Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

The secluded pool behind the mountain is hidden between two cliffs, surrounded by wild vines, and its water is dark green all year round, like a piece of cold jade embedded in the mountain.

By the time Ye Chen reached the edge of the pool, it was completely dark. The moon was tiny, obscured by thin clouds, letting in only a few faint, almost invisible rays of light.

He took the Kuzhao sword off his back and stuck it in a crevice in a moss-covered rock on the shore.

The sword pierced three inches into the stone, like a silent monument.

Ye Chen took off his outer clothes, leaving his upper body bare, and recited the incantation Su Qinghan had taught him three times in his mind before leaping into the pool.

The water was extremely cold, so cold it felt like thousands of tiny needles were simultaneously piercing my bones.

Ye Chen held his breath and let himself sink down.

The method of cultivating the "Severing Water Flow" is extremely strange. It does not require a person to wield a sword on the shore, but rather to feel every slight change in the water flow underwater.

A sword has a sharp edge, but water has no form.

When you cut water with a sword, you're not cutting the water itself, but the continuous force behind it.

Master Su Qinghan once said that his father had also practiced this move in this pool, but before he could master it, he went down the mountain and never came back.

Ye Chen opened his eyes in the water.

The water in the pool was extremely murky, and only the undulating rocks at the bottom and a few very thin currents could be vaguely seen.

Ye Chen tried to use his palm as a sword, as instructed in the sword manual, and slowly paddled in the water.

The water slipped through his fingers, as lightly as if pushing him, and as heavily as if pulling him.

Each push was ten times more strenuous than on land.

An hour later, he surfaced for air, his arms so sore he could barely lift them.

He climbed to the edge of the pool, wrapped himself in his clothes, leaned against the withered sword, and gazed at the small patch of sky above.

He wondered if his father had sat here like this back then, thinking of his mother and of him, whom he had never met.

The wind blew down from the cliff, creating tiny ripples on the pool, as if someone was whispering in response.

The next day, he went into the pool again.

This time he no longer used his palm, but instead held a sword.

Wielding a sword in the water is like fighting for one's life against the entire pool.

If the sword strike is too fast, the water crashes back like a wall.

The sword's momentum was too soft, and it couldn't break through that omnipresent resistance.

Ye Chen tried again and again, his body scratched by the dark stones, leaving bloody cuts that looked like faint red flowers blooming underwater.

One evening, Jiang Ruoxi sneaked over and stood at the edge of the cliff, looking into the distance. She saw extremely thin blood vessels floating on the water, and she almost lost her balance.

But she didn't go down. She just left a packet of medicine and a few steamed buns on the shore and then tiptoed away.

When Ye Chen saw it later, he simply pressed the packet of medicine onto his wound. His heart was colder than a pool of water, yet hotter than a burning ember.

On the third day, the sky was overcast and it looked like it was going to rain.

Ye Chen entered the pool for the last time, without swinging his sword again. He simply closed his eyes and let his body slowly sink to the bottom.

He heard his own heartbeat, the whispers of water flowing through the cracks in the rocks, and the faint hum of the withered sword on the shore, as if it were calling to him.

Ye Chen suddenly understood.

Cutting off the water flow doesn't mean cutting off the water itself, but rather cutting off your own escape route.

All moves are illusory; only this one sword strike pushes away all hesitation, fear, and attachment, allowing the sword to become oneself, and oneself to become the sword.

Just as he leaped out of the water, the rain began to fall.

The pool was full of bubbles, as if something had turned over at the bottom.

Ye Chen gripped his sword, aimed it at the center of the pool, and slashed down.

There was no loud splashing of water, nor any dazzling flash of sword light.

As the sword fell, the water seemed to be split in two by an invisible hand, a very narrow crack running from the center of the pool all the way to the shore. The water parted to both sides by half a foot, revealing a bottomless black abyss beneath. Then the water suddenly closed up again, causing the entire cliff face to tremble slightly.

Ye Chen knelt on the shore, completely exhausted, but the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

He knew that this strike had succeeded.

When he returned to the front of the mountain in the evening, Su Qinghan was waiting for him at the entrance of the main room.

She didn't say anything, but simply handed him a warm medicine pot.

Ye Chen took it and drank two mouthfuls, frowning from the bitterness.

Su Qinghan said, "The people from Blackwater have arrived at Wuyi Ferry. Old Jiu has set up one last game for you at the foot of the mountain. Tomorrow night at midnight, at the Old Ferry Temple."

Ye Chen put down the medicine pot and looked down at the corridor.

Jiang Ruoxi was sitting on a small stool, wrapping cloth around Ayiguli's knife.

She heard Su Qinghan's words, but didn't look up. She just wrapped the cloth strips tightly and closely.

Ye Chen walked up to her, squatted down, took the knife and cloth from her hand, and finished wrapping Ayiguli's wounds.

Then Ye Chen said to Jiang Ruoxi, "Tomorrow night, I want you to stay in the valley and wait for news."

Jiang Ruoxi raised her eyes, said nothing, but gently tugged at the red string in her hand.

Ye Chen then fell silent. They all knew that trying to persuade him was useless.

That night, Medicine King Valley was extremely quiet.

Even the mountain birds seemed to have made a pact, remaining completely silent.

Ye Chen sat on the rooftop, with Jiang Ruoxi beside him. Mist rose in the valley, like a thin white veil, shrouding the distant and nearby mountains and trees in one place.

Jiang Ruoxi asked, "What do you want to do after tomorrow?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said, "I want to take you to Qingqiaopu to eat a bowl of fish soup, then go back to Longyin Mountain to burn incense for my father, and then go back to the company to be my security minister. You go to your meetings, and I'll patrol my buildings. If Blackwater comes again, I'll break their legs."

Jiang Ruoxi smiled and rested her face on his shoulder.

Ye Chen draped his coat over her shoulders and whispered, "Don't be afraid, I have a sword, and I have you."

Jiang Ruoxi didn't say anything, but simply held his hand with her own.

Her fingertips were cold, but her palms were warm.

Ye Chen woke up before dawn.

He didn't look back as he went down the mountain, afraid that if he did, he would really be reluctant to leave.

But he knew that Jiang Ruoxi must be standing by that old tree, just like every time before, watching him go and waiting for him.

Some debts should be settled tonight.

When they reached the mouth of the valley, the ghost servants were already waiting there.

The old man didn't carry a lantern, only holding the iron ruler in his hand. Seeing Ye Chen come down, he handed him an extremely thin black waterproof suit: "Old Jiu's men have sealed off both the front and back of the Old Ferry Temple. Han Song and Song Tiezhu have already led their men to bypass it by waterway. Ayiguli has also gone ahead. I'll go with you to the main beach. Wu Ying sent word that Old Jiu will go to the altar at 11:45 AM. He will also have two old guys with him, one who uses cymbals and the other who uses a soft knife. They are both loyal followers who have been with him for decades. I will hold them off. You just need to deal with Old Jiu. Remember, Old Jiu's greatest strength is not his kung fu, but his eyes. His pupil technique can make people unable to distinguish between reality and illusion in the fog. Once you look into his eyes, don't look at them a second time."

Ye Chen put on the water-resistant vest and carried the withered sword on his back.

The valley wind whipped his hair wildly, and he glanced back at the road hidden in the mist behind him.

Jiang Ruoxi indeed stood beside that old tree, gazing at him from afar.

Even though they were so far apart that he couldn't see her expression, Ye Chen knew she was there.

Ye Chen waved to her, then turned and walked into the fog.

When we reached the north beach of Wuyidu, the river surface was as black as if it had been soaked in thick ink.

A row of white lanterns hung neatly at the entrance of the Laodu Temple, as if guiding the dead.

Even before Elder Jiu showed himself, a chilling and oppressive aura emanated from the temple.

Ye Chen held the sword in his hand, the blade trembling very slightly, like a living creature that had smelled blood.

There is no turning back tonight.

Either Old Jiu dies, or his entire family will never have a peaceful day again.

Ye Chen took a deep breath of the river breeze, swallowing the chill into his lungs, and then walked towards the row of white lanterns.

Step by step, it's like revisiting an old grievance from twenty years ago.