“Returning the sword... it is possible, but you would have to leave your life behind as well.” Yang Qingzhou set down his teacup, tapping the table as if hesitating. After a moment of deliberation, his brow furrowed, and he spoke candidly. “I will be blunt with you. After the marketplace was sealed that day, the hidden guards monitoring you, including the martial artists who tested you under the guise of stealing the sword... both the Vertical and Horizontal Alliances were involved. Some were even sent by me.” He sighed, lowering his voice. “Do not blame me. This area is under my jurisdiction in Yanghu; these are my responsibilities.”
“...Thank you for telling me. I truly didn't misjudge you.” I thought for a moment, then asked, “Then... regarding what I just told you about my origins, can you keep it a secret for me?”
Yang Qingzhou shook his head apologetically. “I am sorry, but I cannot promise that. I must report everything we discussed tonight truthfully.”
“Fine, I’ll try to think of another way.” Seeing his somber expression, I felt a pang of pity and comforted him, “Qingzhou, I know you carry a heavy burden. Everyone in Yangxi relies on your care and painstaking management to have reached this point... These things are done out of necessity; there is no need for self-reproach. I am already very glad you were willing to be honest with me.”
“...You... Sigh, I would feel better if you blamed me.” Yang Qingzhou gave a bitter smile and added, “Rest assured. As for whether they believe it or not, that is another matter entirely.”
I nodded. “I hope so. If someone truly pursues us relentlessly... we’ll just have to avoid them in the future.”
“...Compared to that...” Yang Qingzhou’s expression grew even more solemn. “It is the One Sword Tomb that will be harder to answer to.”
“How so?”
“The One Sword Tomb exists solely to bury swords. Their rules dictate that one must periodically break famous blades or swords from the Baixiaosheng Rankings and surrender them. Those who fail to do so by the deadline...” Yang Qingzhou paused, his voice turning cold, “...will be purged.”
A chill ran through my heart. I asked with a trembling voice, “...How long is this... 'periodically'?”
Yang Qingzhou replied, “The first of every month.”
My heart skipped a beat. “...Then isn't that... tomorrow?”
Yang Qingzhou said, “To be precise, it is after dawn tomorrow, but before midnight.”
...It was over.
I was already a dead man.
Still unwilling to give up, I struggled to ask, “How strong is the One Sword Tomb? Is it... is it too late for me to run away now?”
Yang Qingzhou shook his head. “The One Sword Tomb is so arrogant and overbearing that they have defeated every name on the Baixiaosheng Rankings. Every sect has suffered greatly at their hands; countless divine weapons that people spent their life's blood to obtain have been destroyed by them. Yet, to this day, no one in the entire martial world has been able to touch them in the slightest, and they are held in great dread... What do you think?”
“...That’s completely unreasonable! They didn't tell me any of this at the start!” Hearing such catastrophic news, I felt like throwing a tantrum on the floor.
“When has the One Sword Tomb ever acted with reason? That is why I told you to be cautious back then...” Thinking of this, Yang Qingzhou also felt dejected and guilty. “It is my fault. This matter is known to everyone; I assumed you surely knew... I have failed you.”
I had only recently arrived in this world, and Ye Tan had never set foot in the martial world before, so naturally, we had no way of knowing. Truly, one false step leads to eternal regret. I rubbed the space between my eyebrows. “Is there... is there really no other way?”
“It’s not that there’s absolutely no way...” Yang Qingzhou said thoughtfully. “You must go to the One Sword Tomb in person. As for whether you can succeed... that depends on your own luck.”
Yang Qingzhou stood up and said, “I have a Magnolia White Dragon Steed that can travel four hundred miles a day; it is the fastest horse in all of Yangxi. If you set out immediately, you should be able to arrive before sunset tomorrow.”
Before I could even react to how a simple trip to return some medicine had suddenly turned into being uprooted and sent on a journey, Ye Tan stepped forward. “We are in your debt. There is no time to lose; please lead the way, Young Master Yang.”
Yang Qingzhou nodded and strode out ahead. Seeing me still dazed on the spot, Ye Tan didn't care for formalities and pulled me along. I stumbled after him for a while, and as the severity of the situation gradually sank in, my heart began to race, and I pulled Ye Tan to a stop.
“I’ll go by myself,” I whispered.
Ye Tan did not answer. Seeing that I wouldn't move, he frowned. “There is no time to waste. Master, do not be temperamental.”
“I’m the one who dragged you into this. I was the one who chose the sword; it has nothing to do with you. If I don't come back... help me take good care of Qiqi, Yexiao, and Ye Lan. You can go to Moling; at least you'll have a place to belong...”
Ye Tan seemed disinclined to waste words with me. Without saying a thing, he picked me up in a horizontal carry and caught up to Yang Qingzhou.
“This is an order! Let go...” I grew anxious, struggling to get back on the ground. “Aren't you always the most obedient...”
“This is what you taught your subordinate.” Ye Tan looked steadily ahead, his pace never faltering. “Master, this time... I no longer wish to be a blade that only follows orders without discerning right from wrong.”
I froze. When I had mentioned that in passing, I never thought he would actually take it to heart...
“It does not matter what happens to those people; it has nothing to do with me,” Ye Tan said decisively. “Wherever Master is, that is my home.”
A sudden warmth filled my heart, and I felt as though I no longer feared whatever lay on the road ahead.
After leaving the lake and retrieving the Magnolia White Dragon Steed, Yang Qingzhou also gave us a map, detailing the paths and the time required. Ye Tan carried me and nimbly flipped onto the horse, locking me tightly in his arms. Without giving me a moment to say anything else, he whipped the horse and galloped away in a cloud of dust.
I only heard Yang Qingzhou calling out from behind, “Until we meet again!”
I felt there were still many things weighing on my mind that I hadn't had time to explain one by one. I said worriedly, “I wanted to give a few more instructions... I’m worried about Qiqi, Yexiao, and Ye Lan—all three of them... And regarding Jun Luoshu, I should have asked Qingzhou to pass on a message. In case this time...”
“We can talk about it when we return.” Ye Tan uncharacteristically cut me off, refusing to let me continue that line of thought.
Knowing the concerns in his heart, I fell silent. To think that in the few short months I had been here, I already had so many attachments. Ye Tan had been alone until now, with only me in his heart; for a moment, I felt a wave of sadness. After a long silence, I simply replied, “Alright.”
Forget it, there was no use overthinking. Since Yang Qingzhou said there was still room for maneuver, I would just deal with whatever came my way.
...If I were truly unfortunate, before I loaded my next save, I would absolutely delete this坑爹 and arrogant, eccentric sect known as the One Sword Tomb.
Speaking of which, lately, I had been thinking less and less about loading a save to start over.
Part of me felt that if all these past events between me, Ye Tan, and the others... if they didn't know about them and I was the only one who remembered, it would be quite pitiful.
Winter had already arrived, and the night wind was biting and cold. I huddled closer into Ye Tan’s embrace. Sensing this, he unfastened his cloak to shield me and whispered, “Are you still cold? The journey is long; rest for a while.” His arms around my waist were incredibly steady; there was no need to worry about slipping off. Although the horseback was bumpy, it could not overcome the exhaustion and weariness from a day of anxiety. I gave a soft response, hugged him back, and closed my eyes.
If...
If this cycle ended here, and Ye Tan no longer remembered me.
Then what would be the difference between that and me truly being dead...?
***
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Fatal to Pretend With a Cheat | Chapter 46 | The Tomb's Deadline | Novela.app | Novela.app
