Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Ling Qi stretched Out Her Hand to Support Her Waist, and She Also Leaned on Her Senior Sister’s Arm and Was Pushed Forward.

Ling Qi put her arm around An Jin’s waist, and An Jin leaned against her senior sister’s arm, being gently guided forward.

The cave remained dark and the ground was uneven. The oil lamps on both sides flickered, their flames occasionally shrinking. Despite there being no wind in the cave, the flames swayed, making it even harder to see the path.

Ying Baizang led the way, with the others following in her footsteps. After walking through dozens of forks in the road, they finally stopped at a three-way intersection.

“Haven’t we been down this path before?” An Jin asked.

Unexpectedly, Ling Qi told her that all of these paths, including the two initial chambers, were new.

“The scenery inside the Void of Wu Xu is constantly changing, and the location of the Sword Tomb is not fixed. Occasionally, people will search for days and leave empty-handed.”

All the previous paths had been chosen by Ying Baizang based on her experience and intuition.

She stood at the three-way intersection, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Everyone behind her, including the Vermilion Bird Dao Master, waited quietly, no one daring to rush her.

After a long time, Ying Baizang opened her eyes again, exhaled softly, and said, “The middle one.”

No one raised any objections.

After entering the middle path, the scene before them was the same as before: a gloomy cave with dim, yellow oil lamps. Everyone couldn’t help but feel a little tired.

They had been walking for over a day without a glimpse of the Sword Tomb.

The group continued forward in silence; even An Jin was too tired to speak. Ling Qi reached out to support her waist, and An Jin leaned against her senior sister’s arm, being pushed along.

“Help!”

“No, don’t chase me, ahhh—!”

A cry for help suddenly came from the side, and some of the voices sounded familiar. Before they could react, eight or nine people came running toward them from the left, with a sword floating behind them.

“Floating” wasn’t quite the right word. To be precise, the sword was flying with a sharp, murderous intent, closing in on the people crying for help.

Ling Qi frowned and was about to act, but she paused slightly after getting a clear look at the sword’s body. She twisted her wrist, palm up, and the golden light floating in her hand instantly vanished.

She reached out toward the sword.

The chillingly cold sword came to a stop in front of the two of them, emitting a low hum, then flew in a circle around them. Seeing that An Jin had no intention of reaching out, the sword circled above their heads twice more before choosing to land in Ling Qi’s hand.

“Tha… thank you, Senior Sister Ling. I’m sorry, Senior Sister, we really won’t run around recklessly again.” The voice was filled with fear and sobs, but the more An Jin listened, the more familiar it sounded.

Upon closer inspection, An Jin was shocked to discover that the dusty-faced person on the left was Liao Huan. And the others who had been missing were all here now.

This time, the entire group was truly reunited.

After an explanation from Liao Huan, they learned that after leaving the illusion, these people hadn’t ended up in the original chamber. Instead, they were teleported near the Sword Tomb.

There, they happened to run into the group that Elder Ying had sent to find the Sword Tomb. They had walked deep into the tomb and were now being chased because they had accidentally touched the hilt of this sword.

“Is this sword that fierce?”

An Jin couldn’t help but frown. “It chases you just because you wanted to pull it out and look at it?”

“I didn’t want to pull it out,” Liao Huan added. “The Sword Tomb was too dark, and I slipped and accidentally bumped into it.”

An Jin’s gaze toward the sword became even more speechless. The sword seemed to sense her look and hummed in Ling Qi’s hand, looking almost wronged.

Finally, Elder Ying voluntarily explained, “This sword once recognized a master. Swords that have recognized a master don’t like being touched by others. Some of the more volatile ones will attack if they are touched, whether intentionally or not.”

An Jin’s gaze slowly shifted to the Wuji sword lying obediently in Ling Qi’s hand.

Ying Baizang noticed her look and coughed slightly. “It also depends on the person.”

At this point, a purple-robed woman from the Cold Palace suddenly spoke up. “Is this sword… a former possession of the Vermilion Bird Dao Master? I think it’s called Wuji.”

In an instant, everyone’s eyes, including the purple-robed woman’s, focused on the Vermilion Bird Dao Master standing next to Ying Baizang.

Everyone was clearly shocked. The people in the front row exchanged glances, no one daring to speak first.

Liao Huan, however, used the cover of the back row, ignoring her disheveled state, to pull someone next to her and start whispering, “Is that true?”

Her companion was also puzzled. “Why would such a powerful sword be abandoned in the Sword Tomb?”

“Maybe she found a better one and just threw this one away?” Liao Huan speculated.

Their voices were low, but they hadn’t used any magical concealment, and even An Jin, not far away, could hear them clearly.

An Jin was speechless. “…”

Do you two think she’s deaf?

The swords in the Sword Tomb, apart from those that haven’t recognized a master, are all abandoned. Most were left behind because their original owners died, but a very small number were abandoned while their owners were still alive.

The sword seemed to have heard Liao Huan’s discussion and hummed a few more times, its demeanor clearly much weaker.

“This was indeed my sword,” the Vermilion Bird Dao Master said calmly, her gaze sweeping over the crowd but not lingering on the Wuji sword. “Later, there were some changes, so I abandoned it.”

A chorus of “Oh, I see” and “That’s a shame, such a good quality sword” rang out.

Then, someone else chimed in. “What kind of person is the Vermilion Bird Dao Master? What good things doesn’t she have?” While speaking, he cautiously glanced at the Vermilion Bird Dao Master, a fawning smile on his face.

The person who was refuted didn’t get angry; instead, he laughed and nodded in agreement. “You have a point.”

Ling Qi’s lips moved, but the words she was about to say were swallowed back. To prevent these people from saying anything else that would completely demoralize the Wuji sword, she quickly urged, “Where is the Sword Tomb? Take us there now.”

Everyone’s eyes collectively turned to Ling Qi’s hand, where the Wuji sword was still lying motionless, playing dead.

Finally, seeing An Jin look at it with a questioning expression, the Wuji sword very reluctantly floated back into the air to lead the way. Unlike its previous demeanor, this time it flew unsteadily, stopping in mid-air every now and then, and only moving forward again after much hesitation.

When they finally arrived at the legendary burial ground of ten thousand swords, An Jin felt a wave of coldness wash over her, and the wind carried the scent of corroding metal.

The Sword Tomb was a bit more spacious than the cave, but at most, only four or five people could walk side-by-side. On both sides was scorched earth, as if it had been burned by a fierce fire, and a sword was slanted into the ground every few steps.

Upon entering the tomb, the first two rows were all pristine, intact swords. Most of the people in their group were here to find a sword of their own, so they gathered around these un-mastered swords to examine them carefully.

The Vermilion Bird Dao Master stood at the back of the crowd, clearly not interested, and had no intention of following the Wuji sword any further.

Ling Qi and Ying Baizang were also unenthusiastic and were about to walk deeper in. An Jin, however, was intrigued. Just as she was about to get closer for a better look, the Wuji sword blocked her path.

When she moved left, the sword moved left. When she moved right, the sword moved right.

An Jin: “?”

“It might… want to lead you to something else,” Ling Qi tried to come up with an excuse for Wuji. “Why don’t you follow it first, and you can come back later?”

Although Wuji seemed dissatisfied with the phrase “come back later,” it was content to see that An Jin was no longer interested in those swords and was willing to follow it.

The deeper they went, the stronger the smell of bl00d in the air became. The swords on either side were no longer intact; they were either rusty and mottled, had cracks, or some were even just half-blades, standing alone in the scorched earth.

“Can an immortal’s sword decay?”

“Logically, no,” Ling Qi replied. “It’s just that many swords begin to self-destruct after losing their masters. Their blades break and their bodies crack, and no one can stop them.”

An Jin nodded and then asked, “Are all the abandoned swords from the Upper Realm here?”

“…Most of them,” Ling Qi’s tone was a little hesitant. “As long as no one takes them, they are all here.”

“So, would people intentionally steal these ancient swords and sell them?”

Liao Huan next to her gave An Jin a strange look, seemingly not understanding why she would ask this question. “Who would buy them? A sword that has recognized a master cannot be pulled out by anyone else.”

An Jin was hearing this theory for the first time. “Does it have to be the sword’s original owner in person?”

“Or a bl00d relative,” Ying Baizang, who had been silent for a long time, explained.

At that moment, the Wuji sword suddenly stopped in mid-air and began to circle a patch of scorched earth on the right.

The four of them walked over. There were no swords there; it looked no different from anywhere else.

A trace of surprise flashed across Ling Qi’s face as well. She hadn’t expected Wuji to actually want to lead them to something.

Seeing An Jin roll up her sleeves to start digging with her bare hands, Wuji visibly stiffened for a moment. Finally, as if resigned, it used its hilt to gently push her aside, then floated above the scorched earth and began to dig with its tip.

“…Thank you. You’re a good sword.”

Wuji mechanically shoveled the dirt, digging for a long time. Although the sword had no expression, An Jin felt like it looked somewhat apathetic.

Finally, Wuji stopped digging and slowly floated to the side. They looked down into the pit, where a bl00d-red flower lay quietly at the bottom. The petals were as thin as a cicada’s wings, but they emitted an eerie light.

The moment she saw the flower, Ying Baizang turned to look at Ling Qi, frowning as she asked, “You knew there was a Su You Flower here?”

This was a Su You Flower?!

An Jin’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected the legendary flower that could turn back time to be right in front of her.

“I’m surprised as well.”

Ling Qi said this, but her expression remained completely calm. She casually bent down and put the bl00d-red flower into her sleeve with a smooth, practiced motion.

An Jin, Ying Baizang, and Liao Huan: “…”

Could you try to look a little more surprised?

Seeing An Jin’s expressionless, straight face, Ling Qi couldn’t help but laugh, ignoring the look of strong protest in An Jin’s eyes and reaching up to ruffle her hair.

…

After everyone had found a suitable sword, they left the Void of Wu Xu together.

The others gradually said their goodbyes and left, leaving only Ying Baizang, the Vermilion Bird Dao Master, An Jin, and Ling Qi behind.

“See you at the martial arts tournament,” Ying Baizang said, and turned to leave. The next second, Ling Qi called out to her. “You’re in this condition, and you’re still going?”

Beside them, the Vermilion Bird Dao Master also frowned, clearly disapproving.

“Dealing with a martial arts tournament is more than enough,” Ying Baizang’s expression remained unchanged. “Besides me, who else in the Cold Palace can step up right now?”

Upon hearing this, Ling Qi fell silent.

The Vermilion Bird Dao Master’s face froze. Her hands, which were hanging at her sides, clenched and relaxed, but in the end, she didn’t say a single word.

…

Back at the Grand Radiance Palace, a junior sister was already waiting at the palace entrance.

As soon as Ling Qi and An Jin landed, she rushed up to them. “Senior Sister Ling, Master wants you to see her now.”

The junior sister regretted saying this immediately, nervously peeking at her senior sister’s expression, afraid that Ling Qi would get angry.

In reality, the original message was much more unpleasant; this was already a refined and softened version.

“If she has something to say, she can come find me herself.”

Ling Qi had no patience to deal with it. She said this coldly, grabbed An Jin, and turned to leave.