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

(Thanks to HELL222 for the gift)

Three days.

He opened his shop every morning to do business and closed it at night to settle accounts, wiping dishes and brewing wine as if nothing had happened. But Chen Ping'an noticed that Ye Yun was wiping the dishes more slowly than before.

It wasn't that I was paying attention, it was that I was daydreaming.

He stopped wiping for a while, staring at the ripples in the bowl, lost in thought.

Ye Yun found Chen Ping'an: "I need to go into seclusion."

Chen Ping'an was reviewing the grain rations list in the hidden government office when he looked up at him and asked, "How long?"

"Seven days."

"Where?"

"The backyard of the tavern. You will be my protector."

Chen Pingan put down his pen and nodded: "Okay."

That afternoon, Ye Yun put the tavern door panels back on one by one and posted a note on the door: "The owner has something to do, so the tavern will be closed for seven days."

The backyard wasn't large, containing a woodshed, an outhouse, and a crooked tree. Under the tree sat a large vat that Dong Bude had used to brew wine. Ye Yun spread a straw mat next to the vat, sat cross-legged, and had four natal flying swords hovering around him.

Chen Ping'an moved a chair and sat in the doorway between the front and back yards, his back to Ye Yun and his face towards the tavern's main entrance. When someone knocked, he would say, "We're closed." If no one came, he would just sit there, occasionally glancing back at Ye Yun.

On the first day, Ye Yun kept his eyes closed and remained motionless. Four flying swords hovered around him, slowly rotating, their light flickering rhythmically like breathing.

The next day, Ye Yun still didn't move. But his brows furrowed, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

On the third day, as Chen Ping'an was drinking water, he suddenly felt a chill coming from the backyard. It wasn't cold, but an indescribable feeling, like something brushing past him, invisible and intangible, yet palpable.

He glanced back. Ye Yun's eyes opened.

Ye Yun's eyes were no longer their usual black, but had turned into a very faint gold. Something was flowing within his pupils, like water, or like light, swirling in circles.

Chen Ping'an didn't disturb him, turned his head and continued drinking water.

On the third day of his seclusion, Ye Yun entered the realm of cause and effect.

He had his eyes closed, but he "saw" countless lines. Those lines extended out of his body, radiating in all directions; some were thick, some thin, some bright, some dark, some straight, and some winding.

Cause and effect line.

Each thread connects to a person, an event, or a thought. Some threads have broken at their ends, like a cut rope, the break still faintly glowing—that is the karmic debt that has been settled. Some threads are still connected, but their color is dim—that is the karmic debt that is fading away. Some threads are as thick as arms, gleaming with golden light, tightly wrapped around him, impossible to break free from.

The thickest line was golden, extending from his heart into the far distance, beyond which there was no end. That line connected him to Nangong Pushe.

Ye Yun stared at the golden thread of cause and effect, his fingers twitching. He wanted to touch it, but he couldn't lift his hand.

The second line was cyan, extending from between his eyebrows and connecting to a spot not far away. That was Chen Ping'an. The cyan line was sometimes visible, sometimes clear, and sometimes so blurry it seemed about to break.

The third line is gray, extending from the left hand, and is broken. A faint light still shines at the break, but it is slowly fading. That is Dong Bude. Dong Bude is dead; the causal line is broken, but the break remains, proving that the causal relationship between them has not completely dissipated.

The fourth line is also gray, extending from the right hand, and it also breaks off. That's Qian Shouxin.

There were many, many threads, some thick, some thin, some long, some short, wrapped around him like a net. He recognized the ends of some threads, and didn't recognize the ends of others. Some threads ended with a face, some with a blurry shadow, and some with nothing at all, just a ball of light.

Ye Yun found the thinnest one among countless causal lines.

The line extended from his tailbone, as thin as a hair, and was gray in color, almost invisible. At the end of the line was a blurry figure—it took him a long time to remember that it was a petty thief he had killed many years ago in the Vast World. It was a small-time thief in the Golden Core realm who stole something from him, and he killed him with a single sword strike. He forgot about him immediately after killing him, not even remembering what he looked like.

But cause and effect still exist. Even if he forgot, cause and effect still exist.

Ye Yun focused his mind, and the Sword of Law was drawn from its sheath. The transparent blade hovered above his head, its tip pointing downwards, and slowly rotated.

He attempted to sever the thinnest thread of cause and effect with the sword of law.

A sword fell.

Silently.

The thin, hair-like thread of cause and effect snapped in the middle, a flash of light appearing at the break before quickly fading. Immediately afterward, a scream echoed from afar—not from the backyard, not from the Great Wall of Sword Qi, but from a very, very distant place, as if from another world.

The reincarnation of that petty thief.

Ye Yun severed the karmic ties between them, and the reincarnation of that petty thief vanished at that moment. It wasn't because Ye Yun killed him, but because the karmic ties were severed, his existence in the world lost its basis and was erased by the Heavenly Dao.

Ye Yun's heart skipped a beat.

The sword of cause and effect can kill without a trace. No need to meet, no need to draw the sword, just find the causal thread and sever it with one strike, and the other person's reincarnation will completely disappear, without even a chance to be reborn.

He sheathed his sword and opened his eyes.

The golden pupils slowly faded, turning back to black. But the sword intent in his eyes deepened, as deep as a well, bottomless.

Chen Ping'an walked over with a bowl of water and handed it to him.

Ye Yun took it, drank a sip, and then spat it out. The water tasted like blood in his mouth.

"Did it work?" Chen Pingan asked.

Ye Yun nodded: "It's done."

He stood up, his legs a little numb, and leaned against a tree for a while. The four flying swords were stored inside his body, hovering in his sea of ​​consciousness. The "Sword of Law" had changed a bit—several patterns had appeared on its blade, like dense, intricate threads of cause and effect wrapped around it.

"This path of swordsmanship," Ye Yun looked down at his hands, "is increasingly resembling a road of no return."

Chen Ping'an remained silent. He noticed that Ye Yun's gaze had changed; it was deeper and more somber than before, like a stagnant pool. The wind rippled across the surface, leaving not even a ripple.

Ye Yun walked to the front yard, removed the door panels one by one, and reopened the door. The paper pasted on the door had been blown away by the wind and its whereabouts were unknown.

He stood at the doorway, gazing at the streets lined with the Great Wall of Swords. People were walking, shouting, arguing, and laughing. Everything seemed normal; no one knew he had severed a causal link in the backyard, no one knew that someone in the distance had vanished completely because of him.

Ye Yun turned around and went back behind the counter to start wiping the dishes.

Chen Ping'an followed him in and sat down opposite him.

"Boss Ye, what can the Sword of Cause and Effect cut?"

Ye Yun wiped the bowl without looking up: "Cause and effect, fate."

Chen Ping'an was silent for a moment: "And the price?"

Ye Yun paused for a moment. He put down the bowl, picked up another bowl, and continued wiping: "Using it once shortens your lifespan."

"How much discount?"

"It depends on what kind of karmic debt is being severed. The heavier the karmic debt, the more lifespan is shortened. The thinnest one shortened lifespan by a month."

Chen Ping'an frowned: "What if we sever a very important causal link?"

Ye Yun didn't answer. He finished wiping all the bowls, washed the rag clean, folded it, and placed it under the counter. Then he took a pot of "Forget-Me-Not" tea from the shelf, poured two bowls, pushed one bowl to Chen Ping'an, and kept the other for himself.

"If one day," Ye Yun said, "I use power I shouldn't have, you have to stop me."

Chen Ping'an, holding his bowl, looked at Ye Yun: "How can I stop them?"

Ye Yun thought for a moment: "Knock me out. If that doesn't work, kill me."

Chen Ping'an's hand trembled, and a few drops of wine spilled from the bowl.

"Boss Ye, are you serious?"

Ye Yun picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The wine burned his eyes as it went down his throat.

"Really." He put down his bowl. "The seventh level of the Samsara Sword Path can bring the dead back to life. But the price is too high. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself then."

Chen Ping'an remained silent for a long time. He finished the wine in his bowl, put it down, and looked into Ye Yun's eyes.

"Boss Ye, you wouldn't do that."

Ye Yun looked at him: "How did you know?"

Chen Ping'an: "Because you know the cost. People who know the cost won't make a choice easily. Only those who don't know the cost will blindly rush headlong into it."

Ye Yun paused for a moment, then his lips twitched. It wasn't a smile, but an indescribable expression, like surprise, yet also like relief.

"You've grown up," he said.

Chen Pingan smiled and said, "You said it yourself, I've grown up in these ten years."

Ye Yun didn't reply. He stood up, walked behind the counter, took down the portrait of Nangong Pushe from the wall, looked at it for a while, and then hung it back up.

"Ping An," he said with his back to Chen Ping An, "what will you do if one day I really become a demon beyond human control?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll wake you up before you become a demon."

Ye Yun turned around and looked at him.

Chen Ping'an's expression was serious; he wasn't joking.

Ye Yun suddenly smiled. This time it was a genuine smile, though faint, but her eyes shone with light.

"Okay," he said. "It's a deal."

Chen Ping'an extended his hand, and Ye Yun also extended his hand; the two gave each other a high five.

As evening fell, Ye Yun stood alone at the tavern entrance, gazing towards the desolate wilderness. The clouds on the horizon burned a dark red, like a pool of dried blood. In the distance, black smoke rose, heading towards the demon camp.

"Zhou Mi," he said softly, "you wait. I'll be coming to find you soon."

He turned and went back into the tavern, closing the door behind him.