SS CH1

In the seventh month, the Fire Star begins to set, and falling leaves flutter in the air.

The southern region is full of water towns. However, the season has already passed, and the magnificent scenery of lotus leaves reaching the sky has now been reduced to nothing but dilapidation. Wild ferry crossings are usually desolate, but today, unprecedentedly, a guest arrived.

The guest wore a black cloak, the hood concealing most of his face. Beneath his feet was a small boat he had obtained from who knows where, not even having a thatched roof.

He had been standing here for nearly three shichen (six hours), from sunset until the moon reached the middle of the sky. It was as if his feet had taken root, completely unmoving. After a while more, a cool breeze blew past, accompanied by the sound of falling leaves being stepped on. A person dressed in night-walking clothes approached from afar, treading along a path overgrown with wild grass.

Before getting close, he first bowed deeply in a grand salute. “This subordinate is late. Apologies for making the Venerable Lord wait so long.”

“The battle at Jinghan Pass has just concluded, and the journey is long; it is not your fault.” The cloaked man waved his hand, signaling him to step forward. His voice was somewhat hoarse. “However, bringing a tail here, that is a massive mistake.”

Hearing this, the man in night clothes was greatly shocked. Having rushed all the way here, his mind had inevitably relaxed, not realizing someone had tailed him to this place. His thoughts shifted, gathering his inner energy to his ears and eyes, and he clearly detected the stealthy movements of no less than ten people in the wild forest behind him.

“This subordinate deserves death, I beg the Venerable Lord to…”

“If they want to make a move, I estimate I’d have to send men into the bellies of dogs to find your bones.” The cloaked man sneered and turned his head to look. He saw splashes of water as a small boat approached from the distance. Two people stood on it; one, a gray-robed man with unbound hair, attended respectfully from behind, while the other, dressed in white clothes and a jade crown, stood at the bow of the boat.

The white-clothed man held a long brocade box in both hands. His face was like a flawless jade disk, and his smile like a clear breeze. “Xiwei, I haven’t seen you in ten years. You’ve grown taller, and your temper has grown as well.”

“After many years, even a daughter-in-law becomes a mother-in-law. Who doesn’t have times when they’re unreasonable?” The cloaked man waved his sleeve, and the small boat silently glided across the water. Before the ripples could spread even two rings, he had already landed behind the white-clothed man. He reached back and pressed down on the saber at the gray-robed man’s waist, mocking, “Don’t show off your saber in front of Guan Gong, be careful not to smash your own foot.”

The gray-robed man’s pupils shrank. Catching a glimpse of the white-clothed man’s displeased sideways glance, he slowly released his grip, though his entire body remained tense.

“Your foundational skills are not bad, but your reactions are lacking. After so many years by your side, he’s only managed to train such a group of…” The cloaked man paused, switching to a slightly more euphemistic term: “…embroidered pillows (all looks and no substance).”

The white-clothed man coughed lightly. “Most of the Lueying Guards entered the sect with existing skills, and the Commander only handles missions and punishments. You truly wrong him with those words.”

“Brother Ziyu, you manage ten thousand affairs every day, why waste time with excessive words?” A gentle breeze brushed past, the cold seeping into the bones, making the cloaked man’s voice carry a hint of emerging chill as well. “What business do you have looking for me?”

“The Lueying Guards discovered your subordinate at Jinghan Pass. Originally, we thought he was a spy from the enemy army’s remnants.” The white-clothed man remained unmoved by his killing intent, calmly explaining the sequence of events. “After a period of tracking and investigation, we learned this person came for the Lueying Commander… Although the Lueying Guards are famous throughout the world, everyone’s identity is kept secret, not to mention the Commander’s? I thought about it over and over; the only person in this world who could know his identity and pay such close attention is you.”

The corner of the mouth beneath the hood twitched slightly. “Are you very disappointed to know I’m still alive and well?”

The white-clothed man shook his head, his palm brushing over the carved flying heron pattern on the brocade box. “Perhaps I was once, but now… Xiwei, knowing you are alive makes me very glad. At least I won’t dream of him being furious with me.”

The cloaked man’s figure froze, his gaze falling onto the brocade box, his voice growing even hoarser. “…What do you mean?”

“A month ago, the northern barbarian tribes invaded Jinghan Pass. You surely know of this; otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent someone to investigate.” Glancing at the night-walker surrounded by his subordinates on the pier, the white-clothed man’s tone gradually deepened. “Jinghan Pass is a crucial military location in the northern territory. Once the pass is broken, it’s no different from the country’s gates being thrown wide open. However, the barbarians had been plotting this for a long time, and this time…”

“Chu Xun, answer my question!” With a flick of his sleeve, the hood was thrown back by a strong gust of wind, revealing the cloaked man’s true face under the moonlight. He looked barely in his early twenties, with fine eyebrows and almond eyes, hair dark as spilled ink, born with a remarkably handsome appearance fit to attract flowers and provoke grass. Yet he pursed his thin lips into a straight line, his eyebrows slightly lowered, looking entirely like a sharp blade about to be unsheathed, aggressive to the extreme.

The royal family of the Great Chu dynasty took the country’s name as their surname. The current emperor had ascended the throne in his youth, implemented reforms, and reorganized military, political, and civil affairs. The new laws had gradually been rolled out; among the commoners, some cursed in anger while others praised. But even a young child knew that this emperor, who dared to change the ancestral laws, was named Chu Xun, courtesy name Ziyu.

Being rudely interrupted, the Son of Heaven was neither annoyed nor angry, merely continuing to speak: “The defending general died in battle, and the military situation became critical. In the royal court, there were also stubborn, conservative old officials wrestling for power with me. So, I issued a secret order for the Lueying Guards to rush ahead to Jinghan Pass, granting them permission to act as they saw fit.”

The Jianghu and the royal court had clear boundaries. The government always left a sliver of leeway regarding martial arts affairs, and martial artists did not use their skills to violate bans or interfere with laws, thereby maintaining the delicate relationship between the royal court and the martial arts world over these years.

But the Lueying Guards were an exception.

Since ancient times, there have been countless instances of dynasty changes and empires changing hands. The Great Chu had only been passed down for three generations to date. The Supreme Ancestor (Gaozu) had risen from the ranks of the military and knew the affairs of the common people intimately. Therefore, after establishing the nation and ascending the throne, he secretly summoned martial arts experts to form a shadow guard, naming them “Lueying” (Glimpsing Shadow). Up to now, it had been over sixty years.

The late emperor was soft-natured and dissatisfied with the Lueying Guards’ methods, so he disbanded them, completely abandoning their use for a time. But the very first thing the current emperor did after ascending the throne was to re-establish Lueying, recruiting secret spies and assassins once again, forging the sharpest blade for himself.
A blade suspended over the necks of his enemies, ready to fall at any moment.

No one knew how many of them there were, no one knew where they hid, and even less did anyone know… who they were.

Chu Xun’s hand caressing the brocade box slowed down, and he spoke softly: “I told them to hold Jinghan Pass at any cost, but I never expected the cost would be…
“The barbarian forces were strong, and there were traitors inside the pass secretly communicating with the enemy. Out of one hundred and seventy-eight Lueying Guards, more than half were lost in just ten days… Finally, three days ago, when the enemy army had reached the city walls, he infiltrated the barbarians’ rear camp and assassinated their leader, Hutar.”

Where heavy military forces are gathered, infiltration is already fraught with extreme danger. Let alone assassinating the enemy commander and then being exposed amidst thousands of troops and tens of thousands of horses?

The cold wind slipped into his back like a venomous snake. He heard Chu Xun’s voice growing softer and softer: “After the battle, the Lueying Guards searched every single corpse, but unfortunately, most were already so mutilated they were impossible to identify…”

“Shut up…”

“In the end, they finally found him, pinned to the mountain cliff by ten thousand arrows. Not a single part of his body was intact, only his hand tightly gripping the Jinghong Saber.”

“I told you to shut up—”

With an explosive shout, the cloaked man chopped a palm toward Chu Xun’s face. The gray-robed man hurriedly raised his saber to meet it. Flesh and blade collided, yet not only was the skin and flesh unharmed, it even produced the sharp, metallic clang of gold striking stone. Before anyone could express astonishment, the cloaked man slashed his palm downward, and that four-finger-wide long saber was actually cleaved in two by his flesh-and-blood body!

The blade shattered, but the palm strike’s momentum remained undiminished. The cloaked man’s hand skimmed past like a white heron touching water; his fingers fluidly pinched a piece of the broken blade, and in the blink of an eye, it was already pressed against Chu Xun’s throat, while the remaining half of the broken saber still attached to the hilt only just fell to the ground.

The gray-robed man’s gaze turned chilling, and he raised his hand to signal his subordinates on the shore to surround them. But he heard Chu Xun smile faintly: “Good martial arts. Your mastery of this ‘Nianhua’ (Pinching the Flower) technique is no less than our master’s.”

The cloaked man’s mouth twitched. “I don’t believe a single word you say.”

“Yes, his words were always as weighty as nine tripods (a man of his word). Unfortunately… how can human calculations ever outmatch the will of Heaven?” Chu Xun slowly pushed the blade away, raising his hand to toss the brocade box into his arms. “He once said he would keep the head on his shoulders waiting for you to come and take it. But now, pierced by ten thousand arrows, his corpse was cremated and buried on the spot. All that’s left is this Jinghong… which I brought to you on his behalf.

“Chu Xiwei, all the matters of the past, the rights and wrongs, the gratitudes and grudges, have come to this… they are all settled.”

Having spoken, he suddenly struck out, bringing his fingers together like a sharp blade to rapidly hit a major acupoint on Chu Xiwei’s body. Chu Xiwei’s mind was in total chaos at the moment; caught off guard, his shoulder was struck by the finger thrust. It felt as if a burst of internal energy exploded between his bones and flesh. His face turned pale, and his entire body staggered back onto the swaying small boat. The fingers gripping the brocade box cracked loudly, and his tone was dreadfully cold: “Jinglei (Startling Thunder).”

“You and I come from the same sect. Over these ten years, I’ve spent day and night with Master; there’s no reason I wouldn’t be a match for you.” Chu Xun stood with his hands behind his back, his face still maintaining the demeanor of a jade-like gentleman. “The long night is about to dawn, it is time for me to return to the palace… I only hope that from now on, our paths never cross again.”

Water splashed, ripples shimmering. The small boat drifted silently away just as it had come, and the hidden guards on the pier vanished without a trace. The subordinate dressed in night clothes didn’t care to check his injuries, flying onto the end of the small boat and dropping to one knee. “This subordinate failed in his duties, please punish me, Venerable Lord!”

Chu Xiwei paid him no mind. With his left hand supporting the brocade box, his right hand went to feel for the brass lock. His figure, which was usually as steady as a boulder, swayed slightly, and his hands trembled terribly. It took him a long while to open the tiny latch. Only when he saw the completely black, sheathed long saber inside did he regain his calm.

A three-foot-long saber, two fingers wide. The scabbard was profound black, engraved with the posture of a wild goose spreading its wings, so lifelike it seemed it would break free from the bronze and iron in the next moment and fly into one’s eyes. The blade itself, however, was as bright as autumn water, as clear as white dew on reeds, reflecting a face as pale as paper by the moonlight.

Silently, tears streamed down his face.

“I cried…” He belatedly wiped his face, finding it soaking wet. “I can actually… still cry.”

He roughly wiped away his tears and tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to smile, but unfortunately, the smile looked uglier than crying.

He picked up the saber and began to laugh softly. “How could you… die? You clearly said you’d save your life waiting for me to take it… I didn’t permit it. How dare you go and die?”

After laughing for a long time, he choked on his breath, coughing several times, murmuring softly: “Master… how could you, die?”

His subordinate knelt behind him, naturally unable to see exactly what kind of expression his Venerable Lord wore right now.
Lost and helpless, like a child who couldn’t find his way home.

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