Chapter 119: This journey, more misfortune than fortune

When Dongfang Tian returned to the seaside, Dongfang Jie was still standing there.

"Uncle..."

Dongfang Jie was preoccupied and did not immediately notice that Dongfang Tian had already stood behind him; as a martial practitioner, this is a major taboo.

"Uncle."

"Oh? How did you come back?" Dongfang Jie asked, though he was not surprised.

Dongfang Jie felt neither more nor less affection for this nephew of his, but compared to his feelings for his own daughter, it was much greater. More than a decade ago, after Dongfang Tian and Dongfang Xing were born in succession, Dongfang Jie lamented to his brother, "It's a pity; if Xing'er and Tian'er had been swapped, how wonderful that would be."

The heavy burden of Senior Dongfang Wuji should not fall on a girl, yet she happens to be a girl.

"Uncle, Xing'er, why is she suffering so much?" Dongfang Tian asked Dongfang Jie, quite agitated, "Half a year ago you let me send her back, I did, and you promised me you would treat her well!"

Dongfang Tian's heart, like the undulating Dong Hai sea surface, could not be calm, and even stirred up great winds and waves.

"Many things, I don't want it to be like this either." Dongfang Jie had his hands behind his back, but his mind had drifted far away, "Everything is fate! If she had entered the Thousandfold Gate, she could have avoided the calamity, but fate would not allow it! Then she can only resign herself to it!"

"Uncle, we can change it!"

"Change what? Forever guard this desolate Dong Hai?" Dongfang Jie pointed at the Dong Hai and countered, "Are our people forever just fishermen? And then wait for a day when the Dongfang Clan no longer exists in the jianghu? Is Senior's effort to be destroyed in our hands? It's been three hundred years!"

"But she is your daughter!"

"No one can change it; the heavens' chosen cannot be altered; if she is to blame, she can only blame heaven!" Dongfang Jie said firmly.

"Uncle, Tian'er has never asked you for anything from childhood to now; this time I only ask this one thing—can you spare Xing'er?" Dongfang Tian pleaded, knowing his uncle would not be swayed, yet he still wanted to try, even offering his own life, "Uncle, if not, look at this—let me try? Use my life to resurrect the distant ancestor, can I? You release Xing'er."

"Your life? Heh… that won't do, the heavens' chosen is not you," Dongfang Jie did not want to hear Dongfang Tian continue, fearing his heart would become as turbulent as the Dong Hai, "Don't say more; I have made up my mind—this time, no one can stop the Dongfang Clan!"

Tears streaming down his face, Dongfang Tian finally gave up; he knew too well this uncle who was both teacher and father, and no one could sway him.

Dongfang Jie finally made up his mind; at this moment, his heart, deeper and broader than the Dong Hai, finally settled— a man, when acting, should be decisive.

He clenched his fists and bombarded the Dong Hai wildly; the water sprays shot up tens of zhang high, and when they fell, they struck the surface like raindrops.

"Even if our people fall into an irredeemable plight, I will still give it a fight!"

……

The tireless steed galloped along the forest path, its hooves kicking up leaves one after another, startling the birds in the trees to flutter away in a flurry.

Chen Yi He's heart was even more impatient than the steed.

"Ya! Ya! Ya ya ya ya!" Chen Yi He whipped his horse to go faster; this was already his third mount, the first two having collapsed dead on the road. He regretted having gone so far north, which now meant a long journey back from the start.

"Dongfang, wait for me, Xing, you must be safe!" Chen Yi He was anxious; the fortunes and calamities of the Dongfang Clan were none of his concern—he only cared about Dongfang Xing.

In fact, another road one li away ran parallel to the one beneath Chen Yi He's feet; on that road too there was a person and a horse galloping swiftly, always keeping abreast with Chen Yi He. Yet they would eventually diverge: after an hour, the person and horse on the other road would go west while Chen Yi He and his horse went east.

……

At this moment, the Little Palace Master's heart was no calmer than Chen Yi He's. She had intended to prepare properly at the Five Absolutes Palace for the upcoming Contention for Hegemony assembly, but her mother suddenly summoned her and ordered her to kill someone.

The person to be killed is the Sword Chief.

The Little Palace Master felt troubled then, but not because she thought her strength insufficient to slay the Sword Chief; as the heir of the Five Absolutes Palace, she would fear no one in the jianghu.

What troubled the Little Palace Master was her relationship with the Sword Chief.

When the Little Palace Master kills, the Five Absolutes Palace kills, no one ever questions it; but this matter was initiated by the Palace Master herself.

"He and our palace had some past entanglements."

When the Little Palace Master heard the Palace Master say such words, her heart turned cold; she knew that if her mother spoke this way, she must have loved that person deeply, yet if she loved him so much, why would she want him dead?

This point, the Little Palace Master did not understand.

Since they loved each other, why must they kill each other?

"Ya!"

……

"The tea is indeed fine, though I do not know if I will ever have the chance to drink it again." The Sword Chief gazed at his empty teacup and said.

The Sword Chief and the Sword King's tea gathering this time lasted a full two days.

During these two days, they discussed swords, tea, and life.

Each felt a sense of regretting not having met sooner.

Probably the tea contained stimulating elements, making it hard for them to put down their cups for a long time.

"Hahaha! If you want to drink, this old man will accompany you year after year." Shangguan Yunyi laughed heartily, as the saying goes: 'With a true friend, a thousand cups of wine are too few,' and the same holds for tea.

"Hahaha! You'd better first keep an eye on my tower!" The Sword Chief likewise laughed loudly; after laughing, his face sank, and he added, "If you do not intervene in the matter of Dongfang Wuji, it will be hard to resolve! Do you really intend to drink tea in this ruined tower of mine?"

"Matters outside will be settled by those outside; it is not for this old man to intervene, and Dongfang Wuji will willingly sit down with everyone to talk pleasantly. Let this matter rest." Shangguan Yunyi waved his hand.

"Can you bear to see the populace plunged into misery?"

"This old man has one foot already in the grave; I care only whether there is someone worthy of my sword, not about competing for superiority."

"How is this competing for superiority?" the Sword Chief asked, bewildered.

"Go quickly and return quickly!" Shangguan Yunyi urged.

The Sword Chief left without looking back.

He carried no sword, his hands empty, his back empty, his waist empty.

For a swordsman of his caliber, the sword resides in his heart.

The sword arises from the heart; man and sword become one.

In his words, the sword is meant to be cherished, not brandished for slaughter.

"Leaning on the tower to listen to wind and rain, gazing idly upon the jianghu road." Shangguan Yunyi stood by the window, watching the Sword Chief gradually fade away; he had already cast a hexagram for the Sword Chief, and the omen read: 'This journey, more misfortune than fortune.'