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

"Boss Ye! Bring me a pot of your best wine!"

Ye Yun was wiping the dishes when she looked up and saw the person coming, and she stopped what she was doing.

A Liang.

He wore a blue robe and tattered boots, with a sword hanging at his waist. The lacquer on the scabbard had worn away, revealing the wood grain inside. His hair was casually tied up, with a few strands falling across his face, making him look like a down-on-his-luck scholar. But something was off about his eyes—they were too bright, too sharp, like needles hidden in cotton.

"Brother Liang." Ye Yun put down the bowl, took the best "Forget-Worry" tea from the shelf, and poured a bowl of it.

Ah Liang walked over, plopped down on the stool in front of the counter, picked up the bowl, and took a big gulp. Wine dripped down the corner of his mouth, but he didn't wipe it away. He just wiped his chin and let out a long sigh.

"This tastes better." He slammed the bowl on the table. "The wines from Haoran Tianxia are so bland, they're like water. They've made my mouth feel so empty."

Ye Yun poured him another bowl: "When did you arrive?"

"Just got off the ship." Ah Liang picked up his second bowl, but didn't drink it right away. He smelled it first. "We encountered two groups of demons on the way. We killed one group and the other ran away. It took us a little longer."

"Are you hurt?"

Ah Liang grinned: "Do I look injured to you?"

Ye Yun sized him up. A Liang had a tear in his left sleeve, as if cut by some sharp weapon, but there was no blood. There were dried bloodstains on his boots, not his, but from the demon race. He looked disheveled, but his spirit was remarkably strong.

"It doesn't seem like it," Ye Yun said.

Ah Liang laughed heartily, his laughter shaking the paper windows of the tavern.

The door opened again. Chen Ping'an walked in, holding a stack of official documents, his face weary. He paused for a moment when he saw A Liang.

Ah Liang was also stunned for a moment.

The two stared at each other for a second before Ah Liang reacted first: "Chen Ping'an? You're Chen Ping'an?"

Chen Ping'an nodded: "Uncle Liang."

Ah Liang stood up, walked up to Chen Ping'an, looked him up and down, and then slapped him on the shoulder, making Chen Ping'an wince – his left shoulder injury hadn't fully healed yet.

"You've grown taller," Ah Liang said, "and you've gotten darker. You used to be fair-skinned, but now you look like a mud-covered person."

Chen Ping'an smiled wryly: "Uncle Liang, you're still the same as ever."

Ah Liang laughed heartily, pulled Chen Ping'an to sit down at the counter, and poured him a bowl of wine: "Come on, let's drink. Your Uncle Ah Liang has come all this way, let's drink until we drop today."

The three of them sat down and drank several rounds of wine.

Ah Liang is a chatterbox; he talks about everything from the vast world to the desolate wilderness, from the Confucian temple to the demon race—his mouth never stops.

"Things aren't peaceful over there," Ah Liang said, taking a sip of his drink, his usual playful demeanor gone. "Zhou Mi is consolidating the demon forces. The great demons used to act independently, each refusing to submit to the others, but now he's united them into one. The next wave facing the Sword Qi Great Wall won't be scattered soldiers, but an entire army."

Chen Ping'an frowned: "Does he really have that much ability?"

A Liang glanced at him: "You don't know Zhou Mi. When he was in the Vast World, he was a master strategist who could make no mistakes. Now that he's gone to the Wilderness, he has no more scruples and is even more difficult to deal with."

Ye Yun didn't say anything, and slowly drank from his wine bowl.

Ah Liang continued, "The Haoran World is also in turmoil. The various forces are scheming against each other, and the Confucian Temple can suppress one faction but not another. Some want to negotiate peace with the barbarians, while others want to fight. It's a complete mess."

"Peace talks?" Chen Ping'an put down his bowl. "How?"

Ah Liang sneered: "Cease territory. Give up the land north of the Sword Qi Great Wall to the demon race in exchange for a few decades of peace. Isn't that laughable?"

Chen Ping'an remained silent for a while. He wasn't from the Sword Qi Great Wall, but after spending these days here, he knew what this place meant—it was the first and last line of defense for the Vast World. If the Sword Qi Great Wall was lost, the Vast World would be wide open, and the demon race would be able to advance unimpeded, resulting in far more than just 30,000 or 50,000 deaths.

"The Confucian Temple will not agree," Chen Ping'an said.

Ah Liang nodded: "The Confucian Temple doesn't agree, but someone has been pushing for it. Be careful, someone's eyeing your position as a hidden official."

Chen Pingan hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

Ah Liang drank another bowl, then turned to Ye Yun: "Boss Ye, what level have you reached in your Samsara Sword Dao?"

Ye Yun was pouring wine, his hands never stopping: "Sixth floor."

Ah Liang whistled: "Impressive. Sixth level, you can probably sever the laws now, right?"

"able."

Ah Liang picked up the bowl, but didn't drink. He stared at the wine in the bowl for a moment, then suddenly said, "But I advise you, don't touch the seventh floor lightly."

Ye Yun paused for a moment.

Why?

Ah Liang put down his bowl, becoming unusually serious. His eyes, no longer carefree, became deep and heavy, like two stones.

"Because the last person who touched the seventh level became an otherworldly demon."

The tavern fell silent for a moment.

Chen Ping'an held the bowl, not moving. He looked at A Liang, then at Ye Yun.

Ye Yun's expression didn't change much, but his hand remained on the wine pot, and he didn't continue pouring wine.

"An extraterrestrial demon?" Ye Yun asked.

Ah Liang nodded: "Do you know the origin of the Samsara Sword Path?"

Ye Yun didn't speak. He knew some things, but not all of them.

Ah Liang leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling as if recalling something: "The Reincarnation Sword Dao is not a sword Dao of the mortal realm. It comes from beyond the heavens, created by an extraterrestrial demon. That demon wanted to use the Dao of Reincarnation to reshape the order of heaven and earth, turning everyone into pawns in his cycle of reincarnation. Later, it was suppressed by the Dao Ancestor, and the sword Dao was sealed beneath the Great Wall of Sword Qi."

He looked at Ye Yun: "The Samsara Sword Dao you learned has been improved by predecessors, with the most dangerous parts removed. But the seventh level is different. The seventh level is close to the origin, close to the Dao of that Heavenly Demon. Practicing it will easily lead to backlash."

Ye Yun remained silent for a long time.

"What can you kill on the seventh floor?" he asked.

Ah Liang looked at him: "What do you want to kill?"

Ye Yun did not answer.

Ah Liang sighed: "The seventh level can sever the cycle of reincarnation. It can sever a person's cycle of reincarnation, causing them to completely disappear from the world, without even a chance to be reincarnated. It can also... bring the dead back from the cycle of reincarnation."

Ye Yun's finger twitched.

Ah Liang saw it, but he didn't point it out. He simply said, "The price is yourself. If you bring someone back, what will you give in return? The cycle of reincarnation is about balance. You have to pay an equal price for what you want to gain."

Ye Yun picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

"I understand," he said.

Ah Liang didn't try to persuade him any further. He picked up his bowl, clinked it against Chen Ping'an's, and resumed his playful demeanor: "Come on, let's drink. What's the point of talking about this fighting and killing? It's a downer."

The three of them drank until late at night.

Ah Liang drank the most, downing half a jar by himself. His face turned as red as a boiled shrimp, and he slurred his words, but his eyes were still bright.

Chen Ping'an left first. He had official business tomorrow and couldn't stay up too late. He said goodbye to A Liang, nodded to Ye Yun, and went out the door.

Only Ye Yun and A Liang remained in the tavern.

Ah Liang slumped on the table, looking both drunk and sober. He suddenly spoke, his voice low: "Boss Ye, Zhou Mi is looking for you."

Ye Yun paused for a moment while clearing the dishes.

"Looking for me?"

"When he was consolidating the demon race's power, he found something in the treasure vault of an old demon." A Liang looked up at Ye Yun, "It's about Nangong Pushe."

Ye Yun's pupils contracted slightly.

"What is it?" His voice was calm, but Ah Liang sensed the undercurrent beneath.

Ah Liang shook his head: "I don't know. I only know that this thing exists, but Zhou Mi keeps its details very well hidden. Did he send someone to deliver a letter to you?"

Ye Yun nodded.

"He's testing you," A Liang said. "He wants to know just how important Nangong Pushe is to you. If you lose your composure because of this, he'll find your weakness."

Ye Yun remained silent.

Ah Liang stood up, took out a piece of silver from his pocket, placed it on the table, and patted Ye Yun on the shoulder: "Boss Ye, you're a smart man, I don't need to say more. But there's one thing I have to tell you—a meticulous promise is worthless. He will never keep what he promises you."

Ye Yun: "I know."

Ah Liang smiled and turned to walk towards the door. Reaching the door, he glanced back at the tavern's wooden plaque: "Forget-Worries Tavern. A good name. But Boss Ye, some things can't be forgotten just by drinking a few jugs of wine."

He pushed open the door and went out, disappearing into the night.

Ye Yun stood behind the counter, holding the piece of silver left by A Liang in his hand, for a long time.

He put the loose silver into the drawer, went behind the counter, and took down the portrait hanging on the wall.

Nangong Pushe. Dressed in white as snow, pure and aloof like a plum blossom. The portrait was painted many years ago; the paper has yellowed, but her features are still so clear, as if it were painted just yesterday.

Ye Yun looked at the portrait, her fingers gently tracing the face of the person in the painting.

"Pu She," he said softly, "what does Zhou Mi have in your possession?"

The portrait did not respond.

He remembered what Ah Liang had said—the seventh level could bring the dead back from the cycle of reincarnation.

What's the cost?

Ah Liang didn't say it. Or rather, Ah Liang didn't dare to say it.

Ye Yun hung the portrait back on the wall, walked behind the counter, and sat down. He took out a piece of paper and a pen from the drawer, thought for a moment, and wrote a few words on the paper.

"The Seventh Layer of Reincarnation: The Price?"

He folded the paper and put it in his pocket.

Outside the window, the moon over the Sword Qi Great Wall was full again. The moonlight shone on the city wall, on the sword cultivators patrolling the city, and on the two graves standing side by side below the city.

Ye Yun blew out the oil lamp and sat in the darkness.

He remembered many things. He remembered the look in Park Seok's eyes when she last looked at him, and her last words—"Ye Yun, live well."

Live well.

She's dead, how can he live on?

Ye Yun closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

In the darkness, he could hear his own heartbeat, slow and steady, one beat at a time.

Zhou Mi has information about Pu She.

He didn't know what it was, but he had to get it.

No matter the cost.