When Jing Jiu returned to the front, Zhao Layue had already woken up.
She watched her surroundings warily, her little blue sword flying silently around her, ready to attack at any moment.
She had a vague guess where this was, but could scarcely believe it, which made her all the more nervous.
Only when Jing Jiu emerged did her expression relax a little. "What happened?"
"As you can see, we're already at the summit," Jing Jiu said.
Zhao Layue's voice trembled slightly. "This is Grandmaster Uncle's cave abode?"
"I suppose so," Jing Jiu said.
Zhao Layue put away her blue sword and stared into his eyes. After a long silence, she said, "How did you do it?"
She had long suspected that Jing Jiu had a way to reach the summit, but when he actually did it, and brought her along as well, she was still astonished.
Jing Jiu thought for a moment. "While you were asleep, a white-bearded immortal suddenly appeared, brought us here, then vanished again."
Zhao Layue looked at him without speaking.
"Not a good story?" Jing Jiu asked.
"No," Zhao Layue said.
"Could you possibly believe just a little of it?" Jing Jiu asked.
Zhao Layue looked at him earnestly. "I'm not Liu S sui."
"Looks like I'll have to think up another story," Jing Jiu sighed.
"Who exactly are you?" Zhao Layue asked.
"I'm looking for the answer too," Jing Jiu said.
There was a stone chair in the cave abode True Person Jingyang had left behind, with a cushion on it. A simple pattern of flowers and birds was embroidered on the cushion in gold thread. Who knew how many years of wear it had endured? The gold thread had long since faded, and even the pattern had become indistinct, but it had not worn through. The cushion was also very thick, as soft as a cloud.
Jing Jiu sat down on it without ceremony, then watched Zhao Layue searching around the cave abode for something.
"Are you looking for that sword?"
Zhao Layue stopped and looked at him in puzzlement. "Don't you want to find that sword?"
Jing Jiu wanted to say something to her, but she had already gone elsewhere.
Zhao Layue searched every corner inside and outside the cave abode, but still could not find the sword. She sensed for it with her Sword Sense, but received no response either.
She walked to the cliff's edge and looked out over the mountains and wilderness. Could the sword be inside the peak? But Divine End Peak is so big. How am I supposed to find it?
The morning sun was beyond the mountains, letting through a few strands of dawn light that illuminated the white clouds. Below the peak, everything remained dark.
Her face was somewhat pale.
"What's wrong?"
Jing Jiu walked over to her.
Zhao Layue lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong. "I couldn't find that sword."
"It doesn't matter if we can't inherit the sword. We can go to Twofold Forgetting Peak," Jing Jiu said.
When he said this, he seemed not to have considered that Twofold Forgetting Peak would naturally welcome Zhao Layue, but would they welcome him as well?
"It's not about inheriting the sword."
Zhao Layue thought that if Grandmaster Uncle Jingyang had failed to ascend, and that sword was still on Divine End Peak, it would mean he might still be here recovering from his injuries.
If even that sword was gone, then he was probably gone too.
She vaguely suspected that Jing Jiu had some connection to Grandmaster Uncle Jingyang, but did not know whether she should tell him.
She sat down at the cliff's edge, hugging her knees, looking utterly forlorn.
This was the first time Jing Jiu had seen such weakness on her face.
When they first met at the top of Sword Peak, he had noticed a deeply concealed melancholy in the little girl's eyes.
Tonight, many things had found their answers.
"Grandmaster Uncle is dead."
Zhao Layue looked at the silent mountain ridges and thought of the cold, empty cave abode, thinking those words to herself.
"So he really is dead," she murmured.
Then what meaning was there in everything she had done these past four years?
The pressure she could tell no one about and could only bury deep in her heart, the exhaustion and sorrow, all surged out at that instant.
There was a soft metallic twang.
The blue sword snapped in two and fell to the ground, losing all its spiritual qi.
Pfft! Zhao Layue spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out.
At the sight, Jing Jiu was somewhat moved.
In the past, he had never felt such emotions. Even if he had, it had been in his youth, and he had long since forgotten them.
Yet since setting foot on Green Mountain again, such feelings had surfaced several times, such as when S sui drank that cup of tea, and now.
"He isn't dead."
After a moment's silence, Jing Jiu said, "He only came close to dying."
With that, he raised his right hand.
There was a soft slap.
His palm struck the crown of Zhao Layue's head.
A gentle breeze came, his white robes fluttered, and an indescribable aura spread across the summit.
An unending stream of Sword Essence poured in through the crown of Zhao Layue's head, protecting her severely damaged Sword Heart, then slowly nourishing and repairing it.
An unknown amount of time passed before Jing Jiu confirmed that she was out of danger and withdrew his right hand.
He went back into the cave abode, took a towel, and dampened it with spring water. Then he returned to the cliff's edge, cradled her in his arms, and began wiping her face.
He wiped very carefully, and soon all the blood and dust on the little girl's face were gone.
He glanced at her fluffy, disheveled short hair, thought for a moment, then went back into the cave to fetch a Yin Wood Comb and began combing her hair.
The Yin Wood Comb, which held a cold, austere aura, was perfect for combing hair.
The little girl's messy short hair soon became smooth, and the dust vanished from it on its own.
As he combed her hair, Jing Jiu spoke to himself.
"So your family name is Zhao."
"But it was clearly only a light snowfall that day. What heavy snow?"
"Besides, did being born in the twelfth month mean you had to be called Layue? That name really isn't much."
When Zhao Layue woke again, she found herself still in Grandmaster Uncle Jingyang's cave abode, but this time she was on a Warm Jade Couch rather than the cold ground.
This difference in treatment did not lead her to many conjectures, because her mind was rather unsettled just then. She did not know whether she had said anything she should not have while unconscious.
When she saw herself in the bronze mirror, she felt something was wrong. Why had her face become so clean? And...
Completely forgetting her earlier worries and her guesses about Jing Jiu's identity, she rushed out of the cave abode. "What did you do to me?"
"I didn't do anything," Jing Jiu said.
"Didn't do anything? Then how do you explain this?"
Zhao Layue pointed at her hair.
Her short hair had been combed up and tied into a little topknot that pointed straight at the sky.
"What's wrong?" Jing Jiu asked.
"How could you give me a skyward pigtail!" Zhao Layue said angrily. "I'm not a little kid!"
"Your hair is so short, you can hardly call it a pigtail. It's just a little topknot."
Jing Jiu looked at her earnestly. "Besides, I think it's quite cute."
(A tribute to my friends Butterfly, Fang Xiang, and Liu Xia, who have recently taken to wearing skyward pigtails. Just one chapter today, none tonight. Now that's a true tribute...)
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