Unworthy of the Name Madman

Ji Yuan ran without stopping, his lightness skill carrying him in great leaps and bounds. After leaving Wei Wuwei and the others' line of sight, he took a detour back toward Ning'an County.

Along the way, the howling wind past his ears sounded pleasant to him, so he simply untied his hairband and let his long hair stream freely in the wind.

This era was different from the China of his past life—forests and grasslands stretched everywhere with almost no pollution. Night birds chirped in the fields, the mountains and plains offered different scenery, and night and day each had their own distinct appearance.

Outside the city, a small river wound through the woods. As Ji Yuan sped along, he flipped and rolled directly, borrowing force from a sapling on the riverbank, then executed a graceful dive. With a "plop," he plunged into the river under the night sky, sending up a spray of water.

Not long after, amid a loud splashing sound, Ji Yuan surfaced again. When he reached the opposite bank, his legs kicked violently underwater, and his right palm gathered energy to strike the water hard.

"Bam!"

Water splashed everywhere as Ji Yuan launched himself out of the river and landed on the opposite shore.

"Hahaha, that feels great!"

His body started running again. In a sprint, he leaped high into the air, spun several times midair, flinging countless droplets away, then landed and continued forward—like a child gleefully playing with martial arts.

He ran another two li before activating the Minor Water Evasion Technique, expelling the remaining water droplets clinging to his body and clothes. This way, he had bathed, washing away the sweat and fatigue from the earlier fight and tension, as if peeling off a greasy layer from his state of mind. Truly refreshing in both body and spirit.

By the time he returned to Ning'an County, the night was already deep and silent.

Ning'an County had always enjoyed good public order and had never imposed a curfew. But the county itself was a small place; aside from occasional temple fairs, there was hardly any nighttime entertainment, so naturally, it was quiet at night.

Ji Yuan entered the city without disturbing anyone, drifting lightly back to Ju'an Pavilion. He glanced at the Sword Intent Scroll hanging by the desk in the main room, set aside the urge to study it now, changed into sleepwear, and collapsed into bed.

The next day was still bright and sunny. After dressing and washing up, Ji Yuan sat like a reverent student at his desk in his room, once again carefully examining the Sword Intent Scroll.

On the desk were simple Four Treasures of the Study, all gifts from Yin Zhaoxian. They weren't anything valuable, but they felt good to use, clearly chosen with care.

The Sword Intent Scroll still appeared as a mysterious art of calligraphy in his eyes, but Ji Yuan had long seen through that. Yet he found no clues about a tomb.

'Could it need soaking in water or burning with fire?'

Ji Yuan took the Sword Intent Scroll down from the wall and placed it on the table, feeling the paper. It was just ordinary Xuan paper, unable to withstand such treatment.

'Maybe it's on the rollers?'

He lightly slid his fingers across the top and bottom of the scroll, and the two thin wooden rods at the ends came loose on their own. Ji Yuan picked them up and examined them closely, but found nothing recorded.

"Could it be inside?"

He channeled finger force and flicked the top of one wooden roller hard.

"Crack!"

The wooden rod split vertically in two. He looked, felt, touched, and sniffed—nothing unusual. It seemed the answer had to be found in the calligraphy's content itself.

To be honest, with Ji Yuan's eyesight, he couldn't make out the words on ordinary paper books. The Sword Intent Scroll was special because of its deep sword intent, which allowed him to read it clearly.

"I have loved weapons since childhood, especially swords. At six, I got a wooden sword; at twelve, an iron sword. At twenty, I was full of spirit and vigor. Though I had no new sword, my own edge was unmatched—three feet of cold light shining over a prefecture... Eighty years of life, a long, long road. Where does the martial path end? Is there an immortal beyond the Innate Realm? My sword falls on paper, but my heart is unwilling, unwilling, unwilling..."

Ji Yuan softly finished reading the hundred or so characters of the Sword Intent Scroll and let out a slight sigh. Earlier, he had wondered if the martial genius who wrote this scroll was still alive. Now he knew the man had passed away decades ago.

"Ah, what a pity... but you could have been clearer!"

As he sighed, Ji Yuan unconsciously used his finger as a sword, lightly tracing a Wandering Dragon before the scroll. This casual, mood-soothing movement suddenly sparked an idea.

He shifted his sword momentum, no longer dancing freely as before, but following the order of the characters' strokes to wield his sword intent.

Though it lost some of the Shortcut's natural aura, it gained more killing sharpness. Following this Great Hero Zuo's life trajectory combined with the revealed sword intent, a strange sensation emerged.

Blind as he was, Ji Yuan relied on memory to piece together the sword intent's trajectory with the time and place names in his mind.

'Holy crap, this is a map?'

After pondering for a long time and confirming this, Ji Yuan found it both amusing and exasperating.

You made it this hard—no wonder you, Great Hero Zuo, died years ago with no one inheriting your mantle. You thought only a Heaven-Sent Talent like yourself was worthy of inheriting your sword path?

Alright, impressive!

Ji Yuan felt that if he himself weren't also "unmatched in talent," the secret of the Sword Intent Scroll might have rotted away without anyone cracking it. Perhaps that peerless sword technique would only see the light of day if some absurdly lucky person stumbled upon it by accident—luck on the level of falling off a cliff and finding a secret manual.

"Truly worthy of the name Zuo Kuangtu!"

With this realization, Ji Yuan was completely at ease. He also looked forward greatly to Zuo Kuangtu's peerless sword technique. A Sword Intent Scroll had let him grasp the mysteries of the Wandering Dragon—the technique itself must be even more sublime!

"Dong dong dong..."

"Master Ji, Yin Zhaoxian is here to visit. Is the master in?"

The familiar voice of Master Yin sounded from outside the courtyard. Ji Yuan glanced at the door and realized it was already noon.

Outside, Yin Zhaoxian carried two things: a food box and a cloth bag. He knew Ji Yuan was extremely punctual about meals, so he had deliberately come just before lunchtime, asking his wife to make a few signature dishes and bringing a jar of huadiao wine to Ju'an Pavilion.

Nowadays, Yin Zhaoxian's fondness for visiting here was no longer driven by the awe of the past, but rather the contentment of discussing and learning with a friend.

Before long, the courtyard gate was opened by Ji Yuan himself.

"Master Yin, what's this?"

"Haha, today is my day off, so I came to visit Master Ji. Am I disturbing you?"

Ji Yuan smiled. He had already smelled the aroma from the food box—still steaming hot, no doubt delicious. He gestured inside.

"Master Yin, please come in!"

The two sat down at the stone table in the courtyard. Yin Zhaoxian eagerly placed the cloth bag on the table first, then opened it to reveal a wooden go board and two boxes of stones.

"I've always seen Mister Ji studying the Chess Sutra and Chess Way, but I've never seen you play a game. I fear you lack an opponent? I, Yin, have specially sought out this Sandalwood Chessboard, so I can accompany you in a few rounds of Hand Talk!"

'Hey, hey, hey, hey... I'm all Armchair Strategy—it's not that I can't find someone to play, but that I really don't know how to play chess...'

Ji Yuan was a bit torn between laughter and tears. It seemed he'd have to lose face today.

On the other end, Wei Wuwei still led his men back to Ning'an County.

After all, he was carrying injuries and had captured so many Fierce Criminals. To reduce variables, Wei Wuwei had them bound and escorted to the nearest Ning'an County Magistrate's Office, while sending the Coachman on horseback to Desheng Prefecture City, so that the Government Office there and the Wei Family could bring enough manpower to take custody of the Heavy Criminals.

The current Great Family Head Wei was staying at an Inn, wrapped in that White Tiger Hide he'd bought from the Ning'an County Magistrate's Office for a thousand taels, snoring away in a deep sleep.