“He still has the nerve to come here? If I were him, I’d have left Ever-Peace long ago,” one of the young men scoffed.
“His leg’s broken. How could he survive outside Ever-Peace?” another added mockingly.
Yet the beggar in the corner remained unmoved. He simply sat with his back to everyone, quietly gazing out the window, drinking from his cup.
“Hey, filthy beggar, we’re talking to you! Didn’t you hear us?” the leading youth strode over and smashed the cup in front of the beggar with one slap, saying coolly, “Has the Sword Academy of Great Zhou started recruiting such trash now?”
The beggar slowly raised his head and said in a hoarse, calm voice, “And yet, Great Zhou’s Sword Academy now allows people like you to call yourselves swordsmen?”
“You dare mock my Sword Academy?” the young man snapped.
“Look at yourself, pathetic. If it weren’t for Master’s order forbidding us to kill you, do you think you’d still be alive? You’re nothing but a dog. Do you really think you’re still the so-called Sword Maniac?”
“Sword Maniac was just a name others gave me,” the beggar said quietly. “I stopped caring about such things long ago. Now, I’m just a man who holds a sword.”
“Holds a sword? Can you even lift a sword anymore?” the young man sneered.
“When the sword lives in one’s heart, the sword endures forever,” the beggar replied.
That sentence silenced them. Even they, as sword cultivators, couldn’t find a retort.
Then another of the youths spoke coldly, “Li Zi, Great Zhou is flourishing now. You remnants of the old dynasty will be purged eventually. Killing yourself would be more honorable, at least it wouldn’t disgrace your old title as the Sword Maniac.”
As soon as his words fell, there came the clatter of chopsticks hitting the floor.
Xie Changliu quietly lifted his head, staring at the beggar sitting in the corner.
The man’s tangled hair covered his face, hiding his features. But Xie Changliu softly spoke, “A single moon in Ever-Peace, hanging over the pines.”
At those words, the beggar lifted his head toward him.
“Master?” Xie Changliu asked tentatively.
“You… you’ve returned?” The beggar finally spoke, his hair falling aside to reveal his face, an aged, almost unrecognizable face.
It was deeply wrinkled, the skin etched with countless creases, eyes dull and lifeless, lips cracked, body frail as if only half alive.
“Master, how could you end up like this?” Xie Changliu asked in disbelief.
He moved forward, but the group of young men and women blocked his way.
“You know this man?” the leader asked suspiciously.
“Move,” Xie Changliu said coldly.
“Ha, bad temper, aren’t you?” the youth sneered. “If you know him, then you must also be one of the remnants of the old dynasty. You’re coming with us.”
Before he could finish, there was a deafening boom!
Without even drawing his sword, Xie Changliu let out a faint surge of sword intent from the scabbard alone, blasting the youth clean out of the second floor.
The railing shattered, and the young man crashed heavily onto the street below.
“You dare injure Senior Brother Ming? Do you know who we are?” the others shouted, drawing their swords and glaring at Xie Changliu.
“I don’t know, and I don’t need to,” Xie Changliu replied coolly. “I only know that anyone who stands in my way will meet the same fate.”
“You’ll regret this! The Sword Academy won’t let you go!” one of them spat before they all retreated hastily from the inn.
Xie Changliu helped the old man over to Xu Zimo’s table.
“This is my teacher,” he said softly. “During the three hundred years I trained in the Ming Empire, it was he who taught me the sword and guided me into the path.”
“Sit down,” Xu Zimo said with a smile. “You two haven’t seen each other in a long time. Talk freely.”
Xie Changliu nodded, then asked, “Master, how did you end up like this? And who were those people just now?”
The old man first turned to Xu Zimo and introduced himself politely. “I am Li Zi, a man of no name or fame.”
Then he sighed. “When the Ming Empire fell, you knew you couldn’t resist, so you left to wander the world. But I stayed.”
“I know,” Xie Changliu said softly.
“The Great Zhou rose faster than any of us expected, its prosperity arriving sooner than anyone imagined,” Li Zi continued. “I lived here in Ever-Peace for a thousand years and gradually grew used to the changes of dynasties.”
He exhaled deeply. “During those years, my swordsmanship grew stronger. I often sparred with others and was eventually called the Sword Maniac. About thirteen years ago, the new Emperor of Great Zhou ascended the throne. He invited two unknown swordsmen to create an academy. The principal and vice principal of the Sword Academy were those two men. Many objected to the idea, of course. After all, in Ever-Peace, there were three thousand sword cultivators, and among them, none could ignore me, the Sword Maniac.”
Li Zi’s voice grew bitter. “At that time, I still hadn’t let go of worldly pride and vanity. I challenged them both. They destroyed my meridians, defeated me in a few moves, and broke my leg.”
“How could this happen…” Xie Changliu took a deep breath.
“Then why didn’t you leave Ever-Peace?”
“They won’t let me leave. And they won’t let me die,” Li Zi said with a hollow laugh.
“Why?” Xie Changliu frowned.
“Do you still remember the Sword Canon?” Li Zi asked.
“Of course,” Xie Changliu nodded. “‘Ask not the years, let the wind sing. Be free, be true.’”
At that, realization dawned on him.
“They’re after the Sword Canon.”
“As long as they don’t obtain the Sword Canon, I’ll never be allowed to die,” Li Zi said quietly. “Look closely, there are eyes watching us everywhere right now.”
Xie Changliu scanned the room. Indeed, beneath the inn, several figures moved with subtle intent.
They hid themselves well, but not from the eyes of a Sword God.
“Can we stay here a few days?” Xie Changliu asked Xu Zimo.
“How many?” Xu Zimo replied.
“Three days,” Xie Changliu said. “I can settle this in three days.”
“Alright,” Xu Zimo nodded.
“Changliu, you shouldn’t get involved,” Li Zi said quickly. “You should leave Ever-Peace as soon as you can. This is their world now, I won’t drag you into it.”
“When the Bright Empire fell, I was powerless. When the woman I loved died, I was powerless,” Xie Changliu said after a pause.
“Master, you’ve been like a father to me. This time… don’t let me be powerless again.”
Li Zi nodded deeply. As a swordsman, he knew, Xie Changliu’s sword heart had been restrained for too long. It needed to be released, to be tempered once more.
As they spoke, footsteps sounded on the stairs, growing closer and closer.