Chapter 13: The Moon and the Stars

Su Yanwei broke free from the Sword Sovereign’s hands, jumped lightly from his arms, and landed steadily on the ground.

“Successful landing!”
She cheered proudly.

“Are you really going like this?”
The Sword Sovereign looked at Su Yanwei, whose sleeves were empty and who carried nothing at all, raising an eyebrow.

Su Yanwei tilted her head up, eyes full of innocent confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re not bringing anything?”
The Sword Sovereign asked.

“Not bringing anything!”
Su Yanwei’s face was full of carefree resolve.
“Since I’m running away from home, I should leave openly and boldly.
Bringing a bunch of stuff isn’t running away, it’d be fleeing with stolen goods.”

The Sword Sovereign gave her a sideways glance.

“Nonsense!”

Su Yanwei immediately put on a pitiful face, looking at him with wide, tearful eyes.

“Does this mean, since I have nothing on me, Master won’t care if I live or die?”

“What silly talk,”
The Sword Sovereign reached out to ruffle her hair, his voice gentle.
“Now that you’re my disciple, alive you’re my good disciple; dead, you’d still be my disciple’s ghost.
How could I possibly not care whether you live or die?”

Su Yanwei : ??????

That sounds so strange… something feels off!

For some reason, she suddenly felt like she’d boarded a pirate ship… and it didn’t feel good…

“If you’ve decided, let’s leave now.”
The Sword Sovereign looked at her with a gentle gaze and a faint smile, patiently waiting for her final decision.

In truth, he was giving her a chance to change her mind.

Su Yanwei hesitated, tilting her small face up to look at him. Her big, black eyes were full of pleading and hope.

“To be honest,” she said, “I’ve always had a wish.”

“……”

The Sword Sovereign’s expression fell slightly.
Here we go again!

This little rascal!

Even the Sword Sovereign himself was surprised that, though he’d only met this child today, he already understood her so well.
Just by seeing that look or even a single glance, he knew she was about to scheme something.

“Say it,”
He’d learned by now, gaining experience. Instead of agreeing right away or refusing, he simply hung her words in suspense, waiting to hear what she actually wanted.

He’s getting harder to deal with!
Su Yanwei felt secretly disappointed. In such a short time, he’s already evolved!

“It’s like this,”
She explained,
“In our Su family, when a child turns twelve and awakens their spiritual power, they get to enter the Treasure Armory once to admire the divine sword left by our ancestor when he ascended: the Celestial Sword, Falling Star.”

Su Yanwei looked at the Sword Sovereign, eyes full of longing.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since I was five!”

But the Sword Sovereign’s expression remained unchanged. His eyes stayed fixed on her.

“After I run away, I might not come back for years… so this wish will probably fall through,”
Su Yanwei said, her gaze dimming and her expression turning sad.
“If I miss this time, I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance.”

As she played the pity card, her eyes were throwing him desperate hints.

The Sword Sovereign stood with arms crossed, looking at her coolly.

“Then why not just not run away?”

Su Yanwei: ………

How heartless!

Seeing that pity wasn’t working, Su Yanwei changed her expression in an instant. Her eyes turned cold and proud as she looked down on him.

“Do you still want me to guide you to Shouyang Mountain or not?”

The Sword Sovereign’s mouth twitched.
Truly a practical child…

“Disciple,” he shook his head,
“That’s not the right attitude when asking for a favor.”

“Then teach me, Master,”
Su Yanwei instantly switched back to sweet, her voice dripping like sugar,
“How should I ask to make you say yes?”

The Sword Sovereign: ……

Lost! I’ve lost!

As the saying goes, “The Dao is one foot tall, but the devil is a yard higher.”
The Sword Sovereign admitted defeat: in shamelessness, he could not compete with this disciple.

“All right, tell me what you want to do.”

“If asking openly won’t work, then let’s do it secretly!”
Su Yanwei said without hesitation.
“We’re already running away anyway, so why not do one last wild thing?”

“……”

The Sword Sovereign looked at her deeply.
You do realize this is your own family home, right?

But Su Yanwei clearly didn’t care anymore; she’d already let go of hesitation and shame.

“You help me sneak past the guards so I can slip into the Treasure Armory for just one look, just a single glance!”
Afraid he’d refuse, she put on her most pitiful expression.
“It’s every Su child’s lifelong dream, Master, you must help me!”

The Sword Sovereign looked at her and let out a sigh.

“Ah, you…”

He shook his head and said nothing more.

“Fine, as you wish.”

This child was, after all, still a true Su.
No matter how hard she tried to deny it or break free, in her bones she was still a Su.

And what were the Su family like?
Nowadays, only half a person remained.

Su Jingting could barely count as “half” a Su.
But the daughter he raised carried the purest Su blood inside, she inherited the spirit of the Su ancestors.

Perhaps this was why ancient families managed to endure for so long:
Just when you thought they had declined, someone would appear who embodied the ancestors’ spirit, bringing fresh vitality to a stagnant family.

New life.

Looking at the little girl before him, the Sword Sovereign couldn’t help but think this and he smiled.

“In this way, I’ve picked up quite a bargain,” he said with a light laugh.

“?”

Hearing this puzzling comment, Su Yanwei looked at him in confusion.

The Sword Sovereign didn’t explain.

“Since you’ve decided, let’s go quickly, if we wait too long, someone might find out.”

At his words, Su Yanwei’s eyes instantly lit up.

“You agreed!?”

“Aren’t we going?”
The Sword Sovereign glanced at her sideways.

“Yes, yes, let’s go now!”
Su Yanwei hurried over, reaching out to grab his sleeve.

The Sword Sovereign reached out to wrap his arm around her, then leaped lightly into the air, swiftly soaring under the moonlit sky.

---

Beneath the moonlight, the two of them walked among the stars.

Su Yanwei looked up at the bright moon and countless stars overhead, marveling at the vastness and mystery of the world.

The wind brushed gently across her cheeks, warm and lingering.

Tonight, the moonlight felt especially gentle.

They avoided all the guards, and the Sword Sovereign brought Su Yanwei to the outside of the Treasure Armory.

The Treasure Armory had only two guards.

The Sword Sovereign casually flicked out a hidden weapon, knocking the two guard unconscious.

“You can go now,” he said.

“What hidden weapon did you use?”
Su Yanwei was amazed.
“It must be something really powerful! I didn’t expect even sword cultivators to use tricks like this.”

The Sword Sovereign gave her a strange look.

“Hm?”
Su Yanwei was puzzled.
“Why look at me like that?”

“It wasn’t a hidden weapon,” he said.
“Haven’t you noticed you’re missing something on your head?”

“What?”

Su Yanwei reached up, touched her hair, and took off her hairpin. Looking at it, she found that two of the pearls that had decorated it were missing.

“……”

So it wasn’t some powerful hidden weapon at all, just two pearls from her own hairpin!

Su Yanwei’s eyes immediately sparkled.

“Amazing!”

“Master, teach me that move!”
She tugged on his sleeve eagerly.
“Please!”

The Sword Sovereign looked into her shining eyes, captivated by their brightness.

What beautiful eyes, he thought.

In those eyes, the whole starry sky was reflected.

“You want to learn? All right.”

“Really!?”

“Do you think I’d lie?”

“When will you teach me!?”

“Someday.”

“Which day is someday?”

“When I have time.”

“Then when will you have time?”

“…You’re so annoying, disciple!”