I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 91 Returning to the Sword Hall, Another Self [Bonus Chapter for Every 300 Monthly Tickets]

Pei Ju did not return to that neighborhood, but went directly back to his Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall.

He twisted the lock off his door with one hand, and with a creak, pushed the door open.

The creaking sound seemed to awaken the dormant atmosphere in the courtyard, as a mouse quickly darted from the wall into its hole in the corner.

Pei Ju walked in. The weeds in the courtyard had obscured the path. He walked along the grassy path, past the grape trellis, and arrived at the door of the main house of the Sword Hall. He tore off the seal and pushed open the door.

The wooden door creaked once again, and the setting sun shone into the room. A breeze followed the sunset in, stirring up the dust inside, which swirled in the sunlight.

He stepped into the house and looked at the floor. He could see some messy footprints on the ground, which he had left when he came in earlier.

The furniture was still scattered around the room, and he moved it back to its original place one by one.

However, even though the furniture was put back in its original place and everything returned to how he remembered it, he still didn't feel at home.

Because there is one less elderly person here.

He originally thought that living in that neighborhood, in the house that was given to him as compensation, didn't feel like home. He wandered around the city every night, partly because he didn't really want to go back there to sleep, because it wasn't home in his heart, just a place to sleep.

That's why he kept coming back to the Sword Hall at night. Now that the Sword Hall is back, he walked around inside and finally sat down in a chair, but it felt strange.

When the property was seized, he thought he would be happy to get it back. Now that it's back, it feels unfamiliar to him.

He took out a chair, went to the doorway, and sat in the sunset, basking in the sun. The whole house was empty, and the sun was about to set. He couldn't help but take out his bamboo flute and stand in front of the sword hall to play it in the last rays of the setting sun.

The mournful sound of a flute rose in the courtyard, drifting on the wind.

In the house in front, someone opened the window and saw a handsome young man with a somewhat melancholy air standing under the eaves, playing a bamboo flute.

"Mom, look, isn't that Brother Juzi? He's back."

A woman quickly squeezed through the window. She looked at the young man under the eaves, paused for a moment, and then said, "It's him, it's him! Little Juzi is back. He tore off the seal; he must have taken back the Sword Hall."

This was just the first person to open the window and look out; soon others opened their windows as well and saw Pei Ju.

Pei Ju has returned, and news of the reopening of the Zhan Gui Sword Hall has quietly spread.

When he finished his song, someone had already come to the outside of the Sword Hall courtyard and was calling out, "Juzi, you're back?"
"Yeah, I'm back."

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

I vaguely heard someone say, "The Pei family members are all tough. I knew he would come back sooner or later..."

……

The next day, Pei Ju moved back to the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall.

When he mowed the lawn, someone came to help him mow; when he tidied the house, someone helped him tidy the house, throwing away all the old and broken things and keeping only the usable ones; when he washed the wooden tables and chairs, someone helped him wash them.

He saw them; among them were a shoemaker and his son. The shoemaker was in poor health, but his son was tall and sturdy. When he saw Pei Ju, he smiled shyly.

The Sword Hall was thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and some unusable furniture was moved out and carried away by others.

These people who helped were all neighbors. They were the ones who used to come to the sword hall to talk to Grandpa. Whenever they felt down, they would come to the sword hall to get a sword strike before they would feel better.

So many years have passed, and at this moment, they are all welcoming Pei Ju's return in their own ways.

The day passed quickly. Pei Ju hadn't cooked any food, so he naturally couldn't invite them to stay for a meal. However, they each brought their own vegetables and gas canisters and cooked a meal at Pei Ju's house, which they all ate together.

This is considered firing a signal to the house that its owner has returned.

There is still no electricity today.

After everyone left, he was left alone in the house once again, but it was no longer as deserted as before. Instead, it had a more lively and welcoming atmosphere.

At nine o'clock in the evening, he lit the candles.

He closed the courtyard gate and the door to the sword hall, went upstairs to his room, placed the candle on the bedside table, and went to bed. The sword hall wasn't new, but at this moment, lying in the place where he had grown up, he felt incredibly at peace.

The scent of the new quilt filled my nose, and all I could hear was silence.

He fell asleep quickly.

In the silence, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from downstairs, ascending the stairs step by step.

"who is it?"

He was thinking clearly about why someone would come upstairs when he was alone at home. Was it someone who had helped him before, or had a thief broken in?

But he didn't get up; he remained hidden there, his body stiff.

I could clearly hear footsteps approaching, some light and some heavy.

Tap, tap.

In his heart, there was only one kind of footstep, and that was his grandfather.

Is Grandpa back too?
But Grandpa is dead!

The voice felt like it was stepping on his heart, slowly approaching the doorway and stopping.

His eyes were fixed on the door, which was not clearly visible in the darkness, but then it was slowly pushed open.

Light shone in through the crack in the door, and then a dark shadow pushed in through the small opening.

He seemed afraid that opening the door too wide would make a noise and disturb the person sleeping in bed.

Pei Ju lay there, trying to get up, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get up; it was as if he had forgotten how to get up.

In his eyes, the dark figure that entered the room walked step by step toward the bed.

Tap, tap.

He walked very slowly, seemingly very carefully, yet the sound of his footsteps was anything but quiet.

Pei Ju tried hard to see his face clearly, but for some reason he just couldn't.

He seemed to have no face.

The clothes he was wearing gave him a very familiar feeling, like the ones his grandfather used to wear.

Getting closer and closer.

They reached the bedside.

Darkness has already reached out its hand.

The hand emerged from the darkness, or perhaps from the sleeve of a garment; the back of the hand was bluish-black, like an old man's hand, and it reached for his neck.

He tried hard to get up, but it was as if he had forgotten how to get up, like someone who can't swim who has fallen into shallow water and forgotten how to stand up.

The hand touched his neck, and he seemed to smell a faint stench.

Suddenly, the figure disappeared.

Pei Ju felt panic and confusion. Suddenly, he turned his head and found that there was another person in his bed. The person was looking at him with their head turned to the side. The face that was not clear before was now clearly visible because they were under the same bed.

That person was actually himself.

Seeing anything is not scary, but seeing another version of yourself looking at you with a strange smile is the scariest thing.

(End of this chapter)