Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Mu Yunshu’s single utterance of “Zhao Fanhua” seemed to flip a switch, unlocking memories that had lain dormant in the old man’s mind for many years.

Phoenix Town was a town renowned for forging weapons. The blades crafted by its smiths could be called the natural enemies of demons and monsters. For that very reason, it had become the place every demon and monster in the world most wished to drown in blood. Yet because a swordsman surnamed Mu held the town, none of them dared invade.

The swordsman took in a parentless boy with extraordinary talent and taught him alongside his own daughter. The two children grew up together as childhood sweethearts, innocent and inseparable, and naturally developed the purest of feelings for each other.

The swordsman was pleased to see it. He arranged their betrothal and even specially commissioned the best craftsman in town to forge two fine swords for them: Qingshuang and Bai Xue, a pair that complemented each other perfectly.

But the youth had never seen the vast world beyond. His heart was unwilling to remain confined. Possessing such skill, he naturally wished to make a name for himself and become the greatest swordsman under heaven.

He made a promise to return in one year. After one year, he would come back to the town and marry the girl he loved. From then on, he would take over his master’s heavy responsibility and become the next guardian of Phoenix Town.

A year was not long, but he did get to witness the splendor of the mortal world. Yet compared to all that worldly brilliance, the girl waiting in that town for his return was what weighed most heavily on his heart.

Only then did he understand: so what if the world was vast? So what if it was filled with splendor? The only place that could make him feel he belonged was wherever that girl was.

And so, he wished to ride back to Phoenix Town as fast as he could and marry the girl he loved.

But no one had expected demons and monsters to suddenly invade human towns on such a massive scale. Along the way, he saved many people. In the end, while rescuing a young woman, he was gravely wounded.

He thought he would not survive. His vision blurred as he struggled to say to the young woman, “Please do one thing for me… Go to Phoenix Town and tell a girl named Mu Yunshu… that if there is a next life, I will never again fail our promise to grow old together.”

“All right, I promise you. Don’t die…” The young woman he had risked his life to save clutched his hand, sobbing so hard she could barely speak. “Hero, please don’t die!”

At the time, no one could have imagined that this young woman, who did not even know the young swordsman’s name, had fallen in love with him at first sight.

At the time, no one could have imagined that he would survive, only to lose his memories.

On the verge of “death,” the only name he had mentioned was Mu Yunshu. Surely that girl must have held great significance to him.

If he had not lost his memories, a young woman named Song Zhenzhu would never have had the slightest chance.

When Song Zhenzhu watched the dazed young man open his eyes, a secret joy surged within her with overwhelming force.

This had to be a chance granted to her by the heavens.

She was warm and sunny, born beautiful, and came from a good family. No one could possibly dislike her.

In the days that followed, she set aside the airs of a wealthy young lady. She took care of his food and daily needs, accompanied him as he subdued demons and eliminated monsters, and endured countless hardships with him. Then, one day, he finally said to her:

“Song Zhenzhu, I want to marry you.”

See? He had lost that stretch of memory. For everyone, this outcome was the best one.

But now, from the change in Zhao Fanhua’s eyes, Song Zhenzhu could tell that he had remembered everything from the past.

Song Zhenzhu did not dare look and see what kind of hateful gaze Zhao Fanhua would use on her. At last, she cast aside the last shred of her pride and cried hysterically, “Mu Yunshu, why did you have to appear? If you had never appeared, all of us could have lived peaceful lives! Why did you have to shatter everything beautiful?”
Song Zhenzhu snapped, furious, “You should have died forty years ago! Why did you have to come back after forty years?”

Zhao Fanhua’s expression went blank. “What do you mean, she should have died forty years ago?”

Song Zhenzhu’s voice cut off abruptly. She turned her face away, her lips pressed tightly together.

Mu Yunshu, however, smiled with elegant composure. “You didn’t know? Forty years ago, she tricked me into believing you were in danger. I hurried to the place she pointed me toward, and what waited for me there were the Demon Hunter members of the Song family. They used hundreds upon thousands of Talisman to trap me in this sunless place, as if I were some kind of monster.”

“It really is dreadfully dull here.” Mu Yunshu stepped down from the stone platform and slowly approached the aged man who had long since lost the spirited pride of his youth. With an unhurried smile, she said, “There is no sound of wind here, no sound of rain. There isn’t even a mosquito. Every moment, I felt as though I might already be dead. And you, Zhao Fanhua…”

Mu Yunshu drew close to the white-haired old man. She raised a fair hand, her fingertip lightly brushing the wrinkles at the corner of his eye, and spoke as if with lingering tenderness. “Outside, you had a beautiful wife in your arms and children and grandchildren around your knees. You were a renowned hero, basking in endless glory. But who would remember that there was still a Mu Yunshu guarding a shattered homeland, trying to bring back the one who had lost his way?”

“I… I didn’t know…” Zhao Fanhua seemed to age more than ten years in an instant. Even his back could no longer stay straight. In agony, he said, “I didn’t know something had happened to Phoenix Town.”

He had even forgotten the person he loved most in his youth. Naturally, he had forgotten his hometown as well.

Mu Yunshu smiled. “Speaking of which, the destruction of Phoenix Town had something to do with your wife too.”

Zhao Fanhua’s expression froze.

“That day, many people from the Song family came to town. I still remember that the man leading them was the Zhao family steward of today. They were arrogant and overbearing as they warned my father that no one in Phoenix Town was allowed to look for you. They also brought a chest of gold, silver, and jewels, saying they were thanking my father on your behalf for raising you all those years. Only, since you were going off to live a good life, poor relatives like us naturally shouldn’t have anything to do with you anymore.”

Her father had guarded the town for many years, and old illnesses had long plagued him. Back then, he could not believe that the person he had raised from childhood as his own son would become someone so faithless. Rage and grief struck his heart, and he fell gravely ill, never to rise again.

At that time, Mu Yunshu had just returned from gathering herbs in the mountains. What she saw was the retreating backs of the Song family as they swaggered away. She ran over to support her father, who was on the verge of collapse, but there was no time to recover. The demons that had been eyeing Phoenix Town had already moved at the first hint of weakness.

If Qingshuang and Bai Xue had both been there, dealing with those demons would have been no trouble.

But that day, there was only one Bai Xue Sword in town.

Her father died in battle. She had no time to grieve. Alone with a single sword, she slaughtered every demon, but still failed to save the people of the town.

That day, dragging her heavily wounded body, she left one final streak of sword energy upon the Boundary Stele, preventing the vengeful ghosts and wronged souls within the town from leaving to do evil.

Then, she came to Fangcun City.

“I wanted to find you and ask what exactly you had been thinking. Why did all the vows you made in the past no longer count? Later, I thought it didn’t matter if there was no answer. As long as you were willing to return to Phoenix Town with me once and help me disperse the town’s resentment so everyone could pass on, that would be enough. As for whatever happy, perfect life you wanted to live, it had nothing to do with me anymore.”

“But why?”

“Why did your wife insist on trapping me in this dark underground cavern, letting me slowly lose all awareness and turn into dry bones?”

Mu Yunshu gave a faint smile. “So, Zhao Fanhua, tell me-how could I not hate you?”