Sword Manual

Gu Shenwei's internal energy was completely controlled by Xue Niang. Only through her internal energy, transmitted by her iron fingers, could he make any progress. At the same time, this internal energy gathered in the Xuanji acupoint on his chest, like a dormant parasite, ready to break free and devour its host's flesh and blood at any moment.

Xue Niang's punishment last night had been a powerful catalyst. A night later, the heat within the Xuanji acupoint suddenly broke through the obstruction on its own, rushing straight to his Dantian.

Gu Shenwei was completely unprepared. Although his injuries had not healed, the early summer sun was so bright and warm. He was immersed in the feeling of having survived a great disaster and being protected by his spirit, when his body lost control. He sat up straight, his chest feeling incredibly tight. He opened his mouth to shout, but not a sound came out.

If anyone had been watching at that moment, they would have been absolutely convinced that Huan Nu was a ghost.

With no one watching and no one to help, Gu Shenwei collapsed back onto the ground in moments, twitching and contorting, letting out a series of groans.

The episode lasted only a quarter of an hour, yet he felt as if he had soaked in a hot tub all day. He was drenched in sweat, his limbs were limp, and he couldn't even move a finger.

He had thought he could rely on Xue Niang for a while longer, but now he understood. The path they were walking together in Golden Peng Fortress, two people with their own hidden agendas, was nearing its end.

Gu Shenwei remained lying down, his mind flitting between Xue Niang and Shangguan Yushi. Before he knew it, his body regained some movement. He sat up again, just in time to see two Great Peng Birds land opposite him.

These two feathered creatures probably felt they hadn't properly repaid the human's kindness in saving their young. Since this person didn't like to eat wolf eyeballs, they had brought more delicious food—two fresh beast hearts, so fresh they almost seemed to be still beating.

Gu Shenwei was overjoyed. Seeing the Great Peng Birds again gave him immense comfort, and even the pain in his body felt less unbearable.

This was the first time since his family's ruin that he had received unconditional affection. Yet, it was also incredibly nauseating. He had to perform a series of complex gestures again, first to express his gratitude, and then to politely decline this delicious meal.

The two Great Peng Birds seemed surprised. They both lowered their heads to look at the human with his peculiar tastes, then suddenly bit into the hearts and flew away.

Gu Shenwei felt a pang of regret. He didn't want to offend them. In this cold stone fortress, one had to wear a mask even when dealing with a dog. It was rare to find two living creatures with whom one could interact without pretense.

The Great Peng Birds seemed to feel neglected and did not appear again that day.

The time that followed was just as Shangguan Ru had said: "Everything returned to normal." They practiced martial arts together, discussing who their next "assassination" target would be. To show that she had "forgiven" Huan Nu, Shangguan Yushi was livelier than usual, offering many suggestions.

But Gu Shenwei could clearly see from her eyes: after the fear in her heart had vanished, her resentment had not diminished in the slightest.

Gu Shenwei did not mention his qi deviation to anyone, not even Xue Niang.

To his delight, the Great Peng Birds did not hold a grudge. The next morning, they appeared again. This time, they brought two kinds of food: the female bird carried an unknown fruit, and the male bird clutched a vividly colored live snake.

Gu Shenwei chose the fruit without hesitation. Regardless of whether it was poisonous or not, he wolfed it down, making an expression of great satisfaction as he ate.

The female bird pecked at its mate, indicating that its judgment was correct. The male bird turned its head majestically, grabbed the live snake in its beak, and swallowed it in a few gulps.

Gu Shenwei was very happy to see the Great Peng Birds again. He cautiously approached them, tentatively extending his arm, wanting to stroke their jet-black feathers.

The Great Peng Birds clearly disliked being touched by humans. The last time he had taken one up the cliff was out of desperation, so this time their refusal was straightforward—they spread their wings and flew away.

From then on, Gu Shenwei had another secret. This secret was no longer suppressed or dark, but filled with joy and light. From the two Great Peng Birds, he had received warmth like that of family. He also harbored a vague hope: if these two great birds could help him get revenge...

However, the Great Peng Birds might not be interested in revenge. They deliberately avoided humans, and each time they visited Gu Shenwei, they would observe first to ensure no one was around before approaching.

Because of these two great birds, Gu Shenwei even postponed his revenge plan. In fact, he didn't have a concrete plan yet. His injuries took more than half a month to heal. Shangguan Yushi no longer openly provoked him, so he could only pretend to let bygones be bygones.

The Great Peng Birds seemed to feel that no amount of food could repay this unexpectedly appeared human, so they brought him things in various ways. After roughly understanding his tastes, they abandoned the bloody food and switched to all sorts of exotic flowers and fruits.

Gu Shenwei's way of accepting was to immediately devour these flowers and fruits. A few times, he found the flowers brought by the Great Peng Birds stunningly beautiful and couldn't resist wanting to keep them for slow appreciation. However, as soon as they picked up the flowers to discard them, he had to snatch them and chew them down.

Fortunately, most of the time, the fragrant flowers tasted not bad.

On one occasion, the fragrance of a flower was so strong that it lingered even after he had eaten it. When he was practicing martial arts with the twins that afternoon, Shangguan Ru sniffed around him and asked doubtfully, "Did you put on rouge?"

Gu Shenwei quickly denied it with a blush, which only drew laughter from everyone around. "Huan Nu secretly put on rouge" became a topic of gossip among the young boys for several days, but no one seriously pursued it, and the matter gradually faded away.

A month later, the Great Peng Birds felt that bringing only food was not enough, and began to find things that birds and beasts didn't need but humans might value.

Not only Golden Peng Fortress assassins had fallen from the precipice, but other figures as well. This stone fortress had been built for a hundred years, during which time fortunes had changed. Every time a new master took power, it was customary to throw the previous master's belongings off the cliff.

It was from these scattered items at the bottom of the cliff that the Great Peng Birds selected gifts for Gu Shenwei.

These gifts included rusty armor, broken swords, scattered jewelry, and half-rotten clothing. Most of them were worthless. Gu Shenwei would always accept them on the spot, hide them in a hole beneath a large rock, and then find an opportunity to discard them later, keeping only a few pieces of passable jewelry.

Occasionally, the Great Peng Birds would bring treasures that caught his eye. Among them was a long sword that had lain at the bottom of the cliff for who knew how many years, yet still gleamed with a cold light, as if it had just left the swordsmith's hands.

Gu Shenwei kept it and played with it for several days, but in the end, he reluctantly threw it away. Giant Stone Cliff was full of the twins' wooden weapons. This sharp sword was too conspicuous. If it were discovered, he wouldn't be able to explain it, and Shangguan Yushi would be looking for trouble with him.

Shangguan Yushi had returned to her usual self, which meant she was full of jealousy towards Huan Nu. She only hid it when Shangguan Ru was present. She still believed that the Ninth Young Master belonged only to her, and no one had the right to approach him. Even young Master Shangguan Fei, if it weren't for the fact that his sister clearly looked down on her brother, she would have been resentful of him too.

Gu Shenwei carefully maintained a peaceful relationship with her. Unless he had a perfect plan, he did not want to risk seeking revenge.

However, the Great Peng Birds' trust in this human grew day by day. Gu Shenwei could now gently stroke their feathers with their permission. Some of these feathers were soft, some were stiff, especially the dozens of long feathers on their wingtips and tails, which would stand on end when the Great Peng Bird was angry, making its size appear to increase by a third.

After feeling completely safe, the chick was brought up once. It still had no feathers, hadn't grown much flesh, and hadn't grown taller. As soon as it arrived, it started looking everywhere for food, as if it hadn't eaten since birth.

Perhaps because its parents found food too easily, its chick stage was much longer than that of ordinary birds and beasts. It was nearly two months old, yet it was still the same as when it had just hatched from the egg.

At least it still remembered this human, Gu Shenwei, and pecked at him desperately. So, shortly after arriving, it was grabbed by the female bird and taken away.

Perhaps feeling that the chick was too impolite and couldn't be seen, the Great Peng Birds never brought it again. Gu Shenwei, however, missed that ugly creature a little.

Midsummer arrived. It had been almost a year since the Gu Family's tragic massacre. The two Great Peng Birds brought Gu Shenwei a peculiar gift. It wasn't food, nor was it an object for use, but a book.

They had probably hesitated for a long time before bringing this book, so they also brought many delicious fruits to offset the "unimportance" of this gift.

The book was made of sheepskin, but bound in the style of the Central Plains. It was very old, lacking even a cover. It had probably fallen into a rock crevice, which was why it hadn't been destroyed by the wind and rain.

Each page contained a simple sketch, accompanied by a few lines of profound and difficult poetic text. On the sides, in a completely different script, were annotations in small characters.

After the Great Peng Birds left, Gu Shenwei skimmed through the book. He understood almost nothing, but the drawings were clear and evident, indicating that this was a sword manual without a title.

Before the twins arrived, he hid the book in a crack in the stone wall.

Giant Stone Cliff was the twins' stronghold. No one knew it better than Gu Shenwei. Unless one searched inch by inch, no one would discover what he had hidden.

Gu Shenwei spent three days before he could roughly understand this Sword Manual. He found it both terrifying and ridiculous, nearly throwing it away.

The first page of the Sword Manual bore a few incomprehensible sentences: "To make another die, one must first die oneself. Body like withered wood, heart like dead ashes. Sit and forget one's form. The killer does not die, the living do not live."

Some of these sentences were borrowed from Zhuangzi. Gu Shenwei hadn't fully grasped them when he first read them, and now he understood them even less. The explanations on the right side of the pages were also vague and obscure, filled with content about "death and more death."

The illustrations, however, were simple: a sword thrusting towards someone's neck. Most of those struck by the sword had faces contorted in pain and ferocity, like evil spirits sprung directly from hell.

Each picture depicted the same content: a sword thrusting towards the neck. The only difference was the angle of the sword.

What kind of Sword Manual was this? The Neck-Stabbing Sword Technique? Gu Shenwei felt it was a deceptive book, a prank concocted by someone. If such a sword technique truly existed, it would be incredibly easy to counter. All one needed was a sturdy neck guard, impervious to blades. No matter how skillful the sword technique, it would be useless.

Gu Shenwei stood at the edge of cliffs several times, wanting to throw it away. Yet, he always felt that certain phrases in the book held some truth. Fortunately, the book wasn't thick, so he ended up hiding it again.

However, he didn't look at the book for a long time, especially after an incident that caused him immense pain. He had almost completely forgotten about it.