Two years later, Qingce Village, beside the waterfall.
Jun Mo Li, whose features had gradually matured, moved through familiar footwork and sword forms. The wooden sword in his hand had been replaced with an unsharpened iron sword.
Six-year-old little Jun Bai sat on a one-meter-high stone stool, holding a flatbread larger than his face in both hands.
His two little legs dangled in midair. He was wearing…
Mm, a soft pink little skirt.
After finishing a set of sword forms, Jun Mo Li looked at little Jun Bai happily munching on the flatbread, his expression subtle: "Ah Bai, are you seriously treating yourself as a girl now?"
"No." Little Jun Bai shook his head, his two skyward twin braids swaying.
"Then you're wearing that skirt pretty naturally."
"You mean this?" Jun Bai touched the little skirt on his body. "A Niang will be happy, so I'll just wear it."
"But now in other people's eyes, you're really a six-year-old little girl."
"It's fine—as long as I know I'm a boy, that's enough." Little Jun Bai took a bite of the flatbread and said, "That doesn't matter. What I want to know now is why Mo Li-ge is practicing swordplay all day?"
"The time you spend practicing sword has already caught up to the time you spend at home."
"I want to know the answer to that question too."
Along with the voice came a fist-sized stone flying toward Jun Mo Li.
Jun Mo Li furrowed his brows slightly, swung his sword, and cleaved the stone into the pool. Only then did he say: "Li Tonghui, be careful—you're not worried about hurting Ah Bai?"
"It's fine, it's fine."
Li Tonghui walked up beside little Jun Bai, patted his little head, and said: "I'll protect Ah Bai in time."
"If your skill matched your confidence, then those words would have some credibility."
Jun Mo Li sheathed his unsharpened sword and said.
"I'm really strong—the adults in the village can't beat me." Li Tonghui raised his fist and declared.
"Is it really okay for a guy with 1,999 consecutive losses to say that in front of me and Ah Bai?" Jun Mo Li extended one finger and pressed down the other's fist.
Li Tonghui cracked his knuckles and laughed: "Seems like it really is, but if I win this time, what you just said won't hold up anymore."
"About to start the 2,000th spar?" Little Jun Bai finished the giant flatbread in three bites, jumped down from the stone stool, and raised his hand. "I want to be the referee!"
"No problem."
"I have no objections."
Li Tonghui and Jun Mo Li agreed to little Jun Bai's proposal.
The two boys took little Jun Bai as the center point and distanced themselves. After steadying their stances, they waited for the referee's command.
"If I win, you have to tell us the real reason you're practicing sword every day!" Li Tonghui assumed his stance.
"Win first before you talk." Jun Mo Li drew his sword from its sheath.
"Spar begins!" Little Jun Bai waved his small hand to announce the start, then sat back on the stone stool, ready to watch Jun and Li's 2,000th actual combat.
"I'm about to go berserk! Try to stop me if you can!"
Li Tonghui charged like an agile leopard, throwing a punch at Jun Mo Li.
Jun Mo Li shifted his steps, dodged the punch, and swung his sword toward the opponent's back.
Li Tonghui turned, raised his arm to block the downward strike, and with his other hand formed a fist that struck at a tricky angle into Jun Mo Li's ribs.
Jun Mo Li staggered back two steps, then saw Li Tonghui closing in like a monkey.
Jun Mo Li had learned swordplay from his father as a child, so every move and form had its own structure.
But Qingce Village had no fist masters.
Li Tonghui's fist technique was entirely self-taught—his teacher was the wild beasts in the mountains around Qingce Village.
Of course, that was Li Tonghui's personal claim.
Except for Jun Mo Li who thought there was some credibility to it, everyone in Qingce Village thought Li Tonghui was joking.
A ten-year-old kid—if he had really encountered wild beasts in the mountains, how could he come back?
Jun Mo Li thought there was some credibility.
Because he had really seen Li Tonghui running deep into the mountains every day.
But regardless of where Li Tonghui learned his fist technique from, the fact was that his strength improved every day.
Moreover, Li Tonghui probably really wanted to know why Jun Mo Li practiced sword so diligently every day, so today's battle was especially earnest.
"Improving so fast!" Jun Mo Li said while using his sword to pin down the opponent's hands.
"Of course—not just you is seriously practicing and improving every day!" Li Tonghui exerted force and shook off the unsharpened sword in Jun Mo Li's hands.
"Take this move—Rock Shatter Fist!"
Hoping this punch could shatter rock in the future, Li Tonghui named it Rock Shatter Fist.
(Since the prototype is King, isn't it normal to have King's moves?)
At close range, Li Tonghui threw a full-power punch.
Jun Mo Li judged that he probably couldn't dodge this punch, so he simply raised his unsharpened sword and cleaved downward at Li Tonghui.
One fist struck the other's face.
One sword chopped the other's shoulder.
In the end, both fell to the ground together.
"That's the end—the result is a draw. Tonghui-ge's current record is 1,999 losses and 1 draw."
Little Jun Bai raised his hand and announced the result.
"Ha! Mo Li, now I've caught up to your pace!" Li Tonghui jumped up from the ground and laughed loudly.
"You've made some progress." Jun Mo Li stood up and sheathed his unsharpened sword.
From being defeated by him with one sword at age five until now fighting to a draw—as the friend who had witnessed every step of Li Tonghui's growth, Jun Mo Li felt genuinely happy for him.
"Then why don't you tell us first—the real reason you've been practicing sword like this?" Li Tonghui walked up to Jun Mo Li and asked. "You always say you want to become the greatest swordsman in the world."
"But you never said where this dream came from. Today I didn't lose—can I know the reason?"
As childhood playmates who grew up together in Qingce Village, Li Tonghui knew very well that Jun Mo Li had suddenly developed this dream.
Li Tonghui wouldn't stop Jun Mo Li from pursuing his dream, but he wanted to know what kind of reason made his friend make such a choice.
"You didn't lose, but that doesn't mean you won." Jun Mo Li corrected. "We agreed before the start—I'd only tell you if you beat me."
"Seems like that's true…" Li Tonghui scratched his head. "Then next time after I win, you have to tell me."
"I won't go back on my word."
At that moment, little Jun Bai walked over: "Mo Li-ge, if I beat you, can you tell me and Tonghui-ge?"
"Huh? You?" Jun Mo Li looked little Jun Bai up and down and nearly laughed out loud. "If you can beat me, sure, I'll tell you."
"You said it yourself." As little Jun Bai spoke, his small hand brushed his waist, and a crimson short sword appeared in his grip.
Jun & Li: ?
Jun Mo Li looked closely and quickly noticed that the second belt on little Jun Bai's clothes was gone.
For the past two years, whether wearing boys' or girls' clothes, little Jun Bai had basically always worn two belts.
One was part of the clothing itself.
The other was the one tied around his waist when little Jun Bai had been rescued from the water—not quite silk, not quite metal.
So that hadn't been a belt—it was a soft sword worn at the waist?
And from the looks of it, little Jun Bai was serious?
He had been raised as a girl until age six, and now he wanted to challenge him—this ten-year-old boy who had been practicing sword since age five?
Sigh—his little brother. Just go easy, let him swing that short sword a couple times.
One stick of incense later.
Jun Mo Li lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
The sky was so blue.