Chapter 85: Why Did I Run Into You Even Here?

【You have left the Huan Shui Qing Ge of the Gu Family.】

【On the first day of your journey, you saw injustice and drew your blade to help. To experience the carefree vengeance of a young man, you acted with chivalry, showing off your sword art "Zhetianbir" which had nowhere else to be displayed. Along this journey, whenever you had spare time, you sparred with these so-called heroes of the greenwood.】

【It is a pity that your "Zhetianbir" sword art has already been practiced to the pinnacle, and you can no longer break through the framework it has established; you have no choice but to seek new extensions for your swordsmanship.】

【Your choices are nothing more than making your sword speed faster, or making your sword moves more complex.】

【But you do not like the foul and long-winded moves of "Zhetianbir"; you are convinced that "No-Move Wins Over Move" is the level that the peak of the Dao of the sword should have.】

【Thus, you dismantled "Zhetianbir," focusing on practicing the most exquisite, most lethal, and most elegant strike within it.】

【Holding a three-foot green-edged blade, you have but one move to cross the Jiangnan.】

【On the seventh day of arriving here, you observed that the atmosphere of the entire Northern Wei is gloomy; furthermore, with laws and principles absent, there are many exorbitant taxes imposed. Most of the places you passed through reveal an aura of decay; the suffering masses are in dire straits, living in misery.】

【Here, the class structure has already solidified.】

【Because of this, the way of the wandering martial artist is prevalent in Northern Wei. Many so-called "knights-errant" act recklessly; upon encountering someone who displeases them, they draw their blades to fight, often taking lives at the slightest provocation.】

【Every person you encounter has a numb expression on their face; most have lost the basic concept of Morality. Here, surviving seems more important than Morality.】

【Obtained important information—the per capita Morality of the Northern Wei is in a backward and low state.】

【You traveled along, taking a cursory look, and gained a brand-new understanding of the Northern Wei from hundreds of years ago. You discovered that this dynasty has already fallen into its twilight years; its overthrow is entirely self-destruction.】

【It is worth mentioning that the spiritual energy of this period, by your perception, is even more dilapidated than that of the Dajing Dynasty hundreds of years later.】

【On the fifteenth day, your realm has broken through to the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage. Such a speed of progress makes you feel refreshed and happy, and your mood has improved quite a bit.】

【You began to comprehend the Opportunity obtained ten thousand years ago, gradually grasping the "Non-Self Sword Intent," attempting to start your journey of the Dao of the sword.】

【You recalled a sentence once mentioned by Gu Zhangqing: swordsmen all possess sword intent. But when you reflected on it, you discovered that the so-called sword intent of the swordsmen in this Northern Wei is actually just a sword Qi struck out by infusing internal energy into the tip of the sword, erroneously calling this sword intent. Local swordsmen often judge the strength of their sword intent by the intensity of their sword Qi.】

【It is completely different from sword intent in the true sense.】

【On the twenty-first day, you are about to arrive in Guanzhong. This is the capital of the Northern Wei, and even more so, the place where the Northern Wei rose to power. The level of prosperity here cannot be compared to the remote backwaters from before. Outside of Guanzhong, you saw this magnificent city.】

【Even in the suburbs outside this main city of Guanzhong, a large number of commoners have gathered to live here.】

【Within these twenty-one days, you have killed a total of 239 bandits, rescued 679 refugees, punished the wicked and promoted the good by eliminating 8 martial artists who possessed skills but bullied the weak, and incidentally wiped out an evil demon with shallow cultivation.】

【And you carved out the martial arts moniker—"White-Clad Guest."】

【Your combat techniques have been honed and improved.】

【In just twenty-one days, you have made such progress; you feel smug about your current achievements.】

Gu Jiangming looked at the diary retrieved by 【Mie Changsheng】, which had recorded almost all of his progress during these dozen or so days since he arrived in the Northern Wei.

It recorded important things in a single line, ignored unimportant things, and would even throw in a few sharp comments every now and then.

What do you mean by "experience the carefree vengeance of a young man"?

What do you mean by "sword art that had nowhere to be displayed"?

What do you mean by "smug"?

You learned a set of sword techniques, and you're not going to use them, right?

You have this ability, you have this Opportunity to act with chivalry, and you're not going to show a few moves, right?

It was you who threw me into the Reincarnation to cultivate ahead of time.

And when it's done, you still have to nag and whip me into shape every now and then; this just makes it look like I'm very inefficient at getting things done.

But let's be fair, isn't this efficiency of getting things done already quite high?

Is there a problem with you, or is there a problem with me?

Get this straight: without me, Gu Jiangming, you, 【Mie Changsheng】, are just a toy that no one uses. Straighten out your attitude as a tool.

However, Gu Jiangming felt that entering the Reincarnation plot was entirely a reward stage for him. Originally, he would have to struggle in the real world, slowly improving his strength day by day.

By entering the Reincarnation plot, he was effectively gaining a large chunk of time out of thin air to cultivate, and the rewards could even be manifested in the real world.

Furthermore, the thing that gave Gu Jiangming the biggest headache was that his Reincarnation Simulation did not provide memories, which made it seem very useless.

Now, by returning to the Reincarnation plot in this way, Gu Jiangming could fill in this gap in memory and experience it personally.

Most importantly, it seemed that if he died in the Reincarnation, it would not affect his real-world self; it would just cause the Reincarnation to end early.

Doesn't that make me purely a "Heavenly Disaster"?

The nature of the Reincarnation plot had directly undergone some kind of special change.

At the very least, Gu Jiangming would not be timid.

If it needs to be done, do it; at worst, he'd just flip the table.

I'm only afraid you guys won't dare to start trouble!

And as Gu Jiangming entered the city, a message sounded.

【It is not permitted to ride a horse within Guanzhong City. You left the white horse you brought from the Gu Family outside the city, entrusted someone to look after it, and entered the city on foot.】

"There are still eight days until the time the plot triggers." Gu Jiangming calculated the time and first found an inn to stay in.

His background in this Reincarnation was that of a Young Master, so Gu Jiangming had quite a lot of silver on him. Acting on the idea that it would be a waste not to use it, the bundle on his back was filled entirely with pieces of silver; he hadn't taken anything else.

He ordered a few small dishes from the shopkeeper, and someone came in to share a table with him.

Guanzhong is a wealthy and prosperous place. In a restaurant in the land of the Son of Heaven, there are many guests from afar; it is inevitable for someone sitting alone like him to have to share a table with others.

"Where are you from, brother?" The person sharing the table with him had a dignified appearance. Just looking at his attire, he didn't look like an idle person; there was some nobility about him.

He took the initiative to strike up a conversation, seemingly wanting to avoid the awkwardness of sharing a table.

Gu Jiangming glanced at him. To him, this was a Reincarnation plot, and one that could change the future.

He did not want to get involved in too many meaningless social interactions that would influence more variables.

Who knows, just by casually contacting someone, it might bring about unexpected changes.

"A wanderer of the Jianghu," Gu Jiangming said indifferently.

"That's quite interesting." The other party laughed heartily. "I am Wang Huaijun of the Wang Family in Liangzhou, also a wanderer of the Jianghu."

Gu Jiangming's hand reaching for the wine stopped. His heart was full of confusion, and he couldn't help but blurt out: "What did you say?"

It seems the Reincarnation plot has had a... tiny deviation?

Did Jiu Jiu run off to save the Wang Family?

Seeing Gu Jiangming's expression shift slightly, Wang Huaijun was somewhat surprised, but he still reported his name, "My family is skilled in blade techniques and is known as the Wang Gate Blade; we are considered to have some fame in Northern Wei."

"I find the sword in your hand, Excellency, somewhat familiar, which is why I shamelessly joined your table. If my eyes do not deceive me... this sword should be a sword of the Gu Gate."

"Our Wang Family and the Gu Family have some history of friendship; I wonder which member of the Gu Family you are, Excellency?"

As the words fell.

A crisp, ethereal voice rang out.

"Big brother, why have you started chatting with someone here?"

A figure familiar to Gu Jiangming walked up before Wang Huaijun.

She glanced at the person beside her and likewise saw a face that was all too familiar.

The two of them froze on the spot.

Damn.

How could I run into you here too?

But Wang Qinghe only froze for a second before recalling the message from 【Mie Changsheng】 requiring her to hide that she was a Reincarnator, and she immediately restored a calm expression.

Gu Jiangming also hesitated for a moment.

Jiu Jiu was the Reincarnator prompted to him by 【Mie Changsheng】, and this Wang Qinghe before him should be the real deal, so he did not need to be overly nervous.

As long as he didn't act too abnormally, it would be fine.

Gu Jiangming stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "I am Gu Jiangming, successor of the Northern Wei Gu Gate sword; greetings to the two friends from the Wang Family."

And almost at the same time as Gu Jiangming, Wang Qinghe made the same gesture, "Liangzhou Wang Family, Qinghe greets you, brother."

Wang Qinghe subconsciously reached for the wine pot on the table to pour wine for Gu Jiangming, and Gu Jiangming reached out to grab it as well.

Their fingers touched, and they both let go as if struck by electricity.

Gu Jiangming was very nervous.

Wang Qinghe was likewise very nervous.

Logically, Gu Jiangming shouldn't be this nervous, but when he thought about his interactions with Wang Qinghe in the Reincarnation Simulation—over a thousand times, like a madman—it was hard for him not to be nervous.

Needless to say, Wang Qinghe was even more so; she could directly obtain the memories from the Reincarnation Simulation. Although she was still an innocent maiden, upon encountering Gu Jiangming, how could she withstand the wild thoughts in her mind? After all, the number of her interactions with Gu Jiangming was simply too high.

Wang Qinghe remembered every inch of skin on Gu Jiangming's body clearly, and she subconsciously glanced at Gu Jiangming's neck.

There was actually a mole there, just as she remembered.

Wang Huaijun felt very strange at this moment.

Have these two met before?

Why is the atmosphere so weird?

(End of chapter)