sample a

Having the goal to fulfil my mother's last wish. I look at Jian Liu who was whistling while tapping his wooden sword in his shoulder.

"Jian Liu, do you know how to wield a blade?" Jian's tapping stopped and looked at Liang.

"Of course, I'm a disciple of Tang. Swords are our specialty." He said.

The Tang family is a famous family in this place, Jian is one of Tang's illegitimate son. Thankfully, power hasn't corrupted his mind and only focused on swords.

"Can you teach me then?" I said while looking at his sword. He faced me and gripped his sword.

"Alright then." He slowly lowered himself looking at me.

The way his hand tightened at the sword and how his stance was solid. I could predict what was going to happen.

I smirked. Come at me! I said in my mind because I know well that this man is the type of person to go for a slash!

"Take this!" Jian dashed towards me while holding his sword for the side. I could see it, it's sliding upward! Easy!

Thwack! That was the sound we both heard as the sword's handle bonked me in the head.

"Ouch! You-" I scratched my head trying not to tear up.

"Yup, you're not cut for this." Jian somehow has a sense of relief in his face as he shakes his head.

"What?! I can do it. Again!" I looked at every movement of Jian Liu as he does his stance again.

"Here I come, don't get hit again!" He said with a proud look in his face while dashing.

All I did was put all of my intention to Jian and ignore my surroundings. And so, Jian's sword movements were focused on my eyes.

It's moving... Slowly.

"Take this!" He announced himself while doing the same attack.

An upward slash that fakes you into blocking to get you open, if you fall for it. You can get bonked.

I took a step back that surprised Jian but he quickly recomposes himself and closes the distance between us.

His sword attack changed and this time, it was a plunge.

He didn't say anything while striking while I had to act quickly. As the sword's end was getting closer to my chest. I clapped my hand locking the sword in the middle.

The sword was shaking as we both used our strength as he's pushing while I'm holding.

I gritted my teeth as I could see how much Jian was struggling.

Now's my chance!

I mustered all my remaining strength onto my right foot and tried to get him off balance using a sweep.

"Got you." He said which confuses me because I clearly have this situation in control... Or was I?

He pulled the sword which pulled me as well and slammed me onto the ground.

I could feel my back hitting the ground hard as I passed out.

"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry about that. I got too worked up." He said but that's all I could hear because I was passed out.

I woke up beside Jian who was setting up a campfire.

"You're finally awake." he smiled at me while trying to start a fire with stones.

"I'm sorry, what happened?"

"You were knocked out because of our spar, that was my fault. I'm sorry."

The two proceeded to walk two miles to reach the place Jian Liu was so proud of.

The day is still on the top of their head, and they still have a lot of time.

"Here it is." The two stand before a gate, a rusty one.

The silence was dreading as the two continued to stand on the same gate for five minutes.

"So are we going to come in or what?" Liang Sun breaks the ice as he looks at Jian Liu's awkward face.

Jian Liu took a deep breath and gently knocked on the gate.

"Master? Are you there?" He nervously placed his face on the cold gate.

The awkward silence was suddenly cut off when a footstep was heard beyond the gate.

The pace was slow, it's like that person is taking his time.

Jian Liu flinched and backed away at the gate.

He then quickly looked at Liang Sun and gave him an ugly smile.

"Listen, when we go inside. You have to be quiet, okay?" Liang Sun simply nodded at Jian Liu's strange request.

The gate slowly opens up revealing an old man with ragged clothes.

He's also using a cane to assist his walking.

"Jian Liu, you again? What do you need? I already told you to scram." The old man was grumpy.

Liang Sun took a long gaze at the old man and looked at his features.

A long beard and guan, from his posture of holding a cane upfront and the other at the back, Liang Sun is slowly figuring who's the old man.

Jian Liu puts a prayer on his hand and closes his eyes while facing his master.

"Please, master. Teach me your ways, no. Teach us!" He begged.

But looking at the old man, his face isn't wavering at Jian Liu's pathetic plea.

"I already told you, I'm too old to teach you. And who's this new fella you've brought?" The old man now turns his attention to Liang Sun.

"I'm Liang Sun, I greet you for this wonderful afternoon." He lowered his head.

"This young man has manners, you should aspire to be like him, Jian." The old man laughed and asked for Liang Sun to raise his head.

"Like every other lesson, if you want to learn. Respect is the bare minimum. I've seen enough, come inside." The hopeless situation for Jian Liu turned into a golden opportunity.

His face couldn't contain his happiness as he looked at Liang Sun and hugged him tightly.

"I knew it wasn't a bad thing that I've brought you here with me!" He exclaimed as he rushed inside.

Liang Sun couldn't help but to smile.

Even though it was indirect help, he couldn't help but to feel proud for helping someone, especially his friend.

Liang Sun didn't waste any more time and entered the gate.

Once he went inside, he was entranced by the small hut and the bamboo all lined together on the left side of the hut.

The ground was filled with rocks designed as a road and there's also a small pond on the other.

He looked ahead to see Jian Liu facing his master who was sitting at the wooden edge.

Liang Sun rejoined his friend who was listening to the old man.

"The sword I gave you, where was it?" The old man looked at Jian Liu in which Jian draws out and carefully gives it to the old man.

"What's your name, young man?" He now looks at Liang Sun who's focused on their conversation.

"Why do you want to learn swordsmanship?" He strikes up a question that led Liang Sun to have a deep thought.

"I want to banish the nightmares." The old man rubs his beard after hearing this.

"Nightmares? Like a ghost?" Jian Liu cracks up a joke, but the old man hits his shin.

"Hold this blade and tell me what it reminds you of?" Liang Sun carefully grabs the knife from the old man and turns it to see his reflection in the blade.

He gave it a long stare, until a single word came out of his mouth.

"Moonlit." He said. The old man's eyes widened, but he covered it with a cough.

"Old man Zhu, are you okay?" Jian Liu checks up on the old man who stops him and says he's fine.

However, Liang Sun knew something was off.

"Why Moonlit?" He asked.

"Because it's beautiful, it's when the moon shines brightly in the cloudless clear sky." Liang Sun said, though he's at the old man's house.

His mind is somewhere else, which is the past.

The night where he was separated from his mother, the night where the engulfing flames were destroying everything at sight.

It all occurred under the bright moon, a moonlit.

The past disappeared from his eyes and he went back into the present.

"That's deep." Jian Liu said, only to receive another hit in the shin.

"I'm moved by your words, I might be old, but I can teach a move or two." He stood up, slowly to avoid hurting his back.

He takes the sword and walks towards a single placed bamboo.

By the looks of it, it's a training dummy.

He raised the sword up, leveling it on his shoulder.

There he unleashes a slash causing the bamboo to get sliced in half.

Before the two could even react he proceeds to slash the upper bamboo two more times cutting it into thinner pieces.

Their jaw dropped when a frail old man managed to do a precise cut in a hard bamboo.

Nonetheless, it was so clean it didn't even make a sound.

"So he really wasn't a bust." Liang Sun looked as Jian Liu said.

"What?" The confused Liang Sun raised his eyebrows.

"He really is the proficient sword master, Zhuyun Xuanwei." Jian Liu added as the old man looked back, smiling.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***