Half a Step from Fate, Luring You into the Jar

The doors of Tianlu Pavilion opened.

Ji Ye walked out.

His steps were slow. Each step landed as though he were treading on cotton, soundless and weightless. His face was even paler than when he had entered, the hair at his temples soaked through with cold sweat and plastered to the sides of his face. His whole body exuded the frailty of someone recovering from a severe illness.

But his eyes were bright.

Bright as two ghostly flames burning in the abyss.

Eunuch Zhao, standing guard at the entrance, suddenly opened his perpetually half-lidded, clouded old eyes.

The broom in his arms stirred without wind, its bamboo twigs letting out a fine, trembling hum.

"Young man."

Eunuch Zhao's voice was still hoarse, but some of its previous senility had faded, replaced by a trace of gravity.

"What did you see?"

Ji Ye stopped and turned to look at the old man who had guarded the pavilion for sixty years.

Under the lingering effects of [Martial Dao Heavenly Eye], what he saw was no longer a shriveled old eunuch, but a pile of ash about to burn out—and yet still terrifying. Beneath that ash lay residual heat enough to burn down a city.

"I saw eight words."

Ji Ye did not conceal it, though his voice drifted faintly.

"Which eight words?"

"Misfortune and fortune have no gate; people alone summon them."

Eunuch Zhao froze.

On his old face, like dried tangerine peel, every wrinkle seemed to tremble at that instant.

After a long while, he sighed. The sigh was soft, yet it was like wind passing through dry bones, carrying a chilling cold that made one's heart quail.

"Sixty years..."

Eunuch Zhao slowly lowered his head and clutched the broom tightly once more.

"In these sixty years, there have been countless geniuses who entered this pavilion. Some saw 'dragons and tigers converging,' some saw 'yin and yang giving birth to each other,' and some even saw 'ascending to immortality in broad daylight.'"

"But only you saw these eight most tedious—and most fatal—words."

He lifted his eyelids and gave Ji Ye a deep look.

"These eight words are not martial arts. They are fate."

"Understand them, and it is providence. Fail to understand them, and it is calamity."

"Since you have seen them, take care of yourself."

After saying that, the old eunuch closed his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep again, becoming that lifeless statue once more.

Ji Ye gave the old man a deep bow.

"Thank you for your guidance, Eunuch Zhao."

He understood what the old man meant. Those eight words spoke not only of cause and effect, but also of the state of Great Liang.

Now that his sword had left its sheath, fortune and misfortune would be summoned by his own hand.

The carriage rolled back into the night, crushing moonlight across the ground.

Inside the carriage, Xiao Hongxiu had been watching Ji Ye.

She discovered that the young man had changed. If the Ji Ye from before had been an iron sword with its edge fully exposed, then the Ji Ye now seemed to have been sheathed in something called "composure."

That heart-quailing killing intent had vanished, replaced by a calmness unfathomably deep.

"It seems you gained quite a bit," Xiao Hongxiu broke the silence.

"I gained a little."

Ji Ye leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes to rest. He seized every breath of time, using the minute control of [Martial Arts Through Divinity] to repair the tiny wounds in his sea of consciousness that had been torn open by the aura of the Heavenly Dao.

"You only read that scroll for one hour." Xiao Hongxiu said calmly, "Back then, Marquis Wu'an read it for three days and three nights. When he came out, he vomited three pints of blood and said it was a heavenly book, not something human power could decipher."

"Marquis Wu'an wanted to see the whole text. I only wanted to see the road."

Ji Ye opened his eyes. "Once the road is clear, all that remains is to walk it."

"What a fine 'once the road is clear.'"

Xiao Hongxiu smiled. There was admiration in that smile, but even more than that, the satisfaction of a hunter seeing a falcon grow sharp talons.

She took a jade token from her sleeve and tossed it to Ji Ye.

The jade token was warm and lustrous. A luan bird spreading its wings was carved on its face, while the words "Sword Attendant" were engraved on the back.

"From today onward, you are the Sword Attendant of the Grand Princess's Manor. Your rank is equivalent to the fourth grade. Though you hold no real power, within Capital City, other than the imperial palace and the residences of the Three Dukes, you may walk sideways."

Ji Ye caught the jade token and weighed it in his hand.

"Is this an advance on my payment?"

"You could say that."

Xiao Hongxiu lifted the carriage curtain and watched the streets flash past outside.

"But this token is also a hot potato. Tonight, you killed Tuli and burned Zuisheng Tower. Though the Qin family has yet to make a move, this is merely the calm before the storm."

"I know Qin Wuji well. The quieter he is, the greater the evil he is holding back."

"For the next few days, you had best stay in Tingxue Tower and not run around."

Ji Ye tucked the jade token into his robes and closed his eyes again.

"Hide?"

"You can hide from the first day, but not from the fifteenth."

"If he wants to come, I'll receive him."

Northern Guard General's Manor, study.

Qin Wuji had changed into a loose white robe and was seated before his desk, writing.

He wrote slowly, every stroke piercing through the paper as though he intended to carve through the sheet of rice paper.

An elderly man with white hair and beard stood beside the desk. Dressed as a steward, his aura was restrained. He was the old servant who had followed Qin Wuji at Zuisheng Tower that day.

"Did you find it?" Qin Wuji did not raise his head. With a turn of his brush, he wrote the murderous character for "stillness."

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"We found it."

The old steward bowed. "His name is Ji Ye, a wandering swordsman. Two years ago, he served as a constable in Black Stone County on the northern frontier. Later, the Barbarians breached the city, and he vanished without a trace. Today, at Tingxue Tower in the Grand Princess's Manor, he defeated Liu Bai with one sword strike and was taken in by Xiao Hongxiu as her chief tutor."

"Black Stone County... a constable?"

Qin Wuji's hand paused slightly. A drop of ink fell onto the paper and spread, ruining the character for "stillness."

He set down his brush, picked up a warm towel beside him, and wiped his hands. A teasing smile curved his lips.

"Interesting. A constable from some small frontier county disappears for two years, then masters a sword technique capable of shaking apart the nanmu pillars of my Zuisheng Tower?"

He recalled that blue-robed figure from last night.

That technique of borrowing force to return force had been so exquisite that it did not resemble the work of a wandering swordsman trained by wild methods. It was more like the skill of a grandmaster steeped in martial arts for decades.

"Young Master, could he be... a piece planted by one of the other families?" the old steward asked quietly. "Or perhaps someone from the Barbarians..."

"Unlikely."

Qin Wuji shook his head, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.

"His killing intent is pure, and clean. Only someone who has crawled out of a mountain of corpses possesses that scent. And when he killed Tuli, he did not hesitate in the slightest. One could even say he... enjoyed it."

"A man like that would never be a Barbarians' dog."

Qin Wuji walked to the window and gazed in the direction of the Grand Princess's Manor, his eyes dark and profound.

"That woman Xiao Hongxiu has rather good luck. She actually picked up an uncut jade from a heap of garbage."

"But if uncut jade is not carved and polished, it can still shatter."

He had lost face at Zuisheng Tower.

That blue-robed swordsman had not only killed someone under his very nose, but also set the place ablaze, then left behind a taunting remark before walking away unscathed.

The Qin family could not swallow that insult, and he, Qin Wuji, could swallow it even less.

"Young Master, shall this old servant take some men and..." The old steward made a throat-cutting gesture.

"No need."

Qin Wuji waved a hand, an elegant yet cruel smile appearing on his face.

"Assassination is far too tasteless. Besides, he is in the Grand Princess's Manor. That madwoman Xiao Hongxiu is fiercely protective of her own. Forcing our way in would not be worth it."

"Since he wants to be a blade, then I'll give him a chance to break."

Qin Wuji turned around and pulled a gold-embossed invitation from the bookshelf.

"In three days, it will be Old Madam's eightieth birthday. My Qin family will hold a Sword Appreciation Gathering at the martial arena, inviting heroes from across the realm."

"Go deliver this invitation to the Grand Princess's Manor."

"Say..."

Qin Wuji tossed the invitation onto the table.

"I heard that the Grand Princess has recently acquired a Sword Attendant whose swordsmanship has reached divinity. Qin has admired him for a long time and specially invites Sword Attendant Ji to visit the manor for a discussion and sparring in the sword dao."

"If he dares to come, I will cripple him openly and honorably before everyone in the world."

"If he does not dare come..."

Qin Wuji gave a cold laugh.

"Then this blade is dull and no longer worth fearing."

The old steward looked at the invitation, a glint flashing through his eyes.

This was an open scheme.

It was forcing the other party to jump into a pit of fire.

"This old servant will handle it at once."

The next morning.

Tingxue Tower.

Ji Ye was practicing his sword in the courtyard.

He was not practicing any peerless sword art, only the most basic move: the thrust.

Once, twice, a thousand times.

With every thrust, he adjusted the angle of his wrist and the force in his muscles, trying to integrate that trace of "aura" he had comprehended from the Supreme Induction Chapter into his sword moves.

"Mr. Ji."

A maid hurried over, holding a gold-embossed invitation in her hands, her expression somewhat panicked.

"The Qin family... the Qin family sent an invitation."

Ji Ye sheathed his sword and accepted it.

Upon opening it, he saw handwriting like iron hooks and silver strokes, exuding an arrogance that rushed straight at his face.

[Three days from now, the Qin Manor's martial arena awaits the arrival of your sword. Respectfully, Qin Wuji.]

There were only a few words, yet every word was like a blade.

Ji Ye closed the invitation, his fingers lightly brushing over the gold-embossed character for "Qin."

"A Sword Appreciation Gathering..."

He smiled.

There was no fear in that smile, only the excitement of a hunter who had finally awaited his prey.

"Tell the messenger."

Ji Ye casually tossed the invitation onto the stone table. With a flick of his sword tip, a fallen leaf was nailed onto it.

"I accept this invitation."

"In three days, I will bring my sword and arrive on time."

The maid looked at the leaf nailed in place and felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet.

She seemed to see it already: in three days, the Qin Manor would surely be a storm of blood and wind.

Ji Ye raised his head and looked toward the gray, overcast sky.

"Qin Wuji, you set the stage, and I'll sing the opera."

"But the price of this performance..."

"Can your Qin family afford it?"

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