Chapter 218: Song of the Hand-Forged Blade

[T/n: note on chapter title]

1

This piece of letter paper would usually be regarded as a treasure worthy of a collection, not because it was a piece of exquisite calligraphy, but because the person who wrote it was no ordinary individual.

But either way, it was just a piece of letter paper after all, and Yin Qing was not sure how much use it would be. But looking at the expressions of these three women, they were startled, at the very least.

“Brother Yin, why is the paper in your hand glowing?”

Mo Xiu was nearest to him, and was extremely surprised when he saw the light shining from the letter paper in Yin Qing’s hand. The traveling merchants and the other two scholars were further away, so they couldn’t see it clearly, but they could still vaguely make out that the piece of paper in Yin Qing’s hands was indeed glowing.

“Hey, you three girls, what wrong?”

Yin Qing asked in surprise. Mo Xiu turned to them and chimed in.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, perhaps we just disturbed them over here. Girls, feel free to take the clothes from the book packs. Brother Mo and I will go over there and make sure not to look at you!”

Yin Qing first placed the letter on the table where Lei Yusheng had slept, then took out the two sets of clothes from his book pack, placing Mo Xiu’s clothes directly on the table. Then he picked up both packs and handed them to Mo Xiu. After retrieving the letter, he also picked up the other packs, in order to avoid them being “accidentally” knocked over again.

“Brother Mo, let’s go.”

Yin Qing gave Mo Xiu a wink, and the latter came back to his senses and returned to the traveling merchants’ camp with Yin Qing, carrying the book packs.

Yin Qing’s original intention had been to come and bring Mo Xiu back, so now was not the time to be brave.

Everyone over there looked at the three women, then many of them focused on the letter in Yin Qing’s hand.

Now that he had gotten closer, the merchants, Lin Xinjie, and Lei Yusheng were finally able to clearly see the paper in Yin Qing’s hand.

Yin Qing didn’t say much. He just put down the book packs alongside Mo Xiu, and then sat in his spot, looking at the letter in his hand.

After what had happened just now, the atmosphere in the deserted waystation became subtle. All of the traveling merchants held their axes tightly in their hands. The four scholars also noticed something wrong with Yin Qing’s frequent glances.

The three women who still appeared to be dripping wet stood ten feet away from the scholar’s fire, always staring at the corner where the men were seated. Because they were a little far from the fire, no one could see the expressions on their faces.

“Whoooo… Whooooo…”

“Boom…”

Outside, the constant noise of the storming wind and rain was interspersed with the occasional sound of thunder. The two campfires inside the waystation occasionally flickered in a gust of wind that leaked in.

After having taken out the letter, Yin Qing’s energy and the determination of the surrounding people seemed to have been increased, and they gathered around as if banding together in hatred over a common enemy. The corner of the deserted inn was filled with rage.

Although the three women couldn’t see it very clearly, they could feel a strong smell of Yang from that corner, which made them feel a little uncomfortable.

After more than a dozen breaths, the three women over there, although afraid, still asked a question; after all, they hadn’t suffered any harm just now.

“Young master~! What is that in your hand? It looks like a treasure!”

Yin Qing was actually still nervous. After all, Mr. Ji’s letter was no substitute for Mr. Ji himself, so it might not be able to save everyone. He glanced at the people around him, calmed himself down, and concentrated on answering the woman’s question.

“It’s nothing special. This is just a letter from an elder. I was careless, and didn’t put it away properly after reading it.”

Yin Qing shook the letter paper, and the light on it seemed to sway like ripples, making it appear very magical.

“You three girls got soaked in the rain. You’d better warm yourself by the fire and change into dry clothes. Otherwise, you will get sick. When your clothes are try tomorrow, you can change back out of ours. No need to repay us for anything.”

What Yin Qing meant was that he hoped everyone could live in peace and not interfere with one another.

The three women glanced at each other, and finally walked to the fire. They squatted down and hugged their legs for a while, then began to look at the clothes left by the scholars.

“They’re really full of scholarly fragrance. Sisters, since the young master asked us to change our clothes, let’s change them to avoid catching a cold.”

The other two heard her words and laughed. Then they actually stood up together and started to undress.

Originally, there was a table blocking the fire. The corners of these tables in the outpost were not too high, but the tables weren’t all that small, either, If the women truly wanted to change their clothes, they could just squat down, and it would serve as a barrier. However, they didn’t expect that these three people would stand up on purpose, showing off their graceful upper bodies.

As the clothes peeled off, revealing the white skin and red crevices, all the people in the corner stared, their eyes wide open. They knew something was wrong, but weren’t able to look away. Even Yin Qing’s face was agitated. He was naturally curious about women, but he was not so extreme that he would look at them without their permission. However, in this situation where he had to constantly pay attention to the other party’s actions at all times, he could not relax his observation so easily.

“Hmph, why are you pretending to be so serious…”

A woman murmured softly, and uttered a quiet exclamation.

“Hey, sister, it’s all wet inside too~”

“Then just take it off, hee hee…”

This kind of playful scene seems to have become dreamy and even more alluring. Many men felt their mouths dry and wanted to gulp.

The women gave each other narrow glances. They could feel the Yang energy had obviously greatly dissipated, and it was no longer so uncomfortable for them.

Yin Qing himself was fine, but he didn’t notice the changes in the people behind him.

“It’s vulgar!”

The elder surnamed Lu suddenly scolded in a low voice, and knocked the ground with his hatched a few times, making it clang. The letter paper seemed to flash twice as the old man cursed, and many people in the group suddenly sobered.

The result of Old Lu’s scolding and actions obviously angered the three women. They all looked at him coldly, and teeth flashes at the corners of their mouths.

When the three women bared their teeth in anger, Yin Qing suddenly saw an illusion of a long shadow of a mouth and nose. At that moment, he even felt that it seemed a bit familiar.

‘Fox spirits!’

This thought suddenly flashed through Yin Qing’s mind, and the hairs on his body stood up on end. Regardless of exactly what had happened just now, although it was not confirmed, he was now certain.

Combined with what Yin Qing had accidentally glimpsed moving under the woman’s skirt before, it was likely that there would be a fox tail on the lower body that was being blocked by the table.

When the three women stared at Old Man Lu with cold eyes, Yin Qing discovered that the letter paper in his hand seemed to have a faint light emanating from it, and floating around his group of people. Then, many people suddenly could vaguely see that the three women, whose backs were now to the fire, had a faint green glow in their eyes.

2

“Oh my god!”

3

“The eyes are glowing green!”

“Yeah!”

“Ah, did you see it too? It shone for me too!”

“No, no, I saw it too!”…

By now, everyone had truly been scared awake, with goosebumps all over their bodies.

When the group of women heard what these people were talking about, they were shocked. They had no idea how they had been exposed. However, they realized that their seductive behavior might now have little effect.

The three women no longer flirted or made suggestive gestures. Instead, they narrowed their eyes and looked coldly in the direction of the crowd. The individuals that stuck out the most were naturally the elder surnamed Lu and Yin Qing, and thing they feared the most was the letter paper in Yin Qing’s hand.

However, after so much time had passed, that piece of paper seemed to have no other effect aside from looking extraordinary. The three women’s apprehension weakened, and they exchanged several glances.

One of the women asked.

“Young man, seeing that you are such an upright person, your family’s teachings must be very strict, right? Your parents and elders are really good at writing!”

Another immediately followed up in a teasing tone.

“It seems like you haven’t tasted the joy of lovemaking yet~”

“Well, the elders in your family must have never taught you this kind of knowledge!”

“Would you like to try it? Ahahahaha…”

The three women swayed back and forth with laughter, but Yin Qing pretended to be indifferent and unmoved. The mysterious aura that circulated around his body became more active, though the letter paper appeared unchanged. He could even vaguely see the woman’s shadow beside the fire opposite occasionally flash with a tail.

He could also see waves of faint smoke-like substances rising from the woman’s body. They grew thicker and thicker as the rumbling thunder outside grew louder.

Before, only Yin Qing could smell the slight stench, but now, before they realized, everyone could now make it out. Combined with the scene they saw before, the three women now gave them hardly any temptation whatsoever.

The women’s words were unbearable, but they were actually testing him. They even moved their bodies and slowly approached the other campfire. Although their appearances had not changed, they became increasingly creepy to everyone’s senses!

“Boom…”

The thunder sounded again.

A sense of crisis grew stronger in Yin Qing’s heart, and he realized that these three vixen spirits were not going to give up.

“Uncle Lu, do you traveling merchants have any traditional methods?”

Yin Qing asked in a low voice, without looking back to face him. Although Mr. Ji’s letter was miraculous, it was just a letter, after all.

Elder Lu and others were also more fearful now, but after hearing Yin Qing’s words, they remembered the method passed down from generation to generation in their village. After humming a bit in reflection, Elder Lu spoke to everyone.

“Everyone, prepare the Blade Song.”

The group of merchants looked at each other and grabbed their hatchets.

“Clang…clang…”

“Clang…clang…”

Over a dozen people began to hit the ground with the backs of their blades. In the span of a few breaths, the sounds went from haphazard to more and more orderly.

“Clang clang clang… Clang clang clang…”

“Merchants climbing the mountains, hey-oh… A bandit blocking the road—hey-oh… With a blade in hand I go—hey-oh…”

“Clang clang clang… Clang clang clang…”

“With a huge load on my back—hey-oh… Through mountains and wild outback—hey-oh… I fear no beast nor foe—hey-oh…”

4

“Clang clang clang… Clang clang clang…”

As the dozen or so merchants sang louder and louder, their aura became more and more powerful. Yin Qing found that the light from the letter in his hand had also become much stronger, and there was now a thin glow of light that flowed around the dozen or so merchants. A murderous aura rose from this group of seemingly simple men.

The suffocating Yang energy became stronger and stronger, causing the expressions of the three women to change, and forcing them to take several steps back. These were obviously just mortals, but they seemed to ferocious, as if they were about to chop people in half with their blades.

T/n: you know, if you think about it, Yin Qing got the letter paper from his dad. What kind of mystical encounters must his dad have had off camera that the letter saved him from to make him want to pass it down to his son?

Also, to the fox spirits: just move to the modern era, there are a truly ridiculous number of people who would cheerfully give their lifespans for a chance with a fox girl

土法 (tǔfǎ): “traditional method,” 刀子 (dāozi): knife, 歌 (gē): song

Foxes, cats, etc. have a layer at the back of their eyes called the

tapetum lucidum

, which serves to reflect light back through the retina and gives them a higher sensitivity to light in the dark, hence their night vision. This layer also reflects light shined on it, and the eyes glow green. Humans don’t have this.

Lit. “oh mommy!”

T/n: This was actually really fun to translate! It’s not quiiite an exact translation, but pretty close, plus artistic liberties