I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 69 Return
The temple was very large, with more than thirty people sitting around it on both sides, and the teacher sitting directly in the center.

Bai Shaoyang, who was in the middle, looked at the score sheet in his hand, raised the hand holding the paper, and said, "Teacher, I have something to say."

"Oh, what do you want to say?" Class teacher Zhuo Dingfeng asked, seemingly knowing everything.

"I want to ask Ye Youruo, why did you only give me a low score of 70? She has given lower scores than others before. I suspect she has discrimination against the swordsman class."

"Oh." After taking a sip from his thermos, the homeroom teacher, Zhuo Dingfeng, said to Ye Youruo, "Ye Youruo, he said you discriminate against swordsmen. What do you think?"

Ye Youruo sat cross-legged on the cushion without getting up, and simply looked up and said, "Teacher, I don't discriminate against swordsmen, but I just feel that his swordsmanship is indeed not up to that high level."

Zhuo Dingfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Over the years, it has been difficult to be a swordsman and the inheritance is difficult. Although there seem to be a large number of people, they are just playing around in some competitions. This is obvious to all. However, as everyone knows, if there is someone with a natural talent for swordsmanship, they can also shine brightly in the swordsman profession. Bai Shaoyang has this talent. Ye Youruo's score is indeed too low."

Ye Youruo's gaze fell on Bai Shaoyang's sword, and she remained silent.

Bai Shaoyang then said, "I heard that Ye Youruo is also skilled in swordsmanship."

The other students looked at Ye Youruo in surprise. They hadn't expected that Ye Youruo would also know swordsmanship. They only knew that she always gave Bai Shaoyang the lowest score in swordsmanship among the students, but now they heard that she also knew swordsmanship.

"Yes, I learned some from a friend." Ye Youruo's tone was calm, but everyone present was a perceptive person and could sense that her emotions were fluctuating, as if she was reminiscing or recalling.

"Since you have learned and seen other people's swordsmanship, why do you always give me low marks when you see my swordsmanship? That person must be far superior to me, right? I just don't know which master swordsmanship that taught you is. Why don't you tell us?"

He wondered if some master swordsman had commented on his swordsmanship, or if Ye Youruo had seen even more advanced swordsmanship, which was why she didn't take his swordsmanship seriously.

"No, the person who taught me swordsmanship was the same age as me at the time, only fifteen years old." Ye Youruo pondered for a moment. She knew that saying such a thing would definitely anger Bai Shaoyang. Bai Shaoyang was not a person with a gentle temperament. Like his swordsmanship, he was a tough and sharp person who could not tolerate being insulted.

But she said it anyway.

"You gave my swordsmanship a low score after seeing a fifteen-year-old's swordsmanship?" Bai Shaoyang asked coldly.

The night was silent.

Bai Shaoyang's chest heaved as he said to his teacher, "Teacher, I want to challenge Ye Youruo."

His words were not surprising, but they still caused some commotion.

Ye Youruo was consistently ranked among the top three in the [Spiritual Charm] class. Initially, there were people who dared to challenge her, but they all lost to her, so very few people challenged her afterward.

In everyone's opinion, no matter how well Bai Shaoyang practiced his swordsmanship, he had almost no chance of winning against Ye Youruo.

Ye Youruo possesses powerful abilities and exceptional talent. The combination of her various abilities allows her to remain undisturbed when others close in, giving her a strong ability to disengage from combat and formidable offensive capabilities.

The teacher did not stop it.

The "Naturally Talented" class is not for nurturing hothouse flowers.

Ye Youruo stood up, and under the guidance of a teacher, the two moved almost simultaneously.

Bai Shaoyang drew his sword and used the Dragon Step. The moment he drew his sword, he moved forward like a swimming dragon. With this footwork, many spells that required preparation could not even touch him.

This is why he has been able to maintain a mid-range ranking in the class, and some spells can even be broken by his sword.

But just as his figure began to twist and sway, he heard a sharp, piercing shriek that went straight into his mind.

His elusive figure froze instantly.

A sharp pain shot through his mind, and then he saw Ye Youruo flick her hand towards the void.

A beam of white light shot out from the edge of her palm.

He immediately swung his sword, but he felt a tremendous force crashing down on him, as if he were being hit by a huge wave, and he was thrown into the air.

Zhuo Dingfeng was not surprised to see this, because this was the difference between the middle level and the top three in the class.

Her white light was a Moonlight Slash, which had several profound layers. When she used it against Bai Shaoyang, she still showed mercy. Otherwise, he would not have been blown away, but his consciousness would have been annihilated.

Zhuo Dingfeng couldn't help but think, "The profession of swordsman is indeed difficult. Even someone as talented and passionate about swords as Bai Shaoyang would have a hard time winning against someone with similar talent. It's true that becoming a swordsman is a very difficult process."

After class that afternoon, a female classmate curiously approached Ye Youruo and asked, "Youruo, what kind of swordsmanship did the person who taught you swordsmanship when he was fifteen have?"

Ye Youruo pondered for a moment, seemingly recalling something, and then said, "I don't know how to describe his swordsmanship. In terms of skill proficiency, he is just as skilled as Bai Shaoyang, and his sword techniques are effortless, but the underlying principles are different."

"You mean different in spirit?" the female student asked.

"Perhaps it's because of different upbringing," Ye Youruo said slowly. She thought of her neighbor's experiences from childhood to adulthood and felt a pang of sympathy and sadness.

……

night.

There was no moon, only a few sparse stars hanging in the sky.

A gentle night breeze was blowing.

This open space is filled with piles of reinforced concrete.

There was an incandescent light bulb hanging high on the construction site, shining like a small sun.

On the silent construction site, no one was seen patrolling, and only one person was sleeping soundly in the workers' shed.

……

A hunched old man walked out of the darkness in the distance. He seemed to be the only source of light in the world, but there was no light on him at all. However, if anyone saw him, their eyes and all their consciousness would be focused on him.

Those who see it will feel fear, as if they have seen a natural enemy, and will tremble all over without any resistance.

He held a rope in his hand, which dragged on the ground.

"Sweetie, don't be afraid, you won't be scared if you're hung up like this..."

It was an old woman's voice. As she got closer, her face was revealed: a face full of wrinkles, but her eyes gleamed with a faint light.

He looked at the person on the bed, and there was drool-like saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Just as He walked over to put the rope over the head of the person on the bed, the person suddenly rolled over, stretched out two fingers, and caught the rope.

He tried to pull it back, but couldn't budge it at all.

The old woman was shocked. She had never encountered such a situation before. Just as she was about to use her shrieking technique to break through the other person's consciousness and dream, another finger pointed from the bed. She saw a sharp light flash across the other person's sword finger. Although it did not touch her, she felt a sharp pain all over her body, and her world collapsed.

……

Pei Ju turned over and sat up.

A black wisp was wrapped around his fingers; he flicked his hand, and the black wisp was swept away like smoke. He looked at the moonlit night outside, thinking that going back now would be troublesome, so he lay down again and went back to sleep.

It got light very quickly.

Someone has arrived at the construction site.

Someone peered into the shed and felt reassured upon seeing the person lying on the bed.

You know, several people had died at the construction site before, all by hanging. Later, the manager heard that there was a capable person in a Taoist temple in the nearby mountains, so he used his connections to invite him down. It seems that he is indeed capable, at least the person who came down from the mountain slept here for one night and was fine.

"Mr. Pei, Mr. Pei."

Pei Ju sat up, stretched, and said, "It's dawn."

"Yes, Mr. Pei, are you alright?"

"It's alright. Tell your manager that the hanging ghost has been dealt with. I'm going back now."

Pei Ju returned to the mountain; it was mid-morning.

Senior Sister Yu looked exactly the same as she had a few years ago, with no change in her appearance. Pei Ju, on the other hand, looked taller and more composed, even aloof, than before. It was hard to tell whether it was from the mountain winds or the starlight.

This gave him an air of otherworldly refinement.

However, life in the mountains is always so mundane and boring. Unless you have a strong inner world and a peaceful mind, you simply can't stand it.

You get tired of looking at mountains, you get tired of looking at stars, you get tired of watching spring flowers wither, autumn leaves turn red, and frost and snow freeze.

However, Pei Ju never mentioned leaving, because he felt that if he left, his senior sister would be too lonely here alone.

Every time I see my senior standing on the edge of a cliff, gazing at the mountains, I feel she is so lonely.

The two were eating lunch. Senior Sister Yu ate very little and finished quickly. She sat there drinking tea, looking at Pei Ju, and suddenly said, "You should go."

Pei Ju paused for a moment and said, "Where are we going?"

"You are the sole heir of the Pei Clan Sword Hall, so of course you should return to where you came from," Senior Sister Yu said calmly.

Pei Ju's heart was touched by these words, and his long-dormant passion stirred. He swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Okay."

……

The world on the mountain seems unchanged, while the world below the mountain is developing rapidly.

When Pei Ju returned to Haishi, the Haishi he saw seemed strangely similar to the one in his memory.

There were more people in the train station, and the train station was even more magnificent.

Many things were quite new to him.

He didn't go to his own Pei family sword hall, which had been sealed off, but instead went to the house that had been allocated to him.

But when he tried to go in, he was stopped by security.

This is a high-end residential area, and the security guards had never seen him before, so they wouldn't let him in.

Fortunately, he remembered his address and gave his house number. The security guard then notified the property management staff, who knew that it was a house that had been unoccupied for a long time and had not paid property management fees for many years.

After sizing up Pei Ju, he led him there with some skepticism. Only after watching Pei Ju unlock the door with his key did he feel relieved and ask, "Young man, where have you been? Did you go abroad?"

"It's been so many years since I've been back."

"Your water and electricity are cut off here, you need to go and get them turned back on."

"Also, the property management fees need to be paid."

……

After a long day of work, he finally got everything sorted out and lay down in the room he had just cleaned. He smelled the new blankets and looked at the white ceiling and the bright light.

There was a sense of unreality in my heart.

His sense of unreality was very mysterious. Of course, suddenly, something happened in his family, and he eventually left Haishi. He stayed on that mountain for five years, spending his days with the mountain wind and stars, and spending time alone with his senior sister. Sometimes they wouldn't even exchange a few words all day.

But he stayed there for five years, and now, in a single day, he has come from that mountain to this huge city.

Life's encounters and changes are so unexpected; they never give you a heads-up, nor do they offer any rehearsal.

The next day, he went and bought a cell phone.

He quickly learned how to use many apps on his phone.

After lying in the house for two more days, he slowly recovered.

The first thing he wanted to do was to get his family's Pei Clan Sword Hall back.

So he went to the relevant department, but the people there didn't pay much attention to him at first. Later, after they learned what he was looking for, they said there was no precedent for this. Some people said it was impossible, and that the Sword Hall had been taken over as state-owned assets and no one could touch it, otherwise it would be a loss of state-owned assets.

So he went to Jin Fengyue of the Detective Department, who had visited his sword hall several times before. Fortunately, he was still there. After Pei Ju explained his purpose, he smoked and pondered, "This matter is not easy to handle, but it is also easy to handle. Many things are not easy to handle because of identity issues. Some things can be handled on a case-by-case basis."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ju immediately understood his meaning: it was simply that his status was insufficient, and if his status were sufficient, he would be able to take it back.

Later, Jin Fengyue asked, "How is Fourth Master?"

“Grandpa passed away four years ago,” Pei Ju said, his voice no longer tinged with sadness.

Jin Fengyue sighed and said, "Fourth Master is a very good person, as is your father. If you want to take back the Sword Hall, your abilities need to be seen, and most importantly, you need to make contributions to the country."

"Oh, by the way, do you have any professional certifications?" Jin Fengyue asked.

"No." Pei Ju recalled that he wanted to take the swordsman certificate and the secret arts certificate exam back then, but he didn't have time before leaving Hai City.

"If possible, get certified. There are national subsidies, and with that certification, you can become a patrol officer, detective, or peripheral personnel of the police department. After being invited to participate in the handling of some incidents, you can earn merit, which can be exchanged for many things in government units."

"For example, there are rituals that can grant certain abilities, such as medals or privileges. If you want to take back the Sword Hall, it shouldn't be a problem as long as your status is high enough."

Pei Ju nodded after hearing this.

These things didn't exist originally, but with the development over the years, it seems that not only economic development, but other things are also changing.

(End of this chapter)