Hwalun stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.
In the wind, cherry blossoms danced, and Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.
As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.
Lian's mouth opened wide and then slowly closed.
Everyone in the martial world knew that the Mahachien Sect was not a place that warmly nurtured its disciples.
'They say it's a place where the sect leader candidates compete, and only the survivors are used.'
Now, they bring in children of the same age and train them so harshly, and I've heard they even practice the Suction Star Great Technique, which absorbs the internal energy of others.
Whether one becomes the giver or the receiver of internal energy is decided by heaven.
'No, how can those who worship the Nine Heavens Mystic Lady be so cruel?'
But even aside from that, the headquarters of the Mahachien Sect is ten thousand miles away, beyond Qinghai Province, in a place with a harsh climate. It's at the opposite end of the country from Zhejiang Province in the east.
How did Hwalun get from Hangzhou to there?
Did the Mahachien Sect recognize his talent and kidnap him? Even if that were the case, a ten-thousand-mile journey from here to the Tianshan Mountains couldn't have been comfortable.
"That's..."
If Hwalun were inside the family estate, he wouldn't have been kidnapped.
And if he wasn't kidnapped, then this child must have willingly entrusted himself to the Mahachien Sect.
If he had no other place to rely on in the world and walked that ten-thousand-mile journey...
It's only natural to want to prevent such a thing from happening.
It would be better if such a small, frail child didn't have to make such a difficult and heart-wrenching journey to the north.
Isn't it only natural for a person to think that way?
It wasn't that she wanted to save everyone in the world, nor did she think this was salvation.
She didn't have any special feelings for the former Mahachien Sect's young leader from her past life.
But with a child right in front of her, if there was a way for him not to have to travel ten thousand miles, wouldn't it be natural to want to tell him?
'Even if this child used to win everything there, now that his poison has largely subsided, who knows what will happen.'
Hwalun is already saying things like, "Is it really necessary to practice swordsmanship to the point of death? It's better to keep a distance from such things."
"Just... I get bored learning alone... so..."
"..."
"Hwalun, do you really not want to learn characters? Huh?"
Learning characters would make things easier for him in the future, no matter what he does.
What to do with this child, Lian sighed inwardly and looked at him intently.
The boy, who had been staring at her, took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and shrugged.
"...Alright, I'll learn."
"Really?"
Hwalun nodded silently. Lian smiled broadly and offered him the remaining rice ball.
* * *
But she didn't expect it to turn out like this. Lian looked bewildered at the wet nurse Zhang, her mother Weizhicheng, and the two boys in front of her.
"Uh, uh, Mother..."
Both were children she knew well. One was her younger brother, Danmubie, who was just five years old but already busy with his wooden sword. The other was...
"His name is Hwalun, right? It's a good name. Since he's about the same age as Bie, I thought it would be good for them to learn and grow together, so I invited him into the family."
Hwalun, who had washed up and changed into a clean white martial robe, now looked like a precious young master of a noble family, his features clearly defined.
Lian looked at her mother Weizhicheng, unsure of what to do.
She didn't think the family would be unaware of her meeting and playing with the worker boy in front of the chicken coop, but she never imagined Weizhicheng would bring such a boy into the family.
What she didn't expect was that the boy would readily agree.
'After all that fuss about learning or not learning characters...'
Lian's face turned pale, and Hwalun smiled and bowed.
"That's how it is, young master. Please take care of me."
"Young master! Please take care of me!"
Her younger brother Danmubie stood beside him and mimicked Hwalun's actions.
Weizhicheng didn't scold her son for imitating a servant's manners; she just smiled fondly.
"Bie, you should call him 'sister.'"
"Sister! Sister!"
Danmubie smiled brightly, called her, and ran over to cling to Lian's leg.
Concerns: Today's snack with sister / Zhengying's walking style
'He's my brother, but he seems so real.'
Lian, surprised, stroked Bie's head. His talent was on par with Danmuchen. Moreover, his concerns were impressive.
'If he's talking about Zhengying's walking style, it must be about his footwork.'
Zhengying was the warrior guarding the wall of Lian's residence. Lian had noticed that he practiced tirelessly, even when walking.
It seemed that this had caught Danmubie's eye.
'If he grows up well, he might become someone like the best in the world.'
She should have checked that future, but she didn't see it.
Because...
β No, no, no... Sister, no. Don't go, no! Sister, without you, without you, I...
β What's the point of living if I'm the only one left to continue the family with no one around?
β I didn't want to leave either. I wanted to stay and be with the family...
The old, blurry memories jumbled together.
The face of her younger brother, who clung to her hand and cried like a child, the face that became dry and sharp after her death, and the face shadowed by grief and depression, all appeared and then sank into a blur.
In the midst of this, Lian managed to regain her composure.
"Ah... No... Then Hwalun should also call me 'sister.'"
"Should he? That sounds good."
Since they were to grow up like siblings from a young age, no one would blame them for using a more casual form of address.
Weizhicheng smiled and gently pushed Hwalun's back. This time, Hwalun seemed a bit surprised but quickly regained his composure and smiled.
"...Sister Lian."
Lian could only nod, unable to cry or laugh.
* * *
"Try copying these characters."
"Yes!"
The one who answered confidently to the teacher sitting in front of them was Danmubie, while Lian and Hwalun quietly nodded and began to write.
Danmubie, who was still too young to have a firm grip, wrote somewhat crookedly but with great effort. Lian glanced at Hwalun, who had a hard-to-read expression but was writing neatly.
"All three of you did well. Jianhuojuque, Zhuchengyanguang. It means that among swords, the Juque sword is the most famous, and among pearls, the Yanguang pearl is the best. Do you know what the Yanguang pearl is?"
The teacher quietly explained the characters.
The three of them had a teacher, the head of the medicine hall of the Danmu family, a young man who was twenty-five this year.
With a face like a piece of jade, he would have been known by everyone in Hangzhou if he had gone out more often. However, since he had been busy with seclusion training since he was seventeen, almost no one outside the family knew his face.
The faint shadow in his eyes was the only hint of the inner demons that plagued him.
Twelve Swords of the Falling City: 7 stars (8 stars)
Single Heaven Sword: 5 stars
Infinite Treasure: 8 stars
Flowing Star True Technique: 5 stars
Talent and Insight: Upper-Middle (δΈ-δΈ)
Concerns: Responsibility and guilt for Danmilian's health, doubts about himself
Help: Sleeping soundly without worries, meeting various people is the best!
To have mastered the family's main sword technique to the 8th level before the age of thirty, even if he was only able to exert 7th-level power due to his inner demons, was still quite impressive.
'Is it right to use my uncle as a teacher? What if I cause his inner demons to resurface?'
Seven years ago, when Lian was just born.
An attack on the family occurred at a place in the Black Heaven Chain. It was a major incident that almost split the Martial World Alliance in two.
The incident erupted in the middle of the night when the moon had just risen. At the time, the seventeen-year-old Danmuxianwu, who already possessed genius-level skills, was tasked with protecting the family's heir and his first nephew, Lian, along with other swordsmen of the family.
He was confident he could do it, as his eldest brother, Danmuchen, had faced the Blood Demon Valley at a similar age.
Swords clashed, and cries filled the air. Lian, a newborn, was moved around and cried amidst the chaos...
But Lian wasn't seriously injured, and it was revealed that the attack was by remnants of the Blood Demon Valley, not the Black Heaven Chain, so it seemed to be over.
However, before a hundred days had passed, everyone realized that something was wrong with Lian.