Three days after the Grand Canon of the Myriad Forms of the Void ended, Yunmeng City was still as lively as ever.
But Shui Hua had already left Yunmeng City with Old Jiang.
The morning mist had yet to clear.
A small boat drifted slowly along the waterways outside Yunmeng City, passing beneath bridges and through water lanes that had not yet fully awakened, heading back toward Luoxia Village on the border of the Eastern Sea.
Shui Hua sat at the bow, clutching three treasures in her arms.
A sword.
A storage ring.
And a bracelet.
The sword had been given to her by Jiang Qingwan.
The storage ring had come from Jin Buhuan.
As for the bracelet, Su Qianqian had slipped it onto Shui Hua’s wrist before they parted. She said it contained a small protective formation that could at least block one attack if Shui Hua ever found herself in danger.
Shui Hua’s eyes had lit up at the time as though she had just laid eyes on a mountain of gold.
Then Jin Buhuan had smilingly added, “Don’t even think about selling it. It’s bonded to you.”
Shui Hua had immediately covered the bracelet and declared righteously, “Sister Jin, how could you think that of me? Do I look like the kind of person who would sell a life-saving gift from a benefactor?”
Jin Buhuan had merely given her a look.
Shui Hua had coughed guiltily.
“Of course… if it’s really valuable, I might be a little tempted.”
Now, the bracelet sat properly around her wrist.
The storage ring was worn on her index finger.
As for the sword, Shui Hua had been hugging it ever since she boarded the boat. Every so often, she would touch the hilt or inspect the scabbard, her eyes shining as though she had stumbled upon the greatest treasure in the world.
Her mouth had not stopped moving the entire journey.
“Old Jiang, you have no idea. When Sister Jiang stood upon the Mirror Sea, her whole body was glowing.”
“Not the ordinary kind of glowing, either. It was the kind that made you look at her and think, ‘Wow, this person must be incredibly powerful!’”
Old Jiang sat at the stern, punting the boat along.
The little craft cut through the morning mist with a faint whisper of water.
He had nearly developed calluses on his ears from listening to her and could only answer perfunctorily, “Mm.”
Shui Hua paid no attention to his indifference and continued animatedly.
“And Sister Su—she’s beautiful, kind, and gentle when she speaks.”
“She even took the time to teach me how to use the storage ring. She said she put some common medicines and food inside.”
“Old Jiang, don’t you think she’s much more considerate than you?”
Old Jiang replied lazily, “Then go live with her in the future.”
Shui Hua snorted.
“You think I don’t want to? She’s the Fairy of Tianyuan Sect, Xuanzhou.”
“Right now, I’m only Luoxia Village’s Number-One Fisher and Future Swordsmanship Champion of Cangzhou. There’s still a tiny little gap between our statuses.”
“Heh.” Old Jiang let out two cold laughs.
Shui Hua did not care in the slightest. She touched the storage ring on her finger again, her smile growing even brighter.
“Sister Jin is wonderful, too.”
“She doesn’t even blink when she gives things away. She looks exactly like someone rich.”
Old Jiang shot her a glance.
“You like her?”
“Of course.”
Shui Hua answered with perfect conviction.
“Who doesn’t like generous people?”
Old Jiang fell silent.
The little boat continued down the waterway, gradually leaving Yunmeng City’s bustling channels behind.
The houses along both banks grew sparser, replaced by vast stretches of reeds, shoals, and waters dyed pale gold by the morning light.
Shui Hua adjusted the storage ring, then tucked the bracelet deeper beneath her sleeve.
Finally, she picked up the sword and stood solemnly at the bow.
“Now it’s time for this young lady to practice her swordsmanship.”
Old Jiang’s punting motion paused.
“You’re going to practice with a sword at the bow?”
Shui Hua had already drawn herself up like Jiang Qingwan and raised a hand to grip the hilt.
“A sword cultivator must practice anywhere and anytime.”
“What would you know?”
With that, she drew the sword with a ringing clang.
The blade flashed faintly.
The water mist lingering at the bow was gently parted by its edge, revealing a clear stretch of water ahead.
Shui Hua’s eyes shone even brighter.
She waved the sword around twice without any real technique.
The first time, she nearly sliced her own sleeve.
The second time, she almost cleaved a shallow gash into the planks at the bow.
The third time, the sword’s momentum carried her forward, and she nearly pitched headfirst into the water.
Old Jiang reacted swiftly, using his punting pole to lightly block her and pull her back.
Shui Hua was not frightened in the least. If anything, she became even more excited.
“Old Jiang!”
“Do you know swordsmanship?”
“Teach me!”
Old Jiang’s movement paused slightly.
His gaze fell upon the sword.
Its blade was bright and clear. Though it was not a top-grade magical treasure, it was certainly no ordinary piece of iron.
In the hands of a girl from a fishing village, it looked conspicuously out of place.
After a moment of silence, Old Jiang said slowly, “I’m just an old fisherman. What would I know about swordsmanship?”
Shui Hua burst out laughing.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything.”
“Sister Jiang said I’m a prodigy of the sword!”
Old Jiang raised an eyebrow.
“She really said that?”
Shui Hua very naturally turned her gaze aside.
“That was more or less what she meant.”
Old Jiang snorted.
Shui Hua immediately bristled.
“Don’t you dare doubt me.”
“Once I master the sword, I’ll protect you in the future.”
Old Jiang did not laugh.
He lowered his head and continued punting. Deep within his wrinkles seemed to lie some old memory from a very long time ago.
Shui Hua did not notice his silence.
She continued waving the sword around wildly, adding her own sound effects as she went.
“Witness as this young lady splits the waves with one sword!”
“One sword to scare away sea beasts!”
“One sword to make everyone who bullied me kneel and beg for mercy!”
Old Jiang said blandly, “Be careful not to split the boat first.”
Shui Hua huffed.
“You’re getting more and more boring.”
Old Jiang replied slowly, “If this old man were as noisy as you, all the fish would have fled long ago.”
Hearing that, Shui Hua’s eyes shifted as an idea came to her.
She suddenly sheathed the sword, crouched down, and dipped one hand into the water.
“You said the fish would flee?”
“Then I’ll make them come back.”
Old Jiang’s expression changed slightly.
“Shui Hua!”
He had only just opened his mouth when fine ripples spread across the surface.
Beneath the water, which had been calm moments before, several fish silhouettes suddenly darted toward them.
At first, there were only a few.
Soon, there were dozens.
Then the entire waterway seemed to have been stirred by something.
Countless fish surged toward the little boat, one after another, as though Shui Hua’s hand in the water possessed an irresistible attraction.
Splash!
The first fish leaped into the boat.
Then came a second, and a third.
In the blink of an eye, the little boat was filled with lively, flopping fish.
Their tails slapped against the planks with a steady barrage of smacks, splashing Shui Hua’s face with water.
She merely threw back her head and laughed.
“See?”
“I told you the fish like me!”
Old Jiang did not laugh.
He immediately raised his head and looked around.
The waterway was empty.
The morning mist had yet to disperse.
There was no second boat nearby, and no outsiders had witnessed this bizarre scene.
After making certain of that, Old Jiang’s expression darkened.
The next moment, he snatched up the punting pole and brought it down on Shui Hua without a word.
“Foolish girl!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to do this out in the open?”
Shui Hua yelped as the pole struck her. Hugging the sword, she scrambled around the bow.
“You rotten old man!”
“Why are you hitting me?”
Old Jiang smacked her with the pole again.
“I told you not to act recklessly!”
“I told you not to summon fish!”
Shui Hua stamped her feet in anger.
“What’s wrong with summoning fish? Don’t you say every day that you’ll starve if you can’t catch any?”
“I’m helping you!”
“Helping me?” Old Jiang said coldly.
“If you kept summoning them a little longer, it wouldn’t be just fish that came.”
Shui Hua froze.
Before she could figure out what he meant, Old Jiang’s punting pole came down again.
She hurriedly hugged her sword and dodged to the side.
“If you hit me again, I’m fighting back!”
“I have a sword now, you know!”
Old Jiang was so angry that he rapped her with the pole again.
“I’ll teach you to use that sword!”
“I’ll teach you to use that sword!”
Shui Hua dodged from side to side, shouting all the while.
“You’re just jealous!”
“You’re jealous of my extraordinary talent!”
“Stop hitting me! I’m really going to fight back!”
The little boat rocked gently on the water.
Fish flopped wildly inside it.
Shui Hua yelled at the bow.
Old Jiang chased her with the pole at the stern.
Anyone passing by at that moment would probably have thought that the old man and the girl were merely fooling around as usual.
……
By the time the sun had begun to sink in the west, the little boat finally neared Luoxia Village.
In the distance were the familiar shallows, fishing nets, reefs, and the half-withered, half-thriving old tide tree at the village entrance.
The tide slowly spilled over the stone beach, while the evening glow spread across the sea, dyeing the entire stretch of shallow water a gentle orange-red.
Luoxia Village was as quiet as ever.
When the villagers saw Shui Hua return, they greeted her with smiles.
“Huahua’s back?”
“How was Cloud Dream City? Was it fun?”
Shui Hua usually loved chatting with everyone about such things.
But today, she was still angry with Old Jiang. Hugging her sword, she lifted her chin and deliberately refused to look at the old man at the stern.
“I’m angry.”
“I’m not talking to you today.”
“I’m going home to sleep.”
Old Jiang tied up the little boat, then dumped the fish from it into a wooden tub one by one. He said indifferently,
“Good. That means you’ll be quiet for a while.”
Shui Hua stamped her foot in anger.
“Old Jiang!”
Old Jiang slung the fish basket over his back and headed home.
Hugging her sword, Shui Hua followed behind him with her cheeks puffed out.
Once they got home, she placed the sword beside her bed and deliberately slammed the door shut.
She had only meant to lie down for a little while.
But after spending the entire day traveling by water and making a racket on the boat, Shui Hua soon drifted into a hazy sleep.
It was far from a peaceful sleep.
She had a very strange dream.
There was no Luoxia Village in the dream.
Nor was there Cloud Dream City.
There was only an immense expanse of water.
Two moons were reflected on its surface.
From somewhere in the distance came the muffled sound of sobbing.
Following the sound, Shui Hua saw two little girls clinging to each other.
They were both very young.
Their clothes were damp with mist, and their hair clung to their cheeks, obscuring their faces.
One of them was crying terribly, gripping the other girl’s hand with all her strength, as though the moment she let go, the other would never return.
The other little girl was crying too, but she did not struggle.
She simply held the girl in her arms and repeated the same words again and again.
Shui Hua could not make them out.
The mist was too thick.
The sound of the water was too loud.
A sudden heaviness filled Shui Hua’s chest.
In the next moment, the water suddenly surged with the rising tide.
Mist rolled in from every direction, swallowing the figures of the two little girls bit by bit.
The girl who had been crying desperately was still reaching out with all her strength.
But the other was dragged toward the deeper water by the tide.
Without thinking, Shui Hua rushed forward.
“No—”
“Don’t go!”
She woke with a start.
The room was shrouded in darkness.
It was already night outside the window.
Shui Hua sat up in bed, gasping for breath.
Her chest ached with tightness, and somehow her face was wet.
She remained dazed for a long while before realizing that it had only been a dream.
Yet the sight of the two little girls clinging to each other and weeping refused to fade.
The sorrow in it had not felt like a dream.
Shui Hua rubbed her chest and muttered softly,
“How strange.”
“Why would I dream of something like that?”
The room felt oppressively stuffy.
She threw off the covers and got out of bed, wanting to open the window and let in some air.
The moment she pushed it open, the night wind swept in, carrying sea mist with it.
Shui Hua shivered.
The courtyard was very quiet.
At a glance, Shui Hua saw Old Jiang standing there.
His back was to her. He held neither his smoking pipe nor his fish basket.
He simply stood there, like a silent old reef.
Shui Hua froze.
“Hm?”
“Old Jiang, what are you doing here?”
Old Jiang did not turn around. His voice was low.
“Go back inside.”
For some inexplicable reason, Shui Hua’s heart tightened.
She was just about to ask what was wrong when she suddenly noticed that dense fog had appeared outside the courtyard gate.
It was extraordinarily thick.
Much thicker than any foggy night Luoxia Village had ever seen.
It slowly seeped through the cracks in the gate, like a layer of tidewater flowing along the ground.
Old Jiang raised his head and looked toward the gate.
His back was still stooped.
Yet in that moment, Shui Hua felt that he was completely different from the old man who had chased her around the boat with a pole earlier that day.
The fog beyond the courtyard soundlessly parted.
A gentle yet commanding voice drifted out from within it.
“It’s been a long time.”
“I never expected to run into you here.”
Shui Hua held her breath.
Within the fog, a dark-blue figure seemed to stand in silence.
