4 Courtesy Returned

After realizing she had been transported into the world of a martial arts novel, Tian Yu didn’t have much of a reaction.

First of all, she hadn’t thoroughly read many wuxia novels; she only knew a few famous characters by name and couldn’t rely on foreknowledge of the plot to scheme her way to the top like in those “book-entering” stories.

Secondly, before discovering this fact, she had already practiced the sword for five years. It was almost accidental, yet she had unwittingly aligned with the will of the world and made the right choice.

So after a brief moment of shock, she quickly came to accept it.

Privately, she reminded Tian Yong to take good care of Li Xunhuan and not to neglect him.

Tian Yong wasn’t very talented in martial arts nor particularly bright, but he was obedient.

Their daily interactions as siblings meant she usually gave the orders and he followed without question.

When she gave this reminder, he didn’t think much of it and didn’t ask why.

He simply did as she asked—preparing meals and checking in on Li Xunhuan during breaks from forging.

Li Xunhuan, however, was quite interested in the siblings, or rather, very intrigued by Tian Yu’s swordsmanship.

The day after they decided to stay at the smithy, he heard the sound of Tian Yu practicing swordplay early in the morning. He stepped out onto the porch and watched the entire session.

When she finished, he praised her warmly.

“Impressive swordsmanship!”

“That day in the mountains, I sensed your technique was formidable—sharp, swift, precise, yet clean and unerring.”

“Each move striking directly at vital points; truly remarkable.”

Though Tian Yu had believed her master’s words all these years—that the sword style he taught her could not be inferior—she had never truly known how good it was.

Hearing such high praise from Li Xunhuan, the protagonist of the martial arts novel, put her completely at ease.

If someone like him admired it so much, then at least this sword could be used to avenge the Bai family.

“It is indeed a fine sword technique, but unfortunately, I haven’t mastered it fully yet,” she said calmly. “If I could strike faster, you wouldn’t have needed to intervene that day.”

“If you hadn’t intervened, you’d probably be on your way back to Baoding by now,” Li Xunhuan smiled.

He explained, “I was being hunted and poisoned with the secret venom of the Tian Sect. From outside the border, I fled all the way to the eastern frontier. Before I completely settle this matter, it’s not wise for me to return directly.”

Hearing the mention of the Tian Sect’s secret poison again piqued Tian Yu’s curiosity.

“You said earlier the Tian Sect was once the most mysterious organization in the martial world. What exactly is this group?”

Li Xunhuan was silent for a long while before he answered.

“Truthfully, no one really knows what the Tian Sect’s purpose was.”

“Most martial artists only heard the name after the sect had already been destroyed.”

“It was only after its fall that people realized the entire martial world had been almost entirely under the Tian Sect’s control for many years.”

“If the Tian Sect wanted someone dead, that person would surely die.”

“If they wanted to ruin someone’s reputation, that person would be utterly disgraced and never able to recover.”

“Twenty years ago, a list circulated in the martial world, supposedly containing names of those who had joined the Tian Sect, killing and extorting wealth for its leader.”

“Fortunately, shortly after the list appeared, people noticed that nearly all those named had died.”

“Since then, the Tian Sect vanished without a trace.”

“However, the martial world is vast, and some of the sect’s methods did not disappear along with it.”

“The poison I contracted is one such remnant.”

“It’s also the most expensive poison in the current martial world.”

Tian Yu asked, “Is it just because it’s rare?”

Li Xunhuan shook his head. “Not only that. It’s colorless and tasteless, and ordinary methods of detecting poison can’t identify it, making it nearly impossible to guard against.”

Tian Yu was startled to hear how terrifying this poison was.

“But I heard from our master that if you don’t use your inner energy after being poisoned, the antidote isn’t too difficult,” she recalled what her master had told her before he left.

“Yes,” he nodded. “If I can endure forty-nine days—seven weeks—without using my energy or inner strength after being poisoned, the toxin will naturally dissipate.”

Tian Yu understood then. “So that’s why you fled from outside the border all the way to the eastern frontier?”

If he had followed his original route after being poisoned, he would have been relentlessly pursued.

Surrounded by enemies, even someone like Li Xunhuan couldn’t have escaped without activating his inner energy.

He couldn’t stay outside the border, nor could he enter the heartland easily.

So he changed course and came to the eastern frontier.

The eastern frontier was vast and sparsely populated, with a harsh climate.

In the coldest winters, it was many times colder than outside the border.

Ordinary people wouldn’t choose to enter the eastern frontier during the approach of winter, but for him, who was desperate to evade his pursuers, it was a good refuge.

Unexpectedly, after all his efforts to avoid danger, he still used his inner energy once in the eastern frontier’s mountains because he couldn’t bear to see an ordinary hunter lose his life.

Thinking of this, Tian Yu admired Li Xunhuan even more.

He was truly a compassionate and benevolent person.

Yet, she still had a question she couldn’t figure out.

“If you came to the eastern frontier to avoid your enemies, why did you want someone to send a message back to Baoding?” she asked. “Aren’t you afraid of revealing your whereabouts?”

Li Xunhuan was momentarily stunned at her question; an image flashed through his mind.

He closed his eyes briefly, pained, deliberately skipping her first question.

He gave a wry smile and said, “Even on the best horse, it takes twenty days to get from here to Baoding. Anyone who wants to kill me would also take twenty days to arrive after receiving the news. By the time they get here, I’ll already be dead.”

“When the time comes, you can hand over my remains. My enemies won’t trouble you.”

“Frankly, all they want is my life.”

Tian Yu was speechless.

So you never really believed our master could find someone to cure your poison!

She was both incredulous and helpless.

But putting herself in his shoes, if she were Li Xunhuan in such a situation, she wouldn’t pin much hope on an antidote either—better to have no hope than to be disappointed.

She tried to comfort him in another way.

“Since your letter won’t find anyone to deliver it, don’t think too much about it. Just wait for our master to return. Otherwise, he’d have come all this way in vain,” she said. “At worst, you can try the cure when he’s back. It can’t hurt.”

Li Xunhuan indeed no longer held hope for the antidote, as she had guessed.

He didn’t regret it but felt somewhat melancholic.

When she said that, it was as if she had drained even the little lingering melancholy he had for his life.

So he merely smiled and asked her, “Is there any wine in this shop?”

Their master drank wine every day, so naturally the smithy wouldn’t be short of it.

Tian Yu waved her hand and brought Li Xunhuan two jars.

But she warned him beforehand that it was the cheapest wine from the town’s winery, and he might find it hard to swallow.

Li Xunhuan took a sip and found it sour with a bitter aftertaste, difficult to drink.

Had it been before, he wouldn’t have touched another drop.

He was the young master of the Li family in Baoding, born into wealth, and had never lacked good wine since he first learned to drink.

Whether studying for official exams or after resigning to enter the martial world, he always drank the finest wines.

He had never imagined he’d one day drink such awful wine.

But as he drank and watched the black figure diligently practicing swordplay in the courtyard, he felt that meeting such a prodigious swordsman at the end of his life and witnessing such splendid swordsmanship gave even this sour, bitter wine a certain flavor.

His admiration was unhidden but only admiration; he never asked about the origins of her sword technique.

Tian Yu liked his sense of propriety; it made her willing to chat with him more.

Most of their conversation, naturally, was about swords.

He admired her swordsmanship, and she admired his throwing knives.

More precisely, she admired the speed at which he struck.

There’s a saying: in all martial arts under heaven, speed conquers all.

Li Xunhuan’s speed was so extreme that even the most ordinary carving knife in his hand could gleam with a brilliant edge.

A flash in the eye, yet carrying deadly danger.

Like lightning on a stormy night.

“Too bad I can’t see it again,” she said regretfully.

“If you want to see, I don’t mind showing you once more,” Li Xunhuan offered with a smile.

He put down his wine jug after speaking.

Tian Yu thought he was joking, but in the blink of an eye, she saw a knife appear in his hand.

Startled, she immediately grabbed his hand to stop him.

“You’re crazy!” she exclaimed, eyes wide. “I was only speaking casually—I never asked you to really show me!”

He cleared his throat calmly and said, “You’ve treated me to so much wine these past few days. I have nothing to offer in return except this knife, which I can barely use as a proper return of courtesy.”

Tian Yu lowered her gaze, glanced at the wine jug he just put down, and said expressionlessly, “Unfortunately, the wine you’ve been drinking belongs to our master. I don’t have the right to treat you. If you want to return the favor, wait until he comes back.”

Li Xunhuan was speechless.

He smiled helplessly.

Life’s affairs were truly strange.

Those who once benefited from him and were lucky to survive had gathered his enemies to hunt him down.

But a stranger who crossed paths with him briefly in the mountains wished for his survival more fervently than he did himself.

“Alright, then I’ll wait for him to return,” he said, releasing the knife and picking up the wine jug again, taking a long drink. “I just hope he’ll consider that I’m friends with his smithy’s assistant and won’t charge me too much for the wine.”

“I’ve been fleeing all this way, and I really don’t have much silver left.”

Tian Yu raised an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling. “Are we friends?”

Li Xunhuan tilted his head and looked at her. “Aren’t we?”

He added, “I’m a carefree man who only listens to friends’ advice.”

Tian Yu was speechless.

“Fine, then I’ll make you my friend,” she said, pursing her lips. A faint smile appeared in her usually stern brows. “But I warn you in advance—just because you’re my friend doesn’t mean you get to skip paying our master for the wine.”

Li Xunhuan chuckled, and the strange, unpredictable world they found themselves in carried on.