Xie Xiaonan took the wooden sword from Xi Lu and handed it to Wen Lisheng, his gaze distant and cold. “Take it.”
His tone was flat, entirely commanding.
It was reminiscent of the words “kneel properly” that had been etched into her ears half a year ago.
Without even thinking, Wen Lisheng’s hand reached out and took the wooden sword.
The wooden sword was light, its blade blunt, with little to no lethality. Because students at Qianshan often sustained injuries during martial arts training, the weapons had been repeatedly modified until they were no different from toys for young children.
Even so, Wen Lisheng still felt the weight in her hand, her brows furrowed with worry.
She held the wooden sword aloft for a long time, stubbornly refusing to lower it, still searching in her mind for a way to politely decline.
First, her martial skills were far from proficient. If she teamed up with Xie Xiaonan, she would only hold him back. Second, she and Xie Xiaonan were not yet familiar enough for this. Perhaps he hadn’t originally intended to participate in this training session and had only changed his mind when their eyes met earlier. He might still remember the grudge from their encounter at the Grand Canyon.
This was not a friendly gesture.
Before she could think of a reason, Xie Xiaonan glanced at her. “You’re unwilling?”
He seemed to ask casually, but Wen Lisheng felt a chill run down her spine and quickly shook her head.
The others who had already formed small groups had not yet dispersed, standing in twos and threes not far away, watching. Wen Lisheng, who often acted on impulse and whose status drew envy, had never been particularly popular at Qianshan, accumulating numerous grudges, big and small.
As Wen Lisheng stood motionless, Xie Xiaonan’s voice came from a few steps away. “Wen Lisheng.”
Her heart jolted, and she turned to look.
In her previous life, Xie Xiaonan had beheaded her fiancé with a single sword stroke, standing in the center of the courtyard while the surrounding guests knelt before him, separated by pools of blood and bodies not yet stiff.
Now, only a few steps lay between her and Xie Xiaonan.
He stood under the sunlight, his expression indifferent. “Come here.”
Wen Lisheng walked over, her head bowed in a display of obedience.
The last unselected short girl was called over by Qi Gong for individual training. Seeing that everyone had been divided into pairs, Shan Yichun waved to disperse the gathered crowd. “Go practice quickly. The competition will begin in two hours.”
The others scattered in a flurry, each finding a spot to practice with their partners.
Wen Lisheng followed Xie Xiaonan at a distance, walking nearly a hundred steps until the surrounding noise quieted slightly. Xie Xiaonan stopped and turned, the sunlight grazing his profile and outlining a faint golden edge. “How long have you been studying martial arts?”
Wen Lisheng answered truthfully, “I only entered Eternal Peace Academy last year.”
Xie Xiaonan’s gaze dropped to the hand holding the sword. “Can you use a sword?”
Without thinking, she said, “No.”
Xie Xiaonan crossed his arms and looked at her, his eyes as dark and still as inkstones, yet seemingly exuding a silent pressure. After a moment, he said, “I’ll ask you again. Can you use a sword?”
Wen Lisheng’s heart fluttered nervously. “I’ve learned the basics.”
Shen Jiaqing had grown up learning swordsmanship, and Wen Lisheng had occasionally watched him practice, picking up a thing or two on a whim.
Someone who has never used a sword holds it differently from someone who has learned swordsmanship, so Xie Xiaonan could tell at a glance that she had some training.After being caught in a lie, Xie Xiaonan exuded a chilling aura.
“What moves do you know?” he continued to ask.
Wen Lisheng truly hadn’t learned any proper moves. Just as she was about to say she didn’t know any, Shen Jiaqing somehow overheard their conversation and chimed in first, “She knows Cloud Swallow Skimming the Waves!”
Xie Xiaonan had only asked casually, but upon hearing this, his gaze sharpened, and his tone carried a hint of doubt. “You know Cloud Swallow Skimming the Waves?”
She swallowed, her throat moving slightly. “N-no, I don’t.”
“Show me,” Xie Xiaonan said, clearly unconvinced.
Wen Lisheng wished she could strangle that damned Shen Jiaqing on the spot.
Cloud Swallow Skimming the Waves was actually a sword move she had made up herself. As a child, after learning a move from Shen Jiaqing, she had borrowed this impressive-sounding name to boast. Over time, she practiced it less and rarely demonstrated it in front of others.
Shen Jiaqing walked over and slung an arm around her shoulder, whispering, “Lizi, don’t embarrass us Yiguan County folks, okay?”
“Get lost!” Wen Lisheng kicked him in the thigh, sending him tumbling to the ground with a thud.
Xie Xiaonan’s expression remained indifferent, and he didn’t seem to be joking. With no other choice, she steeled herself, picked up a handful of fallen green leaves from the ground, and clumsily performed a sword flourish. As she swung the wooden sword, she scattered the leaves with her left hand but failed to control her strength, sending two of them fluttering onto Xie Xiaonan’s robe before drifting to the ground.
Wen Lisheng sheathed her sword and stood upright.
Seeing that Xie Xiaonan’s expression remained unchanged, she couldn’t help but remind him, “I’m done.”
The next moment, a look of confusion appeared on his handsome face as he glanced at the leaves on the ground. “This is Cloud Swallow Skimming the Waves?”
Wen Lisheng nodded, adding an explanation, “I made it up myself.”
His expression shifted slightly before he said slowly, “Calling you an amateur would be giving you too much credit.”
If anyone else had said that, Wen Lisheng would have thrown the wooden sword right in their face!
“Xi Lu,” Xie Xiaonan called out, “gather some long branches.”
Xi Lu, who had been standing nearby, responded, said something to Shen Jiaqing, and then turned to search for branches.
From a distance of about ten steps, Wen Lisheng stood upright, glaring at Shen Jiaqing.
Wen Lisheng: You little bastard, just you wait!
Shen Jiaqing: Good friend, you’re standing so straight!
Xi Lu worked quickly, gathering seven or eight branches of varying lengths, each about the length of an arm, and stood beside Xie Xiaonan. “Young Master, these are all I could find nearby.”
Xie Xiaonan said, “Give me the wooden sword.”
Xi Lu handed over the wooden sword. Seeing Xie Xiaonan raise it, he promptly held up a branch horizontally.
With a swift motion of Xie Xiaonan’s wooden sword, the branch silently split into two, one half falling to the ground.
Xie Xiaonan turned his head and said to Wen Lisheng, “Hold the sword with both hands and raise it.”
Confused but compliant, Wen Lisheng raised the wooden sword to chest level.
Xie Xiaonan said, “Higher.”
She raised it again, holding the sword above her head.
“Straighten your arms.”
Wen Lisheng tightened her arms, pointing the wooden sword toward the sky.
Xi Lu quickly replaced the branch with a new one, holding it horizontally in front of her. Then, Xie Xiaonan said, “If you can split the branch as I just did, you’ll pass.”
Pass?A puzzled thought surfaced in Wen Lisheng’s mind as she looked at the wooden branch before her. She thought it couldn’t be simpler—the branch was about as thick as a finger, and with a determined chop, it would split into two.
She glanced at Xie Xiaonan, not expecting it to be so straightforward, and tentatively asked, “Like this?”
Of course, it couldn’t be that simple. Xie Xiaonan gave her a sidelong glance. “This isn’t the same as what I just did. Can’t you tell?”
Wen Lisheng pretended to examine it carefully but truly couldn’t see any difference. Weren’t they both just broken into two pieces?
She shook her head.
Xie Xiaonan seemed to have been waiting for this shake of her head. A faint smile curled at the corner of his lips, his eyes tinged with mockery. “Then keep practicing.”
Practicing what?
A look of confusion crossed Wen Lisheng’s face.
Raising the wooden sword high above her head, then swinging it down with force—this simple motion was what Wen Lisheng repeated over and over.
After just a dozen swings, her arms were already aching faintly. She wanted to stop and rest, but her gaze met Xie Xiaonan’s.
She didn’t dare pause, so she gritted her teeth and continued.
This man clearly hadn’t come with good intentions—he was deliberately making things difficult for her!
But why?
Was he still holding a grudge over what happened in the Grand Canyon? But back then, it was Shen Jiaqing who had tied up his subordinates! Why was he targeting her?
When they met at the old tree hall of the Mei family, she had been perfectly proper and well-behaved. There shouldn’t have been any reason for him to hold a grudge!
Could it be that little pickpocket?!
Yes, it must be him! He must have secretly complained to Xie Xiaonan, bringing this trouble upon her.
After turning it over in her mind, Wen Lisheng found the root of her misfortune. She gritted her teeth in anger, wishing she could swing her aching arms and slap that pickpocket’s face a few times.
Xie Xiaonan stood under the shade of a tree, fragmented sunlight pooling at his feet. From time to time, he glanced at Wen Lisheng to see if she was slacking off. The rest of the time, he gazed into the distance at the mist-shrouded mountains, lost in thought.
As she continued practicing, Wen Lisheng felt as though her arms no longer belonged to her. Her raised hands trembled unsteadily, and her shoulders ached sharply with every movement, making her grimace.
At first, she endured it, knowing she had to settle this debt. Otherwise, Xie Xiaonan might find other ways to torment her.
In the middle of it, when the pain in her arms became unbearable, she paused a few times and threw out some random guesses, but none were correct.
Eventually, Wen Lisheng simply couldn’t lift her arms anymore. She was drenched in sweat, beads of perspiration sliding down her temples. She hadn’t felt this exhausted even when chasing the old sow by the river.
She and Xie Xiaonan truly were destined to clash. Even if she were reborn, their relationship would never be harmonious.
In a fit of frustration, she plopped down on the ground, tossing the wooden sword aside.
It took a moment for Xie Xiaonan to notice she had sat down. He stepped over to her side and stood still.
Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Lisheng caught sight of the black boots embroidered with cloud patterns beneath his robe. A memory flashed through her mind—the boots she had glimpsed when she knelt by the roadside. Her entire body stiffened.
Maybe she should just lie down and pretend to be dead.
As she was thinking this, Xie Xiaonan suddenly crouched down, leaning forward. His beautiful eyes were suddenly right in front of her.
Wen Lisheng instinctively leaned back, a flicker of panic flashing in her eyes.
“You don’t know any martial arts, so why are you so bold?” Xie Xiaonan seemed to be asking quite seriously.
Wen Lisheng swallowed hard, staring into those ink-black eyes before her, her mind going blank.She wasn’t sure whether he was referring to the incident at Mei Family Winery earlier or her boastful claim that she could perform Cloud Swallow Skimming the Waves.
She defended herself in a low voice, “These hands of mine were never meant for practicing swordsmanship.”
“Then what are they for?” Xie Xiaonan’s gaze was indifferent. “Stealing others’ jade pendants or stripping people’s clothes?”
So he was here to settle old scores!
Wen Lisheng guiltily averted her eyes and muttered, “They’re for wiping sweat.”
As she spoke, she hurriedly used her sleeve to pretend to wipe the cold sweat from her temples.
Xie Xiaonan withdrew his gaze, no longer lingering or pressing for an answer. He stood up and left, with Xi Lu following behind. The two quickly disappeared from sight.
Wen Lisheng sat on the ground, feeling irritated, when Shen Jiaqing, oblivious to the danger, approached and patted her shoulder, saying, “Good brother, you’re truly diligent. You’ve been practicing for so long—a true role model for our generation. I should learn from you.”
Wen Lisheng’s temper flared instantly. She scrambled to her feet and kicked him in the waist. “Damn it, don’t you think I know you were using me to test Xie Xiaonan?”