Chapter 1-9

“Ahhh! Little Brother!”

When he saw that the youngest had died, the eldest, who wielded the iron mace, began shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Brother, we need to run.”

“We have to kill that bastard. We have to avenge our little brother.”

The second brother, who had been sitting there blankly after having his wrist severed, came to his senses and spoke to the eldest, but the man shook his head and staggered back to his feet. Then, gripping the iron mace tightly once more, he began charging at Cao Zhenshi.

-Clang, clang.

They were attacks consisting of nothing more than wild swings. There were no techniques behind them, nor any power. They looked like nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum at an adult. Cao Zhenshi merely blocked the attacks with ease.

‘He took other people’s lives so easily, yet hoped that no one close to him would die? Foolish.’

Watching the eldest, Bai Shixuan felt a tightness building in his chest. Had those men killed people before? Bai Shixuan had no way of knowing. But they had weapons. Every one of them carried weapons capable of easily killing a person. It made no sense for men who possessed such weapons to have never cut anyone down. Why did they kill others without a second thought, yet hope that their own companions, family, lovers, and friends would never die?

‘Maybe I’d be the same…….’

If Bai Shixuan had also been a martial artist, if he had learned martial arts and stood in the same position as them, perhaps he too would have become enraged. But not yet. Of course, he had killed before. His first killing had been when he was six. He had driven a knife into the stomach of a boy who tormented him relentlessly. The boy had been six years older than him. Bai Shixuan had happened to pick up a small knife dropped by a passing martial artist, and after enduring the bullying again and again until he could bear it no longer, he had simply plunged the knife into the boy’s stomach. That had been his first killing, and his last. Even now, he could vividly remember the boy’s face. In the end, he had killed the boy as he begged for his life in fear and agony. Then Bai Shixuan had fled the scene. He still could not forget the sensation he had felt when he stabbed the boy in the stomach. But the boy had possessed no close friend who cared enough to avenge him. And Bai Shixuan had no companions, friends, or lovers who might die either. So he simply could not understand the eldest brother’s actions. If someone deliberately killed others in order to survive, rather than killing by accident, did he never consider that he himself might be killed in return?

‘Haa.’

He looked down at his two hands. Small, pale hands. He had killed someone with these hands. At first, the crimson blood that had stained them had terrified him. Even now, the boy occasionally appeared in his dreams. Yet he no longer felt fear, terror, or guilt. Little by little, Bai Shixuan was becoming numb to the fact that he had killed someone.

-Whirrrrr, thud.

The iron mace flew through the air and landed one chi in front of Bai Shixuan. Bai Shixuan stared at the mace that had fallen before him, then raised his head. Cao Zhenshi stood there with his sword pressed against the eldest brother’s neck, his head turned as he looked at Bai Shixuan.

“You were lucky.”

‘Tch.’

Just who had those words been directed at? Obviously, they had been meant for him. But why had Cao Zhenshi said that? Of course, Bai Shixuan knew that Cao Zhenshi disliked him. And Bai Shixuan disliked Cao Zhenshi as well. Cao Zhenshi merely kept Bai Shixuan around as a sword attendant so he could put on airs as a wandering swordsman, while Bai Shixuan followed him so he could use the man to see more of the world. Then why had he said Bai Shixuan was lucky simply because he had nearly died but survived?

‘So that’s what this is about.’

In barely two years, Bai Shixuan had gone through an astonishing number of masters. Of all the people who had become his masters, Cao Zhenshi had survived the longest. Not a single one of them had lasted a full year. Perhaps that was why Cao Zhenshi had begun to feel uneasy. They had simply died because they lacked luck and skill……. Yet perhaps he blamed all of it on Bai Shixuan. At the same time, killing Bai Shixuan with his own hands might have felt too much like admitting he believed in such superstition, so perhaps he was instead putting Bai Shixuan’s life at risk like this, thinking it would be good if he died but no great loss if he survived.

‘I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

It had not been long since they had left the Flower Fragrance Pavilion. Nor had it been long since he had made that promise with Xuelan, so he could not die already. After all, he had promised that he would return there alive and well.

“P-please, spare…….”

The eldest brother, who only moments ago had lost all reason and charged at Cao Zhenshi, was now on his knees begging him. But Cao Zhenshi simply drove his sword through the man’s head, then approached the second brother, who stared on in utter despair.

“H-hiiik!”

Without even picking up his own weapon, the axe lying on the ground, the second brother began fleeing into the forest. Cao Zhenshi watched him go, then turned his head and glanced at Bai Shixuan, who stood silently nearby, before setting off in pursuit of the second brother.

‘Once someone crosses them, they chase that person to the very end and kill them. As long as the other person is weaker than they are. Infinitely weak before the strong and infinitely strong before the weak. That is what wandering swordsmen are.’

All that talk about being happy to die in battle was ultimately nothing more than empty boasting and fantasy from wandering swordsmen. They claimed they challenged strong opponents, defeated them, and reveled in the thrill of victory. They babbled that this was the purpose of a wandering swordsman’s life, but what was the reality? When they spoke of someone stronger than themselves, they merely meant someone only slightly stronger—someone against whom the outcome could be overturned by a single momentary mistake.

‘Heh heh.’

Bai Shixuan did not think there was anything wrong with that. Being weak before the strong and strong before the weak was simply reality. But if that was the case, then at the very least, they should not have spouted such ridiculous nonsense. It was precisely because wandering swordsmen said things like that that the public pointed fingers at them and mocked them.
Unable to suppress the laughter bubbling out of him, Bai Shixuan laughed for a while before quickly stopping. He had heard footsteps approaching from far away. It was probably Cao Zhenshi returning after killing the second brother who had fled.

‘Should I pick up the sword?’

He saw the sword the youngest brother had dropped lying on the ground. Should he take it, just in case? No. If he carried it around, Cao Zhenshi might seize on some excuse and kill him. It would be better to act as though nothing had happened and behave as he normally did. In the end, Bai Shixuan returned to the fire and began warming himself again.

-Step, step.

Before long, Cao Zhenshi approached. He held out his hand toward Bai Shixuan, and Bai Shixuan took a piece of plain cotton cloth from inside his clothes and handed it to him. Cao Zhenshi carefully wiped the blood and grease from his sword with the cloth Bai Shixuan had given him, then tossed the cloth straight into the fire. Afterward, he sheathed the sword and handed it to Bai Shixuan.

“We’re moving.”

“Yes.”

Wild animals would soon gather here. They intended to leave before that happened. Bai Shixuan hurriedly gathered their belongings, hugged Cao Zhenshi’s sword against his chest, and began leaving the area with him.