Remould the Glory of Sword Art

Xie Xuanyi willingly nodded in agreement, which naturally was a cause for great joy.

Deng Chicheng hastily grabbed a large overcoat and draped it over Shen Yan. He intended to help Shen Yan into his own carriage.

But Xie Xuanyi shot him a look.

This head of the Deng household could only reluctantly let go and abandon this impractical idea.

The caravan set out once more.

Only this time, Xie Xuanyi's carriage seemed slightly crowded, with Jiang Huang, Deng Baiyi, and Shen Yan squeezed together.

"Miss Shen... welcome."

Deng Baiyi almost gritted her teeth as she forced out those words.

Shen Yan bowed her head slightly and murmured an acknowledgment, not bothering to converse much with Deng Baiyi, but instead sat next to Xie Xuanyi and asked in a soft voice, "Thank you for extending your help, Mister, but Shen Yan has been presumptuous. I have yet to ask for your name?"

"My surname is Xie."

Xie Xuanyi paused for a moment and smiled, "...with a single given name, Zhen."

After ten years, did people in the world still remember Xie Xuanyi?

There should be many who did.

Even though he was in Northern County, he still needed to be cautious. Naturally, his real name could not be used.

"Xie Zhen?"

Deng Baiyi softly repeated the name to herself and memorized it.

Shen Yan looked up and responded with a smile, "Xie Zhen, that's a good name."

Xie Xuanyi made a sound of acknowledgment and raised an eyebrow, asking, "What's good about it?"

"...?"

Shen Yan hadn't expected such a question and clearly faltered for a moment.

Who talks like this normally?

"The good part is... Xie is a prominent surname."

Shen Yan almost didn't catch herself in time and quickly added with a smile, "Mister must surely know that in recent years, the Dachu Dynasty has seen many notable individuals with the surname Xie, such as Prince Jiangning Xie Zhisu and Prince Jiangning Xie Sheng. All things considered... a name is linked with fate, so surely Mister must also be a fortunate soul blessed with good luck?"

Xie Xuanyi had no interest in continuing the conversation.

The atmosphere grew incredibly awkward.

Shen Yan didn't know what she had said wrong.

She now felt a wave of regret, as if she should not have boarded this carriage.

This time, unexpectedly, it was Deng Baiyi who unwittingly broke the tension.

Perhaps due to her animosity towards Shen Yan, Deng Baiyi said irritably, "Those important individuals you just mentioned with the surname Xie, in my view, they're nothing special. Have you forgotten the most important one?"

Shen Yan was again taken aback.

She blankly looked at the woman opposite her.

"Of course, it is Xie Xuanyi!"

Clutching a thick bundle of talismans in her arms, Deng Baiyi uttered the name with utmost seriousness, emphasizing each word.

Deng Baiyi fiercely asked, "Without Xie Xuanyi back then, where would today's Prince Jiangning and Jiangning Xie Family be?!"

With those words, the atmosphere inside the carriage turned even more somber.

Xie Xuanyi! Jiangning!

These few words, heavy as a thousand pounds, sank into his Heart Lake.

Xie Xuanyi momentarily felt bewildered.

Years ago.

In the Jiangning Territory, the Xie Family was just a declining noble family, with only a moderate reputation and influence, doomed to diminish gradually until extinguished, ultimately forgotten by everyone...

But unexpectedly, there came an Xie Xuanyi.

After Xie Xuanyi became famous, the Jiangning Xie Family welcomed its second spring!

Following the Northern Hunt, rewarded handsomely by the Emperor of Dachu, the Xie Family soared to great heights on this momentum!

The irony was, the "Jiangning Xie Family", which aggressively publicized its connections with Xie Xuanyi, in fact had no relatives of Xie Xuanyi among them, nor had it ever invested any actual effort in nurturing him—

Though Xie Xuanyi was born in Jiangning, he was a marginalized, illegitimate child of a side branch. Orphaned at a young age, relying on the Xie Family of Jiangning's dwindling prestige, he was sent to Da Sui Sword Palace at the age of six to start his training, and thereafter, he never had any dealings with the Xie Family... If there was any connection between Xie Xuanyi and the Jiangning Xie Family, it was merely the blood relation signified by the shared surname Xie.

That's why in a previous life, after Xie Xuanyi became famous, he never debunked the Jiangning Xie Family's claims of affinities.

Without the Jiangning Xie Family, he couldn't have entered the Sword Palace.

Initially, he borrowed the Xie name to start his cultivation; now, having achieved fame, he was willing to let the Xie Family have the name back.

Cause and effect, cause and effect.

This was cause and effect.

A remark from Shen Yan in the carriage brought Xie Xuanyi back to reality.

"Xie Xuanyi is already dead... What's there to talk about a dead man?"

In the face of Deng Baiyi's onslaught.

Shen Yan simply diffused it with a casually spoken sentence.

"Moreover."

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Isn't Xie Xuanyi accused of 'colluding with demons and betraying his country'? The Dachu Royal Family has listed numerous charges against him and offered a great reward across ten thousand li. I heard the warrant has even been posted in Nanli. The reputation of this prematurely deceased Sword Immortal is now utterly in ruins!"

"You..."

Deng Baiyi's phoenix eyes flared with anger, and she was just about to retaliate.

"Enough."

At that moment, Xie Xuanyi himself intervened, putting a stop to the farce.

He lowered his eyes and lifted a cup of tea for a sip, calmly stating, "He's already dead, indeed there's nothing much to be said."

"Hmph!"

Deng Baiyi glared at Xie Xuanyi, swallowing down what she wanted to say but unable to swallow her resentment, she briskly left the carriage.

Everyone in the Deng Household's convoy witnessed the scene.

Their young mistress left Xie Xuanyi's carriage with a face full of grievances and got into the Family Head's carriage, followed by a barrage of rebukes, utterly unreserved.

The scolding could be heard from a great distance.

The expressions of the crowd were awkward as they exchanged glances.

Xie Xuanyi, who initially wanted to retrieve the situation by lifting the curtain, sighed softly in his heart and reluctantly drew the carriage curtain closed.

Turning around, Xie Xuanyi then realized that inside the carriage was a different scene altogether.

"Mr. Xie, could you help me with something?"

Shen Yan, drenched, lightly shook off the great cape Deng Chicheng had placed on her shoulders and thus removed half of her garment, revealing one half of her pale, jade-like shoulder.

She turned her body and continued to undress, exposing a great part of her back.

"I was slightly wounded by villains earlier, I wonder if Mr. Xie could help check it for me?"

Since Shen Yan wasn't shy about it,

neither was he.

With the tea cup in hand, Xie Xuanyi took a small sip and chuckled lightly, "There are indeed some wounds, it seems to have been grazed by a stray arrow."

Hearing this response, Shen Yan, as if by magic, produced a jar of ointment and softly said, "This is the ancestral ointment of the Shen Family. I'll trouble Mr. Xie to apply some for me."

Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow.

Had it been ten years, and this sort of thing was still popular in the martial world?

He said meaningfully, "Oh? This isn't really appropriate, is it? Your injury looks..."

Shen Yan's cheeks turned red, and she interrupting softly, "Master Xie, please just go ahead, don't worry about hurting Shen Yan."

The address had changed.

From Mr. Xie to Master Xie.

"No, Miss Shen, you've misunderstood."

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "What I meant to say is, your injury looks like it's almost healed. There's really no need to apply any ointment."

"???"

Shen Yan's body clearly stiffened for a moment.

Xie Xuanyi continued, "Although the arrow wound is negligible, there is something indeed crucial... It's freezing cold in the Northern County, and Miss Shen, you are drenched. It would be better to change your clothes quickly."

"Master Xie indeed considers thoroughly."

Shen Yan's voice regained its softness, and she moved closer to Xie Xuanyi, "If Master doesn't mind, I will change right here."

"Naturally, I don't mind."

Xie Xuanyi paused, then said, "But right now, this is a bit inappropriate."

Shen Yan asked softly, "Is it because men and women should not touch each other? Or do you think it's indecent for a single man and woman to be together in one carriage?"

The carriage was cramped, and the two were nearly touching each other, each could hear the other's breathing.

There was also a faint fragrance in the air.

"Miss Shen, you've misunderstood again."

Xie Xuanyi raised his tea cup.

"What I mean is... the place is too cramped, this is not good."

"Since Miss Deng has left, why not move to her spot?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "Then you change your clothes, and I'll enjoy my tea."

Shen Yan's smile froze once again.

This time she completely ran out of things to say, her eyes conveyed an unfathomable grievance towards Xie Xuanyi, who completely disregarded this gaze.

"This tea, not so good."

Xie Xuanyi looked at the reflection of the green waves in his tea cup, and silently shook his head.

Deng Chicheng had claimed when offering the tea that it came from a fine, expensive batch of Longjing from the Jiangning area, treasured for many years... Xie Xuanyi thought, this fellow was likely deceived.

Or possibly, tea leaves from Jiangning, when kept too long in the Northern County, change their flavor?

In any case, this tea was of very poor quality.

He didn't like it at all.