When Li Guanyi returned, he saw his usually composed aunt, her eyes slightly red as if she had just been crying, and immediately had a hunch about the cause. Upon meeting the green-robed old man who claimed to know only a little about swordsmanship, the aunt pulled Li Guanyi over and said, "Li Nu’er."
"Come, this is your Grandpa."
Li Guanyi calmly observed the green-robed old man. The young man who had dared to remove the former City Lord of Zhenbei City’s head in the middle of the bustling streets now seemed frozen stiff. The green-robed old man extended his hand to press atop the youth’s head and gently rubbed it.
Li Guanyi heard himself say, "Grandpa."
The eyes of the green-robed old man were streaked with tears.
Outside the door, Mr. Siming sat there, a blade of grass between his teeth, gazing at the sky. In the eyes of the elder lay a vast and tranquil depth. He reached out to pat the Mystic Turtle’s head and said, "It’s really wonderful, this old fellow finally has his sword scabbard again."
"It’s truly wonderful, being able to see one’s own descendants at a time ."
As he spoke of the goodness of it all, his eyes closed, he said:
Even with his eyes closed, he seemed to be able to see those friends of his, their retreating figures, the promises they made to stay united in life and death, the trust they placed in each other. They had ultimately become estranged, wielding their swords to tear the world apart, never to meet again.
Siming chuckled self-deprecatingly, merely raising his cup to toast heaven and earth.
Old Siming looked up to see the silver-haired girl reaching out her hand. The girl’s face showed little emotion, but she held a grass ring in her hand adorned with purple morning glories, gently placing it on Old Siming’s head. Then Old Siming burst into loud laughter.
Shaking Light sat beside Siming, propping her chin in her hands.
Siming said, "Won’t you go in to take a look?"
"If I go, that old man might just hack at me with his sword, but if you go, he won’t do anything to you," the silver-haired girl shook her head, her voice tranquil, "I don’t want to."
Siming smiled and said, "You are a good child indeed."
After Sword Madman Murong Longtu and Li Guanyi recognized Murong Qiushui, sorting out their emotions, the old man was extremely satisfied with the youth. He tested Li Guanyi’s martial arts and felt a headache coming on with the young man’s way of wielding the sword.
That was not swordsmanship at all.
To Sword Madman, Li Guanyi’s moves were like using his arm as the handle and the sword as the blade of a long spear or heavy halberd, swinging wide open and domineering, rough and wild. The old man was helpless but the once arrogant swordsman now simply clapped his hands, happily praising:
"My boy, what fine swordsmanship you use!"
Mr. Siming’s eyes twitched at the corners.
Is this the Sword Madman?
Is this the Sword Madman he knew?!
Shouldn’t it be, "You are not worthy of wielding a sword, break it and retreat"?
Where were your principles? Your integrity? Your sincerity to the Sword Heart?
He suspected that even if Li Guanyi used the sword as a butcher’s cleaver, the Sword Madman would praise, "The very image of my kin, so deft even when slaughtering pigs with a sword!"
Utterly unprincipled!
Seeing the Sword Madman with such a relaxed and happy expression, Siming, as an old friend, also began to laugh. That day, the Sword Madman corrected Li Guanyi’s technique in wielding and maneuvering the sword, then said, "You have already led these troops out, and naturally you have strategists and generals under your command."
"When the time comes, hand over these few thousand men to them, and then join this old man to travel and stroll through the Martial World. How about it?"
"I intend to impart to you all the knowledge I possess. The ninety-six mystical weapons of the Murong Family should also have a new master by now."
The old man looked at him with an extremely gentle and expectant expression.
Li Guanyi could feel Murong Longtu’s expectations and esteem for him. He did not immediately respond to the old man, simply stating that he needed to think about it, then pushed open the tent flap and stepped out, into a scene of fervent activity.
People had expressions of eagerness on their faces, the kind that came from escaping Zhenbei Pass, mingled with a hint of bewilderment. But they also had their own tasks to busy themselves with; they were bustling about, with the seven physicians leading a group of people to look for various medicinal herbs in the forest.
This area was now a buffer zone between the borders of two nations.
No one would have dared to gather herbs here on any normal day, so, to Shi Dalin and his fellow physicians, the area’s wild, profuse medicinal plants were like a bonanza. The eyes of Shi Dalin, a destitute physician, were practically red with excitement.
Damn it, there were herbs everywhere!
Mine! They’re all mine!
This herb can stop diarrhea, pick it! Can that flower release heat? Pick it!
They were gathering them by the crateful.
Nothing else mattered; just the habit of being poor.
When Shi Dalin saw Li Guanyi approaching, the physician was sorting the medicinal herbs. Holding up a herb, the wrinkles on his face smoothed out as he said, "General, look at this fine medicine! It’s rare to come by in ordinary times, but here, beyond the borders, there’s so much of it."
"If we collect all these, we won’t need to use those age-old treasure medicines for any problems that arise."
The old physician quickly added, "Of course, I’m not talking about being wasteful."
"But, one should use good steel where it matters most; the best elixir pills should be made from these herbs, while ordinary maintenance can make do with these."
Li Guanyi nodded, then asked, "How about Lei Laomeng and the others?"
Shi Dalin answered with a smile, "Ah, Lei Laomeng, right after setting up camp, he took some brothers up the mountain, said he was going to get some meat. Really, that man, carrying those Carriage Crossbows and not willing to abandon them, he’s strapped them onto the bears! If it weren’t for Divine Beast Manor, who else could pull off something like that?"
The old physician then asked seriously, "But the real question is, where do we go from here?"