I Have the Martial Arts Heavenly Eye in the Storm Riders

After traveling for dozens of miles, the view suddenly opened up ahead, revealing a vast and wide river.

He rode a fast horse across the vast wilderness, then suddenly stopped at a bend in the river, his hoofprints sinking deep into the damp soil.

The clear river water swirls eastward, its ripples like shattered silver, reflecting the lingering rays of the setting sun on the bank.

A withered willow is sprouting new buds, its wispy green strands hanging weakly above the blue waves.

Under the shade of willows, an old man wearing a rough raincoat and a worn-out straw hat is holding a withered bamboo fishing rod, as if he has been sitting there for thousands of years.

Driven by his eagerness to save lives, Nie Feng paid no heed to the scenery along the roadside. He spurred his horse and prepared to gallop across the official road.

Unexpectedly, after rushing out for only a few dozen feet, a blurry image suddenly appeared in the void, cutting off their path without warning.

"Whoa—!!"

Startled, the horse stretched its neck and neighed loudly, its front hooves suddenly rising diagonally into the air before it stood upright.

Nie Feng gripped the reins tightly with both hands, using his waist and abdomen to stabilize himself, barely managing to avoid falling off his horse.

When the horse's hooves pounded the ground, the person standing before them was none other than the old fisherman who had been sitting quietly under the willow tree.

When the old man appeared, he didn't even make a sound in the void. His speed was so incredible that he had reached the pinnacle of skill, turning the illusory into the real.

Nie Feng was filled with shock and disbelief. After landing, he shielded Dugu Meng behind him and asked in a deep voice:

"Why are you blocking my way, senior?"

The old man slowly raised his weathered yet imposing face, his gaze sweeping over him like a drawn sword, then chuckled.

"If my eyesight isn't failing me, this young man before me must be the renowned Wind God, Nie Feng, who has shaken the martial world!"

"It is indeed this junior." Seeing his extraordinary bearing, Nie Feng cupped his hands in a respectful yet humble manner.

"May I ask your name, senior? Why are you blocking my way? What can I do for you?"

"I wouldn't presume to offer guidance," the old man said casually, flicking his sleeves and standing with his hands behind his back, his tone as calm as still water.

"My name has long been forgotten by the martial world. Only a few old buddies still call me Sword Emperor."

"The Sword Emperor?!"

Both of them stopped breathing, their eyes filled with disbelief.

A top-tier master who had become famous more than twenty years ago, who had disappeared for many years, was unexpectedly encountered at this desolate ferry crossing in the middle of nowhere.

"So it's Senior Sword Emperor." Nie Feng steadied himself and bowed again.

"I was blind and offended you just now. I have urgent business to attend to and must rush to the capital to save someone. I beg you to make way for me, senior."

"Save someone? You mean you're going to save that kid named Bu Jingyun?" Sword Emperor stroked his chin and asked with a squinting smile.

"Senior...how did you know?"

"Because I also need to make a trip to the capital." The Sword Emperor sighed, gazing at the distant horizon.

"A few days ago, some hothead fell off a cliff and bumped right into my arms. Seeing that he was tough and had good aptitude, I couldn't resist teaching him a few sword moves. Who would have thought that this scoundrel would be arrested by the imperial court just a few days after leaving the mountain?"

"I was just about to go to the capital to ask my imperial nephew for a favor, to have him release Bu Jingyun, but I never expected to run into you here."

At this point, the Sword Emperor looked at Nie Feng approvingly and nodded repeatedly.

"As expected of the renowned Fengyun, his reputation is well-deserved. Although that kid Bu Jingyun is as cold as ice, there are few who can match his talent."

"So Senior Brother Yun was saved by you, Senior!" Nie Feng was overjoyed. Half of the weight on his heart was finally lifted. He bowed deeply in gratitude.

"Senior, you have saved my life! I am deeply grateful! I also thank you on behalf of Senior Brother Yun!"

Sword Emperor waved his hand to stop his actions, and his gaze suddenly turned to Dugu Meng, who had been silent all along.

He had initially thought she was just an ordinary woman, but upon closer inspection of her features and expression, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

"Huh?" The Sword Emperor let out a soft exclamation, took a few steps closer, and stared intently at Dugu Meng's face.

"Little girl, what's your name?"

Dugu Meng felt uneasy under his sharp gaze and subconsciously took half a step back, but still maintained her composure and forced a low reply:

"My given name is Meng."

"A dream?" The Sword Emperor stroked his chin, his brows furrowed into a deep knot, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.

"Something's not right, something's really not right. Judging from his eyebrows and eyes, and the cold arrogance that emanates from his bones, he's a perfect replica of one of my old acquaintances."

He paused slightly, then suddenly took half a step forward, his voice deep and rumbling like thunder:

"Are you surnamed Dugu?"

Dugu Meng was suddenly startled and almost instinctively denied it:

"Senior, you must have mistaken me for someone else. My surname is not Dugu."

"Not surnamed Dugu?" The Sword Emperor chuckled coldly, his tone carrying an undeniable weight of history.

"My eyes have seen countless extraordinary people in the world, and I have never made a mistake. This face bears a striking resemblance to the old ghost Dugu Yifang in his youth. If we were not blood relatives, I would have swallowed the fishing rod in my hand whole."

The four characters "Dugu Yifang" fell like a heavy hammer.

Dugu Meng's face drained of color in an instant, and her slender body trembled involuntarily. She never expected that her identity, which she had painstakingly hidden for so long, would be exposed by the old man she was meeting for the first time.

Seeing his reaction, the Sword Emperor became even more certain of his thoughts, and after a long sigh, his tone softened slightly:

"Girl, don't panic. I have some connection with your old man. It's just... a pity about his good fortune."

"What's a pity?" Dugu Meng clutched her clothes tightly and asked repeatedly.

"It's a pity that the true Dugu Yifang became a lonely soul in the ice twenty years ago." The Sword Emperor looked up at the flowing river, his gaze distant and unfathomable.

"When the Sword Sect watched the battle back then, it was a devastating catastrophe. The entire Sword Sect was frozen in an instant, and your father, as an invited guest elder, was not spared either, his soul and spirit perished within the broken walls of the Xuanbing."

The air seemed to be sucked out in that instant.

Nie Feng and Dugu Meng were struck dumb, frozen in place, their minds buzzing incessantly.

"Twenty years ago? Frozen?" Dugu Meng's eyes widened, and even her voice changed.

"Senior, please be careful with your words! My father was still in charge of Wushuang City a few years ago, how could he have died twenty years ago?"

She looked anxiously at Nie Feng beside her, her eyes filled with absurdity and confusion.

"Hmph, just some scum who parades around in Wushuang City?" Sword Emperor's lips curled into a disdainful sneer as he coldly mocked.

"The one who occupies the position of city lord in Wushuang City is nothing more than an ordinary substitute who took advantage of the chaos to gain an advantage and impersonate someone else. As for the real city lord Dugu, his bones are probably already turned to dust in the depths of an ice cellar."

"The counterfeiter, greedy for power, actually considered himself the real deal, turning Wushuang City into a chaotic mess. His death and annihilation can be considered a fitting end for his evil deeds."

Dugu Meng staggered backward, feeling the ground beneath her feet tremble violently.

The truth is like a knife, slicing away inch by inch the persistence in one's heart and soul.

The father, whom I revered like a god, turned out to be a shoddy, inferior substitute.

My true, closest relatives died twenty years ago, leaving behind only a cold, neglected corpse.

Years of hatred and pain have all become a ridiculous joke.

Nie Feng, standing to the side, was also completely stunned, his heart churning with turbulent emotions.

Unexpectedly, the dream that had been with him for many days was about to reveal its true identity: the former Wushuang City Lord, Dugu Yifang, was a direct descendant who had been separated from his family.

In his loss of composure, the image of the person who had died at his own hands in Wushuang City, a substitute for him, involuntarily appeared in his mind.

Fake? It's a counterfeit?

A wave of elation, like someone who had survived a disaster, washed over them, instantly drowning out their previous anxiety and fear.

"Thank goodness... thank goodness it was fake."

Nie Feng couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes filled with joy as he looked at the woman beside him.

If the thing that died at my hands wasn't a fake, then my fate with Meng would have been severed long ago by a blood feud, and we would never be able to stay together in this life.

After the initial shock and grief, Dugu Meng gradually calmed down.

She looked up and her gaze fell on the man in front of her who had been so caring, even risking his life to save his senior brother.

Because of her hatred in the past, she always deliberately suppressed the good feelings that arose in her heart, and even plotted to take his life to avenge him.

Now that the truth is out, the emotions that had been suppressed by the boulder burst forth like a flood, filling my heart.

The face before me was handsome yet gentle, and every gesture exuded a reassuring composure.

"Meng, are you alright?" Seeing her lost in thought, Nie Feng couldn't help but take a few steps closer and ask in a gentle voice.

"I never expected that you were actually the son of Lord Dugu... You can put your mind at ease. After I go to the capital to rescue Senior Brother Yun, I will accompany you to the Sword Sect to retrieve your father's remains so that he can be laid to rest."

Hearing the sincere promise in her ear, Dugu Meng felt a warmth in her heart.

But then she remembered her earlier lapse in composure, and Dugu Meng felt her face burning. She couldn't help but frown and glare at the man in front of her.

"Hmph! Who cares what I say!"

"They keep making 'dream' noises all day long; it's so annoying!"

Caught off guard by this lecture, Nie Feng could only awkwardly scratch the back of his head, his face full of innocent expression.

He couldn't understand why, when things were so friendly just moments before, he had suddenly angered the other person again.

Perhaps it is true, as the rumors say, that a woman's emotions are unpredictable and cannot be fathomed by ordinary reasoning, leaving one to suffer in silence.

Seeing the two of them bickering like a pair of lovebirds, the Sword Emperor couldn't help but stroke his white beard and burst into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! Great! What an interesting and wonderful couple!"

"You two young men go ahead and scout out the situation in the capital. I haven't yet caught the big fish I'm holding; the time isn't right. Once I've finished what I'm doing, I'll come to the capital to meet you."

"Senior, you're not traveling with us?" Nie Feng's expression hardened.

"I've been burdened with the empty reputation of being a carefree hermit for too long, and I can't stand being constrained. Besides, with this kind of speed, I can catch up with him in no time."

Sword Emperor sat back down under the remaining shade of the willow tree, steadily picked up his fishing rod, and spoke with an increasingly leisurely tone.

"Hurry up and get going. It's urgent to save lives, don't waste time on important matters here."

"In that case, I'll take my leave first!"

Nie Feng said no more, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the old man, then took the horse reins, pulled Dugu Meng into his arms, and mounted the horse.

"drive!"

The sound of horses' hooves striking the gravel was crisp and clear, like the beat of drums.

He rode away on a swift horse, cutting through the wind and kicking up clouds of dust in the fading sunlight, speeding towards the turbulent capital city.