At that time, the sunlight seemed as scorching and bright as the eyes of Bai and Xiaoye, falling upon his then-slender shoulders.
His master had gently patted his shoulder, eyes filled with expectation and a hint of a complex emotion that he had not understood at the time.
"Huaishuang, your sword-heart is pure. That is good."
"But you must remember, the injustices of this world cannot all be severed by a sword."
He didn't understand then, but later, he did.
He saw the filth hidden beneath the magnificent facade of the White Jade Sword Sect.
His master had raised him as a vessel for the White Jade Immortal, while his fellow disciples—and indeed the entire White Jade City—were merely blood food for the Great Ghost's ascension.
His sword could not sever it. The hand that held the sword, along with the heart that once beat with passion, had been wrapped in layers of sludge, gradually growing cold.
Until he met the Lord. Until, in the abyss of despair, he saw a hand reaching out from the white bones.
It was cold, yet it gave him a new Dao.
Jian Huaishuang slowly pulled back his thoughts.
The hearts of the two children before him were still too clean.
"A pure sword-heart is a good thing."
He spoke, his voice slightly softer than before.
"But if you only know purity and not flexibility, it is a path to certain death."
Bai tilted her head, not fully understanding, but she still nodded seriously. "The Sword Master is right to lecture us."
Xiaoye pondered for a moment and asked, "Then how should we maintain a pure sword-heart while being flexible enough to survive?"
It was a good question.
Jian Huaishuang did not answer immediately.
He raised his hand, a tiny flicker of sword qi emerging from his fingertip as he traced a line in the air.
A gossamer-thin, greyish-white line appeared. Initially, it was sharp and piercing, but then its brilliance gradually turned inward.
The sword-light itself became blurred, eventually blending almost entirely into the surrounding air.
Without careful perception, one could not detect the existence of that strand of sword qi at all.
"This is the Hidden Sword," Jian Huaishuang said, withdrawing his hand. "A blade too sharp is easily broken, and it easily becomes a target for all."
"The provincial capital is a den of dragons and snakes. Your sword qi is so pure and cold that it is far too conspicuous in the eyes of certain old monsters."
Bai's eyes lit up. "Lord Sword, are you going to teach us this?"
"Mhm," Jian Huaishuang nodded. "I will teach you on the way, but whether you can learn it depends on your own comprehension."
He paused, looking back at the corpse of the evil cultivator on the ground.
As he swung his sword qi, the fluttering paper snow had already buried most of it, leaving only a corner of the blood-stained Daoist robe exposed.
"Earlier, you spoke of slaying demons and fiends," Jian Huaishuang looked at Bai. "In your view, what is a demon, and what is a fiend?"
Bai answered without hesitation, "Those who harm others are demons and fiends. Like him—entangled in blood-malice, slaughtering the innocent. He deserved to die!"
"Why did you draw your sword?" Jian Huaishuang asked calmly.
"Was it out of righteous indignation in your heart, or to protect living beings?"
"Was it to manifest your sword path, or simply because you felt it must be done?"
Bai opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
She looked at Xiaoye, who was also frowning in thought.
"I... I don't know."
Bai admitted honestly, "It’s just... when I saw the blood-malice on him, and saw that flower demon trembling in the cage, a fire rose in my heart. I felt this man deserved to die."
"And then, the sword just went out."
"Me too," Xiaoye whispered in agreement, looking at his hands.
"I didn't think that much. I just felt that doing so was right."
Jian Huaishuang listened quietly, his eyelashes lowered, concealing the complex emotions in his eyes.
"Righteous indignation in the heart and eyes that distinguish good from evil—this is a talent, but it is also a tribulation."
He spoke slowly, his voice mingling with the rising morning breeze. "I was once like you."
"I once drew my sword for the people of a slaughtered village, chasing an evil spirit for a thousand miles. I used my sect's secret methods, not hesitating to damage my own foundation, finally slaying it by the riverbank."
"The people were deeply grateful to me, yet they also watched me with cold indifference."
"Only later did I learn that it was all part of the sect's conspiracy to seize my body."
Bai and Xiaoye's breath hitched as they listened.
"I have also seen ghosts burdened by copper poison, suffering in agony, being refined through cruel methods just to suppress an even more terrifying calamity."
"Wraiths suffer eternal fire, their resentment reaching the heavens, yet the one who did all this protected an entire county."
"I performed good deeds but reaped evil fruits; he committed evil acts but protected the common people."
Bai was confused. Were the world's black and white, purity and filth, good and evil, truly so difficult to distinguish?
"Then... what should we use as our standard?" Xiaoye asked the crucial question.
Jian Huaishuang did not stop his pace, his voice drifting back with the wind. "It is enough to take the Lord's command as your standard."
"The Lord's Dao is where our swords point."
He looked back, and in his perpetually frozen eyes, a very faint warmth flickered.
"Since you have chosen to follow the Lord, you must understand that our swords are not for private righteousness, nor for empty fame. They exist only to carry out the Lord's will."
"If the Lord wants this provincial capital to be clear, we shall slay all filth. If the Lord wants this region to be peaceful, we shall sweep away all chaos."
"As for the rights and wrongs of good and evil therein, the Lord will be the judge."
Bai and Xiaoye glanced at each other, both seeing a spark of understanding and a trace of awe in the other's eyes.
"I... I think I understand a little,"
Bai said softly. "It's like how Sister Yiyi plants flowers. She doesn't try to distinguish which flower is more beautiful or which leaf is uglier."
"She just follows the Lord's aesthetic, covering the places she and the Lord agreed upon with a sea of flowers."
Xiaoye nodded. "Our swords should be the same, becoming the flower seeds in the Lord's hand."
This metaphor caused the corners of Jian Huaishuang's lips to twitch ever so slightly.
"At least you aren't stupid," he said. "Keep up. I will explain the Hidden Sword technique as we walk."
The three set out again.
Jian Huaishuang began to teach the knacks of concealing one's presence and the Hidden Sword.
How to draw outward sword intent back into the body, how to make sword qi blend with the environment, and how to burst forth with full brilliance only at the moment the sword is drawn.
He had comprehended this on Broken Sword Peak through the remnant sword-heart of Bai Ling and the sword intent left behind by Li Zhaoye.
Now, by teaching it to the two of them, he was returning it to its rightful owners.
The two children were exceptionally gifted. In less than an hour, the overly dazzling sword qi around them had mostly receded.
Though they still couldn't match Jian Huaishuang's near-perfect attainment, they were already starting to look the part.
Along the way, they encountered several groups of ill-intentioned individuals, both humans and demons.
Without Jian Huaishuang needing to act, Bai and Xiaoye cooperated using their newly learned Hidden Sword technique. One attracted attention with a frontal attack, while the other launched a covert strike directly at the vitals.
Their cooperation was remarkably seamless, resolving the threats cleanly and efficiently without causing any major commotion.
Jian Huaishuang watched from the side, nodding inwardly.
These two children were indeed uniquely talented.
What was even rarer was that rapport, which seemed as if it were innate.
They continued for a long time. By nightfall, the red rain had nearly stopped, and the outline of the provincial capital's city walls was clearly visible.
Jian Huaishuang stopped and took out the tightly wrapped Dragon Carp from his robes to sense its aura.
The Dragon Carp seemed to sense something as well, wriggling slightly within the bundle and conveying a sense of longing.
"The Lord is already in the city," Jian Huaishuang whispered. "We must enter the city with caution. The provincial capital has many layers of restrictions, and with Yin Wudao stationed there, we must not be careless."
Bai and Xiaoye immediately became solemn.
"Lord Sword," Bai suddenly asked, "after we enter the city, do we go straight to find the Lord?"
Jian Huaishuang shook his head. "You two settle in first and scout the situation. I will head there alone."
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