Chapter 151 – The Gentlest Protection, Curse Lifted - Part 1
A soft spring breeze rustled the willow branches in the second month of the year.
Li Yuan sat leaning against an old tree, his legs comfortably stretched out. The potent Snow Brew liquor he had been drinking gave him a pleasant buzz, letting his thoughts drift.
Over the last couple of weeks, he’d occasionally wondered if he had made the right choice. Would it have been better to enter the Clock Mansion right away? After all, doing so might reveal more about ghost domains.
But the Clock Mansion was completely foreign to him, and potentially dangerous. The living and the dead supposedly resided together there, which was hard enough to believe. There was also the mansion master and a council of elders, implying a strict hierarchy.
All that pointed to a new and likely perilous environment, possibly even more treacherous than the carpenter’s workshop. Li Yuan wasn’t about to dive headfirst into such unknown territory, risk getting enmeshed in complex power games, or end up as someone’s expendable pawn.
People loved to talk about unity and helping each other, but that was just to fool the naive. Knowledge was power; those who knew more would always hold the advantage. He knew almost nothing, so in his mind, staying away was the wisest choice.
Now, warm sunlight fell across him in shifting coin-sized patches on his wine-stained white robe, swaying in tandem with the breeze and the rustling forest. He stuck a fishing pole into the muddy bank, letting the line trail in the water.
The spring ice had melted, and from time to time, fish leaped out of the lake, thrashing their tails around his bait, yet none of them bit. Birds fluttered overhead, some even coming to rest on his shoulder, creating a serene scene.
He was trying to extend his bond to more birds. In theory, now that he had reached peak sixth rank, the number he could control should have increased. His Dragon-Fanged Blade was hidden in his sleeve as always, while a sturdy steel blade, used for scaling fish and slicing meat, stood embedded in the ground nearby.
Every so often, the thunder of hooves echoed in the distance as disciples of the Blood Blade Sect rode up. They would dismount well before reaching him, kneel behind him in his white robe, and report the latest happenings from places like the Flowerpath County and Central Plains. Then, with a respectful bow, they would remount and hurry off.
Originally, Gemhill’s seat of power lay within the inner district of Silver Creek. Yet now, above that center of authority stood Li Yuan—the Blood Blade Patriarch—transcending all other ranks.
Hoofbeats came and went. The sun rose and fell.