The swordsman lived up to the expectations of the cultivators. He had finally made his move.
"Mom, Dad, I'm sleepy. Yue'er is going to rest." She yawned, finishing her last drink. Rubbing her eyes, she went to bed in a daze.
Yue'er's parents waited a while longer, before quickly checking.
"Yue'er? Yue'er?"
"Looks like he's fallen asleep. She won't be able to wake up any while longer."
"This stinky girl is too smart. If she wakes up, it'll be difficult to send her there."
"Okay, let's not delay this any longer. The people from the Lin Family are about to arrive."
The couple's voice couldn't hide their excitement. They were so elated that they would soon be able to sell their daughters and finally acquire the riches they've never had.
A while later, several men in gray clothes with swords in their right hands barged into the courtyard.
They were the Lin Family's swordsmen.
"Where's the girl?" the bearded man—the head—asked.
"Inside. She's inside." The two couples warmly welcomed the Lin Family.
Empress Chiyue was completely stunned. She had never felt this shocked. She couldn't believe the kind of impression her father and mother wore... they were different from the kind and loving figure she had of them.
They weren't true... but the Golden Light did not lie...
Empress Chiyue didn't understand.
Why did her parents sell her off? Was it merely because of hundreds of acres of fertile land and a high-grade horse?
She was puzzled.
But she had hope.
Hope that her parents weren't that kind of people.
Hope that none of this was real.
***
Just as the Lin Family swordsmen were about to enter the house and take Yue'er away, a dull voice echoed.
"Sure enough, when the moon is dark and the wind is high, there are those bold enough to commit a crime, isn't that right?"
The Lin Family and the couple could hear sounds piercing their ears. The figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Who is it?! Stop playing ghost, and come out!" The bearded man put his hand on his scabbard and leaned forward vigilantly. He wasn't weak by any means. He had the means to back his words.
As the bearded man's voice fell, footsteps could be heard from outside the courtyard.
The couple, as well as the Lin Family swordsmen, remained vigilant.
The sound was getting closer.
Closer...
Closer...
Till finally...
They saw a figure standing at the gate of the courtyard.
He was a young man in his early twenties. He had on a wooden sword and a blue shirt full of holes. He was as ordinary as he could be.
The Lin Family swordsmen breathed a sigh of relief. They thought they'd met a powerful cultivator. They really had their hearts in a knot back there. In their eyes, the wandering swordsmen weren't worth their attention. He was merely a little bug that needed to be flattened.
"Swordsman, I advise you not to meddle in others' affairs. Get out," the bearded man said lightly.
The swordsman had no future. He didn't even have a proper dress. And what is that? A wooden sword? How laughable. He wasn't worthy enough of being his opponent.
"Ah, sure enough, you have a stupid fool as your master. Stupid is as stupid does."
When the bearded man and the rest of the Lin Family swordsmen heard this, they grew furious. As they were about to retaliate, the swordsman made his move.
The wooden sword in his hand slashed.
A strong gust of wind blew past.
Everyone had felt the rustling of wind hugging their skin.
When the bearded man came back to his senses, his eyes widened in shock as he turned around. The Lin Family swordsmen covered their throats, unable to voice a word. As they opened their mouths, they slowly fell to the ground.
A sword!
Just one sword!
One stupid wooden sword!
And yet... it had slaughtered his people...!
"Your Excellency, who might you be? I am the head of the Lin Family swordsmen. I plead that you not meddle in my Lin Family's affairs!" the bearded man was so frightened that he stepped back and hurriedly drew his sword.
As a cultivator in the way of the sword, he was at the peak of Dao Palace Realm. He couldn't sense the strength of the person in front of him, and this caused him to fear for his life. He had never felt fear like this before.
He could only use the name of the Lin Family to scare his opponent away. After all, Lin Jiansheng, the head of the Lin Family, stood at the pinnacle of power. He was one step away from becoming breaking through the Dao Palace Realm and becoming a Sword Saint. No one dared to prove him.
"Lin Family?" the swordsman murmured.
"That's right. Our head is the Sword Saint Lin!" the bearded man hurriedly emphasized.
In the next moment, he saw a wooden sword flash before him.
Shuaa!
A powerful sword qi rushed towards him.
The bearded man's eyes narrowed.
'This can't be...!'
With the power to control the air around him, the existence of the swordsman before him was comparable to Lin Jiansheng!
'How can there be such a terrifying fellow in Qingzhou City?!'
With fear and unwillingness to die, the bearded man slowly fell to the ground in submission. From beginning to end, he and the Lin Family swordsmen didn't stand a chance.
The evil couple who sold their little girl trembled in the corner. Although they hadn't entered Round Sea Realm, the first step in cultivation, they practiced staying fit and healthy.
In the face of such a terrifying existence, they were not his opponent!
"Don't come here! This is none of our business! We have nothing to do with this! It's all because of Sword Saint Lin! They did this! They forced us!"
"Don't come closer! Don't come any—aaahhhhhhhh!"
Before the swordsman could have a word with them, the two screamed in horror.
"Fortunately, Yue'er was drugged, otherwise she would have borne witness to the sins you have committed," the swordsman muttered as if the dead had not just died mere moments ago.
After traversing the world, the swordsman had long grown accustomed to killing, so why was he afraid of causing bloodshed? Was it because of the little girl? That's probably it.
The swordsman looked at the evil couple and said, "For the sake of the little girl, I will spare you life. So... get out of my sight."
"Yes, yes! Thank you, benevolent hero! Thank you for sparing our lives!"
The couple hurriedly kowtowed to thank him and ran away without looking back, let alone thinking about their daughter's wellbeing. It was as if their daughter didn't exist.
The swordsman ignored the dead bodies lying on the floor and walked into the little girl's room. She slept soundly and peacefully, smacking her mouth from time to time as if she was dreaming. She looked very cute.
Seeing this, the swordsman showed a doting smile on his indifferent face. It was as if the snow in the winter land had melted.