advanced so much. You threw up blood as well just now, are you alright?”

Yang Guo laughed, “It’s nothing. I’ve got more than enough blood to spare.”

Xiao Longnu smiled, “You love to talk nonsense.”

Though the words of the two were ordinary and plain, everyone could hear the love that the two had for each other and that the two had an extremely deep relationship.

Fawang and the others looked at each other. Valley Master Gongsun was shocked and jealous; he stood there stunned not knowing what to do.

Yang Guo said, “I’ve met some interesting people over the last few days. Gu Gu, guess where I got my pair of large scissors from?”

Xiao Longnu said, “I was wondering about that; it’s like you knew that there was a long bearded old man here long ago, so you prepared a large pair of scissors to cut off his beard. You really are naughty; he’s taken years to grow that beard and you cut it off just like that, isn’t it a pity?” She gave a laugh as her bright eyes sparkled; her appearance was enchanting.

Valley Master could not endure this any longer; he stretched out his hand towards Yang Guo’s chest and shouted, “Bastard, you’re too disrespectful.”

Yang Guo didn’t block it and said, “There’s no need to rush, I’ll continue the fight once Gu Gu finishes repairing my garment.”

Valley Master Gongsun’s fingers were just a few inches away from his chest; he had the status of being a Master and even though he was furious, it would be inappropriate for him to attack him like this. Suddenly he heard Gongsun Lu E call out from behind, “Father, the weapons are here.” He didn’t turn around as he moved backwards a few feet and took the weapons.

His left hand held a thick and wide jagged saber; the blade glittered with gold light and it appeared to be produced from gold; his right hand was holding a fine and long black sword and it shook a little in his hands displaying the softness of the blade. The edges of the blade emitted a blue light and it was extremely sharp. The two weapons were the opposite of each other; one was heavy and hard, the other light and soft.

Yang Guo just took one look at the strange weapons before continuing “Gu Gu, a few days ago I met a woman; she told me who my father’s murderer was.”

Xiao Longnu’s heart trembled and asked, “Who is it?”

Yang Guo bit down on his teeth and said with hatred, “You could never have guessed who they were, and all along I’ve been thinking that they’ve been treating me extremely well.”

Xiao Longnu said, “They? They’ve been treating you extremely well?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes, They are…”

A clear buzzing sound that resonated without stop was heard; it was Valley Master Gongsun’s black sword colliding with his golden saber. His wrist turned and three consecutive swings that sliced through the air were unleashed; one aimed towards Yang Guo’s head, one aimed at the left side of Yang Guo’s neck and other at the right side of Yang Guo’s neck. They all passed within half an inch of his flesh. The Valley Master was looking after his status; since the enemy did not make a move to block these attacks he couldn’t land them; but the accuracy of these attacks was unnerving.

Xiao Longnu said, “I’ve finished!” She patted him on the back.

Yang Guo turned around and smiled. He then made his way towards the centre of the hall with the silk belt.

Valley Master Gongsun’s “Yin Yang Twin Blades”, “Fish Net Formation” and “Closure of Pressure Points” were all passed down from his ancestors. But because they have lived in the valley in seclusion for all these years and haven’t made any contact with outsiders for hundreds of years, these three extraordinary martial arts were unknown to the outside world. Another reason for its seclusion was that there were great weaknesses within all three sets of these martial arts. If a skilled martial artist discovers the weakness, the user would not be able to avoid death. His ancestors had passed down a strict rule; members of the valley were forbidden to go out and get involved in Jianghu affairs for this reason. Over twenty years ago, Valley Master Gongsun also learned martial arts of the Iron Palm School. Although the person who taught him wasn’t some extraordinary martial artist, their knowledge was vast. Their thoughts were careful and attentive; this person helped him cover up numerous holes in his family’s martial arts. In particular, a lot of changes were made to the stances of the “Yin Yang Twin Blades”. This person said to him, “This set of saber and sword technique is now greatly improved; even if you’re opponent is extremely clever, they will not be able to see through the trappings of this technique within fifty stances. But once your saber and sword is unleashed, how can your opponent withstand fifty stances of it?”

When he saw Yang Guo motioning the silk belt to battle him, he called out, “Watch out for the sword!” The black sword quivered and it pierced towards Yang Guo’s chest; but the sword did not go straight towards his chest; instead it circled around in front of him. Yang Guo did not know where the sword was aiming and in shock, he leapt backwards.

Valley Master Gongsun’s attacks were extremely fast; when Yang Guo leapt back, the circles of the sword were thrust towards him. The circles were becoming bigger and bigger; at first it only circled around the chest area, but afterwards it covered the lower abdomen, and after a few more stances the encirclement gradually reached his neck. All the vital points between the neck and the lower abdomen of Yang Guo were covered by the sword tip. Fawang, Yin Kexi, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others has never seen such a swordplay where circling of the sword is used to press the opponent; they were shocked.

As soon as Valley Master Gongsun unleashed a stance, Yang Guo would immediately dart away; he drew ten circles with his sword and each time, Yang Guo backed away and had no way to attack. Yang Guo saw that the enemy’s swords stances were becoming swifter and more intense while the jagged saber in his left hand had still to be unleashed; when he actually uses it he would probably have no chance at all. There wasn’t time for any more thoughts and he leapt to the left while motioning the silk belt; a ringing ‘ding ling ling’ and the gold bell went flying towards the opponent’s left eye. Valley Master Gongsun slanted his head to dodge the attack and stopped his attack. Yang Guo was delighted, he quickly motioned the silk belt and wrapped it around his right leg; he was about to pull backwards when Valley Master Gongsun’s sword drew downwards and slashed the belt in two; the black sword was actually an extremely sharp weapon.

Everyone gave an ‘ah’ sound just in time to hear the gust of a fierce wind; Valley Master Gongsun had chopped down with his jagged saber towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo rolled on the floor. A ‘dang’ sound was heard which echoed throughout the room; Yang Guo had actually picked up Fan Yiweng’s steel staff to block the attack and the saber collided with it; both of their arms trembled and were slightly numb. Valley Master Gongsun was shocked, “This punk really is good; he is actually able to receive ten of my stances.” The saber chopped across and the sword pierced diagonally. A saber should take ferociousness and hardness as its aim, a sword swiftness and lightness; the two weapons were complete opposites. To use both a saber and sword at the same time is impossible; but Valley Master Gongsun’s attacks were becoming more and more pressing and the sword and saber techniques were both clearly distinguished. There was softness and hardness, yin and yang; this really was a rarely seen great skill of the Wulin world.

Yang Guo gave out a call and waved the steel staff; he used the “Dog Beating Stick Technique’s” ‘seal’ formula, guarding his body tightly. Valley Master Gongsun wasn’t actually able to attack him with his twin blades as he did this. But the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” has subtlety and variation as its main aim; a light and fine bamboo stick can be used as pleased, but the heavy and long staff in his hand cannot. After a few more stances, he felt that variation of the stances gradually became ineffective.

Valley Master Gongsun suddenly found a weakness; the gold saber lifted up and the black sword drew down; a ‘ka’ sound was heard as the black sword cut the steel staff in half.

Yang Guo called out, “What luck! Just when I was thinking that this staff is too heavy!” A great increase in the effectiveness of the stances could be seen when Yang Guo continued using this slashed half staff.

Valley Master Gongsun gave a ‘huh’ grunt and said, “We’ll see whether it’s lucky or not.” The saber in his left hand chopped forward.

The saber slashed down towards Yang Guo’s head. This stance was rather slow and sluggish, all Yang Guo had to do was to slant his body to the side a little and he would be able to avoid it easily; however, the circles from the black sword were covering all his paths leaving him with no way to escape. Yang Guo could only raise his broken staff and use a stance of “Lifting the Sky with One Hand” to meet this stance head on. A loud ‘dang’ sound was heard as the two weapons collided; sparks flew everywhere as Yang Guo felt his arms go numb. Valley Master Gongsun continued the attack; he used the same stance as before. Yang Guo was knowledgeable in martial arts and he was extremely quick witted in battle yet he wasn’t actually able to neutralize such a clumsy stance; there was no other choice for him but to meet this stance in the same way again. Yang Guo’s arms ached even more after this second collision; he knew that if this continued, the tendons in his arm would suffer great damage. Before he finished his thoughts, the Valley Master had sent down a third chop. After a few more chops, the saber had hacked a groove on the staff and the joints in Yang Guo’s right hand started to bleed.

Valley Master Gongsun saw that even in the face of danger Yang Guo still carried his smile; the saber in his left hand chopped down and he thrust the black sword suddenly towards his lower abdomen. Yang Guo had been forced back into the corner of the hall; when he saw the sword tip coming he stretched out his hand to block it. When the sword arrived at his palm, the blade bent in an arc and flicked away. Xiao Longnu’s silk gloves were very tough, even though the black sword was extremely sharp, it still couldn’t harm him.

Yang Guo knew that with the gloves he would not have to fear the black sword; he turned his palm around and suddenly stretched out his hand to grab the sword, wanting to do the same thing as Xiao Longnu did when she snapped Hao Datong’s sword. But he didn’t know that Valley Master Gongsun would flick his wrist lightly and curve his sword around his hand, piercing him in the forearm; blood flowed out of the wound.

Yang Guo was shocked and quickly leapt back. Valley Master Gongsun did not continue the attack and instead chuckled a few times before slowly advancing again. If Valley Master Gongsun had either the jagged saber or black sword only, Yang Guo would definitely have a way to defend against him; but as the soft and hard blades were use simultaneously against him, he was forced on the back foot, struggling against the attacks.

Fawang, Yin Kexi, Xiaoxiang Zi and Nimoxing were all thinking, “The Valley Master’s “Yin Yang Twin Blades” is extremely swift, powerful and vicious; but at the same time, that kid is pretty clever, thinking of so many ways to avoid all these vicious stances.”

Valley Master Gongsun chopped with his saber and thrust with his sword; Yang Guo was struck in the shoulder and blood trickled over his gown. Valley Master Gongsun said in a deep voice, “Are you in awe of me yet?”

Yang Guo smiled and said, “You came into battle with me having a huge advantage, and here you opening your mouth asking whether I’m in awe of you or not. Ha-ha, Valley Master Gongsun, how come you don’t save face?”

The Valley Master took in his sword and saber and then asked, “Please tell me what advantage I have?”

Yang Guo said, “You’re using customized weapons; one is a strange saber the other is an extraordinary sword; even if I searched all over the world I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find such weapons, isn’t that true?”

The Valley Master replied, “So what? Your gloves and silk belt aren’t ordinary either.”

Yang Guo threw the broken staff onto the floor and laughed, “This belongs to your bearded disciple.” He took off the gloves and picked up the two pieces of silk belt. Yang Guo threw them over to Xiao Longnu and said, “These belong to my Gu Gu.” He cleaned off the dust on his body not taking any notice of the bleeding wounds that he had; he laughed, “I came to your valley empty handed; what ill intent did I have? If you want to kill me then kill; why must you talk so much?”

Valley Master Gongsun saw that he had a leisurely air about him; his face and eyes were elegant and handsome and even with all those wounds on him, he talked and laughed at ease as if nothing had happened. He couldn’t help but feel inferior to him and thought, “I cannot compare with this person; if I let him live, sister Liu’s heart will remain his.” So he said, “Fine!” He thrust the sword forwards towards his chest.

Yang Guo had already decided, “Since I can’t beat him then I’ll let him kill me.” When he saw the sword coming towards him, he ignored it and instead looked over at Xiao Longnu, thinking, “I will die happy with Gu Gu in my eyes.” He saw Xiao Longnu’s face carrying a sweet smile and getting closer step by step; their eyes were locked on each other, both of them ignoring the black sword of Valley Master Gongsun.

Valley Master Gongsun had not met Yang Guo before, what feud has he got with him? The only reason he’s trying to kill him is because of Xiao Longnu, so when he sent out this sword, he couldn’t help but glance over at Xiao Longnu. When he saw her, his heart immediately filled with jealousy; he saw her staring at Yang Guo lovingly, and when he looked over at Yang Guo, he was doing the exact same thing toward her. The black sword had reached Yang Guo and all that was needed was a bit of force from his arms and it would pierce into Yang Guo’s chest; but there was no fear or concern on Xiao Longnu’s face. Yang Guo also made no attempt to block this attack; the two of them stared madly at each other, their thoughts were one, they had long forgotten about life and death.

Valley Master Gongsun broke out in a great rage, thinking to himself, “If I kill him now, sister Liu will immediately kill herself because of her love for him. I need to think of a way to force her to marry me; once I’ve bedded her there’ll be plenty of time to kill that punk.” He called out, “Sister Liu, do you want me to kill him or spare him?”

When Xiao Longnu was staring at Yang Guo, she had not thought about Valley Master Gongsun; only after hearing this sudden call did she wake up and said alarmed, “Move the sword away; why are you pointing your sword at his chest?”

Valley Master Gongsun chuckled, “It’s not difficult to stop the sword. If you want to him to live, just tell him to leave the valley immediately and let us get married.”

Before Yang Guo came, she had decided to never see him again; she didn’t care if she would live the rest of her life in grief and pain. All she hoped for was that he would be safe and happy; but now that they’ve reunited, how could she still agree to marry the Valley Master? For the past few days, she knew that she couldn’t carry out the decision that she had made and would rather die than marry someone else; so she turned her head to the Valley Master and said, “Mr. Gongsun, thank you for saving my life. But I cannot marry you.”

The Valley Master knew the reasons but still asked, “Why?”

Xiao Longnu stood with Yang Guo and held his arm, smiling; “I have decided to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him, could you not tell?”

The Valley Master shook his head a few times and then said, “If you hadn’t promised me that day, why would I do this and try to force you? You promised with your own lips that it was what you wanted.”

Xiao Longnu said, “That is correct, but I cannot give him up. We need to go now, please forgive us.” She pulled Yang Guo’s hand and headed for the door.

Valley Master Gongsun quickly moved to block the exit and hissed, “The only way you’ll leave the valley is over my dead body.”

Xiao Longnu said, “I’m indebted to you for saving my life; how can I try to harm you? Anyway, your martial arts are too strong for me.” As she talked, she tore off a piece of fabric from her gown and helped Yang Guo tie up his wounds.

Jinlun Fawang suddenly said loudly, “Valley Master Gongsun, you better let them leave.”

The Valley Master gave a ‘huh’ grunt, his face was serious and he didn’t reply.

Fawang continued, “If those two joined up with their swords, how would your gold saber and black sword be able to handle them? Just do them a favour and let them go.”

He’d suffered the greatest humiliation in his life after losing to Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu’s “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Sword”; ever since then, he’d been thinking of a way to defeat this swordplay but was unable to. Now he had seen how powerful the yin yang blades of the Valley Master were; it wasn’t below the martial arts of his golden wheel. So he came out with these words to anger him, hoping to make the three go into battle. Firstly, he could get a chance to take a look at Yang Guo’s and Xiao Longnu’s swordplay again and look for its weakness so he can avenge this defeat. Secondly, he hoped that the three would destroy each other.

In actual fact, if Fawang hadn’t come out with these words to anger the Valley Master, he would never agree to let Xiao Longnu leave the valley with Yang Guo. He stared angrily at Fawang and thought, “You dare to say such words in front of my face? I haven’t got time for you now, but I’ll remember this for the future.” He turned his head towards Xiao Longnu and clenched his teeth as he thought, “Your heart doesn’t belong to me but your body will. You won’t agree to marry me when you’re alive, then I’m still going to marry you even when you’re dead.” At first he had planned to use Yang Guo’s life to force Xiao Longnu to submit to him; but when he saw that the two weren’t afraid of death, he thought that even if they die together, he wouldn’t let them out of the valley. His eyebrows rose again and an air of death gradually showed up on his face.

He suddenly heard Ma Guangzuo call out, “Hey, old man Gongsun, she said that she doesn’t want to marry you; why are you still blocking her way? Don’t you want to save face?”

Xiaoxiang Zi said eerily, “Don’t talk rubbish brother Ma. Valley Master Gongsun has already set up a feast today and has invited us to join in the celebrations.”

Ma Guangzuo said loudly, “All he’s got is water and vegetables; what’s so great about that? If I were that girl I would never marry him. With her beauty, she can be the empress. Why should she stay with this cruel and evil old man for the rest of her life, eating nothing but green vegetables and tofu? Even if one didn’t get annoyed to death, they’d be bored to death.”

Xiao Longnu turned her head and said gently, “Master Ma, Mr. Gongsun saved my life and I’m indebted to him, I… I… I’ll always be grateful for his kindness.”

Ma Guangzuo called out, “Fine, old man Gongsun, if you want to show that you’re a kind and benevolent person then why don’t you let the two of them marry and consummate the marriage today. If you saved a girl because you wanted to bed her, then doesn’t that put you in the same class as those raping lowlife bandits?” He was a straightforward man and says what comes into his mind; his words were all hard on the ears but they were hard to refute.

Valley Master Gongsun’s intent to kill was stirred; he decided that he’ll take care of all the outsiders in one go. He didn’t make a move and said dryly, “My Passionless Valley may not be some extraordinary place; but if everyone here comes and goes as they please, then the one named Gongsun may appear to be a bit too humble in the eyes of others. Miss Liu…”

Xiao Longnu showed a smile and said, “I lied to you when I said my surname is Liu; my surname is Long. I named myself Liu because he’s named Yang.”

Valley Master Gongsun felt even more jealous; he could only pretend that he didn’t hear those words and said, “Miss Liu, this…”

Before he finished Ma Guangzuo interrupted, “This girl is named Long, why are you calling her Miss Liu?”

Xiao Longnu said, “Mr. Gongsun is used to calling me that; the blame is on me for lying to him in the first place, he can call me whatever he likes.”

Valley Master Gongsun ignored these words and continued, “Miss Liu, all the one named Yang has to do is beat my “Yin Yang Twin Blades” and I’ll allow him to leave the valley safely. Our personal affairs will be severed of their own accord; it’ll have nothing to do with other people.” After all this, he still wanted to rely on his martial arts to force Xiao Longnu to stay.

Xiao Longnu sighed and said, “Mr. Gongsun, I did not want to fight you, but he can’t beat you on his own, I must help him.”

Valley Master Gongsun’s eyebrows became a straight line; he said, “Aren’t you afraid of what happened before; you throwing up blood? It’ll happen again.”

Xiao Longnu felt great remorse towards Valley Master Gongsun and said, “We haven’t any weapons; if we fight you empty handed, then we’ll definitely lose. You’re a great and generous man; just let us go.”

Jinlun Fawang interrupted, “Valley Master Gongsun, you’ve got everything here in this valley, don’t tell me you haven’t even got two swords? But I’d better warn you first; once those two join up together, your life will be endangered.”

Valley Master Gongsun pointed to the western path and said, “The third room over there is the sword room; just pick whatever weapon you want. But I’m afraid even these guests may not have the kind of weapons that I’ve hidden away.” He then laughed coldly.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu looked at each other and both thought, “I will die willingly if we’re able to spend time alone with each other away from other people before then.” They held each other’s hand and headed west, leaving through the side door. They passed two rooms and arrived at the third.

Xiao Longnu’s eyes never left Yang Guo’s face; when she saw the doors were closed she didn’t give it any thought and pushed it open; she was just about to step into the room when Yang Guo suddenly thought of something and urgently pulled her back, he said, “Careful.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Of what?”

Yang Guo’s kept his left foot outside the room and placed his right foot into the room, quickly touching the floor before taking it back outside. Nothing happened.

Xiao Longnu said, “You’re afraid that the Valley Master would leave a trap for us? He’s a very kind person; he would never do such a thing…” As soon as she finished saying this, a sudden ‘chi chi’ sound was heard; there was a flash of light in front of them as eight sharp swords shot out all around the door frame, crossing over horizontally and vertically. If someone had stepped into the room at that time, even if your martial arts were supremely high, getting your body pierced several times over by the swords would be difficult to avoid.

Xiao Longnu let out a deep breath and said, “Guo’er, this Valley Master is so evil; I’ve really judged him wrongly. We don’t need to fight him; let’s just leave.”

Suddenly someone said from behind, “Our master invites you inside to pick a sword.”

The two turned around and saw eight disciples with a fish net blocking their way. The Valley Master was wary of the two escaping together so he sent these disciples to cut off their escape routes. Xiao Longnu’s silk belt had been cut in half by the black sword; she was now unable to use it to strike their pressure points from faraway as Yang Guo did before.

Xiao Longnu said to Yang Guo, “What other traps has this room got?”

Yang Guo held her hands and said, “Gu Gu, we’re reunited now, what other worries have you got? Even if we get pierced by ten thousand swords it wouldn’t matter; we’ll see each other again in death.” Xiao Longnu’s heart too was overflowing with love. The two entered the sword room together.

The wall, tables, shelves and cupboards were all lined up with sharp weapons of various shapes; there were antique swords, some that had seven foot long blades and others that were quite short. There were iron and steel ones; a few had an overpowering glow. The two’s eyes were blinded for a second.

Xiao Longnu stared at Yang Guo for a while and then suddenly threw herself into his arms. Yang Guo held her tightly and kissed her on the lips. Both Xiao Longnu’s heart and soul were completely enchanted by that kiss. She stretched out her arms to embrace him around his neck.

Suddenly the door opened and a disciple in green entered who said sternly, “Our master ordered that as soon as you’ve picked your weapon, immediately leave, you cannot waste time.”

Yang Guo’s face went red and he removed her arms. But Xiao Longnu thought that there was nothing wrong with hugging and kissing her loved one. However, there was someone disturbing them which made it difficult for her to feel comfortable; so she gave a sigh and said softly, “Guo’er, once we’ve beaten that Valley Master, kiss me like that again.”

Yang Guo smiled and nodded; he stretched out his left arm and put it around her waist and said, “There isn’t enough time in this life for our kisses. Just pick a weapon.”

Xiao Longnu said, “It appears that these weapons are indeed all special, there isn’t one poor weapon. We haven’t got nearly as many in our ancient tomb.” She glanced over the weapons on the wall, wanting to pick out a pair of swords that were the same in all ways and most effective for her and Yang Guo to use against Valley Master Gongsun. But after searching for a while, she saw that all the swords were different. She was searching for a weapon and asking a question at the same time. “When we were about to enter the room, you knew that there would be booby traps, how did you know?”

Yang Guo said, “I guessed from the eyes and expression of the Valley Master. He wanted to marry you but when he heard that you were going to help me fight him, he immediately thought about killing you. I didn’t believe for a second that someone with his character would allow us to pick out weapons out of the kindness of his heart.”

Xiao Longnu gave another sigh and said, “Will we be able to beat him with our “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Sword”?”

Yang Guo said, “Though his martial arts are strong, he’s not better than Jinlun Fawang. The two of us were able to beat Jinlun Fawang; I assume that we’ll be able to beat him.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Yes. The reason why Fawang kept on trying to force him to fight us is because he wanted to see us in danger.”

Yang Guo smiled, “People can have evil thoughts; now, you’ve learned a bit about this.” He then said immediately, “I’m just worried about your health, you’ve just thrown up blood.”

Xiao Longnu’s dimples from her smile were like a flower, she said, “You know that whenever I’m angry or upset I throw up blood. Now that I’m extremely happy, this little internal injury isn’t anything to me. You threw up blood too, is it serious?”

Yang Guo said, “I’m fine as long as I can see you.”

Xiao Longnu said tenderly, “That’s how I feel too.” She paused and then continued, “You’ve made much progress in your martial arts recently; and we were able to beat Fawang back then.”

When Yang Guo heard these words, he too felt great confidence about this battle. He held her hand and said, “I want you to promise me something, will you?”

Xiao Longnu said tenderly, “Why is there a need to ask me? I haven’t been your Master since long ago; I’m your wife. I’ll listen to whatever you say.”

Yang Guo said, “That’s… that’s great, I… didn’t know.”

Xiao Longnu said, “How can I still be your master after what happened that night on Mount Zhongnan, when you and I were that intimate. Though you didn’t want to marry me, in my heart I was already your wife.”

Yang Guo did not know exactly what happened that night. Maybe the reason for suddenly bringing this up again is because she’s emotional, he thought, “My father Ouyang Feng was teaching me martial arts that day; he sealed your pressure point, but I wasn’t intimate with you.” But when he heard the tenderness and love in her words, he was completely enchanted and couldn’t say anything.

Xiao Longnu rested against his chest and asked, “What do you want me to promise you?”

Yang Guo stroked her hair and said, “Once we beat that Valley Master we’ll immediately go back to the tomb; no matter what happens you cannot leave my side.”

Xiao Longnu lifted her head and looked into his eyes, she said, “Do think that I have thoughts of leaving you? Do you think that the pain and suffering I’ll experience if I part from you won’t be as great as yours? Of course I’ll promise you; I’ll never leave you even if the sky falls down.”

Yang Guo was delighted; he was about to say something when the disciple in green who was watching them said loudly, “Have you picked your weapons?”

Xiao Longnu smiled and said, “Let’s just get it over with.” She turned her head to look for a pair of swords when the western wall caught her eye. She was startled; the wall had signs of being set alight and the chairs and tables near it were also burned.

Yang Guo laughed, “The Old Urchin had broken into here previously and set this place alight; that’s his handiwork.” He then saw two sheaths behind a painting in the corner. He thought, “Those two swords were hidden originally by that painting; it’s only because of the Old Urchin’s fire burning that painting that enables me to see them now. Those two swords must be extremely precious t