Chapter 50: Green Bamboo Revives, Dreaming of Mother

On the third night after the East Sea Water Gate shattered, Jiang Che had a dream.

In the dream, it was not the Broken Temple.

Nor was it Tian Duan Cliff.

It was a Bamboo Forest.

The Wind blew through the bamboo leaves, rustling softly.

The sunlight was very warm.

Jiang Che stood in the forest and, looking down, found he had turned into the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old.

In the distance, a woman in a green robe had her back to him, whittling a Wooden Sword.

Jiang Che's heart trembled.

"Mother?"

The woman's movements paused slightly.

Then, she slowly turned her head.

Her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, her temperament like bamboo.

Jiang Che's memory of his mother had always been vague, remembering only the scent of bamboo and her back.

But when he saw her in the dream, he immediately knew.

This was his mother.

The Young Master of the Green Robe Sword, Su Qingzhu.

Su Qingzhu looked at the small Jiang Che and smiled slightly.

"Che'er."

Jiang Che opened his mouth, suddenly realizing he had many things he wanted to say.

He wanted to ask why she had left.

He wanted to ask if it hurt when she sealed his meridians.

He wanted to tell her that his father was dead.

He wanted to tell her he had gone to Burying Sword Valley and pulled out the Green Bamboo Sword.

He also wanted to tell her that the Heavenly Gates had been shattered one after another, and the Human Realm had finally begun to stand up.

But when the words reached his lips, only one remained:

"Mother, I miss you so much."

Su Qingzhu's eyes softened; she walked toward him, squatted down, and embraced him.

This embrace was very light.

Yet it made a string in Jiang Che's heart that had been taut for a long time suddenly loosen.

In the dream, he cried like a child.

Su Qingzhu gently patted his back.

"You have worked hard."

Jiang Che choked out, "Did I not do well enough?"

Su Qingzhu said, "You have already done very well."

"But many people died."

"Protecting the Human Realm never comes without a price."

"Then am I too weak?"

Su Qingzhu released him and looked into his eyes.

"Che'er, you must remember."

"A Sword Cultivator is strong not because they never fall."

"But because after falling, they are still willing to stand up again."

Jiang Che lowered his head: "The Green Bamboo Sword will not wake."

Su Qingzhu smiled: "Swords can get tired too."

"It has walked with you for too far; it should sleep for a while."

"Then can it wake again?"

Su Qingzhu did not answer directly, but instead handed him the small wooden sword she had just whittled.

"The sword is never only in the sword."

Jiang Che was stunned.

Su Qingzhu pointed to his chest.

"It is also here."

"When you are no longer afraid of having no sword, Green Bamboo will naturally wake."

The Wind rose in the Bamboo Forest.

Su Qingzhu's Shadow gradually faded.

Jiang Che panicked: "Mother!"

Su Qingzhu smiled and looked at him.

"Che'er."

"If you are tired in the future, stop and look at the bamboo."

"Bamboo can bend."

"But it will not break."

When Jiang Che awoke from his dream, there were tears at the corners of his eyes.

Inside the tent, the Green Bamboo Sword lay quietly to one side.

On the blade, a touch of new green had appeared.

Very faint.

Yet truly present.

Jiang Che reached out and grasped the sword hilt.

This time, the sword did not emit a clear chime.

But a gentle vitality flowed from his palm into his body.

Like his mother gently patting his back in the dream.

When Xie Tingxue returned from the East Sea, this was the scene she saw.

Jiang Che sat outside the tent, the Green Bamboo Sword resting across his knees, gazing at a tender bamboo shoot growing from a crack in the cliffside rock.

Xie Tingxue approached: "You're awake?"

Jiang Che smiled: "You're back."

Xie Tingxue nodded.

She looked thinner than when she left, with weariness between her brows and eyes.

Jiang Che looked at the fresh wound on her shoulder and frowned: "You're injured again."

Xie Tingxue said: "A minor wound."

Jiang Che sighed: "You say that every time."

Xie Tingxue looked at the Green Bamboo Sword: "It has awakened?"

"Awakened a little."

"And you?"

Jiang Che paused, then smiled: "Also awakened a little."

Xie Tingxue sat down beside him.

The two sat in silence, watching the tender bamboo in the Wind.

After a long while, Jiang Che said: "I dreamed of my mother."

Xie Tingxue did not interrupt.

Jiang Che continued: "She said the Sword is not only within the sword."

Xie Tingxue said: "That sounds like the Young Master of the Green Robe Sword."

Jiang Che looked at her: "Have you seen my mother?"

Xie Tingxue shook her head: "The Sword Pavilion has her portrait."

"What is the portrait like?"

Xie Tingxue thought for a moment: "Very beautiful."

Jiang Che smiled.

Xie Tingxue added: "And very fierce."

Jiang Che's smile froze.

The corners of Xie Tingxue's mouth lifted slightly.

This was the first time Jiang Che had seen her smile like that.

Very faint.

Yet it made the wind and snow of Tian Duan Cliff seem lighter.

Not far away, Chen Shanhe, who had come to report military affairs, saw the scene and quietly withdrew.

Shen Wanjin asked him: "General Chen, why not go in?"

Chen Shanhe glared at him: "No sense of the situation."

Shen Wanjin suddenly understood: "Oh—"

Chen Shanhe kicked him: "Oh what oh!"

Tian Duan Cliff rarely had laughter.

The new green on the Green Bamboo Sword quietly unfurled in the sunlight.