The mountain trail was not long, with the hill being only so tall.
He took three or four steps at a time, sprinting down the mountain. Even so, it took a while before he barely caught a glimpse of the red-haired figure who seemed graceful but actually moved very fast.
Crow used both hands to amplify his voice and loudly shouted this phrase.
Lu Nanjin didn’t look back; instead, she walked even faster.
Remembering his wife’s admonition, Crow followed her determinedly; in fact, even without his wife’s instructions, he would have pursued Nan Jin.
She had left without a word ten years ago.
Having finally met her today, he had to get some answers.
Within moments, Crow caught up and blocked Nan Jin’s path, asking bluntly, "Xiao Lu, are you avoiding me?"
Lu Nanjin, with a sword in her arms, looked at the man with a crew cut in front of her and after a moment of silence, responded awkwardly, "Who are you?"
Song Ci laughed in exasperation.
If it weren’t for catching the fleeting strangeness in the other’s eyes during their previous eye contact, he might have truly believed that Xiao Lu didn’t recognize him and might have even naively explained himself further.
"I don’t understand what happened," Song Ci took a deep breath and said, "Why did you leave without saying goodbye, and why pretend not to know me today?"
"I don’t understand either, what you are talking about. I have nothing to say to you."
Lu Nanjin simply walked past Crow.
In that moment as they passed each other—
Song Ci made his move.
He extended his arm, intending only to stop Lu Nanjin, when suddenly the woman, who was initially just walking fast, drew her sword—even though she didn’t unsheathe the blade, she seized the scabbard aggressively and unleashed the Sword Domain—
The wind of the Sword Gang of Lan Qie swept over, instantly entwining Song Ci’s palm, the fierce wind pressure shredded the suit sleeve on his arm into tatters, leaving only fragmented cloth.
The tip of the scabbard was pressed against Crow’s lower jaw.
"I just wanted to catch up with you..." Song Ci’s gaze was complex.
He wasn’t injured, and it wasn’t because of his strong personal defense, but because Nan Jin, although appearing fierce with her sword, actually didn’t wield her Sword Intent seriously. Each strand of the Sword Gang simply cut to the cloth strips and then withdrew, delicately precise, stopping at exactly the right moment.
Realizing this, Song Ci decided to speak up, expressing his feelings.
"I have no old times to reminisce with a lackey of the Zhao Family..." Lu Nanjin gritted her teeth.
"You should talk more with madam; there might be some misunderstanding here."
Song Ci was not angry but simply said in a lowered voice, "Since you’ve come all the way to Da Du, why rush to leave?"
Nan Jin couldn’t listen anymore, only asking, "You want to keep me here?"
A fallen leaf, carried by the wind, landed on the long sword’s scabbard.
Instantly, the Sword Gang of Lan Qie erupted, slicing the dry leaf explosively into hundreds of pieces spreading around.
In the next instant, Song Ci’s figure suddenly blurred; he reached out and collected the hundreds of shattered leaf pieces, slowly extending his palm, in which lay a reassembled complete leaf, though very fragile, scattering again with the slightest breeze.
"Yes... I want you to stay,"
Song Ci sincerely said, "But not by force, rather in my own way. I hope you will stay in Da Du... Whatever misunderstanding you and madam had before, now you at least have a chance to clear it up."
Nan Jin watched the fragments of leaves fluttering from Song Ci’s palm, lost in thought.
What level of ability must one reach to restore a withered leaf like that?
Deep Sea Tenth Layer, or was it the Eleventh?
No matter what level Song Ci had reached now, one thing was certain—he had far surpassed her.
Fiercely competing in securing leaves.
It had only been a mere ten years...
A look of daze emerged in Nan Jin’s eyes.
In these ten years, she had been relentlessly practicing at all times, diligently cultivating her sword skill day and night, and had only just passed the trials of the Deep Sea Seventh Level, barely grasping the Transcendent origin of Lan Qie.
Leaving Da Du, moving away from home.
For the purpose of investigating her father’s death, and for revenge against the most likely enemy... Over these ten years, she constantly drove herself forward, but now she felt like she was a joke.
A fierce rage burned within her chest.
But it wasn’t matched by her strength... If she had the talent of Song Ci, perhaps by now, she would have settled the old debts of blood from Lion Alley.
Lu Nanjin instantly drew her sword from the sheath.
She glared at Song Ci, her eyes filled with the bloody reflections from her childhood in Lion Alley.
At this moment, within the Sword Domain of Lan Qie, countless sword lights burst forth!
Song Ci’s expression was solemn as he stepped backward. He could have, like the battle on the river bank against Wu Yong, instantly taken action to slap back the sword hilt and draw his sword again and again, preventing Nan Jin from even drawing her sword... but he did not do so.
Thus, Nan Jin thrust forward with dual swords, the two mournfully beautiful sword lights blooming brilliantly in the air.
Lu Nanjin’s sword technique was extremely fierce, not at all like a frail woman.
Her Sword Force was broad and bold, completely abandoning defense. As she thrust her swords, her entire body was full of flaws... yet such swordplay was the most terrifying, for she disregarded her own life, making every strike lethal.
She was willing to trade injury for death, even death for death.
The two of them, one advancing and the other retreating, at the foot of the mountain. Song Ci had not counterattacked at all. The manifold sword lights grazing his cheeks, blossoming on his sleeves, his skin was lacerated, and fine blood pearls scattered in the air, soon pulverized by the piercing Sword Energy, filling the air with a faint smell of blood. He resembled a dancer balancing on a tightrope over a cliff.
Amidst the lights of swords and shadows of blades, he dodged without attacking.
And Nan Jin’s eyes were bloodshot, as in the deep nights of the past, she had multiple times thrust her long sword at the wooden figures in the training dojo, imagining the opponent to be Zhao Xilai, Zhao Qi, that powerful murderer from Lion Alley... Some strong Transcendent.
At this moment, the shadow of Song Ci overlaid that of the wooden figure.
Lan Qie attacked with all its might.
And after burning everything, tens of thousands of withered leaves shattered within the Sword Domain, the uprising of the withered leaf tornado swept by the Sword Gang, the two stood amidst the cascading waterfall of leaves.
Lu Nanjin clenched her teeth, glowering furiously at the man before her, a fragment of her broken long sword, stabbing into Song Ci’s shoulder, piercing through. Her final strike, she gave it her all, and Song Ci did not evade.
Song Ci stood silently with his arms dropped, accepting hits willingly, from start to finish, without uttering a word.
As long as Lu Nanjin continued to strike, he would continue to endure.
Looking at the angry face of Lu Nanjin, Song Ci lowered his gaze and smiled slightly, hinting at another sword, and murmured softly, "Here... Xiao Lu, there’s still one more strike left."
A broken long sword fell to the ground, emitting a crisp heartbroken sound.
"If you can’t make the strike... then I guess I win..."
He leaned on the broken blade, slowly walking forward.
Finally, he approached the girl who had been far from him for ten years.
Song Ci extended one hand, gently embracing her trembling shoulders hesitantly, and after hearing her faint sobbing, he slowly patted her, his lips turning pale as he softly smiled and said, "Hey... long time no see, why are you still such a crybaby?"