Chapter 8: This Truly Is a Sad Story

Ji Junhong’s lips curled into a slight smile as he spoke slowly, “Brother Xia, given Miss Xia’s strong-willed nature, it must be difficult for her to truly fall for someone. You surely don't want her to remain unmarried for the rest of her life after this affair, filled with lifelong regret, do you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Xia Wuji glared at him. “Are you expecting me to wish them happiness?”

“Brother Xia, that is not the right way to look at it.” Ji Junhong filled a cup with wine and handed it over. Xia Wuji snatched it up angrily and downed it in one gulp.

Ji Junhong pondered for a moment, his mind racing to fabricate a story, before he spoke slowly:

“I have a friend…”

Hundreds of miles away, by a river curved like a crescent moon, the Sword Saint, who had been guarding the waters for days without catching a single fish, suddenly looked up at the sky, puzzled. “Who is reciting my name?”

He then lifted his chin, looking haughty. “It seems that even though I am no longer in the martial world, the legends of me still linger. Ah, my cursed charisma!”

Ji Junhong continued, “He has a younger sister who was in love with one of his bitter rivals. Due to various external reasons, compounded by his own interference, his sister has pined for this man for over a decade, refusing to marry anyone else.”

Xia Wuji remained silent for a long while before he couldn't help but ask, “And then?”

Ji Junhong replied, “After more than a decade of this, he finally saw reason and entrusted us brothers to help facilitate the union.”

He let out a long, heavy sigh and wiped the corner of his eye, his voice thick with regret and sorrow. “When they finally met again years later, the man was mortally wounded and bedridden, while the woman had grown old and withered, her hair turned white. So many years had been wasted in vain, leaving behind nothing but sorrow... If only her brother had realized it sooner... Alas!”

This sigh was deeply moving, striking a chord in Xia Wuji’s heart. He trembled, falling back into a heavy silence.

He looked up at Xia Nieshang, who was frantically stabbing at people with her Demon Dragon Spear in the air like a madwoman. In his daze, he seemed to see his sister, kept in a cold, lonely palace by his own interference, living out her days in melancholy.

Xia Wuji knew all too well that, given his sister’s personality, such a scenario was entirely possible.

Back at the Duke’s Estate, the Old Duke sat in his recliner, his sturdy frame making the custom-reinforced, oversized chair creak and groan.

The Old Duke was eating a slice of watermelon, muttering to himself in confusion, “Junhong’s words are quite touching, but I wonder which friend he is talking about? I’ve never heard this story before. Just how many things has this brat been hiding from me?”

Bai Rou walked over with a tray of fruit, a gentle and cheerful smile on her face, looking for all the world like a young girl.

She placed the tray on the table with a giggle and asked curiously, “Brother Xiaoxiong, what is wrong? You’ve been talking to yourself for a while now.”

The Old Duke laughed. “It’s nothing. A master has arrived, and I’m a bit uneasy, so I’m keeping an eye on things. I must say, it’s quite interesting.”

Bai Rou asked with concern, “But what about your injuries?”

The Old Duke smiled. “Don’t worry, sister. I know what I’m doing.”

“That is good.” Bai Rou nodded with a smile and picked up a grape to eat. During the days she had been staying here, she had been far happier than in the past decade.

*Once these two boys finish handling the affairs of the new kingdom and I can rest easy, perhaps I should go out and see the mountains and rivers? Even that old fool, the Sword Saint, has gone out to wander. He likely hopes to find a way to comprehend the next realm...*

*Trapped in the capital for over a decade, it is time to go out and see the world...* Ji Xiaoxiong asked with a smile, “Sister, in a few days, would you like to go out for a stroll with me? We can travel across the continent and see this beautiful land. We’ll eat our way through the journey, just like we did back in the day!”

Bai Rou replied without a second thought, “That sounds lovely. Wherever Brother Xiaoxiong wants to go, I shall follow.”

Ji Xiaoxiong beamed. “That’s settled!”

Just then, Ji Xiaoxiong heard Xia Wuji’s voice in his ear:

“Are the two people you mentioned together now?”

“Ah—” Ji Junhong’s voice dragged out. He hadn’t expected the other party to ask such a question, so he improvised on the spot. “They are in such a miserable state now, both paralyzed, that they naturally cannot be together. They’d only be a burden to each other, so they continue to address each other as siblings, keeping things strictly platonic.”

Ji Xiaoxiong’s heart skipped a beat, and his pupils dilated. He looked at his own paralyzed self sitting in the recliner, then at Bai Rou, who sat across from him with the youthful, delicate face of a girl.

The terror in his eyes grew as if he had just discovered a world-shattering truth.

“Brother Xiaoxiong, what is wrong?” Bai Rou asked, puzzled, reaching out to touch his forehead.

“No! No! Sister! I am fine!” Ji Xiaoxiong stuttered, instinctively shrinking back.

However, his recliner was a rocking chair. As he recoiled, the chair rocked back, and his large forehead unavoidably brushed against Bai Rou’s soft, small hand.

“Ahhhhh!”

Ji Xiaoxiong let out a panicked, manly shriek, his voice so loud that half the capital could hear it.

It was only then that he heard Xia Wuji remark with a sigh, “That truly is a sad story.”