Volume 1, Chapter 64: The Aftereffect of the Secret Technique is a Sore Face

"I can only give you the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn."

"Agreed!"

For Su Nianyi, even the time of a single stick of incense was extraordinarily precious.

As soon as Li Hanzhou finished speaking, he began setting up the altar for the ritual.

Murmuring the soul-summoning incantation under his breath, Li Hanzhou caused a sudden gust of wind to stir the surroundings within moments. Yet this wind was an eerie, netherworldly breeze that sent shivers down anyone's spine.

Opening his Heavenly Eye, Li Hanzhou instantly beheld the countless souls summoned from all directions.

The sheer quantity of them left even Li Hanzhou startled.

Lingyan City was, after all, a frontier fortress; how many millions of bones lay buried here?

A casual summons had drawn hundreds of thousands of lingering spirits close.

Finding Shen Zhu amidst such a multitude would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens. At that moment, Li Hanzhou picked up Shen Zhu's birth characters, channeled his spiritual energy into his fingertips, and tapped directly upon the slip of paper.

In an instant, a single soul detached itself from the thousands and flew straight toward Li Hanzhou.

"Is he Shen Zhu?" Upon closer inspection, Li Hanzhou saw a man with resolute facial features, clad in tattered armor. Judging by the strength of his soul, this was undoubtedly Shen Zhu.

In life, this man must have at least possessed the cultivation of the Heavenly Strength Realm.

"Are you Shen Zhu?"

Li Hanzhou asked.

"It is I." Shen Zhu replied, though his gaze remained fixed entirely upon Su Nianyi standing beside Li Hanzhou.

"I give you the time of one stick of incense."

With those words, Li Hanzhou affixed a deity-summoning talisman to his own body. In the next moment, Shen Zhu's soul was directly drawn into Li Hanzhou.

Li Hanzhou's body trembled slightly.

Immediately afterward, his expression shifted entirely.

The incense in the burner beside them had already been lit.

The moment Su Nianyi saw the change in Li Hanzhou's eyes, she recognized almost instantly that the person before her was no longer Li Hanzhou.

It was Shen Zhu!

She could never forget the look in Shen Zhu's eyes.

"Nianyi," Shen Zhu said softly, "I never expected I would see you again."

"Yes, it has been a long time."

Looking at Shen Zhu before her, Su Nianyi spoke those words and remained silent thereafter.

The two simply gazed at each other.

Time seemed to freeze at that very moment.

The incense beside them burned down slowly, casting an atmosphere that was both tender and surreal.

At last, watching as the incense neared its end, the once-formidable Sword Immortal lost all her imposing aura, resembling instead a bashful young maiden.

"When you came to the Unfeeling Valley to find me, I watched you in secret, but I did not come out to meet you. Please do not blame me," Su Nianyi murmured softly.

"I do not blame you,"

Shen Zhu replied. "My affairs with you caused your master's death, and I knew your position was difficult. I have never blamed you. Even up to the moment I died in battle at Lingyan City, you were still the one I thought of most..."

Hearing this, Su Nianyi trembled all over, locking her eyes onto his. "I thought that if I ever saw you again, I would have countless things to say to you. But now that I truly see you, I suddenly find myself at a loss for words. I feel that simply being able to spend a quiet moment with you like this is already more than enough."

"I will help you guard Lingyan City, you can rest assured of that. As long as I am here, the city will not fall," Su Nianyi said earnestly. "Once my disciples can stand on their own and no longer need my constant care, I will leave the Unfeeling Valley and make Lingyan City my home."

"It has been hard on you."

Shen Zhu knew that Su Nianyi had always been assisting Lingyan City. The distance from the Unfeeling Valley to the city was not short, yet whenever trouble arose, Su Nianyi was always the first to arrive and lend a hand.

It had been this way for all these years.

"This is the city you protected with your life; I cannot bear to see it fall into the hands of the enemy state," Su Nianyi said quietly.

"Thank you, Nianyi." With those words, Shen Zhu slowly leaned in toward her. Before Su Nianyi could react, he pressed his lips to hers.

At that exact moment, Su Nianyi's pupils contracted in shock, and reflexively raising her hand, she delivered a sharp slap across Shen Zhu's face.

The blow left Shen Zhu completely dumbfounded.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Su Nianyi stammered, realizing what she had done. "I didn't mean to, it's just... it's just that this isn't your body..."

"Ah, right," Shen Zhu recovered, realization dawning on him. "Still, I never got to kiss you when I was alive, I never imagined I'd have the chance to do it even after death."

"Nonsense," Su Nianyi blushed, feeling deeply embarrassed.

Just then, however, the stick of incense burned down to its very end.

"Nianyi, time is up, I must go." Glancing at the incense burner, Shen Zhu's eyes betrayed a lingering reluctance.

"Take care of yourself, and I will take care of myself too." With those final words, Shen Zhu nodded gently.

She was already a Sword Immortal, no longer the lovesick young girl of the past. Her state of mind had long since grown steady, and having moved past the grief of Shen Zhu's death years ago, she was now able to face him with absolute composure.

As the last speck of ash drifted away, Li Hanzhou's consciousness snapped back.

Shen Zhu was gone.

"Finished chatting?" Li Hanzhou asked, looking at Su Nianyi before him.

"Thank you." Su Nianyi nodded.

"Merely a fair trade," Li Hanzhou grinned. Then, abruptly, he winced, hissing in pain.

"Strange," Li Hanzhou muttered with a puzzled frown. "I've heard the old man say that channeling spirits often comes with various aftereffects, but I've never heard of it making one's face hurt."

Touching his cheek, he felt an unmistakable sensation as if someone had slapped him.

Hearing Li Hanzhou's mumbled complaints, Su Nianyi felt a sudden wave of awkwardness. That slap had come from her, after all.

Who told him to suddenly kiss her like that?

Anyone else would have been killed on the spot by her!

You kissed me, so I slapped you—yes, that was entirely reasonable.

Three days later.

Li Hanzhou left Lingyan City accompanied by Shi Ming. Su Nianyi was originally supposed to travel with them, but she reasoned that her appearance in the Great Zhou Empire would inevitably arouse suspicion and wariness. Should Li Hanzhou ever need assistance, he could simply send her a message, and she would rush to his aid at top speed.

Thinking this made sense, Li Hanzhou decided to continue the journey alone with Shi Ming.

"Uncle-Master, what on earth did you do to make that Bamboo Sword Immortal willing to help you out?"

Along the road, Shi Ming remained consumed by curiosity.

"It always boils down to mutual benefit. I helped her fulfill a wish, and she helps me with a task. It's as simple as that," Li Hanzhou replied casually while reading a book.

The object in Li Hanzhou's hands was not a literary work, but rather a dossier of intelligence regarding the surrounding nations gifted to him by Su Nianyi. Heading into the Great Zhou Empire meant he naturally needed to understand its affairs.

Not only the Great Zhou, but the surrounding lesser kingdoms and even the Yunhuang region were detailed within, containing foundational information and local customs that Li Hanzhou found utterly fascinating to read.