I Truly Am The Villian

"He still has the nerve to show up here. If I were him, I would have rolled out of Chang'an city a long time ago," the young man beside snorted coldly.

"After all, his legs are broken. How would he survive if he left Chang'an?" someone said with a mocking tone.

However, the beggar in the corner remained unmoved.

Simply turning his back to everyone, he quietly looked out the window, quietly drinking the wine in his hand.

"You filthy beggar, I'm talking to you. Did you not hear?" The lead young man stepped forward, shattered the beggar's wine cup with a slap, and said indifferently.

"Has the Lianjian Academy of Great Zhou fallen so low as to recruit such wretches?" The beggar slowly raised his head and spoke faintly.

His voice was hoarse, and he showed no anger, as if his state of mind were like still water.

"You dare to mock our Lianjian Academy?" the young man said icily.

"Look at the decrepit state you're in now. If it wasn't for the master's command forbidding your death,

do you think you could have lived till now?

You're like a dog and still think you're the Sword Madman of the past?"

"Sword Madman is just a title others gave me. I haven't cared about it for a long time,"

the beggar said calmly: "Now, I am just an ordinary person wielding a sword."

"Wielding a sword, can you even lift one now?" the young man mocked.

"If there is a sword in the heart, the sword will forever exist," the beggar replied.

The several young men scoffed, but none could refute the beggar's words.

After all, they were all sword cultivators.

Then one of the young men spoke again: "Li Zi, Great Zhou is now in its golden age, and remnants like you from the former dynasty will eventually be purged.

It's better to die by your own hand than to be killed by others and not dishonor the name of the Sword Madman you once were."

As the young man's words ended, the beggar did not reply, only the sound of chopsticks falling could be heard from nearby.

Xie Changliu slowly raised his head, staring blankly at the beggar sitting in the corner.

Disheveled hair covered the beggar's face; Changliu could not make out his features, but quietly uttered: "A piece of moon will stay forever, hanging on the Dongxi pine."

Upon hearing this, the beggar also looked up at him.

"Master?" Xie Changliu tentatively called out.

"You, you've returned?" The beggar finally spoke, his hair parting to the sides, revealing his face at last.

It was a face so aged, it was unbearable to look directly at.

The entire face was covered with wrinkles and ravines, dense wrinkles enveloping the whole face, the eyes turbid, lacking any trace of vitality.

Dry lips, as thin as a walking corpse.

"Master, how could you have become like this?" Xie Changliu asked in disbelief.

He stepped forward, but was blocked by the group of young men and women.

"You know him?" the lead young man looked at Xie Changliu and asked.

"Move aside," Xie Changliu said with an icy tone.

"Oh, looks like someone has a bad temper," the young man smirked, unmoved.

"If you know him, then you must also be a remnant of the former dynasty. Come with us now."

No sooner had the young man finished speaking than a loud "boom" was heard.

Xie Changliu had yet to draw his sword, but just a hint of Sword Intent from the scabbard burst forth, sending the young man flying out from the second floor.

The window frame shattered, and the young man heavily crashed down onto the street facing the inn.

"How dare you injure Senior Brother Ming, do you know who we are?" The other young men quickly distanced themselves, drawing the longswords at their waists, and watching Xie Changliu warily.

"I do not know, nor do I need to know," Xie Changliu said faintly.

"All I know is anyone who blocks my way will end up like him."

"You, just wait, our Lianjian Academy will not let this matter rest," a young man spat threateningly, and the others hurriedly left the inn.

...…

Xie Changliu brought the old man over to Xu Zimei.

"This is my master. During the three hundred years of my cultivation in the Emperor Ming Empire, he was the one who taught me the Sword Dao.

"The one who introduced me to the Way of Inquiry," Xie Changliu stated.

"Please, have a seat," Xu Zimei waved his hand with a smile and said, "You and your disciple haven't seen each other for a long time. Catch up without minding me."

Xie Changliu nodded and asked, "Master, how did you end up like this?

And who were those people just now?"

"I am Li Zi, a Nameless one," the elderly man first introduced himself to Xu Zimei.

Then he replied, "When the Emperor Ming Empire was destroyed, you knew you were powerless and left this place intending to wander around.

But I chose to stay."

"I know that," Xie Changliu nodded.

"Great Zhou was established faster than we imagined, and prosperity came earlier.

I lived here for a thousand years and gradually got used to the change of dynasties."

Li Zi sighed and said, "During these thousand years, my swordsmanship has become even more powerful, often sparring with others on the Sword Dao, and people dubbed me the Sword Madman.

About thirteen years ago, the new Emperor of Great Zhou took the throne. He found two swordsmen from who knows where, saying he wanted to establish a Study Palace.

The principal and vice principal of the Study Palace are those two Nameless swordsmen, a proposal that was opposed by many.

The swordsmen of Chang'an numbered three thousand, and while everyone could be forgotten, none could get around the Sword Madman."

At this point, Li Zi sighed again, "At that time, I had yet to calm my mind and couldn't see through the mortal glory.

I volunteered to challenge those two swordsmen.

My Vein Gate was destroyed, defeated in a few moves, even this leg was broken in that fight."

"How could this happen," Xie Changliu took a deep breath.

"Then why don't you leave Chang'an?"

"They won't allow me to leave Chang'an, nor will they allow me to die," Li Zi said with a smile.

"Why?" Xie Changliu asked, puzzled.

"Do you still remember the Sword Canon?" Li Zi asked.

"Of course," Xie Changliu nodded.

"Not concerned with the passing years, singing with the wind; both uninhibited and sincere."

At this, Xie Changliu also came to a realization.

"They came for the Sword Canon."

"As long as they don't obtain the Sword Canon, I can never die," Li Zi replied.

"Look carefully, there are countless eyes watching us right now."

Xie Changliu scanned his surroundings, and beneath the inn, there were a few people with suspicious movements.

Although very clandestine, they could not escape the eyes of a Sword God.

"Can we stay here for a few days?" Xie Changliu asked Xu Zimei.

"A few days?"

"Three days," Xie Changliu stated, "I can resolve this matter within three days."

"Okay," Xu Zimei nodded.

"Changliu, you don't need to worry about this," Li Zi quickly interjected.

"You must leave Chang'an as soon as possible. This is their world now; I don't want to involve you."

"When the Emperor Ming Empire was destroyed, I was powerless.

The person I loved most died, and I was powerless," Xie Changliu said after a moment of silence.

"Master, in my eyes, you are like a father.

This time, don't let me be powerless again."

Li Zi nodded deeply, as a fellow swordsman, he knew Xie Changliu's Sword Dao has been suppressed for too long.

It needed to be released, the Sword Heart also needed to be honed.

While the three were talking, footsteps began to ascend from the second floor.