Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 10: The Swordsman Wang Teng

t/n) Just wanted to clarify some things, Kunlun Sect and Kunlun Sword Sect are both the same. Sometimes the author adds the “sword” in the name, and sometimes the author doesn’t. I just follow what the author has written. 

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Kunlun Sect has not seen the Qiong Hua order in a hundred years. Now that it suddenly appeared, there was a sense of foreboding.

With the Qiong Hua order out, something big must have happened. Wan Yao looked grave and told this matter to Lin Minzhi.

After Lin Minzhi finished listening, he got up to say goodbye. He looked towards Lin Rufei: “Xiao Jiu, I’ll send you back to the courtyard first, okay?”

“I’ll go with big brother.” Lin Rufei knew that the matter was urgent and could not be delayed, so he said, “So as to not delay.”

Lin Minzhi thought for a moment and then nodded his head. This was indeed an urgent matter, so there should be no mistakes.

So he pushed Lin Rufei and went straight to the front mountain.

At this time, there were already a lot of Lin children and disciples gathered in the front hall, and when they saw Lin Rufei and Lin Minzhi, they all bowed. But after the salute, many people’s eyes quietly fell on Lin Rufei.

In Kunlun Sect, although there is only Lin Qionglou who is with direct lineage, there were countless side branches of the family. These disciples knew that the Lin family has four children, but Lin Rufei rarely shows his face, so not many people have seen him. So when they saw Lin Minzhi pushing a handsome young man in fox fur with a pale face, they all more or less cast some curious glances.

Lin Rufei was also used to such stares, so he looked indifferent as if he did not hear them.

“Why is Rufei also here?” In front of the people, Lin Bianyu did not call Lin Rufei by his nickname. He slowly walked out from the crowd, his black eyes were heavy, seemingly unhappy.

“I’m the one who wanted to come along to take a look.” Before Lin Minzhi could answer, Lin Rufei spoke first, saying, “I’m a little worried about my second brother.”

Lin Bianyu smiled as he swept away his displeasure and said, “Second brother is fine, so there is no need for Rufei to worry.”

Lin Minzhi said helplessly, “Let’s get down to business first, is the Qiong Hua order true?”

“Naturally.” Lin Bianyu’s voice turned cold, “Would someone dare come to Kunlun with a fake Qiong Hua order to seek death?”

“Where is the person?” Lin Minzhi asked.

“In the tea room.” Lin Bianyu said, as he stepped forward and walked behind Lin Rufei’s wheelchair, “I’ll do it.”

Lin Minzhi sighed and did not argue with his brother.

In the tea room, light incense curled. They pushed open the bead curtains and Lin Rufei saw the holder of the Qiong Hua order—the one who Kunlun Sect regarded as a big enemy. It was just that when he saw this man, he could not help but be shocked. Lin Minzhi also noticed. 

“Rufei has seen this person?” Lin Minzhi asked in a low voice.

“When I went down to the mountains with Fu Hua once before, I had seen him once by the bridge.” Lin Rufei said.

That day there was drizzling rain. With the sound of the flute, the swordsman wearing a hat was leaning against the bridge. He was singing to the rain in the cool breeze full of the remaining sword intent. The most impressive was his pair of blue eyes that peaked out through the bamboo hat. As if it was dipped in the water of the finest jade. It carried a hint of coolness—really beautiful. 

At this time, the swordsman by the bridge sat in the tea room of Kunlun Sect. He was still wearing the bamboo hat with a black veil and was holding onto the sword hilt at his waist. 

On the table in front of him, there was a small token made with a jadeite base and gold threads. This was the Qiong Hua order that Lin Rufei had never seen before.

Lin Minzhi walked up to the swordsman and said, “How should I address this honorable one?”

The swordsman spoke, his voice hoarse: “Wang Teng[1].”

Lin Minzhi said, “Since Mr. Wang has come to Kunlun Mountain with the Qiong Hua order, he is an honored guest of the Kunlun Sect. However, my father is still in seclusion, so if you make a request that is beyond my ability, you will have to wait until my father comes out of seclusion to fulfill the promise.” He had only taken over part of the affairs of the Kunlun Sect now, and there were still some things that were not up to him to decide.

Wang Teng said, “No need for him, you can meet my requirements now.”

With these words, the atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

Lin Minzhi and Lin Bianyu both looked quite grave. They stared deadly at Wang Teng. They vaguely sensed that Wang Teng’s request did not seem to be as easy as he said.

“I want to compete with swords.” Wang Teng’s tone was calm and sounded emotionless, “With the most powerful swordsman on this Kunlun Mountain.”

Lin Minzhi and Lin Bianyu were both relieved, this request was hardly a request. Kunlun Sect was known for its swordplay, swordplay was as common as drinking and eating.

However, Wang Teng continued: “This sword match, I will use all my strength. No matter life or death, no one is allowed to intervene.”

Lin Bianyu felt something in his heart, with a smile he said, “I don’t know who Mr. Wang would like to have a sword fight with. With my father in seclusion, if my sword skills are number two, then no one dares ask who’s number one.”

“Lin Bianyu!” Lin Minzhi scolded angrily in a low voice, “Who gave you permission to interrupt!”

Lin Bianyu smiled, “Brother, are my words false?”

Naturally, there was no falseness. However, this Wang Teng person in front of him did not know the advantages and disadvantages of things. When Lin Bianyu spoke out, he just wanted Wang Teng to direct his attention to himself. He did not feel comfortable letting Lin Minzhi go and Lin Minzhi did not feel comfortable letting his brother go. If the other could take out the Qiong Hua order, and make such a request, he was definitely not someone that was going to be easy to deal with. 

Wang Teng’s gaze indeed fell onto Lin Bianyu.

Although the black veil on the bamboo hat formed a temporary barrier, Lin Rufei could feel that the air was filled with anxiousness. 

“It is said that the swordplay at Kunlun Sect is one of a kind.” Wang Teng said, “Then I naturally want to find the most powerful swordsman on this mountain to compete with.” He spoke extremely slowly as if he was spitting out each word with all his might.

Lin Bianyu smiled with relief and said, “Naturally”

Who knew that Wang Teng would change his tone and said coldly, “Unfortunately, you are not the most powerful swordsman on this Kunlun Mountain.”

The smile on Lin Bianyu’s face disappeared instantly, and Tianxiao that was slung at his waist buzzed slightly. He said expressionlessly, “Does Mr. Wang intend to wait until my father comes out of seclusion?”

Wang Teng said indifferently, “Foolish.”

Lin Bianyu stiffly suppressed his anger: “What makes you say that?”

Wang Teng said, “Lin Qionglou has been in seclusion for five years and has not even broken to the next realm, so is he still worthy of being called the number one swordsman?” He raised his hand, with a hint of excitement in his tone, “Good thing you still have someone on Kunlun Mountain who won’t let me down—” he raised his hand and pointed to the person beside Lin Bianyu, “I want to compete with him.”

The person beside Lin Bianyu was not Lin Minzhi, but Lin Rufei, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a face pale like paper.

All of a sudden, Lin Bianyu and Lin Minzhi’s expressions turned as ugly as can be.

Lin Minzhi said, “Mr. Wang, my younger brother Lin Rufei is weak and has never practiced sword fighting. You want to compete with him? I’m afraid he’s not suitable.”

Wang Teng said coldly, “Lin Da Gongzi, is my Qiong Hua order fake?”

Lin Minzhi’s face turned blue, and the back of Lin Bianyu’s hand that was holding the hilt of Tianxiao Sword was bursting with light-colored veins. He had obviously exerted himself to the extreme. He gritted out the words: “Mr. Wang actually wanted to find someone who hadn’t cultivated before to compete with swords?”

Wang Teng replied: “Yes.”

If not for Lin Minzhi’s quick eyes and hands holding down Lin Bianyu’s hand, he was afraid Tianxiao would be unsheathed by now.

Facing the murderous Lin Bianyu, Wang Teng snorted. He slightly held his hat, and his pair of turquoise eyes appeared: “Lin Da Gongzi, I will ask once again, this competition, is it possible or not?”

“Possible.” Lin Rufei, who was sitting in a wheelchair, opened his mouth lightly. His voice was not loud, but it was like a drum that shook heavily against Lin Minzhi’s and Lin Bianyu’s chests.

Lin Rufei had a gentle expression as if he was agreeing to something unimportant. He said slowly: “According to the rules of Kunlun Sect, with the Qiong Hua Order in hand, Kunlun Sect will agree to all of Mr. Wang’s requests. It’s just that I have truly never practiced swordplay, so if I really compete, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you enjoy yourself.”

Wang Teng said: “Then I will have misjudged.”

“Rufei!” Lin Bianyu’s expression was extremely ugly. He grabbed Lin Rufei’s shoulder, “Don’t talk anymore, stop messing around!”

“Brother.” Lin Rufei twisted his head to look at Lin Bianyu. After clearly seeing the expression on Lin Bianyu’s face, his heart ached a little. It has probably been many years and Lin Bianyu has never shown such a wretched look. Those eyes, which have always contained a smile, even took on some not-so-subtle supplication.

He was praying, praying for his beloved brother to back down. As long as Lin Rufei did not agree, even if the rules of the Kunlun Sect were broken, he did not care.

However, Lin Bianyu was destined to be disappointed.

Lin Rufei’s light-colored eyes held no signs of backing down. He looked at him and said word by word: “Second brother, you must not forget that my surname is also Lin.”

Lin Bianyu’s body trembled tremendously.

That’s right. Although Lin Rufei was weak, he was also surnamed Lin, ah. On Kunlun Mountain, the people who were surnamed Lin did not fear life and death, nor did they cower away. This was the brother of Lin Bianyu, even if he had never learned the sword.

Even so, was he supposed to just watch Lin Rufei die under Wang Teng’s sword?

Lin Bianyu took a step back and stopped talking.

Lin Minzhi tried his best to control his voice, but his slightly trembling voice revealed his feelings at this moment: “I wonder when Mr. Wang would like to have a sword competition with Rufei?”

“I have a lot of places to go and I’m also very busy.” Wang Teng said, “So tomorrow is fine. You guys set the place.”

Lin Minzhi said okay.

Wang Teng got up and was about to leave the tea room, but when he crossed paths with Lin Bianyu, he paused slightly and said seriously, “Your killing intent is good, but unfortunately, your swordplay is still three points short.”

Lin Bianyu’s face was expressionless: “Is that so.”

Wang Teng said: “In a few years, perhaps I would still be interested in fighting with you, but unfortunately.” He held his hat and said coldly, “You are not worthy of my sword now.”

Lin Rufei could see that Lin Bianyu was using all his strength to control the urge to draw his sword, and he didn’t move a bit until Wang Teng walked far away.

Lin Minzhi also stood still. The atmosphere in the tea room was frighteningly stiff.

Lin Rufei had to wheel his chair to the tableside. He casually picked up the piece of Qiong Hua order, laughing: “It is my first time seeing this thing, I did not expect it to be so beautiful.”

“Xiao Jiu—” Lin Minzhi called out.

“Brother, I know what you want to say.” Lin Rufei said calmly, “You guys have protected me for more than twenty years, I just want to protect you guys for once like you protected me.”

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The author has something to say:

Lin Bianyu: My brother is poor, weak and helpless. Someone actually wants to bully him ! ! ! !

Wang Teng: If you hadn’t mention it, I thought the mountain peak was cut down by you.

Lin Bianyu: My brother is poor, weak and helpless, he simply cut down a peak and someone wants to bully him! ! !

Wang Teng: ? ? ? ? ?

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[1] Wang Teng means King dragon