Chapter 37

Chapter 37

“Earlier on the platform, what did you say about your sword?”

With this question, Chen Shu, the very owner seeking the sword, finally remembered her most urgent task. She smacked her forehead and exclaimed, “Right! So you really haven’t picked up my sword?”

“Why would I pick up your sword?” He Yu asked, utterly confused. “When did you lose it? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Even if I couldn’t help find your sword, I could at least buy you a new one. At the very least, I could make you a wooden sword to tide you over.”

“I… I… ah!” Chen Shu stammered anxiously, stomping her foot as her face flushed red. “How do I explain this… It’s not that I lack this sword. I came specifically to find this sword. As for why I thought you’d found it… well, it’s probably a misunderstanding caused by the sword’s tassel.”

Somewhat understanding, He Yu finally seized on a clear detail amid her rambling. He hurriedly asked, “Wait—slow down. First, explain clearly: what tassel?”

“While searching for the sword, I accidentally found my sword tassel in the pawnshop of Zhanglin Village. Since I wove it myself, there’s no mistake. So I guessed the person who found my sword must have left it there at the pawnshop, and then—”

“Where’s the tassel? Show me,” He Yu said, holding out his palm. “I might remember seeing someone wearing it in Zhanglin Village.”

But Chen Shu froze, then suddenly smacked her own forehead. Anger and annoyance flashed across her face as she spoke with deep regret.

“Ah! I threw that tassel away yesterday!”

He Yu had been patiently guiding her talk, finally catching a clear thread amidst her tangled words, waiting for her to follow it through to clarify the whole matter. Yet Chen Shu’s startled cry shattered that hope, plunging them back into the tangle.

“…Why did you throw it away?”

“When I dueled with that Zou Dai yesterday, my clothes were slashed. The tassel hooked inside the lining was all cut up too,” Chen Shu explained. She looked up and abruptly noticed Yun Shen’s unusual silence. Though she spared no thought for why he was so reticent today, her mind fixated on his reliability like a lifeline grasped at last. Brightening, she cried, “Oh right! I didn’t throw it away myself. I gave it to you, Yun Shen! I wonder if you still—”

She reached out, unable to resist the urge to grab Yun Shen’s collar and shake it. Yet she was petite and needed his favor, so at this moment she showed some restraint and stopped herself. Rubbing her hands instead, she watched Yun Shen with hopeful eyes.

How could Yun Shen miss her intent? Even He Yu likely saw through her movements clearly, yet Yun Shen hesitated. His fingers, hidden inside his sleeves, seemed to curl tighter. He averted his gaze from Chen Shu and addressed He Yu instead.

“She did indeed throw it away. As Miss Chen said that day, since both the sword and the tassel were ruined, there was no sense in keeping them,” he stated with restraint. Only after speaking did he remember to offer a faintly apologetic smile.

“That makes sense… but right now I need to…” Chen Shu tugged fretfully at her sleeve, bowed her head, and gnawed her lip in distress. She blew out two long breaths. Hearing He Yu chuckle dryly as though to comfort her, she abruptly lifted her head again and suddenly asked Yun Shen, “…What did you just call me?”

“Miss?” Yun Shen’s gaze flickered as he lowered his eyelids and asked gently. “Miss Chen? Is there something wrong?”

“More than just ‘wrong’!”

Chen Shu stepped closer, pressed near Yun Shen’s face, and rose onto her tiptoes. As if spotting something, she scrutinized him carefully.

Being naturally brash with no sense of boundaries, she now stood so close she could almost see the fine down on Yun Shen’s cheeks, translucent in the sunlight. Strangely, Yun Shen didn’t retreat under such scrutiny but calmly let her approach. When he spoke, his warm breath brushed her lips. Though their words were at odds, sharp-edged in debate, that lingering breath mingled with his faint scent, swirling undispelled between them like something intimate.

Witnessing Chen Shu leap from the tassel to the quarrel over titles, then brazenly invade Yun Shen’s space all unreasonable like that, He Yu stood dumbfounded nearby. For a while he gaped wordlessly, looking as if he wanted to pull Chen Shu back. But having just descended the Sword Discussion Platform, he was still shaken. Besides, in matters like this—bordering on impropriety—how could he, an elder acquainted for barely a fortnight, speak up, however thoughtful and kindhearted he might be?

“Oh?” Yun Shen remained calm and countered, “What’s wrong? Shouldn’t I call you Miss Chen?”

“It’s not like you shouldn’t…” Pressed close to him, Chen Shu strained her gaze upward, instinct pushing her to mentally grasp that strange feeling. “Didn’t you already start calling me ‘Little Shu’ long ago?”

Yun Shen’s natural expression stiffened slightly. He took a slow breath and lifted his eyes. Despite smiling softer and gentler than before, he asked casually,

“Did I? I don’t remember.”

Back and forth, though they had not descended into a lengthy argument, the pair had been locked in a silent standoff for a time. Therefore, it was only after Yun Shen had replied that He Yu finally snapped out of his daze and glanced around. Though they were amidst a vast sea of people, the fourth match on the stage had already begun at some point, now locked in a fierce and spectacularly brilliant contest that held everyone’s attention. No one turned to look at this minor commotion nearby. Or rather, even if someone wished to eavesdrop, they merely listened furtively, expressionless. Thus, He Yu managed to muster a bit of courage, cleared his throat, and offered mediating words in a lowered voice.

“Indeed, Brother Yun has always referred to her directly by name. Little Shu, you must be remembring incorrectly,” he said. “Besides, weren’t we just discussing the sword moments ago? How did it turn to this?”

“But I truly do remember him calling me that!” Chen Shu turned her head, no longer leaning close to Yun Shen, but straightening up to argue seriously with He Yu. “And I always feel it was something very important…”

“It’s just a form of address, what’s important about that?” He Yu chuckled, trying once more to mediate. “Likely it’s because I always called you that, and you’ve mixed us up. If you find it ‘improper’, I declare it! I’ll force him to always call you ‘Little Shu’ from now on!”

Chen Shu’s face stiffened, her lips pursed stubbornly as she huffed indignantly. “I really do remember! I’m not joking with you; my intuition is always spot on—”

“—Then it might have happened once or twice before,” Yun Shen interrupted her, saying, “Brother He doesn’t recall, so it must have been during those occasional times he addressed you once or twice while speaking with Right Supervisor Shen.”

“No!” Chen Shu retorted sharply. She turned her head back, thought for a moment carefully, and affirmed, “Not that day. I remember it was a very open, expansive place, dreamlike, a bit windy and cold, with the moonlight bright and clear…”

“Oh. Then it should have been that day—” He Yu suddenly recalled and was about to speak when his gaze, rising over Chen Shu’s shoulder, met Yun Shen’s. He saw Yun Shen smiling gently, giving him a slight but firm shake of the head. He Yu paused, hastily swallowed the second half of his unspoken words, and awkwardly changed the subject, saying, “Must—must have been that day you had the dream! Ha ha!”

Yun Shen also gave her a reassuring smile and said, “You resent me in your heart, thinking that my formality creates distance, and so you had this dream, haven’t you?”

“Is that how it is?” Chen Shu had been so sure a moment ago, but seeing Yun Shen’s smile, she seemed to instinctively mirror it, blinking with a hesitant expression. “But I always feel…”

“Alright, weren’t you just talking about wanting to find your sword?” He Yu interrupted cheerfully. “Even if the tassel is lost, since you made it yourself, you surely remember what it looked like, right? Looking further, the tassel was just one clue. Even if you can’t rely on it to find your sword, why not tell me what your sword looks like and how it was lost? I can inquire among my acquaintances in the Wulin Community. With more people helping, surely it’s better than you flailing about blindly all by yourself, isn’t it?”

His voice, gentler now, reasoned step by step in simple terms. When the final word “isn’t it?” fell, it indeed pulled Chen Shu back from dwelling on that hazy memory. She sniffed, gave a muffled “Mmhmm” in agreement, and was just pondering how to reply. Yet, perhaps precisely because his words were so clear and reasonable, before Chen Shu could get her explanation out, another voice cut in.

“If you wish to seek a sword, my sect could also be of help in asking around.” This voice was also smooth and gentle, sounding at first glance somewhat like Yun Shen’s, yet not entirely identical. A closer listen revealed the subtle threads of uncertainty woven into its gentleness—a hesitancy Yun Shen would never reveal in a thousand words. Yet, for this speaker, voicing this seemed to require immense courage. Halfway through, his voice dipped even lower. “If you’re worried about the upcoming matches… I could lend you one of my swords for the time being… a stopgap measure…”

The three turned to look. Indeed, Xuan Qin stood nearby. Most eavesdroppers pretended to watch the stage while secretly listening to idle chatter. Only this Xuan Qin stood solemnly, the pair of swords still tightly bound on his back. Hearing their discussion, he couldn’t help but interject. Since he had two swords, he truly could spare one for Chen Shu.

Moreover, his slender sword, even wrapped, had moved with effortless fluidity in his hands during the matches. Those few clashes, fierce as a gale, clearly revealed it as a superb weapon, one that indeed seemed rather suited to Chen Shu’s style.

Yet Chen Shu hesitated and declined, “…No need. If I were willing to use another sword, there’d have been no need for me to make the difficult journey down the mountain to find it.”

Her words were blunt, bordering on offensive. He Yu, listening beside her, broke into a cold sweat. While inwardly helpless, his face showed enthusiastic geniality as he smoothed things over. “That’s true! Thank you for your kindness, sir. Such fine swords—if they were to get nicked or scratched, it would truly be a shame. Therefore, borrowing a sword wouldn’t be prudent. However, Qin Xin Bluff is renowned for its understanding and mastery of swords. This quest of Little Shu’s, if aided by your esteemed sect, would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort.” As he spoke, he nudged Chen Shu, signaling her to properly recount the whole story of her loss.

He Yu was unaware of the inside details. Chen Shu glanced at Yun Shen, then at Xuan Qin, recalling the incident on the mountain path where she had been mocked as a madwoman. She weighed her words carefully before starting. “It’s like this… That day at my sect… I discovered the sword was missing… It might have… perhaps slipped from me the previous day during the mountain patrol, left somewhere on the paths… After that, I descended the mountain. I found the tassel in Zhanglin Village, which confirmed that it must have been picked up by a kind person… That person intended to participate in this Sword Discussion Tournament. I initially thought it was Brother He. Only cleared up today that it wasn’t.

“Your sect residence is in the mountains. Are there many outsiders coming and going?” Xuan Qin asked.

The sword had flown away in broad daylight. Chen Shu knew perfectly well it hadn’t been taken by anyone else, but she could only grit her teeth and answer, “No, none.”

“The elders in your sect… they never saw the sword?”

“No.”

“Was it a newly forged fine sword?”

“Yes… How did you know?”

“Hearing this line of questioning,” He Yu weighed in, pausing thoughtfully before adding impartially, “are you thinking the sword may have been stolen? And it certainly is possible—Little Shu’s blade is surely a fine sword.”

“No,” Xuan Qin said, his eyes fixed intently on Chen Shu. “Perhaps the sword possessed a naturally untamed spirit, unwilling to be bound… and so it wandered off, leaving home.”

He Yu: “…Ah?”