CH 82

But the brilliance lasted only for a moment. In Mu Duo’s view, Dong Zhi seemed to quickly return to calmness.

He said: “Can you tell me more about it?”

Mu Duo and Dong Zhi weren’t too familiar yet to the point where she could ask the other about their personal life at will, so she choose to withhold her questions and thought about where she should start.

The story that had long been covered by the dust of time.

“My great martial uncle. You also know that the corpse guide technique has been passed down from generation to generation, and we have the most dealings with zombies and corpses.”

Dong Zhi nodded.

When a person dies, the soul dissipates, and the body becomes a corpse. However, if there were grievances that persist, the soul remains and absorb the essence from the sun and moon and gather in its body or it would absorb evil energies. After a long time, the corpse would be resurrected as a zombie, which were regarded as an evil thing in this world.

Ordinary zombies were afraid of the sun, so they would ambush at night to drain human blood, harming human life. They were regarded as evil, but zombies also had levels. The most powerful are ones that had been transformed into monsters, invulnerable to swords and water and fire. Even Taoists priests with deep cultivation would become helpless in the face of them. This kind of thing could no longer be called a zombie, but rather a thorny* demon.

*(棘手) Something that is difficult to deal with.

At that time, warlords raged battles and the world was in chaos. People were starving, and mass graves could be seen everywhere. Therefore, evil spirits and demons ran rampant, and all kinds of supernatural events emerged in an endless stream. Like Mu Duo, they not only guide corpses, but sometimes took on the business of exorcizing evil spirits.

Once, Mu Duo’s martial uncle received a commission. The client was a group of tomb robbers who discovered a great tomb of the Song Dynasty. The other party was afraid there would be some thousand-year-old liches in it and was afraid that they would not be able to deal with them, so they invited Mu Duo’s martial uncle to go to the tomb with them. Her martial uncle didn’t want to do this kind of evil deed, but at that time, his junior martial brother, that is, Mu Duo’s master, happened to be seriously ill and urgently needed a lot of money to buy medicine. As such, he had to agree to the deal.

Going into the tombs itself was naturally an extremely dangerous task with little chance of survival. At that time, everyone was separated. Mu Duo’s great martial uncle was in distressed in the tomb and was saved by a stranger. The other party claimed to also be a tomb robber who came down first, but was separated from his companions. Mu Duo’s martial uncle felt weird at that time, but he didn’t detect anything strange. The two of them wandered in the tomb together. The man was powerful and protected him at every turn. He was rescued from the edge of danger several times. The two formed a deep friendship in the tomb and became sworn brothers who would share blessings and difficulties in the future together.

Dong Zhi listened intently: “Then what? Did they come out?”

Mu Duo nodded: “Although my great martial uncle is strong, there are many traps in the tomb. The tomb robbers who went with him died in the end, and only my martial uncle survive with the help of his sworn brother. Only the two of them managed to escape.”

After getting out of their predicament, Mu Duo’s martial uncle felt that this trip was taboo against the heavens, so he would suffer retributions. He also stop thinking about returning to the tomb again, but he didn’t know how he would raise the money for the medical expense of his junior martial brother. At this time, his sworn brother took out a jade cup and said that it was brought out of the tomb. Mu Duo’s martial uncle couldn’t resist, so he took the jade cup as a gift.

The jade cup was worth a few hundred yuan, which at that time was considered valuable. Mu Duo’s martial uncle was able to get enough to buy his junior martial brother his medicine. Hearing that his sworn brother had no father or mother, he used the remaining money leftover to buy dozens of acres of fertile land and a grocery store in town and dedicated it to the name of his sworn brother.

Coming up with the excuse that he couldn’t manage the store alone, he roped his sworn brother in. They ate and lived together, and their feelings deepened. Mu Duo’s master knew their relationship well and saw that his elder martial brother was better, happier, and he too became happy to see their success.

The days passed day by day that was plain, yet blissful. Just when Mu Duo’s martial uncle thought his life would pass like this, a bloody case occurred in the small town. A resident of the small town died tragically for no apparent reason. There were blood holes on the side of their necks, as if they were injured by a beast with tusks. More and more people started dying and rumors spread in town that these people were bitten by zombies.

The rumors spread more widely that it made Mu Duo’s martial uncle more suspicious. The object of his suspicion was not others, but his sworn brother. Over the years, his sworn brother’s appearance remained the same, just as he had come out of the tomb. Not only that, but his sworn brother also often dug ganoderma from the mountains to make soup for Mu Duo’s martial uncle to drink. As a result, Mu Duo’s martial uncle had always maintained his youth. Over the past ten years, their appearance did not change, but they would cover themselves when going out so the residents in the small town would not become suspicious.

It wasn’t that Mu Duo’s martial uncle never doubted these things, but he persuaded himself not to give in to his suspicions. However, this time, the case were bloody and human lives were at stake. He couldn’t help but started secretly observing his sworn brother.

One night, seeing that Mu Duo’s martial uncle was asleep, his sworn brother got up and went out. Unexpectedly, Mu Duo’s martial uncle had noticed and followed him quietly.

Mu Duo’s martial uncle kept following until he saw his sworn brother sneak up on a young man who was on duty and dragged him away into a dark place. Knowing what was about to happen next, Mu Duo’s martial uncle rushed in to stop him. The sworn brother seemed to have known that he would come, as he looked calm as usual and there wasn’t panic.

Dong Zhi frowned: “Is there any misunderstanding?”

Mu Duo shook her head: “No. He really did killed all those people. A thousand-year-old lich would turn into a demon. Even if they possessed the spiritual wisdom of humans, by nature they are demons. My martial uncle, a corpse guide, had turned a blind eye.”

At first, he didn’t notice, but after such a long time and with deep affection, how could he not have any inkling? He only deluded himself, hoping that the other party was different from other demons.

But a demon was a demon after all. Whether it wanted to be or not, instinct would reign supreme and make it unable to control its desire to kill.

His sworn brother often used the excuse to go up the mountains to pick ganoderma, but in fact, he went further. He intercepted business travelers on the official road and went to the mountains to kill bandits. For so many years, he killed many people, but they were well hidden, as many of them were foreign merchants. Others only thought they were taken away by beasts or robbed by bandits, until the other party couldn’t resist and attacked the people in town.

And the ganoderma that he brought back for Mu Duo’s martial uncle to eat was actually remnant souls of the people his sworn brother had killed and refined into ganoderma. Because there was yang essence and blood qi of living people, Mu Duo’s martial uncle had unknowingly eaten so many lives.

When he learned the truth, he was stunned and dumbfounded, but the man still smiled and told him, ‘From now on, we’re truly connected by blood. You have me, and I have you. Isn’t it great for us to live together, forever?”

Mu Duo’s martial uncle shook his head and said: “It’s not good at all. I was wrong.”

The man sneered: “Don’t forget. I saved your life.”

Mu Duo’s martial uncle continued to shake his head and said: “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have forgotten that people and demons are different. They’ll always be at odds, but I thought you were different.”

Dong Zhi was stunned for a while before he finally asked: “What about later?”

Mu Duo: “Later, my martial uncle wanted to subdue him. Originally, with his strength, he was far inferior to the demon, but over the years, with the demon feeding him the blood qi ganoderma and unintentionally planting willows, my martial uncle was able to overpower his opponent. In the end, the two of them fought a fierce battle. When my master rushed over, he happened to see my martial uncle turning into a demon under the moon and had his hand inserted through his sworn brother’s chest.”

Dong Zhi was silent for a moment, and said: “Maybe, that demon deliberately let him succeed.”

Mu Duo smiled bitterly: “Maybe. After my martial uncle killed the other party, he hugged his body and said to him, ‘You saved my life, and I’ll return this life to you. From then on, we’ll not owe each other.’ He then committed suicide in front of my master. Before he died, he told my master to burn the bodies of the both of them and not leave any traces behind to avoid further disasters. My master did so and from then on, only the line of my master was left.”

Did that demon did something wrong? No. Murder naturally was unforgivable, but it was a demon, and it only followed its nature.

Did Mu Duo’s martial uncle did something wrong? No. He stuck to his last conscience in order to stop the demon from hurting more lives, and to prevent himself from becoming another demon, he chose to die together.

It wasn’t an issue of race. It was completely different. In the end, they weren’t compatible.

Mu Duo said with emotion: “Humans have limited lifespan, but demons can live for hundreds to thousands of years, or even longer. Their world is close to eternity, while ours only have four seasons. How could a person fall in love with a flower? Before he has time to develop feelings for the flower, the flower would be withered and decayed. Even if the flower blooms again on the same branch, it’s not the original flower.”

Hearing Dong Zhi’s question inspired the story of her martial uncle and his sworn brother, but seeing Dong Zhi lost, she hurriedly added: “But the world is vast and not everything will end up like my martial uncle’s outcome. Isn’t there a lot of non-humans in our Special Administration Bureau?”

Dong Zhi sighed and said: “You’re right. Thank you, Sister Mu Duo.”

After sending Mu Duo away, he wasn’t in the mood to watch the stars and moon. He returned to the bedroom, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He simply sat down cross-legged and practiced. He replayed the Bu Tian Gang steps that Long Shen taught him in his mind, but as he practiced, it was inevitable that he would get distracted. He almost lost his breath and got little results with twice the effort. He had to rein in his emotions. He got up and walked to the living room.

The Changshou Sword was hanging on the wall. It wasn’t affected by its owner’s emotions. This sharp blade, which had been baptized by wind and frost for countless years, had no surprises, joy, or sadness. The body of the sword was as cold as water, just like a piece of ice that wouldn’t melt for thousands of years. Crawling and rolling, the cold would not fade.

Seeing it, Dong Zhi felt it was like looking at Long Shen.

The confession was originally outside of his plans, but since the other party had already discovered his feelings, he had no choice.  

Long Shen’s words and Mu Duo’s story revealed a simple fact.

There was an insurmountable natural barrier between them.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have a hunch in the past, but human nature always subconsciously was risk-averse. Many things must be said by the other person before he would listen to the other party’s words.

Long Shen had accepted him as an apprentice in order to let him practice well, slay demons, and become the mainstay of the Special Administration Bureau; to protect others in the world, rather than letting him indulge in his own personal desires.

In the urban life of men and women who tumble in the world of mortals, connections are inextricably entangled with countless strands, fishing for the moon in water* only to remain empty handed.

*(水中捞月) Metaphor for doing things that cannot be done so it’ll all be in vain. In the literal sense, it’s like casting your fishing rod into the lake that reflects the moon, hoping you’ll catch it (it’s impossible).

That is not the person Long Shen wanted him to be.

As soon as his fingers hurt, he retracted it reflexively, only to find that the sword body was stained with blood and his fingers had been inadvertently cut.

Dong Zhi didn’t care. He put his fingers in his mouth and sucked away the blood beads and got a towel to wipe the blood from the sword.

“Huh?”

His gaze fell on the sword unintentionally, and he suddenly stopped moving.

The traces of blood flowed back slowly, returning to the lines on the sword’s body, gradually filling it. It densely packed and the red lines twined and lit up the sword’s body.

The temperature was transferred from the sword’s body to the hilt causing Dong Zhi to instantly felt that the sword he was holding became scorching!

He looked at the Changshou Sword in surprise and started to doubt.

This sword had never been in such a situation before. The only time it had been of great use recently was when he fought with Yamamoto Kiyoshi where he used it to summon thunder. Did Yamamoto do something to it? It wasn’t possible. The opponent had never touched his sword.

After he came back, he often took the sword out to wipe it, but there wasn’t any abnormality.

Should he ask Master?

As soon as this thought flashed, he saw the surrounding scene changed.

Like the unnatural picture switching of an old-style black-and-white movie. With a flash of flowers that appeared in front of him, he was no longer in his living room.

There were no floor-to-ceiling windows, no recliner sofa, no Changshou Sword. What was presented within his sight was a lonely mountain, that wasn’t high but uniquely shaped, resembling a thatched house. Under the mountain were densely packed trees, with a small brook gurgling out, winding about.

Dong Zhi found this situation worrisome. He couldn’t move his body and was unconscious, as if he had been frozen in place.

He tried to close his eyes, or silently recall Bu Tian Gang in his heart to return to reality, but when he opened his eyes again, he still only saw the lonely mountain and brook in front of him. After repeating it several times, he gave up and continued to look at this “screensaver”-like picture. Fortunately, the picture still had sound and his ears caught movements, so it wasn’t entirely boring.

He didn’t know how long it took, but a man suddenly came into view.

The drowsy Dong Zhi instantly felt refreshed as he looked expectantly at the uninvited guest who finally appeared.

The other party “passed by” Dong Zhi, turned his back to his gaze, and walked farther and farther away. Dong Zhi couldn’t see what he looked like at all. He could only see from his back that the man had his hair in a bun and his hair color was a mixed of gray and black. He was wearing coarse clothes, which seemed as if he didn’t pay much attention to his looks, unlike the modern man.

The man walked up to the brook until his body was covered by the trees and could no longer be seen.

Dong Zhi was eager to look. He waited until his upper and lower eyelids started to get heavy, but the man didn’t appear again. No matter how beautiful the scenery was, he would eventually feel tired. The only thing he could control was opening and closing his eyes. He felt a little depressed, so he simply closed his eyes and review the entire set of steps of Bu Tian Gang; practicing it in his head to calm his nerves.

Clang!

He didn’t know how long he had practiced, but the sound of iron suddenly came into his ears. He slowly opened his eyes that widened instantly!

If it weren’t for his inability to make sounds, he would have already cried out.

The mountain was still a lone mountain, but the situation under the mountain had changed.

The brook under the mountain was diverted out some unknown time ago, and seven small, scattered pools appeared left and right. The water from the brook was diverted into each small pool. Next to the last small pool stood a bellows kiln with black iron weapons piled up on the side, just like a military refining workshop.

Dong Zhi felt that scene felt like a déjà vu but couldn’t remember where he had seen it.

While thinking hard, the gray-haired man he had seen before threw away the iron hammer and looked regretful. He shook his head and sighed, turned around and entered the woods again.

This time, Dong Zhi didn’t wait too long. When the man came out again, he was still holding a large piece of mysterious iron in his hand.

The other party threw the black iron into the furnace, and after a while, he added gold, silver, and other metals. His expression was a little more focused than when he was practicing Bu Tian Gang that he couldn’t help feeling ashamed with such comparison. However, he couldn’t help but want to get closer and see what that man was making.

His heart moved at will and his line of sight really moved forward slowly. Looking at the golden water that has turned into liquid in the furnace, Dong Zhi seemed to be able to feel the heatwave blowing against his face and couldn’t help taking a step back.

At this time, the man cut his wrist causing blood to drip into the furnace turning the golden water instantly red. It tumbled endlessly releasing clouds of steam.

Refining sword with blood and sacrificing for the sword with one’s body was not uncommon in ancient legends. Familiar names such as Gan Jiang and Mo Ye flashed in his mind, and for a while, he couldn’t tell what peerless weapon this man was refining.

But dripping blood to feed the sword was just the beginning.

At night, the sky was full of stars reflected in the pool. The water was glistening while the stars shined brightly. The man took a little water from each of the seven pools and poured it into the furnace separately.

He didn’t know whether it was an illusion, but he saw a star map slowly emerging from the furnace, shining brightly over the furnace for a few seconds, then slowly disappearing.

The red in the furnace gradually turned white.

It was daytime again in the blink of an eye and the spring mountain was smiling*. His vision as filled with lush vegetation.

*(春山如笑) Comes from Song Guxi’s “Linquan Gaozhi Landscape Training” describing a beautiful spring mountain. Full verse: “The mountains in spring are calm like a smile, the mountains in summer are green and dripping, autumn mountains are bright and pure like makeup, winter mountains are bleak and sleepy.”

The man came down from the mountain with a pine branch in his hand and threw it into the furnace.

The furnace changed from white to yellow.

Dong Zhi watched the seasons around him change three times a day, and had long forgotten the passage of time outside. He didn’t know whether it was the disorder of time in the dreamland, or the acceleration of the passage. In a trance, he had the illusion of a thousand years in a day. After thousands of years of wind and rain, he watched the molten iron in the furnace surging endlessly, and he looked forward to what the other party would produce.

The man brought ice and snow from the top of the mountain, rain from the sky, white haze from the forest, extracted chalcedony from the ground, and put everything together into the furnace. After repeating this several times, he finally smiled with satisfaction. After pouring the golden water in the furnace into the sword mold, he waited for it to cool down and began to temper it again.

As the saying go, true gold comes from thorough tempering.

When the sun on the top of his head gradually went west, the stars and the moon banished the sunset, and replaced it with a glittering night. The man repeatedly watered and tempered countless times, and the sword in his hand finally gradually shaped, revealing its original appearance.

There was some faint speculation in Dong Zhi’s heart. He was dragged into this fantasy with the Changshou Sword in his hand. The scene he saw must also be related to the sword. Originally, he thought that the Changshou Sword was what was tempered in the man’s hand, but when the sword first took shape, he found that it wasn’t.

A long sword more than three feet long. The body of the sword was faintly glowing with gray light. It was curved and had countless lines, reflecting the stars in the sky and eternal solemnity.

Dong Zhi heart moved and he raised his head.

The bright moon was in the sky, and to the north, a string of stars was shining brightly, reflecting the seven pools on the ground.

Then he heard the man said: “There’s a big dipper in the sky, and there are seven pools on the earth. Lift it like a high mountain and hold it like a pine. May you ascend to a high place in the future. Your nature is upright and clean. You are nine-four in the book of changes1. The hidden dragon of the abyss, deep and unpredictable. Therefore, your name shall be Qixing Longyuan2.

1Ancient Chinese divination text. It uses a divination method called cleromancy that uses random numbers. And the nine and four are turned into hexagrams which can be looked up in the text and are make up of yin or yang elements. You can read the Wikipedia for more information on it.

2Literally means Seven Star Dragon Abyss.

The tone was a bit weird, but the strange thing was that Dong Zhi could understand it. The sound was like a heavy hammer that directly smashed into his heart.

His heart shook slightly. He went into the clouds to see the moon and the fog dispersed.

The red light and purple qi from the burning smoke of Kunwu’s* iron smelting were quite impressive!

*Refers to the legendary inventor of pottery manufacturing,

The Qixing Longyuan Sword!

Longyuan… Long Shen…

Could it be—

He actually witnessed the birth of his master with his own eyes!

This sword, to be precise, was just taking shape. It couldn’t be regarded as a sword that was used to kill people, but was refined by Ou Yezi*, the first craftsman in the ages.

*Legendary master of sword-making during the Spring and Autumn period. According to Yuejueshu, he forged five treasured words for Gan Jiang and King Zhao of Chu named, respectively, Zhanlu (湛卢), Juque (巨阙), Shengxie (胜邪), Yuchang (鱼肠) and Chunjun (纯钧). He also made three swords for King Goujian of Yue, named Longyuan (龙渊), Tai’e (泰阿) and Gongbu (工布). See Kinky notes for details of each sword or the Wikipedia.

Note: It seems that Long Shen is based off a real-life sword, Lóngyuān (Dragon Gulf) – Its shape resembled that of a high mountain and a deep gulf. Goujian used it to cut a gash in his thigh as an act of self-punishment when he mistakenly executed an innocent person.

The black iron of Cishan, the essence of the sun and moon, the brilliance of the stars, the air of the mountains, the spirit of Aoki, the ice that connects the sky, the dew without roots, and the jade chalcedony of the earth.

Before that, no one had ever refined swords in this way. After that, there was no such sword that could gather the spirits of all things under heaven and earth, mountains and rivers.

Living in this world, he never wanted to be extraordinary.

Dong Zhi’s heart jumped wildly. He opened his eyes to look at the scene in front of him.

Before entering this dreamland, all sadness and heartache was replaced by the shock of witnessing the birth of a famous sword through the ages. His heart was agitated and he couldn’t help himself.

What’s more, this sword was his Master.

Dong Zhi’s nose instantly soured and he suddenly felt the urge to cry.

In the dark, his heart felt involved. He couldn’t help but want to get closer and touch the Master who hadn’t yet taken human shape with his own hands.

What a precious moment would be forever engraved in his mind.

Unfortunately, not long after he finished his thought, not only could he not get closer to his newborn master, but his eyes went dark and his feet felt like they were on air, like falling into an abyss.

The speed of the sharp fall made Dong Zhi dizzy and he had to close his eyes, but the fall lasted for a long time. His whole head became heavy, and his feet were light. The moment when he stepped on the ground, his legs couldn’t help but go soft and he sat directly down.

His nose was filled with a strong smell of blood. His ears were filled with fierce shouts of killing, war drums that played in unison, chaotic horse hoofs, the sound of swords, bows, knives, halberds colliding, and the noise of flesh being pierced and blood splashing everywhere.

This was a battlefield.

Dong Zhi opened his eyes.

He stood in the center of the battlefield. Soldiers on both sides rushed to kill each other, using their greatest strength they had in their life.

The close combat in the era of cold weapons was crueler and more direct than he had seen in film and television dramas.

But everyone seemed to ignore his existence. Countless flesh and blood passed by him. Horse’s hooves were raised high, trampling over the nearest soldiers. Immediately, the general raised his sword and unsheathed it. The white light of the long sword reflected the sun and dazzled his eyes.

Master!

To be precise, the Longyuan Sword held in the hands of a burly general was his Master.

Even though the appearance of the sword was very different from before, he still felt the connection at a glance.

The general’s sword rose and fell, and the body of the sword was quickly soaked in countless blood.

When the general lowered his hand, the blood slipped down the body of the sword and dropped in the soil, staining the flowers with blood.

The Longyuan Sword flashed with a terrifying cold light. It didn’t hurt people itself. Only when held in the hands of people did it become a weapon that hurt others.

The enemy seemed to be shocked by the general’s fierceness. When they rushed over, they deliberately or unintentionally bypassed around him.

One of the soldiers on the general’s side was holding a military flag that was blowing in the wind with the word “Li”.

Dong Zhi suddenly remembered that a long time ago, He Yu took him to visit a museum and told him how difficult it was for an artifact to become refined.

The wonderful hand of the master craftsman, the favor of the sun, moon and stars, and the immersion of blood and yang qi; it couldn’t be kept away from the mortal world, but it couldn’t be held by petty criminals and thieves.

There must be the aura of an emperor who was ambitious and sought hegemony, as well as possessed the spirit of selflessness, loyalty, and righteousness.

Time, place, and people were indispensable.

In the long river of history that had been rolled over one volume after another, in the years of intrigue and enmity, hatred and resentment, what role did his master play?

Had he ever witnessed the rising sun and the transformation of Chang Geng into Qiming at the top of a high mountain in a desolate place*? Had he ever walked alone in the depths of the desert and seen the ancient civilization became a site of vicissitudes, and heard the sound of camel bells that was buried by the yellow sand?

*This line refers to the poem <Xiaoya Dadong>: “There is Qiming in the east, and Chang Geng in the west. As soon as the sun rises, the star is called Qiming; when the sun enters, the star is called Chang Geng.” Chang Geng is the ancient Chinese name for Venus. Qiming is the name of a star.

How much blood must be stained, how many struggles must be experienced in the mortal world, how many exchanges of people’s hands, and how many prosperous annihilations he had to see in order to cultivate the thousands of years of loneliness and persistent belief that was rooted in the bottom of his heart?

Kinky Thoughts:

Ou Yezi

Legendary master of sword-making during the Spring and Autumn period. According to Yuejueshu, he forged five treasured words for Gan Jiang and King Zhao of Chu named, respectively, Zhanlu (湛卢), Juque (巨阙), Shengxie (胜邪), Yuchang (鱼肠) and Chunjun (纯钧). He also made three swords for King Goujian of Yue, named Longyuan (龙渊), Tai’e (泰阿) and Gongbu (工布). See Kinky notes for details of each sword or the Wikipedia.

Swords made by Ou Yezi

(纯钧, 纯钩, or 淳钧) Chúnjūn, Chúngōu, or Chúnjūn (Purity) – Its patterns resembled a row of stars in a constellation.

(湛卢) Zhànlú/Pilü (Black) – A sword made from the finest of the Five Metals and imbued with the essence of Fire. Said to be sensitive to its owner’s behaviour, it left of its own accord for the state of Chu when Helü’s conduct offended it. When Helü became aware of King Zhao of Chu’s possession of Zhanlu, he attacked Chu.

Haocao/Panying (Bravery/Hard) – Said to have been imbued with the aspect of lawlessness and was therefore of no use to anyone. It was used as a burial object.

(鱼肠) Yúcháng (Fish Intestines) – A short dagger said to be capable of cleaving through iron as if it were mud. Used by Helü of Wu to assassinate his uncle, Liao of Wu. It was hidden in a cooked fish presented to King Liao at a banquet. As a result of the assassination, the blade gained a reputation for causing its user to be disloyal.

(巨阙) Jùquē (Great Destroyer) – Said to be incredibly durable, being able to withstand even hitting or stabbing rock.

(胜邪) Shèngxié (Victor over Evil)

Swords made with Gan Jiang

(龙渊) Lóngyuān (Dragon Gulf) – Its shape resembled that of a high mountain and a deep gulf. Goujian used it to cut a gash in his thigh as an act of self-punishment when he mistakenly executed an innocent person.

(泰阿) Tàiā (Great Riverbank) – It had patterns like the waves of a flowing river. Tai’a was used by the king of Chu to direct his army against a Jin invasion.

(工布) Gōngbù (Artisanal Display) – Gongbu patterns like flowing water that stop like pearls at the spine.
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