novelSusiti Chapter 17 The person seeing off uses a farewell knife
Chapter 17 The person seeing off uses a farewell knife
"Master... what exactly did I do wrong?" He looked up, letting the cold rain wash over his face, gazing at the gilded plaque above the mountain gate that read "Canglang Asks the Heavens." Rainwater gathered into streams, dripping continuously along the edge of the plaque, as if even the heavens were weeping for this mountain gate. Just this morning, shortly after dawn, he had been mercilessly expelled from the sect by his master for his "unstable temperament," without even being given a chance to defend himself.
Rain dripped in strings from the edge of his straw hat, and for the third time, he unconsciously reached for the farewell knife at his waist. The tassel on the scabbard, long faded, was now swollen and deformed from the rain, like a damp clump of wood ear fungus, entangled in his palm, and in his heart. This morning, when he was banished, his senior brother had personally packed his belongings, holding this very tassel in his hand, and the words, "Go as far away as possible," still echoed in his ears. Now, as he savored those words, he could clearly feel the bitterness, like dregs of medicine, in their tone.
"A short separation—! You shouldn't have come back!!"
A laughing voice pierced the thick rain. Song Bie shuddered violently. Just then, a pale bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, instantly illuminating the scene ahead—it was his second senior brother, Xie Chenghuan! His crimson outfit was already soaked in blood, the gold-threaded cloud patterns embroidered on it slowly seeping blood. The long sword in his hand, named "Meeting Again," hummed uneasily in the rain, the strings of red bean beads on the hilt clattering.
"Second Senior Brother?!" Song Bie was filled with surprise and doubt, and subconsciously loosened his grip on the knife. Why would this fellow disciple, who was usually the kindest to him and was both his brother and teacher, be like this?
However, his answer was a cold blade! Xie Chenghuan wore a smile he had never seen before, almost manic, as the blade in his hand suddenly thrust straight at him without warning, precisely piercing between his left ribs!
A sharp pain exploded within him! Song Bie groaned, instinctively rolling to the side and backward, his lower back slamming heavily against the cold monument of merit. The inscription, recording the great achievements of the founder of the sect, was now stained with splattered brains and blood. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the old man lying dead beside the monument—the mute servant who managed the library, who had kindly gestured his name yesterday, reminding him to return the borrowed "Treatise on the Qi Sea."
Xie Chenghuan's knife didn't pierce deeply, but it was like a cold firework that suddenly exploded and then extinguished in Song Bie's heart, instantly shattering all his doubts and hopes, leaving only a sky full of cold ashes.
"Why?! Second Senior Brother!!" Song Bie roared, rainwater mixed with blood from his chest flowing down, icy cold.
Another bolt of lightning struck, its ghastly white light instantly illuminating the hundred or so stone steps leading to the main hall—it was a scene of utter hell! Countless fellow disciples lay sprawled in the muddy rain, their forms contorted in agony. He saw his fourth senior sister's knife plunged into his seventh junior brother's heart, while his own neck bore a deep, bone-revealing gash; his fifth senior brother's knife had severed the head of the old man in the kitchen, and a strange blade protruded from his own chest… These brothers and sisters, who had shared morning bells and evening drums, practicing literature and martial arts together just yesterday, now lay in the mud, locked in a horrific posture of mutual slaughter; as far as the eye could see, not a single survivor!
"Look at this! Look at what I've accomplished!" Xie Chenghuan laughed maniacally, tearing open his already soaked clothes to reveal his chest—on which, the Canglang totem, a mark worn by all Canglang Sect disciples, was seeping blood! He held aloft a blood-stained token, the Sect Leader's Token! The ancient inscription on the back of the token, "Stopping War is the Essence of Martial Arts," was now also stained with blood: "Master has gone mad! The imperial court has established the Heavenly Mystery Alliance, wanting to incorporate all the sects in the world! But that stubborn old man would rather die than submit! He not only wants to burn the sword manual to show his resolve, but also wants us all to cripple our martial arts with him! That idiot, Senior Brother! He actually listens to him too!"
Song Bie's pupils contracted sharply, his voice hoarse with extreme shock: "You...you killed Master?!"
"The bodies of Master and Senior Brother are hanging from the beams of the main hall, swaying back and forth!" Xie Chenghuan's smile was twisted like a demon's. "The rest are all here. Guess who's next?"
Song Bie suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint flickering light in the direction of the ancestral hall in the distance. It was there, before the tablets of the ancestral masters, that Xie Chenghuan made his solemn vow: "Chenghuan will surely make Canglang shine brightly in the martial world!"
"You swore to bring glory to Canglang back then... but now you slaughter your fellow disciples, kill your master and destroy your ancestors?!" Song Bie's voice trembled violently with extreme pain and anger.
Xie Chenghuan's laughter was hoarse, like the wailing of an owl: "It's because I want to bring glory to Canglang! It's because of this! There are too many fools in the sect like Master and Senior Brother, who are ignorant of the times and stubbornly refuse to listen! That's why the Canglang Sect has gradually declined! By joining the imperial court and receiving support from the Tianji Alliance, I was able to revive Canglang!" He suddenly pointed towards the outside of the mountain gate, rain streaming down his face, "And those lowly people down the mountain! Master actually gave them most of the wealth accumulated by the sect over generations! What will we eat? What will we use? How will we survive? He wants to disband Canglang, but I—will not agree!"
Song Bie felt as if struck by lightning. He suddenly remembered that three months ago, his master had secretly summoned his eldest and second eldest brothers. Since then, the eldest brother had become increasingly taciturn, while the second brother often practiced his sword alone in the back mountain late at night, and his swordsmanship became increasingly fierce and unpredictable.
"You...you've already sided with the Heavenly Secrets Alliance?" Song Bie finally pieced everything together, his heart breaking.
Xie Chenghuan didn't answer, only staring at him with those crazed eyes. Song Bie looked at his completely unfamiliar second senior brother, his heart aching with resentment that almost tore his heart apart. "You really are insane! Utterly insane!" He parried the blade that was once again aimed at his face, the blood from the wound mixing with the cold rain and flowing into his sleeve, dripping onto the blood-stained ground.
There was no turning back now. He could only draw his own sword—the farewell sword. It was a gift from his master on his twentieth birthday, and the inscription "Farewell" on it gleamed brightly in the lightning. But he had no other choice!
With a swift turn and a step, his body followed the blade, and the farewell blade in his hand suddenly burst forth with a chilling light, resolutely facing the person he once deeply respected.
The person seeing someone off uses a farewell knife.
A knife is given away as a parting gift.
There is no banquet that does not end, but today I don't know whether I am saying goodbye to old friends or to my original aspirations.
The two fought their way from the mountain gate to the Cloud-Viewing Platform, their blades clashing fiercely in the flashes of lightning, the sounds of their collisions even drowning out the thunder. By the time they reached the Blade-Washing Pool, the hundred precious red carp kept there had already turned belly-up in the blood-stained water. They continued fighting until they reached the Ancestral Master's Shrine.