490 Have a Look (1/2)
At dawn, an unusual customer came to the Yujing Shan Mountain.
A young man with white hair and blue eyes stood in front of the Jie Jian Stone and gave a salute. ”I am Jingming Zhangsun, the third son in the Zhangsun Family. I want to pay a visit to the head of the Yuan Family.”
The disciple who guarded the entrance of the mountain checked his identity, and quickly went up the mountain.
He stepped on the stone steps, walked through the Blue Stone Memorial Archway and the Copper Smelting Hall. When he saw He Yuan, the eldest son of the Yuan Family, he told him there was a man waiting at the bottom of the mountain who wanted to see the head of the Yuan Family.
He Yuan nodded and said, ”I will lead him to see our Master.” He waved his hand and ordered the disciples in front of the hall to continue with the pair exercise. Then he changed his clothes and hurriedly rushed to the rear of the mountain. Soon, he arrived at the bottom of the mountain.
”I am He Yuan.”
He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, ”My friend who comes from the Zhangsun Family, this way please.”
Jingming Zhangsun did the fist-palm salute in return. Then he followed behind He Yuan and went up to the mountain.
It was at early dawn. In the dim light, the disciples of the Yuan Family were already having their early lessons in front of the Copper Smelting Hall. In the distance, the warriors were holding edgeless swords and doing pair exercises in the square. Still, Jingming Zhangsun could hear the sound of swords colliding with each other.
Tens of strangely-designed long swords cut through the air, accompanied by crisp sounds as loud as the trembling strings of a Zither. The sounds overlapped, which made Jingming Zhangsun unable to judge the distance. After listening for a while, he felt bewildered and awed by the sound.
In particular, just like one could not see the whole body of a dragon hiding among the clouds, he couldn't see the whole picture of the music theory contained in the sound. Even so, he felt threatened by this sound.
As for the swordsmanship, Jingming Zhangsun could feel that it was very powerful, but he couldn't get a complete picture of it either.
He stood in front of the hall, looking into the distance, and sighed deeply.
”The swordsmanship is indeed powerful! I am honored to be able to see it on this journey.”
Hearing this, He Yuan smiled and didn't say anything.
The two crossed the Copper Smelting Hall and headed straight to the rear of the mountain.
In the front of the mountain, there were many green cypress and pine trees, and an old path leading deep into the mountain. It was really a good and quiet place for one to practice Taoism. The deeper Jingming Zhangsun went, the more desolated it became. He couldn't see any trees or grass or creeks, and felt very cold while walking among the bizarre stones.
As he walked, Jingming Zhangsun could feel the heat in the ground and was stunned by it.
Is the Yujing Shan Mountain a volcano?
Soon, he noticed the Aether permeating the air. At the same time, he vaguely felt there was some cold light lurking around and steering the Aether. As if there was someone brandishing an invisible sword and controlling all this with his mind.
Jingming Zhangsun felt that if he took one step wrong, he would be cut to pieces by the invisible sword.
He Yuan noticed that Jingming Zhangsun was feeling rather cautious. He smiled and explained. ”All the predecessors of the Yuan Family practice the sword in the rear of the mountain. The third uncle of my father is practicing the swordsmanship of Messy Cave these days. He is in the critical moment and is about to break the limit. That's why you feel there is someone brandishing an invisible sword. This swordsmanship is just a bit dangerous and belongs to the level of Resonate, so it isn't a good choice for pair exercise. One wrong step and you are dead.”
Hearing this, Jingming Zhangsun knew what was going on at last. Then he asked, ”So, the heat in the ground also…?”
He Yuan shook his head and replied, ”Previously, when the first, second, and third generations of my ancestors escaped by execution, they cut through the earth plate by accident and caused the hellfire. So the heat is not caused by the third uncle of my father, sorry about that.”
Hearing this, Jingming Zhangsun was startled.
Among the Nine Families, everyone in the Ye Family was slut; the Liu Family had many offspring, but they were too feeble; everyone in the Bai Family was too stubborn… from time to time, an offspring of the Bai Family might appear to not be a stubborn person, but he was still the same as his peers.
The Yuan Family had retreated into the deep mountain and cut connection with the outside world. They never joined in conflicts among the Nine Families, thus the Yuan Family was not that famous. However, the members of this family were famous for being paranoid, and the music theories contained in the swordsmanship they practiced were about killing.
The musicians who were practicing the sword all looked very normal, but after talking to them for a short period, one would find they were very paranoid and eccentric. Jingming Zhangsun would never make fun of anyone before he knew his personality.
The two were walking deeper into the forest. The deeper Jingming Zhangsun went, the more intense he felt the cold Aether wave.
When he closed his eyes, he felt like an intruder, as if there were many people coldly staring at him.
However, what he saw were just the ancient swords inserted in the stones.
Against the sunlight, the swords shone in a cold light. Jingming Zhangsun couldn't help looking at these swords, then he asked in curiously: ”Could the sword be…?”
He didn't finish his sentence, but He Yuan already knew what he meant and shook his head.
”There are many rumors in this world, and most of them are not true. I consider you a wise man, and the so-called 'making a sword with the bone ashes' is all b*llshit.”
Jingming Zhangsun realized he had been wrong, and nodded to show his approval.
He Yuan continued, ”The blood of our Yuan Family is different from that of the other Nine Families. Our blood can only work with the help of a certain object. All our ancestors would make a sword with their own souls before they died…”
Jingming Zhangsun laughed a bit and didn't reply.
Making a sword with a soul?
Put frankly, the so-called ”making a sword with a soul” meant ”making a sword by consuming a human's life.” This was much more cruel than ”making a sword with the bone ashes.” A human had to jump into a smelter during the process of making a sword, his bone would be the blade, and his blood and soul… at last, he vanished from this world as if he had never come into it.
Jingming Zhangsun looked at the sword hanging on He Yuan's waist and asked, ”Could it be possible that your sword is also…?”
He Yuan looked at his sword, which was called ”Wenling,” and smiled without answering.
”Here it is.”
He Yuan suddenly stopped.