Chapter 474 456: Little Yueqiu Doesn't Want to Be Qing Yueqiu's Substitute in Pei Yuhang's Heart

'This feeling of being protected was so comforting, just like when I was a child looking up at my father… He seemed so omnipotent, as if he could shelter me for my entire life. But Father… in the end, something happened to him. He left me forever.'

A tear slipped down her cheek, beyond her control.

Little Yueqiu quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, but Pei Yuhang still noticed. In her panic, she grabbed the corner of her master's robe, her voice choked with sobs.

"Master, will you leave me someday?"

Pei Yuhang thought Little Yueqiu was worried he might meet some misfortune and laughed heartily.

"Yueqiu, do you still not trust in my sword? Nothing will happen to me."

Little Yueqiu shook her head. She bit her lower lip, hesitating for a long time before finally mustering her courage. "I mean... what if one day, you find out I'm not your disciple at all..."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter until it was barely a whisper. "When that happens, will you still want me?"

Pei Yuhang silently shook his head, and Little Yueqiu's heart instantly clenched. His next words, however, allowed her to relax.

"From the moment I rescued you from Prince Ning's Mansion and took you in as my disciple, you were already my disciple."

...

...

Pei Yuhang led Little Yueqiu down the mountain, and they soon arrived at a small town.

The moment they set foot on the town's bluestone-paved entrance road,

The butcher woman by the roadside, in the middle of chopping pork, paused her cleaver for a fraction of a second. Inside the apothecary, an old man with a long-stemmed pipe lifted his deeply wrinkled face from a cloud of smoke. A group of porters carrying heavy sacks all tensed their bronze-skinned necks in unison.

It was as if the entire street were pulled taut by invisible strings; everyone's movements froze for an imperceptible instant.

But in the blink of an eye, the sound of chopping meat resumed, the pipe continued to gurgle, and the sacks were heaved back onto shoulders, as if nothing had happened at all.

Little Yueqiu was completely oblivious. When she spotted a vendor selling candied hawthorns by the street, her crimson eyes lit up with delight.

"Want one?"

Pei Yuhang glanced down at her, a faint smile playing on his lips. Without waiting for a reply, he was already walking toward the stall.

"We shouldn't. We're still on the run. We need to save our money."

Little Yueqiu said, trotting to keep up with Pei Yuhang, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes.

She was the daughter of Prince Ning, accustomed to a life of luxury since birth. The thought that she couldn't even bring herself to ask for a single candied hawthorn brought a self-mocking expression to her small face.

Pei Yuhang reached out and patted the top of Little Yueqiu's silvery-white head. Then he poked the bulging coin purse at his waist, making it jingle.

It was filled with either Broken Silver or gold, all of it left behind by the assassins who had tried to kill him.

"Don't worry, Yueqiu. People will keep volunteering to give us money. We won't be short."

He smiled indulgently at Little Yueqiu, then turned to the vendor. "Two skewers, please."

The middle-aged candied hawthorn vendor's face crinkled into a smile. He looked at the piece of Broken Silver Pei Yuhang gave him and chuckled good-naturedly.

"Sir, you don't need silver to buy candied hawthorns! With this piece, you could buy my entire stall!"

Pei Yuhang simply placed the silver on the stall, took two skewers of candied hawthorns, and said, "It's fine. As for the change... you'll give it back to me later, boss."

Hearing this, the candied hawthorn vendor's pupils constricted. The hand that was reaching for the blade hidden at the small of his back froze.

By the time he came to his senses, Pei Yuhang was already walking away with Little Yueqiu, the two skewers in hand.

The candied hawthorn vendor's eyes narrowed. He turned to a young man fishing by a nearby bridge. "Young Master Su, he's an expert, just as expected. He may have discovered all of us."

The young fisherman shook his head and spoke softly. "He is no master. It's impossible that he survived the ambushes of the Nine Waves of Assassins sent by His Majesty."

"It's just... he's far too arrogant. He knows this is the Trapped Dragon Array, yet this Overseas Dragon insists on barging in anyway."

The young fisherman scoffed.

His name was Su Ziheng, and he was the only man since the founding of the Zhao Kingdom to have become the top scholar in both the civil and martial examinations.

The mission to retrieve the daughter of Prince Ning was of paramount importance, and the current Prime Minister had entrusted it to him.

Su Ziheng cherished this opportunity. Once he captured the daughter of Prince Ning and presented her to the Emperor of Zhao, his future would be limitless, his career ascent meteoric.

He had initially felt a sense of dread after learning that the white-robed Swordsman had single-handedly killed every assassin from the Celestial List.

Now, however, Su Ziheng felt at ease.

Since ancient times, arrogance has always been the precursor to failure. He wasn't afraid of the white-robed Swordsman being as strong as the rumors claimed; he was only afraid that he *wouldn't* be arrogant.

"Then, Young Master Su, when do we make our move?"

"I had planned to strike tonight. But since he's already discovered us, we'll wait until tomorrow night. The Pavilion Master of the Sword King Pavilion, the Abbot of Jinshan Temple, the National Guardian First Blade... six masters in total will be arriving tomorrow."

The candied hawthorn vendor's pupils contracted sharply at his words.

'The six experts Su Ziheng mentioned were among the most renowned masters in the world. Even the Court had to treat some of them with the utmost respect. And now, they were all coming to this remote little town to face some unknown white-robed Swordsman?'

'This—how could they possibly lose?'

'The candied hawthorn vendor had lived a dangerous life on the edge for decades in the Jianghu, but he had never fought a battle with such overwhelming strength on his side!'

「Elsewhere.」

Pei Yuhang led Little Yueqiu into a rented room at an inn.

"Yueqiu, your sword might be delayed. For today, let's use this Wooden Sword for practice. I'll teach you the basic forms of the Sword Dao."

Little Yueqiu took the Wooden Sword. She carefully traced the grain on the hilt with her fingers, her eyes shining with excitement.

She gripped the hilt and swung it clumsily a couple of times. The sound of the Wooden Sword slicing through the air made a smile spread across her face.

'She could finally learn to use a sword!'

Before, whenever Pei Yuhang had to kill someone, he always told her to cover her eyes.

But how could Little Yueqiu resist? She would often peek through the gaps between her fingers. She would glimpse his snow-white robes, the flash of his sword like lightning, and in an instant, blossoms of blood would bloom as his enemies fell silently to the ground.

His sword was as fast as Moonlight skimming across the surface of a lake—light, sharp, and leaving no trace.

'It was so cool!'

Little Yueqiu gripped the Wooden Sword tightly, her knuckles turning white.

'If... If she could become as strong as Pei Yuhang, then Prince Ning's Mansion wouldn't have been destroyed, and her family wouldn't have been killed!'

"Master, how should we begin our training?" she asked, looking up at him with eyes full of anticipation.

Pei Yuhang looked down at her, the corners of his lips turning up in a slight smile. He reached out and gently tapped her on the forehead.

"First, I'll teach you the four basic moves: the slash, the thrust, the flick, and the slice. When the moon rises, you will practice them carefully under the Moonlight."

"The moon?"

Little Yueqiu tilted her head, her brows furrowing slightly. "Why... do I have to practice under the Moonlight?"

Pei Yuhang gazed out the window. Dusk was falling, and a faint, pale sliver of the moon was already visible on the horizon.

"Because—" His voice was low, like a passing night breeze. "You must feel the essence of the rising moon and merge it into your sword."

'—Just like she once did.'

His gaze darkened slightly. It was as if he were looking through the little girl before him, seeing the silhouette of another silver-haired girl, one who had practiced the Luminous Shadow Sword again and again under the moon at the Cold Palace Sword Mansion.

Pei Yuhang hoped that by having her practice under the moon, he could help Little Yueqiu recall her own sealed memories.

But as Little Yueqiu looked at the reminiscent glint in Pei Yuhang's eyes, her grip on the Wooden Sword's hilt suddenly slackened.

All of a sudden, she didn't want to practice anymore...

Because Pei Yuhang was seeing her as someone else again... as his *real* disciple.

Little Yueqiu didn't want to become that woman named Qing Yueqiu.

She didn't want to be that woman's replacement in Pei Yuhang's heart.

And yet, she didn't throw down the Wooden Sword in a fit of pique.

Pei Yuhang had been protecting her, and though he always acted so calm and unbothered, this white-robed gentleman wasn't made of iron. He had to be exhausted.

Little Yueqiu didn't want to be another burden to him.

Besides, there were other ways to resist being seen as a substitute than just stubbornly giving up.

A flicker of determination crossed Little Yueqiu's crimson eyes. She looked at Pei Yuhang and said seriously:

"Master, I will train hard. I'll become even better... better than that girl named Qing Yueqiu!"

'She would prove to Pei Yuhang that she was better than Qing Yueqiu!'