Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

"Let's go somewhere else." The man's voice was dry and hoarse, revealing an undeniable weariness.

Xu Qing's identity certainly piqued his curiosity, but this was not a place for lingering conversation.

Right now, safety is the top priority.

The two walked silently through the increasingly dense shadows of the forest.

As the man hurried along, he fumbled in his pocket for a simple strip of cloth, roughly pressing and binding several lacerated wounds on his body. The movements elicited muffled groans of pain, and blood seeped into the coarse cloth, the dark red color spreading rapidly in the moving moonlight.

Only after venturing deep into a secluded area surrounded by trees and confirming that there were no more unusual sounds did the man stop and lean heavily against a rough old tree.

"My name is Zhu Ying," he said breathlessly, his voice tired but clear.

"You are Zhu Ying?" Xu Qing's eyebrows twitched slightly, his tone carrying a knowing scrutiny.

"You know me?" Zhu Ying suddenly looked up, her surprise mixed with a deeper wariness.

This name was not unknown in the State of Chu, but it was not something that strangers would readily recognize.

"I've heard a little about it." Xu Qing's voice remained calm, as if recounting an old story. "I heard that Lord Chunshen once had a retainer named Zhu Ying."

“Not bad.” Zhu Ying’s eyes dimmed, filled with a complex bitterness. “If there is no other Zhu Ying in the world, then it is me.”

He paused for a moment, the past pressing down like heavy clouds, "When the emperor was alive, I repeatedly advised him to be wary of that treacherous Li Yuan... Unfortunately, honest advice is hard to swallow, and he wouldn't listen to a word."

He sighed deeply, as if to release all the pent-up frustration and helplessness in his heart, "I had a premonition of impending disaster, so I had no choice but to leave Shouchun ahead of schedule..."

"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth, his wounds throbbing again from the emotional turmoil. "I never imagined that after His Majesty's death, that scoundrel Li Yuan somehow found out that I had offered my advice, and he wouldn't even let go of someone who had already fled... He was relentless and sent men to hunt me down all the way here!"

"This is truly... an undeserved disaster!"

Zhu Ying sighed deeply.

He wasn't lamenting Lord Chunshen Huang Xie's fate, after all, he had repeatedly reminded Lord Chunshen before, which could be considered as doing his utmost to be kind and righteous.

He just felt very unlucky.

He had already escaped beforehand, but he was still found by Li Yuan's people.

Thinking of this, he suddenly looked at Xu Qing with wariness, "You're not from Li Yuan, are you?"

"I have no relation to Li Yuan!" Xu Qing said calmly.

Chapter 111 The Sword is Based on People

"That's good." Zhu Ying's tense shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled a breath of stale air.

"You're quite a character," Xu Qing said, sizing up Zhu Ying with a hint of interest in his eyes.

This man once served Lord Chunshen, but he lacked the blind loyalty of a loyal warrior. After several unsuccessful attempts to persuade him, he withdrew and fled, demonstrating the utmost benevolence and righteousness.

Lord Chunshen, Huang Xie, misjudged people, which led to his own death and the extermination of his clan; he truly brought it upon himself.

"Since we have met by chance and I have heard your story, I will give this to you." Xu Qing rose from the grass in the woods, his sleeves fluttering lightly.

Before he finished speaking, a longsword with its sheath was already in his hand, as if it had appeared out of thin air.

Zhu Ying's pupils contracted sharply, and her fingertips instantly gripped the hilt of the cracked, broken sword at her waist, her knuckles turning white from the force.

However, Xu Qing did not swing the sword. With a slight turn of his wrist, the sword brought out a gust of wind and deeply embedded itself in the soil in front of Zhu Ying's feet, the tassel of the sword trembling in the wind.

"Your sword is almost completely destroyed. As a swordsmith, I can't stand seeing things like this." Xu Qing said calmly, "This sword is yours."

Zhu Ying stared at the trembling sword hilt before her, her Adam's apple bobbing, her fingertips slowly loosening their grip on the broken sword and reaching for the new one.

It feels slightly heavy in the hand, and the scabbard is ancient and simple, with faint divination inscriptions.

He lightly pushed the hilt of the sword with his thumb, and a cold light flashed out. The blade was covered with mysterious symbols, and a dark light was contained within. A chilling aura pierced through his palm, as if it could see into people's hearts.

"Such a powerful weapon... given to me so easily?" Zhu Ying's voice was dry as she ran her fingertips along the cold spine of the sword, incredulous.

“A senior once said that the sword is destiny, a meeting of minds, a symbiotic relationship.” Xu Qing chuckled, his gaze sweeping over Zhu Ying’s hand gripping the scabbard. “I say, the sword is a tool, its power enhanced by the person wielding it. Even a wooden sword, in the hands of a peerless master, becomes an unparalleled divine weapon! However…”

He suddenly changed the subject, “A good tool needs a suitable person. This sword is called Lingfen, which can anticipate the enemy and sense danger. Since you were able to see through Li Yuan’s killing scheme and extricate yourself, you are worthy of it.”

Zhu Ying's fingers tightened, and the image of Lord Chunshen holding the Xuanpu Sword with rapt attention flashed through her mind.

But he didn't show any joy. Instead, he looked directly at Xu Qing and said, "This sword shouldn't have been given away for nothing!"

He is as meticulous as a net; he was able to see through Li Yuan in the past, and he will not easily believe in gifts now.

"Of course it's not free; a contract needs to be signed!"

Xu Qing flipped his palm, and an animal hide appeared.

This is his usual old trick.

Although the auction at Qianlong Hall yielded a lot of money, Xu Qing found it difficult to obtain any abilities from the sword wielder without a contract.

Zhu Ying took the animal hide, her gaze sharp as a knife, scanning it word by word. The terms were surprisingly simple; for the party agreeing to the agreement, there was only a solitary character, "Xu."

He checked repeatedly, his fingertips almost crumpling the animal hide: "Is it really... to exchange this sword for this contract?"

"What, you don't want it?" Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, making a gesture as if to take it. "If you don't want it, there are plenty of people who will."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying immediately made up her mind, "Yes, of course I want it."

As he spoke, he dabbed some blood on his still-unhealed wounds and wrote his name directly on the contract.

After signing, he handed the contract to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing put it away carefully.

Then, he said to Zhu Ying, "Now, he is yours."

Zhu Ying took a deep breath and gripped the Spirit Aura Sword tightly once more. The peculiar feeling grew stronger, and a strange pulse emanated from the hilt. This made him instantly understand Lord Chunshen's obsession with Xuanpu. A good sword truly gives people an extraordinary feeling.

"I wonder how this sword compares to the five swords mentioned in Song Yu's 'Ode to the Sword'?"

Zhu Ying muttered to herself unconsciously.

He didn't expect to get an answer, but Xu Qing replied, "Perhaps, I am slightly better."

"After all, this sword was created relatively late!"

"As everyone knows, the later the sword is made, the more powerful it becomes."

He walked leisurely, stepping over knee-high weeds, his chanting carried on the wind, each word like metal or stone falling to the ground.

"Again I see the weapon of the owl and tortoise, its black armor bearing the earth's axis, its serpentine patterns locking the earth's veins. It swallows the darkness of the nine abysses as its spirit, and suppresses the collapse of the eight wastelands as its blade. The owl and tortoise drag it in its mouth? What will Gun listen to! The sword stands horizontally on the pillar of heaven, the mountains and peaks stand tall, and even Gonggong, when he struck the mountain, turned back."

Looking again at the blade of the boat, it abandons its oars and treads the path of stars, soaring through the void and stepping onto the cloud palace. The vast ocean loses its power to swallow the waves, and the Five Sacred Mountains turn into dust. Can the boat move swiftly? How can it be moved! Even Liezi's ability to ride the wind is slow, but with this blade, one can pluck the moon from the sky.

A divine aura emanates, etched with thunderous patterns on divination bones, prophecies sharpened with frost. Before any killing intent is heard, the blade roars; the moment malice arises, it is already pierced through. Has fate turned against us? What punishment or blessing awaits? The diviner burns the yarrow stalks, the tortoise shell cracks; behold this sword, and the celestial sphere falls silent!

Finally obtaining the spirit of the Mysterious Pivot, the three energies cleaved the primordial chaos, and the twin fish held the primordial chaos in their mouths. The Yin Soul condensed the power of the Mysterious Abyss, and the Yang Essence melted the crimson marks of the Golden Crow. Yin and Yang united? What is their origin and transformation! With a single sword, the boundary between purity and turbidity was cleaved—the root of the earth was fixed, the celestial pivot was locked, and the primordial chaos was severed…”

The lingering sound echoed through the forest. Zhu Ying was struck as if by lightning, and gripped the hilt of the Spirit Aura Sword tightly.

At this moment, he understood perfectly well.

From the very beginning, Song Yu's "Ode to the Sword" was incomplete; it never contained five swords, but rather... nine.

Combined with the character "Xu" on the previous contract.

Zhu Ying seemed to understand something.

People only know that the "Sword Ode" records five extraordinary swords, but they overlook that the "Sword Ode" also has a preface, in which an event is mentioned.

“Xu Zi…” he murmured, a chill running down his spine.

Lord Chunshen, Huang Xie, died at the hands of Li Yuan. People say that the disaster originated from Xuanpu, because Lord Chunshen secretly kept Xuanpu, thus cutting off the King of Chu's chance of survival.

Who would have thought that Xu Zi, who forged the Suspended Garden and caused that tragedy, would now stand before him, personally handing him a Spirit Aura Sword of the same origin.

A complex mix of emotions welled up in Zhu Ying's heart.

……

On the day he left the Hidden Dragon Hall of Chu, Xu Qing only handed over two of the four remaining swords of the Nine Heavenly Questions Swords to Situ Wanli.

The "spiritual aura" and "mysterious pivot" he left behind represent the pinnacle of his current sword-making skills.

By gifting the spirit, he was trying out Feng Hu Zi's method of "human harmony," finding a pleasing master to let the sword travel the world and absorb human energy, to see if he could nurture a "spirit" through this metaphysical method.

It doesn't matter if we fail; it's just doing the same thing again.

As for whether Zhu Ying is compatible with this sword, and whether there is some kind of destiny between them?

A sword is a tool; how can it have a destined master?

He thought Zhu Ying was capable, so he gave him away.

As for Xuan Shu, even though Feng Hu Zi commented that it was "without spirit," it could not hide its sharpness. None of the swords with spirits were necessarily as powerful as this one.

After all, the so-called "spirit" only means that the sword is of a higher grade. Just like ordinary jade versus the He Shi Bi jade, although both are jade, their preciousness is vastly different, but that doesn't change the fact that they are both jade.

Even the He Shi Bi jade, if it is smashed, will still have a corner broken.

The level of a sword does not necessarily indicate its power.

Besides, after much contemplation, Xu Qing has come up with a new perspective: the spirit of a sword is not necessarily the soul contained within it.

The majesty of the emperor, the wisdom of the feudal lords, and the courage of the common people—these intangible qualities, when added to the sword, can also be imbued with spirit!

If it were Qin Shi Huang during the First Emperor's reign, even if he held ordinary iron, he could still wield the sword of an emperor who could command the world.

That power to rule over all directions is the strongest "spirit".

The so-called harmony between people is actually just this.

It doesn't necessarily require the sword's owner to die; their soul can reside in the sword, giving it a spirit.

Furthermore, the identity of the sword wielder, their power, prestige, courage—these intangible qualities—can be imbued into the sword, transforming it into its spirit.

It is both an intrinsic force and an intrinsic strength.

It can also be an external force.

A sword is not judged by its power or its illustrious origin.

Instead, we should look at who he was under, what he did, and what kind of legendary biography he has.

Feng Hu Zi compiled the sword manual, saw countless swords, and was immersed in legends, which inevitably led to his deification, and he neglected the essential nature of the sword being based on people.

Ultimately, it's just a weapon; what makes a sword so special? How can those who use knives in this world bear this?