Chapter 47 If We Meet to Lose
[At the age of ten, you slowly came out of the pain of losing your loved ones through practicing sword skills day after day. Fu Xuan was worried that Jingtian, that wooden-headed man, could not comfort you, so he broke the oath he had made at the beginning.]
[Jingtian tells you that Fu Xuan once swore never to return to Yuque, just to prove to him that fate is not the only path, and there must be something that can transcend the so-called fate]
[Fu Xuan always comes to Yuque from Luofu in the warm spring when peach blossoms are in full bloom. Your affection for this senior sister has increased, and you regard her as your real sister.]
"We, the Cloud Riders, are like clouds blocking the sky—"
"Guard the Immortal Boat!"
An Ming looked up at Yao Guang in the sky. Standing in front of the Yunqi Army, he was a real general who would devote his everything to the Immortal Boat.
Since becoming a Yunqi, An Ming has joined the daily training of the Yunqi army. For him, these basic exercises are not even one-tenth of the intensity of his daily sparring with Yao Guang.
The slight opinions that people had originally had about the existence of short-lived species gradually disappeared under An Ming's strength.
No matter when or where, the strong are always respected.
"Morning, Anming."
The girl with long light blue hair looked very heroic. She came to An Ming holding a standard fine steel sword and said, "Please teach me."
Most of the Yunqi people are immortals, but Aini and he are both from the minority of short-lived species. They all stayed in Yuque for various reasons, so they can still chat. "I will do my best."
An Ming carefully placed the wooden sword into a specially made scabbard. Over the years, he no longer needed to use the wooden sword for practice and instead used a heavier iron sword.
But this wooden sword is his original sword heart, and he will never let it go wherever he goes.
Annie laughed dryly a few times and hurriedly pushed his hand away to refuse, "No, no, no, just 30% of your strength will be enough. Everyone here knows what you are capable of."
But the moment An Ming grasped the scabbard, clearly nothing had changed, but the handsome boy in his field of vision seemed to be instantly covered by a sword aura that soared straight into the sky, as sharp as the first ray of light at dawn.
Holding the sword does not require too much thinking.
Before I could think, my body had already started moving.
Hold the sword and cut. It's that simple.
The sword shadow of Dawn slashed through the air in front of Annie's neck hundreds of times in an instant, and the terrifying sword aura left countless messy sword marks on the girl's armor.
"Concession."
An Ming bowed slightly. Annie didn't even see him put away his sword, nor could she put up even a decent resistance.
After letting go of the sword, An Ming became the elegant and polite boy he used to be. In the past year since he lost his loved ones, he seemed like a different person.
Growing up takes decades, but sometimes it only takes a moment.
"You are so amazing," a pink figure came over with a bottle of water, bringing a pleasant scent of peach blossoms.
"Sister Xuan'er..."
An Ming showed a smile that Annie had never seen before. It was an expression that only appeared when one truly wanted to see someone.
Fu Xuan knocked his head in annoyance, "How many times have I told you to call me Senior Sister when you are outside."
"Sister."
"Hmm~"
Fu Xuan nodded in satisfaction, then nodded slightly to Aini, "Thank you for taking care of my brother."
"No..." Annie wanted to say that with An Ming's strength, it was hard to say who would take care of whom, but Fu Xuan had already left the training ground holding An Ming's hand.
Looking at the backs of the two people, one tall and one short, I feel an inexplicable sense of harmony, like a beautiful painting.
It's just that one of them can no longer be integrated into the others.
"Junior brother, even I can't understand your sword skills," Fu Xuan's eyes were filled with joy. He was sincerely happy for An Ming when he saw his growth.
"It's still a long way from Sister Xuan'er."
"Ok?"
Fu Xuan's lips curled up into a smile, "Who is it that always says 'all fortune tellers are women'?"
An Ming blinked guiltily, "Yes, yes...it's not me anyway!"
That was due to being young and frivolous. If he were given the chance to do it again, he would definitely not say such disrespectful words again.
"The fortune tellers are all lovely girls like Sister Fu Xuan."
"Your little mouth is quite sweet."
Fu Xuan's white index finger tapped An Ming's forehead, "Have you seen Master?"
"I haven't seen Master many times in the past year. He seems so mysterious. Perhaps he is still in the Ten Directions Light Reflecting Dharma Realm," An Ming saw the candied haws on the roadside, and after carefully counting his wallet, he bought two smooth hawthorn candied haws.
An Ming handed the candied haws to Fu Xuan, and his clear eyes made it impossible to say no.
Fu Xuan took the candied haws, opened his cherry lips slightly, and bit off a small piece of hawthorn coated with sugar.
The sweet feeling is like the taste of happiness, followed by a slight bitterness until it completely dissipates along with the sweetness.
"Recently, the Buli people have shown signs of being active again near Fanghu and Luofu," Fu Xuan hesitated whether to tell An Ming, but his junior brother, as a Cloud Rider, would have to face a real war one day.
The day will come when the sword will be unsheathed.
No matter why it is unsheathed, the sharp edge that pierces through heaven and earth will eventually be shown to the world.
Fu Xuan could proudly tell others that his junior fellow apprentice was a true swordsmanship genius, and he was delighted from the bottom of his heart that An Ming had made it this far.
Such a sword...
Maybe, just maybe, I can break free from that cruel fate.
If it were An Ming, he might be able to create a non-existent second path from the only path of destiny.
"A prosperous people..." An Ming ate most of the candied haws in one gulp and said thoughtfully, "Master must have been fortune-telling for this matter recently."
"I can only see a vague future. Perhaps with the help of the light of the ten directions reflecting the Dharma Realm, I can see some hexagrams."
Worry and fear flashed in Fu Xuan's eyes. The fate of killing her master with her own hands was like a shackle that constantly blocked her way forward. That fate would eventually come one day.
And she...was unwilling to accept that fate.
If the initial purpose of meeting each other is to lose each other in the future, then what is the reason to endure this painful fate?
"Sister, Master's divination is still very reliable," An Ming always felt that Jingtian was the most powerful fortune teller he had ever seen. He thought that only such a person was qualified to peek into the will of heaven and a glimpse of the future destiny.
Fu Xuan sighed softly. That was why she was afraid to face the inevitable fate. As the chief fortune teller of Yuque, Jingtian's divinations had never been wrong.
That is a reality that is bound to happen. No matter how you try to escape, you cannot escape the watchful eye of fate.
Fu Xuan thought of the last divination he performed on An Ming. All he could see was the complex connection between her and him, but he could not see the future shrouded in fog.
An Ming...what does it mean to her?
If I were just a junior apprentice, would there be such a complicated future?