Peace Order
Chapter 672 - 64 Marriage Engagement?_2

Chapter 672: Chapter 64 Marriage Engagement?_2

"What else can one say, ’It will still be some time before Sword Madman arrives, and during this period, Central State City will surely have an abundance of skilled fighters. Apart from this opportunity, it would be hard to find such a good chance again to gather so many experts in one place.’

’Just thinking about it makes my fists itch. No, no, this old man has to go ahead and get in a few good fights before Sword Madman arrives...’

’Then he left. With his speed, he must have already reached the Academy by now.’

’He must have found a few experts and started fighting.’

Miss Gongsun seemed to be helpless about her old friend’s nature, but the corners of her mouth still curled up with a slight smile as Li Guanyi said, ’Elder Chen Chengbi just loves martial arts.’

’Yes, he always has, always looking for people to spar with.’

’How did you meet Elder Zu?’

Li Guanyi concealed part of the story, merely saying that he clicked with Elder Zu immediately, who then passed on his Prediction Skills to him, and even granted him a volume of ’Imperial Pole Worldly Scripture’ along with the mantle of his teachings.

Miss Gongsun remained silent for a long while, her voice soft as she said, ’I see.’

’Young friend, may I see the sword you carry?’

Li Guanyi took out the pine pattern ancient sword from his waist, held it with both hands, and placed it on the table.

Miss Gongsun extended her palm, gently touching the sword. Though she was over seventy, her Inner Strength was profound, and it seemed she had practiced some kind of Secret Technique, making her appear young. Her fingers, fair and slender, swept over the pine pattern on the sword, a hint of sigh visible in her eyes.

Miss Gongsun placed the sword back on the table and asked:

’Did he... mention me in the end?’

Li Guanyi looked at the woman before him. Elder Zu, in his final days, aimed to break the major threat in Jiangzhou City with his single strength, and didn’t talk much otherwise. But he felt that to say so would be somewhat hurtful.

Thus, the young Taoist replied softly, ’Elder Zu never mentioned these things to me.’

’But when he was contending with the living Buddha of the Western Regions, he once mentioned that Miss Gongsun was kind-hearted, which seemed to irritate the two elders, and then they began to quarrel verbally.’

Miss Gongsun laughed, saying, ’That sounds just like him, not mentioning me. It must be tough on you, trying to recall if that old Taoist ever mentioned me at all.’

Being old friends, she instantly saw through Li Guanyi’s lie.

Li Guanyi could only feign ignorance for the moment.

Miss Gongsun chuckled, ’But, it doesn’t matter whether he mentioned me or not.’

’At this age, what’s past is useless to bring up.’

’However, him giving you the Lingyun Wood is not entirely forgetting me.’ Miss Gongsun placed her own sword on the table, and Li Guanyi’s Lingyun Wood antique and stately, with a faint pine pattern, exuded a pure aura.

Miss Gongsun’s sword, clear as frost and snow, straight as an arrow, emitted an ethereal chill as she said, ’This Sword, my possession, was a gift from him, named Snow Branch.’

’Lingyun Wood.’

’Snow Branch.’

The two similar swords, one like the green pines of South Mountain, the other like the cold plum of the North, the swords’ length, charm, and blade width all similar, seemed to correspond to each other, linking their breaths together.

Having followed Murong Dragon Map for over a year and gained an understanding of swords, Li Guanyi immediately had a guess upon seeing these two similar swords. Seeing the nostalgic look in Miss Gongsun’s eyes, he hesitated and said softly, ’Miss Gongsun and Elder Zu...’

Miss Gongsun slightly closed her eyes, her fingers softly brushing the swords, and simply said:

’We almost became husband and wife.’

Even though Li Guanyi was prepared, this revelation still stirred emotions within him.

As Miss Gongsun caressed the blade, her tone leisurely, she said, ’Actually, when you think about it, the bond between him and me was set when the five of us traveled the Martial World together.’

’We resonated with each other’s passion, ventured recklessly and faced life and death together, while the other three, Zhou, the eldest son of an aristocratic family, had his fiancée early on, generous and uninhibited, his spear technique unbeatable.’

’His descendants are all quite accomplished.’

’And among the younger generation today, we have the intellectual Zhou Pinglu and the military officer Zhou Liuying in Jiangzhou City, both considered prodigies,...

’Chen Chengbi is a Martial Madman, and that monk is a renunciate.’

’But it was me and Wen Yuan.’

’He, a possessor of Taoist True Inheritance, did not understand martial arts; I come from a Martial World aristocratic family, Gongsun lineage, unmatched in sword and mechanism, yet not skilled in swordsmanship. Zhou would be at the front during fights, the monk running about, Chen Chengbi, that Martial Madman, charging forward.’

’We would hide behind, me setting traps, he predicting positions. Over time, feelings naturally developed, and later, our engagement seemed only natural...’

’It’s just...’

Miss Gongsun gazed at the swords, silent for a long time, apparently recalling the past events, her brother’s sudden death, the changes in the Taoist community, and the young Taoist who laughed towards the sky, running out in the rain with Sword Madman.

Back then, she stood in the rain, dressed in red, crying her eyes out.

She didn’t say a word.

The Taoist didn’t look back.

When young, she thought the Martial World was vast, the world carefree, surrounded by friends, the horizon under her feet.

But later, as she grew older, although the books say about promises and long hair reaching the waist, they do not mention that youthful friendships are hard to sustain, human affairs are vast, gradually walking farther away until they disappear; that’s the norm.