A Man in the Snow: Starting with a Sword Challenge to the Northern Liang Prince's Palace

Three days later.

An old friend has arrived.

He didn't go inside, but just stood at the doorway and glanced inside. Ye Yun was wiping the counter. When he looked up and saw Ye Yun's wrinkled face, he understood everything.

"The city wall?" Ye Yun asked.

Dong nodded and turned to leave.

Ye Yun put down the rag, took two jugs of wine from the wine rack, and the two of them walked one after the other through the long street and climbed onto the city wall.

The night wind at the Sword Qi Great Wall was strong, blowing from the desolate wilderness, carrying a fishy smell and a chill.

Several torches were stuck in the crenellations of the city wall, their flames flickering in the wind, casting the shadows of two people onto the mottled bricks.

Dong was forced to sit down in the usual spot, on the third crenellation on the left of the northern section of the city wall, from where he could see the dark wilderness deep in the wilderness.

He has sat here for six hundred years, watching the moon rise and set, watching the great demons come and go, and watching the people around him die one by one.

Ye Yun sat down next to him and handed him the wine pot.

Dong took the wine jug, uncorked it, and took a big gulp. The wine dripped down his chin and onto his old, faded short jacket.

He wiped his mouth, stared into the darkness in the distance, and said nothing.

Ye Yun also took a sip of his own wine and waited quietly.

After an unknown amount of time, Dong Bude suddenly spoke.

"When I first came to the Sword Qi Great Wall," he said, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been rubbing against stone.

"He's only in his early twenties, a disciple of a small sect who fled from the Vast World, being chased like a stray dog."

Ye Yun tried to speak, but instead listened quietly; he too had fled here.

"Back then, I didn't understand anything. I just thought the Sword Qi Great Wall was great. As long as you could kill demons, no one cared where you came from or what your name was."

"What I did before? On my first day, I killed a Golden Core Realm demon, almost dying in the process. After that, I stayed."

"Back then, I was young and thought I was invincible. I thought killing demons was easy. I could just kill them one by one. Later I realized that it wasn't killing demons that was hard, but living was even harder."

Ye Yun looked at him.

Dong Bude's face flickered in and out of the firelight, his wrinkles looking as if they had been carved with a knife, each one very deep.

His eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if he were looking into the distance.

"When I had been here for about thirty years, I met someone." His voice suddenly became very soft, as if he was afraid of waking something.

"Her name is Mei Ruoxue. I think she is the most beautiful sword cultivator on the Sword Qi Great Wall, and also the most capable fighter. The first time I saw her, she killed three Nascent Soul Realm demons all by herself. She was covered in blood, standing on the city wall, smiling like a child."

Ye Yun handed over his wine jug.

Dong took the wine, took a sip, and frowned.

"I pursued her for twenty years, but she ignored me for all those years. When I told her I liked her, she said, 'You can't even beat me, what do you like about me?' So I practiced swordsmanship desperately for twenty years, but I still couldn't beat her."

"Then one day, she suddenly said to me, 'I don't know, if you can protect this city for a hundred years, I will marry you.' In the end, I agreed to protect it for a hundred years."

Ye Yun's heart tightened.

"We guarded the city together for fifty-three years. After fifty-three years, the great demons of the wilderness attacked the city. Fourteen great demons, twelve jade-like beings, and two immortals. She was at the forefront and died before my eyes."

"Her soul is scattered in the wind, I can't grasp it. I can't grasp even a piece of it." Dong Bude raised his head, looking into the darkness in the distance, something flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

"For six hundred years, I have dreamed of her every night, dreaming of her standing on the city wall waiting for me, dreaming of her smiling and saying, 'Don't worry, you've lost.'"

He took out an old handkerchief from his pocket. A plum blossom was embroidered on one corner of the handkerchief, with fine stitches and faded color.

He unfolded the old handkerchief, looked down at it for a long time, and then handed it to Ye Yun.

"If I die, bury this with me."

Ye Yun took the old handkerchief.

The handkerchief is very thin. It has been rubbed for six hundred years and is now as thin as a cicada's wing. The plum blossom is still faintly visible. The stitches are fine and dense, and each stitch is made with care.

He turned it over and saw two lines of small characters embroidered on the back: "When the plum blossoms fall on the southern mountain, you shall return."

He carefully folded the old handkerchief and handed it back to Dong Bude.

"Keep it for yourself. I'll bury you myself when you die."

Ye Yun said calmly.

Dong looked at him, and a hint of a smile suddenly appeared in his cloudy old eyes.

He put the old handkerchief back into his pocket and patted it, as if to make sure it was still there.

"Young Master Ye, my talent is limited, I'm afraid I won't live for many more years."

Ye Yun was about to say something when Dong Bude waved his hand, interrupting him.

"My sword spirit is old; going to the battlefield would be suicide. But I promised her I would guard her until I could no longer."

He looked at Ye Yun, his eyes suddenly becoming very serious.

"You have to keep this tavern running, and you have to look after the old customers for me."

Qian Shouxin has racked up a huge drinking debt; you have to help me collect it. And teach Ning Yao a lesson when you have time.

Ye Yun looked at him, a feeling she couldn't quite describe welling up inside her.

"Old Dong, you'll live a long time to come."

Dong Bude shook his head.

"I can feel that my body is getting worse day by day. I used to be able to drink three jugs of wine without getting drunk, but now I get drunk after just one jug. I used to be able to kill a Jade Purity Realm demon without even breaking a sweat, but now I have to rest for half a day after killing a Golden Core Realm demon."

He raised the wine jug towards the darkness in the distance.

"Come, let us toast Mei Ruoxue. Let us toast all those who died at the Great Wall of Sword Qi."

Ye Yun also raised the wine pot.

"Respect them."

The two clinked glasses and each drank their beverage.

Dong took a few more sips, and the wine pot slipped from his hand, rolling to the ground.

His eyelids began to droop, and his head slumped down little by little. Ye Yun reached out to support him and took the empty wine jug from his hand and put it away.

Dong Bude leaned against the edge of the stack, mumbling something indistinctly.

Ye Yun leaned closer and heard him recite those two lines: "When the plum blossoms fall on the southern mountain, you shall return. When the plum blossoms fall on the southern mountain, you shall return..."

As he chanted, his voice grew softer and softer until it became the sound of even breathing.

He fell asleep.

Ye Yun sat beside him, looking at his wrinkled face. The moonlight shone on his face, revealing the marks etched by time and battle.

The way he slept didn't resemble a Jade Purity Realm sword cultivator; rather, it looked like an ordinary old man, an old man who had lived a long time, was tired, and could finally rest.

Ye Yun carried him on his back and walked down from the city wall.

Dong Bu was even lighter than a year ago, as light as a piece of dry firewood, as light as if a gust of wind could blow him away.

Ye Yun carried him across the long street, past the darkened shops, along the road he had walked countless times, until they arrived at the dilapidated stone house.

He pushed open the door, placed Dong Bude on the bed, and pulled a thin blanket over him.

The corner of the quilt was worn out, revealing the yellowed cotton inside. He reached out and tucked the corner of the quilt in, then stood by the bed, looking at the old man who was still frowning in his sleep.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating Dong Bude's face. His lips moved slightly, as if he were muttering something in his sleep.

It was probably the name "Mei Ruoxue," a name he had called out countless times in his dreams over the past six hundred years.

Ye Yun stood there and watched for a long time.

Then he turned around, walked out of the stone house, and gently closed the door.

Under the moonlight, he stood at the doorway, gazing at the firelight on the distant city walls.

"Old Dong, you won't die, at least not before me."

The wind blew down from the city wall, carrying the stench of the wilderness and six hundred years of solitude.

Old Man Dong was Ye Yun's savior, so naturally he wouldn't let him die easily.