Every bond had its beginning and its end

Clang! Saber and sword collided. Zhao Changhe slid back several yards, then dropped into a lunge and planted his saber against the ground, forcibly halting his retreat.

He looked up to see Yue Hongling lightly raise her sword, flicking aside the little stone he had secretly shot at her while flying backward, before leisurely sheathing her blade.

They looked at each other and smiled.

"Your saber work keeps getting better. You actually managed to withstand my Setting Sun Afterglow."

"You went easy on me, big sister. You weren't using your real strength."

"I only suppressed my power. I didn't go easy on you with my swordsmanship. This move has countless variations. Who knows how many people have met their bitter end beneath it... You really are improving quickly." Yue Hongling laughed despite herself. "Speaking of which, you're obviously fierce and valiant, unstoppable when you swing your saber. So why do you always start playing dirty halfway through a fight? Who taught you to feign defeat and flick stones?"

Zhao Changhe replied shamelessly, "Wouldn't it be a waste to learn hidden-weapon techniques and not use them? It's all thanks to your fine teaching, big sister."

"Pah! I never taught you such shameless fighting ethics. Why not throw lime powder while you're at it!"

Zhao Changhe's gaze flickered, as though he had remembered someone. After a long pause, he said, "I actually do have a packet of lime in my pocket... Naturally, I wouldn't use it on you in practice."

"...Don't tell anyone I taught you martial arts when you go out into the world. I can't afford that embarrassment."

"Winning matters more. The Book of Troubled Times agrees."

They traded barbs as they walked back toward the house, but gradually their steps slowed to a halt, and silence fell.

Yue Hongling had been here for half a month. She could hardly stay forever and truly become some blasted "bandit chief's wife."

Zhao Changhe had always taken great care to maintain a proper relationship with her, never allowing the sort of ambiguity he had once shared with Luo Qi, hoping she would feel more comfortable staying...

She had indeed stayed longer than expected. Two or three days had become three or five, then half a month... But she would have to leave in the end.

Today's sparring session had essentially announced that it was about time. All that remained was to wait for her to formally say goodbye...

Zhao Changhe knew how much he had improved over these days. Even "shedding his old body and being reborn" would not have been an exaggeration.

Leaving aside her guidance on his cultivation methods and the hidden-weapon techniques she had newly taught him, his saber work in actual combat alone had undergone a complete transformation.

He had once thought himself a strong fighter, capable of defeating opponents above his level... But in this remote backwater, what rotten fish and stinking shrimp had he actually fought? What caliber of ultimate moves had he seen? What freely flowing variations? How much ingenious blending of the strengths of a thousand schools? How many inspired strokes of brilliance in the midst of battle?

Cultivation methods could not replace that.

His previous fights could never have given him these experiences. This was Yue Hongling, second on the Hidden Dragon Ranking and renowned throughout the world. Instructor Sun was not even fit to carry her shoes.

It was easy to imagine just how dramatically his saber work and combat ability had improved.

Yue Hongling had also given him other saber manuals. His narrow horizons, once confined to knowing how to swing the Blood Baleful Blade, had been thrown wide open. He had seen the breadth of the world and the strengths of different schools, and had already begun incorporating them into his own understanding of saber work.

Zhao Changhe knew that continuing to spar would now offer diminishing returns... However rich Yue Hongling's experience wandering the martial world, hers was still only one person's understanding. What use was there in always fighting the same person? The martial world was vast, with countless warriors waiting for him to encounter.

She had taught him to pinpoint positions by sound and sense enemies. Wasn't that precisely because she hoped he would one day enter the martial world himself?

Yue Hongling's desire to "make amends for the past" and "put her mind at ease" had also been fulfilled. The day of fulfillment was the day of departure.

Their bond ended here.

They stopped outside the house and looked at each other, seemingly each waiting for the other to speak first. Yet both remained stuck, unable to say anything.

After a very long while, Zhao Changhe finally found an exceptionally clumsy excuse. "It's the Lantern Festival today. Stay until after the celebration..."

That remark made Yue Hongling laugh away all the strange feelings of parting filling her heart. She was about to speak when her expression suddenly shifted.

A second after she noticed something amiss, Zhao Changhe also turned toward the courtyard wall. "Who's there!"

Yue Hongling smiled with some relief. Zhao Changhe truly had learned every aspect now. In the past, even if he had heard the faint whisper of wind stirred by an enemy's lightness skill, he would only have mistaken it for an ordinary breeze. Now he could distinguish it as an enemy approaching.

A Zhao Changhe like this was ready to travel the martial world.

A burly, rough-looking man suddenly appeared atop the courtyard wall, his expression faintly surprised. "Who would have thought? A mere second level of the Profound Pass, yet you can detect my movements."

Zhao Changhe said blandly, "Who are you? Putting on airs and acting like some grand lord."

The man laughed. "I am Lin Feihu of the Black Tiger Gang. Have you heard of me, boy?"

Zhao Changhe had indeed heard of him. Having spent so long here, how could he not have heard of the local underworld's leading figures? Lin Feihu, leader of the Black Tiger Gang, likewise made his living through the cost-free business of highway robbery. He was at the fourth level of the Profound Pass.

Zhao Changhe's expression grew grave. This was a real pain in the balls.

His arrogant decision to erect a monument and await challengers now seemed far too arrogant. He had assumed genuine experts would at least understand what the Hidden Dragon Ranking meant, yet there really was a moron like this. A fourth-level fighter coming to challenge someone at the second level? Did he have no shame?

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Feihu stared at Yue Hongling and roared with laughter. "Indeed, indeed! I heard the bandit chief's wife here looked very much like Yue Hongling, so I came specially to take a look. She really does! Little beauty, what future do you have with this child? Come with me!"

As he spoke, he spread out like a soaring eagle and swooped down toward Yue Hongling, one large hand reaching straight for her.

"?" Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling both widened their eyes.

I thought you were here to challenge someone on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, and this was what you wanted all along? Oh, right. You really are challenging someone on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

With a swish, sword light flashed, and crimson sunset clouds filled the sky.

The corner of Zhao Changhe's mouth twitched. He put away the saber he had just drawn. This man had provoked Yue Hongling herself. How could he possibly steal her kill...

"You, you... You're the fucking real Yue Hongling... Fuck..." Gang Leader Lin clutched his throat in disbelief and staggered backward. Before he finished speaking, he fell dead, his eyes still wide open.

Even as he died, he was wondering why she was the real Yue Hongling... Why would Yue Hongling be here as a bandit chief's wife...

Zhao Changhe stood to one side with his hands tucked into his sleeves, observing a moment of silence.

Honestly, you people. Why do you insist on courting death...

Yue Hongling sheathed her sword. She had not known how to broach the subject before, but after this idiot's interruption, she said with mingled exasperation and amusement, "It seems I really must leave. It's not your monument attracting trouble now. I'm the one bringing trouble upon you."

Zhao Changhe said ruefully, "Fang Buping probably egged all these people on... While you're here, you can cut down whatever trouble comes. Won't I be worse off once you leave?"

"Are you afraid? Of being targeted by a branch leader with such petty horizons?"

Zhao Changhe said nothing.

"There has to be some spark that sets a departure in motion. I was finding an excuse. Why must you expose it..." Yue Hongling's voice softened, and she said quietly, "I know what you've done these past days... The initial misunderstanding embarrassed us both, but you always did your utmost to avoid it, never taking the chance to tease me... Zhao Changhe is open and honorable, a true hero. I'm the one who couldn't let it go, who couldn't keep playing the bandit chief's wife and always wanted to leave."

Zhao Changhe sighed. "I'm not that good. Didn't I still try to keep you here for the festival?"

"Festival after festival-how many festivals there are. Since our destined bond has reached this point, what good would dragging it out do?" As she spoke, Yue Hongling turned and entered the house. When she emerged again, she had changed into her beloved red robes and picked up her travel pack.

The appearance of a stronghold bandit, of a bandit chief's wife, dispersed like mist and cloud, nowhere to be found again.

Zhao Changhe remained standing silently where he was, without a word.

Yue Hongling strode out. As she passed Zhao Changhe, she casually patted his shoulder. "I'm off, chief. The martial world's waves surge high. I hope your heart remains as it is today. If fate brings us together then, we'll celebrate another Lantern Festival!"

Zhao Changhe stood silently on the mountaintop, watching that retreating figure in red. Suddenly, he remembered that he had never seen her blue-maned horse. She had probably left it boarded in town-she had never belonged here.

Her departure seemed sudden, but in truth, she could have left at any moment. This half month had already been long enough... Had someone attentive, like Cui Yuanyong, seen it, his jaw would probably have hit the ground.

The Yue Hongling he had thought he knew had overturned the image in his heart. Yet after spending more time with her, he felt she was still the same as ever. Nothing had ever been overturned.

Hearing of a Demon Cult attack, she traveled a thousand miles to bring warning.

Saving an unfamiliar youth on the road, she recommended him for martial training.

Believing that youth had fallen into peril, she searched the world for him.

Now, her guidance complete, she departed with graceful ease.

He was very fortunate that his first glimpse of this martial world had been Yue Hongling, chivalrous and righteous. No matter how much ugliness he saw in this Demon Cult bandit den, no matter how base the people around him were, that crimson sunset glow shone upon the horizon, and so the martial world was there.

Zhao Changhe was open and honorable, with a beauty in his house and no other thoughts?

He simply did not want this dream of the martial world stained with a different kind of mark.

Zhao Changhe turned his head. Dusk had fallen, and above the willow tips, the full moon hung serenely.

The Lantern Festival? What does that have to do with me... After these days of intensive training, the internal and external have blended together. The third level of the Profound Pass is no longer far away.

She doesn't belong here? Neither do I.

The day I reach the third level of the Profound Pass will be the day my saber leaves North Mang.