Chapter Forty-Eight: The Might of the Ancestors

"Take your sword!" It was the same phrase as before. Upon hearing it, Gu Weiyu tightened her grip on her sword, holding her breath, steeling herself for what was to come.

Clang—

Their swords clashed once more. This time, though Gu Weiyu's hand still trembled from the force, she refused to loosen her hold.

Her sword was not knocked away! A surge of joy welled up in Gu Weiyu’s heart, but Gu Weilan’s expression remained unchanged. Without pause, she pressed the attack, her movements decisive and swift.

From time to time, cries of pain or the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground would echo through the courtyard, sending flocks of birds fluttering from the peach grove.

“Fourth Sister, I can’t go on!” An hour later, Gu Weiyu was hanging limply from a peach branch, swaying back and forth with exhaustion.

She had lost count of how many times Fourth Sister’s sword had flicked her into the air that morning.

“I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow at noon,” Gu Weilan said, leaving those words behind before drifting away.

Grimacing, Gu Weiyu clambered down from the branch and looked around weakly. “Qingtuan—” she called.

A tiny black cloud bobbed to a stop in front of her. “You finally remembered me! It’s so boring, stuck inside your dantian all the time!”

“Make yourself bigger. Right now, I just want to lie down,” Gu Weiyu said, glancing up.

Qingtuan spun with a flourish and expanded to the size of a bed. Gu Weiyu climbed onto the soft cloud, letting out a contented sigh. “Qingtuan, let’s go out for a spin.”

At her words, Qingtuan soared upward, carrying her high into the sky.

Snowflakes drifted gently down, blanketing the world in white. Gu Weiyu gazed up at the snow settling on the transparent shield around her, feeling as if her own spirits were rising with the flakes.

From that day on, Gu Weiyu went to the Peach Blossom Cove every day at noon, sparring with Gu Weilan for an hour.

Although she was always at the mercy of her fourth sister’s skill, she could feel her own progress—her reactions in close combat had improved by more than a little.

Within the peach grove, one young girl in blue and another child in white faced each other, swords in hand. Sometimes they tangled, sometimes they parted—one sharp and efficient, the other graceful and light. Amid the drifting snow, they made a picture of beauty, as if stepped straight out of a painting.

“Heh—hah—” Gu Weiyu gripped her wooden sword, taking a hit from Gu Weilan. Using the force, she stepped onto a peach branch, her movements fluid as she leapt away and spun her sword in a tricky arc, thrusting at Gu Weilan.

A spark lit in Gu Weilan’s eyes. She spun nimbly away, dodging the attack with a deft turn.

As they passed each other, Gu Weilan’s sword was suddenly at Gu Weiyu’s throat.

Gu Weiyu froze, feeling the cold edge against her skin. She forced a smile. “Fourth Sister, your sword…”

“You’ve lost.” Gu Weilan calmly sheathed her sword.

“Hehe, Fourth Sister, did I improve today?” Gu Weiyu shamelessly inched closer, seeking praise.

Gu Weilan gave her a rare nod. “Not bad.”

She had expected Gu Weiyu to give up after a day or two, but the girl had persisted, visibly improving each day. At the start, Gu Weiyu could only endure the onslaught; now, she could even counterattack on occasion—a remarkable leap.

A bright smile broke across Gu Weiyu’s face. Earning a word of praise from Fourth Sister was no easy feat!

“Tomorrow, the clan grounds will open. You don’t need to come,” Gu Weilan said, her gaze turning to the swirling snow. Even she couldn’t quite put her feelings about the unknown clan grounds into words.

Gu Weiyu fell silent as well. Fate was always a mysterious thing, impossible to predict or grasp.

A cold wind swept by. Snapping out of her reverie, Gu Weiyu looked around, but her fourth sister was nowhere in sight.

“Fourth Sister?” she called softly, but only the whistling wind and the sound of snow falling from the peach branches answered her.

Gu Weiyu pouted. Once again, Fourth Sister had abandoned her without a word!

——

Dawn, Nanshan Residence.

The four of them stood dazed beneath the pagoda tree in the courtyard, staring at the palm of Gu Qingzhou, who was dressed in crimson.

A small, exquisite two-story bamboo house lay quietly in his hand.

“Expand!” With a crisp command, the bamboo house rapidly enlarged to the size of an ordinary building. “All right, let’s go in!”

Like a sleepwalker, Gu Weiyu stepped into the first floor. She had thought her Qingtuan was comfortable—soft and good for both attack and defense—but she had never imagined her great-grandfather’s flying spirit artifact would be a “mobile tower ship”!

Wasn’t this just… a little too luxurious, too extravagant?

“Rise!” Another command rang out, and the tower ship lifted smoothly from the ground, flying out of the city.

“Wow, Great Ancestor’s artifact is so cool!” Gu Qingsong whispered in awe. He’d never seen a flying artifact shaped like this before.

“This has to be a spirit tool, not just an artifact!” Gu Qinghao murmured, full of admiration, leaning close to his brother.

Gu Weilan’s face returned to its usual impassive calm, and she chose a cushion in a corner of the ship to sit on.

Seeing this, Gu Weiyu drew back her eager hands and found her own cushion. She glanced around—the great-grandfather was not on the first floor, so he must have gone to the second to rest.

The journey was smooth. After a while, Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but lean against the window, looking out.

The city was already far behind, its outline barely visible. The tower ship sped through the clouds, much faster than Uncle Sixteen’s spirit boat.

Mountains flashed by below, vanishing behind them. After about half an hour, Gu Weiyu saw the ship begin to descend.

She looked around and saw that below was a vast valley, ringed on all sides by mountains. It looked much like any other valley she’d seen before.

At that moment, Gu Qingzhou appeared on the first floor. As he did, the tower ship settled gently into the valley.

“We’re here. This is the clan land,” he said, stepping out.

Gu Weiyu, already standing, followed him out first.

Thud—

A tremendous pressure suddenly crashed down, as if an invisible giant hand pressed upon her shoulders. Unprepared, Gu Weiyu fell in a heap to the ground.

Gu Weilan, having been forewarned by Gu Weiyu’s mishap and being more advanced in cultivation, only staggered a few steps before regaining her balance.

Gu Qingsong and Gu Qinghao fared little better than Gu Weiyu, stumbling out and sprawling on the ground.

Rubbing her backside, Gu Weiyu turned to glare accusingly at her unruffled great-grandfather.

Gu Qingzhou cleared his throat. “This is the ancestral ground of the Gu clan. Every clansman who comes here must experience this.”

Gu Weiyu pursed her lips. Was this the ancestors’ way of giving them a show of force?

Why did she feel such a strong sense of her forebears’ mischief?