Volume Two: The Mortal Realm, Chapter 128: Winter Is Coming
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Liu Xi’s face was hidden beneath a black robe as she moved soundlessly through the deepest darkness before dawn, passing through one narrow, filthy alley after another.
These alleys lay concealed behind dense clusters of towering buildings. Chaotic shacks crowded overhead, blocking nearly every trace of light. Yet in these lanes where neither stars nor moon could be seen, one could faintly hear the sounds of strings and flutes drifting from the nearby high-rises that never slept.
Liu Xi raised her head and discovered that even the sky was invisible within these filthy alleys. It was easy to imagine that by day, too, these foul and squalid lanes received scarcely any light.
Radiant Capital, the holy city known as the City of Light and the City That Never Sleeps—yet there were places within it where even daytime did not exist.
Though it was deep in the night, the alleys were far from empty. Refugees lay scattered everywhere, sleeping in crooked, tangled rows. To those fortunate enough to have made their way into Radiant Capital, these cramped and filthy lanes—which at least sheltered them from the wind and snow—were already as warm and beautiful as a heavenly palace.
To be alive was already a kind of warmth.
When Liu Xi saw the smiling face of a sleeping child, she slowed and lightened her steps. She feared disturbing the only beautiful dream these poor people possessed.
“But what I am about to do may shatter even their final shelter, along with the possibility of dreaming.”
“Father, is this the torment you have been unable to escape all these years?”
Moving silently through the darkness, Liu Xi’s gaze passed over those sleeping faces. At the same time, the anguished yet resolute faces from the gathering she had just left flashed before her eyes, along with the weapons that represented death. For an instant, profound weariness and sorrow surfaced upon her face, but they were soon covered once more by a cold and unyielding strength.
“No, Father. I am not you. I will hold fast to what I believe is right, even if the whole world believes me wrong.”
“This so-called age of prosperity ended long ago. Great Xia is dead. Winter has come. If we continue lying in the snow and wind, all that awaits us is death—with smiles frozen upon our faces.”
“I am not wrong. Even if, in the end, I cannot change anything, I am still not wrong.”
“Father, I will take up your sword—Silent Shock.”
The beautiful-faced young woman walking through that utterly pure night spoke soundlessly to the world.
She continued onward. Near the imperial palace, the streets became broad and clean, as though they belonged to an entirely different world from the alleys she had just traversed.
When she neared the small courtyard, she removed her black robe and returned to her usual tranquil appearance. Then she pushed open the door and entered.
The instant she stepped inside, she sensed something. Her willow-shaped brows lifted slightly in delighted surprise. Her eyes brightened as she looked toward the young man seated in the courtyard, as though he had been waiting all along for her return.
“A surprise for you.” Ye Mingke looked at her with a radiant smile. Beside him stood a young man of gleaming white jade, and beside the jade-like youth was planted a heavy black sword—the Human Realm.
…
“This is wonderful. Truly wonderful. I never imagined you would find a way to keep the Human Realm sword continuously awake. With this, we can both open the Human Emperor’s Secret Vault and commune with the Martial Way.”
Sitting beside Ye Mingke at the stone table, Liu Xi stroked the familiar heavy sword. Her warm eyes were filled with joy she could not conceal. She shared an unbreakable bond with the sword she had carried for ten years.
Seeing her delighted smile, Ye Mingke was happy as well.
But Liu Xi suddenly seemed to remember something, and her eyes dimmed slightly.
She handed the sword to Ye Mingke, her smile still gentle and bright.
“Now that the sword has been unsealed and you are strong enough to carry it, it belongs to you from this day forward.”
“And also…” She paused for a moment before continuing solemnly. “Once A Ru’s mother has been found, take them and leave Radiant Capital at once. This place is too dangerous. You should leave as soon as possible.”
“This sword is not mine. It is the sword of the Human Realm.” Ye Mingke paused. He did not take the sword, but raised his head to look at Liu Xi. “Are you refusing to tell me what you are doing?”
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“This is a matter concerning our homeland. We can resolve it ourselves.” Liu Xi lowered her gaze and spoke calmly. “Besides, you still have your own family to find. I only hope that if you one day obtain the Human Emperor’s Secret Vault, you will spread the martial arts manuals within it throughout the world.”
She smiled, as though recalling the years she had spent wandering with her father, carrying a sword upon her back. Yet within her warm, smiling eyes lay a light as hard and sharp as blades.
“I will not, like my father, place all of humanity’s hopes in a single god. But the Human Emperor’s Secret Vault was the pursuit of his entire life. If possible, I will have to trouble you with this.”
“I will always remember that it is the sword of the Human Realm.” Ye Mingke did not answer whether he could do it. Instead, he repeated those words once more.
“I believe you.” Liu Xi nodded softly.
At last, the darkness before dawn dispersed. Seated in the courtyard, the two of them lifted their heads at the same time and gazed toward the distant horizon. Warm morning light rose from the edge of the sky and spilled over them, gilding their figures with a tender golden rim.
After eating breakfast, Liu Xi and Xu Zixian, who returned not long afterward, went back to sleep to make up for the lost rest. This time, however, they left again before nightfall.
The days drifted slowly by.
Liu Xi and Xu Zixian spent longer and longer periods outside each day, while Radiant Capital beyond the courtyard grew increasingly noisy and turbulent. Even outside the small courtyard, beside the imperial city walls, a brutal battle broke out once, and blood splashed across the courtyard wall.
In Radiant Capital’s bitter winter, it was no longer only snow that drifted through the air. The scent of blood was growing stronger by the day.
Yet within the small courtyard, all remained quiet.
Ye Mingke stayed in the courtyard constantly. His only companions were the Human Realm sword and A Ru—and, of course, the little wax man Lingchen, who was released for precisely fifteen minutes every day and became unbearably talkative the moment he emerged.
The first time the little wax man was let out, he stood before a mirror and carefully fussed over his face for a long while. He molded himself a handsome face that bore some resemblance to Second Yi. When he discovered that neither A Ru nor Ye Mingke paid him any attention, he had no choice but to spend each day chatting idly with his own handsome reflection.
Apart from them, the only other visitor was Sword Nine, who came by from time to time.
Night had just fallen when Sword Nine arrived at the courtyard once more.
“I have found the information you wanted. It should reach my hands tomorrow.” Sword Nine looked at Ye Mingke, who seemed to spend every day simply admiring the snow in the courtyard. “But you know that an entire sect has been destroyed. The chances of finding anything are very slim.”
“Mm.” Ye Mingke nodded slowly. “I was prepared for that.”
He turned his head toward A Ru, who was also sitting beside the stone table in a daze. A trace of guilt lingered in his eyes.
He had only told A Ru that he was still searching for information, yet she had waited quietly for many days, never once asking to search for her mother and father herself.
Sword Nine looked at A Ru, who lay quietly across the stone table like a porcelain doll. His usually cold eyes held a rare glimmer of warmth and earnestness.
He flicked his fingers lightly. Behind him, streaks of sword-light sprang joyfully into the air. Like flocks of flying birds, they wheeled and danced around the three of them, filling the courtyard with radiant, beautiful light.
A Ru had been listlessly sprawled across the table, but she was still a child at heart. Drawn by the beautiful sword-lights, she sat upright, her bright, clear eyes reflecting the many-colored radiance.
A delicate little sword wrapped in a faint violet glow hovered before her. A Ru widened her eyes and cautiously reached out a finger to touch it. Like a playful fish, the lovely little sword affectionately brushed against her fingertip, then began circling her body as though playing with her.
Watching the flying swords in the courtyard, Sword Nine wore a gentle smile. He looked at A Ru, whose attention had been captured by them, and said softly, “A Ru, would you like to have flying swords like these? They can do many things. If you are willing to go to Penglai Isle, many people there would be glad to teach you how to wield them.”
A Ru smiled at the flying swords. But when she heard Sword Nine’s words, she slowly turned to look at him. The expression on her delicate little face froze, then gradually blurred and faded.
“But… all along the road, the flying swords were what those immortals used to kill us.” Her voice was ethereal and calm.
The sword-lights filling the courtyard paused, then returned behind Sword Nine. He fell silent, not knowing how to answer her.
After a moment of silence, Sword Nine broke the oppressive quiet.
“Do you know what your two friends are doing?”
“I don’t know,” Ye Mingke replied calmly.
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“Ten years ago, the Edict of Reverence for Immortals was proclaimed. At Vermilion Bird Gate, the entire clans of martial artists who violated the edict were publicly executed, drawing numerous martial cultivators to Radiant Capital for the Sword Sacrifice. After that battle, the martial tradition of Great Xia withered away almost completely.”
“And tomorrow, at dusk, when the ceremony to worship Heaven is held, you should be able to guess what the Wardens’ Office is waiting for as well.”
“If they continue this way, they may very well die.”
Sword Nine regarded Ye Mingke gravely as he spoke.
“I understand. Thank you.” Ye Mingke’s hand tightened unconsciously. He turned his head toward the darkness beyond the courtyard.
“When I receive the information tomorrow, I will tell you at once,” Sword Nine said to him. Then he left quietly.
With no more sword-lights to watch, A Ru lay back down across the stone table. Resting her cheek against her arm, she looked at Ye Mingke and asked, “Wooden One, why do Sister Liu and Brother Glasses go out every day? What are they doing?”
“They are doing something important. They want everyone in the world to become as wise and clear-sighted as your father. They want to make sure there are never again any villains who can separate your father and mother,” Ye Mingke said softly, stroking A Ru’s head with a smile.
“No villains.” A Ru lowered her head. At some point, her eyes had turned bright red and filled with tears. She murmured, “A Ru also wants there to be no more villains in this world who would separate Father, Mother, and A Ru.”
…
After A Ru fell asleep, Ye Mingke sat in his room without lighting a lamp.
In the middle of the night, a blurred black shadow entered the courtyard. Moving with the utmost care, it busied itself in Liu Xi and Xu Zixian’s room, then finally slung a huge bundle over its back and prepared to leave.
“Are you planning to leave like this?”
Ye Mingke had remained hidden in the darkness. Through the window, he looked at the shadow in the courtyard.
The departing figure stopped.
Ye Mingke continued.
“There are many things I do not know, but I should be the one to take the final step. If I do it, I may survive. But if she does it, she is very likely to die.”
The shadow slowly turned and looked toward Ye Mingke.
Ye Mingke met his gaze, his eyes bright and composed.
“How far do you intend to go?”
“We… intend to burn this city to the ground!”
“To burn away the last of humanity’s beautiful dreams!”
Beneath the hazy moonlight of the winter night, the shadow revealed Xu Zixian’s haggard, pallid face. His eyes burned fiercely, like ghost-fire raging in a funeral pyre.
“What… are you called?”
“Deepwinter.”
“The Deepwinter Army.”
Great Xia is dead. Winter is coming.
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