Two days passed quickly.

On the night of September 15, a full moon slowly climbed up the sky and hung on the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Yun Chuxiu stood on the golden and slippery glazed tiles of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and felt that if he took another step forward, he would be able to step into the Moon Palace easily.

“It’s so beautiful.” He sighed. “It’s worth the trip tonight to see this moon.”

“Where’s your flute?” The long skirts and veils of Shuiji Yinji and Gong Nanyan fluttered in the night wind. Both of them were dressed in white, bathing in the cold moonlight, with ribbons fluttering around their waists, constantly reflecting different colors. It was really like a fairy from heaven descending to earth, as if it was a dream. “Such a beautiful scenery, isn’t it worth playing a tune for you?”

Hearing this, Yun Chuxiu shrugged his shoulders, smiled and bowed to her, saying: “Godmother has given an order, I should have obeyed immediately, but unfortunately my flute is broken and now it is no longer with me.”

——The Snow Phoenix Ice King Flute, which was involved in so many things, was crushed to pieces by the Blood Eye Dragon King in revenge long before he was killed by Xiao Sha. Since then, he had not touched any musical instrument for a long time.

Hearing this, Jellyfish Yin Ji frowned slightly, a little unhappy about the past. Yun Chuxiu wanted to comfort her with a few words, but suddenly a piccolo came from the side and was handed to him. “Use this one!”

He turned his head and met a pair of eyes that shone brightly in the night. He had met this young man once when he was eating donkey rolls the day before, and he didn’t want to meet him again here. Yun Chuxiu looked him up and down, touched his chin, and reminded him: “You’d better not move. If you roll down from here, you will die in a very ugly way.”

“Haha, with you here, I won’t fall down so easily.” The young man laughed twice and motioned him to look at a middle-aged scholar standing next to him. The scholar was quite thin, and looked like he could be blown down by a gust of wind, but his feet were firmly on the glazed tiles, not moving at all, showing his unusually strong internal strength.

He glanced at the young man, stroked the three long tufts of beard under his chin, and said coldly: “Young Master, I am flattered that you think so highly of me. Please don’t leave me alone!”

“Don’t worry, sir. I don’t have the courage to walk around in this place.” The young man smiled carefreely and turned to talk to Yun Chuxiu. “Do you still want to play the flute? I also want to listen to someone playing the flute.”

“Okay.” Yun Chuxiu was good at musical instruments, so he didn’t refuse. He took the flute and played a piece of water tune. The sound of the flute seemed to turn into the flowing moonlight, or like the night wind lingering in the dome. In the awe-inspiring and bleakness, a sense of pride and joy arose spontaneously, as if he could ride the wind and ascend to the fairyland of the Moon Palace at any time!

But in that heroic tune, there was a hint of tenderness, like spring water flowing quietly under the moonlight. Hearing this, the young man’s expression became a little confused, and he subconsciously looked towards Yun Chuxiu – but he saw that under the moonlight, he was looking at Yuan Suiyun affectionately, not paying attention to the surrounding situation at all, and even the fingers pressing on the flute were moving a little softer.

Boy: “…” Okay, he knew what was going on.

Feeling emotional for a moment, when Yun Chuxiu put down the flute, he recited a line casually: “What day is today, I am able to share the boat with the prince…”

“Young Master!” The middle-aged scholar called him with some displeasure. However, Yuan Suiyun pulled Yun Chuxiu’s hand under his sleeve and said casually, “It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with what you said.”

He made a double entendre and exchanged glances with Yun Chuxiu. Sure enough, he saw that the other party understood and started laughing. At this time, it was the old man who coughed twice and reminded them, “Stop playing, they are coming.”

Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuxue had indeed arrived.

They were both dressed in white, both were tall and thin, cold and aloof, and looked like two wandering souls in the moonlight. But tonight, one of them was going to become a lonely soul under the sword. Was this some kind of omen from the moonlight?
The duel had not yet begun, but terrifying sword energy had already erupted from the two men. Even at such a long distance, the people watching the fight subconsciously slowed down their breathing for fear of disturbing them.

Wei Ziyun, who was standing under the eaves, suddenly said, “You two are both famous sword masters of the time, and you are highly respected by the world. Your swords will not be poisoned. However, since it is a duel today, we should follow the rules. I wonder if you two are willing to exchange your swords to show your trust?”

Ye Gucheng did not answer, nor did he move. Ximen Chuxue was also silent, and his eyes never left his face.

It was unknown how long it had been, so long that Wei Ziyun had repeated what he had just said, before Ye Gucheng suddenly said, “This sword was made by an elite cold iron expert from overseas. It can cut a hair with a puff of air. The blade is three feet and three inches, and weighs six pounds and four ounces.”

Ximen Chuixue said: “What a sword.”

Ye Gucheng smiled: “It’s a good sword.”

Ximen Chuixue also raised the sword in his hand and said coldly: “This sword is the sharpest weapon in the world. The blade is three feet and seven inches long and weighs seven pounds and thirteen ounces.”

Ye Gucheng said: “Good sword.”

Ximen Chuixue pursed his lips even tighter: “It is indeed a good sword.”

They seemed to have some kind of unspoken understanding. Wei Ziyun coughed twice and asked again: “Do you two need to change swords?”

“Shut up.” This time, Ye Gucheng stopped him directly. “I believe him. If Ximen Chuxue’s sword was impeded, he would not be qualified to stand with me.”

Ximen Chuixue also said: “If Ye Gucheng had a problem with his sword, he wouldn’t be here.” Wei Ziyun’s face turned pale, but he didn’t say anything more. As soon as he closed his mouth, the two white-robed swordsmen stopped talking and just stared at each other, waiting for the opportunity to draw their swords.

——When masters fight, the timing is crucial and worth a very long wait; the final victory or defeat is often decided in a single moment.

Almost all the spectators were well-known masters in the martial arts world, so no one spoke, but just waited quietly. The night wind kept lifting everyone’s clothes and hair, as if urging them to come, but also as if trying to keep them – did it see the final result through the moonlight that spread all over the earth?
Because what followed was not any flash of sword light; what appeared first was fire.

“Oh no! Who set the fire?!” Wei Ziyun was the first to jump up and ordered the guards around him to put out the fire – Taiji Hall was the main hall of the imperial palace, and the emperor had to hold morning court here every day. If it burned down, how could he be held responsible!
However, the fire soared into the sky, and in just a moment, it had already burned up to the beams of the house. It was obvious that someone had piled a lot of combustible materials in the hall. After a while, the glazed tiles under the feet of the people began to burn. The raging fire seemed to be able to penetrate the tiles at any time and burn the ankles of the people. Some people could not bear the heat and jumped off the roof and stayed away from the Taiji Hall.

“…Haha.” However, in the midst of the fire and chaos, the young man suddenly laughed. One of his hands was tightly held by the middle-aged scholar, who couldn’t help but look down at the glazed tiles under his feet, muttering in a low voice: “Interesting, who added firewood to the hall?”

“Young Master, be careful!” Just at this moment, a masked man holding a knife appeared in front of the two men. There were more than a dozen of these masked men, standing in the corners, and they did not attract the attention of the crowd. In the martial arts world, since there are righteous people who openly reveal their identities, there are naturally evil people who are unwilling to reveal their identities. There should be no distinction between good and evil when coming to watch the fight.

But at this moment, they suddenly surrounded him and pointed all kinds of weapons at the boy. The latter was stunned at first, and then couldn’t help laughing: “Well, what a good head, everyone really wants it!”

“You said that to my face, do you want me to scold you now?” The middle-aged scholar was unhappy, but he still took a stance and slapped the oncoming long sword. His martial arts skills were not bad, and his lightness skills were also quite handsome. In such a situation, with someone by his side, he could still move around freely, but he did not intend to leave the glazed tiles.

Suddenly, someone kicked the masked man who threw a chain knife from behind. The boy turned around and saw Yun Chuxiu shaking the flute in his hand at him, smiling and saying, “I’ll return your flute!”

His feet moved quickly, and he used his boxing skills to trip the masked men one by one – and when they fell from the smooth and hot glazed tiles, what was waiting for them were rows of sharp arrows that had already been drawn.

In the chaos, the old man took Xiao Donglou’s hand, turned around and smiled elegantly at Jellyfish Yin Ji, with a graceful demeanor, still leisurely and contented as if strolling in the garden: “Saint, I never thought that you and I would be able to join forces one day in our lifetime.”

Jellyfish Yin Ji looked straight ahead and said, “It’s such a mess. If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed in the Shenshui Palace.”

Although she spoke coldly, she suddenly raised her hand and slapped the masked people beside her. Before they could even react, they were killed by her slender fingers. Under the old man’s feet, the cold air gradually spread. Frost first appeared in the sky, and then gradually turned into falling snow.

He froze the entire roof into ice, and the fire in the hall also weakened.

——And in the moonlight, firelight and falling snow, Ye Gucheng finally drew his sword!

Almost at the moment when he drew his sword, Lu Xiaofeng suddenly jumped up and clenched his hands nervously. Perhaps he was the person who cared the most about the result of the competition besides the two contestants, because these two people were his friends.

But is this competition still the same as the original one?
After the sudden fire, a whistling arrow suddenly rose high into the sky, making a loud noise. A guard turned over from the darkness, climbed up to the Taiji Hall, knelt down and clasped his fists towards the young man, saying, “Your Majesty! The Prince of the Southern King is entering the palace to see you. Your Majesty, please move aside.”

“What is he doing here?” Hearing this, the young master, no, to be more precise, the young emperor, was a little annoyed. “In the middle of the night, there was no imperial decree to enter the palace. What does he think he is doing…”

“Your Majesty.” The middle-aged scholar beside him coughed twice and reminded him. “Speaking of which, in recent years, it is the Southern Prince who has come to the capital to pay homage to the emperor. You haven’t seen the Crown Prince for many years. As a blood relative, you should always… meet him.”

“…Okay, I’ll listen to Mr. Yangming.” After thinking for a while, the emperor’s face suddenly became cold, but he couldn’t help but look at the two people in white clothes reluctantly. “It’s a pity that the two sharpest swords in the world are fighting each other, and I can’t see the end…”

“Your Majesty has the sword of the Son of Heaven, which can unite the people and pacify the country. Why should you be bound by a mere ordinary sword?” Mr. Yangming stroked his long beard and suddenly smiled. “In fact, I have already guessed the result of this competition. I wonder if Your Majesty is willing to make this bet with me?”

“Oh?” This really interested the emperor. “Sir, you have always been very good at planning, but is there any chance that you will fail? Then please follow me to meet my cousin.”

“Yes.”

Mr. Yangming bowed and flew down from the top of the Taiji Hall with the emperor. A group of imperial guards and several palace masters immediately gathered around, gathering the emperor like a group of stars around the moon, and flew away in the direction of the South Study.

In the Taiji Hall, Yun Chuxiu looked at the emperor’s receding back, then turned and walked back to Xiao Donglou. He looked at the elders around him, but suddenly realized something.

“Wait—where did Lao Yuan go?!”

(End of this chapter)