"Well..." Xue Ziye held her wine glass, tilted her head back, glanced at the gray sky, and suddenly laughed so hard she bent over, reaching out to pinch his cheek. "Because your face is quite pleasing to the eye! The valley is full of women, how boring!"
He looked helplessly at her rosy cheeks, knowing that this woman had been cleverly avoiding the topic.
He sat up from the couch, slapped it, and the Ink Soul Sword beside him rang out with a long clang, leaping from its sheath into his hand. With a light tap of his toes, he transformed into a streak of light and sped away.
The wind froze in an instant.
When the wind blew again, the plum blossoms on the tree in the courtyard had already quietly fallen.
He turned and gently landed back on the couch, bowing slightly to her as he extended his sword: on the blade, twelve blooming plum blossoms were neatly arranged, their fragrance wafting through the air.
“Zi Ye,” he looked at her, deciding to stop beating around the bush, “if you encounter any difficulties, please be sure to tell me.”
That was the first time he had called her by her name directly. Xue Ziye was taken aback, then suddenly laughed: "A perfectly good plum blossom tree... what a waste. Are you trying to tell me that you're actually really amazing?"
He pursed his lips: "That's how it is."
“Okay.” She readily agreed. “If I ever need your help, I will definitely tell you and won’t hesitate to ask.”
"Definitely?" He was a little uneasy, because he knew that this woman had always been a complicated person.
"Definitely." She laughed carelessly, as if she was enjoying herself with the drink. Suddenly, she sat up and slammed her hand on the table. "Hey, Mr. Huo, weren't you trying to trick me into telling you something? What do you want to know? How about we do this—" She held up her hands and made a rock-paper-scissors gesture: "If you beat me, just once, I'll answer one question for you, okay?"
Without thinking twice, he blurted out his agreement.
However, he immediately regretted it, because he remembered a joke that was once widely circulated in the martial arts world: Xuan Yuan San Guang, who was known as the gambling king, once had a drinking game with the valley master when he was treated at Yaoshi Valley. After three days of fighting, he was kicked out of the valley wearing only a pair of underwear. It is said that in addition to the 100,000 yuan consultation fee, he also lost all the millions of yuan he had won over the years.
"Alright, come on!" Seeing that he had fallen for it, Xue Ziye narrowed her eyes like a cat, stretched out her hand with a strong voice, and shouted with lightning speed, "Three stars shine, five champions! You lost—quick, quick, drink the wine, I'll ask you questions!"
...
Huo Zhanbai couldn't remember how long that drinking session had lasted. When he woke up, night had fallen, the wind had turned cold, the sky had darkened, and snowflakes were faintly falling in the courtyard. The fire beside him was still burning, but the wine pot was empty. The table was littered with cups and goblets, and Xue Ziye had somehow ended up sitting on the couch next to him, fast asleep with her head resting on the table.
Relying on his keen senses as a swordsman and martial artist, he managed to win dozens of cups from her. It seems this girl is no match for him.
But…but…he tilted his heavy head back, shook it in the cold wind, and tried to recall what he had just said. He only vaguely remembered drinking a lot of alcohol and being asked a lot of questions, one after another. Those questions…those questions seemed to be things he wouldn't normally say.
"Why won't you take over as the master of Dingjian Pavilion? Hasn't the Ink Soul Sword already been passed on to you?"
"Because... Xu Chonghua also wanted to take over Dingjian Pavilion at that time... Qiu Shui came to beg me, and I..."
"So it was all for a woman! But it seems the old master didn't pass the position to that Xu guy in the end?"
"That's the second question. Let's play rock-paper-scissors first!"
"Nine-linked rings... A perfect score! I won again! Answer me now."
"Uh... because... because... the elders in the pavilion all disagreed. They said he wasn't upright and tolerant enough, and his martial arts skills weren't up to par. So... the old pavilion master still didn't pass the position to him."
"Oe on, let's paddle again!"
She asked very directly and bluntly, and emboldened by the alcohol, he no longer tried to hide anything.
Besides, Mo'er's medicine is almost ready, and those things will eventually be over... so there's no need to hide them anymore.
His life story is actually known to almost everyone in the Central Plains martial arts world:
He was originally the eldest disciple of the Tianshan Sect. He was exceptionally talented and became one of the top martial arts masters in the world at a young age. He was personally selected by the old master of the Dingjian Pavilion, Nangong Yan, to join the pavilion and become one of the eight famous swordsmen of the Dingjian Pavilion.
From the age of fifteen, he had a one-sided love for his fellow disciple Qiu Shuiyin, a love that lasted for over a decade. However, Qiu Shuiyin married another of the eight famous swordsmen of Dingjian Pavilion: Xu Chonghua of the Xu family of Runan. He was a man of deep feelings and strong character. Although heartbroken, he still took whatever he wanted from her, and even resigned from his position as the master of Dingjian Pavilion for her sake, refusing to compete with her husband.
However, blocked by the elders, Xu Chonghua ultimately failed to take over Dingjian Pavilion as he wished. With a narrow and intense personality, he killed several elders who raised objections in a fit of rage and defected from the Central Plains to join the Great Bright Palace of the Demonic Sect.
He was ordered to pursue and kill him near the Starry Sea in the western Kunlun Mountains.
From then on, he was given even more important responsibilities.
However, for some reason, the old master of the Nangong Pavilion had repeatedly invited this young swordsman to join the Dingjian Pavilion over the past eight years, but he had declined each time.
"Why did you volunteer to hunt him down back then?" Even half-drunk, the woman still had such a sharp mind. She asked in her drunken state, "It was a thankless task... You know that, don't you?"
He smiled bitterly, about to say something, when his drunken eyes suddenly cleared, and he fell silent again.
That secret had been lurking in his heart for eight years, stirring up countless thoughts—but since it concerned the entire martial arts world, even in the midst of drunken revelry, he firmly restrained himself.
"Qiu Shui begged me to go..." Finally, he lowered his head, gripped his wine glass, and gave this answer, "Because if someone else had gone... they might not have been able to bring him back alive. His reputation is too bad."
"But...you didn't bring him back..." she murmured, drunk. "You still killed him."
He suddenly raised his eyes and stared at her.
Although he was already quite drunk, the thought of this still made his face gradually turn pale—he could never forget the duel on West Kunlun Mountain. It was the most difficult choice he had ever made in his life.
In the end, he returned to the Central Plains alone, bringing back Xu Chonghua's sword and entrusting it to Qiu Shuiyin as a keepsake.
Upon hearing the devastating news of her husband's death, Qiu Shuiyin went into premature labor and remained bedridden ever since, harboring deep resentment towards him.
"Hehe... Listening to all this, it seems like you weren't involved at all from beginning to end. Other people's lovers, other people's wives, other people's children... From beginning to end, what are you?" After asking all the questions, Xue Ziye was already drunk. She leaned on the table and chuckled, her laughter so unkind that it stung him. Suddenly, she punched him on the shoulder. "Huo Zhanbai, you're a... big fool... a big fool!"
Drunk, she struck harder than usual, causing him to cry out in pain.
However, as she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes.
He was astonished to see her, usually so composed, slumped on the wine-stained table, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, muttering to herself, but he couldn't understand a word she said. He wanted to know about her, but in the end, she spoke of her own past—she was clever; even when she had lost a game of rock-paper-scissors earlier, she had cleverly evaded his questions in various ways.
He only vaguely knew some fragmented information: for example, before she came to the Valley of the Medicine Master, she had lived in a village called Moga; for example, the person under the ice died when he left with her... However, she never mentioned what exactly happened that led to her departure and his death.
Even under these circumstances, she still refused to release the pressure in her heart, and just cried and laughed inexplicably. Finally, she looked up at him and earnestly and repeatedly said, "I'm sorry."