A Quiet Homecoming

Lin Qingyun explained, "Wu Yi is a soft sword, so it can be wrapped around the waist and even used as a belt."

He held up the sword and folded the blade in half for He Zhuoming to see—the pitch-black blade folded effortlessly, so soft it felt more like cloth than steel.

Lin Qingyun folded the soft sword twice more, reducing it to a short section nearly as short as the hilt.

He Zhuoming caught a faint, cold floral scent. She stared at the folded soft sword in his hand, then cast a doubtful glance at the red crabapple blossoms on the hilt.

Though she'd seen those red crabapples earlier, she'd always assumed they were artificial.

"Are these... real flowers?" He Zhuoming asked.

Lin Qingyun smiled. "Real flowers. You can touch them."

He Zhuoming looked up at him. "I—I can touch them?"

"Of course," Lin Qingyun said. "It's just a sword. It won't bite. Why wouldn't you be able to touch it?"

His words made sense to He Zhuoming, so with a mix of caution and excitement, she reached out a finger to touch the red crabapple on the hilt.

The moment her fingertip brushed the blossom, the soft sword suddenly transformed into a swallow, spreading its wings and fluttering—He Zhuoming screamed, stumbled backward, and sat down hard, watching as the swallow flapped up and circled above their heads.

Lin Qingyun burst out laughing and snapped his fingers in front of her face. He Zhuoming still sat with her mouth agape, eyes fixed on the swallow overhead.

Its back was black, its belly white, and from beak to neck the feathers were a brilliant red, with a sprig of red crabapple held in its beak.

Seeing that a single snap did nothing, Lin Qingyun snapped four or five more times in rapid succession, the crackling noise loud—He Zhuoming still didn't look at him. She kept watching the swallow, murmuring in a daze, "A magic trick?"

Lin Qingyun frowned. He reached out and pressed down on her head, forcing her to look at him. "A magic trick? I don't play with anything as lowbrow as that."

He Zhuoming shoved his hand away, annoyed. "Why do you keep turning my head around? I'm still growing! If you press down on my head, I won't get any taller!"

Lin Qingyun pouted. "Xiao He, you're so rude. I told you—when you talk to me, you should look at me."

He Zhuoming shot back, "You're the rude one! I wasn't talking to you just now—I was talking to myself!"

She was clearly a bit annoyed, frowning as she glared at him.

But Lin Qingyun smiled instead—brighter than usual, even showing his neat bunny teeth—and said in a light tone, "I didn't know that. I thought you were asking me. It's just the two of us here... Xiao He, if you stop talking to yourself, you won't have this problem anymore!"

His smile and coaxing tone drained much of her irritation.

Her temper flared quickly but faded just as fast, and she didn't catch the subtle sharpness in his latter words.

Her brow smoothed, and her gaze drifted from him to the swallow circling above.

Lin Qingyun twitched his index finger, and the swallow swooped down, folding its wings neatly, landing weightlessly on his knee.

He Zhuoming's gaze followed the swallow, then lifted to meet his eyes. "Is it really a swallow?" she asked curiously.

Lin Qingyun whistled, and the swallow hopped onto He Zhuoming's leg. "Ah," she gasped, then cautiously brought her hands together from both sides, trying to catch it.

Lin Qingyun leaned toward her slightly, smiling. "No need to be so careful. It won't fly away... Of course it's a real swallow. It just can also become a sword."

He Zhuoming closed her palms around it, feeling the warm, fuzzy body against her skin.

True to his word, Wu Yi didn't struggle at all. Cradled in her hands, it rested its head against her open tiger's mouth—He Zhuoming couldn't resist giving it a little squeeze.

Wu Yi let out a soft chirp.

"So... so cute!" He Zhuoming exclaimed.

Lin Qingyun raised an eyebrow and studied Wu Yi for a moment, baffled. What was cute about it?

It was just a bird.

He reached out, grabbed the swallow by the head, and pulled—Wu Yi transformed back into the soft sword, slipping coolly from He Zhuoming's palm and back into Lin Qingyun's hand.

He Zhuoming's hand was left empty, but the pleasant downy sensation seemed to linger on her skin.

She perked up and pressed him, "Can all lifebound weapons... turn into animals?"

"Some can, some can't," Lin Qingyun said. "It depends on one's fate, as I said."

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist and wrapped Wu Yi back around his waist as a belt.

He Zhuoming squeezed her empty palm and asked, "Does it always have to be fate? Is there any item that increases my chances of getting an animal-shaped artifact?"

Lin Qingyun looked down at her—her eyes were bright, and she leaned in close, her short hair, messily sticking up, swaying in the night breeze, its shadow playing across her expressive features.

Her hair was a mess.

He blinked, then quickly spread a warm, innocuous smile. "You could go to a True Deity's temple and burn incense to pray. There's a very small chance a True Deity will take notice and grant you a bit more luck."

"Very small chance... how small?" He Zhuoming asked.

Lin Qingyun casually picked up a grain of sand from the ground and placed it on He Zhuoming's hand. "See? About this small."

He Zhuoming: "..."

After a long pause, she patted her hand and complained, "That's practically nothing!"

Lin Qingyun propped his chin on one hand and said with a grin, "Well, there's no helping it. Those famous True Deities have a lot of incense, with thousands of people praying to them every day. So the chances of getting heard drop a lot~ Ah, it's too bad they're so limited."

He Zhuoming thought for a while, then asked, "Is there any True Deity who's younger and doesn't have much incense?"

"Those with little incense are called subordinate deities," Lin Qingyun said. "They're always trailing behind the True Deities, so they don't have time to listen to your prayers. If you want to improve your chances, I could recommend some kind-hearted Corrupted Deities..."

"They're very diligent, personally care about each of their followers, and produce results fast. Usually, you pray the same day and get results the same day!"

He Zhuoming thought of the Corrupted Deity statue split in two at the village, and those strange villagers.

She shuddered and refused quickly. "No way!"

She picked up the wooden sword and hugged it to her chest, saying seriously, "People who only look for shortcuts will never reach the end. I'll burn incense to the True Deities with my own effort and improve my chances of having my prayers answered!"