Chapter 123: Receiving the Sword
She was pulled by the hand and forcefully made to sit down.
“Auntie Qing, just sit down. We can’t stay idle either. We’ll clean up after dinner. Don’t you worry. Cooking is so tiring. How can we let you clean up too?” Liu Chuxia said, holding her hand and not letting her go.
And Li Hanyan also scooped a bowl of chicken soup for Zhang Qingchu.
Then she chimed in, “That’s right. Just sit down and eat. Don’t be busy.”
Zhang Qingchu looked at these two children. She wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t bring herself to. In the end, she could only be led by Liu Chuxia to sit down and eat.
Liu Junyue didn’t interfere the whole time. She knew Zhang Qingchu’s temperament. She just couldn’t stay idle. When she met a child she particularly liked, she would also dote on them.
These two children were filial. Liu Junyue was very happy. Finally, someone could handle Zhang Qingchu. She actually didn’t want her to work so hard either, but every time she said one more word, Zhang Qingchu would threaten her and make her go to sleep in the study.
Liu Junyue smiled and gave Zhang Qingchu some braised eggplant.
Zhang Qingchu glared at her, angry that she hadn’t helped her just now.
Liu Junyue whispered in her ear, “Just accept the children’s filial piety. Don’t be angry anymore.”
Zhang Qingchu wasn’t really angry with her. She also knew what her problem was.
“Auntie Qing, you should eat more. Look at grandmother. She’s already on her second bowl of rice, and you haven’t even finished one,” Liu Chuxia said with a frown.
She was just wondering why Zhang Qingchu was so thin. It was because she was tired. She couldn’t let her work so hard anymore.
“I have a small appetite. I can’t eat much,” Zhang Qingchu said with a light laugh.
“Then eat small meals more often. Anyway, you have to fatten yourself up. When we come back later, I want to see Auntie Qing become more beautiful. You can’t be so thin and small like this anymore,” Liu Chuxia said, giving her some meat.
And so, Zhang Qingchu finished her meal surrounded by care. It was a happy trouble.
After the meal, Liu Chuxia directly pushed Zhang Qingchu and Liu Junyue out of the courtyard, telling them to go for a walk. She and Li Hanyan would take care of the kitchen.
At first, Zhang Qingchu refused to leave. It wasn’t until Liu Chuxia used her ultimate move, saying that if they had to trouble her every time they came, then they wouldn’t come anymore.
Only then did Zhang Qingchu reluctantly go out with Liu Junyue.
“You see, these two children. They’re even threatening me.”
Liu Junyue wrapped her arm around her waist and scraped her nose. “They’re worried about you, and you’re worried about them. Now, finally, someone can cure you of this habit. I’m very happy.”
Zhang Qingchu patted her and said angrily, “So you’re ganging up to bully me, are you?”
“How is this bullying? Look at you. You can’t stay idle every day. You even fight with me over chopping firewood. I tried to persuade you, but you threatened me. I’m so wronged,” Liu Junyue said, leaning on Zhang Qingchu’s shoulder and deliberately acting wronged.
“When did I threaten you? Nonsense.”
“Who was it that said if I tried to persuade you again, you wouldn’t let me sleep in the room?”
“I never said that,” Zhang Qingchu said stubbornly, blinking her eyes quickly.
Liu Chuxia and Li Hanyan finally breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the two’s departing backs.
Then they turned and went to the kitchen to clean up.
After they were done, Li Hanyan led Liu Chuxia to get her sword.
When the two of them reached the main gate, they saw many people gathered there. Liu Chuxia tried her best to lower her presence and stay by Li Hanyan’s side.
Fortunately, the disciples were all attracted by the video on the screen, and no one noticed them.
Li Hanyan led Liu Chuxia behind the small house.
They saw a very spacious corridor that led straight to a closed room.
Li Hanyan and Liu Chuxia stopped in front of the room door.
But the room door opened on its own.
A hint of surprise flashed in Liu Chuxia’s eyes, but she didn’t show it on her face. She followed behind Li Hanyan and walked in.
The room was not large. There was a long table inside with an incense burner on it. There were still burning incense sticks in the incense burner. And on the wall directly opposite the door hung a piece of yellow paper with no pattern on it.
Li Hanyan stood in front of the long table and bowed three times to the blank yellow paper. Then she turned to look at Liu Chuxia and said, “A Xia, come and bow.”
Liu Chuxia nodded and also bowed three times, following Li Hanyan’s example.
Li Hanyan smiled. She looked up at the yellow paper above.
Seeing that a pattern had already appeared on it, she went to take Liu Chuxia’s hand, led her out, and also closed the door.
Liu Chuxia was a little strange. “Hanyan, what are we doing?”
“Getting your sword. This was the resting place of the sword soul before. Mas… Mom renovated this place. We were just confirming if your sword soul was still here. Judging from the pattern on the yellow paper, it’s still here.”
“But I didn’t see a sword. Can a sword soul take a physical form?” Liu Chuxia asked in confusion.
“No. The sword is below, below the sword soul room. Including the place where we’re standing, it’s all the sword’s hiding place. Let’s go. I’ll take you to get the sword,” Li Hanyan said with a smile, looking at Liu Chuxia.
Liu Chuxia nodded and followed behind Li Hanyan.
After many twists and turns, Li Hanyan led her to a small room. She opened the door. There was nothing inside, and it was very narrow, just like a rural outhouse.
But Li Hanyan didn’t delay. She walked to the wall on the right and fumbled around. A moment later, her hand stopped. She pressed down hard, and the wall directly opposite the room door slowly rose upwards.
The sound of mechanical gears was still ringing. After about a minute, the sound stopped, and the wall had already disappeared.
In its place was a dark cave entrance.
Li Hanyan took a small step into the cave entrance, searched on the right for a while, and then, with a click, the cave entrance lit up.
Liu Chuxia saw an energy-saving light bulb hanging above the cave entrance. It was white and bright, illuminating the entire cave entrance.
“There’s even a light bulb installed in this cave?”
“Mhm. Mom went to a lot of trouble. At that time, Mom installed it all by herself. Because I was still young and couldn’t help much, I could only do small things like passing her the light bulb.”
“Why didn’t she find someone to help?” Liu Chuxia asked strangely.
“There were too many people and too many eyes. Mom didn’t want too many people to know about this place, so even Elder Yu doesn’t know about this place.”
“I see,” Liu nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Li Hanyan took her hand and went deep into the cave.
The path inside had also been repaired, so it was not so rough to walk on.
Li Hanyan led Liu Chuxia to the depths of the cave. Actually, this cave was not very large. Liu Chuxia felt that it only took five or six minutes to get there.
Looking at the wall full of swords, Liu Chuxia was a little amazed. “So many! Do all these swords have sword souls?”
“Not necessarily. Some swords’ sword souls will go with their previous masters. Some will dissipate in this cave or wait for the next fated person,” Li Hanyan explained to her.
“This is like the cultivation novels I’ve read,” Liu Chuxia said with a chuckle.
“Maybe we were cultivators before?”
“Some of your ideas are still so bold,” Liu Chuxia said with a smile, tapping her on the nose.
