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121
Zhao Jiangui returned to the Vast Alliance.
He detailed his assignment to the old Alliance Leader. After the conversation’s end, he prepared to get up and take his leave, only to suddenly stop in his tracks prior to his departure. As if he had made up his mind about something, he turned back to the Leader. “Alliance Leader, this junior has something to request.”
In a good mood, the Leader nodded at him while smiling. “There is no harm in stating it, Nephew Zhao.”
“You once said to me that Ji Han is of fairly even temperament, and if he can continue on like this, he can curb and discipline those of the chaotic path, meaning that the coexistence of the righteous and chaotic may not be an impossibility.”
The Leader stroked his beard. “This old man seems to have never said that at all.”
Zhao Jiangui paused, then nodded. “You have indeed never said that.”
He knew what the Leader meant. The head of the Alliance was not to be saying anything like that whatsoever; implications were just that, and could not be stated clearly.
“Ji Han is still mild-mannered at present, but as the supreme of the chaotic path, he will inevitably undergo some changes in personality after a long time of being in that position. This junior has an idea.”
“Do speak it, Nephew Zhao.”
“This Zhao is willing to be a lock that restrains him, so I must trouble you with hosting the ceremony of me abandoning my jianghu career.”
—
As soon as news got around that Zhao Jiangui, the number-one swordsman, was abandoning jianghu while in the prime of his life, jianghu went into an uproar.
The Alliance Leader personally presided over the ceremony for him, only saying that Zhao Jiangui was no longer going to bother with jianghu affairs, only wishing to return to his home to live in seclusion and focus on his path of the sword.
Since he had exited jianghu, his battle at Swordmeet Peak with Ji Han was also put to a disappointing end. The jianghu crowd couldn’t help but wring their hands and sigh. Undertaking everyone’s thoughts, the Hero of Mount Ba, Jin Beiguo, wanted to urge Zhao Jiangui to stay.
The latter had already made up his mind, so he wouldn’t just change it so easily. The two spoke for a while, after which Jin Beiguo suddenly asked out of curiosity, “Did you do this in part because of that demon, Brother Zhao?”
Zhao Jiangui choked. “Um…”
Seeing his expression, the other sighed. “I used to be confused about this, but now I have personal experience. I understand.”
“Personal experience?”
“Jianghu is so vast, yet there’s actually no room for people that sincerely love each other.”
“…”
He faintly recalled that back when he had deceived Ji Han, he had fabricated stuff about Jin Beiguo and his two twin pals, even saying that the three of them had been forced to walk together due to hearsay. He opened his mouth to speak, with some difficulty. “Brother Jin, are you saying…”
Jin Beiguo sighed. “Brother Zhao, you should know that some gossip has started circulating jianghu at some unknown point in time.”
“…”
“You’re a man of unflinching integrity, so this Jin should not pass on such obscenities to you.”
“…”
“Jianghu really has a lot of rules… I want to go into seclusion, too.”
“…”
Sorry, Brother Jin!

122
Jin Beiguo never ended up persuading him. Following the ceremony, Zhao Jiangui seemed to vanish from jianghu, gone without a trace.
When that news reached the Demonic Creed, Ji Han was ineffably upset and angry.
Such a big event, and Zhao Jiangui had never talked it over with him at all!
He was in a rotten mood for several days on end. No one in the Creed dared to say anything to console him. In the middle of one such night, he was extremely annoyed while reading documents; Wei Qi happened to be reporting things to him at the time, so he was in his room, enumerating a lot of the jianghu intel Flying Hawk Hall had intercepted these days.
As the two chatted for a bit, a rustling sound was suddenly heard in the courtyard outside, following which someone knocked on the door.
The Elder Maid had not informed him that anyone would be stopping by. Ji Han and Wei Qi exchanged a look. Inevitably on-guard, Ji Han clutched the sword on the table. “Who’s there?!” he harshly shouted.
After a short period of quiet outside, an answer was heard: “Your man.”
“…”
Such a familiar, silver tongue. Ji Han didn’t even need to think about who it could be.
He was extremely pleased at heart, but still resisted smiling. “You’re saying nonsense again, Zhao Jiangui!”
Zhao Jiangui pushed the door open and came in, smiling. “How was that nonsense?”
With this reunion that came after a short split, Ji Han was in no mood for his duties, grabbing Zhao Jiangui. “Why did you come back?”
“I plan to stay in the Demonic Creed.”
Upon seeing Ji Han raise his eyebrows, Zhao Jiangui immediately fixed his wording. “Holy Creed.”
“…”
“I’ve split away from jianghu. I wonder if the Creed Lord can spare this Zhao a bite to eat?”
“You’re really going to stay in the Creed forever?” Ji Han hesitantly asked.
Zhao Jiangui nodded. “Of course.”
Despite his joy, Ji Han had to ask, “Why?”
Thinking to himself that he needed to be more direct, Zhao Jiangui thus blurted out, “I’m afraid that you’ll lose your way in someone else’s heart.”
Taken aback, Ji Han sized him up for a minute, and then his face pinched. “Take it out,” he frostily commanded.
The other was confused for a moment. “Take what out?”
“Where’s your scriptbook?” Ji Han raged. “You’re talking like you’re reciting lines from a play!”
Zhao Jiangui hoarsely burst out laughing. “There isn’t one.”
“Speak properly!”
“I am speaking properly,” Zhao Jiangui replied, wronged.
Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel again, Wei Qi quickly went to mediate. “Hero Zhao wanting to stay in our Holy Creed is a great thing!”
“Hah,” Ji Han spat.
“However, you have a special status, Hero Zhao,” Wei Qi said with a smile. “If you want to stay, I’m afraid that you’ll have to find an appropriate identity.”
“…”
This conversation seemed pretty familiar.
“This Wei has thought about it, and only these three identities would suit you: the Lord’s deathguard, attendant, and lover.”
“…”
“You’ve already experienced deathguard and attendant. It would be best to…”
“…”
Wei Qi giggled. “It would be best to let you choose one yourself.”

123
Zhao Jiangui had been staying in the Creed for several months, and never once had he picked out one of the identities Wei Qi had given him, remaining with his own identity of Zhao Jiangui.
Most everyone in the Creed knew that he had some kind of connection to the Creed Lord, so he inevitably didn’t speak much, staying in the room neighboring Ji Han’s. The relationship between them continued as normal, but he gradually came to feel somewhat unhappy.
He thought that he had expressed his intentions clearly, but Ji Han didn’t react much, only occasionally getting red and warm in the face. Although they had some slightly more intimate actions, they weren’t going anywhere. He didn’t know why Ji Han was like this, and after such a long time, it was hard to not become a little vexed.
He had asked the Elder Maid about this, and even consulted Yu Xian’r. The two had insisted that Ji Han had him in his heart, he was just too thin-skinned and found it hard to say it. A few days later, right on the day of the Double Seventh festival, the Elder Maid took it upon herself to encourage him. “Hero Zhao, you need to be taking a little more initiative!”
Zhao Jiangui just smiled bitterly. “I’m still not taking enough as it is?”
Head drooped in dismay, it looked like him not getting a reaction for so long had lost him his motivation, and inevitably made him overthink.
After so many days, even a stone would get heated up, yet Ji Han was giving no response…
Maybe… Ji Han didn’t like him?

124
Unbeknownst to him, right after he had finished complaining to the Elder Maid, she ran off to find Ji Han, who was in the middle of reading business letters in his study. After hearing her go on and on using a huge pile of words, his only response was, “So?”
“So?!” She was incensed. “My Lord! If you don’t respond better, Hero Zhao will get discouraged and leave!”
He furrowed his brow at last, looking up at her. “This Lord… isn’t expressing it clearly enough?”
“…”
She went and brought Yu Xian’r, the emotional tutor, over, sat Ji Han down on a chair, and prepared to school him together with him.
“Creed Lord, you’re really being too discrete.” Yu Xian’r sighed. “Someone like Hero Zhao won’t understand just from you blushing. You need to tell him directly!”
Ji Han picked up his tea cup to cover up his franticness. “What… should I say?”
Yu Xian’r slapped the table, disappointed in him. “You need to call him your darling or sweetheart, say you’re enamored with him, never wish to be apart, enjoy everything about being like fishes in water to each other, and want to get it on, obviously!”
Ji Han choked on his tea. The Elder Maid quickly helped him regulate his breathing, shooting a desperate look at Yu Xian’r.
The latter understood. This Lord was young, thin-skinned, and very likely a chick that had never experienced sexuality.
How could such a pure and innocent Demonic Creed Lord exist under this sky?!
Yu Xian’r now felt like he had a new painting subject.
Ever since Zhao Jiangui had prohibited him from writing wantonly, he had indeed sealed his brush away and switched to painting storybooks. He was proficient in all sorts of arts, such as the four of qin, qi, literature, and painting, too; a ban on writing was just that. What would he be afraid of?
A man of Qinhuai Shores would never admit defeat!
“If you can’t say that, I have some other methods,” he said, carefully pondering. “Were Hero Zhao to take the initiative to start wooing you, then you would only need to agree to it. The bother of having to bare your true feelings would be eliminated, then.”
“As I see it, Hero Zhao isn’t that much different from the Lord, though,” the maid couldn’t help but warn. “He wouldn’t take the initiative to say something, either.”
Yu Xian’r smiled slightly. “Don’t worry. Flirting with men is something I excel at.”

125
He pointed one scallion-jade finger upwards. “The first step is barely-there bodily contact.”
The Elder Maid shook her head. “That trick won’t work. They duel every day, and have had contact who knows how many times. It’d be no use. Next.”
“Ah, men. They always have a desire to protect. As long as you put on a weak and pitiful display, like a little bird having to depend upon a human…”
He shifted his gaze to Ji Han. The other was dressed all in black, wore a sword at his middle, and had a trim and slender waistline — one glance told that he was a martial artist. Beyond that, the look on his face was bone-piercingly frigid and extremely terrifying, making Yu Xian’r swallow down the rest of what he was going to say.
“That trick won’t work, either. Next one, next one…” he rejected himself.
Ji Han: “…”
After pacing for a minute, Yu Xian’r got another idea. “You should invite him out. After that, tell him that the weather is too cold and you didn’t wear enough, so ask to lend his outer robe.”
The Maid looked pretty excited. “Then, you can wash the robe and give it back to him—“
Ji Han raised his hand to cut them both off. “This Lord will not do laundry,” he said, expressionless. “Also, it’s July. Why would it be cold?”
“The actual weather doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you feel cold, Creed Lord!” Yu Xian’r pressed.
“Martial artists don’t feel cold easily. That’s some real nonsense.”
The Maid: “…”
Yu Xian’r: “…”

126
“I finally understand why Hero Zhao likes you, Lord. You two truly are a perfect pair,” Yu Xian’r said, exasperated.
The Elder Maid covered her face, not wanting to speak.
“I have one last method.” Yu Xian’r sighed deeply. “You just need to follow my instructions.”
—
The Elder Maid knocked on Zhao Jiangui’s door, then simply said that Ji Han needed him for something important, so he just needed to wait a short minute for him to come over himself.
Zhao Jiangui had no suspicions towards him. After waiting for a while, he finally heard footsteps outside the door, and Ji Han slowly walked in from outside.
Only then did Zhao Jiangui notice that the Ji Han of today was very different from how he normally was.
He typically wore ink-black fighter’s clothes and bound his hair up high in a pin-crown; as a swordsman, he naturally had to dress simply for ease of movement. Today, however, he had switched that out for long robes and a jade hairpin. Zhao Jiangui couldn’t help but be stunned. “Creed Lord, this…”
Slightly uncomfortable, Ji Han sat down at the table, clutching his sword like he had something to say.
Zhao Jiangui poured a cup of water for him, then sat down beside him. “What do you need?”
“This Lord…”
Suddenly feeling that addressing himself like that was a bit wrong, Ji Han paused. He had never been this nervous before in his life. With a light cough, he changed the subject. “A few things…”
Zhao Jiangui lightly smiled. “Go ahead and say them. There’s no need for politeness between us.”
Upon seeing him smile, Ji Han got even more uncomfortable. He frowned, thinking about how he was the Creed Lord — when had he ever dawdled so much in his actions? It would be better to just cut through this knot with a sword by saying everything he wanted to in one breath.
He picked up the tea cup on the table, wanting a drink before he spoke, but his brain abruptly recalled Yu Xian’r’s words; if he wanted to drink something, he just had to drink it from Zhao Jiangui’s cup.
That act would be affectionate and charming. If utilized appropriately, he would half-succeed, as even Zhao Jiangui, that unromantic sword loon, would likely be savoring the flavor of it for days to come, bones weak and soul caught.
Ji Han made a decision, setting down his own cup. His movements were blunt and resolute; Zhao Jiangui hardly had any time to react before he witnessed Ji Han pick up his cup.
“Creed Lord!” Zhao Jiangui quickly exclaimed. “My cup has—“
Ji Han shot it back in one gulp.
“…cooling tea.”
“…”
“…”
Ji Han covered his mouth.
Although his dispatched army had not yet become victorious, he, without another word, got up and ran straight out with a hand over his lips.
He needed something sweet… he needed sugar to continue to live!
The Elder Maid and Yu Xian’r were currently waiting in the courtyard. Upon seeing him running away with his covered mouth, they were both stunned. Yu Xian’r got so unbelievably excited, he smacked the table with force. “What a formidable Hero!”
The Maid didn’t understand.
“The Hero is worthy of being a Hero. A myriad of crappy words is inferior in strength to a kiss!”
Zhao Jiangui came out right after, happening to hear that inexplicable sentence. He stared blankly at Yu Xian’r. “What happened here? Why is Ji Han being so strange today?” he asked.
The Maid informed him of everything, being very honest. He was confused at first, but once he heard that Ji Han was apparently just bad at expressing himself and unwilling to say anything, he somehow couldn’t stop himself from feeling elated, almost laughing out loud.
He circled about the room twice, suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned to the other two. “What else is he going to do?”
The Elder Maid shook her head, sighing. “The Lord said that if this act fails, he’ll never listen to Don Yu and I’s nonsense ever again. He also said that he wanted to do it himself, but he…”
She didn’t go on.
Regardless of whether it was the Creed Lord or Hero Zhao, she wouldn’t feel at ease.

127
Ji Han stopped for a few days, not taking any further actions until the day of the Double Seventh festival. He had the Elder Maid pass a message on to Zhao Jiangui, telling him to get ready to meet in the courtyard that night.
In the evening, Ji Han was waiting for him there, not saying a word. Zhao Jiangui sat in silence, as well. After a quarter of an hour of them being like this, he heard Ji Han softly speak.
“Zhao Jiangui… have you ever heard of the tale of the magpie bridge?”
The other was startled, then nodded in agreement. “Of course I have.”
He then thought further. Ji Han had only been taught to practice swordplay since he was little, and Yin Buhuo had treated him harshly, not like how a father would treat a son. Perhaps, as a child, no one had ever told him these stories. Just when he thought to speak, Ji Han unexpectedly picked the conversation up. “If one amongst those two had been able to protect the other, how could they have fallen into that plight later on?”
Zhao Jiangui felt that something was amiss. He wanted to refute him, but Ji Han just raised his hand, like he wanted him to wait a little bit.
“Being attached to someone… if you have self-awareness, and if you never get close to them from the start, nothing similar will happen afterwards, naturally. You must be wanting to ask me why I’m so cold to you, and why I say one thing but mean another.”
His thoughts were simple. From childhood to adulthood, everything he had loved would ultimately get snatched away. His father had disliked for him to have outside factors in his mind, so he hadn’t been allowed to even have a desire for good food — he had needed to only favor the sword.
Even though his father was now detained, he still had that fear.
He was always thinking that, as the Lord of the Demonic Creed, if the righteous path wanted to deal with him, what should he do if the first be dealt with was Zhao Jiangui?
The latter was a famed jianghu swordsman — when that time came, it would inevitably come to an impasse. Ji Han was one most familiar with the feeling of being powerless to protect what he loved, which had rooted entirely inside his heart; had that heart truly been unmoved, things would have been fine.
He softly sighed. “I’m just worried about what I could lose.”
Zhao Jiangui wasn’t an idiot. With him having said as much, he understood what he was thinking of, after some consideration. Not rebutting him at all, he simply stood up, grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist, and smiled at him. “Do you want to duel?”
Ji Han was taken aback.
It was Double Seventh, the scenery was beautiful, and yet… Zhao Jiangui wanted to drag him into duel.
He automatically frowned. Even so, seeing how excited Zhao Jiangui was, he didn’t want to crush his hopes, thus forcing himself up and following him to the courtyard.
Their swordsmanship was on relatively the same level, making the winner and loser hard to distinguish. However, when their swords clanged together, Zhao Jiangui suddenly spoke, letting his words float down.
“Don’t forget that this Zhao is the number-one swordsman in the land. How many people exist that could hurt us?”
With that one statement, Ji Han was like a dreamer awakening. Caught off guard for a moment, he missed half a move and landed at a disadvantage, but he wasn’t annoyed at all, like the final thread of worries in his mind had vanished as smoke. How did he forget that if the two of them joined forces, no one in jianghu could stand against them?
Elated, he took his sword back and sheathed it, then looked at the smile in Zhao Jiangui’s eyes again — and he was unable to keep from smiling, too.
“Zhao Jiangui,” he said, “accompany this Lord for some wine.”

128
The two of them jumped onto the roof. The Elder Maid had given them wine; Ji Han poured Zhao Jiangui a full cup himself, extraordinarily pleased. “If we don’t get drunk tonight, we’re not going home.”
Zhao Jiangui felt a bit disturbed. He still didn’t like wine that much, nor did he understand what was so great about drinking it, so he had to knit his brows tight. “Why do you like drinking so much?”
Ji Han grinned. “Wine doesn’t get people drunk, people get themselves drunk.”
He drank down all of the wine in his cup, then looked at Zhao Jiangui’s face that was right next to him. Tonight’s moonlight was just right. Unexpectedly, the other looked back at him, and they stared off for a short moment.
“I have something to give you,” Zhao Jiangui suddenly said.
“What is it?”
Since time immemorial, in all jianghu tall-tales, every singe talent and beauty would use some sort of token to profess their love. The things Ji Han liked were few, though. Following the day the Elder Maid had explained everything clearly to him, he had gone into deep thought, and had finally come up with something Ji Han was certain to like.
He took off the sword he always carried on him and handed it to him, a smile on his lips. “A sword.”
Ji Han was astonished. He accepted the sword, but couldn’t return to his senses for a very long time. He knew that for a swordsman like Zhao Jiangui, his matching sword was practically like his own life. Giving it to him was basically saying…
He scrambled to take his own sword off, then solemnly gave it to Zhao Jiangui. “This Lord never owes anyone any favors. You gave me something, so I must give you something back.”
There was even more of a smile held in Zhao Jiangui’s eyes — he accepted the sword, indescribably joyful. When he looked at Ji Han again, his heart had every type of tender sentiment inside of it, and he couldn’t help himself, grabbing the other’s hand.
They were on this roof again.
A thought came to him.
When they were here last, Ji Han had said he was sorry to him, then kissed him. At the time, they had opposed each other in righteousness and chaos, and that kiss had been to catch him off guard, not a thing to be done about their affections therein. Now, things were different.
Empowering himself, he nearly got in close to Ji Han’s face, only for the other to push him away by the shoulders.
He stared at him in confusion.
Ji Han lightly coughed. “This Lord will do it.”
“…” Zhao Jiangui frowned. “You were the one to take initiative last time. It should be this humble one’s turn, right?”
The other raised a brow. “Only if you can get the better of me.”
“…”
“Hero Zhao is an upright nobleman. Something like that would naturally be fair—“
Zhao Jiangui didn’t feel like paying him any mind, kissing him while he was still talking. The contact of their lips was only a featherlight touch, though, after which he drew back, having what seemed to be a purposeful grin. “I’ve already taken initiative. It’s your turn, next.”
“…”

129
Behind a shrub in the courtyard, the Elder Maid was wringing her handkerchief and shedding silent tears.
Yu Xian’r patted her on the shoulder to comfort her. “Sister, please calm down.”
While he said that, he thought to take a brush and paper out of the small pouch that he always carried with him, but he couldn’t find it after a long period of fishing around. He had to look back at Wei Qi and stretch his hand towards him; the latter knew what he meant, immediately handing over a brush and book filled with Flying Hawk Hall intel.
Seeing Yu Xian’r bury his head in a drawing, the Elder Maid cried out of elation, then looked back at the two on the roof. Wei Qi stroked his chin, thinking to himself that it was time to add a new identity option for Hero Zhao.
‘The Creed Lord’s spouse’ was not too shabby.
—
Amidst the meeting of their lips, Zhao Jiangui suddenly heard the sound of fireworks, the bloom of them shortly filling up the sky. Caught off guard, he moved away a little and turned his face to the side to look, slightly surprised. “Are there fireworks in town today, too?” he had to ask.
As he sat beside him, Ji Han looked askance at all the fireworks, a faint smile on his lips. Upon hearing him ask that, he turned his head back to him. “There’s no fireworks in town.”
Zhao Jiangui was confused. “Then…”
“None will be there today,” Ji Han said clearly, his eyes burning, practically radiating light, “because I set these all of these off for you alone.”

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