048 The Fourth Movement of the Ancient Sword

The urge to kill in her mind grew ever stronger, and Huan Luo was losing control. She wanted to throw away the dragon tooth that had somehow ended up in her hand, but it clung to her, impossible to shake off. Huan Luo struggled to maintain the final shred of clarity in her mind, but it was to little avail. A deep, raspy voice echoed from the heart of the dragon tooth, hypnotic and relentless, burrowing into her consciousness, leaving her defenseless.

“Kill them, kill them all…”

Kill them all? The thought seduced and weakened Huan Luo’s self-control. A crimson haze shrouded her vision; she could no longer distinguish friend from foe. Everyone before her appeared as a meal laid out on her plate, deserving to be devoured. She grasped her sword, feeling the immense power flowing from the dragon tooth. If she soaked it in enough blood, that power would be hers. The idea of murder seemed increasingly appealing…

Wait, what was that? Just as she prepared for a bloody rampage, Huan Luo felt a sudden weight on her back. Some unknown creature had leapt onto her, clinging tightly to her clothes, refusing to let go.

“Huan Luo, you must stay calm! Impulsiveness is the devil, the villain, the dark organization—if you follow it, you’ll leave behind a group of orphans and widows, so much tragedy and suffering!” Someone, driven by a rush of adrenaline at the sight of Huan Luo’s apparent rampage, had dashed over and was now hanging onto her like a koala. Just as this person realized Huan Luo was still seriously injured from fierce battle and could not bear any extra weight, she tried to climb down—only to find herself caught by Huan Luo’s murderous glare.

Caught between retreat and advance, she broke out in a cold sweat, babbling incoherently.

Huan Luo found it strange—her reaction speed, energy, and attack power had all surged in this blood-red world, yet she was completely unaware of the presence of the person behind her. Could it be that this person’s senses surpassed her own?

With this doubt in mind, Huan Luo forced herself to resist attacking the clearly harmless figure, allowing her to cling on and spout a string of vague, muddled sentences. Huan Luo feigned listening to her rambling, but in truth, she was observing for any weakness, ready to strike if necessary.

The person, seeing Huan Luo’s ambiguous gaze and realizing she wasn’t being attacked, grew even more nervous. As the saying goes, a dog that bites doesn’t bark—her greatest fear was that Huan Luo would suddenly turn on her in the next instant. The more anxious she became, the less she dared to stop talking. What if silence broke the fragile peace and sent Huan Luo into a frenzy? So, she pressed on, desperately filling the air with words.

“Dearest, you’ve been on the battlefield for years, while I wait at home, my belly full of tears, longing for your return. Day after day, I think of you but never see you—what if you come home only to find I’ve already married another…” She no longer knew what she was saying; she simply kept stringing sentences together.

Lance watched from afar, witnessing the impromptu solo performance and the barely restrained fury etched on Huan Luo’s face, the veins bulging at her temple. He forced a smile and shouted in their direction, “Summer Sun is still in Bude’s hands!”

That’s right! The person clinging to Huan Luo snapped out of her confusion, inspiration striking. “Yes, Huan Luo, don’t just think about killing. Aunt Kui is still waiting for you to rescue her from the enemy. Come back, I can’t save her alone!”

Sure enough, at the mention of the key word, Huan Luo immediately set aside her hostility, considering the speaker as a source of information for the moment. She fought against the burning urge to kill and signaled for her to get off her back and speak.

Cautiously, she climbed down and stood face-to-face with Huan Luo, indicating she should continue.

She quickly glanced at Lance, urging him to pass along any information, but Lance spread his hands, indicating he knew nothing. Liang Yin shook her head in a panic, and the surrounding soldiers, celebrating their victory, noticed the commotion but, at Lance’s signal, did not approach. When she asked, everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, all equally clueless.

Awkwardly, she rubbed her nose and smiled nervously at Huan Luo, whose patience was clearly running out. Huan Luo narrowed her eyes dangerously, staring at her like prey. Cold sweat poured down her face; she opened her mouth, wanting desperately to distract Huan Luo, but couldn’t think of anything. She couldn’t just invent a location and send Huan Luo, wounded and bloodthirsty, on a wild chase—that would make her the architect of a massacre!

“Look, an airplane!” In a moment of desperation, she pointed at the sky and shouted.

“What?” “Where?” The soldiers turned curiously to look, but Huan Luo remained unmoved, standing still. She persisted in pointing to the sky behind Huan Luo, the two locking eyes for a long moment before Huan Luo finally, reluctantly, turned to look.

Taking the opportunity, she snatched a brick from the ground and smashed it against the back of Huan Luo’s head with a loud thud. Huan Luo collapsed, and she clapped her hands triumphantly, “Done!”

“…” That was the collective sentiment of everyone present.

Huan Luo finally awoke from the darkness. Her whole body ached, and her head throbbed—the first sensations as she emerged from the long coma. The second was Summer Sun’s deep sigh.

“…Mom?” Starved and hoarse from lack of food and speech, Huan Luo could only croak a greeting.

Summer Sun’s face still wore a gentle smile, her posture as dignified as ever. But these could not hide her gauntness and frailty.

“You’re awake?” Summer Sun hurried to bring her medicine, and Huan Luo obediently drank it all. Afterward, the two sat in silence for a long time. Finally, Summer Sun hesitantly spoke, “The dragon tooth… still can’t be controlled, can it?”

Huan Luo clearly remembered her loss of control and the dangerous blow to the back of her head. She didn’t know how to respond and could only drop her gaze.

“We had hoped your father could come and solve this, but it seems he won’t be able to,” Summer Sun said with a bitter smile. “And the dragon tooth isn’t something we can simply lock away.” As she spoke, Summer Sun gestured for Huan Luo to look at the ground nearby.

There, a sturdy storage chest sat. Crafted entirely of metal, its surface was covered in patterns and runes Huan Luo couldn’t decipher, giving it an ancient air. But there was a conspicuous crack along its body—a clear sword wound to the trained eye.

“This little fellow seems determined to follow you,” Summer Sun said. “I found this chest in my youth. It’s protected against fire and water, impervious to blades and bullets—though that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Your father once took our family’s sharpest sword and struck it three times, but couldn’t leave so much as a scratch. Yet your dragon tooth managed to pierce right through with its own power.”

Huan Luo stared coldly at the dragon tooth sword leaning against her bedside. The dragon tooth seemed to sense its master’s anger and rejection; the sheen of its scabbard dulled noticeably.

Summer Sun sighed, helpless. “This little one really is a handful.”