280: Snowy Mountaintop (Bai Ye's Memory)

Snowy Mountaintop (Bai Ye's Memory)

The drizzle had turned into a slight snow the next morning when Bai Ye took off on his flying sword, heading toward Nine Rivers. It was the first snow of the year, arriving a bit earlier than usual and bringing a dark cloud looming over the entire mountain range. But it didn't feel gloomy to Bai Ye. The girl's words gave him the confidence and faith that he thought had been long lost over the years, and he could barely remember when was the last time he saw a new day so bright and full of hope.1

He was even excited enough to actually find some purpose in the boring errand, and it made the trip turn out much more bearable than usual. The three days of their stay passed quickly. He met many masters from various sects, discussed Mount Hua's plans with them along with Chu Yang and Teng Yuan. His engagement in the business must have shown, as he could feel that both of his old friends were starting to look at him with less and less skepticism over time. So at the end of the trip, he tried bringing up the ritual for the sword spirit once more, and he was thrilled to find out that although the two of them still didn't agree to help quite yet, they didn't outrightly refuse either. They were starting to consider the option more seriously than before.

Bai Ye couldn't wait to share the news with the sword spirit. He had to tell her immediately. Later that day, he found an excuse to free himself from the last gathering on their schedule, and he made his way back to Mount Hua ahead of the rest of the group.

The dark cloud from days ago seemed to have lingered in the sky for the entire time. As Bai Ye drew closer and closer toward Mount Hua, the air grew chilly fast, and he wondered if the snow had also kept falling. It would be quite an accumulation by now if that was the case, probably turning the whole peak into a stretch of whiteness.

He smiled at the thought. The sword spirit had always loved snow. She used to enjoy greeting him with a surprise snowball in the face whenever he wasn't paying enough attention, and she liked to push him into the deep white blanket in their garden, burying both of them and making him beg for air. She would then bestow some to him with a lingering kiss. Bai Ye missed those days that had gradually vanished from their lives. Now that a new hope was finally dawning on the horizon, he couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be before such scenes reenact themselves at their hall again. Would they make it in time for this winter?

His mind was wandering so much that when he reluctantly pulled it back in the end, he was already right above Mount Hua.

The snow was indeed heavy on the peaks, as all he could see was quiet, peaceful whiteness below him. Almost a bit too quiet and peaceful—at this time of the day, the disciples would usually be busy practicing, and he'd be able to feel the fluctuation of spiritual power from the large group. Maybe they were lazy and took the day off because of their masters' absence. Bai Ye shook his head at the utterly undisciplined disciples, and he started making his descent, dropping closer to his hall.

He smelled it then. The faint scent of blood, drifting faintly but unmistakably on the cold breeze. He froze in his tracks for a moment. Was that coming from his hall?

Before he could think further, he had accelerated his flying sword for the last stretch of the distance, and he climbed off of it in such a hurry that he almost fell. "Sword spirit!" he exclaimed, wishing for the one millionth time that she had a name, and rushed into his hall. "Where are you?" He searched frantically through the rooms. What happened? Was she hurt?

A faint echo of swords clashing came into his ears as he stormed through room after room. It came from the direction of Chu Yang's hall. Bai Ye hastily turned, dashing out of his gate, and as he crossed the mountain path to Chu Yang's side of the peak, he froze once more.

The bricked path beneath his feet was indeed covered in deep snow, but that wasn't the only thing in front of him. The whiteness was dotted and splashed with scarlet red, lined with dozens of bodies. Some of them were already frozen, slowly getting buried under the fresh falling snow. Others were still bleeding, their dark blood pooling on the ground from the gaping wounds of a sword piercing all the way through their chests.

Bai Ye couldn't breathe, couldn't move. He needed only a glance to know which sword matched the outline of those wounds. But he couldn't think any further than that much. He couldn't believe or make any sense of what he was seeing.

"Master Bai Ye!" He heard someone call him from a distance. He blinked. As if drifting in a dream, he slowly turned to the direction where that voice came from, and he saw a young disciple running toward him. "Please, save us! Plea—"

The rest of the words never got a chance to come out of him. The disciple suddenly stilled in his tracks, and with the sound of metal piercing through flesh, the tip of a blade emerged through the front of his chest. His mouth was still hanging open, his eyes still pleading with despair as his limp body fell to the ground.

And that revealed the person holding the sword behind him.

Bai Ye parted his lips, but no sound came out. He stared at the figure standing in front of him. Her bright red dress snapped in the wind, darkened by the bloodstain to a shade of almost crimson black. Her beautiful face was expressionless, her big eyes empty and dark like an abyss. She wiped the blood off of her sword, and she looked back at him.

"I've been waiting for you," she said.

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