Running Away Again

The light dissipated.

There was no longer any trace of the evil dragon in the sky.

A million ordinary iron swords, having lost their spiritual energy, fell like a torrential rain, piercing the earth and emitting clear, ringing sounds.

Ye Xuan, dressed in white as pure as snow and completely untainted by dust, slowly floated down.

The entire area fell into a deathly silence for a full ten breaths.

Someone's knees gave way, and they became the first to kneel, their voice trembling yet filled with fanatical faith:

"Young... Young Emperor!"

This shout was like a single spark starting a prairie fire, instantly igniting the blood of everyone present.

"Greetings to the Young Emperor!"

"The Young Emperor is invincible! Long live the Young Emperor!"

"We are willing to follow the Young Emperor to the death!"

Tens of thousands of proud and arrogant sword cultivators knelt on the ground in unison at this moment, as if worshiping a true god.

What is a Young Emperor?

With the body of a youth, suppressing the ages and defying the heavens with a single slash!

After today, the name Ye Xuan would surely become an eternal totem in the hearts of sword cultivators!

Listening to the tsunami-like worship, Ye Xuan's expression remained calm. He slowly raised his head and looked deep into the firmament.

Facing the void, he slowly raised the sword in his hand.

He didn't speak, but the killing intent in his eyes was fully revealed.

Inside the Void Palace.

"Clack." Xia Lengyue slumped onto the dragon throne, all the strength drained from her body.

Wu Lingxiao's face was ashen, her nails piercing deeply into her palms, causing blood to drip.

Zi Yao clutched her chest tightly, her eyes swirling with a mix of despair, shock, and a twisted, extreme fanaticism.

"Hehe..." A spine-chilling chuckle squeezed out of Zi Yao's throat. "We misjudged him. Who would have thought that our husband's talent in the Dao of the Sword would be this high."

"If we let him continue to grow, he will inevitably become the next Sword Son of Heaven."

"We can no longer be soft-hearted."

Wu Lingxiao's voice was bone-chillingly cold, carrying a trace of fear that even she hadn't noticed. "His growth rate has already spiraled out of control. In less than a hundred years, he will be able to turn around and suppress us!"

The moment the word "suppress" was spoken, the three female emperors, who were accustomed to controlling everything, simultaneously felt a suffocating panic.

"Then we'll break his legs and clip his wings." Xia Lengyue's eyes were bloodshot, and a morbid smile curled at the corner of her mouth. "As long as we lock him in a golden cage forever, he can only be ours."

"Let's do it. If we don't act now, it will be too late."

"We shouldn't have let him leave in the first place!"

However, just as they were preparing to tear through the void and descend upon the Sword Emperor's Tomb.

A sudden change occurred in the Heaven-Peering Mirror.

Under the watchful eyes of the masses, Ye Xuan did not fly away on his sword. Instead, with a backhanded palm strike, he ruthlessly shattered the Sword Emperor's throne, the symbol of supreme power!

"Boom!"

The throne shattered, and beneath its base, an ancient teleportation array that had no spiritual energy fluctuations and was extremely well-hidden was revealed!

"Is that... the directional teleportation array left behind by the Sword Emperor?" Xia Lengyue, who was proficient in formations, screamed. "I didn't detect any spatial fluctuations; we simply can't track his destination!"

"Quick, stop him!" Zi Yao's expression changed drastically.

"It's too late." Wu Lingxiao shook her head, her eyes full of regret.

In the image, the array's light shone brilliantly.

In the final second before being completely swallowed by the teleportation pillar of light, Ye Xuan turned his head, looked at the void, and extremely disdainfully mouthed a word.

It was two words:

"Goodbye."

With a flash of light, the figures of Ye Xuan and Ying'er vanished into thin air, leaving not a single trace behind.

"No!"

Wu Lingxiao let out a hysterical, sharp shriek. The terrifying pressure of a half-step Mahayana realm expert erupted with a bang, directly shattering this priceless Void Palace into dust!

"Ye Xuan! You cannot escape!"

"Even if I have to turn the Three Thousand Dao Realms upside down, even if I have to drain the Nine Springs of the Underworld, I will dig you out!"

An hour later.

After a dizzying spatial distortion, the feeling of standing on solid ground returned.

Ying'er stumbled slightly and supported herself against an old locust tree nearby. Forcing down the churning in her stomach, she looked up in bewilderment:

"Master... where is this?"

What entered her sight was not some heavenly paradise, nor a bustling city, but an ordinary, even somewhat dilapidated, small mountain village.

It was currently dusk.

The setting sun was like blood, spilling over the bluestone path at the village entrance, dyeing every stone slab in a warm golden-red hue.

A few wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards, twisting into soft shapes in the evening breeze. The distant sounds of barking dogs and playing children could be heard. The air lacked dense spiritual energy, filled instead with the fragrance of earth and the smell of firewood.

Compared to the Sword Tomb from just moments ago, where sword qi soared into the sky and tens of thousands knelt in worship, this was simply a different world.

Ying'er looked at Ye Xuan in confusion, only to find that her master's expression had changed.

Those eyes, which had been full of killing intent and arrogance just a moment ago, had miraculously softened, even carrying a hint of the trembling hesitation of one returning to their hometown.

Ye Xuan stood quietly at the village entrance, looking at the familiar yet strange sights, as if watching a dream that spanned ten thousand years.

"This is... Green Ox Village."

"It is where I... no, where the Peerless Sword Emperor, Ye Wushuang, was born."

Ye Xuan paused, a self-deprecating smile curling his lips:

"In my past life, I walked out from here, severed all worldly injustices with a single sword, and ultimately stood at the peak of the Dao of the Sword. But in the end, I realized I had long forgotten why I picked up the sword in the first place."

"So in this life, I want to try..."

"What it would be like if I don't fight for those empty titles, don't vie for those worldly fortunes, and just quietly live a few days as a mortal."

Ying'er nodded, seeming to understand but not quite, but she didn't ask anything; she just tightly grasped Ye Xuan's hand.

Ye Xuan held Ying'er's hand. He didn't use any spiritual energy, but like a mortal, he walked step by step into the village.

He deliberately avoided the village women who were chatting. Although these people no longer recognized him, he didn't want to attract any attention.

Passing through a few familiar alleys and stepping over the bluestone steps where he had broken his front teeth as a child, Ye Xuan brought Ying'er to a courtyard at the farthest corner of the village.

This was an extremely dilapidated thatched cottage.

Most of the courtyard walls had long since collapsed, and the yard was overgrown with weeds half the height of a person. The wooden door had rotted away, leaving only half a panel, and even the window paper had completely decayed, leaving only a few bare wooden frames.

Clearly, no one had lived here for many years.

Ye Xuan stood at the door, silent for a long time.

His gaze fell on a dead peach tree in the corner of the yard. His mother had planted it with her own hands back then, saying that when he grew up, she would use the peach blossoms to brew wine for him.

But before he could grow up, his mother was gone.

Later, he picked up a sword, traveled the world, slayed demons and eradicated evil, and became the Peerless Sword Emperor. But ultimately, he never got to drink that pot of peach blossom wine.

"This is my home."

Ye Xuan pushed open the creaking, broken door, pointed at the dust-filled interior, and turned to smile at Ying'er:

"It's a bit run-down. I'm sorry to subject you to this."

Ying'er froze for a moment, then vigorously shook her head, a brilliant smile blooming on her delicate little face:

"It's not a hardship! As long as I can be with Master, even living in a cave would make Ying'er happy!"

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing a section of arm as white as lotus root, and said enthusiastically:

"Master, you should rest. Leave this kind of heavy lifting to Ying'er! Ying'er is the best at tidying up the house!"

After saying that, the little girl bustled about, enthusiastically pulling weeds, sweeping the floor, and wiping the windows. Although she was a cultivator, she did not use a single trace of magic. Instead, she worked earnestly, just like an ordinary young wife.

Ye Xuan watched her busy silhouette, and an unprecedented warmth welled up in his heart.

This feeling was unfamiliar, yet incredibly comforting.

Ye Xuan did not just sit and watch. He took off his white robe and changed into a faded, coarse linen garment.

He picked up a rusty axe, walked over to the corner of the courtyard, and began to chop wood.

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

The sound of the axe biting into the wood was monotonous yet rhythmic.

He did not use a shred of spiritual power, relying purely on his physical strength. With every swing, the wood split cleanly and was neatly stacked to the side.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the side of his face. Sweat slid down his forehead, soaking his collar.

At this moment, Ye Xuan was no Young Emperor; he was simply an ordinary young man preparing firewood for dinner.

Ying'er poked her head out of the house. Seeing this scene, she could not help but cover her mouth and giggle.

"Master, you look... just like a woodcutter."

Ye Xuan paused his movements, turned to look at her, and grinned.

"Then that makes you the woodcutter's wife."

Ying'er's face instantly flushed a bright red. She hurriedly shrank back into the house, but she still could not resist peeking out through the crack in the window, her eyes brimming with unconcealed joy.

Night fell.

In the dilapidated little courtyard, a warm light finally flickered to life.

Ying'er busied herself in front of the stove, and soon enough, an enticing aroma drifted out from the kitchen.

Ye Xuan sat in the courtyard, looking up at the starry sky.

There were no complex formations from the cultivation world to obscure the view here; the starry sky was so clear it felt as though he could see all the way to the edge of the universe.

He suddenly wondered—how many years had it been since his past life that he had sat and watched the stars so peacefully?

"Master, time to eat!"

Ying'er walked out carrying two bowls of steaming noodles, carefully placing them on the stone table.

The noodles were very simple, accompanied by nothing more than a few green vegetables and a poached egg, but in this rundown courtyard, the meal felt exceptionally heartwarming.

Ye Xuan picked up his chopsticks, lifted a strand of noodles, and placed it in his mouth.

It was not exactly a culinary masterpiece, and it was even a little too salty, but he felt that this was the most savory meal he had eaten in his entire life.

"Is it good?"

Ying'er looked at him nervously, like a child waiting for praise.

"It's delicious."

Ye Xuan nodded earnestly.

"It tastes better than any rare delicacy in the world."

Ying'er's eyes instantly curved into happy crescents; she looked as thrilled as if she had just been given the entire world.

On this day.

The cultivation world lost a breathtakingly brilliant Young Emperor of the Sword Dao.

Qingniu Village gained a young married couple.

No one knew that the young man chopping wood in the courtyard had once slain the clone of a Sword Emperor with a single strike.

No one knew that the young girl cooking at the stove had once been the most loyal maidservant by the Young Emperor's side.

They simply lived quietly, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

It was as if the myriad affairs of the mortal world no longer had anything to do with them.

But Ye Xuan knew clearly in his heart...

This was merely the calm before the storm.

The three great Female Emperors would not let him go, nor would those who coveted his fortuitous encounters.

But at least for now, at least for these few days, he wanted to go back to being an ordinary person.

He wanted to experience the simplest forms of happiness that he had once overlooked.

The night deepened.

Lying on the creaky wooden bed, listening to Ying'er's even breathing beside him, a smile curled at the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth.

"Days like this..."

"Are actually pretty good."