Volume 3, Chapter 419 – Time Slips By

After a moment of thought, Chi Xiyan asked again, “Muxue, you’re able to teach the swordsmanship of the Lingxiao Sword Sect?”

“The Seven Sword Sects have never allowed their techniques to be passed outside. If you teach me the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s swordsmanship… won’t the sect hold you accountable for it?”

Even though this was only an illusion, Chi Xiyan still wanted to see how the Illusory Heart Formation would explain this away.

“Nope.” Chi Muxue answered without even thinking. “My swordsmanship comes from the Sword Venerable’s reincarnated inheritance. The Lingxiao Sword Sect has no authority over me.”

“Unless Sword Venerable Qingzhi comes looking for me herself.”

Chi Xiyan’s expression grew focused.

The explanation was a little exaggerated, but within this illusion, it made a certain kind of sense.

Still, Chi Xiyan was far more curious about how this illusory figure in front of her would actually go about teaching her swordsmanship.

“Muxue, please teach me your swordsmanship.”

Hearing this, a smile spread across Chi Muxue’s face. “Mm!”

“Xiyan, come with me!”

With that, she excitedly pulled Chi Xiyan to the center of the courtyard.

“Watch closely! This move is called Shadow Cutter!”

As she spoke, Chi Muxue rose onto her toes and reached out to snap off a three inch length of bamboo branch by the path.

She gave the branch a light shake, and a sharp whistling sound startled the birds perched in the courtyard.

A flash of sword light shot out from her hand, carving fine cuts into the bluestone tiles.

Chi Xiyan frowned. “Is this swordsmanship really from the Lingxiao Sword Sect?”

But Chi Muxue’s movements had not stopped.

She moved as lightly and nimbly as a sparrow.

The bamboo branch cut through the air with a sudden crack, and Chi Xiyan could only watch as the fallen leaves scattered across the ground were sliced into diamond shaped fragments.

Little Muxue suddenly turned back, a hint of mischief in her eyes, and gave the bamboo branch in her hand a light flick. A gust of sword wind rose up.

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Before Chi Xiyan could even react, the left cuff of her sleeve had already been cleanly severed, the cut edge tinged with the frost colored trace of sword qi.

Chi Xiyan lowered her eyes slightly. “This sword intent, like the Lingxiao Sect’s…”

“So it really is…”

She let out a soft sigh.

This move, this sword intent, she had seen both before.

The swordsmanship this illusion had just demonstrated had been pulled directly from her own memories.

As the eldest daughter of the Chi family, how could she possibly have never seen the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s basic swordsmanship before.

Chi Zhong, for instance, was an outer disciple of the Lingxiao Sword Sect.

Reaching this conclusion, Chi Xiyan couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at herself.

As a sword cultivator, she had actually let herself hope this illusion might offer her some kind of surprise.

Meanwhile, the nine year old girl spun and sheathed her blade, the bell tied at her waist not making a single sound.

Seeing Chi Xiyan still standing there in a daze, Chi Muxue puffed out her small cheeks.

“Little Xiyan! What are you zoning out for!”

She hopped over to Chi Xiyan like a little rabbit, pressing close to her face and demanding, “What could possibly be more interesting to look at than me?”

Chi Xiyan was startled by the face that had suddenly appeared so close in front of her.

Too close…!

She quickly stepped back half a pace, turning her head to avoid Chi Muxue’s direct gaze. “It’s nothing. I was just wondering if I could really learn such an intricate technique.”

“Stare.”

Chi Muxue narrowed her eyes and stared at her for several long moments.

“Wh… what is it…?” Chi Xiyan felt deeply uncomfortable under that stare.

“Xiyan’s talent for the sword should be really good.” Chi Muxue reached out and grabbed hold of Chi Xiyan’s hand. “Let me just walk you through it myself.”

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As she spoke, she snapped off another length of green bamboo and pressed it into Chi Xiyan’s hand.

“Come on, follow my movements.”

The frost on the bamboo leaves hadn’t melted yet, and a faint chill spread across her skin where it touched her palm.

But that chill was quickly chased away by the accidental brush of warmth against it.

The silk of her sleeve lightly swept across the hand Chi Xiyan held her sword with.

“Your wrist needs to drop about three inches, like this.”

Before Chi Xiyan could react, a warm body had already pressed against her back.

Chi Muxue rose onto her toes and wrapped her arms around her from behind, the young girl’s small hands closing over Chi Xiyan’s knuckles where she gripped the blade. “Look at that cluster of bamboo shadows.”

The bamboo branch cut through the air, releasing two faint ringing notes as it moved.

The evening light filtering through the leaves gathered like fine snow.

Chi Xiyan watched her own shadow overlap with the person behind her, and where the tip of the blade pointed, seven bamboo leaves lined up neatly, strung together in the golden light.

“This one is called Asking the Moon.”

Chi Muxue’s breath brushed against the side of Chi Xiyan’s neck.

Warm. Ticklish.

“Can you hear the sound of the blade cutting through the breeze? It’s laughing softly.”

The third strike.

Chi Muxue lifted Chi Xiyan’s wrist with one hand while pressing against her waist with the other.

Step forward, slash at an angle.

Then the footwork shifted again.

Caught off guard, Chi Xiyan stepped right onto the other girl’s embroidered shoe.

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The motion of the blade came to an abrupt halt.

Chi Muxue laughed softly, a few loose strands of hair brushing against Chi Xiyan’s jaw.

“Was Little Xiyan doing that on purpose?”

Chi Xiyan stayed silent. Footwork this basic, there was no way she couldn’t keep up with it.

She had simply been distracted.

Because of the person teaching her this swordsmanship.

And even more so, because of the intimate way she was being taught.

Chi Xiyan felt like she was playing with fire.

Chi Muxue had no idea what was going through Chi Xiyan’s mind.

She kept her grip on Chi Xiyan’s wrist, guiding her fingertips to trace out the shape of a full moon, and the scattered bamboo leaves on the ground suddenly arranged themselves into the shape of a flower.

A moonflower.

The sun climbed higher, and without either of them noticing, a full hour had passed.

Fine beads of sweat had gathered across Chi Xiyan’s forehead.

Her lips parted slightly as she caught her breath.

The thin silk against her skin had grown damp and clung to her.

“Little Xiyan did pretty well today.”

Chi Muxue tugged at the edge of her sleeve and sat down on the bluestone, the nine year old girl swinging her mud spattered embroidered shoes.

“For a first attempt, I’m satisfied.”

Chi Xiyan sat down beside her, her expression somewhat strange.

This little girl would occasionally let strange, suggestive words slip from that sweet little mouth of hers, the kind that made people’s thoughts wander.

“You were just too fast.” Chi Xiyan lowered her eyes slightly and said, “I’ll work hard to learn it. I’ll try to keep up with your pace.”

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“There’s no need to rush so much. If you have speed without any real strength behind it, you’ll just end up all show and no substance.”

As she spoke, Little Muxue snapped off a bamboo twig and tucked it into her hair like a hairpin.

“Also, tomorrow we’re learning the Star Cutting footwork. No stepping on my skirt hem again!”

“I won’t.”

Chi Xiyan looked at her profile and noticed the faint sweat on the tip of her nose. Without quite meaning to, she pulled out a handkerchief.

The instant her fingertips touched the slightly cool skin, a sudden gust of wind swept through the grove and carried the handkerchief up into the bamboo branches.

Chi Muxue tilted her head to watch the drifting handkerchief, then flicked her fingers, sending the bamboo branch in her hand flying through the air. It pinned the handkerchief precisely to a bluestone slab three zhang away.

In an instant, the bluestone cracked apart in a pattern like a spider’s web.

“Little Xiyan, you’re such a silly girl.” the girl teased.

“Having a slow student is such a headache. Who knows how long it’ll take before you’re ready to graduate.”

Chi Xiyan’s body stiffened slightly.

The hand she had raised slowly lowered back down.

It would be better if she never learned it well.

If she never learned it well, she could stay in this place forever.

“Let’s head back. That’s enough for today.” Chi Muxue kicked a pebble and laughed softly, the silver bell at her wrist blending with the birdsong in the grove into a clear, gentle melody.

“Go take a bath, and get a good night’s rest.”

Morning dew dripped from the tips of the leaves into her collar, and the chill made Chi Xiyan shiver slightly.

At the edge of her vision, Chi Muxue was toying with a few loose strands of her own dark hair, the silver bell tangled at the end catching the evening light and scattering fine flecks of glow.

Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Chi Muxue was twelve years old now.