I Sorted It Out

It was a long while before Du Chengfeng finally woke up.

Du Chengfeng could not tell exactly how long he had slept—perhaps a day, perhaps two. At the very least, all the corpses around him had vanished, presumably cleaned up by someone.

Even Du Chengfeng was astonished that he had killed so many. Not long ago, he had been an ordinary man who had barely even seen blood. Yet in the span of a single night, he had become a murderous fiend, raising and dropping his blade to cut down more than two hundred people.

And none of it had been part of some illusory memory. He had done it all with his own hands.

Perhaps enough time had passed, or perhaps he had gotten sufficient rest, but Du Chengfeng had finally sorted out what was illusion and what was reality.

Still, the memories from when he had been the great saber could not truly be called an illusion. They were not experiences he had personally lived through, but they were things that saber had experienced. The moment he placed it upon the whetstone, the memories borne by the saber had flooded into his mind together with the so-called Sha Qi.

On one side was a human's brief lifespan; on the other, the weighty accumulation of more than a century. After living through such a long stretch of time under another identity, could a person truly still remember who they were?

Perhaps that was why people said the Sha Qi of weapons could drive one mad. Without an unwavering will to affirm who one truly was, one would be crushed in an instant by those vast, weighty memories and completely forget one's own existence.

Yet even if one could weather this ordeal through sheer force of will, as Du Chengfeng had, that did not mean one would truly emerge completely unscathed.

A steadfast will was like a reef amid raging wind and rain—let the wind howl and the rain lash, I remain unmoved. But this so-called Sha Qi was far more than mere wind and rain. As more and more people were killed, the storm would gradually become gale winds and raging tides, perhaps even monstrous waves that blotted out the sky.

Once swallowed by that terrifying sense of presence, one would likely lose oneself amid the slaughter of weapons and never find release again.

After all, the feeling of freely holding human lives in one's grasp was so exquisite.

Only then did Du Chengfeng savor why there was a phrase like "the power of life and death." To deny and strip away life—this was undoubtedly the most profound power, the power that struck most directly at the essence. True, this power might not solve every problem, but it could fundamentally eliminate every person who created those problems.

And the weapon in one's hand was the embodiment of that power.

The moment one gripped the hilt, one grasped authority and strength.

The instant the blade was swung, there was nothing under heaven that could not be slain.

"You're starting again."

Thinking this, Du Chengfeng could not help lowering his head to look at the great saber in his hand.

Clearly, while he had been letting his thoughts run wild, this great saber had begun influencing his will again.

Still, it was not really the saber's fault. A saber was originally just a piece of steel, an inanimate object. It was only the weighty memories it bore that had turned it into a vicious blade capable of affecting people's hearts. As the one being influenced, Du Chengfeng only felt that his own will was not firm enough—that he had been drawn in by the saber, even led along by it.

"I know you really want to cut things, but there are always some people who truly cannot be killed."

As he spoke, Du Chengfeng lay on the ground and turned his head toward the direction from which footsteps approached in the distance.

"For example, him. He definitely cannot be killed."

The person who entered Du Chengfeng's field of vision was the kind-hearted Carpenter Li. Seeing the bucket and medicine for injuries in the other's hands, Du Chengfeng understood what sort of care he had received while unconscious.

Yet to Du Chengfeng's surprise, though Carpenter Li had come over, he did not approach. Instead, he took several lengths of bamboo tube from behind his back and connected them, then extended them toward Du Chengfeng from afar, all the way to his mouth.

"Uh, brother, what are you doing?"

Seeing fresh water flow through the bamboo tube, Du Chengfeng could not hold it in any longer.

He did admire Carpenter Li's ingenious idea, but connecting a tube that long just to deliver drinking water—wasn't that making a mountain out of a molehill?

"You're awake?"

Hearing Du Chengfeng's voice, Carpenter Li raised his head in delight. But just as he was about to step forward, he seemed to remember something and immediately stopped.

Du Chengfeng was utterly baffled.

"What is it, brother? Can't you just come over directly? Why make it so complicated?"

"I... I'd better not go over there yet."

After hesitating for a moment, Carpenter Li ultimately did not dare step closer.

"It is enough for me to stay here. Open your mouth, and I'll pass the tube over to you."

"Why does that sound so weird?"

With a sigh, Du Chengfeng lowered his head and glanced at his blood-soaked body, then shook his head with a laugh.

"No, brother, we've known each other for so long. You even helped me build my house before. It's not like you don't know what kind of person I am. What exactly are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of you."

Gritting his teeth, Carpenter Li finally gathered his courage and raised a hand to point at the great saber in Du Chengfeng's hand.

"It's that. That saber. It's protecting you."

"...Huh?"

Du Chengfeng froze.

Only then did he notice that, at some point, seven or eight throwing spears sliced in half had landed around him. The remains of arrows, flying darts, and the like were scattered all over the ground.

Clearly, these weapons had all been meant to kill him. The debris carpeting the ground showed just how painstaking the person trying to kill him had been.

Yet his body had not been injured in the slightest.

"It was the same when we cleaned up the corpses earlier. That saber simply wouldn't let anyone get close. They could only use iron hooks to drag out the Hu corpses that had fallen beside you... As for you, everyone could only let you keep lying here. There was really nothing we could do. With that saber there, no one dared get close."

"Brother, are you serious?"

Hearing Carpenter Li describe something so bizarre, Du Chengfeng could not help lowering his head once more to look at the great saber in his hand.

Dried blood still clung to the heavy blade. Every line in its surface, even every tiny chip and curl along its edge, was within Du Chengfeng's perception. After bearing this great saber's memories, he had long become familiar with every inch and every part of it. One could even say that he and the great saber were inseparable.

That was why he understood even more clearly: a saber was just a saber, a tool forged from steel. How could it possibly be as outrageous as Carpenter Li claimed?

And as Du Chengfeng's gaze fell upon it, the heavy great saber seemed to tremble once in his palm.

"...Hungry?"

Du Chengfeng froze.

It was not only the saber that was hungry. He was hungry too.

Thanks to Song of the Wind's Soul and Let the Bullets Fly a Little Longer for the recommendation votes. Thank you all for your encouragement and support.