Chapter 394: Chapter 314 She’s Leaving
The two continued chatting at the tavern for quite some time, and before they knew it, dusk had fallen.
Chen Yi had never imagined that the things he did would lead to such outcomes.
He had always cared only about the results he wanted, not bothering with what came after.
But in truth, the world is not static, not revolving around just one person; causes and effects rise and fall, one thought stirs, myriad thoughts arise, and the things done unintentionally can lead to unimaginable results.
At that time, he simply did not know.
It was as if Chen Yi had never thought about becoming a great hero, yet looking back now, he saw his fame as a hero everywhere.
Min Ning still walked ahead.
Chen Yi raised his head and couldn’t help but ask, "Is this what you wanted me to see?"
"Indeed." Min Ning stopped in her tracks and turned with a carefree smile, "I have been preparing for this day for a long time."
Her cheeks still retained a heroic blush.
Chen Yi chuckled silently, unable to describe the feelings in his heart.
Was it joy, excitement, surprise, or something else?
Min Ning looked away, somewhat regretful, saying:
"To be honest, I wanted it to be more perfect."
Chen Yi raised his hand slightly, pretending not to care as he cast his gaze into the void.
By now, the feelings Min Ning stirred in him were deep enough.
So he casually said,
"How could it be more perfect?"
Min Ning gave a carefree laugh and said,
"Follow me."
As she spoke, she pointed to a distant watchtower.
It was the tallest building in the entire Capital City.
Having pointed it out to Chen Yi, she suddenly sped up, stepping onto the eaves like touching water, treading atop the tiles.
Seeing this, Chen Yi did not delay, quickly dashing along behind her, soon arriving atop the watchtower, where the bustling scenery of the entire Capital City could be seen.
The tower was very high, with wind from all directions.
Min Ning sat down nimbly atop the tower, removing the wine gourd from her waist, and facing the sunlight, she said,
"What a wonderful view."
The strong wind blew, causing Chen Yi’s sleeves to flap wildly. For some reason, standing at such heights, despite having greater martial arts skills than Min Ning, he felt more constrained.
"How did you think of coming here?" Chen Yi asked, holding onto the tower’s pillar, "The wind is strong here."
"Precisely because the wind is strong," Min Ning replied without hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yi frowned at Min Ning’s mindset of knowingly facing danger, which reminded him of Qin Qingluo, the same type of person as the Prince.
The two women shared similarities and differences; similar in their heroic spirit, different in that Min Ning was more nimble, like a carefree swordsman, while Qin Qingluo was more substantial, like the burden of snow on the mountain.
Min Ning glanced sideways at him and asked,
"What are you thinking about now?"
Chen Yi naturally wouldn’t say that he was comparing her to the Princess, so after thinking for a moment, he sat down beside Min Ning, with both hands reaching back to grasp the roof tiles.
Meanwhile, Min Ning adopted a casual sitting position with one knee bent and the other leg stretched out, her hair tousled in the wind, as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the cold wind brushing past.
Facing the wind, Chen Yi eventually spoke,
"Perhaps my bad nature remains unremoved, it’s fate, I don’t know how to say... now I don’t want to be a villain, but it seems I wasn’t born a good person... there was a time when I didn’t care much about anyone."
Chen Yi expressed his thoughts to the person in his heart, wanting her to know what he was thinking.
Finally, after a long pause, he said, "But today I found... the things I didn’t care about turn out to be so... touching.
"I understand, actually."
Chen Yi looked over.
"I understand everything."
She sat high atop the watchtower, gazing far into the distance, and said:
"Precisely because I have experienced it, that’s why I brought you to see it."
A casual act of saving someone on a whim could bring a family reunion on the coming New Year, sweeping snow from their doorstep, posting couplets, even if in memory the family has lost names, nearly faded away.
Similarly, a casual retreat could leave what should have been a reunion family shattered in an instant, with someone in the household washing their face with tears daily, tears flowing down and flushing away everything, leaving behind ruins.
"Some things, if you don’t take a stand, someone else will head towards ruin. Some things only need you to reach out a little, they won’t end up too badly."
She took a sip of wine, slowly saying:
"Do you know why I brought you to see those things?"
Chen Yi replied softly, "I understand."
How could he not understand; Min Ning didn’t want him to be an evil person, and moreover, hoped he would also be a hero who acted with chivalry and righteousness.
If in the future, they walked the Jianghu together, there might be a legend of a heroic couple.
In that instant, he recalled those children calling him a hero, and inexplicably, he began to look forward to the scenes of roaming the Jianghu with Min Ning.
What kind of scenes would those be?
After Chen Yi thought for a while, Min Ning spoke again amidst the cold wind:
"You like me, I can accept you. Actually, I don’t know when I felt I could accept you, but the more my sister said you would ruin me, the more I felt I truly could accept you."
Chen Yi understood that the "accept" she spoke of meant "like," only her shy nature made it hard to say so directly, prompting Chen Yi to follow her words and ask, "When could you accept me?"
Min Ning thought hard and mumbled, "Was it during the infant tower incident? Or in Huaisui Village? I can’t remember."
Chen Yi burst into laughter.
Hearing this, Min Ning got angry, "Don’t laugh at me."
"All right, all right, I won’t laugh at you."
"Oh, do you want to drink?"
"What?"
"Drink!"
"All right, all right, let’s drink."
Min Ning was already drunk, her thoughts scattered, and Chen Yi complied, taking the wine from her hands and slowly pouring it down his throat.
Having already drunk earlier, this additional wine brought him once again to a state of slight drunkenness.
"Chen, tell me, did you already know the truth about the Prime Minister’s case?"
Seeing him somewhat wobbly after drinking, Min Ning took a sip of wine, drunkenly asking.
She knew that truth easily poured out when intoxicated.
"Mm..." Chen Yi replied.
"Then why did you..."
Before Min Ning could finish, the drunken Chen Yi asked instead, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Min Ning blinked, "Oh? Then start with a lie."
"I just wanted you to see your family once more."
"That’s... a lie, it seems you did have ulterior motives."
As she spoke, there was a hint of disappointment, which Min Ning herself did not notice.
She only slightly regretted being so open with him. After a moment, she lifted her eyes and asked again:
"Then what’s the truth?"
He turned around, flicked her hairpin with his finger, and laughed:
"When I can say a lie with such sincerity, imagine how heartfelt the truth would be?"
The lingering sunlight fell, marking the winter dusk, dead silent yet tranquil,
Nevertheless, the warrior girl Min was still dazed and lost.
Intoxicated, she grabbed Chen Yi’s collar, pulling him down slightly, bringing her heroic face downwards and pressing her lips against his from above.
Though she had no reason to do so, she still forced a kiss on him.
The young hero was slightly moved,
"Hey, will you share life and death with me?"
She looked down at him, sunlight coming from behind her, drunken yet radiant, asking if he would share trials and tribulations, live and die together.
"I will."
With that, Chen Yi pinched her chin and kissed her again.
This kiss was long, their clothes gradually became disheveled, and atop the tall building, they became even more caught up in the disarray of emotions.
After a considerable time, they finally parted, Min Ning’s thin lips slightly swollen and a bit sore.
She took a deep breath and slowly asked:
"Do you want me?"
Chen Yi swallowed, inexplicably nervous despite it not being his first time.
He nodded slightly, "Very much so."
"Then you won’t get it." Min Ning pushed him away, laughing in a drunken, exuberant manner.
Chen Yi froze for a moment, then said harshly, "Are you teasing me?"
"Hmph, aren’t you the same?" Min Ning retorted.
Chen Yi turned his face away, ignoring her.
Noticing this, Min Ning leaned over and asked, "You don’t want me?"
Chen Yi couldn’t let her continue the tease, so he said, "I don’t want you. Tell me, with so many beauties like Yin Tingxue, Zhou Yitang, Yin Weiyin, Princess An Nan... which one isn’t better than a mere female hero like you?"
"But..." Min Ning paused, her voice soft, "I want you."
With those words, Chen Yi grabbed Min Ning tightly, giving her no chance to regret.
Intoxicated, Min Ning didn’t resist, at first covering her mouth to stifle laughter but eventually letting go, bursting into hearty laughter at last,
After a while, she patted Chen Yi’s shoulder, saying:
"Let go of me, let’s come back later."
Chen Yi released her, then gazed into the distance, with the cold wind blowing in, the view from the watchtower was becoming increasingly magnificent, unmatched in the human world.
He suddenly found it unbelievable that Min Ning was going to leave such a flourishing place.
"Are you really leaving?" he asked.
"Leaving, no need to worry," Min Ning paused, giving a bright smile, "There’s a vast world waiting for me."
With these words, Chen Yi looked into the distance, and from there, everything appeared barren, yet the horizon was always vast.
Boundless, with the sunset dyeing the whole world red.
"Chen Zunming, now your name echoes through the Capital City,"
Min Ning stood up, stretched in the wind, softly saying:
"But in the Jianghu, I’ll become famous sooner than you.
In the future, if you hear of a great hero carrying a sword and a sword, it will certainly be me."
...............
Many years later, in a certain inn someplace in the Jianghu, Chen Yi heard someone mistakenly identifying him as Min Ning.
At that moment, he pondered for a while, finally smiling without a word, asking for a jar of wine, climbing alone to the highest tower in the city.
He still remembered the day she left Capital City,
On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Sword Edge was gold, favorable to the West.
And unbeknownst to him, as time passed,
She had already departed from Western Shu, riding the wind and mastering thirty-six swords, heading east in great momentum, asking questions of the sword among the highest mountains, heading to the sea to slay dragons,
and thus became the Sword Master of the Spring and Autumn.