Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

As everyone knows, in this world, those with unusual hair color are not ordinary people.

Especially those with gray hair.

In the original work, there were quite a few people with white hair.

The elderly are not mentioned.

Wei Zhuang, Bai Yifei, and Xiaomeng all have white hair.

So, after seeing the other person's white hair clearly, Xu Qing couldn't help but take a closer look. Upon closer inspection, he recognized a sense of familiarity in the other person's face, which was covered in rainwater.

Although he still seemed a bit naive, Xu Qing had already made up his mind.

He quickly suppressed the scrutiny and the hint of amazement in his eyes, his expression returning to calm. His voice was exceptionally clear amidst the crackling rain and the sound of fire: "In this vast and desolate place, our meeting is fate. Young lady, come closer to the fire and ward off the chill."

At the same time, the girl also saw the only "master" in the shrine, a handsome young man with a calm and composed demeanor. The campfire danced in his deep eyes, reflecting a composure and aloofness that was beyond his years.

A chivalrous knight-errant? Or... a fellow sufferer in the same boat? Her mind raced.

After a brief moment of surprise, she suppressed her embarrassment and wariness, and spoke softly, "Thank you."

In this raging world, a crumbling wall that can shelter from the wind and rain, and a campfire that can bring dryness and warmth, are already the greatest mercy of fate.

As for the awkwardness of maintaining separation between men and women, it seems so insignificant in the face of survival.

Dragging her heavy, wet clothes and weary body, she carefully approached the warm source of light. On the other side of the fire, keeping a delicate distance from Xu Qing, she slowly sat down.

The shrine fell silent for a moment, with only the crackling of the bonfire and the increasingly violent wind and rain outside echoing in the background.

The flickering firelight cast shifting shadows on their faces, and the air was filled with the aroma of damp wood, earth, and roasted rabbit fat, along with a faint, unspoken tension emanating from strangers.

Xu Qing looked at the girl huddled by the campfire and said, "There's half a wild rabbit over there. If you're hungry, you can heat it up. Of course, if you're worried about it being poisonous, then just pretend I didn't say that."

Upon hearing this, the girl looked up again and glanced at the boy not far away in surprise.

After a moment of silence, she said "thank you" to Xu Qing again, then went to the place Xu Qing had indicated, picked up the half rabbit Xu Qing had mentioned, heated it over the campfire, and then wolfed it down.

She had been walking in the mountains for a long time, and she had indeed gone without eating for a long time in order to avoid the rain.

Chapter 43 Hero Saves the Beauty, Though Late, He Arrives Finally

The night rain is pattering.

Xu Qing and the girl he didn't know were in the dilapidated shrine, remaining silent.

Although he recognized the other person and had some guesses in his mind, he did not take the initiative to start a conversation.

The long night was barely endured by the flickering campfire. The two leaned against a dilapidated temple pillar, sharing the warmth brought by the small flame.

At first, the girl was extremely wary of Xu Qing, a complete stranger. Even after eating the half-eaten roasted rabbit he had left for her, she remained vigilant. It wasn't until late into the night that exhaustion finally overcame her unease, and she quietly fell asleep leaning against a stone pillar. The firelight illuminated her serene profile; Xu Qing glanced at her but did not disturb her.

The sudden, torrential mountain rain did not subside until dawn.

When the girl woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. She subconsciously checked herself and found that her clothes were intact and there was nothing wrong with her, so she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned her gaze to the other end of the campfire, but the boy who had been with her the night before was nowhere to be seen.

She decided to rest there for a while longer.

Having fled Handan in haste to avoid pursuers, I had no choice but to hide in the mountains. Everything happened suddenly. After days of running around, I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. This short rest was truly precious.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door.

The girl instantly became alert and looked up.

It was the same boy from last night.

The other person's hands were busy; in his left hand he was holding several struggling bluefish, and in his right hand he was holding a bunch of mountain fruits covered with morning dew.

"It's not easy to find fresh food in the mountains." Xu Qing looked at the still wary girl and placed the wild fruit in front of her. "I was hungry this morning, so let's just grill a few fish and eat some wild fruit."

After saying that, he turned around and went to prepare the fresh fish.

As the morning sun shone through the temple gates, combined with the warmth from the previous night's baking, the girl's clothes and hair were completely dry, no longer as disheveled as before. Her natural beauty was fully revealed, and even without makeup, she already possessed a captivating charm.

But Xu Qing knew that this was still not when the other person was at their most beautiful.

After all, she hasn't put on makeup yet!

In the original work, the other party's makeup and disguise skills were absolutely top-notch.

After a slight hesitation, the girl finally picked up a mountain fruit and took a small bite.

She watched Xu Qing's busy figure from behind and tentatively asked, "Are you a wandering swordsman?"

"I dare not accept such praise." Xu Qing's hands did not stop, and his voice came calmly. "I am a swordsmith. I used to forge swords for someone in Handan, but unfortunately that person was not of good character, so I had to leave Zhao and go far away..." At this point, he also raised a question, "Young lady, you have an extraordinary temperament and are definitely not from an ordinary family. How did you end up in this deep mountain forest?"

The girl fell silent for a moment, then whispered, "Someone forced me to do something I didn't want to do, so... I had no choice but to run away."

"Is that so?" Xu Qing's voice was devoid of emotion. "That person must be no ordinary individual."

The girl thought of the man's identity and recalled the greedy gaze that clung to her like a malignant tumor in the music hall that day, and a chill ran down her spine.

She ultimately avoided Xu Qing's question and did not answer it.

Seeing this, Xu Qing stopped pursuing the matter. He handed the girl a fish that was roasted until golden brown but tasted bland due to the lack of seasoning, and the two ate in silence.

After the meal, Xu Qing looked at the young woman and asked, "Now that you've escaped, do you have any plans for the future?"

"I wish to go to the State of Yan," the girl said without concealing her intention.

“Yan State is indeed a good place to go,” Xu Qing replied, then changed the subject slightly, “However, with your outstanding beauty, even in Yan State, you may attract the covetous eyes of powerful figures and cause trouble.” Seeing the deeper doubt in the girl’s eyes, he added, “...it would be best to find a reliable backer.”

Having said all he could, he said no more.

Having met by chance, Xu Qing had no intention of inviting him to travel together.

Having experienced the harsh realities of life since childhood, the girl harbored deep suspicion towards people. Even though Xu Qing had sheltered her for a night and provided her with two meals, she could not bring herself to befriend him.

She stood up, thanked them, and then turned and walked into the depths of the woods, her figure hurrying away.

Looking in the direction the other person had left, Xu Qing couldn't help but shake his head.

Is there really a rush?

"I don't look like a bad person!"

"I was originally planning to forge a sword for you."

Back when he met the musician Gao Jianli by the Yi River, he chose to help Gao Jianli forge a sword. Now, having met this dancer who was opposite the musician, he naturally had the idea of ​​forging a sword as well. However, before he could even speak, she left.

He carefully erased all traces from the shrine and left the place.

The mountain road wound its way to the depths of a dense forest when suddenly a strange noise and voices came from ahead. Xu Qing's eyes sharpened, and he quietly followed the sound.

In a clearing in the woods, six burly men in black surrounded the young woman who had just left, trapping her in the center. The leader's eyes were sharp as an eagle's, and a cold, triumphant smirk played on his lips: "Beauty, where do you think you can escape to? By order of the Emperor, we'll dig three feet into the ground to 'invite' you back!"

Although he glanced at the girl and felt a burning desire due to her stunning beauty, he immediately suppressed it.

This man knew his place; this woman was a precious gift carefully chosen by the king to present to the crown prince of Zhao, and could not be allowed to be disrespected in the slightest.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll obediently come back with us and avoid physical punishment. Otherwise..."

His words were like cold iron chains, firmly locking onto the pale-faced girl.

"I would rather die than go back with you!" The girl's gaze swept over the six figures that had surrounded her, her face as cold as ice, her voice filled with a resolute determination as if she were willing to perish together with them.

Her heart was cold. All along the way, she had done everything she could to avoid human presence, choosing to sneak through remote mountains and forests. Last night's torrential rain should have erased all traces of her.

But who would have thought that she would be tracked down by the other party like a leech after only a short time after leaving the mountain god's shrine where she had taken refuge? Even though she tried her best to escape with her agility, she was eventually cornered by these six people in the depths of the dense forest.

A single wrong decision!

A thought suddenly pierced his mind: if he hadn't been so eager to leave the shrine, but instead had stayed with the boy for a while... However, this thought only lasted for a moment before being crushed by an even greater sense of crisis.

At this moment, the only option is to take a gamble.

Although the girl was young, she was not weak or helpless. Dance is also the foundation of martial arts, and it places great emphasis on body coordination. After her family suffered a shocking tragedy and she was sent to the Zhao State Music Bureau, she practiced the Dance of the Startled Swan day and night, while also secretly honing her physical skills to a considerable degree.

With a sudden tap of her toes on the ground, her figure moved with the agility of a willow catkin in the wind, rushing towards a gap in the encirclement of the six people.

"Trying to leave?" The burly man at the head of the group glared at him and roared.

How could six burly men let a cooked duck fly away?

Their movements were perfectly coordinated, their footsteps shifting in an instant, completely sealing off the fleeting gap, like an iron net suddenly tightening. The young girl's movements were exquisite, but she was ultimately young, lacking strength, and not a martial artist specializing in actual combat. These six, however, were different. They were fierce retainers carefully trained by Guo Kai, agile and experienced. In the blink of an eye, a large, fan-like hand gripped her slender wrist like an iron clamp, the force so great that she groaned in pain, almost unable to exert any strength.

Another burly man grinned maliciously and pulled out a roll of rope to bind people.

At the critical moment.

A clear, slightly teasing voice rang out slowly through the woods.

"Six burly men are bullying a weak woman here. As a person with a sense of justice, I can't stand by and watch."

Looking in the direction of the sound, one could see Xu Qing standing quietly in a corner of the woods, his hands behind his back, looking as relaxed as if he were enjoying the spring scenery.

But his words were like cold water thrown into boiling oil.

The six burly men were immediately enraged, their fierce gazes fixed on Xu Qing.

The girl's despairing eyes were instantly ignited by a faint light, but when she saw that the person who came was the sword-making boy she had met by chance last night, that glimmer of hope was replaced by great worry. How could he, all alone, possibly defeat these six ferocious desperados?

She instinctively clenched the sleeve of her other hand, which was not caught, her palm icy cold.

Chapter 44 All by Fate, The Snow Woman's Touch

"You call yourself a greenhorn? You dare to play the hero and save a damsel in distress? You're really courting death!" After seeing Xu Qing's youthful face, a burly man shouted sternly, his voice booming like a bell, making the branches and leaves in the forest tremble.

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, a cold smile curving her lips. "You keep spouting nonsense. Are you planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

The burly man clearly didn't understand the meaning of "taking the postgraduate entrance exam," but even if he did, he had no intention of taking it. After all, by joining the ranks of the powerful and becoming Guo Kai's retainers, they had already entered the system. Seeing that Xu Qing not only showed no fear but also mocked him, he twisted his fleshy face, and with a sinister laugh, his towering body, accompanied by a foul stench, lunged straight at Xu Qing.

The other five people did not make a move.

One man held the girl's arms firmly, while another untied the ropes to bind her. The remaining two stood by with their arms crossed, their eyes filled with a cruel, mocking gaze, like cats toying with mice. As fellow retainers of Guo Kai, they knew all too well the ruthlessness of their companion's fists and feet, and were just waiting to see this arrogant young man die on the spot.

The burly man's fist, as big as a sand bowl, was carrying a strong wind and was about to smash Xu Qing's face.

In a flash, a cold glint appeared.

"Pfft!"

Blood splattered as a muscular arm flew into the air.

"Ah!!" A piercing scream tore through the silence of the forest.