277: False Accusations (Bai Ye's Memory)

False Accusations (Bai Ye's Memory)

He explained to her what he found in the past few days. Careful not to exaggerate and make her too worried, he made sure to emphasize that everything was only his speculation, and that the situation might not really be as troubling as he thought it was. But nothing prepared him for the response he received.1

"What do you mean I'm affected?" She glared at him, clearly offended by his words. "This was just an accident! Who can control their weapons so perfectly in the middle of a practice session?"

"A simple accident wouldn't have led to such a critical injury," he tried to explain. "If you had full control—"

"Of course I had full control! I was well aware of what I was doing! It's only because my power has advanced too much in recent years, so the injury would naturally be worse on a practice partner who isn't my match." She crossed her arms. "I wouldn't have needed to find someone else to practice with if you weren't spending all day in the library this week. So that's what you were busy with? Trying to find proof that I'm corrupted by some demonic influence?"

She wouldn't listen to any further explanations then. Their conversation ended with her storming out of the room, and they spent the rest of the day in silence.

A silence just like the one over a hundred years ago … Except this time, Bai Ye wasn't sure if a simple solution like before existed for their new problem. If she was already at the point of being so oblivious to the influence of Twin Stars on her, then the situation was even more dire than he presumed.

He spent more and more time studying demonic swords from that day on. Whenever he had a chance, he also started visiting other sects with more knowledge in such arts, hoping there would be an alternative hidden in other cultivation approaches that complemented her current one. The search wasn't easy, and he felt a bit lost at first as to which direction to look into. But he kept trying, and he hoped that it would only be time before he found the answer they needed.

As long as he had the time.

He wished he could simply lock Twin Stars away and not let her get close to it again—that should stop the demonic influence from further strengthening itself, buying him more time to find a solution in the process—but he couldn't. Sword spirits couldn't live without their swords, and forcefully separating them would damage her soul. So he could only start to carefully withdraw himself from many of the routines they had established over the decades, to discourage her from overusing Twin Stars and aggravating things before he found a solution.

Those precautions came with consequences though. She became more and more dissatisfied with his lack of support for her interests, more and more irritable every time he tried to suggest that she reconsider her cultivation approach with her swords. They started getting into arguments, and the usual sounds of laughter became increasingly rare in their hall.

But Bai Ye was still hopeful. No matter how much things kept changing, or how many times she stabbed him with cold words and barbed comments, he still remembered the girl with the brightest stars in her eyes. He knew she remembered it too, and that deep inside, she didn't want any of this to happen either. He was determined to bring her back.

Thankfully, his search over the years wasn't all fruitless. He found tweaks and tricks that worked to weaken the sword binding to some extent, and with endless tries of coaxing and arguing, he managed to get her to try some of them. After many trips to a reclusive sect hidden in the faraway mountains, he also found a clue that suggested a possibility of severing the tie permanently between a sword spirit and their sword, essentially turning a sword spirit into an immortal that could live independently from their physical counterpart.

It was the most exciting news he had heard in many years. The day when he learned of it, he rushed his flying sword to the fullest speed on his way back, eager to share the discovery with her.

He wasn't expecting to see a group of disciples at the gate when he made it back though. As he approached the hall from above, he noticed the crowd of at least twenty of them, gathering into a circle and surrounding the sword spirit at the center.

"I'm telling you, leave." He heard the sword spirit say with annoyance in her voice. "No one gets to touch Twin Stars without my permission."

"Don't be too haughty, sword spirit," one of the disciples said. "The Gatekeeper should have confiscated your swords years ago! Demonic swords don't belong at a righteous cultivation sect like Mount Hua. How long would it be before you hurt someone with it again?"

Bai Ye frowned as he drew closer. He was aware of the gossips spreading over Mount Hua the past years—ever since the incident with that disciple at Chu Yang's hall, there had been whispers that the sword spirit was hurting people intentionally. Bai Ye didn't know where or how those whispers started, but as much as he tried to explain it to Chu Yang and Teng Yuan, those opinions of the sword spirit were spreading fast. And it appeared that these disciples had now decided to confront her directly about it.

"I'll say it one last time," she said coldly. "Don't let me hear another word against Twin Stars or myself. Leave, now. Otherwise—"

Her hands moved to her swords. As if waiting for that reaction, all the disciples moved the next moment as well, taking their stance and gripping their sword hilts.

Bai Ye couldn't believe his eyes. These disciples were too audacious, thinking that twenty of them was enough to take on the sword spirit. If she drew her swords now …

"Nonsense!" he chided, making his landing and strode fast towards the scene. The groups of disciples clearly hadn't expected his presence, and they hastily turned to bow, releasing their hold on their weapons. Bai Ye let out a short sigh as he turned toward the sword spirit. "What's going on?" he asked. "We draw our swords for practices, not duels. It's not a good habit to handle strife with a fight."

The sword spirit huffed. "Strife?" She nodded toward the group. "They accused me of being a threat to the safety of Mount Hua, and they think they have the right to confiscate my swords for it." The look in her eyes darkened. "I've done nothing to deserve being looked down upon like this, and it seems unfair. I was simply trying to show them … what kind of threat I can really bring to Mount Hua if I wanted to."

The disciples gritted their teeth, pinning her with stabbing glares. But Bai Ye only felt his blood grow cold. The rest might not know it, but he was too aware of what the sword spirit was capable of if she truly wished to wreak havoc over this mountaintop. He could only hope … that she didn't really mean what she just said.

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