The Beauty and the Swordsman

In November, before the north wind arrives, the chill of winter sets in in Qingwu County.

The sky was overcast and heavy with dampness, giving rise to a layer of gray, chilly air.

The Qingfu River in the west of the city has not yet frozen, but the water is already bone-chillingly cold.

The withered reeds on the bank swayed erratically, and when the wind blew, the reed flowers fluttered into the river and slowly sank to the deep, dark bottom.

On the river, the old blue stone arch bridge rises high.

The young woman stood atop the bridge like a withered reed.

Her hair was disheveled, and she looked emaciated. She stood motionless for a long time, her eyes fixed on the reeds that kept sinking on the river.

She didn't realize that for as long as she stood on the bridge, seven people watched her from below.

"I bet she'll stand there for another 15 minutes at most, then she'll definitely jump."

"After she jumps, can I take all the money she has? She definitely doesn't want it anymore."

"You two truly are worthy of being fellow disciples. Pingping, are you the second Pei?"

"Isn't this just a rehash of a test question from an advanced placement exam? Someone jumps into a river, and you just stand by and watch? How immoral is that?"

"Boss, who's going down to rescue them?"

"Let's decide by rock-paper-scissors, the boss loves it the most."

"We've only just left Huaguang Mountain territory and shaken off our pursuers. Can you guys please keep a low profile?"

Shoumo and Chen Gui rolled their eyes in exasperation at the conversation between Pei Lingyou and her fellow disciples, as well as Ren Wofei and Zhao Xingxing. They looked at Kuang Ye, but the latter showed no intention of interfering.

After three rounds, Pingping lost.

She reluctantly placed the two golden maces on the ground and was stretching her arms, legs, and neck when the woman on the arched bridge leaped into the river.

Pingping complained about her bad luck while rolling up her sleeves and trouser legs.

Pei Lingyou touched her dry clothes and grinned broadly:

"Good junior sister, I advise you to hurry up, otherwise that girl will be very heavy after drinking a lot of water, and it will be very difficult to drag her."

Shoumo and Chengui both covered their ears, unable to bear hearing these inhuman words.

Pingping pouted unhappily, puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish, and walked towards the shore. Just as she was about to jump in, an old man carrying firewood passed by. He looked like a local.

The old man reached out to stop Pingping and said urgently:

"Young lady, don't court death! You must be from out of town, you probably don't know this river is haunted. Eleven people have jumped in this year already, and that woman was the twelfth! Everyone says there's a water ghost in the river, luring living people to find a replacement! If you go in to save her, what if you get hooked yourself? Wouldn't that be a wasted life?"

"Really? Don't just spout nonsense because you're old!" Pei Lingyou looked around.

They then realized that apart from the seven of them, the area around the river bridge was deserted and almost empty.

Even when someone does pass by, they hurry away, clearly terrified.

Some people who want to cross the river would rather take a longer route than use this bridge.

Pei Lingyou felt a chill on her body and couldn't help but rub her shoulders.

She fears neither heaven nor earth, except for those ethereal things that swords and spears cannot cut.

Upon hearing the old man say there were water ghosts in the river, she immediately moved a few steps further away from the bank.

Seeing that Pingping was listening to the ghost story with great interest, completely ignoring that the woman who had jumped into the river was almost sinking to the bottom and the river had stopped bubbling, Shoumo and Chengui were extremely anxious and had no choice but to throw down their swords and go into the river to save her.

When Shoumo and Chen Gui, soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold, finally pulled the woman from the river, she had already lost consciousness due to being submerged for too long.

Shoumo and Chen Gui quickly used the drowning first aid methods they had learned at Tongchen Sect, pinching the philtrum and pressing on the chest.

Unfortunately, the woman kept her eyes closed and showed no sign of waking up.

"Sigh, by the time you two finish dawdling, we could start the meal!" Pei Lingyou couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Shoumo and Chen Gui away with disdain.

She lifted the woman upside down by her feet and gave Pingping a look.

Pingping understood immediately, and then punched the girl in the stomach several times with her fist, which was about the size of a small bowl.

This simple and brutal approach left Shoumo and Chen Gui stunned, wondering if they were rescuing a person or abusing a corpse.

This trick turned out to be much more effective than pinching the philtrum. The woman shrank back, coughed twice, vomited several mouthfuls of water, and miraculously came back to life.

The woman, who had been rescued, opened her eyes in surprise, and then burst into tears.

She sobbed incessantly, her cries mournful and drawn-out, echoing eerily on the deserted river bridge.

Shoumo and Chen Gui quickly took off their cloaks from their bags and put some clothes on the woman to keep her warm; Ren Wofei and Zhao Xingxing hurried to find hot water for the woman to drink.

Several people worked hard for half a day, but it was all for nothing compared to the woman's tears. Pei Lingyou, who hadn't done anything the whole time and hadn't even gotten her clothes wet, asked with a smile:

"You've died once, felt good, huh? Want to die again?"

These words stunned everyone present except for Kuang Ye.

The woman's eyes trembled, her brows furrowed, and she rushed into Pei Lingyou's arms as if she had seen a relative.

Seeing this, Shoumo seemed to understand why Pei Lingyou hadn't rushed to save the person earlier.

In her view, instead of trying to persuade someone with painstaking words, it's better to let the person who is determined to commit suicide truly experience death within a safe and controllable range.

Knowing fear and regret, and remembering the many attachments to this world, will allow one to completely give up the idea of ​​suicide in the future.

This method touches people's hearts directly and is far more effective than a thousand words.

Shoumo never expected that Pei Lingyou, who seemed to be the most carefree person, would be so thoughtful and insightful.

He suddenly remembered the four words Kuang Ye had used to describe Pei Lingyou:

Wise and insightful.

Intelligent and insightful, with a pure and untainted mind free from delusions, this is the transcendent, pure, and wondrous true person.

do you mean this?

Before Shoumo could figure it out, the woman who had thrown herself into the river had caught her breath and began to cry.

Through her intermittent narration, Pei Lingyou and the other six listened to the whole tragic story.

The woman's name was Shen Lanxiang. She was from Baishuang Town, Qingwu County. She lost both her parents at a young age and lived with her older sister, Shen Lianzhen.

The two sisters begged and slept on the streets to survive as children;

As he grew older, he earned a few coins by selling maltose candies in the market from dawn till dusk.

The two worked from morning till night, earning very little, and a large portion of their income was taken away by the imperial court's taxes. They lived in extreme poverty and often struggled to get enough to eat.

During the coldest part of winter, the two sisters couldn't afford charcoal, so they could only huddle together on the cold straw mat to keep warm.

Even so, the two continued to support each other and never abandoned each other.

Gradually, the elder sister Lianzhen grew into a graceful young woman. When she reached marriageable age, she was arranged by a matchmaker in town and married Wang Bin, a scholar from the same town.

I thought things would get better from there.

One night, her elder sister, Lianzhen, suddenly drowned herself in the river.

Brother-in-law Wang Bin wept bitterly over the corpse.

Lanxiang, the younger sister, was struck dumb. Looking around at this vast world, she realized that without her older sister, she was all alone. What reason did she have to live?

With the imperial court raising taxes again just two days ago, life has become even more difficult than before, and it's hard to even get a meal a day.

Overwhelmed by poverty and grief, Lanxiang was devastated and decided to follow her sister in death.

Lanxiang said:

"My sister jumped into the river right here. I thought if I jumped in the same spot, maybe I could catch up with her..."

After saying this, Pingping burst into tears.

Don't let Pingping's small size fool you; she has a big temper and is always like a little firecracker, never giving anyone a kind look.

But she was absolutely devoted to Pei Lingyou.

Because Pei Lingyou was taken in by the old gang leader of the Hun Tian Gang, and Pingping was taken in by Pei Lingyou.

So when she saw this scene, she couldn't help but put herself in Pei Lingyou's shoes and start crying sadly.

Shoumo was also sobbing uncontrollably, Chen Gui and the others were also secretly wiping away tears, and even Kuang Ye looked distressed with tears welling up in his eyes.

The old man carrying firewood was even more exaggerated. He had been too afraid of the water ghost to get involved just a moment ago, but now he was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath.

Pei Lingyou was left looking around in astonishment, thinking to herself, "You all act like this, it makes me look like a beast!"

She quickly moistened her finger with saliva, smeared some on her face, and tried to make her tone sound somber:

"Little sister, don't cry. Death is the easiest thing in the world. We need to figure out why your sister died first. See the seven of us? We're here specifically to right wrongs and uphold justice. Tell me, where is your sister buried? I'll go earn some points—no, I mean, avenge her!"