The blacksmith in the shop was so startled by Liu Yao’s voice that his sturdy frame shuddered.
After taking a moment to recover, he put down his hammer, wiped his dirty hands on his apron, and spoke in a thick, dialect-inflected Mandarin with a nonchalant attitude.
“Little girl, are you for real? This is a blacksmith shop, you know?”
The blacksmith leaned over and tapped on the table in front of Liu Yao, his eyes fixed on the girl who still looked shocked.
“I have no use for the sword you sold to me. If I don’t melt it down to forge other things, how am I supposed to make money?”
“What? Isn’t your timing a bit too fast? I only sold it to you yesterday!” Liu Yao slapped the table, her voice frantic.
“So what? Money was exchanged for goods. Either way, I’ve already melted it, and you’ve already taken the money. What do you want from me?”
The blacksmith’s “dead pig unafraid of boiling water” attitude made Liu Yao’s teeth itch with hatred, but she had no other choice. After all, she was the one asking for a favor.
“I don’t care about what happened to the sword. I want to ask you, when you took that sword, did you see the little thing on the hilt?”
Hearing Liu Yao’s words, the blacksmith paused, then put on a thoughtful expression.
“…… No, it was just a bare sword when you sold it to me,” the blacksmith said, shaking his head.
“Impossible! There should have been a sword tassel hanging from the hilt the whole time!” Hearing the blacksmith’s words, Liu Yao’s tone became noticeably anxious. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you?”
“Who — who’s lying to you? Besides, little girl, it’s clearly your own fault for not taking care of your things and losing them. How can you blame others?”
The blacksmith took a step back, frightened by Liu Yao’s agitated state, his voice trembling slightly.
Seeing the shivering blacksmith, Liu Yao, who had been quite aggressive, couldn’t help but relax her tense shoulders. A sense of helplessness washed over her.
‘What should I do? I lost the sword tassel…’
‘This was a memento from my junior sister…’
The blacksmith looked at the dazed girl, his lips twitching into a forced smile as he said, “Heroine, how about I go back and take another look? You see, it’s getting late. There’s no point in us arguing about this now, right? Maybe I’ll find it tomorrow.”
Liu Yao, standing before the table, didn’t say a word. She just nodded blankly before turning and walking away.
Watching the girl’s receding back, the blacksmith couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.
‘Find it tomorrow my foot. How can I possibly find something I never saw in the first place?’ the blacksmith grumbled to himself, swallowing hard.
‘Forget it. I’d better head out tomorrow. It’ll be a hassle if this girl comes back to cause trouble again.’
The blacksmith’s shoulders shuddered as he packed his things, whispering to himself as he looked in the direction where the girl had disappeared.
***
The night was quiet. Only Liu Yao’s lonely figure remained, gradually moving further away until she vanished into the dim night lights.
The long street was empty, and only the *tap-tap* of the girl’s footsteps could be heard.
“Where on earth did I lose the sword tassel…” Liu Yao muttered.
‘I clearly remember tying the sword tassel to the hilt. How could it be gone?’
‘If it’s really lost, my junior sister would be so heartbroken if she knew…’
Thinking of this, Liu Yao began to feel a bit dejected.
Four years ago, Liu Yao had gone out to travel the world behind the backs of her sect elders.
Although she had never returned, she occasionally exchanged letters with her peers and friends in the sect. She didn’t have any thoughts of going back and had simply been wandering around.
But just a few months ago, Liu Yao received a letter from a disciple of another sect.
The contents were mostly accusations against the rebellion of the sect’s Second Senior Brother, An Shanmu, and a list of disciples who were killed or injured during the sect incident.
On that list, the name of the junior sister she was closest to was written in bold.
When Liu Yao saw that name, she first felt sorrow, then a surge of rage filled her heart.
She knew very well that her current strength was not enough to defeat An Shanmu.
So, for the sake of revenge, after preparing for a very long time, Liu Yao chose to assassinate him when his guards weren’t around.
But now, the assassination was only half-successful, and she had even turned into this female form. Liu Yao felt she truly had no face to return to the sect.
“No! I must find that sword tassel!”
Liu Yao stopped in her tracks, her previous dejection swept away as she cheered herself on.
“My luck has always been good. Maybe I’ll find my sword tassel right around the corner. Haha…”
Liu Yao paused for a moment, then began walking with a cheerful pace.
Despite saying that, she knew very well that she was only forcing a smile. She knew how difficult it was to find something lost, yet she still chose to encourage herself.
‘If my junior sister’s spirit is watching from heaven, she wouldn’t want to see her senior brother looking so dejected, right?’
‘So, I must pull myself together and work hard to find the sword tassel.’
‘It’s decided! Once I find the sword tassel and change back into a man at the peach forest, I’ll go back and see them!’
“……?”
“It’ll probably be a few more days. Not that soon…”
Liu Yao thought as she walked, but as she moved along, the sounds of whispering from a nearby alley reached her ears.
“Who’s there!?” Liu Yao shouted, looking into the alley.
“Did you not notice someone approaching?”
“I thought you would notice!”
“Forget it… maybe we should withdraw first. Let’s not cause unnecessary trouble.”
The two people in the alley ignored Liu Yao’s questioning and instead intensified their whispering.
‘Could they be people from the Capital City?’ Liu Yao thought.
‘Have the people from the Capital City already chased me here?’
‘They sure are fast…’
‘It wouldn’t be good if An Shanmu’s people found out I was here! Fortunately, in my current form, no one should recognize me. I just need to act like I don’t know anything and leave.’
“… Oh! So it’s just two stray dogs. Whatever, I’d better hurry back and sleep. After all, I’ve been drinking tonight!” Liu Yao laughed and tried to walk past the alley to bluff her way through.
But then the alley went quiet, and a voice drifted out from within.
“… Stop pretending. We know you heard us. Why don’t we have a talk?”
“How come I didn’t know I knew?”
“…… Shut up!”
Hearing the mysterious person call out to her, Liu Yao had no choice but to stop. She turned her head to look at the two figures still hidden in the shadows of the alley.
“Sigh, I only accidentally stumbled upon your secret meeting and didn’t hear anything. Can’t you just let me go?”
Liu Yao’s expression grew serious, her brow furrowing and her lips pressing into a thin line.
“Heh heh, we only want to ask the heroine to stay for a moment. Of course, we won’t do anything out of line.”
“So? What do you want from me?”
“No need to be so nervous. The two of us weren’t really talking about anything important. We just want to make a deal with you.”
Liu Yao frowned, feeling that the other party was being difficult and hard to deal with using words alone.
“What is there to trade?”
“Heh heh, the two of us actually intended to handle some business here recently. However, you suddenly appeared and disrupted our plans, so we would like to invite you to leave this town.”
“You’re quite honest.” Liu Yao curled her lip, not believing a word he said.
‘Handle business? What kind of decent person handles business by talking in the middle of the night? They might be scouts from the Capital City looking for me.’
‘Besides, I still need to find my lost sword tassel! How could I just leave like this!?’
“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I’m looking for something lately and won’t be leaving here for the time being.” Liu Yao’s lips quirked up, but there was no smile in her eyes.
“Looking for something? Perhaps I can help?”
“No need. You won’t find what I’m looking for.”
Liu Yao turned around to leave.
“You don’t need to stop me. I’m not interested in whatever you’re doing.”
“Heh heh, don’t be in such a hurry.” The voice from the alley came again, but this time, Liu Yao felt a hint of seduction in the person’s words.
“What you are searching for so desperately should be that elusive peach forest immortal, shouldn’t it?” The mysterious person’s tone carried an undisguised sense of amusement.
Liu Yao suddenly turned back, her gaze piercing into the depths of the alley as if trying to see through the hidden truth.
“In that case, let’s have a proper talk…”
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