Blade: You Did That on Purpose, Didn't You?

Jing Yuan dumped the remaining work on Fu Xuan and clocked out at lightning speed. He was a little like Qingque in that regard.

Then again, Boss Yao had said Qingque was better suited to being the general, so it was only natural that Jing Yuan and Qingque had a few things in common. (Not really.)

After washing up, Jing Yuan pulled the covers over himself and went to sleep. The day's work had left him exhausted in both body and mind. He had expected to sleep until morning, but a dream came unbidden.

In the dream, Jing Yuan and the other Jing Yuan sat in a small bamboo grove. Bai Tang's older Jing Yuan picked up his tea and took a sip.

"It's a pity I can't taste it in a dream."

Jing Yuan didn't touch his tea. Knowing it was a dream, he was fairly relaxed.

"May I ask why you've entered my dream and disturbed my rest?"

He maintained a detached attitude, trying to find some valuable information in this unusual dream, or at least understand why the other man had come.

"In my experience, you should already know what Bai Tang has in mind. You can no longer stop her, so I hope you'll look after her where you can."

Bai Tang's older Jing Yuan didn't hide anything.

Now that he had decided to tell the truth, there was no need to be secretive.

When it came to resurrection, the Jing Yuan before him was surely even more panicked than he had been. At least he had calmed down by now, whereas this one...

"If possible, you can tell them her story."

Since Bai Tang's older Jing Yuan had made a request of his own, he would naturally offer help in return, such as clearing up some of Jing Yuan's questions and lending whatever assistance he could.

Using the communications feature, each of them had contacted their other self in their sleep, except for Aventurine, who hadn't unlocked it.

[Silver Wolf: Uncle Blade's behaving himself now.]

[Silver Wolf: He hasn't gone crazy again.]

[Silver Wolf: You're pretty capable.]

[Bai Tang: I want to see him.]

[Silver Wolf: Got it.]

[Silver Wolf: He'll be delivered shortly.]

[Bai Tang: That fast?]

[Silver Wolf: The script says you're the catalyst.]

[Silver Wolf: Come to this location.]

Bai Tang received Blade on the Luofu. Clearly, Kafka and Blade hadn't completely left yet; they were probably hoping to see Stelle.

Blade was very well behaved now, and Bai Tang wasn't so angry that she spoke without thinking, either. After fighting Phantylia, she had mostly learned to take things as they came. At most, she would go teach Yanqing a thing or two, and she could remain calm even when she saw Jingliu.

With her mindset changed, the check-in naturally succeeded too.

It hadn't worked before. The first time, Blade had nearly made her die of anger. The second time, Phantylia had been standing right there. Jing Yuan had felt awful, and so had Bai Tang. Though she hadn't been driven mad with anger, she had snapped at just about everyone she saw.

Because her temper was running so high, she had been unable to think calmly about much beyond the basics. Her prejudices had been too strong, so stereotypes had come to mind first, and she had forgotten all the details.

This was what she was normally like.

Bai Tang opened the panel. Yingxing woke up on it with a bewildered look, and Jingliu came over with little Jing Yuan to take him away and explain everything in detail.

[Number: 4

Identity: Hundred Forgers

Faction: The Hunt

Primary Path: The Hunt

Affection: 100

Contact rate: 93%]

The talent field was empty, which was perfectly normal. Yingxing had practically no combat ability; Blade was the one who could fight.

But besides slashing, Yingxing had a solo bond that could summon a forge. It came equipped with all the basic tools needed for smithing, such as hammers, anvils, and quenching tubs. It also held various rare metals and supplementary materials, even including some special items.

The forge was a manifestation of Yingxing's inner world, carrying his love for the art of smithing.

It was similar to Jing Yuan's Luofu.

Without another word, Bai Tang put Yingxing in the party and activated the bond. With a soft clink of metal, the familiar forge appeared at her summons, giving off a warm, steady presence.

She pulled Blade into the forge, settled him in a chair, and had him watch her smith.

She hadn't done any smithing for some time, so she was a little rusty, though at least she hadn't forgotten how. She had only spent two years on the Zhuming before, so she hadn't learned everything. She had also died too early, and afterward she had mostly been fighting and killing rather than smithing, so some of her movements were awkward.

Blade watched and watched.

Blade: "..."

Unable to stand it any longer, Blade abruptly stood up and pulled Bai Tang aside. He was just about to pick up the hammer when he noticed his hand trembling. He gave up and silently stepped back.

"Are you going to teach me?"

Bai Tang didn't let Blade retreat. She grabbed his hand, a gentle green light enveloping his wrist, and pulled him closer to her side.

"Great! Yingxing-ge's skills are the best. You definitely haven't forgotten them either, Blade. Learning from you is much better than learning at the Artisanship Commission."

She had already healed his wrist, but Blade's hand was still trembling. That made it a psychological problem.

She couldn't force him.

When Blade was quiet, he was quite gentle and well behaved.

"Heh, the Artisanship Commission."

The Artisanship Commission was so large, yet it couldn't find a single craftsman better than a teenage girl. It had really gone downhill.

Jing Yuan: Yingxing, this is the Luofu, not the Zhuming. Once you left, there were no truly skilled craftsmen here anymore.

Blade began teaching Bai Tang what she hadn't learned, patiently breaking everything down and teaching her bit by bit.

When Yingxing became Blade, the person he had found hardest to let go of was his master. Blade intended to leave a gift for the deceased Yingxing, in remembrance of the days when he had been full of vigor.

As long as he taught Bai Tang, her identity in this world would also be established. With her accompanying his master, his master wouldn't be too sad.

Huaiyan: But you're the only one I care about, Yingxing.

Bai Tang was clearly a child who valued affection and loyalty even more than he did. He could no longer fulfill his filial duties, but she would surely take good care of his master.

The people about to be resurrected: Oh, yes, absolutely. She valued affection and loyalty so much that she wanted to resurrect them all.

Parents teaching their children couldn't escape losing their tempers. As Blade taught her, he nearly drew his sword and unleashed Death Sentence. He sneered.

"Girl, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

How could Bai Tang, whom Yingxing had wanted to take as a disciple and recommend to his master, and whose talent Jing Yuan had recognized and sent her to the Zhuming for, still fail to learn after half a day?

She could even use the most difficult techniques, so how could she fail to learn the simpler ones after half a day?

Bai Tang glanced away. In truth, she had learned it after he showed her once. She had kept pretending she couldn't learn it on purpose, just to annoy Blade and see what he looked like angry without his Moyu Shuang.

After all, the most frightening thing wasn't someone deliberately trying to anger him. It was his heart lying like a pool of stagnant water when angered, without the slightest movement, no longer capable of even a ripple—or no one ever coming to anger him again.

After all, the only things that could anger him were people or things he cared about, or enemies causing trouble.

If no one could anger him anymore, it meant everything he treasured was gone. And if his heart lay like a pool of stagnant water when angered, it meant he had become so utterly disheartened that even his enemies couldn't anger him.

As long as someone came along and stirred up the stagnant water in his heart, turning it into boiling water, he would come alive again and become human again.

So yes, Bai Tang had done it on purpose.