Author's Note: 4 chapters on July 23rd
16 17 18
16
"Who's been nice to her? I don't know her." Xuezhi said expressionlessly. "Lin Fengzi is a strange person. She always likes to bother me with weird reasons. She told you I'm her sister, right? To be honest, I don't know her at all."
Xia Qingmei smiled again: "Just as she described."
"However, the martial arts of Lingjian Manor and Xueyan Sect are indeed from the same lineage. Although Xueyan Sect uses whips, the overall form changes but the spirit remains the same, and the movements are quite beautiful. I admire them very much."
"In terms of beautiful movements, I think it should be the staff technique of Moonrise Valley. Many disciples in the manor have signed up for the Shaolin Weaponry Ranking Tournament just to see the First-Rank Divine Moon Staff."
"Moon Valley? You mean the Moon Valley that Shangguan Tou is from?"
"Yes. Young Master Shangguan had already made a name for himself in the martial arts world when he was young, and now he has become one of the most talked-about talents. The Master of the Manor also entered the martial arts world at a young age. Although he has not caused any major upheavals, his position has always been very stable. He has a very clear understanding of many things. He said that judging from Young Master Shangguan's personality and style, in a few years, he will definitely become the most eye-catching person in the martial arts world. He will either become a martial arts hero or a generation of villains."
"Could this be the reason he was expelled from Spirit Sword Manor?"
"No, no one knows why he was expelled, but what is certain is that he did something that angered the manor lord. Everyone saw the manor lord hit him, but when it came to investigating, some people said that he had discovered a big secret, but in reality, no one knows."
"So... then why didn't you recognize him at the conference?"
"I've never met him."
"No way? Wasn't he at Spirit Sword Manor before?"
"Yes, but Lingjian Manor is too big. My master and I are different and not in the same courtyard. When there are meetings or martial arts competitions in the manor, he never participates and always acts alone, so I have never even met him."
"What a strange person..." Xuezhi murmured. "It's getting late, I think I should go back to my room, otherwise I won't be able to get up tomorrow."
"I'm sorry, I completely forgot the time." Xia Qingmei stood up, took out a red sword tassel from her waist, and handed it to Xuezhi. "Miss Chong and I hit it off immediately. This is my greeting gift. Please accept it."
"Oh, is that so? But I haven't prepared anything..."
Xia Qingmei smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a small gift, nothing to mention."
After saying goodbye, Xuezhi returned to her room, swinging her sword tassel. She had assumed Mu Yuan had already left, but he was still sitting there. Upon seeing Xuezhi, Mu Yuan immediately stood up:
"Young Palace Master, the elders in the palace just sent word that there is something urgent and they want us to go back first thing tomorrow morning."
The next morning, Xuezhi led everyone away from Fengtian.
It was a day later when they arrived at Chonghuo Palace. When they climbed back up the mountain and saw the snow-white buildings on the hills where the river meandered, Xuezhi almost collapsed to the ground.
However, when she actually reached the entrance of the main hall, Xuezhi hesitated for a long time before slowly stepping inside.
Inside the main hall, thirty or forty senior disciples stood on either side, while the four elders sat at the far end. Master Chu Weilan and the newly appointed four protectors, who were currently training, stood behind them.
As soon as Xuezhi entered, everyone's eyes turned to her. The further she went in, the more she buried her head.
Mu Yuan and the four guardians followed him for a while, but each of them stopped when they reached their respective positions.
The Palace Master's seat and Elder Nangong's seat were empty at the moment. Elder Yuwen sat in the secondary seat next to the Palace Master's seat, silently watching Xuezhi without saying a word.
Elder Wen Gu was the first to speak:
"Young Palace Master, you must be tired from your long journey."
Xuezhi's forehead was still damp with a thin layer of sweat: "Not tired."
Elder Yuchi smiled and said, "Since you're not tired, your results must be pretty good, right?"
Looking at Elder Yuchi's smiling face, Xuezhi felt guilty even looking at him for a moment longer. She clenched her fists and lowered her head. The so-called urgent matter was actually another impeachment and reprimand. Everyone around her knew her ranking, but no one showed any emotion.
Finally, Elder Yuwen broke the awkward silence: "Young Palace Master, come with me."
He slowly descended the steps, leaning on his cane. Over the years, the elders had grown even older, and Elder Yuwen had become increasingly unfathomable, making him someone no one dared to approach.
Xuezhi followed him for a while, and knowing roughly where he was taking her, she stopped. Elder Yuwen, who was ahead, also stopped, but didn't turn around. Only after she took another step did he continue forward.
Through the side door at the end and through the corridor, Xuezhi stood in the mourning hall of the successive palace masters of Chonghuo Palace.
The mourning hall was spacious with a high ceiling; every step echoed within. A sparse incense offering created a deathly silence. The walls were covered with portraits of all the palace masters of Chonghuo Palace, each with a memorial tablet before it. Among them were several spirited or stern-faced female palace masters, but almost all appeared to be over fifty. The last portrait depicted a man, the youngest and most handsome of them all. His memorial tablet bore the two large characters: Chonglian.
"Kneel down." Elder Yuwen's voice came from the misty incense smoke.
Xuezhi immediately knelt down.
“Almost all the owners of the memorial tablets here were once powerful figures who dominated the martial arts world. Your father even became the number one person in the world at the age of fifteen.” Elder Yuwen pressed his hands on the end of his cane. “The reason why Chonghuo Palace is what it is today is because of these people, your ancestors, who built it bit by bit with their blood and tears.”
Xuezhi kept her head down and remained silent.
"And you, Chong Xuezhi, are about to turn seventeen, yet you haven't even mastered all the martial arts of Chonghuo Palace. You're about to inherit the position of Palace Master, yet you haven't even made it into the top ten of the Heroes' Tournament."
Xuezhi kept her head down and didn't say anything.
"How can you face Chonghuo Palace? How can you face your father who sacrificed himself for this martial arts family?"
Xuezhi gripped the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands, her fingertips pale.
"Tell me, how can you face them?" Elder Yuwen pointed at Chonglian's portrait again, his voice trembling. "How can you face him?"
Xuezhi lowered her head even further, her hands trembling slightly.
"Think it over carefully. Come out when you've made up your mind." Elder Yuwen said this and turned to leave.
At that moment, the portrait in front of me seemed to grow very, very tall.
Chong Xuezhi was kneeling in front of the portrait, tears falling drop by drop onto the floor.
The man, sitting upright, still had a smile on his lips, exuding unparalleled elegance.
17
Two weeks later, in the early morning.
It was early winter, and the days were getting longer and longer. Elder Yuchi was once again awakened by the sound of sword dancing outside his door. He put on his clothes and went outside. In the hazy grayness, he saw a figure moving back and forth in the sword practice area.
The sword flashed fiercely, and in the blink of an eye, several large rocks were shattered.
Xuezhi was covered in sweat, but she didn't make a sound. The sweat even spun and splashed down with each turn. Not long after, there was a loud clang, and the longsword in Xuezhi's hand was cleaved in two, flying away in a whirl.
Xuezhi then stopped what she was doing, sighed deeply, and slowly walked to the side, where she sat down on the ground.
Elder Yuchi walked over with a pleased smile.
Xuezhi wiped the sweat from her brow, removed the tassel from her longsword, and tossed the broken sword into a pile of other broken swords that had suffered the same fate. Then she grabbed a large bag from the roadside, took out another sword, and hung the tassel on it.
"If you don't want the sword anymore, what's the point of keeping the tassel?"
Xuezhi gasped in surprise, turned around, and it took her a while to come to her senses: "Elder? Ah, oh, this sword tassel, uh, I like it very much."
Elder Yuchi looked at her suspiciously: "Really?" He then looked at the sword tassel.
“Yes, it looks cooler with a sword tassel…” As he said this, he noticed that Elder Yuchi was staring at the sword tassel, and asked cautiously, “…What’s wrong?”
Elder Yuchi looked up and smiled slightly: "It's nothing, just practice hard."
After noon, Xuezhi collapsed on the lawn, too weak to stand up. Chu Weilan and Mu Yuan stood beside her, watching her helplessly. Zhu Sha squatted down, poked Xuezhi's stomach, and sighed, "Young Palace Master, you ate too much."
"My stomach hurts so much." Xuezhi tried to sit up, but failed the first time. She tried again, and failed again. Chu Weilan couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she grabbed her hand and pulled her up forcefully: "This can't go on. Don't rush things. Mu Yuan will teach you now; you can just watch."
Mu Yuan stood ramrod straight, his back to Xue Zhi. Then he swung his sword horizontally, the blade trembling rapidly and reflecting a blinding light. Then came a leg raise, a kick, a sheathing of the sword, another thrust, another sheathing, followed by a somersault and a counter-attack…
It is said that martial arts training is like painting. No matter how well someone paints, they can never paint exactly the same as the original. However, they can approach the exact same. Under the personal guidance and instruction of Chong Lian, Mu Yuan mastered almost all the moves of Chong Huo Palace to an ideal degree, with perfect accuracy.
The eighth level of the Chaotic Moon Sword. Because he wielded it so skillfully, Mu Yuan's silhouette looked remarkably like Chong Lian's.
Xuezhi blinked and whispered, "Brother Mu Yuan, you're really amazing..."
Mu Yuan stopped after finishing his sword dance, squatted down in front of Chong Xuezhi, and said with a smile, "Young Palace Master, you must do better than me."
Xuezhi said resolutely, "That's impossible."
Zhu Sha and Chu Weilan, standing nearby, almost blurted out "Yes!" in unison, but thankfully they held back. Zhu Sha stood up and stretched: "Sigh, Elder Yuwen is really strict to death. But what can you do? He's your father's master, though the student has surpassed him. If he weren't so old and had personally taught you, you probably would have already... What's wrong? Young Palace Master, do your eyes hurt? Weilan, what happened to your mouth?... Mu Yuan, why are you covering your head?"
"Young Palace Master, I have something I want to ask you." Elder Yuwen's voice came from behind Zhu Sha.
Zhu Sha's back twitched as if a spring had bounced back.
Xuezhi slowly stood up: "Elder... what is it?"
Elder Yuwen glanced at the sword in Mu Yuan's hand and reached out to him. Mu Yuan immediately handed over the sword.
Zhu Sha exclaimed with delight, "Elder Yuwen, are you really going to teach the young palace master martial arts?"
Elder Yuwen picked up the sword tassel and looked at Xuezhi: "Young Palace Master, where did you get this?"
"...I'm here, I bought it."
Where did you buy it?
"In...Fengtian."
"You bought something from Lingjian Manor in Fengtian?"
Xuezhi's face quickly turned red, and she could only look away without saying a word.
"We cannot interfere with the young master's friendships. However, we hope that the young master will not forget his status. Chonghuo Palace and Lingjian Manor have always been at odds, and their attempts to establish a relationship with you must have ulterior motives."
Xuezhi held back her anger for a long time before finally sitting down on the grass and falling silent.
Just then, a disciple rushed over: "Young Palace Master, Elder, the leader of the Snow Swallow Sect requests an audience."
Xuezhi felt a chill in her heart and said, "Tell her to wait for me at the foot of the mountain."
"No," Elder Yuwen interrupted, "Please bring her up."
18
Yuan Shuangshuang stood at the entrance of the main hall, completely different from previous visitors, her back ramrod straight, showing no fear. This time, as always, she was accompanied by many female disciples, but it was said that Feng Zi, who was never separated from her, was not there.
Upon seeing Xuezhi, who had come with a stiff upper lip, and Elder Yuwen, who followed behind with a solemn expression, Yuan Shuangshuang immediately beamed with joy: "So Chonghuo Palace still has elders. I thought Xuezhi was the only innocent child left."
Elder Yuwen said, "Although the young palace master is young, he is no longer a child. Former sect leader, please speak frankly."