing a child, “Oh well, oh well. If it can’t grow then it can’t grow. At least it has a flower bud now. Compared to last year, it has grown stronger.”

This cherry blossom seed was picked up by Lin Rufei from the foot of the mountains many years ago when he was still a teenager. But time has passed and he was already a young man, yet the cherry blossom tree was still so thin and small that even a gust of wind could shake the poor tree to its core. After saying this, Lin Rufei remembered something and quickly looked to the side where Lin Bianyu was standing: “Second brother, don’t you dare change my cherry blossom tree.”

Lin Rufei immediately saw through his second brother’s intentions and Lin Bianyu was not surprised, “This cherry blossom tree won’t grow big, wouldn’t it be better to change it?”

Lin Rufei said, “Not everything can be changed.”

Lin Bianyu laughed: “I only know that anything that makes you unhappy is not a good thing.”

Lin Rufei looked helpless and knew that some of his reasoning did not make sense to his second brother. Lin Bianyu might look like he had a mild personality, but was actually the most obstinate one amongst the four of them. Lin Rufei had to repeatedly reiterate that he loved this cherry blossom tree and told his second brother to never touch it.

Lin Bianyu nodded slightly in response to Lin Rufei’s words and Lin Rufei was relieved to see this.

There was always someone in charge of cleaning the courtyard and loft and even though Lin Rufei had not lived in it in a long time, it was still neat and tidy like when he had left.

Lin Rufei went into the loft and told his second brother to go about his business. Before Lin Bianyu left, he said there were some outsiders outside, and if Lin Rufei didn’t like them, he would get someone to send them down the mountain.

Lin Rufei was busy, so he didn’t feel the need to.

When Lin Bianyu saw that his expression didn’t seem fake, he did not say any more. He turned around and went away. His expression seemed to darken a few shades and he looked quite unhappy.

He just came out of the courtyard before he muttered to himself, “Is this how you spoiled him?”

The moment the words left his mouth, a breeze brushed past his cheeks. The surrounding scenery seemed to be distorted for a moment, as if it was burnt by flames and a man in a basalt-colored clothes suddenly appeared at his side. From the general facial appearance, he and Lin Bianyu did have some similarities. Only, the man had lines that were more cold and hard, and his black eyes were cold like frost.

“Xiao Jiu’s nature is like that.” The man said, “Who in the family doesn’t want him to be a stubborn, arrogant little ancestor?” Lin Rufei’s nickname was Xiao Jiu, from the meaning of long-lived leek[1].

Lin Bianyu said coldly, “Then why isn’t he?”

The Lin family was very protective. As the youngest son of the Lin family, Lin Rufei was the most favored one. Even if he was an invalid who could not wield a sword, everything he used and saw was of the best quality. He should have grown up into a brat with a carefree nature yet instead he was now nonchalant. Just looking at him(LRF) made him(LBY) heartbroken and thus led to the rise of some inexplicable anger.

The man raised his eyebrows: “The dragon birth nine sons[2], each different. You have a domineering nature, we can’t have Xiao Jiu act the same as you.”

Lin Bianyu coldly snorted. He stopped talking, turned around, and left.

The man didn’t try and stop him, but only glanced in the direction of Lin Rufei’s courtyard before letting out another sigh.

Lin Rufei did not know that his two brothers had quarreled because of him. He was the youngest of the Lin family and had two older brothers and one older sister, all different from his leisurely self. They were all one in a million—prides of Heaven.

The path of sword cultivation was a hundred times more dangerous than the ordinary path towards immortality. The things they experienced were a million times more difficult.

When Yu Rui, who was in the loft, heard that Lin Rufei had returned, she hurriedly carried her long skirt and ran to the front room with frantic, broken steps.

“Young master, young master!” The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl was at her most lively. Her voice was as clear and gentle as an oriole and the mood of the people listening also followed. She screamed and laughed and pounced towards Lin Rufei, “Young master, you are finally back!”

“Mn, I’m back.” Lin Rufei said as he caught the maid who pounced on him, “You’re so big now—I can no longer catch you anymore.”

“Young master!” Yu Rui pouted.

Lin Rufei said, “Quickly go and make me a pot of hot tea, young master is thirsty.”

“Okay!” Yu Rui was a child at heart. After hearing Lin Rufei’s words, she went to make tea with a bounce in her steps. Lin Rufei’s personal servants were only those two maids—Fu Hua and Yu Rui. Fu Hua had arrived first. She was older and had a more calm behavior. This year, Yu Rui had not yet turned fourteen and from her personality, she was just a half-grown kid. Lin Rufei was already a gentle person. Plus, the two had a separate courtyard so the two maids’ natures were more lively compared to the other servants.

Not long after, Yu Rui came over with a pot of freshly brewed hot tea. She carefully poured the tea for Lin Rufei and raised her eyes to observe her young master, who was in front of her. She pouted: “Young master, you’ve lost weight.”

“Have I?” Lin Rufei did not feel it.

“Naturally you did!” Yu Rui said unhappily, “It was so hard to fatten you up little by little and after going to live in the mountains for a month, you lost all the weight.”

Lin Rufei just laughed at her remark.

The courtyard felt less lonely with Yu Rui chattering next to him. Lin Rufei took a sip of tea from his cup and his eyes fell onto the grass and trees in the yard. However, his gaze seemed to pass through them—like he was looking at a completely different scenery.

“Yu Rui.” Lin Rufei suddenly spoke and his nose twitched slightly, “Do you smell anything?”

Yu Rui twitched her tiny nose and was full of confusion: “What smell?”

“It seems to be the cherry blossoms……” Lin Rufei discerned carefully.

“Cherry blossoms?” Yu Rui said, “How can there be the fragrance of cherry blossoms? That cherry blossom tree in the courtyard has only produced a bud. Alas, such a disappointment. Young master, you even watered it every day.” The maid stomped her foot in anger, as if her young master had been greatly bullied, “Even if it was poured on my head, I could at least produce two buds, right?”

Lin Rufei was dumbfounded and laughed: “How would you produce it?”

Yu Rui shook her head, thinking deeply: “If not possible, I’ll just go ask second young master. There will always be a way.”

There was some truth to those words. With Lin Bianyu’s nature, if Lin Rufei really wanted to see people’s heads blooming with cherry blossoms, he might really find a way. 

“You can go about your business now.” When the Spring sunlight scattered onto a human figure, it would always give off a smell of warmth. Sunbathing made Lin Rufei sleepy, he squinted his eyes and lazily said, “I’ll take a nap.”

“Ah!” When Yu Rui saw that her young master was tired, she quieted down her voice, and softly retreated.

And so the loft turned quiet. 

Lin Rufei had his eyes half-closed and was in a trance. The scent of cherry blossoms became more and more intense and in a vision of haziness, he seemed to have seen a glimpse of an endless cherry blossom forest. And deep in the forest, stood a man dressed in red. The vision flickered and when Lin Rufei opened his eyes again, all that he saw in his eyes was the poor cherry blossom tree standing in the corner of the courtyard and he didn’t know if it would live until next Spring.

Lin Rufei decided. Tomorrow he would go down the mountain to the cherry blossom grove to see the primitive cherry blossoms. 

The next morning, Lin Rufei, who was draped with fox fur, led a white horse and left the courtyard amidst the drizzle. His maid, Fu Hua stood behind him, holding an oil paper umbrella with a landscape design. Her young master had refused to hide under her umbrella because he said his clothes were not wet with the rain of apricot blossoms[3], so the Spring rain that was as fine as dust, sprinkled a layer of light on her young master’s black hair.

The Kunlun sword competition was approaching and a vast number of strangers came to visit the Kunlun Mountains, thus the surrounding became very lively.

On the mountain road, a modest gentleman wrapped in thick fox fur led a horse. He was slightly thin, handsome, and had a pale complexion. He looked frailer than the ordinary people, but the most striking thing that drew people’s gaze were his light-colored eyes. The eyes that should have been black actually seemed to be the same as diluted ink. Although the color was light, it was clear and bright. Light drizzle fell upon his long lashes that were like raven feathers and at a glance, it seemed to give off a light color. Behind the man walked a beautiful young maiden. She held an oil paper umbrella in her hand, but her expression was grim. She seemed to want to hold the umbrella for the gentleman but was refused. The muddy mountain road was slightly wet from the rain. However, on the mountain road, there was only one set of footprints and it belonged to the gentleman. Upon looking carefully, they realized that the maid’s feet were actually floating in mid-air, about half an inch from the ground.

The further down the mountain, the more people they were. When they left through the Kunlun mountain gate, the surrounding area suddenly became lively. Although it was raining, the surrounding bazaar was not affected in any way. The cultivators who came for the sword competition, yet could not enter the inner court, took advantage of this opportunity to sell all kinds of things. There were spiritual treasures, weapons, and even all kinds of Daoist talismans.

Lin Rufei grew up with a weak body and rarely went to crowded places, so at this time he was looking around with great interest.

“Yo, this young master, want to see my powerful talisman paper, ah? It’s cheap and easy to use to ensure that you won’t lose anything and won’t be fooled, ah.” The vendor looked Lin Rufei up and down and yelled enthusiastically at him. Lin Rufei was dressed as a rich young master, but he did not carry a sword, so most likely he only came to see the fun.

“How powerful is it?” Lin Rufei asked with a smile.

“For example, this talisman. The moment you use it, you can sneak into other places! It can help you escape from a disaster!” The vendor gushed, “And it doesn’t require spiritual power so just about anyone can use it!”

“That amazing?” Lin Rufei asked, “Then how are you selling it?”

The vendor said, “Cheap, very cheap.” With a twinkle in his eye, he laughed, “Five spirit stones will be enough!”

“Five spirit stones, why don’t you grab it?” Fu Hua was not as polite as her family’s young master. When she heard the vendor shouting prices, her eyes narrowed in on the paper, “This talisman paper is not even fully drawn, who dares to use it, ah. If used, it’ll send your head away, and the body remains in place, can you afford to take the responsibility?”

The vendor wanted to retort, but out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the sword hanging at Fu Hua’s waist, and he immediately swallowed his words. His expression soon became more honest and he laughed embarrassingly: “Hey……in business, it is always about the process. Young miss, if you think it is not suitable, give a price, we can discuss it. “

“Half a piece.” Fu Hua nonchalantly said, “Nothing more.”

The vendor yelled “hey, hey” twice, then made a face with a painful expression, “Alright, alright, I’m not even open yet today, I will take this loss. If you say half a piece of spirit stone then it’s half a piece of spirit stone.” He finished and added, “If there are any after-effects, I’m not responsible for it.”

Fu Hua glared at him, took out the spirit stone from her pouch to pay, then took the talisman paper from the vendor’s hand. After carefully inspecting it to make sure that there were no problems, she handed it to her young master.

Lin Rufei also bought it for fun. He took it, casually tucked it into his sleeve, and went toward other places.

From outside the gate of the Kunlun Mountains to the foot of the mountain, there were tourists and vendors everywhere. But the weather today wasn’t all that good, so there weren’t too many people around. However, for Lin Rufei, it was enough to be lively.

Lin Rufei walked towards the bottom of the mountain while sight-seeing. His mood was unaffected by the gloomy weather and on the contrary, it seemed to be better.

When they reached the town, they were not that far from the cherry blossom grove. Lin Rufei stopped and pointed to the other end of the town: “Fu Hua, I want to eat white rice cakes.”

Fu Hua said, “Then wait for me here, I will go over and buy it right away.”

Lin Rufei said, “You go first, I’ll go on ahead. Come to me when you have bought it.”

Fu Hua handed the umbrella to Lin Rufei and frowned: “Young master, please use the umbrella and please be careful not to catch a cold.”

Lin Rufei didn’t say anything and just took the umbrella. He raised his chin slightly, indicating for Fu Hua to go quickly. Fu Hua turned around and tapped her toes like a swift swallow. A moment later, she disappeared at the end of the street.

Lin Rufei did not open the umbrella, instead, he put it away on the back of his horse and walked slowly in the direction of the cherry blossom forest.

Although it was raining, the town was still lively. The pedestrians were holding their umbrellas and walking through the streets paved with green stone. This town was dependent on the Kunlun Sword Sect and had been prosperous for a hundred years.

The greatest wish of the townspeople was to pass the examination of the Kunlun Sword Sect, and even being the lowest outer disciple was something to be envied. If they couldn’t do it themselves, they would put their hopes on their son, grandson—generation after generation, they would always have hope.

Lin Rufei saw the cherry blossom grove from afar.

The mountain was covered in cherry blossoms. And the passing wind picked up the fallen petals before scattering them onto the people’s hair and shoulders.

When Lin Rufei saw this scene, his lips curved into a smile and with a brisk step, he hurried towards the depths of the cherry blossom grove.

It was probably because of the rain, but the cherry blossom forest was not as lively as usual. The petals that fell to the ground, after mixing with the black soil, soon turned into Spring mud. The ground was slippery and Lin Rufei followed the small path before gradually entering the depths of the cherry blossom forest.

The surrounding was quiet, and only the pitter-patter of the light drizzle could be heard. Lin Rufei was indulging in this tranquil, beautiful scenery when he heard a cry in the distance. The cry was very piercing and he recognized it as the cry of a monkey. When Lin Rufei heard this sound, his face instantly changed. Without a minute to waste, he turned around and ran.

But just by himself, how could he run faster than the monkeys? Not even a moment later, he was soon surrounded by monkeys. He didn’t know what species these monkeys were but they were very different compared to ordinary monkeys. Not only were they tall, but they also had beautiful, gold hair—very dense and soft. He could not see any dirt on them that most wild animals had. 

The monkeys moved quickly to surround Lin Rufei—behind him and in front of him and they blocked every exit. Lin Rufei smiled bitterly at this and hastily spread his hands, indicating that he had nothing with him. He sighed helplessly: “Did you guys memorize me? Every time I come here, I have to be blocked once—”

The monkey in the lead was very beautiful. It was bigger than the other monkeys and had beautiful golden eyes. Currently, it was squatting on the cherry blossom tree closest to Lin Rufei, blinking and staring at the delicate gentleman in front of him. Lin Rufei also looked at it and as a result, one person and one monkey were locked in a staring contest. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but Lin Rufei always felt that after he said this, a smile would surface in the monkey’s eyes.

“I really don’t have anything with me.” Lin Rufei reasoned with the Monkey King, “There wasn’t any time to buy the snacks you like, by the way, I didn’t come alone this time, Fu Hua went to buy rice cakes—”

When the Monkey King heard the name Fu Hua, there was a reaction. The pair of golden beautiful eyes turned smartly, but in the end, they still stopped on Lin Rufei. Just then, outside the cherry blossom grove came Fu Hua’s distant call: “Young master—”

Lin Rufei laughed, “See, I didn’t lie to you.”

The Monkey King waved his hand and the monkeys began to retreat deep into the forest, however, it did not move. It had been squatting on the branch, waiting for the monkeys to scatter until the very last monkey, also disappeared into the depths of the forest. Then the Monkey King that was squatting on the branch suddenly stood up and pounced towards Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei was startled by the monkey’s movement and took a few steps back reflexively, however, the monkey swept over his head quickly and disappeared into the cherry blossom forest at a great speed. Lin Rufei felt that it had patted his temples with its hand and he cried and laughed to himself, thinking that this group of monkeys really did like to bully people. Not getting their snacks? So be it, but they still had the audacity to smack people two times to vent their anger.

“Young master.” Fu Hua arrived behind Lin Rufei at some point. She was holding a few pieces of paper-wrapped rice cakes, which were still steaming hot and emitting a tempting sweet aroma.

“Fu Hua.” Lin Rufei turned around, “That was fast.”

Fu Hua saw Lin Rufei’s slightly stunned face, only to notice the cherry blossom stuck near his temple, and quietly chuckled to herself. In the haze of smoke and rain, Lin Rufei looked like he had come out of a painting. His body was covered in pale-ish black and white except for the blossom near his ears. He was eye-catching and was really like a cherry blossom that had become human.

“Fu Hua?” Seeing Fu Hua’s absentminded gaze, Lin Rufei called out again.

Only then did Fu Hua return to her senses and avert her gaze. She walked a few steps forward and carefully handed the rice cake in her hand to Lin Rufei. Shen then said in a low voice: “Young master never uses the umbrella, your clothes are almost completely soaked……”

Lin Rufei just smiled. He opened the oil paper and bit a mouthful of hot and fragrant rice cake. His eyes pleasantly curved into an arc: “Delicious.”

Fu Hua tenderly gazed at her young master, took the umbrella from the horse, and gently brought it over the top of Lin Rufei’s head.

The rice cake was very fragrant. It was soft and glutinous in the mouth—the taste of childhood. Lin Rufei grew up in poor health. Before the age of ten, he had never been to the foot of the Kunlun Mountains until a certain year of his sister’s birthday. Without telling their parents, she quietly put the small Lin Rufei into a bamboo basket and carried him down the mountains.

That day, Lin Rufei tried all the snacks in town; the Zhang family’s candied hawthorn, the Chen family’s white rice cake since they were all the children’s favorite. Lin Rufei ate happily, however, on the night of his happy day, he had a high fever and the incident was also tragically revealed.

Because of this, his older sister, Lin Weirui, was sent to the top of the mountain for three months to reflect. Lin Rufei begged but to no avail.

Since that time, Lin Rufei knew that he and his siblings were different. If their lives were bright like a burning flame, he, himself, was a faltering candlestick. With a gust of wind, a flame would burn brighter, but the candlestick would only go out.

The rain was getting heavier and the ground was getting muddier and muddier. Fu Hua politely asked Lin Rufei if he was alone here just now. Lin Rufei was very bewildered by her question and asked Fu Hua why she had asked this question.

Fu Hua smiled and pointed to the corner of Lin Rufei’s temples.

Lin Rufei raised his hand to touch it and actually felt a bunch of wet cherry blossoms. He immediately remembered something and it was angering but also funny; “Those group of monkeys—they are such bullies!”

“That group of monkeys came again?” Fu Hua frowned at his words and her body was full of killing intent.

Lin Rufei liked to enjoy the flowers. Every Spring he would come to this cherry blossom grove. It was just that they didn’t know when it had started, but the monkeys in the cherry blossom forest had their eyes set on them. Once, Lin Rufei had snuck down the mountain and she had not followed, the group of monkeys not only stole Lin Rufei’s food but also messed up his clothing. When he came back, the Lin family thought he was robbed. Fu Hua secretly gritted her teeth, thinking that it was also a good thing that second young master did not know of this matter, otherwise, this group of monkeys would have long lost their lives.

Lin Rufei, who did not know what his maid was thinking, smiled and sighed: “It’s just a group of naughty monkeys, why be so serious?”

“But they are bullying young master.” Fu Hua was unhappy, “It’s a good thing young master didn’t have any rice cakes in his hand, otherwise that group of beasts would’ve taken advantage again.”

Lin Rufei only laughed at her words and threw the blossoms in his hand to the side.

The raindrops on the oil paper umbrella made a pitter-patter sound. Lin Rufei walked in front and Fu Hua behind him, holding the umbrella. It was unknown how long they had walked, but when Lin Rufei looked up at the gradually darkening sky, he knew that it would not clear up today. Thus, with some regrets, he said that they should go back first.

Fu Hua was happy to hear this, after all, Lin Rufei was soaked to the core. She was afraid that her young master would catch a cold, but at the same time, she worried that if she said too much, it would annoy Lin Rufei.

Now Lin Rufei had proposed to go back himself, that was naturally for the best.

“Young master, get on the horse.” Fu Hua said in a warm voice.

Lin Rufei was not stubborn. He stepped into the stirrups and got on the tame white horse. Fu Hua then gave the umbrella to Lin Rufei and led the horse back towards the Kunlun Mountains.

When passing through the town, Lin Rufei heard the melodic sound of a flute. He tried to see where the sound came from, but only saw a small bridge and a swordsman wearing a bamboo hat[4] by it. The swordsman was leaning against the stones and the sound of flute was coming from his mouth. However, the strange thing was that only the sound of flute was heard but there was no instrument. Lin Rufei happened to pass by him. The swordsman reached out to pull down his bamboo hat and from the slit, it revealed a single, narrowed, turquoise eye.

Fu Hua looked at the swordsman with some caution in her eyes, but Lin Rufei nodded slightly at him with a smile in his eyes as a greeting.

The swordsman did not return the greeting and let go of his hat. He acted as if he did not see Lin Rufei this person. Fu Hua, who saw this scene, was about to attack, but Lin Rufei softly called her name and shook his head.

Fu Hua coldly snorted, but secretly remembered this person’s appearance.

From the color of this person’s eyes, he was most likely not a race from their continent. Perhaps from another continent who came over to join the fun. But no matter where they came from, as long as they arrive at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, who dares not to give face to their Lin family?

Lin Rufei listened to the sound of the flute. His mood was very good and he chanted a poem of the ancient predecessors: “Spring is quiet, the night is long. The blue clouds of the sky, together with the Chu Palace are far away. The dreaming soul is used to no restraint, and then steps on the poplar flowers over the Xie Bridge ……[5]“

Fu Hua asked, “Young master, what does this poem mean?”

Lin Rufei smiled and said, “A foolish man who had a Spring dream.”

Fu Hua seemed to understand but also not understand.

The sound of the flute faded away and Lin Rufei returned to the Kunlun Mountains.

By the time he reached the courtyard, it was already dark and Lin Rufei was a bit tired. Fu Hua was afraid that Lin Rufei would catch a cold, so she hurriedly went to boil water, and urged Lin Rufei to take a bath to get rid of the chill. Lin Rufei dawdled for a while before finally getting into the tub.

The tub was big. The water was just above his chin when Lin Rufei sat down and Fu Hua deliberately closed the bathroom window when she left. Lin Rufei soaked for a while, but then he felt a little dizzy, so he stood up again. Supporting himself, he opened the window.

Outside the window was his flowery courtyard. Set off by the surrounding scenery, the thin cherry blossom tree looked even more lonely. Lin Rufei soaked himself in hot water but found that at some point, the only bud on the cherry blossom tree had actually bloomed into a small soft flower.

The small flower only had five petals and was a light pink in color, not at all like the cherry blossoms down the mountains. As it was struck by the ongoing rain, it looked even more pitiful. When Lin Rufei noticed that the flower had blossomed, anxiety overwhelmed his heart. The rain was getting heavier and his family’s cherry blossom tree had just barely bloomed. What if the moment the rain struck again and it suddenly goes back to being blossom-less?  

It really was the idea that whatever you’re afraid of would appear. Just as Lin Rufei thought of it, a strong gust of wind started blowing. In the end, a piece of the petal from the small flower fell off. Wobbling against the wind, it would soon fall onto the muddy ground.

Lin Rufei’s eyes became wide. He was about to call out his maid’s name when another gust of wind came and the petal ended up swirling towards Lin Rufei. Seeing this, Lin Rufei did not care that he was not wearing clothes, he hurriedly stood up and reached out his hand to catch the falling petal.

The petal swayed and fluttered, and was about to fall onto Lin Rufei’s hand. But another breeze soon arose and the petal was blown directly towards Lin Rufei’s cheeks. Lin Rufei didn’t react in time before he felt a pink shadow, that was coming close, blowing into his eyes.

Lin Rufei reflexively covered his eyes with his hands and he felt something attached to his right eye. First it was cold, then it started to burn.

“Ah……” His scream was suppressed in his throat and Lin Rufei soon fell unconscious due to the sudden sharp pain. He collapsed softly into the hot water-filled bathtub and was immediately pulled into a weird dream world.

In the dream world.

It was Lin Rufei’s first time seeing the fiery red cherry blossom grove and it was very different from the ordinary pink. The color of the cherry blossom forest in front of him was very bright, as if it was made by melted flames. Inside the forest, a shadowed figure stood in the depths and Lin Rufei could only see his back figure. The man was in red, with a head of black hair, and had a long sword hung at his waist.

The Heaven and Earth began to shake and cherry blossoms soon filled the sky. Lin Rufei looked up at the blood-colored sky before hearing a voice speak. Only that voice was not as confusing as the scenery in front of him. Instead, with a touch of anger, the voice said: “How am I not better compared to those vulgar people at the foot of the mountain—you actually took the time to go see them—”

The next moment, Lin Rufei jerked awake from his dream and heard his maid knocking on the door outside. It seemed that she was about to break in.

“Young master—young master—if you don’t answer, I’ll really come in.” Fu Hua had not heard any movements made by her young master and her first reaction was that her young master had fainted so she was anxious to come in and see what was going on.

Lin Rufei hurriedly said, “I’m fine, don’t come in.”

“Young master! Why didn’t you answer? You almost gave me a heart attack.” When Fu Hua heard Lin Rufei’s voice, she was finally relieved and complained, “Do you want to soak for a while longer?”

“No need.” Lin Rufei felt a little dizzy, “I’ll just get up.”

Fu Hua mumbled in agreement. She was still a little uneasy and stood at the door to keep watch. From time to time, she would exchange a few words with Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei knew what his maid had in mind, so he didn’t get annoyed. He picked up a towel and wiped the water off his body, however, he felt some discomfort in his right eye. He raised his hand and touched his right eye before he remembered something. Quickly, he got up and walked towards the glazed mirror next to him.

This glazed mirror was his sister’s gift to him and it was very different from those ordinary copper mirrors. It could reflect a person very clearly. Lin Rufei borrowed the light from the candle and got close to the mirror. When he saw a clear picture of his own face in the mirror, he froze. He noticed that his right eye, which was much lighter in color than the pupils of ordinary people, actually had a floating cherry blossom. It was light in color, and it felt as if it was really just a fallen petal that unintentionally blew into his eye.

Lin Rufei harshly rubbed his right eye to make sure he wasn’t being delusional. He hurriedly turned around, changed his clothes, and then said to Fu Hua, who was still waiting outside the door, “Fu Hua, where is my second brother?”

Fu Hua was puzzled: “Today the Yunan Gu family just arrived in Kunlun, the second young master seems to be greeting them right now. Young master, what’s wrong?”

Lin Rufei took a deep breath, “Nothing, you go down first.” He paused for a moment, “Go and inform second brother, tell him to come over as soon as he is free.”

Although Fu Hua did not know what had happened, she obeyed Lin Rufei’s order, and left the courtyard to look for Lin Bianyu. Lin Rufei smiled bitterly and covered his right eye, hoping that things were not as bad as he had imagined.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

[1] Jiu in Chinese is part of the word Leek/Chives. 

[2] 龙生九子 – Chinese idiom, describing that siblings all have different traits, qualities, hobbies and characteristics whether good or bad. 

[3] 沾衣不湿杏花雨 – not too familiar with Chinese poems, but I believe it means he doesn’t feel cold nor does he feel the rain. Please correct me if you know the meaning.  

[4] Bamboo hat. 

Chapter 3: High Fever and Chills

Although Lin Rufei had never practiced with swords, he had read many books.

He knew that currently, there were four continents on the Divine Land, namely: North Xuandu, South Bu’e, West Qionglong, and East Yaoguang. They were each separated by sea and were ten thousand miles away from each other. Three of the continents were occupied by humans, but the most southern continent, Bu’e, was occupied by a powerful demon race.

These groups of demons were strong and brutal. If it weren’t for the fact that they were only a few in numbers, it would have become a big problem for the humans. The most terrifying thing about the demons was their extremely powerful primordial spirit. Even if they were separated from the body, they could still preserve most of their strength. Because of this, the demons have a technique that was difficult to learn—possession.

If the body was damaged, it would be replaced with a new one. Even if it floated across the sea for millions of miles, the primordial spirit could still easily attach itself to an ordinary human body, and only when the human’s primordial spirit was sucked out, would it find another master.

Lin Rufei had read many records in regards to the demon race, and they all emphasize that the demon race was very ferocious and cunning. They liked to confuse humans with their appearance and some of the paragraphs even describe their lasciviousness and savage ways. It could be seen that people were both curious and fearful of this different race. 

What happened in the room just now was too weird and Lin Rufei’s first reaction was that he was possessed by the demon race, that was why he hurriedly asked Fu Hua to call Lin Bianyu over.

But now when Lin Rufei stood in front of the mirror again, he found that the trace of cherry blossom in his right eye was gradually fading away before completely disappearing in his light-colored eyes…….What exactly is this, Lin Rufei thought with some bewilderment.

Fu Hua had gone to call Lin Bianyu so Lin Rufei took the opportunity to go back to his bedroom. He sat at the table and picked up a book. Casually, he opened the book, propped up his chin, and started to absentmindedly breeze through it.

Fu Hua came back quite a while later. Lin Rufei originally thought that she did not find Lin Bianyu, but who knew, she actually came back together with Lin Bianyu.

“Young master, young master.” Fu Hua knocked gently on the door with some gasping sound. It seemed like she had rushed all the way here, “Second young master is here.”

“Rufei.” Lin Bianyu’s voice also came from outside.

“Brother, come in.” Lin Rufei said.

Lin Bianyu pushed the door open and entered. After seeing Lin Rufei’s appearance, his eyebrows furrowed, and he turned around to leave. When he came back in again, he had a thick towel in his hand. He sighed and walked behind Lin Rufei before grasping the wet black hair that rested on his shoulders. He then proceeded to gently dry his hair: “You are weak and you don’t know how to take care of yourself when it’s cold in Spring.”

Lin Rufei only smiled at his words: “I am not that weak.”

Lin Bianyu raised his eyebrows. He decided to give some face to his frail brother and did not continue, “What happened that made you call me here in such a hurry?”

Lin Rufei hesitated for a moment before he started, “I just had a dream when I was bathing.”

Lin Bianyu said, “A dream?”

“Yes.” Lin Rufei considered his words carefully, “I dreamt of a cherry blossom forest and there was a red-clad figure. I couldn’t see the appearance clearly, but……they were very beautiful.”

Originally, Lin Rufei thought that when his second brother heard his words, he would also be nervous. But instead, Lin Bianyu’s expression became a little strange. His eyes hid a smile, but soon that smile also melted away, rather, it melted into a smile on his lips: “Well……little brother has grown up. “

Lin Rufei said: “Ah?”

Lin Bianyu said: “Is there a woman in your heart?”

Lin Rufei’s expression froze, and only then did he understand why Lin Bianyu looked so strange. It turned out that he actually took this as a Spring dream. Lin Rufei cried and laughed: “Second brother, I didn’t mean that—” And then he pointed to his right eye, “Then I saw a cherry blossom in my right eye.”

Lin Bianyu’s expression froze: “What?”

When Lin Bianyu heard his words, he moved closer to Lin Rufei and carefully observed his eyes. The more he looked, the tighter his brows wrinkled. When Lin Rufei saw this, he also became anxious that he even held in his breath.

“Tell me the whole thing in detail.” Lin Bianyu said.

Lin Rufei then told Lin Bianyu about the incident when he saw the petal falling from the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard. He was bathing and when he saw the scene happening before him, he reached out to catch the falling petal. But instead of catching it, it blew directly into his eye. After listening to this, Lin Bianyu pondered on this matter for quite a long time.

Lin Rufei whispered: “Second brother, is this related to the demon tribe?”

Lin Bianyu looked up and made a gesture of silence at him: “You can say those words to me, but never mention the demon race in front of outsiders. The cherry blossom was planted under my watch, there is no trace of demonic aura on it, so it should have nothing to do with the demon race, just……”

Lin Rufei said: “Just what?”

Lin Bianyu said: “I’ll ask elder brother to take a closer look for you tomorrow.”

Lin Rufei felt that Lin Bianyu’s expression was not quite right: “Second brother, what did you see, is it very serious?”

“I didn’t see anything.” Lin Bianyu sighed and looked at his brother with some sadness in his eyes, “If I can’t even see what is going on, then I think this thing is definitely not ordinary. You rest well tonight, don’t think too much. Ah, it doesn’t matter, I’m not going back today. Let Fu Hua prepare a room, I’ll rest here for the night.”

Lin Rufei opened his mouth, but he did not know exactly what to say. He didn’t know anything about the path of cultivation. Thus, when he encountered such strange things, he was even more at a loss.

Lin Bianyu did not say anything more, and after drying Lin Rufei’s hair with sword Qi, he urged him to rest. Lying on the bed, Lin Rufei could not sleep. He looked at himself in the mirror and not a trace of cherry blossom could be seen on his face. Could it be that everything that he experienced during the day was just a weird dream? But how could a dream be so real? Lin Rufei tossed and turned and stayed awake all night.

The next day, Yu Rui, who woke up early, was planning to prepare breakfast as usual. However, when she passed by her young master’s room, she heard an intermittent coughing sound coming from inside. The owner of the cough tried to deliberately suppress the itch in his throat but failed miserably.

As soon as Yu Rui heard this sound, she knew it was going to be bad. She hurriedly went to the kitchen and called Fu Hua: “Sister Fu Hua, sister Fu Hua, young master is coughing in his room.”

When Fu Hua heard this, her expression changed slightly, “Coughing?”

Yu Rui said, “Yes, I heard it from outside, the coughing is very strong.”

Fu Hua put down what she was doing. Together with Yu Rui, the two hurried over to Lin Rufei’s room. They knocked on the door for a while before a faint “come in” resounded.

“Young master—” The maid’s worried voice seemed to be shrouded in a thick layer of fog and couldn’t be heard really clearly. Lin Rufei’s eyes were half-open and his pale face was floating with a sickly red color from the high fever. He moved his lips with difficulty and spat out the word “water.”

Fu Hua hurriedly helped him up and pushed some warm water towards his lip.

“Why am I sick again?” Lin Rufei muttered with some childlike exasperation, “It was just rain, cough cough cough, don’t tell my second brother, cough cough……”

Fu Hua had a solemn look on her face, “Second young master went out early in the morning, he will not know.” Even if he knew, he would certainly not blame Lin Rufei. Rather, he would blame them, the maids, for not taking proper care of him.

Yesterday, for the sake of viewing flowers, Lin Rufei was completely soaked from the rain and after he had returned home, he planned to take a warm bath to get rid of the cold. However, halfway through the bath, he suddenly met with an accident and suffered a scare for nothing. That night, Lin Rufei tossed and turned and could not sleep at all. Finally, when dawn came, he suddenly felt unwell. Not only was his forehead hot, but the itch in his throat also could not be suppressed, and in the end, he was heard by Yu Rui, who was passing by.

It was said that people who were used to being sick should have gotten used to bitter medicine, but no matter how many times Lin Rufei smelled the bitter medicine, he would wrinkle his face. Finally, he sighed and swallowed the mouthful of black medicine under the watchful eyes of his maids.

All the medicine that Lin Rufei consumed was always the best. However, his foundation was poor. For ordinary people, the medicine was considered an amazing panacea, but if Lin Rufei consumed it, it had no effect.

Today was no exception. Lin Rufei finished drinking the medicine before a piece of sweet and sour plum was stuffed into his mouth by the sulking Yu Rui and the bitterness in his mouth gradually faded. 

“This medicine is too bitter.” Lin Rufei said. If he had not coughed while saying this, perhaps it would have been more convincing, “Anyway, even if I drink it, or if I don’t drink it, it’s the same result. Even without drinking, I can get better……”

Fu Hua chided her young master, and Lin Rufei looked embarrassed. He sighed and compromised, “Okay, okay, didn’t I already obediently finish the medicine? “

Yu Rui grunted: “Isn’t that because we kept our eyes on you? Young master, if you continue to water the flowers and plants outside with medicine, I’m afraid they will become spirits!”

Fu Hua patted Yu Rui’s head: “Alright, the young master is sick, if you have time for sarcastic remarks, why don’t you go stew the pears.”

Yu Rui pouted and ran away in a huff. Fu Hua brought a warm towel to wipe away the sweat on Lin Rufei’s cheeks and then replaced it with a clean one to cover his forehead.

Lin Rufei was lying listlessly on the bed. At this time he didn’t have the mood to think about cherry blossoms and whatnot. He only prayed that his illness could be healed quickly, otherwise when the cherry blossoms at the foot of the mountain all thanked[1], he was afraid he would not be able to see it again. 

Fu Hua looked at her young master’s sad face, and could not help but reveal a smile. She softly said: “Young master, just focus on recuperating. Cherry blossoms and whatnot, they will bloom every year.”

Lin Rufei mercilessly pointed out the maid’s lies: “You said the same thing last year.”

Fu Hua was speechless.

Lin Rufei said, “The year before that too!”

Fu Hua coughed dryly and was also a bit helpless: “Who told young master to be sick every Springtime?”

Lin Rufei immediately wilted like a frosted eggplant, unable to say anything to refute.

Because of Lin Rufei’s weak physique, even though the outside world knew that the Kunlun Sword Sect leader had a total of four children, most people did not know the name Lin Rufei. He was like a black stone in a pile of jade, and no one’s eyes would ever fall on him.

Lin Rufei was initially worried that if his coughing appearance was seen by his brothers, the maids would be blamed again, but soon he found that he did not have the energy to worry about such things. The fever and coughing quickly took away his strength, and he could only lie on the bed, heaving his chest with difficulty as his consciousness gradually blurred.

Fu Hua kept watch beside him. Lin Rufei’s appearance made her very worried, but she did everything she could do and could only pray in her heart.

Lin Bianyu soon came back with Lin Minzhi in tow. Seeing Lin Rufei’s appearance, both of their facial expressions were not very good, but luckily they did not blame Fu Hua, and just simply asked her to leave.

Lin Minzhi sat on the edge of the bed, took Lin Rufei’s pulse, and examined it carefully. Lin Bianyu looked grave beside him until Lin Minzhi’s movements slowed down. He asked in a deep voice: “How is it?”

“Xiao Jiu really said that?” Lin Minzhi asked.

“Naturally he did.” Lin Bianyu replied.

Lin Minzhi shook his head: “I did not find anything different, even if it is a big demon that took over, in such a short period of time it will certainly leave some flaws. He went to the cherry blossom grove in the morning, maybe he encountered something that scared his mind? “

Lin Bianyu pondered about it and did not say anything else.

Lin Rufei made another series of violent coughing sounds. His consciousness was a bit blurry and it took him quite a while to realize that his big brother and second brother were beside him. He opened his mouth with great difficulty and called out a “brother.”

When Lin Minzhi saw this, he let out a sigh: “Let Xiao Jiu rest first. Wan Yao will come out of seclusion in a few days and I will let him come and give Xiao Jiu a diagnosis. These days, let Fu Hua keep a close watch, if there are any differences, immediately report.”

Wan Yao was the most exquisite medicine master in the Kunlun Sect. All the illnesses Lin Rufei had before were all seen by him. But he had been in seclusion for half a year in order to break through to the next level. Counting the days, he should be coming out of seclusion soon.

Lin Bianyu sighed, knowing that this was the only way for now. Lin Rufei’s current physical condition could not withstand any torment. Lin Rufei was inherently inadequate and his deficiency was not compensated. If a normal person’s body was a bucket, as long as you add water to it, it would slowly get better, then Lin Rufei’s body was a sieve with a lot of holes, no matter how much water was poured into it, it would all leak out.

However, after Lin Minzhi confirmed that Lin Rufei’s body was not related to the demon race, Lin Bianyu was slightly relieved. After all, the demons that could hide their movements on the Kunlun Mountains were most likely different than the usual demons.

The two people were afraid that they would affect Lin Rufei’s rest so after making sure he didn’t have any other problems, they then left. They warned Fu Hua and Yu Rui to pay special attention to Lin Rufei’s clothing, food, and shelter in the following days. And to not neglect him for even half a minute. 

Fu Hua and Yu Rui nodded yes. 

Lin Rufei was sick for three days, and it was only on the afternoon of the third day that his fever gradually subsided but he still was barely able to sit up on the edge of his bed.

These days he hardly ate and had only relied on the medicinal soup to barely hang onto his life. Listening to Fu Hua’s warm voice ask him if he wanted to eat something, he just shook his head. He didn’t have any appetite at all right now. 

Fu Hua knew that Lin Rufei must have felt very unwell, so she did not ask more questions and left the room quietly. Lin Rufei sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the rosy Spring colors outside the window.

The weather had cleared up. After a Spring rain, the flowers on the treetops have also fallen quite a lot and after being washed away by the rain, they all turned into Spring mud. Although Lin Rufei’s fever had subsided, he still had a cough, and because he coughed so hard, his chest started to hurt vaguely.

When Fu Hua came back, she had a bowl of soup in her hand. The soup had been de-frothed and sprinkled with a layer of green onions giving off a fresh and delicious smell. It was just that Lin Rufei drank too much medicine which had left his mouth bland and tasteless. Even looking at the delicious soup, he still had no appetite. 

Fu Hua also did not try to persuade him, she simply put the soup down and sat next to him and started to peel the fresh lotus seeds picked from the lake on the mountain.

Lin Rufei felt that the room was a little too quiet. He suddenly remembered something and asked, “Where is Yu Rui?”

Fu Hua slowly said: “Yu Rui, ah, she was clumsy. Told her to boil some soup and she burned her hand. She is now crying and went to find Dr. Lu to get medicine for burns.”

Fu Hua and Yu Rui have both been trained. Thus, ordinary fire would not be able to harm them. They probably wanted to make this special soup just for Lin Rufei so they used spiritual fire instead. Most likely, they had poor control over it and that was how she got burned. Lin Rufei smelled the soup and sighed: “Bring it.”

The corner of Fu Hua’s mouth hooked up into a dark smile. She looked at Lin Rufei, who had a face full of disgust but still swallowed the soup in one mouthful, and her expression became more gentle. Fu Hua knew that her young master and others were different. He could have been arrogant, could have been violent, could have had no qualms about venting his anger, but he did not.

The taste of the soup was not as bad as he expected. After Lin Rufei finished it, he felt a warmth well up in his body. It washed away the discomfort in his throat, and the desire to cough also faded a lot.

“The weather outside is good, does young master want to go out for a walk?” When Fu Hua noticed that it was a nice day outside, she decided to take the initiative and asked tentatively.

Lin Rufei indeed felt frustrated at having to lie down for so long, but his body had little strength.  He was afraid that he couldn’t even walk a few steps, so he shook his head in disappointment.

How could Fu Hua not see what Lin Rufei was thinking of at that moment? She got up and left the room, and a few moments later, she came back in with an intricate wheelchair.

“Young master, Fu Hua will push you out.” Fu Hua said in a warm voice, “The house is stuffy, let’s just go around a bit.”

This wheelchair was personally made by Lin Bianyu and the materials were very special. The wheels were also engraved with special talismans, even without someone pushing, just a little force and it could easily climb over the mountain path.

“Good.” Lin Rufei had been lying in bed for three days so it was a good idea to go out and get some fresh air.

Seeing that Lin Rufei had agreed, Fu Hua smiled happily and helped Lin Rufei into the wheelchair. She took the white fox fur and wrapped Lin Rufei up tightly before the two of them slowly left the room.

Lin Rufei’s face that was already bad beforehand, was now as pale as paper, and even his lips were so pale that they seemed to be transparent. If ordinary people became sick like that, naturally they wouldn’t look good. But it just so happens that Lin Rufei was born with very good looks, even though he was sick, he was still beautiful albeit a bit more haggard. And the people who had seen this could not help but feel more compassionate.

Lin Rufei lived in a place where disciples of the Kunlun Sword Sect were generally not allowed, making it very secluded. Only the birds and flowers could be seen, therefore, there was not a single trace of another living soul. 

After Lin Rufei drank the medicinal soup, he was already looking better than before. Sitting in a wheelchair that was pushed by Fu Hua, his mood was also more relaxed. 

“That day after I had a fever, did big brother and second brother say anything to you?” Lin Rufei suddenly remembered the dream he had three days ago and the cherry blossom. These days he was so ill that his consciousness was all blurred and he had almost forgotten about it. He only remembered when he saw the plants and trees in the courtyard.

“He just told Fu Hua to take good care of young master and didn’t say anything else.” Fu Hua did not understand what Lin Rufei wanted to ask.

When Lin Rufei saw that she didn’t know the situation, his eyes turned to the garden and landed on the cherry blossom tree in the corner. It was blocked by the other trees and flowers so he could only see a small corner of it, which was not very clear at all. Fu Hua saw the situation and pushed Lin Rufei towards the place, and finally stopped at the small, withered cherry blossom tree.

Perhaps because of the Spring rain a few days ago, the only bud left on the cherry blossom tree had also disappeared. The tree had not yet drawn leaves and its bare appearance was like a thin child being bullied—making it look very pitiful.

Lin Rufei looked at its appearance and was confused for a while. The fallen petal a few days ago, was that a dream or not?

Fu Hua saw the stunned look on Lin Rufei’s face and thought he was sad about that one bud so she quickly changed the subject: “Young master, I heard that second young master is going to have a sword competition today, do you want to go and see?”

When Lin Rufei heard this news, he asked curiously, “Which family?”

“It’s the Yunan Gu family that came a few days ago.” Fu Hua said.

“The Gu family?” Lin Rufei pondered, “I haven’t heard of this family in this generation, what kind of powerful figures do they have, ah?”

Fu Hua laughed: “Yes, some years ago, probably not. However, in recent years I heard that the Gu family recognized a gifted, illegitimate son somewhere. In just a few years, he became much stronger than his brothers and sisters.” In the end, Fu Hua was a girl who liked to hear some interesting gossip. So in regards to matters such as this, she was very clear about the situation.

Then Fu Hua, in great interest, shared with Lin Rufei the matters of the Gu family. Like how the Gu family’s head had married a pair of women who had really good relationships. He was expecting to enjoy his life and the blessings of the people. But the result was that when he came home one day, he saw his wife and concubine rolling in bed[2]. This wasn’t even the most exciting part. The most exciting part was that the Gu family head didn’t even have the chance to use their family law to punish his women when he found out that his wife and concubine were from a united family[3]. They put the Gu family head under house arrest and stripped him of all the power in his hands.

“That wife said to him, ‘if you behave, I will keep you, and there will be good food and drinks waiting for you. If you do not behave, I will poison you silly and turn you into a useless puppet until our son grows up—’” Fu Hua vividly described the secrets of the family in great excitement, “The head of the family had no choice but to hold his nose and admit defeat! That wife is really not a simple character, I heard that the illegitimate son, who is competing with the second young master today, is the one she insisted on admitting back to the family.”

Lin Rufei, who listened to Fu Hua’s narrative, also revealed a smile. But compared to gossip and secret news, he was more interested in the sword competition. 

Now that Lin Bianyu’s cultivation had reached the eighth level, the chances of seeing his sword skills were becoming less and less. Although if Lin Rufei really wanted to see it, Lin Bianyu would definitely show it to him. But a sword with an opponent and a sword without an opponent was completely different.

“Let’s go take a look.” Lin Rufei tightened the fox fur covering his body and coughed lowly, “Since second brother returned from his travels, I haven’t seen him compete with anyone in a long time.”

“Yes, yes.” Fu Hua was naturally happy to do so, but on second thought, she worriedly said, “But the competition field is a little crowded. Young master, you just got better……to go to a crowded place, what if your sickness starts acting up?……” She was so focused on changing the subject that she forgot about this important fact.

Lin Rufei smiled. His light-colored eyes dropped halfway, revealing a slightly sad look, and he said in a low voice: “You’re right……you’d better send me back to lie down, lest I get sick again and have to make you guys work hard to take care of me.”

Fu Hua couldn’t stand this pitiful appearance of Lin Rufei and it pained her greatly, “It doesn’t seem too serious, alright. Let’s go and say hello in advance and let them empty out a viewing loft on the stands. We’ll just watch it from the inside and not go out.”

“We really can?” Lin Rufei’s eyelashes trembled lightly as he cautiously confirmed.

“Yes, naturally we can, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Fu Hua comforted, “Even if young master wants the stars in the sky, Fu Hua will also pick them for you!”

At her words, Lin Rufei smiled. He looked at Fu Hua with joy, but she did not notice. In the moment when her young master had his head down, the corners of the eyes showed a little deviousness. It was just a flash, and soon any traces of it faded away.

********

The author has something to say:

Gong (seme): Squeezed out a flower with all his strength

Lin Rufei: It’s time to go down the mountain to enjoy the flowers.

Gong (seme): ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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[1] Finish blooming  

[2] I’m not entirely sure if this sentence was indicating that the 2 girls were in bed together, or if the two were in someone else’s bed together…自家的一妻一妾滚上了一张床 @.@ 

[3] Honestly, I’m not too sure about this phrase, but I did my best. Here is the original text: 那一妻一妾竟是联合母族 

Chapter 4: Sword Watching

On the Kunlun Mountains, a large competition was held every four years for the disciples of a hundred sects to compete in swordplay and the winner would be able to obtain a sword blade forged by the best sword maker on Kunlun. The dream of countless sword cultivators was to obtain a sword from the Kunlun Sword Sect, but unfortunately, the biggest obstacle in obtaining said sword was the direct disciples of the sect. Lin Rufei remembered clearly, around twenty years ago, the ones who took the top spots were his eldest brother, second brother, and third sister. However, in the past few years, his eldest brother had been busy with sect matters and his third sister had left the mountains to travel, so only his second brother would participate in the sword competition again. This was clearly a sign to the outsiders that a sword from the Kunlun Sword Sect was not that easy to obtain.

Lin Rufei liked sword competitions the most when he was a kid because when the sword competition was held, the Kunlun Mountains were different from its usual cold atmosphere. It became more lively. He could also go see a lot of rare things that he would not be able to see in his usual daily life and taste a lot of interesting snacks. After he grew up though, he started to understand more and some things started to make more sense, in the end, he stopped going altogether. If he hadn’t heard from Fu Hua that he could see his second brother’s swordplay, he would have most likely been uninterested.

Fu Hua was worried that Lin Rufei’s sickness would act up if he was in a crowd, so she sent a message first beforehand to let the disciples at the platform clear out a loft with the best view. The lofts were all suspended in mid-air with talismans so that not only do they not have to worry about others disturbing them, but they would also have the best angle to see the entire competition below.

Today’s sword competition was extraordinarily crowded.

Most likely they heard that Lin Bianyu was going against the Gu family, so all the idle disciples and swordsmen all went to the stage early. They wanted to find a suitable place to witness the beauty and skills of Lin Bianyu’s sword—Tian Xiao.

“Little brother Tian, fortunately, you got the news and came early. Otherwise, with so many people, how can we squeeze in, ah?” Zuo Yuanbai looked at the sea of people behind him and sighed to his companion.

His companion, Tian Yun, nodded proudly: “It’s thanks to the fact that I know a few disciples from the Kunlun Sword Sect. They have known for a long time that today Lin Bianyu will compete with the Gu family’s disciple in a sword fight, so they told me in advance.”

Zuo Yuanbai looked around. His gaze drifted onto the loft floating in the distance, located at the side of the sword platform and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh: “Alas, if we could sit in the loft overhead to watch the competition, how good would it be?”

“Don’t even think about it.” Tian Yun shook his head and told him the news he had heard, “This loft, ah. You can’t go up even if you spend money. You have to be a distinguished guest of the Kunlun Sword Sect in order to go up. The Kunlun Sword Sect has always been very proud, so there are only a handful of people who can sit up there to watch the competition.”

As he was speaking, a screech was heard from the back of the crowd. Soon, a woman in a bright yellow, long dress appeared in mid-air. Her face was pretty, but her expression was as cold as ice. She was standing on a long, thin sword—attracting everyone’s attention. And even more striking was the wheelchair that she was pushing. In the wheelchair sat a youth wrapped tightly with snow-white fox fur wrapped, revealing a handsome face but with extraordinarily pale cheeks. The adornments on the youth were only the black wooden hair stick that was used to tie up his hair. A noble aura surrounded his body and no one dared to look twice, for fear that if one were to look more than once, it would be considered sacrilegious. 

The woman pushed the wheelchair that the youth was sitting in and flew directly into the loft. She then pulled down the curtains, covering a cadre of probing eyes.

Zuo Yuanbai, however, still did not come back to his senses. He continued to stare at the loft in a daze: “Who is that person, ah?”

“Haven’t seen her before.” Tian Yun was equally stunned.

“This girl can already fly with a sword, so I guess she has already reached the sixth level.” Zuo Yuanbai said enviously, “How nice……”

The fifth to sixth level were the most difficult threshold for sword cultivators to cross. Once they reach the sixth level, they could fly with the sword and their life expectancy would increase to as long as three hundred years.

Tian Yun nodded approvingly: “I wonder what her relationship is with that gentleman.”

Zuo Yuanbai sighed: “Whatever the relationship, it is not something we can covet.”

Tian Yun also let out a sigh.

Both of them were born to small sects and at this time, they had just entered the fourth level. Being able to come to the Kunlun Mountains to see the sword competition was already a great blessing to them. With some ripples in their heart, they knew that some things were untouchable with their fate.

This interlude made Zuo Yuanbai and Tian Yun’s hearts feel some inexplicable loss.

Fortunately, the two protagonists of the sword competition soon expelled this feeling of loss from their hearts. The first to arrive was Lin Bianyu. He was walking towards the stage, donned in green clothes with a gentle expression. He had a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes[1], filled with an intoxicating smile like a Spring breeze gently blowing past. The crowd’s eyes were filled with fervor as they gazed at him and at the world-famous sword, Tian Xiao, hanging on his waist.

Lin Bianyu arrived on the stage, and the first action he did was to glance in the direction of that hanging loft. His lips moved slightly as if exchanging words with the people in the loft and soon, a doting and helpless expression appeared on his face.  

“He and the people in the loft know each other?” Zuo Yuanbai questioned, “Could it be that the ones in the loft are also disciples of the Kunlun Sword Sect?”

“That’s impossible.” Tian Yun said, “Lin Bianyu might look like a modest gentleman now, but I heard that his nature is the most domineering one in the sect. Even Lin Minzhi dare not provoke him. The ones that can be noticed by him, even in the sect, are only a few, ah.”

Apparently, the two of them were not the only ones curious, people around also began to wonder about the identity of those in the loft. Some guessed that it was a nobleman from Baiyu City and some guessed that it was an immortal from Wanle Valley.

All in all, Lin Rufei was not able to hear the opinions of the crowd. As soon as the curtain was lowered, the room quieted down. Fu Hua bent down and poured a cup of hot tea for him before she took out a towel to carefully wipe Lin Rufei’s fingers. She then said in a warm voice: “Young master, I asked them to prepare some desserts, if you are hungry, have a bite.”

Lin Rufei nodded, however, he did not have much appetite. Peering through the thin curtain, he looked at his second brother who was standing at the center of the stage.

When Lin Bianyu saw him coming, he didn’t say anything and only advised Fu Hua not to let Lin Rufei freeze. After all, the Spring was cold and Lin Rufei had just recovered from a serious illness. In case he fell ill again, it would not be a trivial matter. Fu Hua nodded seriously. She took out a fleece blanket from out of nowhere and covered the bottom half of Lin Rufei’s body. Lin Rufei looked helpless and wondered if only miscellaneous things were put into Fu Hua’s dimensional ring.

Fu Hua argued, “If it’s useful for young master, how can these items be miscellaneous?”

Lin Rufei was at a loss for words.

“Hey, that kid from the Gu family is here!” Fu Hua spoked as she noticed someone flying up towards the sword platform, “Young master, look!”

Lin Rufei then raised his eyes to look, but he only saw a figure deftly jump onto the stage. Due to the far distance, Lin Rufei could not clearly see the person’s face, but could clearly see the long black and messy hair that was on top of Gu family’s fourth son. Behind him was a huge sword wrapped in black cloth. He wasn’t tall, and the huge sword he was carrying almost dropped to the ground, making the people watching quite worried. 

“My name is Gu Feiyu!” Gu family’s fourth son’s voice still had some of the crispness of a teenager as he turned to Lin Bianyu and said, “I heard that your sword skills are very powerful!”

Lin Bianyu smiled and said modestly, “It’s passable.”

Gu Feiyu’s eyes turned, “If I win against you, will I be able to take one of my favorite swords away from the Kunlun Mountains?”

“Naturally.” Lin Bianyu replied.

“Then I’ll take your Tian Xiao.” Gu Feiyu had just uttered astonishing words with such carelessness.

Once these words came out, the originally noisy stands instantly quieted down, and all eyes turned to Lin Bianyu, who was currently standing on the stage. They wanted to see how he would react to the provocation of this newcomer.

However, everyone was disappointed. Lin Bianyu was neither angry nor refuting, and his gentle smile remained on his face. His hand caressed the hilt of Tian Xiao as if he was caressing his beloved lover: “Want to take him away? That depends on whether you are strong enough.”

Gu Feiyu laughed and drew his sword, but what he drew was not the huge sword behind him, but a plain blade slung around his waist. Once this sword was out, the sword stage surged with tumultuous sword intent and the smiles on both faces gradually converged.

The wind rose on the flat ground and Gu Feiyu made the first move.

Lin Rufei didn’t see when Gu Feiyu drew his sword, he only saw a flash of light as bright as fire sweeping across the stage with great speed. In an instant, it arrived in front of Lin Bianyu. However, Lin Bianyu didn’t dodge. His right hand went to draw his sword and Tian Xiao was unsheathed, emitting a low buzz. He seemed to casually raise his hand in a wave and the sword connected with the flash of light—emitting the sound of gold and jade.

Gu Feiyu’s figure was revealed only then. He had a crazed smile and messy black hair scattered behind him. With a stomp of his foot, he rose up into the air in a flash and made a slash against Lin Bianyu. The air around him actually burst into flames from his action as it was accompanied by a crackling ear-splitting sound. Standing in front of Lin Bianyu, his face gradually blurred.

Lin Bianyu’s blade was slightly horizontal, he actually intended to just take Gu Feiyu’s blow full force head on.

Gu Feiyu rushed down and the sword in his hand turned into a piercing white rainbow.

The sword was neither sharp nor dexterous, but it had the power to shake the mountains and rivers. Manic and domineering sword Qi swept across the entire stage.

A loud sound resounded through the clouds.

A three-foot-wide crack appeared on the green stone sword platform and it was a crack that could break apart mountains and rivers. Crumbling and disintegrating, at once dust filled the sky, and chaos ensued upon the stage.

Lin Rufei could not see what happened on the stage and Fu Hua looked slightly impressed. She said softly: “This Gu family’s fourth son is quite powerful.”

The sword platform was specially made and each piece of green stone was carved with a special talisman. In the past ten years, sword cultivators who could leave such a mark on the green stones were already very few.

The surrounding spectators had long been blown away by the strong sword Qi. Fu Hua had already expected this, so she stepped forward to block Lin Rufei, causing her bright yellow dress to blow strongly.

In the dust, there was a glowing light and it was like the bright moon rising in the dark night, surging towards the great river.

“Good sword.” It was Lin Bianyu’s voice.

Gu Feiyu revealed a stunned look. He withdrew his hand, took a step back, and saw Lin Bianyu standing amongst the dust.

Still in green and with a white sword. There wasn’t a speck of dust on his clothes, like a relegated immortal.

The huge crack that was split by Gu Feiyu, stopped in front of Lin Bianyu’s body. The green stone beneath his feet was still intact and not even the slightest breakage could be seen.

Gu Feiyu coughed lowly a few times, blood spilling out of the corner of his mouth. However, he simply raised his hand and harshly wiped it away: “You win.”

Naturally, Lin Bianyu won.

The sword in Gu Feiyu’s hand had already broken into several pieces, leaving only a lone sword hilt in his grasp.

Lin Bianyu sheathed Tian Xiao and calmly said, “This sword is not worthy of you.”

Gu Feiyu said indifferently, “Truly.” As he said this, he threw the broken sword in his hand to the side.

Lin Bianyu said, “Why don’t you use the sword behind you?”

Gu Feiyu was silent for a moment before he said helplessly, “I’m afraid you’ll snatch him away.”

Lin Bianyu raised his eyebrows, seemingly amused by Gu Feiyu: “Snatch? I’ve seen countless good swords, if not 10,000 at least 8,000. Why would I snatch a sword from a child like you?”

Gu Feiyu said seriously: “It’s just that I haven’t completely subdued him yet. This sword is a bit special, he’s very philandering. When he sees a sword cultivator he likes, he can’t stop his legs—so I have to make sure that before completely subduing him, I can’t let him see someone more suitable for him.”

As Gu Feiyu said this, he couldn’t help but laugh. His face was no longer hostile, instead, now it carried the teenage innocence and softness: “But after fighting with you once, I’m sure he won’t like you.”

“Why?” Lin Bianyu was curious.

Gu Feiyu smiled cheekily and said, “That is a secret, I won’t tell you.” As he spoke, he put down the huge sword behind him and gently touched it through the black cloth, adding, “Can we have another fight, I haven’t had enough!” Lin Bianyu smiled and nodded, “Yes.”

Gu Feiyu had heard of the rumors. Raising his hand, he began to untie the black cloth on the sword, and while doing so, he asked: “Lin Bianyu, I heard that you are the most talented sword practitioner in the Kunlun Sword Sect, is that right?”

Lin Bianyu said nonchalantly, “At least for now.”

Gu Feiyu said to himself, “Then I’m relieved, if the people around are all useless, then I won’t have to worry that this philandering sword will look at them. With him, my strength can rise another 30%. And having another fight with you, worth it!!”

Lin Bianyu just smiled and the corners of his clothes lifted even without the wind. Battle intent was once again ignited on the stage.

Both of their eyes fell on the black heavy sword and they began to look forward to the next match. But who knew that the moment Gu Feiyu untied the heavy sword from the seemingly ordinary black cloth, the heavy sword started to emit a buzzing sound. When Gu Feiyu heard this sound, he was alarmed and screamed “this is bad!” but everything was too late. The heavy sword did not need a person to control it and it just flew off, plunging directly towards the direction of the suspended loft on the side of the stage. 

When Lin Bianyu saw the direction the heavy sword flew to, his face also changed dramatically. That loft was exactly the one where Lin Rufei was sitting!

Almost at the same time, both of them flew in the direction of the heavy sword, trying to stop it mid-way. But the distance between the two places was too short. In a blink of an eye, the heavy sword broke through the barrier of the curtain and plunged into the floor of the loft. And after the sword, Gu Feiyu saw a handsome young man sitting in a wheelchair with a pale face holding a piece of mung bean cake in his hand. His (LRF) face was full of bewilderment and his eyes full of doubt. He obviously didn’t understand the situation at hand. This sword should have stayed on the sword platform, why would it suddenly appear in front of him? Furthermore, it was also emitting a buzzing sound, simply as if it was……a puppy trying to please its master.

Fu Hua was livid as she stood in front of Lin Rufei protecting him. She sternly scolded Gu Feiyu: “What are you doing! What if you hurt young master?!!!”

Gu Feiyu felt wronged to death that he almost cried out when he pointed at Lin Rufei: “It’s obvious that he seduced my sword…”

Lin Rufei looked around in confusion: “Huh?”

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The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei looks at the sword carefully and cautious: D-Do you want to eat a mung bean cake?

Gu Feiyu: The sword is interested in you, hey, hey, wait. Zhong Feng what is wrong with you? ?

Sword: Buzz, buzz, buzz (smells delicious)

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[1] Peach blossom eyes 

Chapter 5: Heavy Sword, Heavy Edge

Let’s go back in time. Lin Rufei was sitting in the loft, looking at his brother who was chatting with Gu Feiyu on the wrecked platform and noticed that Gu Feiyu seemed to be planning to take off the heavy sword he was carrying on his back. Lin Rufei felt bored, so he picked up a piece of mung bean cake and put it against his lips to take a bite. Just from the taste, he knew that Fu Hua had made it. It was moderately sweet and carried a light fragrance.

Before he even had the chance to swallow the mung bean cake, Lin Rufei heard a long, sharp whistle of a weapon breaking through the air. It was followed by a residual shadow that suddenly appeared in front of him and with a muffled thud, the green stone flooring below Lin Rufei’s feet was pierced. Under the golden sunlight with fine dust hovering in the air, Lin Rufei focused his eyes to see a giant black sword stuck diagonally just an inch from his feet, with a body as black as ink, emitting a buzzing chirp.

Then Gu Feiyu, who was originally standing on stage, sped towards him only to be stopped by Fu Hua. 

“What do you mean my young master seduced your sword?!” Fu Hua angrily rebuked, “You are simply too rude.”

Gu Feiyu muttered, “How would I know that there was an expert sitting here?……Besides, your young master is powerful, how could he be injured by a sword?” As he said this, he took a looked at the indifferent Lin Rufei, who was sitting in a wheelchair and saluted with his closed fist. “My name is Gu Feiyu. May I know this senior’s name?”

Although Gu Feiyu was straightforward by nature, he wasn’t someone that was not knowledgeable. This Lin family’s loft, above the platform, was not a loft that just anyone could stay in. Although Lin Rufei looked young and didn’t have a good complexion, his body was still surrounded by a noble aura. Not just any small family could possess that. Whilst Gu Feiyu could see that Fu Hua was a level six cultivator, he could not see the level that Lin Rufei possessed. But to be able to use a level six cultivator as a maid……he was naturally someone that should not be provoked. 

“This is my younger brother, Lin Rufei.” Lin Bianyu said indifferently, “He has been in poor health since childhood and rarely sees people. Young master Gu, you’d better quickly fetch your sword and leave here early.”

Even though Gu Feiyu was innocent, Lin Bianyu’s face still showed some faint trace of displeasure. How could he not know about Lin Rufei’s health condition? Now that Gu Feiyu’s sword had an accident, and was still addressing Lin Rufei as a senior, it made people think that he was very rude. 

“So this is the legendary Lin San Gongzi[1].” Gu Feiyu revealed a look of realization.

He noticed that Lin Bianyu seemed to be a bit unhappy, so he said no more. Very quickly, he took a few steps towards his sword and chided: “Zhong Feng[2], let’s go!” He reached out to hold the hilt of the sword, wanting to pull it out. However, no matter how much force Gu Feiyu exerted, the black-colored sword didn’t move an inch and it even occasionally let out a few buzzing sounds, seemingly trying to provoke him. 

Gu Feiyu pulled for a good while. However, no matter how much he pulled, the sword simply would not budge and finally, his complexion turned ugly as he started cursing. He was originally from the countryside and only in recent years did he return to the Gu family, so he was accustomed to those shrewd cursed words he heard on the streets, such as ones about trashy goods and other b*tchy related words. 

This made Fu Hua’s eyes glaze around. She had never, in almost her entire life, ever heard such blatant cursing. 

However, the sword still did not budge. This angered Gu Feiyu to the point that he started stomping. Finally, Lin Bianyu couldn’t stand it any longer. In a few steps, he grasped the sword hilt, wanting to end this farce once in for all. 

Gu Feiyu didn’t bother stopping him, he just stood at the side howling as he cried: “This doesn’t make sense, ah. I raised you for so many years, and just with one look, you took a liking to him. You, you thousand sword killer—”

Lin Rufei sat in the wheelchair, the mung bean cake in his hand was almost all melted. He felt that putting it down was no good, and eating it was also no good. 

Lin Bianyu gripped the sword hilt, and after exerting some power, his face became more and more sullen. He was already on the eighth level of cultivation and had the power to move mountains, yet this seemingly ordinary sword in his hand just would not budge. It was as if a thousand mountains were hidden inside. 

“I can’t pull it out, can’t pull it out.” Gu Feiyu was not surprised by Lin Bianyu’s lack of results. He squatted on the floor, pulling hard at his disorganized long, black hair, and said in pain, “People are not as good as new, clothes are not as good as the old, ah—”

Then he lifted his head and begged pitifully to Lin Rufei, “Lin San Gongzi, there’s a saying that a gentleman does not take away the love of others, so please help and tell him to give up on this idea.”

Lin Rufei let out a sigh. In the end, he put down the mung bean cake in his hand and said softly: “Young master Gu, it’s not that I don’t want to help. I was born weak and have never partaken in swordplay. If my second brother could not pull out this sword, I’m afraid I won’t be of much help.”

“Lin San Gongzi, please don’t tease me.” Gu Feiyu exclaimed miserably, “If you had never practice swordplay, how could he have possibly taken a liking to you—”

When Lin Rufei heard this, he looked at his second brother who was still wrestling with the sword. He gently coughed a little, and patted the crumbs from his hands before finally standing up, “Okay, then I will give it a try.” 

Lin Bianyu heard Lin Rufei’s voice and his face sank. He was about to speak but Lin Rufei spoke up first: “Second brother, since young master Gu has already proposed this, I will give it a try, it’s better to let him give up his affections.”

Lin Bianyu frowned, but seeing Lin Rufei’s frank look and noticing that he did not seem upset, he finally let it go. “Then try it.”

The curtain was ripped and the loft suspended in the air carried the Spring wind inside. Lin Rufei slowly got up and immediately, his originally neat head of black was blown into a mess by the wind. Zhong Feng was still buzzing and as Lin Rufei came closer, his buzzing was getting more excited, almost like he wanted to fly up from the ground and rub a corner of Lin Rufei’s clothes.

Lin Rufei coughed weakly a few times and raised his hand to reposition the fox fur. Finally, he reached out his long, pale hand and gripped the hilt of Zhong Feng with heavy force. 

The hilt was cool and smooth to the touch, but the moment Lin Rufei gripped it, he felt as if he had grasped a piece of frozen ice. However, in the next moment, a strange heat flowed out into his hand. This heat soon flowed through his entire body. Zhong Feng started buzzing even louder and on the hard green stone floor, an obvious crack started to form. 

Lin Rufei frowned and raised his hand to draw the sword.

Gu Feiyu, who was standing on the side, sucked in a breath of cold air. He watched helplessly as Lin Rufei easily pulled out Zhong Feng, who was once unbudging, from out of the floor. The sword that was supposed to be heavier than a mountain, turned into a falling feather in Lin Rufei’s hand as it traced a gentle arc in mid-air. 

Several people in the room were not expecting this scene, even Lin Rufei himself showed a slightly bewildered expression.

Gu Feiyu immediately burst into tears and he almost started rolling on the ground: “Lin Er Gongzi[3]—you have really cheated me!”

Lin Bianyu had a complicated expression. He seemed to have wanted to say something to Lin Rufei but swallowed his words back down.

It must be said that the heavy black body of Zhong Feng next to the weak and frail Lin Rufei was really out of place. Lin Rufei’s sword-holding posture was like a weak scholar holding a long burning stick. And on his handsome face, was a look of innocence. 

This scene made Gu Feiyu want to cry.

“Young master Gu—” Lin Rufei was a little overwhelmed, he wanted to hand the sword over to Gu Feiyu.

When Gu Feiyu saw the situation, he quickly reached out to take it, but who knew that the moment the sword was in his hand, it would fall straight back to the ground again—making another huge hole. No matter how much force Gu Feiyu exerted, the sword remained still. 

“I’m dead, I’m dead! Zhong Feng you heartless son of a b*tch—” Gu Feiyu sat down on his butt and hugged Zhong Feng like he was hugging his wife who had just come back from her illicit lover, “You heartless bastard—”

Lin Rufei looked helpless and he actually felt that he stole someone’s wife. 

The atmosphere was frighteningly quiet in the loft and only Gu Feiyu’s crying could be heard. Lin Bianyu asked helplessly: “Is there no other way?”

Gu Feiyu wiped away his tears: “Well, there is one.”

“What method?” Lin Bianyu asked.

“I would have to trouble Lin San Gongzi.” Gu Feiyu said, “You just have to make it clear to him that you don’t love him and it’s fruitless with him—”

Lin Rufei: “……”

Lin Bianyu: “……”

Fu Hua: “……”

The three of them—masters and servant, were all speechless by Gu Feiyu’s unconventional words. In the end, it was Fu Hua, who reacted first, with a very strange expression, “Can he understand human speech? Would it even be useful if my young master said those words to him?”

“I don’t know either, it was what my ancestor said.” Gu Feiyu sat on the ground and it seemed that he had no intention of getting up, “It’s just that my ancestor was on the verge of senility when he gave me this sword, so I don’t know if he was talking nonsense or not.” As he spoke, he completely laid down on the ground and muttered. “But that said, it’s also the fate of Lin San Gongzi.” He turned his face sideways and looked at Lin Rufei anxiously, “Lin San Gongzi, can you use Zhong Feng and give it a swing—so I can completely give up on it?”

Lin Rufei looked at Lin Bianyu, seeking his opinion. Lin Bianyu thought for a moment before nodding slightly and said: “There is no harm in trying.” Lin Rufei did not have any cultivation in his body. Lifting up the blade could be considered lucky, but if he could actually swing Zhong Feng, then it wouldn’t be easily explained by “luck.”

Lin Rufei reached out and once again grabbed Zhong Feng’s hilt. 

Like before, the heavy sword in his hand was weightless and he effortlessly pulled it from the green stone floor. The crowd’s eyes all fell upon him and very soon, Lin Rufei felt a tickle in his throat again. He wasn’t able to hold it in this time and ended up coughing a few times as a sickly blush rose onto his pale cheeks. 

Lin Bianyu saw this and just as he was about to say something, the heavy sword in Lin Rufei’s hand was already outside, swinging down at the side of the loft.

Gu Feiyu waited with bated breath, but Zhong Feng still swung down. It was silent and even if he pricked up his ears, he could only hear the sound of the wind outside.

Nothing happened.

Gu Feiyu was thankful, but also a little upset.

When the old ancestor passed Zhong Feng to Gu Feiyu, he had told him that Zhong Feng contained the power of creation. It could break mountains and cut Yin and Yang. Yet, when the first person recognized by Zhong Feng had swung it, nothing happened. 

Lin Rufei did not know what Gu Feiyu was thinking, he just lowered his eyes and gazed at the heavy sword in his hand.

The last time he held a sword was more than ten years ago on the night of his tenth birthday party.

He would always remember that memory. It was a clear night and he and his second brother sat on the highest pine tree on the Kunlun Mountains. He had pouted and begged his second brother to let him touch Tian Xiao. 

Lin Bianyu was the one that spoiled Lin Rufei the most, so how could he stand his brother’s begging? Thus, he handed Lin Rufei his sheathed sword. 

Lin Rufei gladly accepted it. But who knew that the moment Tian Xiao was in his hand, Lin Rufei felt that the sword was as heavy as a thousand pounds. He failed to steadily hold it and tumbled down the tree. Luckily, Lin Bianyu was there to save him in time, but he(LBY) was also scared to the point that his whole head was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

“The better the sword, the heavier it will be.” —Later, Lin Rufei’s mother said to him, “Xiao Jiu, let’s not touch any swords from now on, okay?”

“Yes.” Lin Rufei heard himself in his reminisce of the past. 

Lin Rufei could only hold the lightest of swords, and in the eyes of a true sword practitioner, even the lightest sword on the Kunlun Mountains was not worthy to be used as a toy for a child. 

“I am not a swordsman.” The pale, handsome youth gazed at the heavy black sword in his hand. His voice was gentle as if he were whispering to a lover, “I……am not suitable for you.”

Zhong Feng buzzed loudly.

“Look, he’s been waiting for you for so long.” The youth caressed the sword blade, soothing the restless Zhong Feng. When his white and slender fingers traced the black blade inch by inch, it inexplicably gave birth to a strange sense of beauty. Gu Feiyu, who was looking at this scene, suddenly had red surface on his cheeks and averted his gaze in a panic. 

“If you go with me, he will be very sad.” Lin Rufei said in a warm voice. He had previously felt that the words Gu Feiyu said to him were somewhat incomprehensible, but now, he clearly realized that Zhong Feng could understand his words. “My body is so weak, I have no way to use you. If you follow me, it would be too wasteful for you.” He laughed, and his eyes that were lighter than the normal person, also curved into a small arc. “Thank you for liking me. You are the first sword that liked me……”

As Lin Rufei said this, he then opened his arms and gently embraced Zhong Feng: “I am very happy.”

Zhong Feng shook heavily. It seemed to have understood Lin Rufei’s words and his buzzing gradually quieted. 

Gu Feiyu stood by the side and watched anxiously, like a child guarding a candy bar.

Lin Rufei turned his head to look at him and blinked: “Is it good now?”

“I don’t know.” Gu Feiyu rolled up his sleeves and took a deep breath, “Baby, come back with me. I promise I won’t scold you in the future anymore—I’ll treat you better than I would treat my wife!” After he said this, his mouth continued to mutter words brokenly, mostly some nonsense for peace.

Only when Lin Bianyu’s eyebrow started to furrow did Gu Feiyu reach out his hand with fear. He was trembling and reverent when the hilt of the sword was handed over to him by Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei let go of his hand.

This time, Zhong Feng did not fall to the ground.

Gu Feiyu hugged Zhong Feng and cried with joy. The three people present were also all relieved.

Lin Rufei could not help but cough again and Lin Bianyu coldly raised his chin at Fu Hua, who then quickly pushed the wheelchair over and helped Lin Rufei sit down. 

“It seems that we can’t fight today, in that case, let’s fight again some other day.” Lin Bianyu calmly said, “My younger brother is a bit unwell, so I will send him back first.”

Gu Feiyu was a bit embarrassed and nodded in agreement. He had caused so much trouble to others for no reason and although he still had doubts in his mind, he felt too embarrassed to ask again.

Lin Bianyu pushed Lin Rufei into the air and left, while Gu Feiyu, who was lost in thought, held Zhong Feng in the loft.

The spectators watching the sword competition also gradually dispersed and everything seemed to be returning back to a calm normal.

However, at this time, the sky suddenly resonated with a loud sound. It was as if thunder was rolling, but also as if a million tides were surging—continuously and from far to near.

When Gu Feiyu heard this daylight thunder, he looked towards the sound and suddenly, his eyes revealed a stunned look—the northern peak of the Kunlun Mountains had actually collapsed in half. 

He was first shocked and then suddenly, the realization kicked in. His heart could not help but give birth to a sense of horror……the direction where the north peak was located, was the direction that Lin Rufei had swung down the sword.

********

The author has something to say:

Zhong Feng: Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz (Is the beauty here? Does the beauty want to go on a date? Does the beauty want to eat? Does the beauty want to have a sword dance? Look at me beauty)

Gu Feiyu: Where exactly am I not as good-looking as Lin Rufei, even my chest is bigger, right? !

Lin Rufei: ? ? ? ? ?

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[1] Third young master of the Lin Family. 

[2] “Heavy Edge” like in the chapter title. 

[3] Second young master of the Lin Family. 

Chapter 6: First Sight

Lin Rufei began to cough again.

This time, even drinking medicine did not help. Layers of itch wanted to spill out of his throat, causing him to shake his thin shoulders uncontrollably.

Lin Bianyu sat on the edge of the bed looking at his frail and sickly younger brother. He ordered the maid Yu Rui to go to the pharmacy and fetch some flower dew.

Flower dew was a medicine used for coughing, but it would easily upset the stomach so unless it was particularly serious, it was usually not used on Lin Rufei.

However, it wasn’t possible to not use it today. Lin Rufei’s throat had a fishy and sweet taste. He wanted to desperately suppress the rusty taste that was coming up but did not succeed. He could only use the silk handkerchief in his hand to cover his mouth and with a violent shake of his shoulders, Lin Rufei finally caught his breath, so he rolled the silk handkerchief up and tried to hide it. However, Lin Bianyu was not easily fooled. His hand reached out and snatched the silk handkerchief—seeing the dark red stain on it.

When he saw this scene, Lin Bianyu heavily pursed his lips and his eyes darkened.

Lin Rufei wanted to say something but Lin Bianyu made a gesture of silence, indicating that he did not need to speak. Lin Rufei knew that his second brother was unhappy. When he was unhappy, he always looked like this. He wanted to coax him, but what came out was a continuous cough. Finally, he could only laugh bitterly and give up.

Fu Hua stood by the bed, although she did not say a word, her expression was equally as ugly.

Yu Rui came back quickly, holding the flower dew from the pharmacy.

Lin Rufei drank the flower dew. Very quickly, the breath held in his chest had finally become smoother, and the itch in his throat gradually dissipated.

“Leave, let him rest.” Lin Bianyu got up.

Fu Hua and Yu Rui nodded a yes as they hung their heads and left the room.

Lin Bianyu helped Lin Rufei fix his blanket before also leaving. 

Lin Rufei leaned against the bed. He looked sickly and was currently in a trance. He seemed to have heard a loud noise, but it also did not feel real, as if it was just a figment of his imagination. 

Lin Rufei raised his eyes to gaze at the window. It had been closed by Fu Hua to prevent the wind from coming inside, so he could not see the courtyard, let alone the Spring scene.

He was like a perch caught in a rut[1], trapped in one place.

He didn’t know how long he had slept, but Lin Rufei soon heard the sound of someone moving around in his room. He opened his eyes slightly and noticed Fu Hua carrying in a basin of water. She carefully wiped away the sweat on his forehead with eyebrows furrowed in worry. When she noticed that he was awake, she forced herself to smile before gently calling out a “young master.”

Lin Rufei asked: “What time is it?” When he opened his mouth, he realized that his voice was extremely hoarse. It was probably because he had coughed too much just now that his throat had gone sore. 

“It’s the 17th hour[2]. Young master, do you want something to eat?” Fu Hua gently asked. 

Lin Rufei shook his head: “Open the window, the room is a bit stuffy.”

“But it’s going to be night soon and the wind is going to be a bit strong.” Fu Hua said, “Young master has finally stopped coughing, if the wind blows I am afraid you will start coughing again.”

Lin Rufei said sickly, “I don’t want to eat anything.”

After drinking the flower dew, although his cough had stopped, he had no appetite at all now. Even the thought of food made him feel sick to his stomach.

Fu Hua bit her lower lip, but in the end, she did not say any more words of persuasion.

Although Lin Rufei had slept for a long time, he was still very tired, so he asked Fu Hua to leave, saying that he wanted to rest alone.

Fu Hua nodded her head, then quietly left the room and the room once again quieted down. 

Lin Rufei leaned back onto the pillow with his eyes half-lidded. He didn’t have any more sleepiness, but his body had no strength. Even the action of raising his hand was done with great reluctance.

The sun was about to set. The now setting sun was spilling through the gaps of the window, scattering tiny bright light particles onto the ground.

Lin Rufei’s eyes slowly closed. His breathing was weak and he closed his eyes to recuperate. Yet, in a trance, he gave birth to a strange vision. In the room……someone seemed to have arrived. 

Lin Rufei opened his eyes and what he saw was a scarlet red that melted into the setting sun. The window was somehow opened and the warm light from outside had enveloped more than half of the room. In the light, he noticed that there was someone sitting sideways in front of the table by the window. The person was in red clothes, had a head of black, and he carried a long and a small black sword around his waist. 

Lin Rufei froze and opened his mouth: “You—”

He had wanted to ask “who are you?”

However, the man in red opened his mouth first. His voice was low with a hint of laziness as he asked Lin Rufei: “Do you have any wine?”

In his curiosity, Lin Rufei actually responded to the man’s words, “What kind of wine?”

“Any kind of wine will do.” The man propped up his chin, “Naturally, cherry blossom wine is the best.”

From this angle, Lin Rufei could only see half of the man’s face, but that was enough for him. The man was born extremely beautiful, his eyes were narrow and long—it should be a pair of extremely beautiful phoenix eyes[3]. His eyebrows slanted and he had a nose like a hanging gall[4]. If only the face was observed, it would have been hard to distinguish whether he was male or female. However, the man, who was dressed in red, did not look feminine in the slightest. He had elegant and strong angles, making it so that people dare not have any sinful ideas.

Lin Rufei wanted to cough again so he covered his mouth and said in a low voice: “Where did you come in from……how did you……get into my room?”

The man said, “No wine? If there is no wine, I will leave.”

Lin Rufei was dumbfounded and he wanted to laugh and cry at this man’s straightforward attitude. Surprisingly, the man’s words did not make people feel offended. On the contrary, a sense of guilt had formed. Rather, he felt rude that he could not satisfy this man’s wishes.

“Fu Hua.” Lin Rufei called out.

“Young master.” Fu Hua answered from outside the room.

“Is there any wine?” Lin Rufei asked again.

“Wine?” Fu Hua was puzzled, “Does young master want to drink?”

Lin Rufei said, “Bring me a jug, preferably cherry blossom wine.”

Although Fu Hua was confused, she still listened to Lin Rufei’s instructions and brought in a jug of unopened cherry blossom wine. Lin Rufei’s body was weak, so he seldom dabbled with wine and other things, however, it was considered elegant to drink wine. Thus, Lin Rufei would occasionally drink a cup when he was in better health.

But this time, Lin Rufei was still sick. Why did he suddenly want to drink? Fu Hua thought it was strange but she still took the wine and warmed it up with hot water. Gently, she knocked on the door and entered the room with the wine. She noticed that Lin Rufei, who was still sickly just a moment ago, was now in better spirits. He was sitting at the head of the bed and was gazing at the opened window.

“Young master.” Fu Hua called out.

Lin Rufei turned around and asked Fu Hua to put the wine on the table, which Fu Hua did. But Lin Rufei noticed something strange. It was clear that the man in red was sitting at the table by the window, but Fu Hua walked over as if the man didn’t exist and put down the wine in her hands. She said in a low voice: “Young master, you’re sick, You should not partake in wine.”

“I know.” Lin Rufei blinked, “I’m not drinking, just put the wine down and you can go.”

Fu Hua felt that her young master was acting very strange, but before she could ask, Lin Rufei continued, “Go make some millet porridge and prepare some small side dishes. I’m a little hungry.”

When she heard Lin Rufei say that he was hungry, Fu Hua quickly pushed away the doubts in her mind. She happily hummed in agreement, carried the hem of her skirt, and ran out quickly. Originally, she thought that if Lin Rufei wanted to eat, it would have been early the next morning. But now that he had the spirit, it was naturally for the best. 

The man in red did not look at Fu Hua. He took the wine and poured himself a cup. He raised the cup and then downed it in one go. 

This cherry blossom wine was brewed just recently by Fu Hua and it used the cherry blossom flowers from the grove below the mountain. The wine tasted sweet and mellow with some hint of bitterness and crispness unique to the cherry blossoms. It was very suitable to drink alone on a Spring day. 

“Who are you?” Lin Rufei remembered something and he covered his right eye, “Are you the cherry blossom tree in my yard?”

The man didn’t say anything and continued drinking said wine.

When Lin Rufei noticed this, he stopped asking questions. He quietly watched the man drink one cup after another until the bottom of the wine jug was noticeable, and only then did he reluctantly put down the cup in his hand.

“Do you want another jug?” Seeing the reluctance in the man’s eyes, Lin Rufei asked thoughtfully.

“No need.” The man smiled, “Slightly drunk is just right.”

He slightly tilted his head and a slight smile surfaced in those narrow phoenix eyes as he asked, “Have you counted cherry blossoms before?”

This was a very abrupt statement with no end in sight.

However, Lin Rufei miraculously understood the man’s meaning, “No.” With a soft sigh, he continued: “The cherry blossom tree in the yard refuses to bloom, only the pear blossoms are willing to let me count them.”

The early Spring night was cool and slow, he couldn’t sleep, so he would sit in front of the window, gazing out at the courtyard. The clouds were thick and there were neither stars nor moon. A few lanterns hung in the courtyard but it wasn’t bright enough. However, it was enough for Lin Rufei to see the trees in the courtyard clearly. Spring had been born and the treetops were full of lively flowers. Lin Rufei craned his neck, and counted them one by one.

On this pear tree, there were eight hundred and seventy-nine buds. Lin Rufei remembered it in his heart as if he had written down a secret that only he knew.

He liked cherry blossoms, but the cherry blossom tree at home refused to bloom. The pear blossoms would make up for it, comforting him in the long, cool night. 

The man smiled, the color like Spring flowers. It was extraordinarily moving as he said: “You want to count the cherry blossoms?”

Lin Rufei said, “Yes.”

The man said, “Then let’s go together.” He suddenly got up and his wide red sleeves swung out in an arc like a bright flower. He then turned around and extended his hand towards Lin Rufei who was lying on the bed, “Come with me.”

Lin Rufei was about to say something, but the man did not give him a chance to refuse. He went ahead and grasped Lin Rufei’s hand that was placed in front of his body. His hand was cold and was actually colder than the sick Lin Rufei’s by a few degrees. It made Lin Rufei slightly shiver.

“Come.” He said.

Lin Rufei’s body then rose up into the air and flew out of the window, “Wait—wait a moment.”

The man simply ignored him.

Lin Rufei’s eyes were wide, his light-colored eyes were stunned and his hair was dancing chaotically in the night wind. His other empty hand was holding on to the lapel of the man in front of him, afraid that he would just fall from mid-air.

The man laughed loudly and said, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

As he said this, he let go of his hand.

Lin Rufei choked on his breath. He thought he would just fall down, but instead, he found himself stepping on something underneath his feet. He looked down and realized that it was one of the swords that was on the man’s waist.

Lin Rufei was in a bit of a trance.

What was sword cultivation?

It was Lin Minzhi’s long sword sweeping across the nine fields wearing the crown of conquest that was so high that it almost touched the sky. 

It was Lin Bianyu’s prestige and outstanding martial arts. 

Lin Rufei did not recognize the sword. He could not lift the sword nor could he learn the sword. He was born in a sword sect yet did not cultivate with the sword. But at this moment, he was stepping on a flying sword that he thought he would never be able to touch. 

The wind in mid-air was very strong, making Lin Rufei’s clothes rustle loudly. Along with the man’s laughter, he seemed to have seen the thousands of blooming flowers in the depths of the night. It was just that these flowers bloomed differently than the ones in the lonely courtyard, rather it was lively and brought to people hint of nostalgia. 

The sword was in the air and a long journey of a thousand miles. Leaving at the 19th hour[5] and returning on the 21st[6].

Lin Rufei felt happy in his heart and he could not help but laugh out loud. Suddenly, he also wanted to drink a cup of warm cherry blossom wine.

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The author has something to say:

Gong (seme): If I don’t show up soon, my baby at home will really be hooked away by the seductive jian[7] outside.

Hahahahahahahaha, yesterday I saw a lovely reader’s comment, “Lin Rufei, alias: Sword hooker, another (courtesy) name: Peach, nickname: Monkey Attracter”   

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[1] Not the sexual one, it’s those tracks/trails, like a wagon rut. 

[2] 5 o’clock P.M. 

[3] Phoenix eyes. 

[4] nose like a hanging gall. 

[5] 7 o’clock P.M. 

[6] 9 o’clock P.M. 

[7] Written in English, means “sword” referring to Zhong Feng. 

Chapter 7: The Place of Heart’s Desire

The man rode a cloud dragon all the way down the Kunlun Mountains.

The cherry blossom grove at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, the one that Lin Rufei often went to, was somewhat unfamiliar in the night. After the Spring rain, the cherry blossoms had fallen a lot and the branches were not as lush as they had been before. And occasionally, he would even see slightly more abrupt branches sticking out. The man took Lin Rufei and stopped at a bunch of cherry blossom branches. His red clothes fluttered along with the breeze of the cool night, and his cold hands covered Lin Rufei’s shoulder again. Lin Rufei felt a slightly cool exhale against his ear as the man made a sound, “Come.”

After he finished speaking, he gave a push and Lin Rufei’s eyes widened. He thought he would fall heavily to the ground, but his original bulky body had turned into a wisp of Spring wind at this time, and with pointed feet, he landed steadily on the ground. Lin Rufei looked surprised as he looked at his feet.

“Go, ah.” The man laughed lowly. His phoenix eyes contained a slightly drunken smile and he suddenly fell down in a smooth motion, causing Lin Rufei to cry out in surprise. However, the tree by his feet had stretched out its branches, like slender hands of a young girl of sixteen, as it softly wrapped the man in its arms.

And he simply just laid like that amongst the cherry blossoms—red clothes and black hair with a sword hanging at his waist. The brightly colored clothes hung in front of Lin Rufei, swaying again and again, like a lake in which you could not see the bottom. 

The silver sword started circling around Lin Rufei once again, like a curious child that was sniffing left and right. Finally, it used its hilt to gently rub against the back of Lin Rufei’s hand, signaling for him to grab it.

Lin Rufei stretched out his hand.

It all felt like a weird dream and he could no longer tell whether he was in the dream or outside the door. The moment his pale hand gripped the hilt of the sword, Lin Rufei felt his palm begin to heat up, and then, a raging hot current surged through his body.

The next moment, Lin Rufei disappeared on the spot.

The man was still leaning against the branch with his hand propped up against his chin. He looked lazy as if he had just woken up from a long slumber and lazily yawned. He muttered quietly to himself, “Where would he go?” After a moment’s pause, his half-hung eyes widened a bit and he laughed, “It’ll be interesting.”

Lin Rufei flew out with the sword and he did not even have the time to react when it stopped again. In front of his eyes was still the cherry blossom forest, but also in front of him was a group of monkeys full of alarm.

Lin Rufei stood where he was as he stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.

“What did you bring me here for?” The situation was so awkward that Lin Rufei could only look back at the sword that had brought him here and ask.

The tiny silver sword, that had been unsheathed, tilted a bit and that was enough for Lin Rufei to have a touch of doubt.

The monkeys slowly faded to the sides, and from the back came out a big, beautiful monkey with golden fur, the exact same one that had molested Lin Rufei in the past. When it saw Lin Rufei, it squealed happily a few times.

Lin Rufei immediately wanted to back up. He was scared since he had been bullied by this group of monkeys quite often. This monkey group probably moved into this forest around the time when he was twelve or thirteen. At that time, he was just a short and small teenager and he didn’t know how many times his snacks were snatched away. Later on, the Monkey King came and the situation was only slightly better. The snacks weren’t snatched, but he would always be surrounded by a group of monkeys……

Regarding the monkeys, Lin Rufei really had an endless history of blood and tears with them.

The Monkey King blinked and looked at him. Its beautiful golden eyes were full of curiosity, wondering how Lin Rufei appeared in the forest in the middle of the night. However, after looking left and right, it actually did not see the maids who usually followed Lin Rufei. It reached out and scratched its head, then with a movement of its feet, jumped to the cherry blossom tree on the side and looked at Lin Rufei from a high position.

Lin Rufei immediately remembered the other day when he was molested by the monkey, and an incredulous thought came to his mind as he said with wide eyes, “What are you going to do—”

The Monkey King screeched twice, then in a rush, directly pounced towards Lin Rufei. Lin Rufei’s expression turned to that of horror. Fu Hua once said, ‘this monkey has its own fortunate fate. It has reached the fifth level of sword cultivation and if all goes well, in a few years, it would most likely be able to speak.’ Faced with a level five monkey, Lin Rufei immediately felt fear that he would die here today. Just as he was thinking about it, the monkey had already pounced in front of Lin Rufei. Although Lin Rufei knew he was no match, he still reflexively reached out his hand and scratched haphazardly. Soon, he felt a furry mass grasped in his hand.

“Screech—” The monkey let out a miserable scream.

Lin Rufei’s eyes were full of panic. He wanted to throw the object in his hand out, but he suddenly noticed that something was wrong. He fixed his eyes on it, only to find that the golden Monkey King, who should be very nimble, was held up by the back of his neck and was struggling desperately. Lin Rufei hadn’t use too much force, but the monkey seemed to be holding onto his dear life. Not being able to break free from Lin Rufei’s hand, it kept screeching and screaming. Originally, a very arrogant hairy face soon left behind only a face of indescribable grievance.

“Hey?” Lin Rufei came closer to take a look.

The two stared at each other with an innocent expression.

“You’re not running?” Lin Rufei touched him, feeling that the monkey’s hair was really comfortable. It was thick and soft, but also very clean. Upon touch, he realized that it was also really fluffy.

“Screech.” The monkey didn’t move.

Lin Rufei asked curiously: “You want to run but can’t, right?”

Surprisingly, the monkey actually nodded his head and his eyes became more and more pitiful.

Lin Rufei was puzzled: “How can you not be able to run, I didn’t use any force—” As he said this, he gently shook the monkey. However, the monkey let out a scream and reached out to cover the back of his neck. It was trembling all over and when Lin Rufei saw this, he hurriedly stopped. Upon taking a closer look, he found that the hair on the back of the monkey’s neck had a chunk missing and it directly revealed the pink skin beneath.

Lin Rufei immediately had a guilty conscience.

“I really didn’t use any force.” Lin Rufei explained awkwardly.

The Monkey King did not believe it. Its eyes were like a resentful wife who was domestically abused by her husband, and even the corners of its eyes were flushed with thin tears. It made Lin Rufei, who was watching, have a toothache. He really did not use that much force, but when his hand was loosened, the golden hair fell out of Lin Rufei’s hand—rustling to the ground. The Monkey King also fell onto the ground, sadly covering the flesh on the back—his neck was now half bald.

Lin Rufei coughed dryly and hurriedly explained: “I didn’t mean to do it, I have not practiced martial arts so how strong can I possibly be.” As he finished speaking, he wanted to prove it so he gave a gentle push to the cherry blossom tree beside him.

“Crack,” a crunching sound. That cherry blossom tree with a trunk that was like an adult, just openly cracked. Following a creaking sound that made people grit their teeth, it fell to the ground with a noisy bang.

The Monkey King stared at the cherry blossom tree with round black eyes and looked at Lin Rufei in horror.

Lin Rufei also froze. He was silent for a long time and was barely able to squeeze a sentence out of his mouth, “I really didn’t use much force.”

If he hadn’t secretly rubbed the monkey hair off his hands, the words might have been more convincing.

The Monkey King looked at Lin Rufei with a sorrowful expression and kept quiet for a good while. Lin Rufei was very embarrassed by its stare and could only say: “I really didn’t mean to do it, besides you often bully me.” He thought about it, turned around, and picked a cherry blossom from the tree next to him. He bent down halfway and stuck the flower behind the Monkey King’s ear. He blinked wryly, “Mn, I’ll gift you a flower, don’t be angry.”

The Monkey King’s tears almost fell. It screeched several times and he didn’t know what it had said.

Although Lin Rufei did not understand its words, but from the taste of some aggression in his tone, he could only use a fine voice to comfort it: “Do not cry, do not cry. Even if the hair is gone it’s okay, it will grow back sooner or later……”

When the Monkey King saw that he did not understand its own words, it screeched again. It turned around with a downcast look, revealing that the back of its neck had a chunk that was made bald by Lin Rufei’s grip. Although its entire body was covered with golden hair, it just had to be its neck, which now had sparse stubble and vaguely visible pink skin.

It looked a bit pitiful.

Lin Rufei pursed his lips. His thin shoulders were shaking slightly, trying hard to swallow back the laughter.

The Monkey King was wearing the small flower given to him by Lin Rufei, and he took one step, then three, back—walking slowly. Lin Rufei suddenly felt something in his heart and said to the Monkey King in a warm voice: “Go on, I’ll come back again some time.”

The Monkey King sighed and looked back at Lin Rufei one last time. The night was deep and it hid the fondness in its eyes. It turned around and with several leaps, it disappeared into the dense cherry blossom forest.

Lin Rufei’s smile faded, strangely giving birth to some loneliness. He had a feeling that it seemed to be his last meeting with this naughty monkey.

Lin Rufei thought that at least he was able to get revenge for the previous molestation.

After sending the mischievous monkey away, Lin Rufei looked at the cherry blossom tree beside him that he had pushed down, and then he chanted with a sad face that he was sorry.

The cherry blossom trees here were a hundred years old and one suddenly cracked with Lin Rufei’s push—really an unwarranted disaster. Fortunately, he didn’t reach out and give the Monkey King’s head such a hit……

The silver sword that was quiet on the side began to buzz again, Lin Rufei, with smiling eyes, once again reached out to hold the sword hilt.

The sword flew and once again took Lin Rufei out of the cherry blossom forest.

This all seemed like a dream. However, even if it really was just an unrealistic dream, it was still a beautiful dream and there were no regrets. But if it was not a dream, then he must have had some abnormal changes in his body because of that beautiful man in red.

But it was just a daze of time. Soon, Lin Rufei once again returned to the dreary courtyard, to the house that lingered with the bitter scent of Chinese medicine. Fu Hua, who was carrying food, knocked on the door of the room.

“Young master, the porridge is ready.” Fu Hua reminded in a warm voice.

Lin Rufei sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at the lines on his palm and suddenly remembered the criticism that the exquisite medicine and divinatory master of the sect, Wan Yao, had said to him— “On the Kunlun Mountains, there is a person who calls out in the middle of the road. Looking at the wagon ruts, he noticed that there was a perch.”

Since then, Lin Rufei understood.

He was the fish that was trapped in the wheel tracks and could die of thirst at any moment.

********

The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: Poor, weak and helpless, but able to fight.

Chapter 8: Fate Cannot be Broken

The porridge was millet porridge, made with the new rice harvested before New Year’s Eve. Inside the porridge was the fine millet, boiled to a thick golden color. The side dishes included pickled radish and stir-fried seasonal vegetables. They were green in color, which aroused Lin Rufei’s appetite.

When Fu Hua saw that Lin Rufei was willing to eat, she was overjoyed and carefully helped Lin Rufei get off the bed to sit at the table. However, he eyes suddenly wandered over him and she noticed something. Half squatting down, she looked at the corners of Lin Rufei’s clothes: “Young master, why are your clothes dirty?”

A dark stain on Lin Rufei’s white outfit was particularly noticeable and Fu Hua was quite suspicious: “You master, did you leave the room?” However, after she finished this sentence of hers, she felt that she shouldn’t have asked. After all, when she was cooking, Yu Rui was at the door, so if Lin Rufei had gone out, she would have known.

Lin Rufei squeezed his chopsticks and said lightly, “Well, I went out for a while. This side dish is well made.”

Fu Hua had been serving Lin Rufei for so many years, so she knows that Lin Rufei did not want to talk about it. Although she had doubts in her mind, she still kept quiet and softly said: “Then young master, would you like to take a bath before going to bed? It’s best to change into clean clothes……”

Lin Rufei nodded: “You’re right.”

Fu Hua smiled lightly.

After Lin Rufei was taken out by the man in red into the night breeze, his appetite had miraculously improved. He drank a bowl of millet porridge and ate quite a lot of side dishes. 

While Lin Rufei was eating, Fu Hua got up and went to prepare hot water for Lin Rufei. The hot water was heated with a special charcoal fire, which could perfectly control the temperature, making it so that the water was not too cold or too hot. However, this charcoal fire must be generated with spiritual power or sword Qi, which was not something that was for ordinary people to use.

When Fu Hua finished heating the hot water, she was about to go back into the room to tell Lin Rufei to come out to bathe. However, when she passed by the courtyard, she saw Lin Er Gongzi standing quietly in the courtyard.

Donned in green, a long sword, not smiling and not speaking. His half-open eyes were gazing at the cherry blossom tree standing in the courtyard.

Fu Hua understood the sword, so when she saw Lin Bianyu, she perceived a cold killing intent from him. Killing intent? In this entire Yaoguang continent, the people who could provoke Lin Bianyu’s killing intent could be counted with one hand. Why did Lin Bianyu suddenly have this intent?

Lin Bianyu had already noticed Fu Hua behind him. Very quickly, the coldness in his eyes melted away, and his thin lips curled into a smile. He once again became the gentle, jade-like second young master of the Kunlun Sword Sect: “Xiao[1] Jiu came back?”

Came back? Why was it “came back?” Fu Hua was slightly frozen but she still nodded blankly: “Came back……but when did young master go out?”

 Lin Bianyu did not answer: “Take me in.”

Fu Hua could only nod yes. She felt that Lin Bianyu’s state was a bit strange, but in the end, she was just a maid. She knew that there were things that should not be asked, so she did not ask. 

The two entered the room and saw Lin Rufei sitting by the candlelight. He was leaning on a chair and his black hair was not tied up, it was just scattered messily on his shoulders. His face was a little pale in the candlelight and his long eyelashes trembled slightly, like a black butterfly that wanted to fly away.

Lin Rufei also heard the footsteps and looked up. He smiled lightly and called out a “second brother.”

Lin Bianyu’s expression gradually softened, and Fu Hua felt the hint of killing intent also dissipating from his body.

“Did Xiao Jiu eat properly?”  Lin Bianyu came forward and sat opposite of Lin Rufei.

“Fu Hua made a bowl of porridge, I ate it all.” Lin Rufei said, “It’s late, why did second brother come. Is there something wrong?”

 Lin Bianyu said, “Nothing, I saw you coughing so badly earlier, so I thought I would come over again to take a look.”

Lin Rufei said, “After drinking the flower dew, I feel much better.” He was keenly aware of something in Lin Bianyu’s gaze and called out softly, “Second brother?”

“Xiao Jiu.” Lin Bianyu suddenly got up and walked towards the window. He pushed the window wide open. Outside the window, was the cherry blossom tree that was an eye-sore. He laughed and asked, “This cherry blossom tree is crooked and thin. It is really ugly and agitating to look at. Let’s cut it down with a sword, shall we?”  

Lin Rufei was slightly stunned and just as he was about to speak, Lin Bianyu waved his hand, indicating for Fu Hua to leave. Seeing this, Fu Hua bowed and withdrew from the room—gently closing the door.

Lin Rufei and Lin Bianyu stared at each other for a long time and neither of them making a sound.

“Is that cherry blossom tree a demon?” Lin Rufei finally spoke.

“No.” Lin Bianyu replied.

“Then what is it?” Lin Rufei said. He had originally wanted to say what just happened a while ago, but looking at Lin Bianyu’s appearance, the words that were at the tip of his tongue did not come out. 

“It’s your destiny[2].”  Lin Bianyu said.

Lin Rufei was puzzled: “Destiny?”

He noticed Lin Bianyu’s wording, it was “destiny,” not “blessing.”

Lin Bianyu said, “Any more, Wan Yao will not be able to calculate.”

Wao Yao’s divination was not something to look down upon. On the whole Kunlun Mountains, if he was “second,” then there was no “first.” If it was something that even he could not calculate, then it must involve the laws of Heaven.

Those that pry into the Heavenly ways would have their life shortened, fortunes broken, body in decline, unable to eat, and never be able to reincarnate. Even someone like Wan Yao, who was a master at divination, did not easily dare to try. 

Lin Bianyu’s hand was already on the hilt of Tian Xiao, “Xiao Jiu, this tree may kill you. No matter what, I can’t allow that.”

When the words fell, Lin Rufei saw a white rainbow-like cold sword light and he knew that Lin Bianyu had drawn his sword.

As Tian Xiao was unsheathed, a biting sword intent gushed out, mixed with strong killing intent and it pierced in the direction of the thin cherry blossom tree. The tree was standing in the cool Spring breeze, leafless and flowerless. Its thin branches were drooping, looking innocent like a pitiful child.

Lin Rufei was actually able to clearly see Lin Bianyu’s movement. Lin Bianyu had lifted his hand, unsheathed the sword, and struck. Tian Xiao’s sharp edge melted into a stream of light and Lin Rufei was even able to see the seal engraved on the side of Tian Xiao. The inscription was only two words; “Tian Jue,” which was Lin Bianyu’s courtesy name.  

At this moment, Lin Rufei remembered the cherry blossom forest at the foot of the mountain, the golden-haired Monkey King in the forest, and the man who was more beautiful than a fox fairy.

His mind hadn’t returned from his trance, but his body had already moved forward. His originally heavy body was now as light as a feather and in an instant, he had stretched out his hand to block in between Lin Bianyu and the cherry blossom tree. 

“Second brother, don’t……” Lin Rufei spoke out. He was breathing heavily with hair scattered all over on his shoulders. There was no trace of red on his pale cheeks, but the corners of his eyes had a little abnormal flush as he called out, “Second brother……”

Lin Bianyu’s Tian Xiao had not struck and it wasn’t because he(LBY) had stopped his attack in time, it was just that Tian Xiao was caught by a pair of hands. 

Blood dripped little by little from Lin Rufei’s palm, staining the snow-white sword blade of Tian Xiao.

Lin Bianyu’s eyes were wide open. His chest heaved heavily and he stiffly suppressed the tumbling emotions as he said in a weak voice: “Xiao Jiu, let go.”

Lin Rufei released the sword and was at a loss. He didn’t know how he had appeared in front of Lin Bianyu, let alone how he had caught Tian Xiao. The only thing he knew was that he didn’t want to see that skinny cherry blossom tree being chopped into several pieces by Lin Bianyu’s sword.

So he moved involuntarily.

Lin Bianyu looked down at the wound on Lin Rufei’s hand. Although it was bleeding a lot, it was only a flesh wound. He sighed, opened his mouth, and then sighed again. In the end, he said nothing, and only made a sound to Yu Rui, who was silently standing outside the door, to fetch some medicine.

“Second brother……” Lin Rufei felt a little uneasy.

Lin Bianyu instructed Lin Rufei to sit down. He reached out and squeezed Lin Rufei’s wrist, helping him stop the bleeding. Because his body was weak, Lin Ru Fei’s healing ability was also very poor. He was like a porcelain doll and even a touch in his daily life could leave bruises on his skin, not to mention the current sharp wounds.

Yu Rui quickly got the medicine. She pushed the door and entered the room. She saw the room in disarray but did not dare say anything. She quickly put down the things and quietly retreated.

Lin Bianyu lowered his head, dabbed Lin Rufei’s hand with the medicine, and wrapped it with a clean white cloth, instructing him not to let the wound touch water for a few days.

Lin Rufei said: “Second brother……I……” He wanted to apologize.

Lin Bianyu sighed and stretched out his hand to pat Lin Rufei on the head, his expression had a touch of helplessness, “In the end, Xiao Jiu has grown up.”

“I also do not know why I moved and caught Tian Xiao……” Lin Rufei murmured.

“This is most likely the destiny Wan Yao had talked about.”  Lin Bianyu said, “I’m a bit bewitched.” He bowed his head for a long time, and when he raised his eyes again, there was only the warmth of a brother in his eyes, “Second brother is just a little worried, worried that the destiny is not good for Xiao Jiu.”

The cherry blossom tree that appeared inexplicably, the northern peak of the Kunlun Mountains that was split by a sword——Lin Rufei had been swept into the center of this vortex but was unaware of it.

Lin Bianyu raised his hand and waved his sword, wanting to cut off this karma. But the moment the sword fell, he suddenly understood. Some things even Tian Xiao could not break. This time, it was Lin Rufei’s hands that blocked his sword. If he persisted in this obsession of his, perhaps the next swing would fall upon Lin Rufei’s neck.

This was Lin Rufei’s karma, and he was powerless to change it.

Lin Rufei was wounded and bled quite a bit. His brows wrinkled in tiredness and he tried to soothe his second brother with a few words. But seeing that he only smiled and did not say anything, he then realized some words were just a drop of water in the bucket, so he also obediently shut his mouth.

“You should rest first.”  Lin Bianyu got up, “I will come to see you tomorrow with elder brother.”

Lin Rufei nodded and watched as Lin Bianyu turned to leave.

Lin Bianyu exited through the door, but he did not immediately leave. He stood in the courtyard and stared at the cherry blossom tree for a long time until the light in Lin Rufei’s room dimmed. He coldly sneered: “I want to see exactly how powerful you are.” He raised his hand and fiercely broke off a section of the tree’s branch.

The tree did not react, as if it was just a poor innocent little tree.

Lin Bianyu snickered and casually threw the branch to the ground: “Nothing impressive.” He walked towards the entrance of the courtyard with big steps, but at the moment when he was about to cross the courtyard, his foot suddenly tripped over something. He stumbled a few steps before falling hard into the mud pit beside the road.

“You—” In the moment when Lin Bianyu fell, his Dantian felt empty and he could not use a trace of sword Qi. It was obviously the cherry blossom tree that pulled this trick.

“Just you wait.”  Lin Bianyu’s face was livid and he said angrily, “One day, I will chop you up and burn you for firewood!”

The branches of the cherry blossom tree were tilted up slightly, and if there was an expression, it would have been a provocative one.

********

The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: ….. Are you a kid, how can you use such a childish method to get revenge?

Gong (seme) who feels wronged: It is still better than raging incompetently.

Lin Rufei: Alas, then you have offended my second brother.

Lin Bianyu: Who do you like? Xiao Jiu? Laozi[3] wants your life——

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[1] I know that it is already 8 chapters in, but in case people didn’t know, Xiao in this case means “little.” 

[2] So the word here is 机缘, which can mean, opportunity, chance and destiny. I thought destiny would fit best for right now, but if in the future, chance or opportunity made more sense, I will go back to change it.  

[3] A haughty/arrogant way of referring to oneself. Makes it sound like they have more status, direct translation is “this old one.” This is usually used by guys, for girls it’s “Laoniang” 

Chapter 9: The Qiong Hua Order

Although his hand was wounded, Lin Rufei still had a dreamless night. He woke up the next day feeling refreshed and his cough was also much better.

While Fu Hua was helping him get ready, Yu Rui brought over breakfast. Although Lin Rufei didn’t feel like eating, he still reluctantly drank half a bowl of porridge under his maid’s scrutinizing gaze. He was being persuaded by Fu Hua to drink the rest when Lin Rufei heard a soft knock at the door followed by his elder brother, Lin Minzhi’s voice: “Xiao Jiu.”

“Big brother.” Lin Rufei answered.

Lin Minzhi pushed the door open and entered. When he notided Lin Rufei sitting at the table frowning at the food, he smiled: “If you don’t want to eat, then it’s fine not to.”

“But Da Gongzi[1], young master has been sick for the past few days and has barely eaten. If he doesn’t eat some more today, I am afraid his body won’t be able to hold up.” Fu Hua said quietly. 

Yu Rui also echoed, saying, ‘young master refuses to eat properly, we can’t be lenient on this matter.’

Lin Minzhi said: “No worries, I ordered Wan Yao to make some refreshing medicinal food, I’ll take Xiao Jiu over there now.”

When Fu Hua and Yu Rui heard this, they did not try to persuade any further. Fu Hua bowed her head and then left together with Yu Rui.

“Xiao Jiu, let’s go.” Lin Minzhi said in a warm voice.

Lin Rufei pondered for a moment: “Big brother, let Fu Hua bring the wheelchair in, I’ll go over in the wheelchair.”

Wan Yao lived on the top of the mountain, if one wanted to go there, they would have to fly using the sword. If Lin Rufei does not take the wheelchair, he could only be carried by Lin Minzhi. In the end, he was still a man, being carried around would always be embarrassing. 

Lin Minzhi smiled and sighed: “Xiao Jiu has grown up, brother is a little nostalgic about the days where Tian Jue and I would carry you around to play together.”

(t/n: in case you guys forgot, Tian Jue is Lin Bianyu’s courtesy name)

Lin Rufei was speechless, although he knew that his eldest brother was teasing him, he was still a little embarrassed. When he was young, he was small and skinny. Even though there was only a small age gap between him and his two brothers, his body size was much smaller. Some areas on the Kunlun Mountains could only be accessed by sword flying, so his two brothers would often carry him and fly around. He didn’t feel anything wrong at that time and it wasn’t until Lin Rufei had gotten older that he started to realize that it was a bit inappropriate.

Lin Minzhi did not tease Lin Rufei anymore and asked Fu Hua to prepare thick winter clothes and a wheelchair for Lin Rufei.

The top of the mountain was different from the bottom of the mountain. Spring was in full swing down there, but the top of the mountain was covered in a blanket of white, with no one in sight for 10,000 miles making it very peaceful.

With Lin Minzhi’s sword Qi protection, Lin Rufei did not feel too cold. From the courtyard, the two left on the sword and soon arrived at where Wan Yao resided. 

That courtyard was made of green stones and there was only one building quite far away. Thus, amongst the blanket of snow, only smoke could be seen rising into the air and it at least gave this cold deserted scenery some warmth.

Lin Minzhi pushed Lin Rufei into the courtyard.

Wan Yao had already been waiting inside the room, and when he saw Lin Rufei and Lin Minzhi coming, he smiled and said, “Xiao Jiu, long time no see.”

Lin Rufei called out a “Mr. Wan.”

Wan Yao and his father were about the same age, but if you only looked at appearances, he(WY) looked like a man younger than Lin Rufei. His looks were also quite different from ordinary people, with eyebrows and hair white, even the eyelashes were as white as the early winter snow.

“Eat something first.” Wan Yao made a gesture of invitation.

The wooden table in front of him was decorated with all kinds of exquisite food, full of color and fragrance and it looked very appetizing. 

Although Lin Rufei had no appetite, he also did not want to refuse his senior’s kindness so he lifted the bamboo chopsticks and ate a little bit of the food. Wan Yao and Lin Minzhi also moved their chopsticks and the two started talking about some of the sect matters, most of which were related to the sword competition in the next few days. Lin Rufei’s father, Lin Qionglou, had been in seclusion for the last five years and still had not come out. Lin Minzhi, as the eldest son, had taken over all the sect affairs for some years now.

The matter of seclusion, whether it was a few months or many years, it was unknown when someone would come out. 

They chatted and Lin Rufei slowly chewed on the food. Wan Yao’s cooking skills had always been pretty good. Bland and tasteless silk tofu stewed in chicken stock, accompanied by slightly sweet crushed herbs. The taste was fresh and smooth, but also delicious. However, it was just that Lin Rufei had always had a poor appetite, so after he ate a small half bowl, he stopped his chopsticks movements.

Wan Yao was talking to Lin Minzhi about Gu Feiyu, who recently had a sword fight with Lin Bianyu a few days ago.

“The Gu family’s fourth son is quite interesting.” Wan Yao casually said, “I also saw his heavy blade, it is a good sword. But since Tian Jue participated in the competition, the top place will certainly not fall upon his family, which makes it a bit boring.”

Lin Minzhi nodded: “Since Tian Jue participated, this sword competition should not have too many twists and turns.”

Wan Yao said: “In a few years, perhaps not necessarily.”

Lin Minzhi: “Oh?”

Wan Yao laughed: “I just got the news that the He family’s Xuyu tree had given birth to six iron-gold walnuts.”

Lin Minzhi raised his eyebrows: “Really?”

Wan Yao nodded: “Naturally.” He then turned to look at Lin Rufei, who was sitting next to him, “Xiao Jiu, have you been out and about lately?”

Lin Rufei replied, “These days I have been sick, so I didn’t have the chance.”

Wan Yao said to Lin Minzhi: “You should have told Xiao Jiu earlier.”

Lin Minzhi sighed slightly: “It’s Tian Jue who doesn’t wish to……”

Wan Yao said: “He, ah. Thinks of Xiao Jiu as a glazed doll to love. If held in the hand he is afraid of it breaking. If put into the mouth he fears of it melting. Under his watch, if Xiao Jiu even had a small skin cut, he would make a scene for half a day.” Using his young looks, he said words that were full of bitterness. “You need to stop letting him do as he pleases in the future.”  

Lin Minzhi was helpless: “He has a strong mouth, I can not say anything to him.”

Wan Yao said, “Come on. On these Kunlun Mountains, the ones that are afraid of him cannot be compared to the ones who fear you more. ”

Lin Minzhi was dumbfounded.

Unlike Lin Bianyu’s gentle demeanor, Lin Minzhi, who was the successor to the head of the sect, had a lot of authority. In front of outsiders, his emotions rarely show, and only in front of his relatives, would he show a little. But Lin Rufei knew clearly that his iron-faced brother was more soft-hearted than his second brother. Some things, it was easier to beg him rather than Lin Bianyu.

But these things weren’t worth letting outsiders know, so everyone thought that Lin Minzhi was not easy to get along with.

Lin Rufei saw Lin Minzhi was dumbfounded by Wan Yao, so he also smiled. 

Wan Yao said: “Xiao Jiu, you come with me.” He waved at Lin Rufei, indicating for Lin Rufei to follow him to the inner room.

Lin Rufei got up, adjusted the fox fur on his body, and followed Wan Yao inside.

Lin Minzhi sat in place. He picked up a cup of hot tea and took a sip before lifting his eyes towards the window. It was snowing hard outside covering the land in a blanket of white. The distant mountains were not visible and there was no essence of Spring at all. It was like Lin Rufei’s light-colored eyes, never knowing when it would melt.  

Wan Yao’s inner room was set up with a huge sand table, typically used for his divination. He stopped by the sand table and gestured for Lin Rufei to sit across from him.

Wan Yao said, “Xiao Jiu, look at the sand table and tell me what you see.” With a wave of his long sleeves, he spread the sand on the sand table into a thin layer.

Lin Rufei was slightly nervous: “Mr. Wan, are you going to tell my fortune again?”

Wan Yao smiled lightly: “Sort of.”

Lin Rufei hummed an agreement then turned his eyes towards the sand table. Gradually, the golden sand on the sand table began to slowly wriggle, almost like it had a life. It slowly formed into some abstract patterns and Lin Rufei looked at it with some confusion. However, as time passed, the picture also started to become more clear. Lin Rufei saw two fishes on the sand table. 

Two struggling fish, as if they were about to die of thirst. They were in a small puddle, wiggling their bodies and spitting out bubbles, trying hard to moisten each other.

Lin Rufei was suddenly a little dizzy and reached out using the sandbox as support. The picture then shifted. One of the two fish leaped out of the puddle and it seemed to be swimming into the wide ocean. Soon, its figure disappeared into the distance, gradually further and further away.

The sand table calmed down.

Lin Rufei’s face was white and Wan Yao hastily helped him to sit down.

“Xiao Jiu?” He called out Lin Rufei’s name with some concern.

Lin Rufei forced a smile, “Mr. Wan, I don’t quite understand.”

“What did you see?” Wan Yao asked.

Lin Rufei described the scene he saw in detail to Wan Yao. The more Wan Yao listened, the quieter he got. After Lin Rufei finished, his eyes furrowed in sorrow: “Moistening each other, forget Jianghu[2]…… Xiao Jiu, which would you choose?”

This was the story in Zhuangzi[3].

People help each other in humble circumstances, complimenting those in similar situations. The fishes that were trapped in the wagon rut could only spit bubbles between each other to moisten their bodies and survive. But he didn’t know if the words after “mutual help in humble circumstances” were worth forgetting each other in Jianghu. The sea was wide enough for the fish to leap. If you give up your attachment, you could also see the ocean, so you don’t have to be trapped in the marks of a small wheel.

Lin Rufei had read Zhuangzi and naturally understood these truths.

“I don’t know.” Lin Rufei offered a pale smile, “But some years ago, didn’t Mr. Wan divine my fortune for me?……”

Wan Yao said, “Life and breath, the trigrams of all life. Some people’s lives cannot be seen through divination.”

Lin Rufei’s eyes suddenly brightened up a bit.

Wan Yao said: “Oh well. If I ask you now, you might not be able to understand.” He had a head of white and had a compassionate look, like the Buddha sitting in the temple, “Go back. Thinking it through slowly might be best. Also, that cherry blossom tree is indeed your destiny. Although blessing and disaster are unpredictable, it is still better than the life of a pool of stagnant water.”

Lin Rufei balled his hand into fists[4] and bowed.

The two were still talking when a bird’s song resounded from outside the house. Lin Rufei raised his eyes to see a beautiful green-feathered eagle resting on the edge of the window.

He recognizes this eagle, it was Lin Bianyu’s messenger. But nowadays, if something was happening, Lin Bianyu would tell him personally and would rarely used the eagle. 

“Yo, Xiao Qingluan, why did you come over.” Wan Yao smiled and reached out, Qingluan then flew into the house and landed on his arm.

Wan Yao said, “Does Tian Jue have something urgent?”

Qingluan opened its mouth and emitted a sound that was exactly like Lin Bianyu. Except, this voice was a bit more gloomy: “Immediately notify my elder brother to come back to the mountain. Someone has come with the Qiong Hua order.” 

When Wan Yao and Lin Rufei heard this, their faces changed slightly.

Qiong Hua order. Only the Kunlun Sect master could issue this order. The one who holds this order, regardless of identity or origin, the Kunlun Sect must fulfill any of their requests.

The Qiong Hua order had not been seen for a hundred years. Now that it had suddenly appeared, there was a sense of foreboding.

********

The author has something to say:

The two brothers were sour: little brother has grown up, he won’t let us hug him anymore.

Lin Rufei: ……….. I am already twenty something!

The two brothers: Even if you’re twenty something, you’re still our little brother. You’ll always be our little brother.

Lin Rufei: Why do I feel like you guys are cursing?  

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[1] Eldest young master. 

[2] Rivers and Lakes: basically a word for the martial arts world. 

[3] Daoist author (369-286 BC) 

[4] I think I forgot to footnote this last time, but here it is. 

Chapter 10: The Swordsman Wang Teng

(t/n) Just wanted to clarify some things, Kunlun Sect and Kunlun Sword Sect are both the same. Sometimes the author adds the “sword” in the name, and sometimes the author doesn’t. I just follow what the author has written. 

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The Kunlun Sect had not seen the Qiong Hua Order in a hundred years. Now that it suddenly appeared, there was a sense of foreboding.

With the Qiong Hua Order out, something big must have happened. Wan Yao looked grave and told this matter to Lin Minzhi.

After Lin Minzhi finished listening, he got up to say goodbye and looked towards Lin Rufei: “Xiao Jiu, I’ll send you back to the courtyard first, okay?”

“I’ll go with big brother.” Lin Rufei knew that the matter was urgent and could not be delayed, so he said, “So as to not delay.”

Lin Minzhi thought for a moment and then nodded his head. This was indeed an urgent matter, so there should be no mistakes.

So he pushed Lin Rufei and went straight to the front mountain.

At this time, there were already a lot of Lin children and disciples gathered in the front hall, and when they saw Lin Rufei and Lin Minzhi, they all bowed. But after the salute, many people’s eyes quietly fell on Lin Rufei.

In the Kunlun Sect, although there was only Lin Qionglou who was with direct lineage, there were countless side branches of the family. These disciples knew that the Lin family had four children, but Lin Rufei rarely showed his face, so not many people have seen him. So when they saw Lin Minzhi pushing a handsome young man in fox fur with a pale face, they all more or less casted some curious glances.

Lin Rufei was also used to such stares, so he looked indifferent as if he did not hear them.

“Why is Rufei also here?” In front of the people, Lin Bianyu did not call Lin Rufei by his nickname. He slowly walked out from the crowd and his black eyes were heavy, seemingly unhappy.

“I’m the one who wanted to come along to take a look.” Before Lin Minzhi could answer, Lin Rufei spoke first, “I’m a little worried about my second brother.”

Lin Bianyu smiled as he swept away his displeasure, “Second brother is fine, so there is no need for Rufei to worry.”

Lin Minzhi said helplessly, “Let’s get down to business first, is the Qiong Hua Order real?”

“Naturally.” Lin Bianyu’s voice turned cold, “Would someone dare come to Kunlun with a fake Qiong Hua Order to seek death?”

“Where is the person?” Lin Minzhi asked.

“In the tea room.” Lin Bianyu said, as he stepped forward and walked behind Lin Rufei’s wheelchair, “I’ll do it.”

Lin Minzhi sighed and did not argue with his brother.

In the tea room, light incense curled. They pushed open the bead curtains and Lin Rufei saw the holder of the Qiong Hua Order—the one who the Kunlun Sect regarded as a big enemy. It was just that when he saw this man, he could not help but be shocked. Lin Minzhi also noticed his reaction. 

“Rufei has seen this person?” Lin Minzhi asked in a low voice.

“When I went down to the mountains with Fu Hua once before, I had seen him once by the bridge.” Lin Rufei said.

That day there was drizzling rain. With the sound of the flute, the swordsman wearing a hat was leaning against the bridge. He was singing to the rain in the cool breeze full of the remaining sword intent. The most impressive was his pair of cerulean eyes that peaked out through the bamboo hat, as if it was dipped in the water of the finest jade. It carried a hint of coolness—really beautiful. 

At this time, the swordsman by the bridge sat in the tea room of the Kunlun Sect. He was still wearing the bamboo hat with a black veil and was holding onto the sword hilt at his waist. 

On the table in front of him, there was a small token made with a jadeite base and gold threads. This was the Qiong Hua Order that Lin Rufei had never seen before.

Lin Minzhi walked up to the swordsman and said, “How should I address this honorable one?”

The swordsman spoke, his voice hoarse: “Wang Teng[1].”

Lin Minzhi said, “Since Mr. Wang has come to the Kunlun Mountains with the Qiong Hua Order, he is an honored guest of the Kunlun Sect. However, my father is still in seclusion, so if you make a request that is beyond my ability, you will have to wait until my father comes out of seclusion to fulfill the promise.” He had only taken over part of the affairs of the Kunlun Sect now, and there were still some things that were not up for him to decide.

Wang Teng said, “No need for him, you can meet my requirements now.”

With these words, the atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

Lin Minzhi and Lin Bianyu both looked quite grave. They stared deadly at Wang Teng and they vaguely sensed that Wang Teng’s request did not seem to be as easy as he said.

“I want to have a sword competition.” Wang Teng’s tone was calm and sounded emotionless, “With the most powerful swordsman on these Kunlun Mountains.”

Lin Minzhi and Lin Bianyu were both relieved, this request was hardly a request. The Kunlun Sect was known for its swordplay and swordplay was as common as drinking and eating here.

However, Wang Teng continued: “This sword match, I will use all my strength. No matter life or death, no one is allowed to intervene.”

Lin Bianyu felt something in his heart and with a smile, he said, “I don’t know who Mr. Wang would like to have a sword fight with. With my father in seclusion, if my sword skills are number two, then no one dares ask who number one is.”

“Lin Bianyu!” Lin Minzhi scolded angrily in a low voice, “Who gave you permission to interrupt!”

Lin Bianyu smiled, “Brother, are my words false?”

Naturally, there was no falseness. However, this Wang Teng person in front of him did not know the advantages and disadvantages of things. When Lin Bianyu spoke out, he just wanted Wang Teng to direct his attention to himself. He did not feel comfortable letting Lin Minzhi go and Lin Minzhi did not feel comfortable letting his brother go. If the other could take out the Qiong Hua Order and make such a request, he was definitely not someone that was going to be easy to deal with. 

Wang Teng’s gaze indeed fell onto Lin Bianyu.

Although the black veil on the bamboo hat formed a temporary barrier, Lin Rufei could feel that the air was filled with anxiousness. 

“It is said that the swordplay at the Kunlun Sect is one of a kind.” Wang Teng said, “Then I naturally want to find the most powerful swordsman on this mountain to compete with.” He spoke extremely slowly as if he was spitting out each word with all his might.

Lin Bianyu smiled with relief, “Naturally”

However, who knew that Wang Teng would change his tone as he continued coldly, “Unfortunately, you are not the most powerful swordsman on these Kunlun Mountains.”

The smile on Lin Bianyu’s face disappeared instantly and Tian Xiao, that was slung at his waist, also buzzed slightly. He said expressionlessly, “Does Mr. Wang intend to wait until my father comes out of seclusion?”

Wang Teng said indifferently, “Foolish.”

Lin Bianyu stiffly suppressed his anger: “What makes you say that?”

Wang Teng said, “Lin Qionglou has been in seclusion for five years and has not even broken to the next realm, so is he still worthy of being called the number one swordsman?” He raised his hand, with a hint of excitement in his tone, “Good thing you still have someone on the Kunlun Mountains who won’t let me down—” He raised his hand and pointed to the person beside Lin Bianyu, “I want to compete with him.”

The person beside Lin Bianyu was not Lin Minzhi, but Lin Rufei, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a face pale like paper.

All of a sudden, Lin Bianyu and Lin Minzhi’s expressions turned as ugly as can be.

Lin Minzhi said, “Mr. Wang, my younger brother Lin Rufei is weak and has never practiced sword fighting. You want to compete with him? I’m afraid he’s not suitable.”

Wang Teng said coldly, “Lin Da Gongzi, is my Qiong Hua Order fake?”

Lin Minzhi’s face turned livid and the back of Lin Bianyu’s hand, that was holding the hilt of Tian Xiao, was bursting with light-colored veins. It was obvious that he had exerted himself to the extreme as he gritted out the words: “Mr. Wang actually wanted to find someone who hadn’t cultivated before to compete with swords?”

Wang Teng replied: “Yes.”

If not for Lin Minzhi’s quick eyes and hands holding down Lin Bianyu’s hand, he was afraid Tian Xiao would be unsheathed by now.

Facing the murderous Lin Bianyu, Wang Teng snorted. He slightly held his hat and his pair of turquoise eyes appeared: “Lin Da Gongzi, I will ask once again, this competition, is it possible or not?”

“Possible.” Lin Rufei, who was sitting in a wheelchair, opened his mouth lightly. His voice was not loud, but it was like a drum that shook heavily against Lin Minzhi’s and Lin Bianyu’s chests.

Lin Rufei had a gentle expression, as if he was agreeing to something unimportant. He said slowly: “According to the rules of the Kunlun Sect, with the Qiong Hua Order in hand, Kunlun Sect will agree to all of Mr. Wang’s requests. It’s just that I have truly never practiced swordplay, so if I really compete, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you enjoy yourself.”

Wang Teng said: “Then I will have misjudged.”

“Rufei!” Lin Bianyu’s expression was extremely ugly. He grabbed Lin Rufei’s shoulder, “Don’t talk anymore, stop messing around!”

“Brother.” Lin Rufei twisted his head to look at Lin Bianyu. After clearly seeing the expression on Lin Bianyu’s face, his heart ached a little. It had probably been many years, but Lin Bianyu had never shown such a wretched look. Those eyes, which had always contained a smile, even took on some not-so-subtle supplication.

He was praying, praying for his beloved brother to back down. As long as Lin Rufei did not agree, even if the rules of the Kunlun Sect were broken, he did not care.

However, Lin Bianyu was destined to be disappointed.

Lin Rufei’s light-colored eyes held no signs of backing down. He looked at him and said word by word: “Second brother, you must not forget that my surname is also Lin.”

Lin Bianyu’s body trembled tremendously.

That was right. Although Lin Rufei was weak, he was also surnamed Lin, ah. On the Kunlun Mountains, the people who were surnamed Lin did not fear life or death, nor did they cower away. This was the brother of Lin Bianyu, even if he had never learned the sword.

Even so, was he supposed to just watch Lin Rufei die under Wang Teng’s sword?

Lin Bianyu took a step back and stopped talking.

Lin Minzhi tried his best to control his voice, but his slightly trembling voice revealed his feelings at this moment: “I wonder when Mr. Wang would like to have a sword competition with Rufei?”

“I have a lot of places to go and I’m also very busy.” Wang Teng said, “So tomorrow is fine. You guys set the place.”

Lin Minzhi replied with an “okay.”

Wang Teng got up and was about to leave the tea room, but when he crossed paths with Lin Bianyu, he paused slightly and said seriously, “Your killing intent is good, but unfortunately, your swordplay is still three points short.”

Lin Bianyu’s face was expressionless: “Is that so.”

Wang Teng said: “In a few years, perhaps I would still be interested in fighting with you, but unfortunately.” He held his hat and said coldly, “You are not worthy of my sword now.”

Lin Rufei could see that Lin Bianyu was using all his strength to control the urge to draw his sword, and he didn’t move a single bit until Wang Teng walked far, far away.

Lin Minzhi also stood still and the atmosphere in the tea room was frighteningly stiff.

Lin Rufei had to wheel his chair to the tableside himself as he casually picked up the piece of Qiong Hua Order, laughing: “It is my first time seeing this thing, I did not expect it to be so beautiful.”

“Xiao Jiu—” Lin Minzhi called out.

“Brother, I know what you want to say.” Lin Rufei said calmly, “You guys have protected me for more than twenty years, I just want to protect you guys for once like how you guys have protected me.”

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The author has something to say:

Lin Bianyu: My brother is poor, weak and helpless. Someone actually wants to bully him ! ! ! !

Wang Teng: If you hadn’t mention it, I thought the mountain peak was cut down by you.

Lin Bianyu: My brother is poor, weak and helpless, he simply cut down a peak and someone wants to bully him! ! !

Wang Teng: ? ? ? ? ?

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[1] Wang Teng means King dragon.