Ngum. Ngam. Ngum. The sound of a hungry man gobbler the deer meat could be heard clearly.
"No wonder I can fight him one on one. He's been starving all along," muttered Mu Xinyi slowly.
She looked beside her. 'This cave…it's one of those caves.'
Then, her eyes swift slowly, looked up to the sky. 'How further are we?' She began to calculate how deep in the mountain they had gone from the forest.
Dà Húdié geography is confusing. Dà forest actually is the upper part of Dà Húdié, and the layout did not feel like it was a mountain when you walk on it—it feels just as when you wander in the flat forest—where there was barely rising slope.
But, Dà Húdié is one in million unique places that cannot be found anywhere. The rest of its body is actually below the forest. Only when you find the body, you can clearly see the shapes—invert upside down – where the mountain's peak is at its lowest body.
It is really deep, deepest to the down, and the height is high, high enough for most people to reach it.
'This cunning Dà Húdié…because it's connected with another land of Hépíng, people hardly realise it unless they found a way to go down.'
"Bu…ngum...ngam…uhaat?" asked Long Mong. He could not hear clearly what the woman in front of him told.
Mun Xinyi's admiration of Dà Húdié also ends there.
"Nothi—So you are the famous man of sword, Lian Long?" Mu Xinyi suddenly changed her mind. She did not mean to interfere in Lian Long's business since she know he is stronger than her and might get backlash if there was any slightest wrong move made.
Mu Xinyi asked purely because she admire her childhood hero that mostly everyday ringing in her ear. However, there was a bad rumour regarding him. She could not shake off the feeling to know more about the man of sword who was once, one of the top martial artists in the Mang Dynasty.
The chunk of meat in his right hand did not get into his mouth. Long Mong stopped eating.
'Yes, it was me, the one who suggested we should talk, but this is… too rude, isn't it? We didn't even introduce ourselves properly' He looked at her with deep thought. He did not expect she would ask him this quickly.
"Lian Long… yes, I am Lian Long, the man of sword. Why? Do you get cold feet? Are you afraid of me now? Hahaha!!!" Laughed Long Mong hardly like an evil person, but reluctantly, an awkwardness in his tone still could be heard.
"You don't have to do so if you don't want," said Mu Xinyi boldly, asking him to stop laughing in a disgraceful way, 'It hurts my eyes to watch such a pretend!'
"Ahem! You're so brave speaking like that to me. Aren't you afraid I will kill you now that I've fully regained my energy?" Joked Long Mong with a stern face while patting on his round tummy.
"I know you won't do it."
Long Mong was unsatisfied hearing her response. He also wondered about something else. Thus, he said, "I am Lian Long. Once a well-known strongest martial artist. But I, Lian Long, am also a well-known heartless murderer.
"The sword you've seen, already stained countless times. I have killed numerous people. Even my own family. So, why do you think that I won't dare to kill you? A person that even I, Lian Long, never know or heard of in my entire life?"
Sighed. Mu Xinyi looked far away in front of her, with her head tilted upwards. She spoke out her thought, "People live only once. The path is not always straight and smooth, just like Dà Húdié. Even so, only Dà Húdié know himself well. Who am I, a new generation to judge the mysterious Dà Húdié, who lives thousands of years and has gone through many things?"
Long Mong quiet. He was speechless and astonished. He never knows there was still a person who would remember him as a man of sword, Lian Long.
Though, his instinct tells him the woman in front of him actually did not even care a bit about him – whether he is a murderer or not.
'But, this is good enough. At least she didn't judge me based on those rumours. Although, within a lie lies a truth,' he grumbled to himself.
After a long silence, the sun went off, changing its position with a clear moon. Mu Xinyi lifted her butt. Pap. Pap. She cleans off the dirt on her pants.
"Where're you going?"
"What do you mean by 'where'? Where else would I go? I'm going back. Since you're here not 'specially' looking for me, we are just travellers who had crossed our path."
Her statement is true. Long Mong should be happy because now he can take a breath from chasing and thinking but, Long Mong felt a bit sad – The missing liveness in his daily life makes it heart-wrenching. He did not remember when the last friendly conversation he had before throwing out the name Lian Long.
"Your sword is crying. Let me take a look at it before you go," he asked.
Mu Xinyi gripped her sword tightly. It was true. Her sword was broken. She can feel the energy in her sword becoming chaos—as it was crying and asking to be in its original state. Furthermore, its physical body is obviously in critical condition—the blade already dull, and the body is almost broken apart – few cracks can be seen.
However, for her, the sword is too precious. She did not dare to hand it over to Lian Long since she was unsure what his real attention was.
'How can he be so kind…I almost kill him earlier...'
Clang. A sword fell in front of her.
"You can take my sword if you think I would do so."
Hearing that, Mu Xinyi had second thoughts. She was still unsure. Looking at her precious sword, she decided to not hand it over.
She picked up Lian Long's sword from the ground, wanting to return it to him. However, Lian Long's mouth is faster than her hand.
"It's getting dark. There are various kinds of 'things' on this mountain. I know you are strong, but with a broken sword, you have lost one of your hands." Lian Long hinted to her about various kinds of spirits and animals that live in the mountain, which could bring harm.