Jin Tianwang shared a brief breakfast with Zhang Zhufan before the Blood Hawk departed. The Hawk was never one to remain in one place for too long. As noon neared, Jin Tianwang left the bamboo cottage, his thoughts lingering on the yellow-and-white lantern that had signaled an exchange between him and Han Yuexin, the Frostflower Maiden. A faint hope stirred in his heart—perhaps, one day, they could reconcile and roam the martial world together again.

  With purpose, Jin Tianwang set off towards the residence of the "Everlasting Love Sword" Tie Guanyong, where he had first found the yellow-and-white lantern the night before. The residence was a three-story wooden structure, modest in size, comprising three adjacent units divided by thin walls. Tie Guanyong's home was the leftmost unit, tucked beside a narrow alley. Moving silently, Jin Tianwang slipped into the alley, which bent toward the rear of the building. Realizing the narrow passageway provided a perfect path to scale the walls, he swiftly launched himself upwards, landing atop the roof with ease, his movements silent as a shadow.

  Though it was nearly noon, the sky was overcast with white clouds, and the sunlight was mild. Jin Tianwang lay flat on the roof, his ear pressed against the cool tiles as he listened intently. Below, the soft shuffle of servant girls could be heard, their footsteps light as they went about their daily tasks within.

  As afternoon approached, a loud voice erupted from the street below.

  "You little brat surnamed Zhao!" The voice bellowed, thick with disdain. "You're nothing but a servant in Lady Tie's household! Don’t get too cocky! I, Dong Jianshan, demand an audience with Lady Tie to discuss dealing with the lecherous bandit Jin Tianwang. Call her out, now!"

  Dong Jianshan, bloated and round, still wore the same bright red robe from the day before. He was quick to boast of his martial prowess, leading a group of martial artists with exaggerated confidence. His booming voice echoed through the street, demanding to meet Tie Guanyong.

  The young man addressed as "Little brat surnamed Zhao" was seventeen or eighteen years old, named Zhao Xianzhi. He was neither tall nor imposing, but thin and wiry. His face was narrow, his eyes mere slits, the pupils barely visible. His ears were small and pressed close to his head, and his lips were thin yet vividly red. In his left hand he held an unusually long and slender sword. A closer look at his hands would reveal them to be large and impeccably maintained. Hands like these marked him as a true swordsman. Yet paired with his expressionless face, they lent him the air of someone utterly cold-blooded.

  Dong Jianshan’s face flushed even redder as he jabbed a thick finger toward Zhao Xianzhi. “You little cur! Hiding behind Lady Tie’s name—have you no shame? Draw your sword!” His voice boomed across the street, but the youth before him remained motionless, eyes cold and unreadable. In the next instant, a sharp hiss cut through the air. Dong Jianshan’s body stiffened, then toppled backward, blood pouring from his throat. Before the others could react, Zhao Xianzhi had already moved. Like a shadow slipping through lamplight, he passed among them once—and they fell, one by one, each clutching a crimson line at the neck. The street fell silent as if nothing had happened at all.

  From the rooftop, Jin Tianwang narrowed his eyes. He had not seen the sword leave its sheath. Yet the wounds were clean, precise—unmistakably the work of a blade. Zhao Xianzhi’s strike had been so swift that even he could not follow it. Was the young man truly that fast, or had his own senses dulled? The thought unsettled him.

  Several years ago, Jin Tianwang had traveled to this Wei City and had the opportunity to encounter the Lightning Swordsman, Xiang Xiubai, at an art shop. Although he did not exchange moves with this famous expert, he did not believe Xiang Xiubai possessed a sword as fast and mysterious as this young man's. He recalled that Xiang Xiubai also utilized a long, slender sword, but at that time, the swordsman surnamed Xiang was nearly fifty years old and lived a life of indulgence, never lacking for wine and women. His physique resembled that of a sickly person, appearing frail rather than strong like his renowned reputation suggested.

  The corpses of the seven recently deceased were quickly cleared away by a group of people who emerged from the building, mostly from the room on the right. None of those young men showed any panic at the sight of the dead bodies; they worked swiftly and skillfully. Jin Tianwang, watching from the roof, felt quite surprised. Tie Guanyong, nicknamed the "Everlasting Love Sword," had evidently accumulated no small amount of manpower in Wei City; it seemed as if the people along this entire street were all her subordinates.

  An emerald green reflection appeared at the head of the street, drawing Jin Tianwang's gaze. He saw a couple, a man and a woman, strolling side by side onto the thoroughfare. The woman looked simply elegant, clad in white garments that radiated a pure beauty, while the young man wore emerald green clothes that were extremely eye-catching. The two walked shoulder to shoulder, smiling and laughing with one another; if passersby assumed the two were lovers, it would not be strange.

  However, this woman in white was actually Tie Guanyong, the female swordswoman famous for maintaining an everlasting love for Xiang Xiubai. As for the man in emerald green, he was the "Young Master of the North" Ke Daoping, the wealthy young expert.

  Tie Guanyong's face remained smiling, but she used the corner of her eyes to sweep the surroundings, seemingly sensing that something had just occurred on her street. She scanned the area several more times with that smiling expression before her gaze settled on Zhao Xianzhi's face, as if silently reprimanding him.

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  Ke Daoping, though a renowned expert, behaved as if he had noticed nothing of Tie Guanyong's subtle shift in expression. Yet the lightness of his steps betrayed his delight, as though he were strolling through paradise.

  Tie Guanyong suddenly stepped ahead of Ke Daoping, raising her hands in a formal martial arts greeting. Her small mouth produced a melodious sound as she spoke, "Thank you, Young Master Ke, for the delicious meal at the Three Rains Inn. I have arrived home. Apologies for not being able to invite you inside; I can only thank you, Hero, right here."

  "To have the fortune to dine with Lady Tie for a single meal is something I will never forget in this lifetime." Ke Daoping smiled until all his features seemed to bunch up in the center of his face.

  "It is rather my fortune," Tie Guanyong replied with a shy demeanor.

  Ke Daoping, witnessing such a demeanor, smiled even wider than before; his face, which already looked prematurely aged, resembled that of an old man even more.

  "Young Master Ke, please excuse me. My younger brother seems to have something to discuss with me." Tie Guanyong turned around cheerfully, walking straight toward Zhao Xianzhi, who had been waiting from the start. The two then entered the house together.

  Jin Tianwang lay still on the roof, straining to hear the activity inside. He surmised they were climbing the stairs to the third floor, where Tie Guanyong's bedroom was located; the footsteps were accompanied by conversation.

  "Xianzhi, did you kill people again?" Tie Guanyong asked in a reprimanding tone.

  There was no response from Zhao Xianzhi.

  Tie Guanyong suddenly sighed. "Lovely Xianzhi, why do you like to make a face like this? Do you want to shatter my heart?"

  There was no response from Zhao Xianzhi.

  "Or are you dissatisfied that I went out to eat with that stupid cow surnamed Ke? That person relies on his wealthy family; otherwise, he has nothing to compare to you."

  There was no response from Zhao Xianzhi, but the sound of Tie Guanyong's bedroom door opening rang out.

  Jin Tianwang immediately lifted his ear from the roof tiles. Whatever happened inside the bedroom between Tie Guanyong and Zhao Xianzhi, Jin Tianwang did not intend to perceive or listen to any further. With the sound of Tie Guanyong's seductive laughter ringing out, he knew what story would unfold inside next.

  Jin Tianwang gazed at the sky beyond the eaves, his thoughts drifting to the name “Everlasting Love Sword.” Everlasting love—what did such words truly mean? In the martial world, reputations were woven like fine silk, beautiful yet easily torn. A woman famed for constancy, yet walking hand in hand with one man by day and vanishing into another’s embrace by night. Perhaps love itself was nothing more than a pleasant illusion. Perhaps Li Sibei had not been entirely wrong. And yet, no matter how he tried to reason with himself, one face continued to surface in his heart, refusing to fade.

  Jin Tianwang stretched out to sleep. The roof above his head was broken, revealing the star-filled sky of the night. He smiled before closing his eyes, trying not to think about anything anymore. Yet, only the face of one person appeared, as always.

  Jin Tianwang drifted off without realizing it. When he awoke, he was met with a strange sight. The alleys were devoid of the usual sleepers. Though the shops were shuttered, stalls had taken their place. The previous night the street had been empty; now it was clear that everything had been arranged in advance. The trap laid for him had been meticulously prepared from the start. A heavy gloom settled in his heart, for he knew well who had orchestrated it all.

  The stalls in this area were doing bustling business. Jin Tianwang had to wait until past the second watch (around 9 PM - 11 PM) before the customers gradually dispersed and the vendors packed up their wares. Jin Tianwang, having eaten nothing but breakfast, felt no small amount of hunger. However, fearing he would be captured again, he could only endure and wait until this moment. Seeing the female vendor in the back alley depart, Jin Tianwang could hardly bear to wait any longer. But before he could jump down from the roof, he suddenly saw a window open. A shadow leaped out with a faint sound. Jin Tianwang saw it was the slender figure characteristic of a woman, so he immediately dropped down from the roof to give chase.

  That slender shadow's lightness skill was anything but ordinary. She moved like an arrow loosed from the bow, her footsteps utterly soundless as she darted from the market alley toward the great bridge spanning the canal.

  Prosperous cities often feature large canals cutting through them. Besides walking, people also preferred traveling by boat along these waterways. Large canals often clearly defined important districts within the city. For example, this side was the prosperous part of the city, full of crowded shops, while the other side of the large canal was a slum, a residence for the teeming poor. Wei City was like this as well. Once across the large canal, the houses in that area were both dilapidated and dirty—truly unsightly.

  That slender shadow ran rapidly across the deserted bridge. Jin Tianwang followed to this point and was certain that this slender shadow was Tie Guanyong. In truth, he considered breaking away and leaving, but he secretly harbored the thought that she might be sneaking out to meet the person for whom he lamented with every breath. Thus, he continued to follow. But in the end, he was destined to be disappointed.

  Jin Tianwang saw that a person was already waiting for Tie Guanyong. This person Jin Tianwang could distinguish from afar, for the figure was a hunchbacked old man whom people in the martial world feared, named "Poison Beggar" Sun Daming.

  Tie Guanyong threw herself into Sun Daming's embrace. The hunchbacked old man immediately scooped up that slender, fragile body in his arms, carrying her into a house at the back that possessed only half a roof.

  Jin Tianwang, witnessing the entire event, could only sigh once again. He turned on his heel, spun around, and walked into the darkness until he found a shrine. A shrine for the poor was naturally dilapidated and destitute, no less so than the people in this neighborhood. He himself had grown up among forests and mountains, poor since childhood. To him, such a shrine was nothing out of the ordinary. He chose a corner inside to sleep. Though he had gone without food for two meals, such hardship was nothing new to him—it was a story that had played out countless times before. He had always believed that if a man could still sleep, that was blessing enough.

  Jin Tianwang sank back into a helpless sleep, for there was nothing more he could do. The roof above his head was broken, revealing the star-filled sky of the night. He smiled bitterly before closing his eyes, trying not to think about anything anymore. Yet, only the face of one person appeared, as always.