There was nothing fun north of the pass. Stay here. Stay by my side.
Back then, the Gusu Ji Clan was not yet called the Gusu Ji Clan, the Five Great Sects of Jiangnan had not yet become four, and as far as the eye could see, the gentle hills and tender waters were steeped in poetry.
Ji Chengxuan remembered that he had a fiancée then, surnamed Yin, the second young lady of the Yin Clan.
He had little impression of this woman; he could barely remember her eyebrows or eyes. It really was not his fault. Whenever Yin Qiqi saw him, she buried her head against her chest, leaving him with nothing to look at but the crown of her head and a heap of hair ornaments. Besides, he cared for nothing but sabers. As time went on, he almost forgot that he was engaged at all.
It was rather funny: the Yin Clan had bestowed a great responsibility upon the Ji family, insisting that one of their three sons take Miss Yin off their hands. The eldest was engaged, the second was a fool, and with no other choice, Ji Chengxuan had to step up.
Ji Chengxuan did not dislike Yin Qiqi. He was simply more interested in her dowry-the Snow-Bearing Sword Manual-than in all that love and romance.
At the time, his saber technique was still far from perfected. Stuck halfway, unable to advance or retreat, he simmered with resentment and wore a dark face all day, as though someone owed him a fortune in gold leaves and refused to pay it back.
He was skilled with a saber to begin with, yet this setback actually made him consider switching to the sword.
He was young, and his martial prowess already placed him among the best of his peers, but his disposition was not yet mature. He had none of the cold solemnity of his middle years. In a childish fit, he slashed down swathes of petals in the peach grove, planted a foot on his uncooperative saber, and thought, Whoever wants to practice can practice. I'm never doing it again.
That was when Hongxiu appeared.
She sat on a tree branch, bright-eyed and beaming, laughing at him for being so bad-tempered and fierce.
Ji Chengxuan could not be bothered with her. He put away his saber and left.
But when he went back the next day, she was still there.
The third day, the fourth, the fifth... for an entire month, she sat quietly in the tree, watching him practice his saber.
Ji Chengxuan knew there were two reasons he could not break through. First, he was impatient, but haste made for slow progress. Second, he was limited by the saber in his hand. A first-rate saber wielder needed a first-rate saber, and his was simply too ordinary.
But knowing was one thing, and admitting it another. After a girl had watched him practice for a month without his making any real progress, he finally grew annoyed.
Holding his saber against his chest, he called her down from the tree and asked which sect she belonged to, intending to drive her away.
Hongxiu smiled until her eyes narrowed. "Why are you so overbearing? Does this grove belong to your family?"
"Yes."
It really was his Ji Family's grove.
Hongxiu gave an exaggerated "Wow!" "I've heard so much about you! So you're the third young master of the Gusu Ji Family!"
Ji Chengxuan tucked his sword against himself and said fiercely, "Keep talking, and see if I don't hit you!"
Hongxiu retreated a few steps and cupped her hands toward him. "All right, Young Master Ji, don't be angry. I'm leaving."
Watching her run several yards away, Ji Chengxuan snorted coldly.
Sure enough, she did not come the next day.
Ji Chengxuan practiced his saber on his own. Now and then, his gaze strayed to the treetops. Seeing that empty spot, he frowned, and his saber struck with greater force, carving a deep slash into a tree trunk.
Several days later, Ji Chengxuan received instructions from his father. The Sword Ghost of Yingchuan had supposedly been coming to provoke the Yin Clan lately. He already had an old feud with them, and they were plagued by the trouble and wanted the Ji family's help dealing with him.
Though his father was not particularly old, he could no longer be bothered with worldly affairs like these and sent Ji Chengxuan to help.
Ji Chengxuan took his saber and hurried all the way from the Ji Family residence to the Yin Clan residence. Only when he reached their door did he discover that he had fallen for a bluff. Nothing was as they had claimed. The Sword Ghost of Yingchuan had remained in seclusion all along, and the supposed provocations were entirely fabricated. The truth was that the Yin Clan's second young lady wanted to see him.
Affection surged like spring waters in Miss Yin's eyes, almost spilling out of them. Looking at Yin Qiqi's shy, timid expression, Ji Chengxuan swallowed the curses he had ready for three generations of her ancestors and could not squeeze out so much as a fart for ages.
There was nothing for it. He could only take his saber, mount the horse he had come on, and go back the way he had come.
Before leaving, he told Yin Qiqi solemnly, "Don't do this again. It's very tiresome."
Yin Qiqi's affection cooled in an instant. Her eyes filled with the grievance of having her feelings questioned, and she said despondently, "I just... just missed you."
Ji Chengxuan patiently explained, "Does everything in this world have to go the way you want it to? Miss me if you want, but don't bother me."
He wanted his saber technique to cover a thousand miles a day and advance by leaps and bounds, too. Yet was he not still constrained by his martial methods and weapon, unable to perfect it even now?
Ji Chengxuan thought his words were perfectly reasonable, but somehow they left Yin Qiqi's eyes red and brimming with tears.
Yin Fangchuan and Yin Yuanya gave him a fierce scolding and beat him out through the front door, telling him to get lost.
The young girl could not hide the adoration in her eyes, but unfortunately, the object of her affection was a block of wood. Seeing that there was no Sword Ghost of Yingchuan to deal with, he simply found an inn to stay in, in no hurry to travel. Thinking of the frustrations he had suffered that day, and the injuries Yin Yuanya had inflicted without holding back, he grew vexed and ordered some peach blossom wine to drink alone.
After several rounds, there were two people drinking. Hongxiu coaxed the whole story out of him while he was half-drunk, and soon understood what had happened. Anger immediately rose to her brows, and she slapped the table. "Outrageous!"
She drained her peach blossom wine in one gulp and said, "They were the ones who asked you to come, and they were the ones who told you to get lost? Do they think other people are slices of meat they can dip in sauce and swish around as they please? Shameless!"
The wine had gone to Ji Chengxuan's head. Already seething inside, he suddenly frowned at her words.
Hongxiu pulled him to his feet and knocked the cup out of his hand. "Stop drinking."
Caught off guard, Ji Chengxuan stumbled, looking briefly bewildered. "What are you doing?"
"Come with me."
"What for?"
Hongxiu enunciated every word. "To beat them up!"
The Ji family offended the Yin Clan.
Ji Chengxuan's first drunken escapade shook heaven and earth. With half his face swollen, Yin Yuanya demanded justice from Ji Chengxuan's father, who confined Ji Chengxuan to the peach grove for two months to reflect on his misconduct.
Hongxiu began appearing in the grove again. Sometimes she brought him good food, sometimes she told him amusing stories, but most of the time, she quietly watched him practice his sword.
Ji Chengxuan asked which sect she belonged to and who her master was.
Apart from refusing to name her sect, she hid nothing from him. She said she had only meant to travel around the Central Plains, making her way from West of the Pass to Jiangnan. In a little while, she would head north of the pass.
Hearing that she was going north of the pass, Ji Chengxuan paused with his saber in hand. After a moment's silence, he said with seeming nonchalance, "There's nothing fun north of the pass."
"I won't know until I go."
Smoothing her hair, Hongxiu stood beneath the tree and handed him what she was holding. "Ji Chengxuan, you're the most adorable person from the Central Plains I've ever met. Since you're so mad about sabers, consider these my farewell gifts. I'll remember you, and you must remember me, too."
What she offered him was a long saber with a keen, exposed edge and an old, substantial saber manual. The striking words "Wind Chaser" were engraved on the snow-white blade.
Ji Chengxuan looked at the saber, his expression solemn and serious. "Where did you get this saber?"
"My martial uncle gave it to me," Hongxiu explained. "He didn't like it, so he passed it on to me. Since it's mine, I can give it to whomever I please. Don't feel burdened. Just take it. I don't like sabers anyway, so keeping it would do me no good."
Just like that, she casually gave away a world-renowned saber.
Ji Chengxuan could not see through Hongxiu. She had appeared mysteriously, and now she was going to disappear just as mysteriously.
He understood himself even less. He did not know what was so "adorable" about him that she would give him Wind Chaser, nor why the frustration in his heart grew worse with each passing day after learning that she was going far away, north of the pass.
He bottled it up for two whole months, shutting himself in his room and refusing to come out. On the day he finally saw daylight again, he stepped outside and went straight to his father.
He told his father bluntly, "I want to break off the engagement."
His father was playing chess with his eldest brother. He froze at those words. "Why?"
Ji Chengxuan said, "I don't like Miss Yin."
"But you don't dislike her, either." His father was thoroughly confused. "Besides, weren't you the one who agreed to it in the first place?"
Ji Chengxuan fell silent.
His eldest brother saw things more clearly. Noticing the unusual look on his face, he smiled. "Third Brother, this isn't 'breaking off an engagement.' It's 'going back on your promise of marriage.' But I am very curious about the girl who could make you do that. When will you bring her to meet us?"
His father was so shocked that he nearly snatched up the chessboard. "What did you say?"
Ji Chengxuan said, "That is indeed the case."
"You? You! You..." his father exclaimed in shock.
To Ji Chengxuan, it did not matter whether he was breaking off an engagement or going back on a promise of marriage, nor did he care whether this would make the Yin Clan lose face. He simply felt that, having met a girl he liked, he ought to marry her and bring her home. It was that simple.
After two months cooped up in the peach grove, he had not reflected on his mistakes at all, but he had thought his own feelings through with perfect clarity.
He no longer wanted the sword manual or the engagement. Whether it was the dowry or Miss Yin, he cared for none of it.
Had his father known that, during his confinement, his head had been filled with nothing but romance, he would probably have rolled his eyes and cursed him as an "unfilial son."
Still.
"An unfilial son it is, then," Ji Chengxuan murmured to himself. "Whoever wants that sword manual can have it."
Leaving his father's quarters, Ji Chengxuan walked toward the peach grove, his face perfectly calm.
Leaves rustled on either side of the path, as though singing from afar.
Only when he thought back carefully, many years later, did he realize that this had been the best time. For they were still young then, both in the bloom of youth, not yet battered and tormented by the world. They did not yet have a past they longed to return to but could not, did not understand what it meant to be "unable to obtain, unable to let go," and could not yet see through the meaning of "the world is ever-changing, and the past is like smoke."
This was the best time. Truly, this was the best time.
Ji Chengxuan reached the peach tree, and sure enough, Hongxiu was still there. She looked a little sleepy, dozing with her eyes half-closed. At the sound, she opened her eyes, saw him, and immediately smiled.
"You're here. I've been waiting so long."
Ji Chengxuan had thought he was mentally prepared, but when he actually met Hongxiu's eyes, he discovered that speaking his heart was the hardest thing in the world.
He took several deep breaths, calming his somewhat unsettled feelings.
"Hey, I'm going to break off my engagement," he said awkwardly. "Do you want to come with me?"
Hongxiu drew out her words, sounding rather regretful. "I'm a woman. I can't take her off your hands. How about finding someone else?"
"..."
Ji Chengxuan caught her arm with one hand and raised his old saber with the other.
A snowy gleam flashed along the blade. Dazzled, Hongxiu blinked, not understanding but finding it impressive.
Gripping her wrist, Ji Chengxuan asked bluntly, "What do you think of this saber?"
Hongxiu answered honestly. "It's decent... well, not that decent."
He lowered the saber. "Then what do you think of me?"
Hongxiu was stunned.
"You know what I mean," he said, his brows drawn together. "Answer me. Don't pretend you don't know." Hongxiu glanced at his hand and tried to draw hers back, but he held her firmly, refusing to let her dodge. Helplessly, she said, "You don't want the sword manual anymore?"
Ji Chengxuan gritted his teeth. "No."
"Or Miss Yin?"
"No."
"Then..."
"Hongxiu, don't go north of the pass." He interrupted her, forcing the words out with difficulty. "There's nothing fun north of the pass. Stay here. Stay in Jiangnan."
Stay by my side.
Hongxiu considered it, then tilted her head away. "Are you threatening me?"
Helpless, Ji Chengxuan released her hand, looking aggrieved for once. "You know perfectly well."
Hongxiu twirled, her skirts tracing a lovely arc beneath the tree. The peach tree was bare, nothing left but trunk and branches, and the familiar fragrance of green grass filled her nostrils. She had stayed here a long time. In truth, she should have left long ago, yet she had stayed. She knew why she had never left; she had only feared that Ji Chengxuan did not.
Fortunately. Fortunately, after all.
"Ji Chengxuan, you're not that stupid."
Hongxiu took a branch in her hand and casually tapped it against her palm. There were no petals on it, not even a faint trace of fragrance. She gently stroked its twigs and told Ji Chengxuan, "Pick me a flower, and I'll say yes."
Ji Chengxuan asked, "Any flower?"
Hongxiu nodded.
Ji Chengxuan put away his saber and turned, running out of the grove. He moved swiftly, as though afraid she might change her mind.
Flecks of amusement shone in Hongxiu's eyes. She casually tossed the branch aside, took the brocade message pouch from her waist, and gave a long whistle. Before long, a plump little white pigeon landed on her arm.
She took out a note, folded it, and tucked it into the little pouch on the carrier pigeon's leg. The pigeon stared at her, its eyes full of bewilderment.
Hongxiu raised her hand to stroke its round little head and told it with a beaming smile, "Tell Master for me that I'm not coming back. I'm staying in Jiangnan."
The pigeon flapped its wings and drew its head back.
Hongxiu giggled, wondering whether her master would blame her.
Probably not. I'm Master's favorite disciple, after all. Even if Master does blame me, at worst I'll take Ji Chengxuan back with me. Once Master meets him, Master will understand.
"Pigeon, oh pigeon, fly quickly. Don't keep Master waiting too long." Hongxiu winked at the pigeon, raised her arm, and released it into the wide sky.
She let out a long breath, as though a weight had lifted from her heart. There was wistfulness, and there was guilt, but the moment her gaze touched that figure approaching from afar, it all turned to joy.
"Ji Chengxuan!"