Zhu Yu tapped his fingertips, and a sword qi broke through the ice.
Clear lake water surged out.
Then he clapped Su Jinxue's shoulder, and a warm current instantly coursed through her body.
Su Jinxue was surprised to find that her frozen fingertips were starting to feel warm.
"You're not afraid of the cold now, take off your clothes."
Su Jinxue clutched her collar tightly and took two steps back:
"You, you turn around!"
Even her Master couldn't watch her change!
Mother said, only her future husband could!
"Tsk, little girl is still shy."
Zhu Yu turned his back and looked at the sky.
"Hurry up, if the spiritual energy dissipates, you'll get cold again."
The rustling sound of clothes being removed came, accompanied by a few gasps of pain—her wounds still hurt.
Oh right, wounds shouldn't get wet.
"Wait, you still have wounds on your hands, it's not good for you to wash yourself."
"I can do it myself… Ah!"
Before her words finished.
Zhu Yu had already deftly lifted her to the lakeside.
Su Jinxue was about to scream when she was submerged in the water.
Spiritual energy protected her injured left arm, blocking the lake water.
"Don't move around, your wounds will get inflamed if they get wet."
Zhu Yu supported her with one hand, and with the other, scooped up clear water and poured it over her tangled hair.
"Your hair is almost good enough to hatch birds."
Su Jinxue's entire face turned as red as a cooked shrimp, but due to her physical exhaustion, she could only let him do as he pleased.
She secretly raised her eyes.
She saw Zhu Yu concentrating on controlling the water flow.
His eyes were clear, without a trace of impure thoughts.
When Zhu Yu's fingers ran through her hair, that long-lost feeling of being cared for made her nose sting.
The rushing water covered her choked sobs.
She rubbed her face hard with her right hand.
Pretending it was just water splashing into her eyes.
"Wash thoroughly!" Zhu Yu said loudly, "Especially behind your ears, they're full of grime!"
"I, I know!"
She yelled, her face red, and quietly sank further into the water.
In the misty steam.
Her messy little face gradually revealed its original fair complexion.
Like a bright pearl, cleansed of dust.
The water washed away the bloodstains.
It also diluted the fear of the past few days.
In a trance.
She heard Zhu Yu humming an off-key tune.
Yet his technique was unexpectedly gentle.
"Alright."
Zhu Yu used his spiritual energy to make her float.
After shaking off the water droplets, he wrapped her in the wolf fur, lifting her ashore like a bundled zongzi.
"Now you finally look like a person."
Su Jinxue poked half of her small face out of the wolf fur and mumbled softly:
"Th-thank you, Master…"
"What? Didn't hear you clearly."
"...Nothing!"
Su Jinxue finally understood.
This Master of hers, who wasn't much older than herself, was not a serious person!
Zhu Yu laughed heartily, rubbing her still-damp hair.
This time, the little disciple only twisted her neck awkwardly.
She didn't dodge anymore.
… … … … … …
In reality.
Li Mountain.
Li Mountain Sword Sect's Forbidden Ground.
The north wind was like a knife.
Inside the cave dwelling, shrouded in cold mist.
The woman sitting alone on the profound ice platform slowly opened her eyes.
—It was an extremely beautiful face, yet so cold that one dared not look directly at it.
Her brows were like distant mountains holding snow, her eyes like a cold pond reflecting the moon.
Her lips were the color of a red plum in white snow.
Her long hair, a mix of black and white, was loosely tied with a white jade hairpin.
A few strands of hair fell onto the wolf fur draped over her shoulders.
The sunlight from outside the cave refracted through the ice curtain.
Casting specks of light on her face, which was as fair as snow.
—She had a distant dream, dreaming of her first meeting with her Master…
But that was eight hundred years ago.
"Master…"
Su Jinxue called out softly, her voice echoing in the empty cave dwelling.
Eight hundred years were enough for seas to turn into mulberry fields, but they could not wash away the longing in her heart.
Outside the cave, the clear hum of the sword array operating could be heard.
That was the mountain-protecting array rotating on its own.
Today's Li Mountain Sword Sect was no longer the small sect with only a Master and disciple, but a colossal entity that led the world's sword dao.
She got up and walked to a wooden cabinet in a corner of the cave.
There, every gift Zhu Yu had given her was neatly arranged.
The cabinet, made of ten-thousand-year-old sandalwood, could preserve items indefinitely.
On the top layer was the wolf fur cloak personally made by Master.
This was the first gift he gave her…
Su Jinxue gently stroked the coarse fur, and a ripple appeared in her ice-blue eyes.
The origin of this wolf fur—the old wolf that had almost taken her life—was the beginning of their master-disciple bond.
Suddenly, she let out a low laugh, her ice-and-snow-like face melting like spring snow.
She remembered how she had curled up in the corner of the cave that day, baring her teeth at Master.
At that time, she was like a small beast driven to desperation.
Covered in wounds yet still clutching her broken sword tightly, wary of everyone.
A hissing wildcat.
That's how Master described her later.
Her ice-blue eyes curved slightly, but the next second, something slid from the corner of her eye.
A drop of water fell onto the wolf fur.
She paused, then raised her hand to touch her face.
Her fingertips, however, only met dry skin.
As if the dampness just now was merely an illusion.
"Master…"
Su Jinxue gently closed her eyes, burying her face in the wolf fur cloak.
On it, the scent of that person seemed to linger.
Outside the cave.
The snow on Li Mountain was still falling heavily.
Just like that year when Master first wrapped her in this wolf fur.
The wind and snow howled, but his palm was warm…
The snow outside the cave grew heavier.
Su Jinxue lay prostrate on the wolf fur, as if traveling through time, feeling Master's warmth once more.
She emptied her mind.
Only by returning to her dreams…
Could she see him again, the one who would never return…
… …
Eight hundred years ago.
The morning after the snow stopped.
Inside the mountain cave.
Su Jinxue was curled up in the wolf fur cloak, sound asleep.
Zhu Yu squatted by the fire, holding a freshly whittled piece of wood in his hand.
To teach his disciple swordsmanship, he first needed a sword.
But conditions were limited.
He had no place to get her a real sword, and her broken sword was unusable, so he had to make do with a wooden sword.
He concentrated sword qi on his fingertips.
Wood shavings rustled down, gradually revealing the Prototype of a small wooden sword.
"Mmm…"
Su Jinxue rubbed her eyes and sat up, the wolf fur slipping from her shoulders.
She stared at the wooden sword in Zhu Yu's hand, her eyes suddenly lighting up.
Was Master going to teach her swordsmanship?
"Awake?" Zhu Yu asked without looking up, "Hold out your hand."
Su Jinxue obediently held out her right hand.
Snap!
The wooden sword lightly tapped her palm.
"Starting today, I will teach you swordsmanship." Zhu Yu was uncharacteristically serious, "Let it be known, I am very strict and do not follow gentle education. If you dare to be lazy, I'll hit your palm!"
"Mm!"
Su Jinxue also tensed her small face.
She wasn't afraid of being hit.
Just a tap on the palm, it wasn't even a tickle!
Master couldn't scare her!
She confidently took the wooden sword and immediately twirled it.
Shuo Province was the border of Great Qian, the frontline against demons.
The Su clan, as the guardians of Shuo Province, had practitioners among all their members, regardless of gender or age.
Su Jinxue had also practiced swordsmanship with her parents since childhood.
At such a young age, she could survive alone in these desolate mountains with just a broken sword.
Even when dizzy with hunger, she could fight and kill an old wolf.
Her talent could be described as astonishing.
With such a good foundation, Zhu Yu skipped the beginner's lessons and directly imparted the sword dao mental cultivation methods stored in his mind to her.