Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“?”

Chen Shu froze. But the old man burst out laughing. He opened the booklet again and, pinching one side, thrust it directly toward her face.

The sunlight had grown even brighter, almost glaring. Terrified by the sudden movement, Chen Shu reflexively covered her face without thinking. Her four fingers pressed tightly together, blocking all light – and naturally, preventing her from seeing any of the “not suitable for children” content on the booklet.

“You truly didn’t look earlier?” the old man pressed.

“I really didn’t!” Chen Shu responded loudly. “I don’t look at other people’s things!”

“Well then, you can open your eyes and see now, little girl.”

“I… I really don’t need to open my eyes, Elder,” Chen Shu stammered, still covering them tightly. “I… I’m not interested in that sort of thing!”

Yun Shen intervened this time: “Just open your eyes.”

“I… I won’t open them! Elder, please put your book away!”

“If you don’t open your eyes soon,” Yun Shen said, his voice trembling with barely concealed laughter, “this Elder here will get tired from holding it up.”

“I…!” Chen Shu started to argue, then stopped mid-thought. Realization dawned. Snatching her hands away, she whirled around angrily to glare at Yun Shen. “Why are you egging him on? Whose side are you on anyway?— Huh? The booklet’s blank?”

The old man was indeed holding the booklet right up to her face. It was utterly devoid of writing, not a single character or brushstroke could be seen.

Its blankness was as pure and complete as that narrow slit of sky glimpsed between the mountains lining the banks when looking out from the bow of a boat on the Yushui River.

Chen Shu had only half-turned her face. The sudden exposure to sunlight after opening her eyes had momentarily dazzled her, leaving her vision blurred. Only now, having spoken halfway, as her sight cleared, did she belatedly register the expanse of stark white in her peripheral vision.

“—Ah, you tricked me!” she cried out, flustered and annoyed. “What kind of Elder are you!”

Unfazed by her outburst, the old man chuckled as he stashed the booklet away. He pointed past Chen Shu to the rickety wooden table. “And what about you? You little girl disturbed my sweet slumber! Can’t I have a bit of fun in return? Hurry up and put my precious table back!”

As he spoke, Chen Shu remained rooted, stewing in her indignation. But He Yu, who was standing nearby, stepped forward. He patted her shoulder and, with a single hand, smoothly slid the weathered table back into place. “Our sincere apologies, Elder,” He Yu said with courtesy. “We’re actually here to register. Might this be the registration point for the Sword Discussion Tournament?”

“Now that’s a more pleasant tone!” The old man smacked his lips. Only then did he sit down again, flipping his robe aside as he settled himself. He looked up, his gaze lingering briefly on Yun Shen, positioned last in their small group, before glancing over the others. “Is this the registration point? Can’t you read by yourself, young man? That sign says it perfectly clearly. See? ‘Sword. Discussion. Tournament.’ Can’t read?”

“You old man are exceptionally grouchy!” Chen Shu spoke up before He Yu could respond. “Brother He Yu was being perfectly polite just asking! If we couldn’t read the sign, why would we even come to bother you?”

Still not looking up, the old man busied himself gathering several booklets on the old table, muttering, “Feisty little chick. You here to register too?”

“Yes!”

“Which sect are you? Find it yourself,” the old man ordered, tilting his head towards the red wall behind them. “If it’s already listed on the board, come register on the right. If it’s not, then come to the left side. Either way, pay five taels.”

Only then did the three follow his gesture towards the Vermilion Wall standing sentinel in the middle of the wide road. At a distance, its surface had seemed unevenly textured. Close up, it became clear this effect came from the hundreds upon hundreds of sect names meticulously scrawled upon it, densely packed from the very top down to the bottom.

The topmost fifteen sects, naturally, were the Six Major and Nine Smaller sects whose legacies had passed down for centuries. They stood out easily at a glance. Below them, though the ink remained dark – unlike the faded quality of the top fifteen – fate hadn’t been as kind to these inscribed names. Nine out of ten had vanished into obscure corners of history, their very names preserved only by this wall before fading forever.

Even the few that survived to the present day likely lacked the resources or incentive to send disciples across vast distances to participate in the Sword Discussion Tournament. Honestly, they were probably in a tougher spot than the roaming martial artists who earned their keep with practical skills – the wanderers who treated the entire world as their home and often found it easier to journey here anyway.

Hailing from Cold Pine Glen, He Yu naturally knew exactly where to look. It took him mere moments to complete the registration, speaking politely to the old man the entire time. He received a small, unidentifiable token and stepped back silently, positioning himself near the Vermilion Wall to wait for Chen Shu.

But she witnessed Chen Shu carefully shifting from standing on her tiptoes to squatting laboriously as she searched thoroughly, repeating this motion three times. She looked hard for quite a while without ever spotting the words “Tianyu Mountain.”

“Does your sect perhaps use a different name?” He Yu kindly reminded her. “Is it simply called Tianyu Mountain? Or is it only located on Tianyu Mountain? Might there be another name for the sect?”

“Tianyu Mountain… Tianyu Mountain Sword Sect,” Chen Shu said. After reading so much, even she was feeling dizzy and her eyes strained, yet she stubbornly continued, her voice uncertain. “Who knows what my sect’s proper name is! Could it just be ‘Sword Sect’? Or maybe ‘Chen Family Sect’… but there is no Chen Family Sect!”

“Perhaps it’s simply not on there,” Yun Shen interjected. He alone seemed unhurried, waiting some distance away, occasionally glancing at the crowd as if without purpose.

Chen Shu turned and saw him like this, immediately deflating. She sat on the ground, hugging her knees and complaining: “How can you know it’s definitely not there! My sect is very famous! My Master is the renowned Sword of Qianjun!”

“Madam, perhaps you should think more carefully,” Yun Shen suggested. Seeing her petulant look, a faint smile tugged at his lips before he suppressed it. He walked over and crouched semi-level with her. “Wasn’t your sect the one that always forbade you from descending the mountain? May I ask, do you recall just how many years it has been established?”

Chen Shu stared at him blankly.

“More than a thousand years… Ah! That’s right!” she exclaimed. “This Sword Discussion Tournament hasn’t lasted as long as my sect has! And for these thousand years, no one descended the mountain! Of course it wouldn’t be listed! My sect truly is more ancient!”

As she spoke, her expression visibly brightened again. Light danced in her eyes like sunset clouds, restoring her vibrant, lively spirit. She resembled a small shoot forcefully breaking through the mud after a downpour, causing even Yun Shen to pause briefly before turning his face away.

Chen Shu paid little attention and eagerly turned back, jumping up from the ground and heading towards the old man, who was perilously close to falling asleep again, and the shabby wooden table. This time she was slightly wiser; she didn’t yank the table away again. Yet, she hadn’t entirely learned her lesson, slamming her hand fiercely onto the aged wood, making the table sway precariously.

The man feigning sleep snapped upright instantly, saying urgently, “Your venerable ancestor, even if you wish to trouble me, don’t bully this table.”

“I wish to register! Old man, stop sleeping first! My sect isn’t on this list – which ledger should I register on?”

“Then, where is your silver? Five taels. Hand it to me.”

“Huh? Silver is truly required?” Chen Shu asked, looking back at the wall and pointing at the characters inscribed there. “…..Ah, I see. If my sect were listed, I wouldn’t need silver? Then could I register on that… ‘restricted’ ledger?”

“If you wish, I could also register you on the ledger for participating sects,” the old man replied leisurely.

Chen Shu was overjoyed. “Really? Old man, I underestimated how decent you are!”

“Really. Registering a new sect is handled here as well. What is your sect’s name?”

“Tianyu Mountain Sword… just Tianyu Mountain!” Chen Shu hesitated with considerable seriousness. Upon seeing the old man actually pull out another ledger, the same one used to register He Yu earlier, her joy overflowed. She hurriedly added, “I am Chen Shu! Chen as in ‘east of the ear’, the character ‘Chen’. ‘Shu’ as in ‘timely rain’—”

The old man spread open the ledger, looked up, and said, “All noted. Now, hand over the fifty taels silver.”

“Huh?!”

“What’s this fuss?” the old man snorted disdainfully. “A single entrant costs five taels. Now, a whole sect need pay only fifty taels – is this not advantageous? The Tournament is already suffering immense losses. What more could you possibly expect?”

—

After a session of haggling—though the term flatters her effort, as the moment the old man mentioned the Sword Discussion Tournament’s severe losses, Chen Shu conceded entirely, feeling not only inner guilt but visible embarrassment—she ultimately suffered a crushing defeat before the Vermilion Wall. This was largely because Yun Shen remained “cold-bloodedly” watching from the sidelines. She tearfully took out five taels of silver.

Her so-called bargaining was merely token resistance performed in front of Yun Shen, tentatively glancing his way a few times. After a few perfunctory attempts at negotiating, resigned to the expense, she handed over the five taels.

Once registered and having declined the old man’s inquiry about whether she needed to purchase a sword, the three finally proceeded through the gate behind the Vermilion Wall.

Beyond it lay a large gatehouse. Passing through its archway, they ventured forward along a path flanked by imposing high walls as orderly as palace fortifications. The defenses within were dense, with sentinels nearly every five steps. After a short walk, they arrived at the location indicated on the small wooden plaque He Yu had received earlier.

It was a tidy and cosy small courtyard.

With four or five rooms, a diminutive kitchen, assorted weapons racks lining the grounds, and a dedicated practice field, it was comprehensively equipped.

Chen Shu and Yun Shen traveled light, carrying little baggage, but He Yu, competing on behalf of his sect, was heavily laden and thus spent some time settling his belongings.

While he unpacked, Chen Shu, preoccupied with thoughts of her sword and attempting to be “considerate,” milled around the courtyard to give him space in the room.

The courtyard, however, measured only about twenty feet square. No matter how much she wandered, there was little room to traverse. Consequently, as Chen Shu roamed, she unconsciously climbed onto the courtyard wall, perching upon the tiles. She glanced into the neighboring yard.

What she saw almost caused her to cry out in surprise.

It should be noted that the arrangement of the courtyard houses was not solely based on sect rankings. After all, the Sword Discussion Tournament had yet to begin—who knew which sects, after five years, would emerge stronger or weaker now? To ensure fairness, the assignments naturally followed each sect’s order of arrival at Diancang Pass.

Having traveled on the same boat, the groups from Biyang Valley, who disembarked first, and the three of them, who disembarked later and took a longer route, arrived nearly at the same time.

From the rooftop, Chen Shu’s gaze met that of Li Chou practicing swordsmanship with his junior disciples in the neighboring courtyard.

She hastily lowered herself, clamped her hand over her mouth, and leapt down. Yun Shen happened to be emerging from the room and narrowly avoided being knocked back. He recoiled hurriedly with a cold expression, then extended his hand to dust off the dirt from the roof that clung to her.

“Scrambling about already?” Yun Shen asked. “Are you even packed?”

“Packed?” Chen Shu said, turning to ask He Yu, who had just stepped one foot outside. “Did you all need to go somewhere?”

Yun Shen did not answer. He pulled her over and ruthlessly swatted the dust off twice, then nodded, a trace of distaste on his face. Exchanging a glance with He Yu, he took her hand and strode purposefully out the door.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Unable to escape his grip, Chen Shu was pulled through that towering wall and past successive checkpoints. They exited the accommodation courtyard without receiving a reply from Yun Shen.

Seeing her perplexity, He Yu answered softly, “You’ll know soon enough.”

Just as they were about to pass through the outer gate, Chen Shu noticed Yun Shen’s steps suddenly slow. His demeanor, too, strangely softened into utter nonchalance, as if he were merely stepping out for a stroll. When sneaking a look at He Yu, she saw him also straining to relax his expression, yet his single eye—by its very nature rather conspicuous—kept darting toward a particular direction among the currents of people moving along the courtyard. Though his lips did not move, his low, steady voice traveled clearly to her ears.

He Yu was asking Yun Shen.

“It’s that man, isn’t it?”