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

It was drizzling the day Chen Ping'an arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The rain was light, fine as cow's hair, and felt cool on the face. It rarely rained on the Sword Qi Great Wall; the wind was dry and cold all year round, making people's skin crack.

Chen Ping'an disembarked from the boat, carrying a cloth bundle on his back containing a sword, which was a gift for Ning Yao.

He stood on the dock and looked up at the walls of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The wall was very high, so high that the top could not be seen. The gray-black bricks were covered with knife marks and sword holes, and in some places, broken weapons were embedded.

He looked for a long time, then turned and walked into the city.

The Sword Qi Great Wall is not a large city. There is only one main street and a few side streets. It takes about half an hour to walk from one end to the other.

There weren't many people on the street. Occasionally, a few sword cultivators would walk by, covered in wounds, their clothes stained with blood, and their eyes filled with wariness.

A new face, coming from the vast world, at this critical juncture, everyone has to take a second look.

Chen Ping'an didn't care. He walked and looked around, finally stopping in front of a tavern.

The tavern was small, with an old-fashioned facade. A wooden plaque read "Forget-Your-Worries Tavern." Much of the paint had peeled off; half of the character "忘" (forget) was missing, and only the heart radical remained of the character "忧" (worries). The door was ajar, and the aroma of wine wafted from inside.

He pushed the door open and went in.

The tavern was dimly lit, with only an oil lamp on the counter, its flame flickering.

A man sat behind the counter, wearing a blue robe and with his long hair tied up. He was wiping a wine pot with his head down, very slowly and carefully, as if he were wiping something very valuable.

The man looked up.

He has the face of someone in their thirties, but his eyes don't look like those of someone in their thirties; they look like he's lived for hundreds of years.

His face was expressionless, with the corners of his mouth slightly turned down, giving him the look that everyone owed him money. He had deep dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in a long time.

Chen Ping'an looked at him, but he didn't say anything.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

Chen Pingan suddenly smiled, a very natural smile.

"Ten years ago, at the entrance of Mud Bottle Alley, was it you who left the wine?"

Ye Yun put down the wine pot and nodded: "Yes."

Chen Ping'an walked over, sat down opposite him, and placed the cloth bundle at his feet.

He glanced around at the tavern's furnishings. On the wall hung a painting of a woman in white standing under a plum tree, smiling faintly.

Below the painting is an empty chair with a broken sword on it.

"The wine is delicious!" Chen Ping'an said.

Ye Yun took out a wine pot from under the counter, placed it on the table, and then took two bowls.

He uncorked the wine jug, and the aroma of the wine immediately wafted out—not an overpowering fragrance, but a faint one, like a spring breeze.

"Please." Ye Yun poured a bowl and pushed it in front of Chen Ping'an.

Chen Pingan picked up the bowl, smelled it first, and then took a sip. The wine was sweet at first, a light sweetness, like the candy he used to sneak around as a child.

He closed his eyes, held the bowl, and didn't move.

After a long while, he opened his eyes: "Ten years have passed, but it still tastes the same."

Ye Yun poured himself a bowl, took a sip, and said, "You've grown up in these ten years."

Chen Pingan smiled and said, "You've grown older in these ten years."

Ye Yun paused for a moment, then his lips twitched.

The two men each held a bowl of wine.

The bowl of wine was finished.

Chen Ping'an put down his bowl and wiped his mouth: "Boss Ye, besides delivering the sword, I have other business to discuss with you this time."

Ye Yun looked at him.

Chen Pingan said, "Someone wants to see me!"

Ye Yun paused, his hand holding the bowl still. He put the bowl down and looked into Chen Ping'an's eyes. Chen Ping'an's eyes were clear and bright, like a mountain stream, one could see right to the bottom.

Chen Pingan picked up the bowl and downed it in one gulp.

"Boss Ye, your liquor is still as strong as ever." He stood up, slung his cloth bundle over his shoulder, walked to the door, glanced back, and said, "Wait for me to come back."

Ye Yun nodded.

Chen Ping'an is gone.

Ye Yun sat behind the counter, tapping her fingers on the table, tap, tap, tap.

The Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall has defected, leaving the Sword Qi Great Wall in need of a new Hidden Official. It seems only Chen Ping'an is qualified for this position.

But the people of the Sword Qi Great Wall didn't accept him. What right did a mere youth from the Vast World, barely twenty years old, have to become a Hidden Official? Would those veteran sword cultivators who had guarded the Sword Qi Great Wall for hundreds of years submit to him?

Ning Yao came in the evening. When she pushed the door open, her face was calm, but there was a light in her eyes.

She sat down at the counter and said, "He's here."

Ye Yun poured her a bowl of wine.

Ning Yao picked up the glass, took a sip, and said nothing.

He continued wiping his wine jug, his bowls, and his counter. After Dong Bude died, he developed a habit of keeping his hands busy; if he was idle, he would start thinking, and thinking would make him feel uneasy.

It was completely dark.

People came and went in the tavern, and those who were cursing got tired of it, drank a few bowls of wine, and left muttering curses. In the end, only Ye Yun was left, sitting behind the counter, the oil lamp almost burned out, the flame flickering, as if it might go out at any moment.

The door was pushed open.

Chen Ping'an walked in. He was still wearing the same clothes, but now he had a token at his waist.

The token was black, with the character "隐" (yin, meaning hidden) engraved on it, and a faint red light flowed within the strokes of the character.

He sat down at the counter and took off the token, placing it on the table.

"Given by the eldest sword immortal."

Ye Yun glanced at the token but didn't say anything. He took out the jar of "Forget-Me-Not" from under the counter, broke the clay seal, poured a full bowl, and pushed it in front of Chen Ping'an.

Chen Pingan picked up the glass and took a big gulp. This time he didn't frown, as if it were a habit.

"Boss Ye," he put down his bowl and suddenly said, "I've been wondering, why did you help me back then?"

Ye Yun was pouring wine when he paused. He put down the wine pot and thought for a moment.

"Because someone asked me to look after you."

Chen Ping'an was taken aback: "Who?"

Ye Yun didn't answer. He looked at the painting on the wall, in which a woman in white stood under a plum tree, smiling faintly. That painting was hung up by Dong Bude, and had been there for sixty years. Before Mei Ruoxue died, she entrusted Dong Bude to look after the descendants of an old friend. Dong Bude couldn't find them, and after six hundred years, he finally entrusted this karmic debt to him.

"Also because," Ye Yun withdrew her gaze and looked at Chen Ping'an, "you remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"Myself."

Chen Ping'an held the bowl, looking at Ye Yun. Ye Yun's eyes were dark and deep, like a dry well; if you threw a stone in, you wouldn't hear an echo for a long time.

"Did you do this before?" Chen Pingan asked.

Ye Yun didn't answer. He picked up his bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The wine dripped down his chin and onto his blue robe, but he didn't wipe it away.

"Let's not talk about the past." He put down his bowl. "Let's drink."

The two drank until late at night.

The oil lamp burned out and went out. The tavern was pitch black, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering in from the window, illuminating the table and the black hidden official token.

Chen Ping'an stood up, swaying slightly. He couldn't hold his liquor; after drinking most of the jar, he was already tipsy, his face flushed, and even the base of his ears were red.

He walked to the door and pushed it open. A cool night breeze blew in, making him shiver.

He turned around and looked at Ye Yun sitting behind the counter in the darkness.

"Boss Ye, I'll be coming here for drinks often from now on."

Ye Yun's voice came from the darkness, hoarse but calm: "Plenty of alcohol."

Chen Ping'an smiled, stepped out the door, and walked into the night of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The moonlight shone on him, and on the token at his waist. The black token gleamed eerily in the moonlight, and the red light in the character "隐" (hidden) flickered like blood.

He left. His footsteps grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared from sight.

Ye Yun sat in the darkness, motionless.

Outside the window, the moon over the Sword Qi Great Wall peeked out from behind the clouds, round and large, pale white, shining on the city wall, on the sword cultivators patrolling the city wall, and on the two graves side by side below the city wall.

One stele reads "Tomb of Mei Ruoxue," and the other reads "Tomb of Dong Bude."

The moonlight shone on the stele, making the characters clear and legible.

Ye Yun leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.

He was carrying two things in his arms.

Both are old handkerchiefs from Dong Bude, and both are IOUs from Qian Shouxin. The handkerchief has plum blossoms on it, and the IOU has words on it, but neither can be kept.

He opened his eyes and looked at the moon outside the window.

Such a beautiful moon is rare at the Great Wall of Swords. It's so round and bright, it's almost unsettling.

He recalled what Dong Bude had said: "When the moon is full, don't drink alone; the more you drink, the worse you feel."

He didn't listen. He's been drinking alone for ten years, and he'll have to continue drinking alone.

But then he remembered what Chen Pingan had said before he left: "I'll come here for drinks often in the future."

Maybe I won't always be alone anymore.

Ye Yun stood up, walked behind the counter, took out a new wine pot, filled it with "Forget-Me-Not" wine, and placed it on the counter, waiting for the next person to come.

Outside the window, the moon is full again.