Those two sentences probably counted as two signposts she had settled on.
Pei Ye turned those few pages and closed the National Gazette, completing his first full reading of it in all these years. He felt it was far more exhausting than reading sword theory.
But next came the pleasure of studying the sword.
Pei Ye rose from the reclining chair and strolled toward the Hidden Sword Tower.
The moon hung above the tall tower. Even at this hour, many Sword Talents were still immersed in their studies inside. Pei Ye nodded to fellow cultivators he knew along the way, heading upward until he once again reached the door of the director's quiet study.
As soon as he knocked, the sound of pages turning inside stopped, but no one told him to enter. There was only silence.
Pei Ye gently pushed the door open a crack and poked half his head inside. Qiu Jizi sat bolt upright, looking at him, an open book in his hands and little expression on his face.
"If you want to learn a new sword art, go and find one on the Sword Ladder yourself. You needn't always come asking me," the old man said coldly.
"...No." Pei Ye looked bewildered for a moment, then rubbed his head and smiled. "How could I be that fast? You really do know how to joke."
Qiu Jizi did not think he was joking.
"What do you want?"
"I just finished learning Poplar Blossoms, and I'm planning to study Peach Blossoms over the next couple of days. I heard you know that sword art, so I wanted to ask you to explain it to me."
Qiu Jizi raised an eyebrow and straightened his sleeves with restrained dignity. "Come, then."
By the time Pei Ye returned beneath the moon,