Chapter 8

Qin Yun walked to the gate of the manor and saw a bald, bearded man standing there, holding a horse and waiting.

"Brother Yun." The bald, bearded man immediately broke into a smile, his voice loud and excited.

Qin Yun widened his eyes and looked carefully. Bald, with a thick beard, only his facial features were still recognizable: "Are you Xiaobobo? How could it be, that shy, handsome young man has turned into such a rough man?"

Tian Bo was one of his closest friends from his youth, a year younger than him.

In his youth, Tian Bo was handsome and fair-skinned, and quite shy.

Now, bald? Bearded? Muscular?

"Brother Yun, how can you say that to me?" The bald, bearded man 'Tian Bo' said, "That's too hurtful, my heart is aching!"

"Don't pretend." Qin Yun teased.

Tian Bo chuckled.

The two of them hugged tightly.

"Brother Yun, it's been a long time!" Tian Bo said.

"It has been a long time." Qin Yun let go of his good friend and then smiled, "But, Xiaobobo, you've changed so much. I wouldn't have recognized you if I hadn't looked closely."

"How could I know that starting at eighteen, my hair just kept falling out, no matter how anxious I was." Tian Bo helplessly touched his head, "There's nothing I can do. My father is bald, my grandfather is bald, so I am like this too. And this beard grows wildly, but it does look quite imposing, right?"

"Imposing, imposing." Qin Yun laughed.

The childhood friends have all grown up!

"You also, you didn't even tell me you were back. I only heard from the Six Gates that you had returned. 'Xishan Sword Garden' Lord Wu Feng has already gathered everyone, and is hosting a welcome feast for you at noon today." Tian Bo smiled, "And I volunteered to come and pick you up."

"Welcome feast?" Qin Yun was surprised, "Your information is really fast."

"One tells ten, ten tell a hundred." Tian Bo said, "Come, come, let's go quickly. Many old friends are waiting for you."

Even Qin An, the elder brother standing by the gate, smiled: "Second brother, your many friends are waiting for you, so go quickly."

"Alright, elder brother, you don't have to wait for me. I'll probably be back very late tonight." Qin Yun said.

Then,

The servants had already prepared the horses, and Qin Yun rode off with his friend Tian Bo.

...

Xishan Sword Garden was at the foot of Xishan Mountain outside Guangling City.

Qin Yun and Tian Bo rode their horses leisurely, chatting along the way.

"In our youth, I wanted to travel the world like you, but with my limited skills, a few bloody battles scared me. I had to follow in my father's footsteps. Now I manage some of the taverns under my father's name." Tian Bo shook his head, "By the way, I recently took a concubine. This year, my father forced me to get married quickly."

"You took a concubine first, then got married?" Qin Yun was surprised.

"Her belly got big, there was no other way." Tian Bo shook his head, "But my father was quite happy because it was a boy."

"Lord Tian, you only have one son, he's waiting for you to carry on the family line." Qin Yun teased.

As they talked, the two of them rode to the lakeside at the foot of Xishan Mountain. The lake was calm, like a huge emerald, reflecting the mountain. At the end of the lake, there were pavilions and terraces, and some figures could be seen.

Servants were already waiting by the lakeside, looking forward to their arrival. Seeing the two riders, they hurriedly welcomed them.

"Lord Tian, this is Lord Qin?" A steward greeted warmly, "Please follow me, my master and the other young lords have been waiting for a long time."

Qin Yun and Tian Bo dismounted, handing their horses to the servants.

The two of them were led by the steward onto a small boat.

The boat, though small, was very elegant, and the boatman was a beautiful young girl. The small boat glided on the calm lake, like a fairyland.

"I remember the boatman used to be an old man, now it's a young girl." Qin Yun sighed.

"Lord Wu Feng is the most pleasure-loving." Tian Bo also said.

Xishan Sword Garden was originally a secondary residence of Li Wu Feng, the eldest son of the Li family, a major clan in Guangling. He loved swordsmanship and formed 'Xishan Sword Garden' in his youth, allowing only boys under sixteen to join. When Qin Yun was invited to join, he was only ten years old. Initially, 'Xishan Sword Garden' was just a place for Lord Wu Feng to find like-minded sword enthusiasts, but as these boys grew up, the garden gained some influence in Guangling City.

On the other side of the lake, some young men were already drinking and chatting, and they noticed the small boat.

"Ha ha ha..."

A loud laugh came from a distance, "The Sword God is here, the Sword God is here, our Sword Garden's Sword God is here."

"Quick, quick, Brother Qin Yun, come over, don't be so slow." Everyone laughed and urged.

"Brother Yun, let's go." Tian Bo immediately stepped out of the boat, walking on water, and ran more than twenty zhang before landing on the distant dock.

Qin Yun also laughed and walked on water, but he didn't show off. He only caused ripples on the lake, without splashing any water, walking as if he were strolling, and reached the dock.

"Brother Qin Yun, it's been a long time."

"Six years, come, come, drink. I was really worried you'd die out there, but you're lucky to be back."

Some of the young men came over with wine flasks, and one of them handed a flask to Qin Yun.

Qin Yun took it and smiled, "Come, come, drink."

Childhood friends were more relaxed and at ease together.

...

More than twenty people were drinking together.

"Second brother, let's have a match. Last time I lost, let's have another match."

"Sure, why would I be afraid?"

The two of them put their wine flasks aside, leaped out, and started sparring on the water, amidst the green mountains and clear lake.

For a moment, sword light flashed, and their figures intertwined and changed on the lake.

"Good."

"Second brother's sword is simple yet profound, his demeanor is even more remarkable."

"Phew, what a strange move, it scared me."

The others drank and watched, pointing and commenting.

When one of them was knocked into the lake, drenched, the match ended.

"Brother Ming, let's try."

"Let's have a match."

One after another, they started sparring on the water, practicing their sword skills.

Sword matches were the most common in Xishan Sword Garden. When the garden was first formed, it invited many young boys to join, and each one had to have a certain level of swordsmanship. This group almost represented the best young swordsmen in Guangling City.

Drinking, chatting, and sparring...

Now they had all grown up, bound by the constraints of life, making them even more eager to come to Xishan Sword Garden, where they could drink and spar freely, without worrying about worldly affairs.

Qin Yun also held a bamboo wine flask and drank with his friends, chatting casually.

"Where's Zhang Fengzi? He always challenged me to sword matches, why didn't he come this time?" Qin Yun asked.

"Zhang Fengzi spent all his family's wealth to cultivate, and he even joined 'Qishan Sect.' Unfortunately, he couldn't enter the immortal path before he turned twenty, so he wandered around..."

"I really admire Zhang Fengzi. In our youth, I was devoted to swordsmanship and wanted to cultivate, but I gradually lost my enthusiasm. Alas, my father is old, and the family needs me to support it, so I can't act recklessly."

"Bound by layers of constraints, no freedom."

Everyone sighed.

All present were skilled swordsmen, generally reaching the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, and they all had a desire for cultivation.

In our youth, we were full of spirit and had our own pursuits.

But as we grew up, we were bound by the constraints of the world, and reaching the ninth level of Qi Cultivation was the only way to have a chance to enter the immortal path. Only a few of those present had reached the ninth level, and joining a cultivation sect was extremely difficult.

"Where's Yuxing?" Qin Yun asked again. Yuxing was the only girl in Xishan Sword Garden.

"Her father was transferred to Nanming City, and she went with him. It will be hard to see her again."

"I heard Yuxing also got married, to the sickly young master of the Guihai family in Nanming City."

"Guihai family is one of the most powerful clans in Nanming City, but I've heard that the young master is very ill and may not live for many years."

...

"Where's Lu Bing?" Qin Yun asked.

"Lu Bing is dead. One night, he and his friends returned from a brothel, half-drunk, and were assassinated, losing his life. We still don't know who killed him."

Qin Yun was slightly stunned.

That proud young man, dead just like that?

...

"Jia Wu is also dead. He was even more tragic. On the way back from their family estate to the city, they encountered a monster, and the whole group died."

...

Qin Yun sighed deeply.

Among the friends from Xishan Sword Garden, some had left for other places, and a few had already died.

Although the brothers of the Sword Garden had a good relationship, among the nearly forty of them, there were naturally closer and more distant ones. Over the years, some who were more distant had barely spoken much. When Qin Yun joined Xishan Sword Garden at ten, his father, Qin Liuhu, was just an ordinary constable. The group of young men back then were still strangers and more accustomed to looking at backgrounds. Children of ordinary constables and small merchants were somewhat looked down upon.

Qin Yun was also obsessed with swordsmanship and had the nickname 'Yun Fengzi.' The ones who were truly close to him were only 'Xiaobobo' Tian Bo and 'Madman' Xie Lei, who also had ordinary backgrounds.

Although a few contemporaries had died, in this era, where monsters caused havoc and death was common, and their relationship wasn't too deep, Qin Yun only sighed.

"By the way, where's Madman? Why didn't he come?" Qin Yun asked Tian Bo, who was drinking beside him, "Did he go on a security escort?"

...