NOVEL WEB Chapter 12: Teaching the Sword (Part 2)
Chapter 12: Teaching the Sword (Part 2)
You Su touched his neck, which had already completely healed, straightened his sleeping robe, and calmly walked out of his room.
He was no longer as shocked as he had been the first time he saw his monstrous junior sister. Setting aside its nauseating appearance, it wasn’t all that different from his actual junior sister. In fact, compared to the junior sister he was familiar with, it was even more openly concerned about him.
Perhaps the possession by the evil entity had made his junior sister more honest, You Su thought to himself.
Tonight, the stars and moonlight were exceptionally bright. The grotesque creature held a wooden sword, repeating the upward slash motion over and over again, though its movements were stiff and far more awkward than those of its human counterpart.
When it noticed You Su approaching, the junior sister stopped practicing and asked apologetically, “Senior Brother, did I wake you?”
“No, I just took too long of a nap,” You Su replied with a faint smile.
“Hehe, you should just become a night owl like me.”
“That wont do. I can’t sleep while you’re awake,” You Su said and took a wooden sword from the rack. His tone carried a hint of deeper meaning, but he quickly changed the subject. “Which part are you having trouble with?”
The junior sister’s six fish-like eyes drooped slightly, and its expression turned dejected. “Senior Brother, I just can’t get the hang of the third form.”
You Su glanced at the junior sister’s grotesquely bloated body and immediately understood the root of its struggle. However, he didn’t point it out directly. Instead, he began demonstrating the move with his own wooden sword.
“Let me show you once.”
You Su gripped the sword as if it were a flute, thrusting and slashing with an elegance that resembled an immortal brushing their sleeves. It was a sight to behold.
“Senior Brother, you’re amazing!”
The junior sister’s eyes sparkled with admiration. Although You Su wasn’t practicing the Yang Sword, the Yuan Sword and the Yang Sword had many similarities. His demonstration truly captured the essence of the third form of the Yang Sword.
“Now you try.”
The junior sister attempted to mimic his movements, but due to its physical limitations, the result was far from satisfactory.
She seemed to realize that her failure was not due to a lack of understanding, but rather because her body was simply not suited for swordsmanship.
“I can’t learn this…”
As it spoke, it lowered its massive head, and the sores on its body began to secrete a thick, viscous fluid as if it were crying tears of frustration.
You Su pretended not to notice and spoke gently, “Don’t rush, Junior Sister. The key to this move isn’t to copy the sword manual exactly, but to focus on dodging the enemy’s weapon.”
With that, You Su began to demonstrate again. In just a few moments, he had tailored a set of movements similar to the third form, but adjusted to suit the junior sister’s unique physique. Unlike the graceful, immortal-like movements from before, this time his swordplay was bold and sweeping.
“The third form is designed to continue after the second form is broken by the enemy. It uses the momentum of the upward slash to retract the arm and shield the body, effectively closing the center line and avoiding the enemy’s weapon. In sword theory this is called the sealing technique. As long as you achieve the sealing effect, the details aren’t that important,” he said.
You Su explained to her as he swung the sword. After finishing the demonstration, he sheathed the wooden sword and placed it behind his back. “Try it again using the movements I just showed you. If you forget any part, just ask me.”
“Okay!” The junior sister nodded vigorously, her spirit visibly lifted despite her monstrous form.
Surprisingly, the junior sister’s memory was extraordinary. After watching just once, it was able to execute the customized sword techniques with ease. Freed from the constraints of its bloated body, it performed the movements effortlessly.
You Su wasn’t too surprised since Ji Lingruo had always been a quick learner. He continued to point out minor flaws in the junior sister’s technique and had it make corrections. The junior sister humbly accepted all his advice, even when You Su began to nitpick, as if it believed that everything its senior brother said was the absolute truth.
However, the training session didn’t end quickly. The junior sister seemed afraid of improving too fast and occasionally made deliberate mistakes. You Su could sense that more than mastering the sword technique, the junior sister valued the act of being taught by him.
Realizing this, You Su felt a complex mixture of emotions. Recalling the throat slitting strike from the Master’s Wife in his dream, he wondered: Had it truly been trying to kill him? If so, then how was he still alive? Perhaps, as the junior sister had said, there had been some misunderstanding between them.
So far, he had interacted with the monstrous junior sister three times, and every encounter had been filled with kindness. Based on this, he was even convinced that the mysterious piece of rotten flesh would be of great benefit to him.
Ironically, as a blind man, the biggest barrier in his heart was the junior sister’s hideous appearance.
If he were to close his eyes and see nothing, would he still doubt that the creature before him was his junior sister?
No, because it was his junior sister. She was just sick, and he would heal her.
Having confirmed this, You Su gently stopped the junior sister’s next attempt. “That’s enough for today, Junior Sister.”
A flicker of disappointment passed through the junior sister’s fish-like eyes, but it quickly vanished when You Su didn’t leave. Instead, he looked up at the bright moon.
“Junior Sister, what does the moon look like?”
The junior sister also looked up and began to describe it in detail. “It’s round, with some dark spots, and it glows with a pale yellow light.”
A faint smile appeared on You Su’s lips. “Junior Sister, your description is so vivid, it’s as if I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”
The junior sister realized that You Su was teasing it and wished it could hide its grotesque body in the shadows, away from the clear moonlight.
It asked tentatively, “Senior Brother, do you really want to see?”
“Of course,” You Su replied firmly.
“You will. Once you take the Spirit Stabilizing Pill, everything will be better.”
You Su recalled the time when the Master’s Wife had urged him to eat the rotten flesh, hinting that it could restore his vision. The junior sister’s description was even more exaggerated. Thinking about the origin of the flesh, You Su grew even more curious about the evil entity possessing his junior sister.
“Junior Sister, thank you for giving me such a precious pill. If it’s so powerful, does it have any side effects?”
“None at all,” the creature replied confidently. Then, as if remembering something, it added, “But if one day you can see, and the world isn’t what you imagined, what would you do?”
“I might be disappointed, but I’d also be excited. If the world was exactly as you imagined it, wouldn’t that be too boring?”
“That’s true. Then… what if I didn’t look like you imagined?”
“Would that make you any less of my junior sister?” You Su countered matter-of-factly.
Stunned by this response, the junior sister was frozen in place. Saliva dripped from its mouth, and the rhythm of its breathing holes and the swaying of its tendrils quickened. It stared at You Su, completely entranced.
You Su’s words were one part deliberate and nine parts heartfelt. His junior sister, master’s wife, and master were the three most important people in his life. No matter how they changed, this fact would never change.
When the junior sister remained silent, You Su turned around to explain further, only to find that it was no longer there. Not only that, the surroundings began to twist and distort. After a dizzying whirl, darkness and fog enveloped You Su’s vision once again.
Then, a familiar knocking sound came from the door, followed by Ji Lingruo’s lively voice:
“Hey, You Su, get up! I’ve been practicing swordplay all night and I’m starving. Go buy some breakfast!”