Let Me Put Your Father to Good Use

At night, with no village ahead and no inn behind, the two could only find a ruined temple to spend the night in.

They sat around a campfire. Wang Jingyuan was carving a piece of wood with a small knife, while Yue Lingshan toasted flatbread over the flames. As she watched his profile illuminated by the flickering firelight, she became lost in thought.

But for some reason, she suddenly remembered something and flew into a rage. "Bastard, explain yourself! Why did you call me stupid during the day? Exactly how am I stupid?"

Wang Jingyuan paused his work and moved a little closer to Yue Lingshan. "Then let me ask you: you and I came down the mountain for a mission. What is our greatest advantage?"

Yue Lingshan slapped the hilt of the sword at her side. "This heroine is highly skilled in martial arts!"

"Tsk. Do you even believe that yourself?"

"My martial arts are excellent—at least better than yours." Although Yue Lingshan knew perfectly well what level her skills were at, she would never admit it and stubbornly held her ground.

After a brief pause, she asked, "If not that, then what other advantage do we have?"

Wang Jingyuan pointed behind them, toward the now distant Huashan. "Your father."

Yue Lingshan shuddered and looked around. "My father came with us?!"

"Of course not. Judging by the time, he should be setting off for Hengyang City soon to attend Liu Zhengfeng's Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony."

"Then aren't you talking nonsense?"

"Tsk, I call you stupid and you refuse to admit it... Hey! Stay away from me. Don't hit me!"

Wang Jingyuan darted aside, dodging Yue Lingshan's attack. "Tell me yourself—how good is your old man's martial arts?"

Distracted by Wang Jingyuan's change of subject, Yue Lingshan immediately declared proudly, "Naturally, he is one of the foremost experts in the martial world."

"If Dongfang Bubai counts as peerless, then people like Fang Zheng and Chong Xu are merely top-tier. Your father, along with the heads of the other Five Great Sword Sects, is second-rate."

"You!" Yue Lingshan wanted to argue, but she could not shamelessly claim that her father could punch Shaolin and kick Wudang.

"Besides, Huashan is not like the other four mountains. For reasons that those in the know understand, Huashan only has a handful of people left. Forget mid- and high-level fighters—even ordinary disciples are few and far between. That is why your father became the 'Gentleman Sword.'"

Yue Lingshan was somewhat confused. "What does that have to do with my father's nickname?"

"Look at the heads and experts of the other four mountains. Which of them comes down the mountain every few days to uphold justice? Your father is the only one treating chivalrous deeds like performance targets, completing them on schedule and by quota."

"That is how he earned the title 'Gentleman Sword.' With that good reputation, anyone wanting to make a move against Huashan has to consider whether they can bear the infamy of bullying such a righteous gentleman."

Naturally, Yue Lingshan did not want to admit that her father's years of chivalrous conduct had been filled with calculation. She hurriedly denied it. "My father does not uphold justice for reasons like that!"

"Fine, believe it or not. Regardless of his original intentions, he did rely on the good name of the 'Gentleman Sword' to get the Mount Hua Sect through its hardest period."

"Now that he is getting older, his internal energy and swordsmanship have grown ever deeper. With his martial arts alone, he can already protect the entire Mount Hua Sect. But now, the title 'Gentleman Sword' has instead become an obstacle for him."

"An obstacle?"

"Take the Qingcheng Sect we will be dealing with after coming down the mountain. Though everyone in the martial world recognizes it as a famous orthodox sect, its leader Yu Aizi is equally famous for being narrow-minded."

"That is his image. So even if he does something that skirts the line for a famous orthodox sect out of spite or personal desire, everyone will only think, That's just the kind of person he is."

"But your father cannot do that. He is the 'Gentleman Sword,' so he must be held to a gentleman's standards. Even if he oversteps just a little, people will call him a hypocrite."

"Right now, his sword is sharp, but his hands are tied. And besides..."

At this point, Wang Jingyuan gave Yue Lingshan a disdainful once-over. "There is not a single clever person in all of Huashan. No one can coordinate with him, so as the sect leader, he is suffocating with frustration."

"What do you mean, coordinate with him?"

"Let me give you an example. Any emperor with ambition will build himself the image of a wise ruler. Everything he does is right. Everything he does is just."

"But ruling a country must be based on national interests—or rather, the interests of the imperial family. You cannot accomplish anything by doing only good deeds. If that emperor wanted to kill a general whose achievements overshadowed his sovereign, or a highly respected 'loyal minister,' what should he do?"

Yue Lingshan had always loved having fun, so she often sneaked down the mountain with her fellow disciples to play. During those outings, she had heard plenty of operas in town. At Wang Jingyuan's words, she immediately recalled the same old lines from those plays. "A treacherous minister takes power and deceives the emperor?!"

Wang Jingyuan clapped his hands. "Correct! Apart from the very few foolish emperors who were genuinely deceived, all the others knew perfectly well what was going on. Once their goal was achieved, they would put on a show of punishing evil and lamenting that they had been deceived."

"Then everything would look as if nothing had ever happened."

Yue Lingshan roughly understood what Wang Jingyuan meant. "You want to be that treacherous minister?"

"That's right. From now on, I am Huashan's scum and the Qi Sect's disgrace. Your old man will be the 'Gentleman Sword' whom I have deceived. Just watch and see how I put your father to good use."

Yue Lingshan nodded blankly, only feeling that Wang Jingyuan's words sounded somewhat strange. Then she saw him start fiddling with those wooden pieces again and asked, "I wanted to ask earlier—along the way, you have been gathering wood and doing carpentry. What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Make a crossbow. In this era, there is no shortage of suitable timber. I only need some adhesive now, and I can make a crossbow."

"Are you crazy?!"

"I'm not crazy."

"Then do you know..."

"One suit of armor can withstand three crossbows; three suits of armor send you straight to the underworld. A single crossbow might not get you killed, but if you are discovered, you will still suffer badly."

"Then you still dare make a crossbow?!"

"Precisely because it is illegal, it is such a powerful weapon. Watch..." Wang Jingyuan flipped his hand, and the wooden components vanished.

Yue Lingshan still said anxiously, "Even if you can perform tricks, what if someone discovers it?"

"That is easy. Your father only needs to expel me from the sect first, then report to the authorities that I secretly possessed crossbow bolts. Not only would the Mount Hua Sect be blameless—it would even earn merit."

"Junior Disciple Brother, my father would never do that."

"Don't say foolish things. If that day truly comes, your father will make the right choice. He is a prisoner left behind on Huashan by the previous generation. He will never escape the bounds of Huashan in this life. His life belongs to Huashan. And I do not mind."

"Junior Disciple Brother..."

"That is just the logic of the game. Without such logic, it would not be fun."

Yue Lingshan said nothing more. She picked up some of the wood piled on the ground, drew her sword, and began carving. "Then I'll make it with you."

"...Do you know how to make a crossbow?"

"...Apparently not."

"The components I just finished making have all been ruined by you."

"I'm sorry!"