Near the logging camp, it was eerily quiet, the calls of birds and insects echoing with striking clarity through the mountain forest. Only the unceasing sound of wood-chopping softly masked the chatter of the birds.
"Ha, ha, ha! I've finally mastered it!" His burst of wild laughter startled the other four.
"What are you making such a fuss about?" Du Ju tossed aside the needlework in her hand and walked over. The other three also dropped their axes and followed to take a look.
"I've finally mastered the Night Fang."
"What's that?" Du Ju looked at the other three, but all of them shook their heads.
"Look at this. I've chopped this entire mountain of firewood in one go." Wang Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead with satisfaction, pointing to the pyramid-shaped stack of firewood before him. The stack was about three meters high and had seven tiers.
"Are you out of your mind?" Li Ping said impatiently, glancing at the woodpile, which looked completely unchanged.
"If you can't master the Sword Technique, don't fry your brains instead. Your paintings aren't bad, anyway—when we go down the mountain in the future, you can make a living selling paintings," Zhang Kai said.
"That's right, that's right," Du Ju chimed in.
Zhu Heng didn't know what to say and leaned against the woodpile. A row of logs, all of similar size, neatly toppled forward. Before Zhu Heng could dodge, he was instantly buried by the smaller chunks of firewood. The other three were dumbfounded on the spot. Zhang Kai walked over and pulled Zhu Heng up, while Li Ping picked up a piece of split wood and saw that one of its cut surfaces was as smooth as a mirror.
"Don't look down on people. I happen to be naturally gifted, having comprehended a peerless sword technique all on my own. My hard days are finally coming to an end!" Wang Yun hoisted his axe over his shoulder, took two steps to the side, and swung his axe down. Everyone only saw sword qi transform into a blade that pierced directly into the wood. Li Ping walked over, picked up a piece, and inspected a few other logs, seeing only a faint single line across them.
"You must have comprehended the Slashing Realm, which is the fourth stage of the Xuanpin Wandering Sword. I've seen many senior and junior brothers from the Li Family do it," Li Ping said.
"Can you do it, then?" Wang Yun asked.
"Nonsense. If I could, I would've finished chopping this for you long ago. Looking at your silly face just makes me angry."
Wang Yun took another step to the side and swung his sword. Repeating this ten times, the entire mountain of firewood was completely chopped.
"Amazing! The three brothers would need half a month to chop this pile of firewood, but you're done in just a few strokes now," Du Ju said.
"This is great. Finally, we have time to rest," Zhang Kai said.
"Finally, we have time to practice the sword." As soon as Du Ju said this, she couldn't help shedding tears.
"What are you crying for?" Li Ping asked.
"I'm just happy. Wang Yun is right—our hard days are finally coming to an end. We won't have to work day and night anymore."
"I'm sorry, it's me who's been holding you all back," Wang Yun said.
"You know it. From now on, this grueling chore of chopping wood is all yours. The calluses on my hands have grown thicker from this than from practicing the sword," Li Ping said.
"Why don't we celebrate?" Zhang Kai suggested.
"Celebrate with what? We don't have anything," Du Ju said.
"There's a stream over there, let's go play by the water," Li Ping said, his tone changing from its previous impatience.
The five of them tidied up and walked together toward the stream. They played in the water together and tossed pebbles into the brook. On this rare day off, they opened their hearts and laughed to their hearts' content, as if such good days would never come again.
Wang Yun and Zhu Heng rolled up their trouser hems and waded into the stream to catch small fish, while the other three sat on the rocks by the bank.
"Do you really think Du Yun figured that out himself?" Zhang Kai asked curiously.
"You could twist my head off and I still wouldn't believe it," Li Ping replied.
"Could it be that Young Master Li taught him? He always used to say he was very close to that Young Master Li," Du Ju said.
"Close? Then why hasn't Young Master Li come to see him in three years? In these three years, he's been locked in confinement eighteen times. If they were friends, why not even visit once? That person never considered him a friend at all, yet he's still foolish enough to show Young Master Li this and that. The young master doesn't care a bit about his broken stones and wild flowers—the silver he has in his hands is spent on jade, not on worthless rocks."
Hearing Li Ping's mocking words, the other two felt thoroughly embarrassed and fell silent.
Just then, another shrill cry from Wang Yun pierced the peaceful valley. "Look at this stone, it's so gorgeous! Gewen is definitely going to love it. Zhu Heng, do you like it?"
"A worthless rock, what's there to look at? You can't even eat it," Zhu Heng said, rubbing his belly.
"I'm starving too." Wang Yun shoved the pebble into his mouth.
"You can't eat stones!" Zhu Heng cried out in shock.
"I know I can't eat them, do you take me for a fool? I just wanted to suck on it. It's just a pity this stream is way too small—there aren't even any decent-sized fish." Wang Yun popped a small fish into his mouth. Seeing him chew, Zhu Heng unconsciously moved his mouth and chewed a few times as well.
"Stop staring at me. Watching you chew makes me hungry."
"Where's your stone?"
"Ah, I accidentally swallowed it!" Wang Yun cried out in alarm, stretching out a finger to hook it out, while Zhu Heng pounded hard on his back from behind.
"What are those two doing?" Zhang Kai asked, watching them.
"They aren't fighting, are they?" Du Ju said.
Li Ping stood up quickly and ran over. "Zhu Heng, what are you doing?"
"He swallowed a stone!"
"What on earth is your brain for?" Li Ping said angrily. The other two walked over, and looking at each other, burst into loud laughter. "We won't die from it anyway. We swallowed plenty when we were kids, we should be used to it by now."
"That's right, didn't you swallow them too?" Zhu Heng smiled smugly.
"Back then, it was you, pig-brain, who told me that swallowing stones would keep my stomach from feeling empty, which is why I did it."
"I may have a pig-brain, but you're no better. After all these years, you're still swallowing stones—how come your brain hasn't improved at all?" Zhu Heng thought aloud with a straight face.
"Fat Heng, you've crossed the line!" Wang Yun splashed water onto Zhu Heng, who retaliated, and the two started a water fight. Unable to match Wang Yun, Zhu Heng fled to hide behind the other three. The five of them descended into chaos, splashing each other wildly. Laughter filled the air, echoing endlessly through the valley.
"There seems to be someone sitting over there," Du Ju said, her clothes drenched as she scrambled ashore, only then noticing the spot where the three of them had been sitting earlier.
"Hey, Gewen!" Wang Yun waved with a smile, glancing at the other four.
"Let's go over. He looks like he came specifically looking for you," Zhang Kai said. "We're tired anyway, we need to figure out how to get something to eat. If we keep messing around like this, I'll really want to eat stones."
Du Yun walked over and, seeing Li Gewen's battered appearance, asked cheerfully, "Did you come to show off after fighting a thousand-year-old demon?"
"Then guess whether I won or lost."
"You must have won. Who is Li Gewen? He is the hope for the revival of the Lishan Sword Sect!"
Seeing the smug look on Du Yun's face, Li Gewen felt a surge of warmth in his heart. The idea of reviving the Lishan Sword Sect was something he had told Wang Yun about when they were children, but he never expected that years later, Wang Yun had kept it in mind all along.
"I lost. The opponent was a female demon, and I was no match for her."
"Well, if you had won, I would look down on you anyway. A man should lose to a woman—winning against a woman is no fun at all."
"The other party is a demon, you know."
"I don't care if she's a demon or a human. As long as it's female, you've got to spare her."
"It seems your senior brother has had a huge influence on you. How can your view on women be so weird?"
"Is it? Senior brother said women are the most wonderful things in the world, even though they always bring a lot of trouble."
"Indeed, she really does love creating trouble, she truly leaves me—" Li Gewen felt a pang of heartache and pressed his hand against his chest.
"Looks like you're pretty badly hurt. What a coincidence, I happen to have a fruit for healing injuries." Du Yun opened his hand, and a heart-shaped fruit appeared in his palm.
"Sacred Blood Fruit," Li Gewen said in disbelief.
"I told them it was a Sacred Blood Fruit, but none of them believed me. Eat it up; they say it can boost a person's cultivation by ten years. This is something you can only hope for, never demand," Du Yun said.
Li Gewen took it in his hand and was about to eat it when he asked, "Why aren't you eating it?"
"Doesn't the book say there's a risk involved in eating this? I've only cultivated the Tongshen Sutra up to the third stage; if I eat this, I won't be able to handle it."
"There is indeed a risk, but compared to ten years of cultivation, it's nothing at all. Why don't you eat it yourself? You can eat it when you reach the fourth stage of the Tongshen Sutra," Li Gewen said, pushing the fruit back toward Du Yun.
"I'm not eating it. Three years ago when you left, you gave me a peerless dagger, and I didn't have anything to give you in return. A year ago, Fat Heng found this fruit, and since he didn't want it, he gave it to me. I saved it specially for you." Wang Yun glanced awkwardly to either side. "You're the one who lent me the *Compendium of Herbs* to read. If you hadn't given me that book, I wouldn't have recognized this fruit either. I figured I'd never be able to practice the fourth stage of the Tongshen Sutra in this lifetime anyway—there are many older disciples on the mountain who only reach the third stage and can never progress any further. Dragging it out like this, if the fruit spoiled, it would be such a waste."
Li Gewen knew very well that for an orphan like Wang Yun, making something of himself on the Peak of Yunxiao at this time would require stripping off three layers of skin, yet he was deeply moved by Du Yun's genuine affection. While there was indeed a risk, it was by no means that great.
"You've kept it for over a year; if you wait any longer, the fruit really will spoil. The Sacred Blood Fruit is formed from the spiritual energy of the mountain, something you can only hope for, never demand. I've heard that many famous mountains grow this kind of fruit, but very few people ever get to eat one." Li Gewen popped the Sacred Blood Fruit into his mouth, as if holding Du Yun's friendship right upon his tongue.