This matter probably wasn't going away.
Thinking this, Beichen Heng suddenly asked:
"Great-grandfather, didn't you say she came here during the winter and summer breaks too? Why have I never seen her? Instead, you're always happily running over there."
"What do you mean, happily running over there? Would I go if that girl didn't miss me?" The old man shot Beichen Heng an annoyed look and muttered as he answered, "That girl used to come often. As for now, isn't it because of you, brat? Her father thinks he has to guard against you. He thinks you're up to no good and doesn't dare let Mei come anymore."
The old man spoke in a teasing tone, repeatedly making the subject seem lighthearted.
Yet Beichen Heng saw something else in the corner of his eyes.
It was indeed because of him, though not for the reason the old man had mentioned, but because of his sensitive identity.
Still, Beichen Heng did not really care about that.
At fourteen, under the old man's guidance, your swordsmanship improved further. The decree blade "Chi" forged by the old man also underwent a certain change, beginning to possess some traits of inscribed true words.
You asked the old man about this change. He merely said that it might have been due to your own peculiar nature—your blood and vitality had nourished the decree blade. Perhaps in the future, without borrowing the body of an evil god, you would be able to wield the Divine Art of Takamagahara.
Yet as time passed, the old man's vigor gradually faded. Every day, he still forged blades and smelted iron on schedule, walked the family's two mutts, and, when idle, chatted on the streets with the other old relics still alive here.
He said that, as an ordinary man,