A Sword

Mottled light and shadow cast from the patterns on the window paper.

A door was the passage to the outside world, and windows seemed to be the same, but in reality, they were not. Windows were only for the gaze to pass through, and in many cases, they represented confinement, just like the small stone window in the Secluded Pavilion, carrying the meaning of despair.

That Daoist formation intent was also a confinement, born without a single sign of warning, instantly enveloping the Drunkard's entire body, from his face to his green robe, and down to the cloth shoes on his feet. Once the formation was complete, he would never be able to leave again.

Ning Que stood at the other end of the street, drawing his iron bow and aiming. If the Drunkard could not leave his position and was locked down by this formation intent, then in the next instant, what awaited him would be death—a death without any surprise.

However, the moment the formation intent formed by the mottled halos appeared, the Drunkard moved. He took a step back, the sole of his shoe stamping onto the bluestone street with a soft "thud."

Rainwater splashed, and the scattered light and shadow vanished along with the bluestone slabs he had crushed to pieces. Immediately after, the stone steps in front of the calligraphy and painting shop collapsed, the cracks rapidly spreading. Amidst the rumbling sounds of destruction, large holes appeared in the shop's door. Whether it was the main door or the windows, they instantly turned into shattered wood and torn paper, the beams snapping, and dust rising in a thick cloud.

The entire shop collapsed into dust simply because the Drunkard took a single step back. His step back was timed with exquisite and precise accuracy, occurring exactly when the formation intent had just been born but had not yet taken shape. It seemed that from a long time ago, he had known that a formation was hidden within this calligraphy and painting shop.

The dust settled, revealing a ruin of shattered bricks. Zhang San and Li Si lay collapsed in the debris, covered in blood and dust, having been blown all the way to the backyard by the shockwave. It was unknown how many bones in the two young men's bodies were broken; even the slightest movement brought immense pain, yet they remained unwilling to give up, fumbling through the debris for a long time before pulling out two kitchen choppers.

The Drunkard turned around, looking at the two Tang youths with a cold expression. The moment his gaze fell upon them, Zhang San and Li Si coughed up blood, unable to stand.

"Is this the Academy's arrangement, or yours?"

The Drunkard looked toward Sang Sang, who was standing near the ruins of the butcher shop dozens of Zhang away. His brows arched slightly, a faint smile appearing on his face, because all of this had now become a joke to him. Then, the smile faded, and he looked at Chao Xiao Shu, who had just stood up from the collapsed wall, saying expressionlessly, "You... want to kill me?"

Chao Xiao Shu walked to the edge of the shattered stone steps, brushed the dust off his body, tidied his clothes, calmly bowed to the Drunkard, and said, "I am Chao Xiao Shu. Naturally, I must kill you."

He was Chao Xiao Shu, and Chao Xiao Shu was a man of Tang, so there were tens of thousands of reasons to kill the Drunkard.

"I naturally know you are Chao Xiao Shu." The Drunkard looked at him with an indifferent expression. "Over the past few years, we have been neighbors in this small town, treating each other as friends. You drank tea, and I drank wine. Did you truly think I didn't know who you were?"

Chao Xiao Shu was silent for a moment before asking, "Since you knew long ago, why wait until now?"

"Because I was very curious about what method you, or rather the Academy, intended to use to kill me. Remember, you are currently a crippled person, and those two helpers of yours only have the courage of brutes, knowing nothing of cultivation... Indeed, to me, associating with you was merely a game, an interesting game."

The Drunkard continued, "Living too long makes it hard to avoid a bit of boredom. It was not easy to meet someone as interesting as you. For such an interesting matter, I naturally wanted to watch for a while longer, to see how this game would be played."

He then looked over at Sang Sang: "I believe Your Highness must deeply understand this feeling of people like us."

Sang Sang replied expressionlessly, "I do not understand. Since I began to live, I have always been by his side. He is a very interesting person, so living like this is not boring at all."

The "he" she referred to was, of course, Ning Que.

The Drunkard was slightly dazed, then laughed, shaking his head in sigh: "Indeed, Hao Tian marrying a mortal and even giving birth to a child—this world is so crazy, how could it be boring?"

"Then what about you? The game you prepared for me, where is the interesting part?" The Drunkard looked at Chao Xiao Shu and asked calmly, "Is it just this Daoist formation? If so, I will be very disappointed."

Chao Xiao Shu said, "It is indeed a bit simple, but we all thought it would have an effect... Your greatest weakness lies in your physical body. Your body is not much different from an ordinary person's, and is even more prone to decay. The two children and I are all ordinary people; even if you saw through our identities, you would not be on guard... Just as you said, this is only a game, and you would play along with us, which gave us the chance to confine you."

The Drunkard was silent for a moment before asking, "To be able to calculate my mind so clearly, was it the First Senior Brother or the Second Senior Brother?"

Ning Que, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke: "It was the Third Senior Sister."

"As expected of the Twenty-Three Years of Cicada... Impressive, but also highly unconvincing." The Drunkard shook his head and said, "She indeed found my weakness, whether physiological or psychological. You indeed had enough opportunities to strike, because I would not use the Limitless Realm to remain on guard against you at all times, and the movement of the mind also requires time. But she made one mistake... This Daoist formation is too weak."

He looked at Ning Que: "If it were Fan Long, perhaps there would be some hope."

Ning Que replied, "Even if we could have invited Ye Hong Yu to strike back then, the moment she appeared in this small town would have been the moment you launched an attack or flew away. It would have been meaningless."

The Drunkard said, "So this is a contradiction. Ordinary people can approach my body, but they lack the power to kill me."

Ning Que said, "You are too afraid of death, and therefore too vigilant."

The Drunkard said, "Indeed. That is why during the first few days, I never drank Chao Xiao Shu's tea, because I was afraid he would poison it. I am still more accustomed to drinking my own wine."

Ning Que said, "Your habits are actually not good. No wonder you have no friends."

The Drunkard smiled. Chao Xiao Shu did not smile; he recalled that over the past two years, the Drunkard had begun to drink his tea. Thinking of the meaning hidden within, he remained silent.

The Drunkard's smile faded. He looked at Chao Xiao Shu and said calmly, "Indeed, I have no friends. The Butcher should probably be considered a partner instead. I also wanted to have friends... I once heard the story of the rainy night at the Spring Breeze Pavilion. I always felt that the feeling when you went to Lao Bu Zhai to find that kid was very good, and your association was very interesting. So I also wanted to see if I could become friends with you, to drink tea together and chat about interesting things."

The story of the rainy night at the Spring Breeze Pavilion, along with the legendary fame of Ning Que and Chao Xiao Shu, had long spread throughout the world, even becoming a legend. Coincidentally, all three people involved were present today. They met at this small town on the border of Song and Yan, also to kill.

Ning Que stood in front of Sang Sang. Chao Xiao Shu stood beside the Drunkard.

"Deceiving me is fine, but why couldn't you keep deceiving me?" The Drunkard walked up to Chao Xiao Shu, his expression cold, a violent emotion flickering deep within his eyes. "Since you could not deceive me, and you cannot kill me, then what is the point of you staying alive?"

His voice was very calm and cold, but in reality, he was extremely furious—the long, endless years of life were not easy to pass.

"I am a person willing to make friends," Chao Xiao Shu looked at him quietly and said.

No one could doubt this statement of his. The entire world knew that Chao Xiao Shu was the best friend, and the easiest to associate with. He was sincere and generous, free of suspicion, and incredibly unrestrained. Only a person like him could call His Majesty the Emperor of Great Tang his brother, and could casually choose a street-side calligraphy shop to become sworn brothers with someone like Ning Que.

"If you were willing, I could also have become friends with you. Although your seniority is too high and your age is too great, friendship has never been about seniority or age, but only about being of one mind."

Chao Xiao Shu continued, "I admit that coming to this small town was to set a trap to kill you, but over the past few years, that trap had actually ceased to be a trap. You knew I was Chao Xiao Shu, and did I not know that you knew I was Chao Xiao Shu? So even though it was not spoken aloud, there was no longer any deception. I even thought about whether I could persuade you. If I could, that would naturally be best; if not, I would owe you nothing."

"Owe? No, you do not owe me anything. I have lived in this world for countless years, seen countless insidious and cunning people, experienced countless deceptions, along with the most evil, bizarre, and perverted things in the world. Do you truly think I would care about a cup of plain tea in a shop?"

The Drunkard looked at him, saying expressionlessly, "Your trap, to me, has long ceased to be a trap."

He was one of the few great cultivators standing at the absolute peak in the history of cultivation. Chao Xiao Shu, even at his peak, was only in the Knowing Destiny Realm, let alone now when he could no longer cultivate and had become an ordinary man. The Drunkard only needed to glance at him, and Chao Xiao Shu would die, and neither Ning Que nor Sang Sang could easily stop it.

Chao Xiao Shu looked directly into his eyes, calm and fearless, and said, "I said before, this trap has long ceased to be a trap. However, when you want to kill me, the trap will appear again."

The Drunkard asked, "What do you mean?"

Chao Xiao Shu replied, "I am the trap."

The Drunkard's brows arched slightly.

Chao Xiao Shu added, "What I was waiting for was the time."

Time, meaning the opportunity.

Ning Que had always been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the moment the Drunkard could not enter the Limitless Realm. He had waited for two days and one night but had not yet found it.

Chao Xiao Shu was also waiting for an opportunity. He had waited for several years, but the opportunity he waited for was different from Ning Que's; he waited for that opportunity to actively seek him out.

The Drunkard did not want to hear any more. Because of that inexplicable fury, and because of the two great enemies, Ning Que and Hao Tian, nearby, he decided to kill Chao Xiao Shu. He struck a palm toward Chao Xiao Shu's chest and abdomen. Against the strike of a great cultivator, Chao Xiao Shu could not possibly evade.

Chao Xiao Shu had no intention of evading either. He felt death drawing near, and even for someone with a steadfast mind who had long looked past the flowers blooming on the seashore, he could not help but be slightly dazed for an instant.

The Drunkard's hand touched his chest and abdomen. With a soft "slash," a sharp sword tip thrust out from the palm of his hand! It was an invisible sword. The blade was cold, and the sword intent was condensed and clear.

Where did this sword come from? This sword had always been inside Chao Xiao Shu's body. Some people had ghosts in their left eyes, some had people in their sea of consciousness, some had souls in their rings, and some had swords in their bodies. That sword was not hidden in a fish's belly, but in his own. No matter where the Drunkard's hand landed, as long as killing intent surged, the sword would appear.

At this moment, the sword pierced through Chao Xiao Shu's chest and abdomen, then stabbed through the Drunkard's palm! This was the sword's self-reaction, a posture of mutual destruction!

The Drunkard's face suddenly turned pale, filled with an extreme terror. He let out a sharp cry and retreated rapidly, his figure gradually blurring into the void within those few steps. However, the sword was even faster. The sword tip broke through Chao Xiao Shu's chest and abdomen, carrying fresh blood. The invisible edge of the sword, condensed by blood and wind, possessed physical form, and with a "squelch," it stabbed deep into the Drunkard's abdomen!

The Drunkard was indeed one of the fastest people in this world. But when he stood within one foot of Chao Xiao Shu, he absolutely could not avoid this sword strike. Back then, the First Senior Brother by the pond did not dare to stand within one foot of this sword either.

What kind of sword was this? It was a sword so ordinary that it did not need to be deliberately described, but its killing intent was incredibly resolute. This sword came from the South Jin Jian Garret, belonging to the Sword Sage Liu Bai. This was the sword Chao Xiao Shu had borrowed from Liu Bai. This was a trap of the Academy, originating from a saying of Fu Zi.

A gentleman hides his weapon in his body, waiting for the right time to move.

This saying was used to describe endurance, but there was also a simpler explanation: Chao Xiao Shu hid a sword in his body, waiting for the moment the Drunkard wanted to kill him. Once it moved, it would kill. The weapon was the object, which in certain special times referred only to weapons, especially swords. The weapon was also courage.

Chao Xiao Shu had waited for several years precisely to thrust out this sword. In other words, he had always been waiting to walk into death. This was great courage.

The Drunkard was in immense pain, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief, even a bit of daze. This sword strike came too fast, too suddenly, completely impossible to dodge. He faintly understood that this was Liu Bai's sword. Indeed, in this world, only Liu Bai's sword could be so resolute, fast, and leave no retreat. This strike, even if he was the Drunkard, would leave him gravely injured! Chao Xiao Shu's strike had severed nine-tenths of his life force and destroyed his Snow Mountain and Qi Sea!

The Drunkard's face was pale as he continued to retreat, his figure continuing to blur. He did not want to die. He wanted to flee. He struck a palm onto the street, kicking up countless clouds of dust and stone debris to blind Ning Que.

Zhang San and Li Si crawled out from the ruins of the calligraphy shop, swinging their kitchen choppers wildly, not caring if they were slashing at gods or buddhas. When the two young men slashed, their eyes were tightly shut. With two "clacks," the choppers severed the Drunkard's left pinky toe and right heel.

The Drunkard's abdomen was pierced by the sword, blood flowing profusely, and his legs were also bleeding, soaking his cloth shoes. He roared in pain and fury, drawing seventeen swords from his gourd and slashing them wildly toward Chao Xiao Shu, Zhang San, and Li Si.

In the darkness, Sang Sang's voice suddenly rang out, uttering two numbers. From the other side of the dust came a soft "whoosh." An iron-feathered arrow tore through the wind, precisely striking the Drunkard's knee. Blood splattered.

The Drunkard let out a painful scream, unable to maintain his balance, and collapsed onto the ground. The seventeen swords drawn from his gourd fell to the ground like withered leaves.

With a "boom," the dust cleared, and the chaotic night settled. Ning Que swept into the courtyard, kicking the Drunkard to the ground and stepping heavily on his chest. Amidst the cracking of bones, the Drunkard's ribcage shattered.

The Drunkard gasped, his eyes filled with unwillingness and fury. He still did not want to die; he wanted to live on. He desperately summoned the heaven and earth primordial qi, trying to escape. Ning Que drew his iron bow, the bow bending like a full moon, the iron arrow on the string cold as frost.

In truth, there was no need to aim. The cold arrow was pressed directly against the Drunkard's forehead. No one could possibly miss. In the previous battle, the Drunkard had told him: If you have the ability, hit me.

Ning Que now said, "If you have the ability, dodge this arrow."

With a soft "twang," the iron arrow left the string, piercing through the Drunkard's forehead. A deep crater appeared on the street of the small town. The iron arrow sank deep into the earth, vanishing from sight. The Drunkard's head also disappeared without a trace, turning into a pool of blood.