Not long after the boat carrying the stingy woman left the shore, another strange passenger arrived at Huangniwan Pier.
He was a youth who seemed rather quiet, possessing a low sense of presence. However, once one drew close and exchanged a few words, they would be drawn in by his light brown eyes, finding themselves chatting more than intended without realizing it.
Old Zheng, the boatman, was a veteran wanderer of the martial world. A few years ago, while rushing to the Sword Appreciation Assembly, he had tripped and knocked out a front tooth. Now, his speech whistled slightly, but he prided himself on being precise and never vague. Holding up three fingers to the sky, he spoke incessantly for a quarter of an hour, yet still couldn't finish recounting the grievances he had suffered at the pier. What started as an answer eventually turned into a rant, as he dragged the youth into judging the fairness of the situation.
"...I, Old Zheng, have traveled the rivers and lakes for years. I’m no ignorant bumpkin, yet I have never seen someone so miserly. If I had actually taken her, she probably would have pried a few nails and snapped off a few planks from my boat before leaving!"
One might mistake a face or a figure, but that penny-pinching personality was unmistakable.
Li Qiao nodded and asked softly, "And then?"
"I saw she was young and wanted to teach her the rules of doing business out here. But who knew she had a backer? I, Old Zheng, am not one to take a loss before my eyes, so I had to swallow my pride and avoid the confrontation for a moment..."
"A backer?" The youth, who had been patient until now, suddenly changed. Even his voice lost its gentleness. "Where did this backer come from? Was it someone from the government?"
"How did you know? Have you been cheated too? Let me tell you, one moment that woman was haggling with me over a few copper coins, and the next she hopped onto her government lover's boat and vanished. Though the man wore plain clothes, he couldn't hide that official air of his. Sending that woman to stir the waters was likely a way to test the depths of this pier. He just didn't know that I, Old Zheng, am not so easily dealt with. I saw through them early on; I only didn't expose them because I didn't want things to get ugly..."
He was halfway through his sentence when another wanderer dressed as a fisherwoman pulled him back. When he looked around, he realized the youth who had been talking to him had disappeared.
"Where did he go? What a green brat..."
The fisherwoman let go, the disdain on her face barely concealed. "You can chew on dried shrimp all you want, but don't chew your words so carelessly. Otherwise, the next time you lose something from that mouth, it won't just be a tooth."
Old Zheng didn't understand, scratching his head in confusion. He understood none of it, just as he hadn't understood why he had lost that tooth in the first place.
A hundred paces away, where the river bend turned, the youth in coarse cloth walked with his head down along the fine grass by the lake.
Li Qiao did not understand why that woman repeatedly left him behind, just as he did not understand why he felt such agonizing hesitation at this moment.
Something must have gone wrong.
A vague answer condensed into frost in his heart. The chill invaded his chest, making even breathing difficult.
Could she have discovered something?
No, that wasn't right. If she had discovered the truth, why would she have come to save him last night? Or did the words that man named Ding said last night make her suspicious? Was she testing him now, avoiding him, or perhaps intentionally torturing him?
It wasn't that he couldn't endure such torture, but there shouldn't be a third person involved in it.
He had searched for her all night, yet she had boarded Qiu Ling’s boat, leaving him alone on the shore. Had they agreed to meet there long ago? Were there others on the boat? Was the journey to Qionghu Island long? What would they talk about in the cabin, and what would they do...
Unanswerable suspicions multiplied by the hundreds and thousands, churning and grinding against his heart, burning him with unbearable distress.
He kept his head down, walking forward along the lakeshore, though he didn't actually know where he was going.
Two or three miles past Huangniwan, the noisy clamor of the pier faded away. The surroundings became exceptionally quiet; even the small insects crouching by the water had stopped chirping for some reason.
The wind blew across the lake, and only the sound of fine grass rubbing together could be heard.
Li Qiao suddenly looked up, glancing behind him out of the corner of his eye.
If there was one Jade Flute, there could be a second or a third. His identity had already been partially exposed; it was likely only a matter of time before more assassins were drawn to him.
Li Qiao didn't stop, continuing forward without slowing or accelerating, but his left hand slowly pressed against his waist. Hidden there was a short blade he had retrieved from his hiding spot this morning. Though not as familiar as his rusted saber, it was sufficient to take a man's head.
"Does the young lad need a boat?"
A somewhat weathered, raspy voice sounded from behind. Li Qiao turned slightly and caught a glimpse of a single-canopy boat with bamboo curtains trailing behind him. At the bow stood a lean, dark-skinned man wearing a cloth headwrap. Several cormorants perched beside his sculling oar; perhaps having been idle for too long, they all huddled with their necks tucked in lazily.
There were no large fish in Lixin Lake, and ordinary ferries wouldn't take the business of ferrying people from the martial world—especially not on a day like today.
Perhaps it was a wanderer looking for work.
"Where I am going, you cannot go," the youth said, continuing his pace.
However, the boat did not leave, following him at a steady, unhurried pace.
"Lixin Lake is neither large nor small. If the young lad doesn't want to get his shoes wet, it's better to hitch a ride for a stretch."
The figure walking along the shore finally stopped.
This time, he didn't turn back immediately. Instead, he held his breath and focused his ears to listen for movement inside the boat.
The oil lamp hanging at the bow creaked. The wind blew through the gaps in the bamboo curtains, making a faint rustling sound. The charcoal fire burned brightly, an occasional spark flying out with a crackle. The sound of lake water lapping against the hull was rhythmic and dull, one thud after another...
But besides that, there was another sound.
It was like the breath a flute player gathers in their dantian before playing—controlled, continuous, and unending.
It was the sound of a top-tier master’s breathing. Without careful discernment, one would think it was merely a gust of wind.
Li Qiao’s eyes snapped open. As he twisted his body, the short blade hidden at his waist flew out.
A white light flashed across the water. The bamboo curtain hanging at the cabin entrance was instantly sliced in half. A withered, grayish hand slowly reached out from within, its fingertips catching the tip of the short blade with unerring precision.
Li Qiao narrowed his eyes. He didn't recognize the boat, but he recognized that hand.
Everything happened so quickly and silently that by the time the severed curtain fell halfway, the cormorants at the stern finally startled from their nap and flew away with a flutter of wings.
Behind the tattered curtain, the figure sitting on a simple bamboo chair shifted slightly. The short blade was tossed aside casually.
"I have no time to play games with you. I will ask you one last time. Will you board the boat?" The blind gentleman turned his head slightly, his eyes seemingly looking toward a point on the lake. "Any later, and you will completely lose the trail of Lord Broken Jade’s boat."
His voice drifted ashore with the wind. The youth by the lake paused for only a moment before leaping up and landing steadily on the bow.
The man rowing the boat still wore a simple, honest smile. He showed no surprise at the sight, giving a shout as he lowered his head to scull the boat.
The small vessel dragged a transparent tail through the green water, moving quietly toward the center of the lake.
The shore receded further and further behind them. After boarding, the youth did not look back. He only stared at Gongzi Yan’s expressionless face, trying to find any clues to judge the other's purpose.
The man looked even more haggard than when they had met at Baoshen Pavilion. His cheeks and lips were completely sunken, and half the hair at his temples had turned white and withered. Despite it being midsummer, he wore a heavy cloak lined with fur. A brazier sat before him, the glowing gold-thread charcoal emitting a dark red light that failed to dispel the aura of death permeating his body. Only the grace in his movements remained, making him someone not to be underestimated.
Li Qiao withdrew his gaze and remained silent.
If his presence at Baoshen Pavilion had been walking into a trap, then this was being invited into a cage. He would wait for the other to add fuel to the fire before deciding how to respond.
Sure enough, after a moment, the man on the bamboo chair was the first to break the silence.
"It was only two broken fingers; they should have been fine by now. Why continue to cling to that scrap of cloth?"
Perhaps because both sides had already witnessed each other's ruthlessness at Baoshen Pavilion, this reunion lacked the usual cloud-shrouded testing. The man’s opening sentence pointed out two things: first, that every move Li Qiao had made over the past few days had not escaped his notice, including Zhu Fuxue’s late-night attack by the lake. Second, he was openly informing Li Qiao that he knew exactly what changes the body would undergo after taking that secret formula.
Li Qiao withdrew his gaze from his right hand. When he looked up again, the disguise was gone, leaving only cold calculation in his eyes.
"Whether it was the Way of Peace or Baoshen Pavilion, you never acted through others. Since you already knew what the prize of the Sword Appreciation Assembly was, why not take it yourself? Why go through the trouble of driving an uncooperative outsider like me? Could it be that the World's Number One Villa has some unspeakable connection to you, so you dare not show your face and can only hide behind others playing ghost?"
As his words landed, the man opposite him unhurriedly shifted his position on the bamboo chair. He seemed merely low on energy, or perhaps he found the counterattack amusing.
"You should be glad you still have value for me to use. However, you are not entirely irreplaceable. If you don't do certain things, there are naturally others who will."
Li Qiao snorted coldly. "And if I don't do it, what will you do?"
"Do you know why you are on this boat with me right now? Is it because you wanted to be?" Gongzi Yan’s voice was soft and low, as if stating a simple truth. "I chose you; you did not choose me. From the moment I sought you out, you had no other choice."
Li Qiao’s gaze shifted slightly, observing the boatman at the stern through the shadow cast on the deck. He was evaluating the other's skill and his own chances of success.
"Perhaps I could try to kill you right now."
The man on the bamboo chair laughed. The laughter sounded hollow and terrifying, like a sound coming from a hollowed-out tree trunk. He laughed with some effort, coughing twice afterward. Finally, he took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth before speaking slowly.
"Jia Thirteen, where is your blade?" Gongzi Yan’s voice was very soft, yet it struck the youth’s ears like a giant drum. "You couldn't even beat Ren Xiaohan. What right do you have to speak of killing in front of me?"
If Gongzi Yan knowing about his encounter with Zhu Fuxue and the events on the lake last night only proved his sharp ears and good intelligence, then knowing his old title from before he left the Villa and the name of the mysterious round-faced swordsman from last night meant it was far more than just secret eavesdropping.
Perhaps starting from the Way of Peace, every step he took had been within the other's calculations. He seemed to have broken through the encirclement, but in reality, he had never escaped. This feeling of being held in the palm of someone's hand was unbearable, and it simultaneously stirred tremors from the depths of his memory, leaving him speechless for a moment.
A moment later, Gongzi Yan’s voice sounded calmly, hitting his thoughts once again.
"You needn't be alarmed. Di Mo and I went our separate ways long ago. The primary person I want to deal with right now is not him."
Not Di Mo? Then who? Someone from the World's Number One Villa, or someone else?
Li Qiao was now almost certain that the person before him came from the Villa just as he did, but was different. Because someone like him could never mention that man's name with such a nonchalant tone.
The World's Number One Villa was a place one entered but never left. Those born of the Villa lived as its servants and died as its ghosts. Escapees like him were few and far between, and he seemed to be the only one who had survived until now.
Of course, there was another possibility. That the true identity of the person before him was, in everyone's eyes, already that of a dead man.
A distant and blurred name gradually surfaced. Li Qiao suddenly spoke.
"I heard that before the eldest son of the Qiu family, the Qingzhong Mountain Academy once produced a peerless talent in both civil and martial arts. Born of an aristocratic family, he formed a bond with a martial monk in his youth and was the sole successor of the Fudeng Heart Method. The academy's supervisor at the time praised him as having the fragrance of orchids and the purity of jade. Yet no one expected that this person would not be satisfied with the academy's teachings on governing the world. Driven to pursue the pinnacle of martial arts and power, he joined the World's Number One Villa as a Shadow Envoy, becoming a dog for that bandit leader for several years."
The youth paused intentionally, looking at the man on the bamboo chair with a hint of provocation. Although it was only a moment of silence, it was enough for the tester to get the answer he wanted.
The boatman’s cormorants were still diving and circling on the water nearby. After an unknown amount of time, the man on the bamboo chair finally spoke.
"And then? What else have you heard?"
"I also heard his end was tragic and desolate. Around the eleventh month six or seven years ago, this person was involved in a bloodbath in the capital, and his identity as a Shadow Envoy was fully exposed. Overnight, he was abandoned by all, becoming a treacherous demon that both the court and the martial world sought to kill. The World's Number One Villa sent death soldiers to hunt him down, finally cornering him at Ling Lake and driving him off the cliffs of the back mountain of Qingzhong Mountain, leaving him without a whole corpse."
As Li Qiao spoke, he cast a scrutinizing gaze at the man opposite him, as if trying to find some trace of the past in that body whose spring of life was nearly dry.
"However, I now feel that the rumors are unreliable. Tell me, if rumors were to spread through the martial world now, saying that this person is not only alive but also attempting to overturn the martial world's landscape and secretly stir up trouble, would the World's Number One Villa sit idly by? And would that betrayer still be able to sit calmly on a boat, watching the fire from across the shore?"
The testing had turned into a threat, but the man opposite him clearly didn't care. He leaned forward slightly, his cloth-covered face drawing closer to the youth.
"Then do you know that the World's Number One Villa sent one hundred and twenty death soldiers to hunt that person, but only nine returned?" Gongzi Yan’s voice grew deeper, as if forced out from his chest, making the listener's eardrums throb. "You should thank that person. If that event hadn't happened shortly after you defected from the Villa, and if half the Villa's masters hadn't perished there, then with only the skills Li Qingdao taught you, you might not have survived the first year."
As his words fell, the mirror-like surface of the lake in the distance suddenly rippled. A fierce wind rose, instantly blowing out the oil lamp hanging at the bow.
The clouds rolling in from the northeast were like thousands of troops and horses pressing down on a city, forming a line between heaven and earth—one side sunny, the other dark with clouds.
Now, that line between light and shadow was slowly grinding over Lixin Lake. The light in the cabin dimmed, leaving only the red glow of the brazier. The figures of the two betrayers sitting opposite each other shifted from light to shadow, just as the clouds of the past cast shadows upon them.
In the dim, swaying cabin, the youth in coarse cloth looked up. Those light brown eyes, belonging only to a predator, showed their ferocity even more in the dark.
"I think the one who should be grateful is you. If Jia Thirteen hadn't defected back then, he would have been among the death soldiers ordered to hunt you down. Your corpse might have long been hanging from the Villa's main gate, with wild crows eating your marrow and insects gnawing your bones."
The final line of defense was shattered by their words. Their pasts had been exposed; there was no longer any need for testing or evasion.
The light on the lake changed. Without the warmth of the sun, even a slight breeze carried a chill.
The man on the bamboo chair involuntarily pulled his collar tighter. He slowly extended his hand from his fur-lined sleeve, turning it over to warm it above the charcoal fire as he responded faintly.
"The past has planted the cause between us, and our reunion in our current states is the effect. The reason all things in the world maintain balance is because yin and yang are constant, and fullness and lack cycle. Only karma is a price no one can escape. You must pay this price, and so must I."
The corner of Li Qiao’s mouth curled up, making no effort to hide his mockery and disdain.
"Karmic retribution is nothing more than an excuse people find to comfort themselves. The good die young while the wicked live for ten thousand years. Heaven is blind; the rope always breaks at its thinnest point, and misfortune only bullies the poor. The lives lost at the hands of the World's Number One Villa number in the thousands; when will that culprit pay the price?"
"Heaven closes its eyes, and evil ghosts roam. This is the meaning of existence for people like you and me."
As long as his tongue had not completely rotted away, he could always speak the most inflammatory words in an instant.
However, the youth he faced had a heart of stone, polished by years of cruel survival laws. He would not easily compromise with anyone.
"For these words to come from a defector of the Villa is truly absurd. If you cannot or will not do it yourself, what right do you have to drive others to risk their lives for you?"
"Because you want to kill Zhu Fuxue."
Gongzi Yan finished this short sentence and instantly felt the change in the youth before him.
As his vision had been gradually stripped away over the years, his sense of smell had become increasingly acute. Sometimes he could even distinguish the different scents emitted when a person's emotions changed.
Even when he had revealed the other's identity and past in a few words, the youth had never shown any retreat. But now, he truly smelled a different scent—the scent of anxiety and tension, mixed with a hint of scorching, blending with the burning charcoal before him.
After a long moment, he finally heard the other speak coldly.
"What does my wanting to kill Zhu Fuxue have to do with what you want me to do?"
"If you could kill Zhu Fuxue, you would have acted that day by the lake." Gongzi Yan paused, and after some deliberation, spoke truthfully. "Zhu Fuxue’s weapon is named Chimei. It is made from the nearly extinct Xusen silk. In water, it is as tough as a spiderweb and as fierce as a python. It is domineering yet feminine, tricky and hard to defend against. It is one of the few things in this world that can overcome hardness with softness and sever metal with silk."
In the jungle of slaughter, the one who understands a wolf best is always another wolf.
Perhaps only Li Qiao himself knew that his intent to kill Zhu Fuxue had sprouted long ago. From the moment the other had set eyes on Qin Jiuye, he had resolved to kill her.
When he encountered Zhu Fuxue by the water that day, he had endured the humiliation of the jade flute and refrained from acting, but he had never stopped observing his "prey." At that time, Zhu Fuxue had not taken him seriously and kept her weapon hidden, but if one was observant, it wasn't entirely without trace. Thus, he knew that what Gongzi Yan said now was not just a fabrication to disturb his mind.
Li Qiao remained silent, but he had already vaguely guessed what the other was going to say next.
Soon, Gongzi Yan’s voice sounded again.
"But you must know that all things in this world have their counters. Nothing can rule absolutely or dominate the field forever. The Villa’s records mention Li Qingdao’s weapon, the Qingwu Blade. Its forging method was rigorous, and its blood groove was unique, modeled after a mysterious jade blade from a divine tomb palace. It specifically counters soft weapons like the Chimei."
Despite knowing the other spoke the truth, acknowledging the logic was one thing; being willing to be used was another.
The youth raised his eyes, which were slightly bloodshot from killing intent, and said word for word, "Is this your rhetoric? On the field of life and death, between those of similar strength, the one who is ruthless and unafraid of death will ultimately gain the upper hand. Without the Qingwu Blade, I can kill her just the same."
Gongzi Yan nodded, seemingly agreeing with the logic, but his words took another turn.
"But you need time. You can afford to wait, but the person beside you cannot. The martial world is the place where storms rise most easily. The scent of blood has already spread, and the wolves will soon follow the scent. Everything your Shopkeeper Qin did to save you will be known sooner or later. Now it is Zhu Fuxue; in the future, it will be Di Mo. You should understand this better than I, shouldn't you?"
If everything the other had said before was like quietly placing a snare around his neck, then this sentence was like the snare suddenly tightening, strangling his throat.
And the other could have killed him in one move, yet he left a thread of life, as if determined to watch him struggle for survival. Just like that day on the Way of Peace.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Qiao’s left hand returned to his knee, clasping his right hand. He seemed to return to being the quiet and obedient boy next door.
He was no longer the lone wolf who was eager for victory and unskilled in technique. During his long life as a fugitive, the most useful thing he had learned was patience. To successfully hunt prey much stronger than himself, he could lie in ambush for a long time and endure everything.
"The Falling Sand Sect is no Buddhist sanctuary. There are many who want to kill Zhu Fuxue. Besides, even without her, with your abilities, it shouldn't be hard to manipulate someone. Why choose me?"
The blind gentleman warming himself by the fire pulled his hands back into his sleeves. His straight back slumped from exhaustion, and he leaned back against the bamboo chair, returning to his sickly appearance. Only his voice remained clear and unwavering.
"First, you are the only one who inherited the Qingdao blade techniques. Although you failed to bring that blade out of the Villa, you are the person in this world most familiar with it. If Di Mo has some trickery, only you can distinguish the false from the true. Second..." He paused, his cloth-covered eyes seemingly looking toward the boatman at the stern. "...Second, this trip to Qionghu Island to steal the blade is extremely dangerous. I do not want those beside me to go to their deaths, so I can only find you for this task."
As the words fell, Li Qiao laughed silently. He had seen many despicable people before, but most of them liked to act under the guise of loyalty and righteousness. The person before him made no secret of his baseness, achieving a level of ultimate transparency.
After a moment of contemplation, he said truthfully, "Your people can't do it, and I might not succeed either."
Gongzi Yan’s pale fingertips lightly brushed the fox fur beneath him, as if appraising its quality and price.
"Previously, there was only a fifty percent chance of success. But if you are willing to fight with your back to the wall and risk your life, there might be a sixty or seventy percent chance. A sixty or seventy percent chance is worth a try."
Li Qiao’s eyes flickered. He instantly caught a piece of information he hadn't noticed before. For example, the word "previously."
The "previously" the other mentioned... referred to before he encountered Zhu Fuxue.
"Today's situation was orchestrated by you." The youth’s voice suddenly rang out with an extraordinary sharpness. "It was no accident that my sister and I encountered Zhu Fuxue on the first night of the Sword Appreciation Assembly, was it?"
Gongzi Yan nodded, making no effort to hide his satisfaction at having everything under control.
"I truly did not misjudge you. It is all just mutual utilization, just as I invited you onto the boat and you truly needed this ride."
So, in the end, he had still dragged her into this.
Li Qiao lowered his head. This was the first time since boarding that he had completely lowered his head before the other.
"You can use me, but you shouldn't have used her."
Gongzi Yan quietly savored the emotions surging in the air. The youth before him had the ruthlessness of a wolf, the alertness of a wolf, and the loyalty of a wolf. Unfortunately, the other had lived by instinct alone for too long and could not yet see many things clearly.
He spoke again, his voice much gentler. "Her appearance on this hunting ground today was not your choice or mine, but her own. Furthermore... how do you know she won't one day turn from prey into a predator?"
Before his voice had even faded, his hand shot out from his sleeve like lightning, reaching for the youth’s left hand on his knee. The latter was still reeling from the conversation and reacted a step late. Although he broke free in the next moment, his wrist was caught for a split second.
Clutching his left wrist, the youth’s dissipated killing intent returned to his eyes. Gongzi Yan noticed immediately and said with a slight laugh, "What? During your time hiding in that pharmacy, the pulse of this hand must have been felt countless times. Have you still not gotten used to the movement?"
He had never gotten used to it. It was only because the person touching him was her that there was an exception.
Li Qiao grit his teeth, convincing himself that now was not the time to act. After a long while, he said fiercely, "I don't have the habit of letting people test my blade hand."
Gongzi Yan didn't care about the youth’s suppressed disgust. His sunken lips curled into a faint arc, though his voice held a hint of a sigh.
"I am in a good mood today, so I will give you a piece of advice. If you hadn't taken that secret formula, removing the Qingfeng Powder would have been entirely beneficial for you. Unfortunately, for the current you, losing the restraint of the Qingfeng Powder might not be a good thing. From now on, you had better be more careful than ever. When people are fragile or even desperate, they always want to flee to those close to them, but that is often not a good choice."
This time, Li Qiao didn't say anything. Even if the other hadn't mentioned it, given what he had to do tonight, his side would be the most dangerous place on Qionghu Island. She would be safer following that man named Qiu.
If it weren't for that, he would have snatched a fast boat and chased after them long ago. Why would he have waited for the person before him to come and talk?
The youth remained silent. For a while, no one spoke in the cabin; only the increasingly urgent sound of wind and water could be heard.
After an unknown amount of time, the silhouette of a small island appeared faintly where the water met the sky.
The boatman gave a low whistle. Gongzi Yan responded and then reached out to take a small box carved with a double-knot pattern.
"The wind is rising. Your current clothes are no longer appropriate. I have prepared this for you; you should find it useful."
The small box was opened, revealing a set of neatly washed, ironed, and folded clothes.
Li Qiao’s gaze swept over the clothes, and his left hand involuntarily tightened. He was too familiar with the style and fabric details of those clothes. Even though he hadn't touched them for years and they were now neatly folded, he could still recognize them at a glance.
They were the attire of the disciples of the World's Number One Villa—the skin of a predator. Once upon a time, he had worn this skin while entering and leaving the Villa, running from one slaughter to another.
"Put these on, and let Ji Bo help you fix that face. Your chances of success today will be greater."
Ji Bo, the boatman, didn't look over. He only smiled and waved a hand. There were thin calluses on the first joints of his five fingers, and his nails were meticulously trimmed. These were clearly not the hands of a boatman, but the hands of someone skilled in a specific craft.
Despite not wanting to accept this "kindness," Li Qiao eventually reached out and took the clothes, his lips curling into a mirthless smile.
"You are quite thoughtful."
Gongzi Yan nodded, accepting the "praise" gracefully.
"After all, although you are not irreplaceable, I do not want to lose another blade. Even with someone like Di Mo sharpening blades for me, a handy weapon is always hard to find. I have broken too many blades and swords over the years; naturally, I must use them sparingly."
"From your test earlier, I can see that your power is not even sixty or seventy percent of what it was at the Way of Peace. Perhaps you should find a good doctor. After all, nothing in this world is more important than staying alive."
"There are certainly things in this world more important than staying alive. If one day you are like me, where even death cannot make you flinch or retreat, then you will understand everything I have said today and the determination to do this." Gongzi Yan slowly closed his eyes, his voice growing faint and blending with the surrounding water. "The waves are about to rise on Lixin Lake. My small boat can only take you this far. How you act and how you escape afterward will depend on your own skill. If you are lucky enough to succeed and keep your life, bring the blade to Mingshan to find me. When you come, remember to have your questions ready; I will answer them all for you."
"Will you still be alive then?"
The youth’s tone was half-serious, carrying a hint of discernible innocence and malice. Gongzi Yan laughed upon hearing it. The wind howled on the lake, but his laughter was heartier than before.
"Then that will depend on whether you are fast enough."
The dark, greenish-black clouds pressed lower and lower, about to condense into rain over Lixin Lake. The clear reflections in the lake vanished along with the sunlight, and the figures of the two passengers sitting opposite each other became blurred, their outlines indistinguishable. For a moment, they seemed to have become each other's shadows.
