Chapter 6: A Paradise Beyond the World

The eleventh day of the eighth month — auspicious for weddings, inauspicious for consecrations.

An autumn wind stirred, and a maple leaf drifted down — then suddenly froze in midair, before splitting cleanly in two along its central vein.

Only after the silence came a sudden, thunderous crack, shaking the maple grove and sending leaves cascading down in a rustling shower as blade-light flickered.

"Damn it! What exactly am I missing?"

Zhao Lan sheathed his blade, brow furrowed tight.

He had pushed the third tier of the Eight Wilds Blade Canon to its absolute limit — so why couldn't he break through to the fourth?

Uncle Xiao had told him that practitioners who mastered the third tier were as common as blades of grass, but that only those who broke through to the fourth tier could be called a true blade genius in all of Great Jin.

He had once cheekily asked Uncle Xiao whether he himself had ever achieved it, and Uncle Xiao had said he'd barely managed it at thirty.

Whatever the case, he had to surpass his teacher — he still had four years, and he would master that fourth tier!

Zhao Lan swore it silently to himself.

Suddenly, a carrier pigeon fluttered down to the ground. Zhao Lan stepped forward, retrieved the slip of paper tied to its leg, unfolded it, and his eyes lit up at once —

"Little Sister Liu wants me to meet her at Green Pine Pavilion!"

He slung his blade across his back, stepped lightly on the wind, and was gone in an instant.

* * *

Green Pine Pavilion stood to the east of Lin'an Commandery's outskirts — a secluded, long-abandoned pavilion.

The surrounding area was untouched wilderness, overgrown with weeds; it was the kind of place that might go half a month without a single visitor.

It was now the eighth month. Two green pines stood tall outside the pavilion, and along the side of the pine grove lay a small pavilion lake — though with no one to tend it, the water had grown murky and unkempt.

Zhao Lan had barely arrived when he spotted a young woman seated inside the pavilion.

His heart leapt with joy, and he called out loudly:

"Miss!"

"What took you so long?"

Liu Zhi's brow creased, and Zhao Lan immediately began to apologize.

"Sit down. I have a favor to ask of you."

"What kind of favor?"

Zhao Lan's expression visibly brightened — Little Sister Liu had actually used the word "favor" with him.

"I heard your foster father is a blacksmith. As it happens, the edge of my sword has chipped a little — could you ask him to fix it for me?"

Liu Zhi drew a jade-green longsword from her waist and held it up toward Zhao Lan.

"That's... well..."

Zhao Lan's face fell into an awkward expression.

"What? You won't even help me with this?"

"No, no, Miss, it's not that — it's just that I discovered this very morning that Uncle Xiao has already left the smithy. I don't know where he is right now."

"What! Hmph — I think you're just making excuses. After everything I've done for you, and you treat me like this. I'm done talking to you!"

Liu Zhi flared with anger, turned her head away, and rose to leave.

"Wait, Miss! I — I'll go find Uncle Xiao, alright? Please don't be angry."

As he spoke, Zhao Lan reached out to take the sword from her, but she deftly pulled it away.

"You're full of lies. Didn't you just say you didn't know where he was?"

"I truly don't know, Miss — but I have a rough idea of where he might be."

"Hmph. I'm coming with you, to make sure you don't try to wriggle out of it."

Zhao Lan's face took on a pained look.

"Miss, my foster father is very stubborn and fierce. If he finds out I brought an outsider there, he'll definitely give me a good thrashing."

Liu Zhi cut him off, irritated: "You're calling me an outsider?"

Zhao Lan froze, as if he'd caught a hint of something more in those words, and his heart soared.

He gave an awkward laugh —

"Of course not, of course not — how could Miss ever be an outsider! I'll take you there. But Miss, you absolutely must keep this secret for me."

Liu Zhi crossed her arms:

"Lead the way."

Zhao Lan didn't dare dawdle, and quickly rose to his feet, guiding Liu Zhi out of the pavilion.

Just thinking about spending time walking alongside Little Sister Liu filled his heart with sweetness, as if it had been drizzled with honey.

Before long, the two had left the bustling commandery city far behind and arrived at a dry, remote ravine on the outskirts — still technically within the bounds of Lin'an Commandery, but utterly devoid of human presence.

"This is so far away!"

Liu Zhi complained, a flicker of unease in her heart — though when she thought of the one following in the shadows, she felt reassured again.

"You insisted on coming yourself, Miss."

Zhao Lan laughed inwardly. Deep in the mountains, alone with a young woman — his thoughts were beginning to wander.

He continued to wind through the terrain, leading her through several more ravines, then squeezing through an extremely narrow crack in the cliff face, before finally coming to a stop.

"Here?"

Liu Zhi looked at the scene before her and was instantly stunned.

She hadn't imagined that within Lin'an Commandery, there could be a place like this — a paradise hidden from the world.

Just moments ago they had been in a dim, narrow ravine, and yet passing through that sliver of rock, the world had opened up before her into a vast peach grove.

No — more than that!

In the distance, green mountains embraced the valley, a stream murmured gently, and along its banks grew emerald bamboo and blossoming peach trees. The eye could not find the ravine walls at the far end — it felt like an entire world unto itself.

"Surprised, aren't you? Who would have thought such a small ravine could hide such a vast world within!"

Seeing Liu Zhi's stunned expression, Zhao Lan was inwardly delighted. He spread his arms wide and cried out with joy:

"This place — is a paradise beyond the world!"

Liu Zhi still hadn't recovered from her astonishment, breathing in deeply.

Zhao Lan strode into the distant peach grove and called out loudly —

"Uncle Xiao! Are you here, Uncle Xiao!"

"Don't be angry — I brought Little Sister Liu with me, but she's absolutely not a bad person. She'll definitely keep our secret!"

After calling out for a while, Zhao Lan returned to Liu Zhi's side.

"Don't worry, Miss — Uncle Xiao must be here somewhere. He's probably just being shy. That's how he is, a bit wary of strangers..."

As Zhao Lan spoke, he suddenly stopped, lifting his gaze toward the path they had come from, his eyes going wide.

His left hand silently moved to rest on his blade's scabbard, and he said in a low voice —

"Miss, step back — I think we've been followed."

Even as he spoke, a figure appeared on the path ahead.

When Zhao Lan saw the face, his pupils contracted sharply:

"Heir of the Northern Marquis?!"

* * *

"What a surprise — to think a place like this was hidden here."

Pei Su smiled.

He had suspected something, but hadn't expected it to be — a peach garden like this.

The entrance was so well concealed that without someone familiar to guide the way, an ordinary person could pass by for a hundred years and never find it. And what surprised Pei Su even more was what lay within —

Hidden among the peach grove was an Array Formation of extraordinary profundity, and further still, traces of numerous high-level auras lingered throughout.

The entire valley was shrouded by some kind of concealing presence — even a Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator standing just on the other side of the wall would detect nothing.

This place was far from ordinary, and far beyond anything Xiao Lin could have constructed. Most likely, he had merely stumbled upon it by chance and was using it as a temporary hiding place.

Pei Su withdrew his gaze and set aside further speculation, turning his attention to Zhao Lan before him.

"Heir of the Northern Marquis! What do you think you're doing — secretly following me and Miss around!"

Zhao Lan's neck flushed red, his fury spilling over into wild words.

Pei Su offered a faint smile and said only —

"Come here, Miss Liu — don't let this raving scoundrel harm you."

What?

Zhao Lan's mind felt as though it had been stuffed with mud — utterly unable to function — and then he watched, helplessly, as Liu Zhi, standing right beside him...

Sprinted swiftly to stand behind Pei Su, then let out a long, relieved breath.

"I was so frightened just now, Your Lordship!"

Liu Zhi's voice carried a soft, aggrieved lilt, as if she were gently reproaching him.

Zhao Lan could not believe what he was seeing. His mind was on the verge of exploding.

He pointed at Liu Zhi, his pupils contracting and dilating in rapid succession, like a beast on the edge of madness.

"You — you two...!!"