For over seven thousand days and nights, he swung the hammer just like this.
How he wished the hammer was not falling on an unformed iron billet, but on the blades and heads of his enemies.
Just like right now!
Shanhaizhong Boss
The rest of you, retreat.
Shanhaizhong Boss
Your hammer is heavy, but not fast enough.
Meng Tieyi
As long as it's heavy enough to break your blade and smash your head in!
Shanhaizhong Boss
......
Meng Tieyi
Oh, no. I planned a much better death for you. I wanted to stuff this warehouse full of explosives, and when the Catastrophe arrived, to give your lives as an offering to Yumen!
Meng Tieyi
Of course, mine would be in there too.
Shanhaizhong Boss
So that was your plan?
Meng Tieyi
Why would I have taken the initiative to seek your cooperation otherwise?!
Shanhaizhong Boss
I don't see why we should have such enmity between us.
Meng Tieyi
Maybe it was how you somehow managed to sneak into Yumen, somehow disguised yourselves as martial artists to gain the trust of the guards, and then somehow caused chaos all over the city, turning Yumen into what it is right now!
Meng Tieyi
My memory's not that bad yet!
Shanhaizhong Boss
......
Meng Tieyi
The day you first showed up in the city, I recognized you right away.
Meng Tieyi
I've waited twenty years for you to come!
Meng Tieyi
Such a pity that with just a little accident, everything was lost...
Meng Tieyi
Lucky I still have this hammer of mine!
The warehouse is dimly lit, and the glass blade in Lin Yühsia's hand turns more and more transparent.
The Shanhaizhong seem fearful of her exquisite Originium Arts, and instead of swarming her, they coordinate and slowly begin to encircle her.
Lin Yühsia
(For such a group to hide in the city for so long and stay undiscovered...)
Lin Yühsia
(Their fighting style doesn't seem to come from any common school or military, and yet they're fierce and unrelenting, but also disciplined and highly organized... where exactly did they come from?)
Lin Yühsia
(If only I had Ch'en's sword here to better deal with them...)
Lin Yühsia
(What am I daydreaming for...? My top priority is to break out of here and bring the data with me.)
Du Yaoye
Hey, let me help!
Lin Yühsia
......
Lin Yühsia
What are you still doing here?
Du Yaoye
I got the Qis out and heard a fight over this way. Sure enough, it was this bunch again.
Lin Yühsia
Your friends...
Du Yaoye
They're fine.
Du Yaoye
The Messenger and the escorts are all fine—Meng Tieyi had them locked up, but didn't harm a single one of them.
Lin Yühsia
......
Du Yaoye
Don't look at me like that, you haven't been forgiven yet. After we clean up these guys, I'll settle the score with you.
Lin Yühsia
Then it's best you start thinking how to survive this, they won't be easy to deal with.
Du Yaoye
You don't need to remind me.
Meng Tieyi
Yaoye?
Du Yaoye
You're not allowed to call me that!
Meng Tieyi
......
Meng Tieyi
Sounds like you know.
Shanhaizhong Boss
Distracted?
Meng Tieyi
Shut up.
Du Yaoye
Why should I shut—
Meng Tieyi
I wasn't talking to you.
Meng Tieyi
Anyway, I'm glad you're alright.
Meng Tieyi
I will make my apologies after defeating my foe with my own hands.
Shanhaizhong Boss
Heh.
Du Yaoye
......
Du Yaoye
Why do you sound so relieved, speaking to me?
Du Yaoye
Because no one actually lost their lives, because everything is still in your hands?
Du Yaoye
If you had always planned a fake death for the Messenger team, why did you ask me to put the Qis on the job?
Du Yaoye
Everyone in the city holds you in the highest regard, and you play games with their lives!
Meng Tieyi
To be honest, it's not like I've never wavered...
Meng Tieyi
But when you showed up at my door so enthusiastically, saying you wanted to open the first modern logistics company in Yumen and told me not to consider your father, Zheng Qingyue's reputation...
Meng Tieyi
Oh, how I miss the times when we were young!
The force of each blade on him increases, as does the ferocity of the girl screaming at him.
Meng Tieyi stops talking, grits his teeth, and swings his hammer.
Du Yaoye
I remember you telling me that you were a well-known figure in Yumen for all the right and wrong reasons.
Du Yaoye
In your day, you trained with the Grandmaster to kill your enemies, and quick to exact revenge. In order to exact justice for the people who were robbed, you chased the bandits for more than a hundred li out in the desert and destroyed their stronghold.
Du Yaoye
You know exactly how many streets, shops, and tents there are in the city. You know every part of Yan that your sworn-brothers in the army hail from.
Du Yaoye
But right now, do you even care about Yumen anymore?!
Du Yaoye
You're way more pedantic and muddled than my father who refuses to let go of his old ways!
Du Yaoye
Times change, and so will we!
Du Yaoye
Escorts will turn into logistics companies, and the Sword Forge will turn into a regular workshop. No one can stop this, and you shouldn't even try.
Du Yaoye
No matter how much you hate, how much resentment you hold in your heart, you have no right to test Yumen with a Catastrophe just to see if it can hold a candle to its old days!
Du Yaoye
How dare you?!
Du Yaoye
Are you even worthy of this city?!
Du Yaoye
Meng! Are you even worthy of yourself?!
Meng Tieyi
......
Lin Yühsia
Du Yaoye, watch out!
Meng Tieyi
Huh?
Meng Tieyi has never once looked back.
A duel between masters does not tolerate even the slightest distraction, let alone an enigmatic like this woman.
He isn't sure if he fully comprehends exactly what little Du Yaoye has been scolding him over, only that it is loud and muddled with a lot of emotion.
But he hears Lin Yühsia's warning loud and clear, and turns his head on reflex.
Meng Tieyi throws the hammer in his hand, knocking away the enemies enclosing onto Du Yaoye's back.
At the same time, a long and narrow blade cuts his spine open.
Du Yaoye
Uncle Meng—!
Meng Tieyi
Xingyu Logistics... is a good idea...
Meng Tieyi
But I, won't get to see the seeds sprout myself...
Du Yaoye
......
Have you never considered... the jianghu you speak of is still here, just in a different form?
Shanhaizhong Boss
The rest of you are next.
The woman steps over the body lying on the ground.
Blood drips down the extremely long blade.
Lin Yühsia
She's coming.
Du Yaoye
I can see that.
Lin Yühsia
Since escorting the Messengers was a trap, that means Xingyu Logistics has yet to really open.
Du Yaoye
......
Lin Yühsia
I'm not sure if you be willing to accept my request to deliver something?
Du Yaoye
Right now?
Lin Yühsia
This box holds the true Catastrophe data that must be handed over to the Lord Exorcist. Take my token with you, and he will let you in.
Du Yaoye
And then what?
Lin Yühsia
Then you start hoping that it's not too late.
Du Yaoye
Don't give me that, you'll have me run off while you stay and play the hero?
Lin Yühsia
You should know very well, I'm not that good of a person.
Lin Yühsia
But someone has to get the data out.
Lin Yühsia
This woman is so unfathomably powerful, she even killed Meng Tieyi.
Du Yaoye
......
Lin Yühsia
With my Arts, I might be able to hold them back and create a quick opening for you.
Du Yaoye
What about you?
Lin Yühsia
Who knows.
Du Yaoye
What are you talking about?!
Lin Yühsia
If you think you can hold them back for me, then we'll switch roles.
Du Yaoye
......
Lin Yühsia
I'm sorry, for lying to you about your friends.
Du Yaoye
You're not the only one who has lied to me. When I was yelling at Meng Tieyi earlier, that was all for you, too.
Lin Yühsia
Right, I forgot to tell you this. Honestly, I think it is impressive for someone to travel so far and work so hard to make her living.
Du Yaoye
Now's not the time for—
Lin Yühsia
Remember this. If you don't make it out, Yumen won't make it through the Catastrophe either.
Du Yaoye
This is a tall order, but Xingyu Logistics accepts.
Lin Yühsia
Close your eyes.
Lin Yühsia shakes her hands, and the glass shards fall to the ground, instantly turning to quicksand.
Streams of fine sand flow from the corners and ceiling, quickly converging as one.
The military whistle sounds from the top of the city. The sky is already pitch black, and the outline of the full moons can be vaguely seen through the clouds.
If the old smith has finished his work and returns to the Sword Forge to find her missing, he could probably figure out that he should look for her over at the sand sluice.
The nomadic city foundations chew through the ground, the high-speed turbines grinding up oversized obstacles along with tons of sand and gravel, spitting them out with a deafening sound.
The old smith was right, there are no guards posted here, because no one would ever want to leave the city this way.
Jieyun
(It's almost time...)
Fierce Animal
(Violent braying)
Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Three times you've gotten away from me. And lucky enough, you've once again walked yourself into a dead end.
Jieyun
I don't know you.
Shanhaizhong Ringleader
The sword on your back has nothing to do with our plans, but an object hiding one-twelfth of the bestial Sui's consciousness is of great interest to someone.
Jieyun
Bestial Sui? What are you talking about...?
Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Sounds like you don't know anything. That makes you even less worthy of holding that sword.
An Anasa actively mingling in a Yanese nomadic city? How ridiculous.
Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Have you forgotten where you came from? Forgotten what happened to your people? While you were suffering out in the wilderness, aimlessly looking for food and shelter, did Yan ever help you?
Shanhaizhong Member
Anasa, you should join the Shanhaizhong organization.
Jieyun
All I see is the terrible things you've done in the city.
Swords clash, the sound rings through the air wrought by friction. Lin Yühsia's sword shifts its form between sand and glass, countless shards in the air reflecting a silhouette within.
The figure stands before her, tall and straight as a poplar.
Du Yaoye has been in the city for a while, but she never realized the streets went on for so long.
Just a hundred meters feels more difficult than traversing the mountain roads of Xunri Peak. The small box in her arms feels heavier than any quarry shouldered by the mountain pole-carriers.
Be it the Escort Association or a logistics company, things will always be the same. For the sake of our livelihood, we put our lives on the line. If you wish to make a name for yourself in this business, you need to understand how heavy the weight on your shoulders is.
I'll never forget all the stories about escort missions Dad would tell me, even if he kept repeating them over and over again. Or maybe because he did.
The principle is the same every time, but you only really understand it after experiencing it for yourself.
Du Yaoye
(Faster, faster...)
Du Yaoye
(I can see the gates!)
Du Yaoye
They've almost caught up to me?!
Du Yaoye is skilled in the art of using the wind to anticipate danger. If she focuses without distraction, she could absolutely dodge this arrow.
The arrow pierces her right shoulder, causing the box to slip out of her grasp. She hastily reaches out with her left hand to catch it, but ends up falling to the ground, along with the box.
