Chapter 162: Casual Chat in the Rain

The sound of rain was continuous, and droplets fell from the cave entrance like a beaded curtain. The air was filled with the scent of fresh rain and earth, peaceful and tranquil—truly a fine time for a chat and company.

Jiang Shenyi's voice was also calm, without much emotional fluctuation; at most, there was a tiny hint of doubt.

"When we reviewed it before, you accused him of choosing the wrong Sword Image. You said he wasn't truly happy to obtain the gold ingots, but was merely satisfying his desires. Once the desire was satisfied, the joy ceased; it didn't align with the Sword Intent, so the Sword Image withered. But isn't everything like that? Aren't the joys of this world all limited? What about the great human desires of food and sex? One day you'll grow tired of eating good food, and one day you'll grow tired of looking at a beauty. Doesn't that mean no one can ever perfectly align with the Sword Intent of joy?"

Wusun Tong frowned and said, "Aren't there true gluttons and lechers? A love for wine, a love for beauty—a preference that comes from the very bones, a lifelong passion, something they'd die for, a preference that lasts forever."

Admittedly, such people are few, but the sword choosing a Sword Guest is already one in a thousand, one in ten thousand; why couldn't it choose such talent?

Che Sha had a different line of thought and said, "Or perhaps one could set a lofty ambition? For example, being invincible under heaven; only by reaching the goal can one be truly happy. And for every small step taken toward the goal, such as defeating an enemy, there is a small joy. Then one could maintain joy continuously and forge ahead bravely."

The group nodded one after another; this was a good tactic.

As for what happens if the big goal is achieved and one stops progressing—well, if you are already invincible under heaven, then whether you progress or not is no longer urgent.

If all else fails, one could always make a grand vow like, "Until hell is empty, I swear not to become a Buddha."

Jiang Shenyi thought further of meeting the Grandmaster Zhang Rong on the road. Lingering attachment, like joy, is also a state; it might not be as hard to maintain as joy, but it is still a part of emotion. Zhang Rong's lingering attachment would be long-lasting: firstly, the feeling of homesickness naturally grows stronger with age; secondly, his hometown has been destroyed and can never be found again, so it can only exist within that lingering attachment. To put it bluntly, the misfortune of the nation is the fortune of the poet; this actually fulfilled him.

But if, as Jiang Shenyi said, one pins their lingering attachment on a woman, the variables become great. Even if one is a seed of infatuation, loyal until death, the woman herself is always a living person. If some accident occurs—such as a collapse like moral corruption—then the lingering attachment might change in an instant, and it could never be found again.

Tang Zhao pondered and said, "I actually think that understanding the Sword Intent solely as my own joy is a bit narrow, and it is indeed too difficult. Joy is an emotion, and we Talisman Sword Masters all know that emotions are inherently materials for explosive fluctuations, far less stable than will or intent. If we take a detour and understand joy as making others happy, could that also align with the Sword Intent of joy?"

This line of thinking came from the Xiezhi Sword. The Sword Intent of the Xiezhi Sword is fairness and justice. The judge's understanding was not to maintain justice himself, but to realize and execute justice; the Sword Art developed from this was powerful and inherited in a single line.

Of course, the judge's ending was not good, but that was not a problem with the Sword Image from the start. A Sword Guest faces many problems, there are difficulties at every stage, and one could be doomed at any moment.

Jiang Shenyi said, "If it is helping others realize joy, could the Sword Image be an Awakening Wood? A Folding Fan? Something used by a performer?"

Tang Zhao suddenly laughed and said, "Actually, it could also be gold ingots. If you yourself no longer find joy in seeing gold ingots, wouldn't others be happy if you gave them away? And there will always be people who like them; there is no problem with binding joy to money. As long as you shift your perspective slightly and become a Dispenser of Wealth, this path becomes viable."

Wusun Tong said in a muffled voice, "Those thieves only care about grabbing money; when would they ever be willing to dispense wealth? He would never think of this."

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "Then that can only be blamed on his lack of culture. Actually, Sword Intent is very broad. People say the Sword Image is one's own heart, but it actually relies heavily on the realization at the moment of comprehending the sword; sometimes it really is involuntary. It's just that once the Sword Image is formed, one should use it as a foundation, practice more, comprehend more, and communicate and merge more with the Sword Intent. Wanting to be lazy and change the Sword Image the moment something goes wrong is just wishful thinking."

The group nodded, but Che Sha said, "Didn't you say before that if a Sword Image is washed away, it won't recognize the original Sword Guest anymore? And that the sword and the Sword Guest are like a married couple, unable to endure each other's betrayal?"

Tang Zhao went "Oh" and said, "I was just saying that to mess with his mind. Actually, I don't know either if a sword that has been washed once can still match the original Sword Guest. But saying they can't endure betrayal isn't quite right; that's too anthropomorphic."

He didn't know because such situations were rare. Sword Washing is usually done after the Sword Guest dies to wash away the traces of the previous generation so it can match a new Sword Guest; who would take a sword to be washed while the Sword Guest is still alive? And what Sword Smith would take such a job? That was all him provoking Ai Xin, making his Sword Heart collapse further, just talking nonsense. The metaphor was blunt and vulgar because that was the only way Ai Xin could understand.

When facing an enemy, there is no need to tell the truth.

Wusun Tong nodded and said, "I have also heard that swords have no emotions, that they are 'above emotion' and will not screen Sword Guests based on grudges. Perhaps if he went to hold the recast sword again, it could still match."

Tang Zhao nodded; he had learned that too. The sword is an existence closer to the "Dao"; the Dao is mysterious and subtle, only suitable for those with affinity. Talking about betrayal or hurt feelings is just belittling the sword.

On the contrary, the Sword Image is more likely to have emotions because the Sword Image is created by both the Sword Guest and the sword, and it might inherit a portion of the Sword Guest's emotions. Yet it will also grow independently, and in the end, its temperament may not be the same as the Sword Guest's. If the Sword Guest betrays the Sword Image, it might indeed cause fluctuations in the Sword Image, but it wouldn't go so far as to affect the sword itself.

At this moment, Jiang Shenyi suddenly said, "It might not recognize him."

The other three looked at him, and Jiang Shenyi said, "My master once washed a sword, but it wasn't because the Sword Guest wanted to change the Sword Image; it was because the sword had been polluted by a Heavenly Demon, to the point where the entire outer layer had to be replaced. A Sword Guest's Sword Image stays on the surface, so the Sword Image had to be washed away along with it."

"Later, after it was washed, the Sword Guest held the sword again, and it was no longer recognized by the sword."

Che Sha frowned and said, "How could that be? Even if the sword cares about betrayal, wasn't this an accident? Washing away pollution is not betrayal; can it not recognize him even then?"

Tang Zhao sighed softly and said, "It might not be that it minds betrayal; it might simply be that they no longer match."

What the sword initially recognized was the person holding the sword at that time. After many years of separation, the Sword Guest's experiences, thoughts, and temperament have all changed; although they grew together with the sword, they are ultimately unrecognizable. They were once inseparable, but the sword was washed back to its original state in an instant—could it still recognize the Sword Guest before it?

After many years of separation, how many people return as the youths they once were?

The rain gradually stopped.

The group packed their things and continued on their way.

Having experienced a great battle, everyone felt a bit exhausted and didn't want to continue fighting in the short term. Even Jiang Shenyi no longer had the mood to kill his way through Lingzhou.

It wasn't cowardice; it was just fatigue.

So, following Wan Laoban's original suggestion, the group entered a city, found a "Huiyuan Escort Agency," paid a certain amount of money, and hitched a ride with a merchant caravan.

And you know, this escort agency really had something to it. Don't look at the high price, the poor conditions, and the terrible service; wherever their escort wagons passed, small and large mountain strongholds and petty thieves would all give way, and they arrived safely at one town after another.

In those safer prefectures, escort wagons might be robbed when they go out, but in this Lingzhou, where petty thieves are everywhere, the escort wagons were unusually safe; it shows that the world is quite interesting.

The group walked for a stretch and hitched a ride for a stretch. They cleared out petty thieves intermittently a few more times, and after several days of minor skirmishes, they finally entered Yan Prefecture.

In Yan Prefecture, the air was different again.

This place was divided and occupied by two Warlords who had been at war with each other for decades, and the Imperial Court actually didn't care. Although each Warlord only occupied half a prefecture and their power couldn't compare to the Gaoyuan Marquis of Yunzhou, they had set up a makeshift government, and their power was not necessarily inferior to Baixiong Mountain, which nominally occupied Lingzhou.

Along the way, they saw the scorched earth of the Warlords' chaotic war and the battlefields where the two armies were pitted against each other. Both major forces in Yan Prefecture sent out armies with more than one Sword Guest sitting in command, and coupled with the endless sea of soldiers, the situation was not something a few Talisman Sword Masters could intervene in.

Following the guidance of an old hand in the world, the group bypassed the boundary line where the two forces were locked in a stalemate and took another passage through the prefecture that all parties had tacitly left open. The sides of that road could be described as scorched earth, with hardly any grass growing on the ground. The few scattered villages also looked extremely impoverished. They didn't even go to the villages to ask for lodging in Yan Prefecture; they just camped by the side of the road, truly unable to bear disturbing them.

On the road, they entered a few fortress-like cities and could see official notices seeking to purchase Art Tools. The prices were very high, especially for long-term purchases of weapons and Art Tools. But none of them were in the mood to profit from the war.

They hurried through Yan Prefecture and arrived in Yongzhou. Yongzhou was the old capital of the Great Jin, and the imperial aura was oppressive. This place also contained the Western Capital, one of the six capitals, counting as half of the Jingji. This place was actually peaceful, and the land was fertile; logically speaking, it could be considered a paradise.

Unfortunately, the local Yin Calamity was extremely severe. To maintain local stability, the number of people in the Land Inspection Division was very large, and the taxes were extremely heavy. The common people, first fearing the Yin Calamity and second fleeing the taxes, actually fled until nine out of ten houses were empty. A vast Western Capital, and the surrounding area was actually very desolate.

But regardless, having seen so much man-made disaster, and now only facing a Natural Disaster, everyone's mood actually improved slightly.

On the road, Tang Zhao saw the Land Inspection Division several times. Because the Land Inspection Divisions in various places were under local jurisdiction and did not interfere with each other, Tang Zhao's status was not useful, and it was inconvenient to get close. Observing carefully, he only felt that the local Land Inspection Division was fully equipped, even luxurious. And they had a unified uniform, and the clothing even had the symbol of the Land Inspection Division—Sword Slashes Yin and Yang. Tang Zhao had been in the job for several years and had only received one similar official uniform, which he hadn't worn many times, and it was far less exquisite than theirs.

Foundation—this is what foundation is.

Along the way, the number of open Demon Caves could be counted on one's fingers, but as the deadline drew closer, the group had even less heart to wander. They traveled through Yongzhou without stopping for a few days and then passed through the prefecture.

Southwest of Yongzhou, bordering Kungang, their destination lay in the endless Da Xue Shan of Kungang.