Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(33)

“I’ve heard some rumors,” Xie Lian replied.

Hua Cheng snickered. “I bet they weren’t nice rumors. Did someone tell you that my scimitar was forged by an evil, bloody ritual? That I sacrificed living humans?”

Sharp as always. Xie Lian responded, “Nothing too horrible. Everyone has negative gossip said about them, but not everyone would believe it. But perhaps I might have the honor of seeing the legendary scimitar Eming?”

“You’ve actually already seen it, gege,” Hua Cheng said.

He took a few steps closer to Xie Lian and said softly, “Look, gege, this is Eming.”

The eye upon the scimitar that hung at his waist rattled as it swiveled in Xie Lian’s direction. It might’ve been Xie Lian’s imagination, but he thought that silver eye was subtly squinting into a crescent.





Chapter 16:

Borrowing Luck, Night Crawl in Paradise Manor



AND SO XIE LIAN bent at the waist and greeted it. “Hello there.”

Hearing the greeting, that eye squinted harder, turning itself into a full crescent, like it was smiling. The large eye spun left and right, extremely lively, as if it wasn’t just a pattern carved onto a scimitar hilt but the real, living eye of a human.

Hua Cheng’s lips curled upwards. “Gege, it likes you.”

Xie Lian raised his head. “Really?”

Hua Cheng raised his brow. “Really. It’s too lazy to spare a single glance at those it doesn’t like. In fact, there are very few that Eming actually likes.”

Hearing this, Xie Lian smiled at Eming. “Thank you, then.” He turned to Hua Cheng. “I rather like it too.”

At his words, the eye blinked madly, and the scimitar started shaking all of a sudden from where it hung at Hua Cheng’s waist. He reprimanded it, “No.”

“‘No,’ what?” Xie Lian asked.

“No,” Hua Cheng reiterated.

Eming shook again, looking desperate to jump out of its scabbard.

Xie Lian asked curiously, “Are you telling it ‘no’?”

“Yes,” Hua Cheng deadpanned. “It wants you to pet it, but I’m telling it no.”

Xie Lian grinned. “Well, why not?”

He reached out. Eming’s eye instantly widened, like it was looking at him with great anticipation. I can’t pet here, poking the eye will hurt, Xie Lian thought, then lowered his hand and stroked lightly along the curve of the hilt. The eye squinted into a full crescent line and quivered even harder, as if it was extremely pleased and enjoying the touch very much.





The more Xie Lian stroked the scimitar, the more intriguing he found it. He was the type of person animals liked; when he’d pet furry dogs and cats, they’d squint their eyes like this when they got comfortable and would often throw themselves into his embrace, whining and mewling. Who knew that he’d be stroking a cold, silver scimitar—that legendary cursed blade, no less—like he would a puppy! In what way was this a “bloody, cursed blade of misfortune”?

Xie Lian hadn’t believed it before, but after seeing this with his own eyes, he threw away all that awful hearsay entirely, tossing it into the trash pile labeled “not believable.” An evil, bloody ritual wouldn’t forge a spirit this clever and cute.

***

The two spent a considerable amount of time discussing and critiquing various famous swords and legendary blades in detail, and Xie Lian exited the armory in high spirits after; even grabbing hold of Hua Cheng’s hands on the return to Paradise Hall.

The boy had also been brought in after being washed up and dressed in clean bandages. Although his face was still wholly covered, he looked new and refreshed. He was a person of slender frame and delicate build, and should have been a seedling with infinite possibilities—but the version of him here right now was one of hunched shoulders and slumped figure, a cowering form who couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, a pitiful soul.

Xie Lian pulled the boy to sit. “With her last words, Miss Xiao-Ying asked me to take care of you, and I agreed to it. But nevertheless, I still have to ask what you want to do. Would you be interested in following me in cultivation from now on?”

The boy stared at him blankly, as if afraid to believe the words he was hearing—that someone was actually willing to take him in and teach him. He looked hesitant and hopeful.

Xie Lian continued, “I can’t say the conditions at my place are good, but I can still promise you won’t need to hide any longer. You won’t need to steal food, and you won’t be beaten.”

As he spoke, Xie Lian didn’t notice that next to him, Hua Cheng’s eye was narrowed. He was watching the boy with a cold, judging look.

Xie Lian continued warmly, “If you can’t remember your own name, then why don’t we come up with a new one?”

The boy pondered for a moment and said, “Ying.”

Xie Lian supposed that the name was to commemorate Miss Xiao-Ying, since both names used the character for “firefly.” He nodded. “Good. That’s a good name. You’re from the Kingdom of Yong’an, and Yong’an’s national surname is Lang, so why don’t you use that as your new name and call yourself Lang Ying?”

The boy finally nodded, hesitantly. Xie Lian understood it as the boy accepting the offer to follow him.