Chapter 692 – A Hundred Battles Later, Still the Man I First Met - Part 3

Late autumn was giving way to winter. The wind outside was damp and sharp, like knives carried on mist.

Han Qiongnian sucked in a breath through her teeth, shivering, then quickly stepped inside. From her sleeve, she pulled out a scroll and laid it on the desk. Next, she fetched the nearby oil lamp, placed it beside the scroll, and grinned at her daughter with hands on her hips.

Xie Yu closed the door behind her, cast a glance at the scroll, and sighed.

“Mother...what are you doing?”

Han Qiongnian chuckled.

“I know you like those roguish swordsman types. Yesterday, the matchmaker came by and said that Elder Bao’s son from the Hundred Sword Sect has taken a liking to you. She brought his portrait so you could have a look. There’s real sincerity here, you know. You know Young Master Bao, don’t you? You’re Southriver’s Swift Sword, and he’s called the White-Clad Sword Gentleman. What a perfect match!”

As she spoke, she began unrolling the scroll under the lamplight. The painting revealed a dashing swordsman in white, refined, heroic, straight out of a ballad.

Xie Yu didn’t even look.

“Mother, didn’t you promise not to pressure me?”

“Oh come on, child! How is this pressuring you? You’re already 23. At your age, most girls already have a baby in their arms! You can’t stay like this forever. Even the old master said it, you’re the only one of your generation who hasn’t married yet. The clan needs heirs. There are rules.”

She paused, her voice softening into weariness.

“You always say I’m pressuring you. But...I’m running out of strength too, you know.” Her face folded into sorrow.

Xie Yu looked at her mother, at the weariness behind Han Qiongnian’s smile, and thought of the pressure the family had been putting on her all these years. It probably wasn’t her mother’s fault. She was stuck in the same system, caught between filial duty and clan expectations.

So she made a decision.

“I already have someone,” she said, firmly.

Han Qiongnian blinked, stunned. Then her face lit up with joy. “Whose son is he?”

Xie Yu fell silent for a moment, then replied, “Doesn’t matter. Just know that he exists. He’s not from Southriver. He travels a lot, always away.”

Her mother squinted, unconvinced. “You’re not just making this up, are you?”

“He’ll be back by year’s end,” Xie Yu said. “If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself when he comes.”

Han Qiongnian clapped her hands with delight. “Fine! I’ll just sneak a peek. Quiet as a mouse.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

North of the Western Capital.

A forest stretched endlessly across the land.

In one of the taller, older trees sat a young man, perfectly still. He perched like a hawk, watching the official road below for any sign of movement.

He had stocked up on dry rations, surviving off nearby creek water, just so he wouldn’t have to take his eyes off the trail. He was waiting for a shadow, for a thread, for a whisper of a potential conspirator.

He could wait forever if needed.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

East of the Western Capital.

“Move! Get out of the city!”

Mister Mu galloped ahead on horseback, his face grim, and Song Yu rode hard beside him.

The two of them burst through the eastern gates and raced toward the Song Clan estate.

Mister Mu’s expression was unreadable, his gaze filled with dread, fury, and something bitterer still...defeat.

No one knew how Sovereign Ye had died.

How could someone like him just drop dead? What had killed him? Who?

Mister Mu didn’t have a clue. He

genuinely

couldn’t guess.

“Sir?” Song Yu called.

“Ah.” Mister Mu blinked, shaken out of his spiraling thoughts.

This time, he had come south from the Northern Wasteland with a meticulously crafted plan, each step building on the last. He didn’t know why the Phantom King held such interest in this so-called reincarnated Lord, but Mister Mu had been certain of one thing. The man

had to die

.

More than a decade ago, the Phantom King had spread a children’s rhyme across the land:

“May the emperor be safe, may blessings remain. The mountains stand tall for millenia.”

It sounded harmless, but only those born in the ancient Yu Dynasty would understand the hidden meaning.

The rhyme contained a hidden meaning. It referred to the Emperor Blessing Mountain, once famous across the Yu Dynasty.

The world had changed. Empires had risen and fallen. But the terrain? It remained. Wherever the Emperor Blessing Mountain once stood, it still stood now.

And the mountain standing tall for millenia was an invitation. A message hidden in plain sight, calling out to the scattered souls of the Yu Dynasty reborn in this new era.

Mister Mu was one of them.

They had regrouped in the north, quietly building toward a greater plan. He didn’t know why his reincarnation had taken tens of thousands of years. It was one of many mysteries still unanswered, but he suspected it had something to do with the recent catastrophe that shattered the world. Whatever that cataclysm had been, it had clearly damaged the cycle of reincarnation itself.

Mister Mu took a deep breath, then spoke.

“Song Yu. The Western Capital needs an enemy. So...let the Tang Sect take the blame.”

He didn’t even flinch when he said it.

“It was a Tang Sect assassin who killed Sovereign Ye. Spread the word. Tell your men to leak the news.”

“But...” Song Yu hesitated.

Mister Mu’s gaze narrowed. “What is it?”

After a pause, Song Yu spoke, carefully choosing his words.

“Must we really make the Tang Sect our enemy? Sovereign Ye was cruel and depraved. Compared to that, the south is far more stable. I just think...maybe we could speak with the Tang Sect openly and honestly first. If they truly have ambitions, then yes, we should side with the Great Zhou and prepare for war. But starting with a lie, spreading rumors before anything has happened...”

He trailed off, clearly uncomfortable.

In truth, Song Yu held a favorable view of Lord Yu.

And back in the Song Clan, the patriarch himself had his own thoughts about the reincarnation rumors. He had sent trusted men to attend the wedding of Lord Yu and Lady Yu, and they had returned with detailed observations. Nothing about it struck them as false.

Song Yu’s own territory had once seen a so-called reincarnator. A martial wanderer, confused and dazed, who wandered the streets asking about what era and land this was before rattling off a list of ancient place names that no longer existed.

After hearing the reports, Song Yu had the man detained and interrogated. What he learned convinced him.

Reincarnation was real. Lord Yu might

truly

be the one returned from another life.

And Lady Yu, proud and peerless, had declared herself his wife. If anyone else had asked, she would have refused without hesitation. If

she

believed he was truly Lord Yu...how could he not be?

Who was Lord Yu? The man who hung two blades above the Emperor and Divine Sovereign and kept the world in check for decades.

Song Yu couldn’t help but admire him.

And so, this plan to frame the Tang Sect...it didn’t sit right with him.

Mister Mu’s expression was stone-cold.

After a brief, tense exchange, Song Yu sighed. Powerless to resist, he nodded in agreement, at least for now. He would comply, and handle things differently once he was back within Song territory.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Early winter.

The first light snowfall had begun to drift lazily from the sky.

“Hah...” Li Yuan let out a long, silent sigh.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He hadn’t found the possible conspirator he'd staked out for. He’d guessed their identity correctly, bizarrely enough...but missed which road they’d taken.

And on this northbound road he had watched for so long, not a single other transcendent had passed.

He was done waiting. He made his way back to the Western Capital, which had somewhat calmed down since the Divine Sovereign’s death.

Despite the chaos in court, the markets still bustled with life.

Li Yuan found a good inn, took a hot bath, changed into clean clothes, and devoured a hearty meal. Then he bought himself a fine white robe, saddled up a new horse, and rode south.

The year was drawing to a close.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Xie Yu arrived at the Ginger Tavern dressed in crimson, her expression cold as frost, but her heart... her heart was on fire.

The Ginger Tavern, once a bustling restaurant, had become a scenic overlook in recent years. Even now, passersby wandered its grounds, admiring the view.

Xie Yu scanned the area, heart pounding like a drum. It felt like a deer had broken loose in her chest, darting around a frozen lake.

She stood perfectly straight, legs together, posture tense and poised, every inch the composed martial artist she was known to be.

But inside, she wanted to cry.

An entire lifetime of longing, of memories that refused to fade even after death and rebirth...it had all taken root inside her heart.

And now, it had begun to bloom.

She wanted so badly to see him.

Across the street, hidden in a teahouse, Han Qiongnian was peering out the window with a mix of nerves and excitement, her eyes locked on her daughter.

She watched with the gaze of a mother preparing to meet her son-in-law—but her heart was anything but calm.

What if this man turns out to be some no-name pauper who couldn’t hold a candle to Young Master Bao? What then?

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

Then snow began to fall. They were big, heavy flakes, goose-feather snow.

It blanketed the world in white, softening rooftops, fading the city’s sharp edges...and dusting Xie Yu’s hair like frost on ink.

By now, it was the last day of the year.

Midnight came and went.

The tea shops closed one by one. Across the street, the servers began shooing out the lingering customers, and Han Qiongnian’s excitement was doused like a flame in the rain.

She stepped quietly to her daughter’s side. She didn’t say much, just murmured, “Let’s go home.”

But Xie Yu felt a strange, stabbing ache in her chest.

“Let’s wait a bit longer...” she whispered.

Her mother nodded and stayed, standing beside her in the cold. They waited until morning, until the marketplace began to stir and cooking fires lit the air with the smell of breakfast.

Still, no one came.

Han Qiongnian’s face creased with worry. She had made a promise to the clan elder this year, that her daughter had found someone good, and that she’d bring him home by year’s end.

And now? What could she possibly say?

“Let’s go,” she said again, softly.

Xie Yu took a few deep breaths. Her jaw clenched as she bit back the disappointment swelling in her throat.

And just then, light broke across the snowy street.

At the far end of the road, hooves thundered.

A white-robed youth appeared, spotless despite the dust of travel. His black hair whipped wildly behind him as he raced through the snow.

He seemed to spot the woman in red from afar. And without waiting for his horse to slow, he vaulted into the air, faster than the beast itself. A gust of wind swirled through the market, kicking up snow in his wake as he landed before Xie Yu in a burst of motion.

Then, just as suddenly, he came to a graceful halt and smiled.

“You’ve just bathed?” he asked.

Xie Yu had been about to speak, but those four simple words struck her like lightning.

Her eyes turned red. Memories surged up from deep within her. From another time. Another life.

It was exactly what he had asked her the very first time they met.

So she answered softly, “Just now.”

“Could we hurry this up then?” Li Yuan grinned. “I’ve traveled far, caked in road dust. I can barely stand it.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “You...wish to bathe?”

“I wish to bathe,” he said, smiling.

[1]

Han Qiongnian, watching from the side, was completely lost. The conversation made absolutely no sense.

But before she could say anything, the white-robed youth stepped forward, without warning, and pulled her daughter into a tight embrace.

“What?!” Han Qiongnian’s jaw dropped. Her eyes bulged. And then she exploded. “Hey! You let go! Let go right now! You’re not even married yet!!”

1. Not going to lie, I did not expect the conversation from Chapter 400 to come back again. If I knew, I would’ve made the translation less specific and more vague. I think this is

close

enough. ☜