Male Fox Spirit 2

The master of the house had said that he had once seen her practicing with a blade in secret.

In truth, when she trained with the blade for the sake of strengthening her body, she never went out of her way to hide it from him. It could hardly be called secret.

In the past, he had simply pretended not to notice and had never once offered a comment. Yet today, after seeing several people who had come from the south, he brought it up of his own accord.

Not only that, he even said he could teach her blade techniques.

Rather than sudden generosity, Tianyu was more inclined to believe that something had shaken him, and that he no longer wished to keep the blade sent from the south in his possession.

Realizing this, she did not rush to answer.

Sure enough, when she remained silent in thought, the master of the house spoke again, his words coming faster.

"What is it?" he asked. "You no longer want revenge?"

Tianyu hesitated, then said, "You don't seem like the kind of person who would meddle in a servant's family feud."

He lifted a brow. "You suspect I have ulterior motives?"

"That isn't what I mean." She considered it, then decided to speak plainly. "Back then, even knowing mine and Tianyong's identities, you still saved us both and took us in until now. Naturally, you would not harm us."

"But for these past five years, you never intended to teach me blade techniques or help me take revenge, did you?"

"Since you have suddenly changed your mind today, I feel less uneasy than I do confused."

His expression had originally been cool and indifferent. Hearing her to the end, he suddenly lifted his eyelids.

Sharp light flashed in those phoenix eyes as he fixed her with a look.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

Tianyu pointed at the blade in his hand. "If I am not mistaken, the reason you have suddenly changed your mind is that you do not want this blade, but you also do not wish to discard it carelessly. Since my talent is passable enough, you want to take me in as a successor and pass the blade to me as well. Am I right?"

He had probably not expected that, at such a young age, she would think so thoroughly and hit so precisely at the heart of the matter, laying bare his thoughts without a trace of hesitation.

For a moment, he had nothing to say.

After a while, he rubbed his chin and said bluntly, "Yes. You are very clever."

"This blade must have an unusual origin." Tianyu paused. "So what I want to know is this: if I learn your blade techniques and take this blade, will it bring trouble down on my head?"

Back then, when the seven great families of the Northeast joined forces to attack White Manor, it had all been for the White family's hereditary blade art.

In order to preserve the lives of her two children as much as possible, Mrs. White had not given them the manual when she sent them into the secret passage.

Because she had already begun her education before the disaster struck, she could vaguely remember some of the basic forms from the manual.

But more than anyone, she knew that with only the fragments she remembered, it would be impossible to master the blade art that had made such a name for itself in the Northeast, let alone avenge her family.

If one day her identity were exposed and she had no one to shelter her, she would even struggle to protect herself.

Now that the master of the house said that learning his blade could help her take revenge, she naturally had to seize the chance.

But while seizing the chance, she also had to understand the price behind it.

As someone who had spent nearly ten years clawing her way through the entertainment industry, she understood all too well that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

As expected, after hearing her words, the master of the house fell silent for a long while, then still nodded.

"That is possible," he said. "Though most of my enemies are already dead, there are still many in the martial world who covet this blade. If you do not wish to bring trouble on yourself, it would be best not to enter the Central Plains for the next ten years."

Tianyu frowned in confusion. "Why ten years?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "With your talent, if you study diligently under me for ten years and then enter the Central Plains, there will be very little left to fear."

Tianyu blinked. "Really?"

You're that formidable?

"You only need to say whether you will learn or not," he replied instead of answering.

"What learn?" Tianyong, who had just come out of the kitchen after making dinner, happened to hear this and looked puzzled.

Tianyu reached out to ruffle her younger brother's hair and met the master's gaze.

In her gradually maturing features there was a look of resolve.

"I'll learn," she said.

...

Learning the blade was not easy.

At the very least, it was harder than blacksmithing.

Ordinary martial training generally began at the age of four or five, starting with the strengthening of the body and building one's foundation step by step.

This first step was crucial.

For as children grew older, the bones in their bodies hardened and eventually set into place.

Many forms in martial arts demanded flexibility and swiftness.

To achieve that, one had to adapt the bones before they fully took shape.

When Tianyu had crossed over into this world, it had been precisely the best time for this body to begin laying a foundation in martial arts.

The White family had indeed had her start then.

But she had only trained for a few days before White Manor was destroyed, and her foundation was cut short. If she wanted to learn blade techniques now, she would have to begin from the very beginning.

Fortunately, according to the master of the house, her bones and meridians were not bad, and although five years had passed, her body had not fully settled yet. There was still room to salvage things.

Tianyu: "..."

"Fine," she said, not complaining. "Then I'll do my best to salvage it."

After all, she had already grown quite used to suffering when she was in the entertainment industry in her previous life.

What she did not know was that for someone to reach the age of nine and still be able to start over from scratch meant that her natural aptitude was far beyond what the words "not bad" could describe.

Calling her a heaven-sent prodigy would not be an exaggeration.

The master of the house knew this very well, which was why, once he began teaching her, he completely shed his usual lazy manner and taught with extreme seriousness.

With such a meticulous "master," Tianyu's path in blade training was naturally not going to be easy.

The year spent rebuilding her foundation was still manageable, merely exhausting.

The real torment began once she started learning actual forms.

The master's standards were downright perverse.

Even if she followed his demonstration and executed a form exactly as shown, he could still nitpick and point out faults one by one.

Sometimes her movements were not sharp enough; sometimes her draw was too slow.

When her movements had become sufficiently crisp and her blade draw fast enough, he would start complaining that her grip was wrong or that her shoulders had not lowered enough.

In short, he always found a reason.

The good part was that under such exacting standards, her blade skills improved at a remarkable pace.

That feeling of her body growing lighter day by day, of being able to control every muscle with ease, was indeed very different from before.

In her previous life, whenever she filmed fight scenes and was suspended by wires, swinging the props made by the crew through the air, her body had always been tense.

No matter how much experience she had, the feeling of entrusting her personal safety to someone else had never allowed her to fully relax.

Now it was the exact opposite.

She had a foundation in internal energy and had learned lightness skills. With her movement technique enhanced by that, the forms she executed flowed like water.

It was a kind of force that came from within and without, a power as obedient as one's own arm.

It did not come from machinery, nor could it be achieved by filming tricks or editing.

She liked it very much.

In addition to teaching her, the master also taught Tianyong some basic fist and foot techniques.

"Your younger brother's aptitude is far inferior to yours," he said. "A little ordinary martial skill will be enough for him. Even if nothing had happened to your White family, the inherited blade art would only ever be passed on to you."

Tianyu had been worried for a time that the child might feel unbalanced about it.

Unexpectedly, he had a very good attitude. After learning that his aptitude was not good enough, he showed no resentment at all. Instead, he took the initiative to say that if that was the case, then he would forge more iron, so that "elder brother" would have more time to practice the blade.

By the fifth year of blade training, she was fourteen, and the obedient Tianyong had grown to twelve.

Because his body had clearly begun to develop male characteristics, she thought it over one late autumn and told this younger brother about their true origins.

After hearing everything, he was at a loss.

Not about the blood feud that had destroyed the White family, but about her sex.

"So... you aren't my older brother. You're my older sister?" he asked, dazed.

Tianyu: "Right."

Tianyong: "..."

He said he needed a moment to adjust, to calm himself down.

Tianyu imagined herself in his place and felt that if she had encountered such a situation, it would indeed be difficult to accept it immediately. So she decided to give him some time to collect himself.

Afterward, she took the initiative to ask the master of the house for permission, planning to make a trip into the mountains before winter fully set in.

"Very well, go," he said with a wave of his hand. "Your brother has always been well-behaved. He will likely recover after a few days. But do not linger in the mountains. In another few days, it may start snowing."

Tianyu agreed and set out with provisions, her blade, and a fur cloak, leaving the shop.

At this time of year, many people went into the mountains to hunt, and she could just as well go with the hunters from the town and nearby village.

Once inside the mountains, she could act on her own.

But when the hunters saw her, they were all warm and welcoming, each of them insisting she go with him.

"Brother Ah-Yu, come with me. I'll take you to hunt pheasants."

"No, with me! I just bought new arrowheads from your shop a few days ago. This time I'm sure I'll bring back something big!"

"Why not come with me..."

Tianyu: "..."

In the end, she followed the hunter who said he would go after something big.

Because the others were all cautious and did not plan to venture too deep, only this man, emboldened by his new arrowheads, insisted on making a big score.

They were neighbors, after all, and she did not want him to lose his life in the deep mountains, so she went with him.

That choice did, in fact, lead to an unexpected development.

On the third day in the mountains, they encountered a pack of wild wolves.

The hunter guiding her was caught in the wolves' encirclement.

At a time like this, no matter how good the bow and arrows in his hands were, they were not enough to pose a true threat.

Tianyu had no choice but to act.

She drew her blade and stepped forward, finishing off the wolves nearest to her at the fastest speed, then borrowed force to leap into the air and slash down at the alpha wolf that lunged toward her.

Wolves were very intelligent animals. After discovering her terrifying combat strength, they tried to drag down her focus by threatening the hunter's safety.

By the time she had killed six wolves and pinned the alpha, the remaining pack had already formed a new encirclement, trapping the hunter completely.

The hunter was experienced enough to shoot through the eyes of two wolves, but he was besieged from all sides. Once he exhausted the arrows in his quiver and tried to draw another, an opening would appear.

Tianyu shielded him several times, only for the alpha wolf she was dealing with to seize an opportunity and suddenly change direction, striking from another angle straight for the hunter's throat.

In that instant of life and death, a flash of cold light crossed her vision.

For a moment, she thought she had seen wrong.

But in the next instant, the cunning alpha wolf let out a cry of agony.

Taking advantage of the split second when its claws froze in midair, Tianyu did not hesitate. She leapt into the air and swung her blade down!

At once, blood sprayed forth, staining the wolf's fur red.

The hunter trembled all over.

And the silver-haired alpha wolf that had nearly taken his life dropped dead to the ground.

"Brother Ah-Yu!" He was still shaken, but he remembered to thank her. "I truly owe my life to you!"

Tianyu swiftly finished off the remaining wolves and said while striking, "The one who saved you was not me. You should be thanking someone else."

The hunter was puzzled. "What?"

After killing the last wolf, Tianyu sheathed her blade and turned, walking toward the alpha wolf whose neck she had severed. She crouched down, parted the fur, and pulled out a small knife.

Just as she had suspected.

"If the owner of this blade had not acted, I would not have been able to save you," she said.

At her words, the hunter's eyes widened.

He had not seen when this knife had been thrown, let alone when it had been embedded in the wolf's body.

Looking at the plain little knife, Tianyu also frowned.

She truly had not expected that the brilliant flash of light had come from such an unremarkable carving knife.

And for a knife like that to instantly slit open a wolf's throat, the owner's martial arts had to be above her own.

Her guard instantly rose. Lowering her voice, she tested toward the direction from which the knife had come, "Your Excellency has exceptional skill. The two of us thank you here and now."

The mountain wind howled.

Amid the whimpering, she sharply caught a rustling sound.

Something seemed to strike the ground, pressing down the fallen leaves in the woods.

Tianyu signaled to the hunter to step back first, then drew a deep breath, tightened her grip on the hilt, and moved toward the source of the sound.

Before long, she found an unconscious young man behind a large tree.

He was very thin, his face pale to the point of being bloodless.

Yet he was dressed in fine, luxurious clothing, and his features were exquisitely delicate, making him look like some kind of uncanny spirit.

Tianyu: "?"

Could this frail, weak-looking man, who seemed every inch a seductive fox spirit, really have fired such a formidable flying knife?