Sword Arrives

The girl in black continued walking deeper into the alley, occasionally passing by homes with festive red lanterns hanging outside. Unlike others, the girl in the veil had no noble family behind her, no grand schemes or intricate plans. She was alone, stepping into the small town without any hesitation or premeditation.

Not far ahead, a young man in silk stood, holding a jade seal in both hands. It was a small seal, about the size of a child's palm, engraved with a dragon coiled on a tiger's back. Under the sunlight, the seal shimmered with a radiant glow, and faint strands of colorful light appeared to rise from it. The young man tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the precious artifact in his hands, his face full of satisfaction and indulgence.

Beside him, an old man, tall and stoic, was kneeling on one knee, carefully wiping the dirt off the young man's boots with his sleeve.

Out of the corner of his eye, the young man had already noticed the strange girl. She wore a veil, with only a green-sheathed dagger hanging at her waist. Her steps were firm and steady—clearly, she wasn't a local.

But the young man paid her no mind, still intently admiring the ancient jade seal in his hands. Deep inside, he even hoped the girl would be tempted to steal it. After all, if she didn't, things would be far too boring.

He had already secured two treasures, far more than he had anticipated. If he didn't find something else to do, he'd have to leave with just his old servant, which would feel like something was missing.

It was like back at his mansion, thousands of miles away, where he wore a golden robe embroidered with nine dragons, but always felt like it was missing a claw.

When coming to the town, each chosen person could carry three tokens, each placed inside a small embroidered pouch. He had already handed one to the gatekeeper, as a toll for passing through. No matter who the gatekeeper was—no matter how dilapidated the gate was—even a monarch or a great ancestor of a sect had to follow this rule. The other two pouches contained two more tokens, which represented the maximum number of treasures one could take from the town. No matter how many treasures one might find, ten or even a hundred, they would have to return them all. The tokens themselves were three kinds of special copper coins, each with a unique origin: one was used by the common people to celebrate the construction of a roof beam, one hung on the spring festival peach charms in the palace, and the last was a coin held in the palm of the City God's statue, used for offerings. Though they were called copper coins, their material was an exceptionally rare gold essence. For most of the common folk "down the mountain," even official silver was a rare sight, let alone a pouch full of heavy "gold." Such treasures were enough to make anyone willingly part with family heirlooms.

The young man in silk, who had studied these three unusual coins that weren't recorded in any official histories, was stumped. He had no idea how they worked.

Ahead, the girl, exuding a cold and intimidating aura, walked straight ahead, ignoring the young man and his servant completely.

The young man changed his mind and put away the jade seal, placing it into a prepared cloth bag, which he then fastened to his waist. But he still stood in the middle of the alley, showing no intention of moving out of the way.

The tall, fair-skinned old man rose to his feet and spoke in a soft, almost delicate voice: "Your Highness, this person is a seasoned martial artist. Do not take her lightly. If we were outside the town, we wouldn't need to care. But here, even our martial bodies, purely devoted to the way of martial arts, are constantly suppressed by the pressure of this realm, making it difficult to bear. Once we activate our energy fully and open our channels, it will be like a flood breaking through a dam—our veins and channels will be overwhelmed, and it will be uncontrollable. At that point, even if I die, that's nothing. But Your Highness's safety is paramount. If, because of my negligence, Your Highness's lifelong cultivation plan suffers any setbacks, how can I explain this to His Majesty and the Queen when we return?"

The young man in silk smirked and said, "Grandpa Wu, you've been talking more since leaving the palace. Back there, you repeated the same few words all year round—your speech was even more repetitive than the stupid parrot my sister keeps."

The old man was naturally humble and deferential.

Seeing that his young master didn't seem to grasp the gravity of his hint, he had to be more direct, saying, "Your Highness, the person in this alley could pose a threat to you."

The young man in silk, still nonchalant, smiled lazily, "I've heard that the world of cultivation is full of all sorts—three teachings, nine streams, all kinds of fish and dragons mixed together. There are many heretical practices and strange paths. But this is just a random encounter. Is she really about to kill someone for treasure? I doubt it. If everyone up on 'the mountain' acted like this, wouldn't the world have already descended into chaos?"