6. Packing up (1)
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It's probably poor form to say this, but ML will make his appearance in chapter 9.

It was the dead of night when he made it back to the pier. He had the luxury of actually picking out a path easy on his feet, so while it took a good hour longer, Xu Jian enjoyed it for what it was. He was still freezing, but doing some stretches as he walked and keeping his energy cycling quickly through his body made him confident he wouldn't get sick.

[TASK COMPLETE. REWARD IMPLEMENTED]

It was a good bonus. He wished he could have had the +100 per head reward, but there was nothing wrong with a little boost.

He was still naked, so he of course had to swim back. Sliding through the placid river was a relief; it was still sun-warmed at the top, making it feel like a nice cooled bath.

His presence wasn't acknowledged by the civilians, as usual. People were accustomed to seeing his head of pale hair slinking across the surface of the water underneath their feet. However, as he approached the stone structures on the riverbank, more and more eyes fixed on him. He looked up at them curiously.

A board bumped his arm.

Xu Jian's attention was drawn to the plank. And then the plank next to it. And then the plank next to that.

He swam through the dark water, eyes tracing each new object. It was if an entire house had been destroyed and thrown into the river.

He swam past a bamboo mat.

The uneasiness returned.

Under a small arch, in the shadows of the homes, Xu Jian reached his shack tucked away out of sight. But it wasn't his shack anymore.

The small corner held only a demolished wreck, torn apart beyond all recognition. The disciples who had kidnapped him only hours before were picking across it, retrieving a month's worth of stolen goods; spare scrolls, food, clothes, books he thought were interesting…

They took all of it.

Xu Jian sank deeper into the waters. He wasn't just aware of the flow, he willed himself to tuck himself within it, as if it could protect him from the sight.

The sect leader came storming forward, and he began arguing with the young men. Xu Jian could hear what they were saying if he focused, but he didn't want to.

The sect leader looked like he did during Xu Jian's trial. Tired, helpless, sad.

Xu Jian hated him.

He descended all the way into the water until it covered his head, then deeper until he could feel the soft algae and mud of the riverbed under his scraped and bruised toes.

Path of Wind brought the airstream down to him. It felt impossibly simple after four hours of the rapids.

Xu Jian waited there.

 


 

He had no strong relationship with water.

The area he lived in was very urban. He wasn't the type to swim in the river. He wasn't physical, and didn't consider swimming a worthwhile hobby. The last time he spent time in any form of water except a shower was high school.

By the time he could do more things by himself, he couldn't afford to visit a pool. He couldn't afford to worry about money, either.

After a certain point, being aware of his own misfortune became an expense he couldn't budget around.

Xu Jian awoke to Path of Wind still active, and his body still underwater. He felt dizzy; he had to take a few deep breaths to get more air in his lungs. The pressure of the water had made his breathing too shallow. He was still cold, but was numb to that part by now.

Dull sunlight drifted down to his little hideaway. His hair colour was too pale; they'd see him even if he were submerged. Those disciples must have told everyone he was thieving scum by now, and he needed to make himself scarce.

He was grateful for his foresight in meditating so often. He could feel all sorts of objects disrupting the flow of the river, and it was easy to swim over to them without needing his eyes.

They were all pieces of his shack.

He ducked under a chunk of his roof. Boats floating around the pier would be knocking the remains of the shack all around town, so no one should think the roof drifting deep into the town was strange.

Not only were his resources reduced to the scrolls still buried in the woods, but he was on a time limit to restock, and he would probably be arrested if caught…

‘A bit annoying.’

[RECALIBRATING]

Oh?

[RENDERING COMPLETE]

[NEW TASK: COLLECT TRAVELING GEAR BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW SCENARIO. REWARD: +100 POINTS PER OBSERVER OF NEXT TRUTH.]

[ACCEPT TASK?]

'I'll accept it.’ A 100 per head bonus! Just like he wanted!

[TIME LIMIT?]

‘...You don't know?’

[TIME LIMIT?]

‘The same deadline as the last task.’

[TIME LIMIT: 19 HOURS]

'No. The deadline until the demons investigate.’

There was a pause filled with that strange tension again.

[DEADLINE: 7 HOURS]

'There you go. Pay close attention next time.’

He stayed calm in his head, but that confirmed his suspicions; the System only created a task system to satisfy him, but didn't know how they worked. It was frustrating, but...his feelings were complicated.

‘Well? It's an item collection mission. You have to assign some items.’

The tense pause again.

[RETRIEVE:

-BAMBOO MAT

-4 FRUITS

-4 NON-PERISHABLES

-2 CLOTHES

-BAIXIANG]

‘Baixiang’?

Xu Jian had to think hard to understand what it was talking about, but it eventually came to him.

Baixiang was the reason his courtesy name was Jinyue; his sword. He hadn't had any use for it in his current state, and it hadn't occurred to him to take it back. Thinking on it now, it was an extremely valuable object for the original goods’ legacy.

Baixiang was a gold-coloured blade given to Xu Jian when he was 12 and finished his foundations in swordplay. He had known the sword was his since he was a toddler, and was so happy to be allowed to use it that he kept challenging everyone to duels. It wouldn't unsheathe for anyone but Xu Jian, and unlike real gold, its surface was impossible to dent or blemish.

Its name - and in extension, Xu Jian's courtesy name - was earned by an unusual characteristic. When filled with spiritual energy, the sword would produce a strange sound, like a struck tuning fork, or a bell. Every sword slash was like a song.

It was a beautiful weapon that made Xu Jian more popular and well-known, yet for those who stood against him, it was a source of deep trauma and fear. Hearing that song was a sign of their approaching death.

The 'Golden Star of Wendian' title actually had nothing to do with his moniker, though. It was never mentioned in the novel, so Xu Jian could only assume it was in reference to something like the sun on his pale hair, or just that he had a sword that happened to be gold.

While he didn't care for the thing, it would be easier to take than someone else's sword, and it would be safer to take a sword that only drew for him.

'Got it. You did well, System.’

First was food. He drifted through the river languidly, as if he really was a piece of driftwood pushed forward by the passing boats. It meant he couldn't move very fast, but he had 7 hours, and wasn't particularly worried about that.

He climbed back up through the shiphouse they had used to sneak him out of the sect. The boat had been pulled back up again, so he bumped his head a few times on its hull trying to get through the hole.

He gathered up a fishing net and tied it around his torso, then donned a straw raincape and tied his distinctive hair up so it could be tucked under a wide hat.

He stood out like a sore thumb on such a clear, cloudless day, but the current opinion of Xu Jian's intelligence was so poor he doubted anyone would assume that it was him sneaking around.

It was early morning. He couldn't wait until evening; they'd arrive this afternoon. The servants would be most active at this hour, while the disciples would be all in one place until late afternoon, which meant if things went wrong, they'd go extremely wrong, but he could get his things quickly in the walls of the sect. If he was caught, he was already prone to jumping in the water, and based on how the novel framed Lai Mingliao's abilities as outstanding and how close Xu Jian felt he was to the protagonist's level, they would never be able to catch him.

A little risk couldn't hurt, right?

The sword's name is 白响 - Báixiǎng.

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