Chapter 1 The Reunion

"Hey!"

Song Ci ran as fast as he could.

The mountain path wasn't long, and the small hill wasn't very high.

He took three or four steps at a time, sprinting down the mountain. Even so, it took him a while to catch a glimpse of the red-haired figure who looked graceful but was actually moving very quickly.

Crow used his hands as a megaphone and shouted that one word.

Lu Nanjin not only didn't turn around, but she walked even faster.

Crow remembered his wife's instructions and chased after her, gritting his teeth. In fact, even without his wife's instructions, he would have chased after Nanjin.

She left without saying goodbye ten years ago.

He finally got a chance to see her again, and today, he had to ask her what was going on.

Crow quickly caught up and blocked Nanjin's path. He went straight to the point, "Xiao Lu, are you avoiding me?"

Lu Nanjin held her knife and looked at the buzz-cut man in front of her. After a moment of silence, she replied with a clumsy act, "Who are you?"

Oh, dear…

Song Ci chuckled in exasperation.

If he hadn't caught the fleeting strangeness in her eyes when they first met, he might have actually believed that Xiao Lu didn't recognize him, and he might have foolishly explained himself.

"I don't understand what happened," Song Ci took a deep breath and said, "Why did you leave without saying goodbye, and why do you pretend not to know me now that we've met again?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about even more. I have nothing to say to you."

Lu Nanjin walked straight past Crow.

The moment they brushed shoulders.

Song Ci made his move.

He reached out his arm, intending only to stop Lu Nanjin, but the woman who had been walking quickly suddenly drew her sword. Although she didn't draw the blade, she gripped the scabbard without hesitation and unleashed the Dao Domain—

"Buzz!"

The gang wind of Lanqie swept out, instantly entangling Song Ci's hand. The fierce wind pressure shattered the suit on his arm, leaving only tattered strips of cloth.

The tip of the scabbard was pointed at Crow's jaw.

"I just wanted to catch up with you..." Song Ci's eyes were a little complicated.

He wasn't injured, not because of his strong defense, but because Nanjin's seemingly fierce strike didn't actually unleash any Dao intent. Every wisp of Dao *gang* that was released only cut the cloth of his clothes before retracting, a myriad of threads, stopping right on the mark.

This showed that she didn't want to hurt the person blocking her path.

Seeing this, Song Ci decided to speak and express his true feelings.

"I have nothing to say to the Zhao family's lackeys..." Lu Nanjin gritted her teeth.

"You should talk to Madam more. There might be some misunderstanding here."

Song Ci wasn't angry, but said in a deep voice, "Now that you're here in Dadu, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Nanjin couldn't listen anymore, she simply asked, "You want to keep me here?"

As soon as she spoke—

A fallen leaf fell with the wind, landing on the scabbard of the long knife.

Lanqie's Dao *gang* instantly erupted, shattering the withered leaf into hundreds of fragments.

In the next moment, Song Ci's figure suddenly blurred. He reached out and retrieved the hundreds of broken leaf fragments, slowly extending his palm. In the palm of his hand lay a complete fallen leaf that had been pieced back together, but it was pieced together so loosely that it would fall apart again with a gust of wind.

"Yes... I want to keep you here."

Song Ci said sincerely, "But not with force, but with my methods. I want you to stay in Dadu... No matter what misunderstandings you and Madam once had, now there is at least a chance to explain them clearly."

Nanjin stared blankly at the fragments of leaves fluttering from Song Ci's palm.

What level of cultivation was needed to restore a withered leaf?

Tenth layer of the Deep Sea, or eleventh?

Regardless of Song Ci's current level… one thing was certain, he had far surpassed her.

Reassembling the fallen leaf.

It had only been ten years...

A dazed look appeared in Nanjin's eyes.

In these ten years, she had been practicing hard all the time, diligently cultivating her swordsmanship day and night. Until now, she had only passed the trials of the seventh layer of the Deep Sea, barely comprehending the transcendent origin of Lanqie.

Leaving Dadu, leaving her hometown.

In order to investigate her father's death, in order to seek revenge on the most likely enemy… in these ten years, she had been constantly pushing herself forward, but now she felt like a joke.

A powerful enough fire was burning in her chest.

But she didn't have the strength to match it... If she had Song Ci's talent, perhaps she would have already settled the blood debt of the Lion Lane case.

The next moment—

With a "clang!"

Lu Nanjin instantly drew her sword!

She glared at Song Ci, her eyes filled with the blood that had been reflected in Lion Lane in her childhood.

斩! 杀! (Zhan! Sha!) (Cut! Kill!)

At this moment, countless sword lights burst out within Lanqie's Dao Domain!

Song Ci's expression was solemn, and he took a step back. He could have, like in the battle against Wu Yong on the riverbank, instantly struck out and knocked the hilt back, then struck out again and knocked it back, preventing Nanjin from even drawing her sword... but he didn't do so.

So Nanjin delivered a double strike, two tragic sword lights blooming in the air.

Lu Nanjin's swordsmanship was extremely fierce, not at all like a weak woman.

Her sword style was bold and unrestrained, completely abandoning defense. When she delivered her sword, her whole body was full of flaws... but such a sword was the most terrifying, because she didn't cherish her life, so every strike was fatal.

She was willing to trade injury for death, even death for death.

The two of them moved back and forth down the mountain. Song Ci didn't fight back at all. The sword light danced wildly, brushing against his face, his sleeves burst open, his skin was cut, and fine blood beads were scattered in the air. In the next moment, they were shattered by the sharp sword energy, and a faint smell of blood filled the air. He was like a dancer dancing on a tightrope on a cliff.

Amidst the flashing swords and shadows, he only dodged, never attacking.

Nanjin's eyes were bloodshot. In countless past nights, she had delivered countless strikes with her long sword, using Lanqie to shatter the wooden figures in the training dojo, imagining that the opponent was Zhao Xilai, Zhao Qi, the murderer who created the tragedy in Lion Lane... a powerful superhuman.

At this moment, Song Ci's shadow overlapped with that wooden figure.

Lanqie attacked with all its might.

And after everything was burned, tens of thousands of withered leaves shattered in the Dao Domain, and the withered leaf tornado that was set off was raised by the Dao *gang*. The two stood in a waterfall of falling leaves.

Lu Nanjin gritted her teeth and stared angrily at the man in front of her. A broken sword blade was inserted into Song Ci's shoulder, piercing through. With the last strike, her all-out strike, Song Ci didn't dodge.

Song Ci lowered his arms and stood silently, willing to take the hit. From beginning to end, he didn't say a word.

As long as Lu Nanjin delivered another strike, he would take it.

Looking at Lu Nanjin's angry face, Song Ci lowered his eyes and smiled, pointed to the other knife, and whispered, "Well... Xiao Lu, there's still one more strike left."

With a "clang,"

A broken long sword fell to the ground, making a crisp, heartbreaking sound.

"If you can't bring yourself to do it... then I guess I win..."

Song Ci smiled.

He leaned against the broken blade and slowly walked forward.

Finally, he approached the girl who had been away from him for ten years.

Song Ci reached out a hand and gently embraced the latter's trembling shoulders. After hesitating for a moment, after hearing the faint sound of sobbing, he slowly patted her and smiled softly with pale lips, "Hey... long time no see, how are you still such a crybaby?"