Unsterblichkeit, Unsterblichkeit

Kapitel 20

Sword and Soft Manor: Never Bully a Young Man in the Martial World (Part 1)

The sky is vast and blue, the fields are boundless and green, and the wind blows the grass low, revealing cattle and sheep.

A gentle breeze rustled across the boundless grassland. The weather, crisp and clear in late summer and early autumn, was punctuated by slivers of sunlight filtering through the thick white clouds, casting a soft, golden glow on the swaying foxtail grass by the roadside. Meihua and Xuansheng, driving the horse-drawn carriage, seemed deeply moved by this peaceful afternoon. They slowed their pace, letting the horses graze leisurely as they admired the rural scenery along the way.

Inside the carriage, however, was a different scene altogether. Ye Shuangjing and Du Cheshui were both lying on the comfortable cushions, pretending to be dead. After the chase, Ye Shuangjing, who was not suited for the fighting and killing of the martial arts world, and Du Cheshui, who was very particular about the details of life, instinctively decided to spend all the time they weren't being held at gunpoint by the enemy on their heads by sleeping. So when they saw Baiyun and Jinguan guarding the foot of the mountain and the carriage behind them, the two of them rushed in without saying a word, sprawled out, put on their pillows, and fell asleep.

The master of Chongchonglou was fast asleep, his head resting on his hand. His long hair, like flowing spring water, meandered and trailed on the ground, lingering and spreading. The deep purple brocade robe he had changed into draped layer upon layer on the soft cushion, revealing different colors. His skin was fair, his eyelashes were long, and he still held a wine bottle in one hand. The master was like a green willow gently caressing a rock, languid and slightly drunk, exuding an indescribable charm.

In his arms lay Shuangjing, who was as cuddly as a kitten, her breathing rising and falling evenly as she slept soundly in his arms. Though no longer a girl, she still retained a childlike quality in her sleep. Her pale, delicate face held a serene peace, and her hair cascaded down like a waterfall, sparkling and scattered around her. On the wide sleeves of her light-colored robe were tiny pear blossoms, spread around her like fallen petals.

When Xuan Sheng looked back from the front seat, this was the scene he saw.

Optical fibers danced in the air, and sunlight streamed down quietly, gently draping them in a thin veil.

Inside the carriage's soft sleeper, a powerful young master and a once-glorious legendary woman leaned against each other, fast asleep.

Suddenly, the scene felt incredibly familiar, as if they had been sleeping peacefully together like this for a very, very long time.

Ignoring the slight irritation in his heart, he turned around and continued driving, but unconsciously slowed down and reduced the bumps of the carriage.

Mei Hua glanced at him expressionlessly, picked up an apple beside her, and took a big bite.

"You mistook that fruit for Che Shui's head, didn't you?" Xuan Sheng thought speechlessly as he watched her wolf down the fruit.

"What kind of person was she before?" After a long while, he slowly asked.

"?" Plum Blossom, munching on an apple, looked at him questioningly. "Who??"

"Shuang Jing... what kind of person was she before she was injured?" Was she like this too... special?

“Oh…” Plum Blossom nodded as if she understood, then turned to look at the road that seemed to stretch to the horizon. After thinking for a moment, she said, “I have never seen her before. I have only heard about her…” She said calmly, “Although I was young then, I already knew what kind of person the words ‘peerless beauty’ were. But that was… five years ago.”

That year, heroes emerged from all corners of the martial world.

At the Tianya Altar, held only once every hundred years at Fengdai Pavilion, the young master of the Seven Stones Sect and the second young master of Chongchonglou will face off in a decisive battle.

On the south bank of the Bai'an River, Shen Tiansha, the leader of the Ziwei Hall, took over the position, revitalized the gang, and made it a leading gang in the Jiangnan area.

In the same year, Xuan Sheng, the second young master of Half Moon City, left the city to avenge his master. He broke into the Flower Robe Hall with his pair of Night Sky Swords and became famous throughout the world.

That spring, on the shore of Taiping Lake in Yushu City, four young men and women met.

"Two months later, four men broke into Jianrou Manor and stole two treasures. Jianrou Manor is famous as the number one thief manor in the world, and there are only two rules to follow there. First, 'Thieves must be careful not to get caught,' and second, 'Being robbed is no big deal.'" Lin Meihua said, looking at the gradually forming hillside in front of her. "It's impossible to count how many people are in this gang. Perhaps all the thieves in the world are their disciples. It is said that they help and support each other. If a thief is arrested by the government, he can whistle a tune for help in prison, and then the people of Jianrou Manor will send someone to rescue him. I heard that the government strictly forbids people from whistling because of this, and those who do so will have their tongues cut off."

"Doesn't that mean there's no law?" Xuan Sheng frowned, disliking the gang's behavior.

"That's just a folk tale. I think Jianrou Manor must be quite clever to have survived for so long. But there must be examples of rescuing thieves, as long as the rules are followed."

"rule?"

“Yes, didn’t I say that the Sword Soft Manor’s rule is that its disciples ‘have no complaints if they are robbed’?” Plum Blossom shrugged. “That’s because the thieves inside are divided into eight levels. Generally, those who are sent to the prison to rescue others are disciples of level four or above. However, if these people fail and are caught, then they are expelled from the gang and have nothing to do with Sword Soft Manor anymore.”

"What?" Xuan Sheng was slightly taken aback. "That's really strange. This gang seems enthusiastic, but they're actually quite ruthless."

“Indeed,” Plum Blossom laughed. “That’s why I say the reason Sword Soft Manor has survived until now is because it has its own unique strengths. Those who are worth rescuing from prison must be outstanding individuals, while those who are caught and eliminated are just half-baked thieves not worth training. However…” She paused, “After being released from prison, they can still rejoin the gang. Sword Soft Manor will accept all kinds of people, as long as you have the will to steal.”

“This Sword Soft Manor is really… interesting.” Xuan Sheng said thoughtfully, “It’s not easy to straddle both the righteous and the wicked, to be both good and evil.”

“Indeed.” Mei Hua glanced at Xuan Sheng with a hint of surprise and smiled deeply. “In this world, where are things clearly black and white?” She sighed deeply, then thought of something else. “Anyway, all I’ve said is to tell you that stealing and being stolen from is the most common thing in Jianrou Manor. Moreover, since this gang doesn’t have any other rules or laws, these two regulations are strictly observed. Therefore… five years ago, the two things you stole that made such a gang chase you around for most of Jiangnan must have been quite important.”

Xuan Sheng remained silent. He really wanted to ask, what did it mean to 'chase after you'? He had spent his entire life in Half-Moon City; this was his first time venturing into the martial world. But for some reason, as the days passed, he increasingly doubted the authenticity of these memories.

Mei Hua could tell what he was thinking at a glance, but since she was neither Che Shui, Shuang Jing, nor Tian Sha, she couldn't say anything. So she simply said casually, "Doubting the past isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you doubt your present and future, that's true confusion."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Sheng was slightly shaken, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply lowered his eyes, somewhat involuntarily wanting to look behind him.

Inside the carriage, the soft snoring of Che Shui drifted in. The carriage jolted slightly as it passed a small bump, and Shuang Jing, pouting and muttering in her sleep, turned over. Feeling a chill in her stomach, she pulled Che Shui's sleeve over herself. Xuan Sheng watched as she sniffed the clothes draped over her, closed her eyes, chuckled softly, and continued sleeping. He couldn't help but smile faintly as well.

This carefree state of being both clean and free is truly wonderful.

Even if he truly had no memory of that woman, even if they would be separated by vast distances in the future, he genuinely hoped she could live a peaceful and happy life. This had nothing to do with romance; it was simply the affection that had settled after they had relied on each other along the way. For him, that was all. At least, that's what he thought.

Suddenly he felt the plum blossom beside him tremble slightly. Just as he was about to turn around and ask her what was wrong, he heard an extremely lazy cry that shattered the peaceful tranquility of the road. It sounded like a baby crying, carried on the wind from who-knows-where.

"Meow----"

A cat?

The two looked left and right, and saw a large brown cat with white markings sitting on a rock by the roadside, its bright green eyes staring at them without moving.

"..."

"..."

"Um..." Xuan Sheng spoke first, but didn't know what to say. Were they going to greet a cat?

"...We should be there soon." It was Plum Blossom beside her who spoke. Staring intently at the huge, fat cat, she nervously placed her hand on the weapon at her waist and murmured, "The master of Sword Soft Manor knows we're here."

"?" Xuan Sheng looked at her in confusion, then turned to look at the cat.

Then, as if it knew what Lin Meihua had said in the carriage, the cat strangely narrowed its eyes, as if it were smiling, and then suddenly jumped off the rock and ran away in a flash, disappearing into the roadside bushes after only a few steps. That speed wasn't particularly fast for its fat and heavy body.

"?!" Xuan Sheng raised an eyebrow, looking at Mei Hua with a strange expression. Just now... a cat smiled at them? Cats can smile?!

"Let's go." Plum Blossom breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the reins, and started to ride. "Shall we get to Jianrou Manor before the sun sets?"

Xuan Sheng was about to ask why when he understood.

They're all a bunch of thieves; if they operate at night, they'll definitely be at a disadvantage.

Sword and Soft Manor: Don't Bully a Young Man in the Jianghu 2

A group of people arrived at the gate of Jianrou Manor as the sunset was just beginning and the sky was filled with colorful clouds.

This notorious thieving manor is located on a hillside of moderate height. The path from the entrance to the manor isn't long, but it's said to be teeming with hidden weapons and thieves lurking in the shadows, ready to ambush any visitors with ill intentions. Plum Blossom and Xuan Sheng discussed it for a moment, deciding that encountering that cat halfway up was indeed too eerie. They reasoned that it was better to be cautious and decided to charge up with their weapons.

The carriage swayed and rattled as it arrived at the door. It was alright when it passed through the grassland and flat land. Although there were some small potholes on the dirt road, it was still relatively flat. However, the closer they got to Jianrou Manor, the more difficult the road became. Xuansheng and Meihua were almost thrown off the carriage halfway through their journey. They had to wake up the two people sleeping in the back and carry Shuangjing and push Cheshui forward.

When she reached the entrance, Shuangjing was still half asleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked up. She saw a winding road stretching from the bottom of the slope up the mountain. Countless stone pillars with lanterns hung along the roadside. Rows of lights flickered with a faint glow in the night, like ghostly fire spreading densely to the top of the hillside. A large archway hung in front of her, with four powerful characters engraved on it: "The Path of the Great Way".

"The Great Way prevails?" Xuan Sheng looked at those words with some astonishment: "The Great Way prevails, and the world belongs to all?"

“Yes,” Che Shui said with a yawn, “If the world were truly a unified place, Jianrou Manor wouldn’t exist, right? Therefore, conspiracies would not arise, and theft and banditry would not occur. So the existence of the world’s number one thief manor is actually a creation of the world.”

"Pfft..." Plum Blossom couldn't help but laugh: "How shameless! So, it's as if the world forced them to steal?"

"When you're in the martial world, you're not always in control of your own destiny," Che Shui replied with a smile.

Xuan Sheng couldn't help but smile. This bunch of thieves were quite adorable, able to justify themselves so confidently. Although it sounded a bit shameless and brazen, it wasn't annoying. Instead, it had a touch of helplessness and cynicism in it. Upon deeper reflection, these words, placed here, also had a rather ironic and thought-provoking effect.

"Meow—" Suddenly a cat's meow rang out, echoing in the quiet, dark night, creating an eerie and desolate feeling.

"Holy crap..." Che Shui was jolted awake, feeling the hairs on his body stand on end, all sleepiness gone. He couldn't help but shudder and ask, "What the hell place is this?"

“Look…!” Plum Blossom pointed to the side and whispered, “A cat.”

Everyone turned to look, and there sat a completely black cat behind the stone pillars of the archway, seemingly observing them with a mixture of curiosity and elegance. Its entire body was black, almost melting into the darkening night behind it, its eyes a clear, emerald green that gleamed eerily in the dim lamplight. It meowed again, tilting its head slightly, as if gesturing towards them and beckoning them to come in.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Am I the only one who thinks this scene is strange?" Che Shui looked at the seemingly charming cat and asked somewhat speechlessly.

"I heard that the owner of Jianrou Manor likes cats. This must be his pet, right?" Plum Blossom said, frowning.

"Are those those too?" Shuangjing raised her hand and pointed up the hillside.

Not far away, a full moon rose, casting countless shadows on the road on the hillside. Looking up, they saw that they were suddenly surrounded by cats. Dozens, even hundreds, of wild cats stared at them with their bright eyes, like flickering ghostly flames. The mournful cries of the cats rang out, sending chills down their spines and making their scalps tingle. Xuan Sheng and Mei Hua, watching, instinctively reached for their weapons at their waists, ready to charge at any moment.

But suddenly, a series of charming and melodious laughs came from all directions.

"The moonlight is so beautiful, it's not advisable to go out. So, I suppose the person who came here is not a brother or sister who wants to join my manor?" The voice was cold and seductive, like a nightingale's song. Everyone looked around and saw a woman sitting on the high archway. Because she was backlit, her face was not clearly visible.

"Jianrou Manor is not receiving guests tonight, please return home." She leaned against the archway and smiled lazily, casually stroking a cat that had somehow jumped next to her: "Otherwise, if my cat gets angry, its claws won't discriminate."

Upon hearing this, Plum Blossom couldn't help but curl her lip: "Tch... just a bunch of cats." After saying that, she rolled up her sleeves and drew two short swords with a whoosh, which gleamed in the moonlight. She raised an eyebrow and smiled: "I heard that Sword Soft Manor stole the imperial Qinlu Tea from the palace a few years ago. I'd like to try it."

"How did you know...?" the woman asked with a hint of surprise, then smiled knowingly. "You must be Lin Meihua, the head of the Plum Blossom Hall of Tianxia Inn." She tilted her head slightly, and the moonlight shining on her face reflected a faint glow. Everyone looked closely and realized that half of the woman's face was covered by an exquisitely crafted mask. Her right cheek was covered by a deep purple mask with silver and red patterns. She wore a high ponytail and black night clothes, and three strings of silver earrings jingled crisply as she spoke.

"It is I."

"Oh? You're just a spy from Tianxia Inn, yet you dare to break into the number one thief's manor in the world?" she asked with a slightly cold smile.

"You!" Plum Blossom was speechless with anger, unable to think of a reply for a moment. She pointed at her and laughed angrily, saying, "Tch, just a catwoman, how dare you speak to me, the world's number one detective, like that?"

Having said that, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and leaped high into the air, flying over the woman sitting steadily on the archway. As he passed by her, he softly said, "I'm determined to savor your esteemed Qinglu tea tonight!"

"You!" The woman's pupils constricted; she hadn't heard a sound from Mei Hua's movements! She was about to turn and grab her, but Mei Hua was already several feet away, rushing inside. She snorted coldly, and several thin silver needles appeared between her fingers, which she was about to throw in Mei Hua's direction when someone gently pressed her wrist. Turning her head, she saw Xuan Sheng's expressionless face behind her. Before she could utter a sound, she felt a sharp pain in her back; her pressure points had been sealed, rendering her immobile.

"Miss, I'm sorry to offend you," Xuan Sheng said apologetically, then followed the plum blossoms and rushed into the vast darkness of the night, heading up the hillside.

"You!" The woman was actually fixed to the archway and sat there motionless, only able to stare at them angrily.

"Ah..." Shuangjing and Cheshui stood there blankly, staring at the two of them, the latter still raising her hand as if to stop them.

“Um…” They looked at each other.

"What kind of adjective is 'catwoman'?" Shuangjing asked after thinking for a moment.

“She should look similar to her, right?” Che Shui nodded in response, pointing to the girl who was frozen on the archway.

Sword and Soft Manor: Don't Bully a Young Man in the Jianghu (Part 3)

"Drink!" A silver dagger slashed across the calf. The person wielding the longsword was about to pounce on Plum Blossom, but before they could turn around, a sharp pain shot through their knee, and they collapsed to the ground. Looking back, the two figures had already vanished into the night-shrouded courtyard, disappearing into the light of the pavilion ahead.

He hurriedly shouted, "They're heading towards Tingyu Pavilion!" As soon as he finished speaking, he saw many dark figures leap over the wall, and with a few leaps, they followed the two men and flew away.

"What a nuisance!" Plum Blossom frowned as she looked at the black shadows flying around her. With a light tap of her toes, she spun around and turned to face the people following closely behind. With a flick of her right hand, countless silver threads shot out from her sleeves like arrows, passing through the shoulders, arms, and legs of the men, causing their skin to tear and their flesh to rip open. The men lost their balance and fell to the ground.

Having gained a brief respite, Mei Hua and Xuan Sheng quickened their pace and hurried forward.

Jianrou Manor truly lived up to its reputation as the number one thief manor in the world. The houses and courtyards on the hillside were so chaotic that it was impossible to tell which way was which—it was indeed a den of thieves. After the two fought off wave after wave of thieves trying to stop them and reached the entrance, all they saw were countless identical, simple wooden huts, leaning precariously against each other. They had no idea where Hua Wushuang's house was, so they had to jump high and look far to search, causing chaos throughout Jianrou Manor.