Clang—
The crisp collision of blades tore Jiang Huaichao from his memories.
The night mist over Sunset Village suddenly churned.
In the courtyard, two flashes of swordlight had already collided.
Shui Hua’s grip on the sword was unsteady. She had only just begun learning the sword and did not even know how to channel her strength properly. All she could do was rely on her stubborn refusal to yield and hold the blade horizontally in front of her.
But the person standing before her was Tantai Jingyue.
The instant the two swords met, Old Jiang’s pupils contracted.
“Huahua!”
Tantai Jingyue had not truly meant to kill her. She had not even used much force.
Even so, Shui Hua was completely unable to withstand it.
The moment that pale, moonlike sword intent descended, Shui Hua felt her wrist go numb. The force was like a cold tide surging along the blade, numbing half her arm with its shock.
Before she could react, she was sent flying backward.
The sword nearly slipped from her hand.
Shui Hua’s eyes widened.
Only then did she realize how ridiculous her earlier challenge—“If you want to take it, come and try”—had been.
Yet at the instant Shui Hua was sent flying, Tantai Jingyue suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.
It came without warning.
The hand holding her sword paused almost imperceptibly.
She did not understand.
Why did seeing Shui Hua injured make her hurt?
Old Jiang moved almost the instant Shui Hua was thrown backward.
His hunched figure suddenly shot forward, moving far too quickly for an old fisherman.
He caught Shui Hua in midair.
She crashed into his arms, her face pale and her wrist still trembling.
But she gritted her teeth and did not cry. She merely clutched the sword tightly.
“Old Jiang…”
Her voice shook.
“I didn’t steal anything from her.”
The words cut into Old Jiang’s heart like a knife.
He carried Shui Hua to the ground and said softly, “I know.”
“I know.”
He shielded Shui Hua behind him. Then he raised his head and looked at Tantai Jingyue, the cloudiness in his eyes completely gone.
He stared at her, his voice hoarse.
“Yueyue.”
“You really intend to raise your sword against her?”
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes shifted slightly.
That name, “Yueyue,” was so unfamiliar.
And for some reason, it grated on her.
She said coldly, “Don’t call me that.”
Old Jiang acted as though he had not heard her.
“She is your younger sister.”
Tantai Jingyue’s grip on her sword tightened abruptly.
“Shut up.”
Old Jiang stared at her.
“Do you still remember? You left back then to protect her.”
A flicker of confusion finally appeared in Tantai Jingyue’s eyes.
It lasted only an instant.
Very soon, the coldness pressed down over it once more.
“I have no younger sister.”
“I grew up in the Divine Palace.”
“You’re saying all this only to disrupt my state of mind.”
The pain in Old Jiang’s eyes deepened.
He opened his mouth, as though he still wanted to say something.
But Tantai Jingyue no longer wished to listen.
She knew Jiang Huaichao had concealed many things.
She also knew Zhu Changli had concealed just as much.
But she could not retreat now.
The Sea-Calming Rite was fast approaching.
The Sea Eye had already begun to stir.
Her divine nature was incomplete.
And there truly was an aura of divine nature originating from the same source as hers within Shui Hua.
Those resonances were not false.
Nor was the inexplicable pain in her chest.
Tantai Jingyue raised her sword, her voice cold and clear.
“I don’t know whether what you say is true.”
“But I must take what is inside her.”
Old Jiang’s voice darkened.
“How do you intend to take it?”
Tantai Jingyue fell silent for a moment.
She did not answer.
Because she did not know the answer either.
But she knew that she had to become whole.
It was the responsibility of the Divine Maiden.
It was also the fate imposed upon her by the Sea Eye.
Seeing her like this, the sorrow in Old Jiang’s eyes deepened.
“Fine.”
“Then step over me first.”
The instant his words fell, the old oil lamp in the courtyard suddenly flared.
The dim yellow flame transformed into a pale blue light.
Ripples spread out from beneath the lamp, swiftly covering the entire courtyard.
The old well trembled.
Beyond the village, the tide line stirred faintly.
In the waterlight, fine runes emerged across the old tobacco pipe in Old Jiang’s hand.
It was no longer an ordinary pipe.
It was an ancient sea-command artifact he had hidden for many years.
Zhu Changli’s expression changed.
“Jiang Huaichao!”
Old Jiang did not look at him.
He took one step forward, and water ripples surged beneath his feet like a tide.
“Huahua was entrusted to me by my daughter before she died.”
“So was Yueyue.”
“I’ve already lost one of them.”
His voice was low, yet every word seemed ground out from his bones.
“Today, no one will take a second one from before my eyes.”
Tantai Jingyue struck with her sword.
Old Jiang swung his staff.
Pale moonlight and faint blue waves collided with a thunderous crash.
The sea mist filling the courtyard was torn apart in an instant.
Tantai Jingyue’s sword intent was cold, pure, and razor-sharp, like moonlight sinking into the depths of the sea. Wherever it passed, the countless tides fell still.
Old Jiang’s technique, however, was far more seasoned.
He had once patrolled the waterways along Cangzhou’s borders and suppressed countless disturbances caused by sea beasts.
Though he was old now and his old wounds had yet to heal, he was drawing upon the advantage of the terrain.
He was drawing upon the sea he had guarded for so many years.
Water ripples flowed along the courtyard’s stone slabs like countless tiny tidal veins.
Whenever Tantai Jingyue’s swordlight descended, layers of ripples rose to disperse its edge into the ground, then redirect it toward the tide beyond the village.
For a short while, he truly managed to hold Tantai Jingyue back.
Standing behind him, Shui Hua watched the two of them fight with a pale face.
She had never seen Old Jiang like this.
The old man who normally rowed boats, sold fish, smacked her palm, and scolded her for talking too much was not an ordinary old fisherman after all.
Shui Hua tightened her grip on the sword, her heart aching and confused.
She wanted to go forward.
But the moment she moved her foot, Old Jiang roared angrily, “Don’t come over here and get in the way!”
Shui Hua’s eyes reddened.
At a time like this, he was still scolding her for being a burden.
Yet in the end, she did not move forward again.
Because she knew she truly could not help.
She could not even withstand a casual sword strike from Tantai Jingyue.
If she went over, she would only distract Old Jiang.
As the battle continued, Tantai Jingyue grew increasingly silent.
Her sword grew faster and faster.
Yet every time her swordlight descended, the corner of her eye would involuntarily sweep toward Shui Hua.
Shui Hua stood not far away, her eyes rimmed red as she stubbornly held back her tears.
That face was far too familiar.
So was that stubborn, aggrieved look in her eyes.
Deep within Tantai Jingyue’s sea of consciousness, some kind of seal trembled faintly.
One fragmentary image after another surfaced at the edge of her mind, only to be forced back down by an invisible power.
She could not allow herself to be distracted.
She could not let these falsehoods sway her.
Yet she could not remain completely calm.
Old Jiang seized that instant.
He swept out with the Tide-Calming Staff, and the water ripples transformed into a tidal lock that coiled toward Tantai Jingyue’s sword-bearing wrist.
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes turned icy.
“Get out of my way!”
Her swordlight suddenly surged.
Pale moonlight descended like a tide, forcibly tearing apart the water ripples Old Jiang had summoned.
Boom!
Old Jiang let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from the corner of his lips.
He was old, after all.
The wounds he had suffered years ago had never healed.
And over the years, he had spent most of his energy concealing Shui Hua’s aura.
He could hold out for a while, but not for long.
Zhu Changli took half a step forward, as though he meant to stop them.
But just as he raised his hand, it froze in midair.
All of this had been pushed to this point by him in the first place.
Tantai Jingyue’s strike had not been aimed at Shui Hua.
She had only wanted to force Old Jiang back.
But Old Jiang had insisted on taking the blow head-on. The ancient sea-command staff and the pale moonlit swordlight collided, and the old lamp in the courtyard finally reached its limit and shattered with a thunderous crack.
The flame exploded.
The pale blue water ripples instantly spiraled out of control.
The moon-white sword intent spread with it.
The two forces collided in the small courtyard, transforming into a terrifying shock wave.
Old Jiang’s expression changed drastically.
His first instinct was to turn back and shield Shui Hua.
But the impact had already sent his qi and blood roiling, and his movements were a fraction too slow.
Shui Hua heard a thunderous roar beside her ears.
She saw Old Jiang turn and reach toward her.
But it was already too late.
The shock wave came crashing in.
Shui Hua’s entire body was flung backward.
She smashed through the courtyard gate, sailed over the damp stone steps, and tumbled toward the shore beyond the village.
“Huahua!”
Old Jiang cried out hoarsely.
Tantai Jingyue also instinctively took a step forward.
Even she herself did not realize that she had wanted to reach out and catch Shui Hua.
Shui Hua’s eyes widened in midair.
The sword in her arms slipped free, but at the very last moment, she clung to it with all her strength.
The sea wind was icy.
The sound of the waves suddenly grew louder.
The next moment—
she plunged into the freezing seawater beyond the village.
The surface of the sea exploded with a thunderous splash.
The moon’s reflection shattered.
