Chapter Nine: The Blade Hidden in the Wind

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The blade wind was gentle, brushing against the skin like a tender hand—one push, one pull—the wind dissolved into finer, almost invisible particles, slipping through the body and merging within.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The wind howled, countless blade winds sweeping across Song Hai’s body. In those simple motions—push and pull—they were transformed into minuscule wind particles that fused into him.

“What is this?” Thanks to the fortune of transmigration, Zhou Yi, though not as outrageously gifted as Song Hai, still possessed a few modest talents. He had a photographic memory, keen hearing and sight, heightened senses—small gifts, but gifts nonetheless.

He couldn’t see the blade wind, but he could feel it. Perhaps it was because he had endured so much of it that he now felt an inexplicable familiarity with it.

Damn it! Was this the onset of Stockholm syndrome?

Noticing something strange about the blade wind, Zhou Yi instinctively focused all his attention on it. Maybe this was the key to escaping the unending agony that tormented him every moment!

Many things aren’t truly difficult; they’re only separated by a thin veil. Once pierced, everything becomes clear. But if you can’t break through, no matter how capable you are, your efforts are in vain—useless!

Fortunately, Zhou Yi noticed the anomaly—the thin veil of the blade wind. Now, the only question was whether he had the power to pierce it. If he could, then perhaps what he imagined might truly be possible!

When the blade wind lost its keenness, it was no longer a blade wind, especially for Zhou Yi—for him, it was countless sources of energy!

He watched intently as the blade wind changed Song Hai’s skin and muscles, eyes wide and unblinking, completely absorbed.

Blade wind—wind within which lies a blade. The name itself suggested that these really were winds of the blade, the aftershocks of a sword stroke. When they struck the body, aside from not causing death or bleeding, there was little difference from a real blade.

So perhaps, as Song Hai’s legends claimed, these winds were indeed created by a person’s strike!

But just what level of power had that person attained to split a mountain with a single blow, leaving such a massive chasm? The remnant blade energy must have mingled with the mountain winds to become the blade wind.

Yet there was a problem: if the blade wind was truly formed from remnant blade energy, and that strike could split a mountain, why couldn’t the lingering blade energy even seriously hurt a person?

Could it be that someone had altered it afterward?

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“Forget it, who cares!” Staring at the changes in Song Hai’s muscles and the swirling blade wind, Zhou Yi’s thoughts spun out of control, wandering off who knows where.

“If my guess is right—or at least not far off—then the ‘blade’ in the blade wind is the true blade energy, the source of all the pain, while the ‘wind’ is merely wind.”

“To put it more precisely, the wind is a medium—a carrier for the blade energy.”

“Hm…” As this thought occurred, a sudden inspiration flashed through Zhou Yi’s mind: “If that’s the case, then I think I understand!”

“Song Hai doesn’t suffer from the blade wind because, as the blade energy approaches his skin, the force from his push and pull motions draws the blade energy out of the wind. The wind disperses, while the blade energy enters his body. If I’m right, once inside, this blade energy should strengthen his body, or enhance him in some other way!”

“In any case, to summarize, this blade energy is a good thing!”

With that, Zhou Yi suddenly reached out and poked at Song Hai’s arm with his finger—poke! poke! poke!

“Damn! What are you doing?!”

Before he could finish testing his theory, Song Hai woke up, dazed, opening his eyes to see Zhou Yi’s big face looming overhead. Looking down, he saw Zhou Yi poking his arm repeatedly, and in an instant his expression changed. With a whoosh, like a startled rabbit, he sprang to his feet.

“Yi, you… what are you trying to do?” Song Hai instinctively hugged his arms, eyeing Zhou Yi warily, stammering.

“Nothing, I just wanted to…” Zhou Yi was at a loss as he watched Song Hai, in the blink of an eye, go from awakening to jumping up and now cowering like a quail. How had he managed so much in such a short time?

“Want? Don’t even think about it!” Zhou Yi tried to explain, but before he could finish, Song Hai leaped up, shouting, “Let me tell you, Yi, anything else, I can go along with!”

“But not this! Never!”

Zhou Yi was dumbfounded, watching Song Hai bounce away in alarm. I’m a man, and I like women—just what are you imagining?

Just as he was about to clarify, he caught sight of Song Hai’s quail-like posture, and a mischievous thought struck him.

Grinning, he waved Song Hai over. “What’s on your mind? Come here, I need to tell you something!”

His smile was bright as the sun, his arm waving eagerly like a beckoning cat.

“You…” Song Hai hesitated, glancing at Zhou Yi with extreme caution, unwilling to approach. Only when Zhou Yi’s arm grew tired and his smile turned into a twisted grimace did Song Hai finally, after much inner struggle, shuffle over.

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Smack!

As soon as Song Hai drew near, Zhou Yi reached out, grabbed him by the neck, and pulled him down. “Not coming over, huh? Scared? You look like I’m about to eat you!”

“That’s what you get for not trusting me—smack!”

“That’s what you get for doubting me—smack!”

“That’s what you get for saying anything but this is fine—smack!”

With his arm around Song Hai, Zhou Yi slapped his back again and again, cursing as he did so.

“Uh…” After a while, Song Hai slowly lifted his head from Zhou Yi’s arm, wanting to say something but hesitating.

“What is it?” Zhou Yi snapped.

“Um… are you tired?” Song Hai asked, hesitating.

“A bit, why?” Zhou Yi let go, slumping to the ground, panting heavily.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Song Hai looked at Zhou Yi, a sly smile flashing in his eyes.

He had noticed something earlier: within the blade wind, when it touched his body, he felt nothing at all. At first he thought he’d wandered out of the danger zone, until he saw the glaring red marks on the mountain cliffs.

“So this is…” He hadn’t had time to investigate before Zhou Yi’s barrage of slaps and curses left him no chance to think about it. Only during their tussle just now did Song Hai recall it.

“Hurt? What do you think?” Zhou Yi shot him a look. Did Song Hai really think everyone had his kind of gift?