41 The Sword Forgers

Miles away from Wu and Yue, Ying had lived as an immortal for three years.

Mister Yao and his wife Madame Ling - two senior immortals, trained her day and night to be a formidable swordsman.

Ying loved swordsmanship. If she's not busy with books and other errands, she would practice swordsmanship with her reflection on the river. Therefore, just in two years, her swordsmanship was already above average.

Now, not only she's good in swordsmanship, but she also had the skills to make crossbows, bows, and arrows.

That afternoon, Ying was busy making a bow for hunting. Master Yao and Madame Ling had gone to another city for ten days and had not returned home. She was busy working when Qian came to visit her.

"Qian, it's good to see you!" Ying smiled and put down her working tool on the table. "How's this little chubby boy doing?" She wiped her dirty hands on her clothes and then tickled the toddler's tummy, who was held by Qian.

The toddler giggled and laughed happily while Qian handed him to Ying and said, "Say hi to your Auntie Ying! Without her, you would have died a long time ago!"

Ying received the toddler and played with him until he fell asleep.

After the toddler fell asleep, Ying said, "Qian, he's a sweet boy! You should treat him kindly!"

Qian sighed, "Ying-jiejie. I know, and I'm trying to treat him kindly. But it's not easy. Sometimes when I see him, I remember that day when his….his father…" She didn't continue. She turned her head to another direction.

Ying could see her eyes were teary. She also sighed and said, "I know that it must be hard for you to raise a child from a man who..." She paused a moment and continued, "From a man who raped you!"

Both of them silent and said nothing.

"This baby, although his father maybe not a good father. But he has a good mother! And you are his mother! As long as you educate him well, he will grow to be a good man!"

Qian wiped her tears and asked. "Where is Madame Ling and Mister Yao?"

"They go out for some business!" Ying said, and she boiled some water to drink.

Ying was about to say something when she heard something odd outside. "Qian, something is not right! Stay here! I will check outside!"

"What? I don't hear anything!" Qian said.

Ying took a sword hung on the wall and went outside. She looked around and was alert as she heard some steps. It must be intruders.

It didn't take a long time for her to see two intruders in black clothing and masks covered their face attacked her.

Ying used her sword to counter-attack the two intruders. After two and a half years of training, she was no longer the weak Yue beauty. Now she's a swordsman. And not a weak swordsman.

Perhaps because when she's a toddler, she was raised by wolves; therefore, Ying had sensitive ears compared to the average human. From the sound of the sword, she knew where the sword came from, and she would fend off or dodge the opponent's swords.

The two intruders' sword skills were superior to her. Yet the girl fought bravely and determined to win. It was not easy for the two intruders to beat her.

After some time, Ying found out that one of the intruders, the smaller one, was weaker than the taller one. Therefore she decided to handle the smaller one first. Yet it was not easy, as the taller one always protected the smaller one. Therefore Ying decided to use some trick.

The two intruders who fought Ying were not weak; two swords were weaving in and out around her body. Ying's sword always failed to land on their bodies. Ying knew she could not beat them. She decided to use some tricks.

When the two intruders swords were pointed at her, she deliberately flopped back and then rolled over on the ground to grab a pinch of dirt.

The two intruders didn't expect her to flop back like that. They were still a bit confuse when Ying kicked the taller man's leg and threw the dirt to the smaller intruder.

The smaller intruder was shocked as the dirt entered his eyes. He spontaneously covered his face and screamed in pain.

"Argh!" the person screamed. Ying was aghast. That was Madame Ling's voice.

Ying was confused.

The taller man used the chance to sweep her leg and Ying fell on the ground.

"Ying-er, stop it!" The man shouted. That was Mister Yao's voice.

Mister Yao took off the mask from his face and hurriedly approached Madame Ling. "Ling, are you alright?"

Ying came to realize that the two intruders were her teachers. "Mister Yao, Madame Ling, I didn't know that it was you…."

Mister Yao and waved his hand and said, "It's alright! No need to say sorry! We deliberately disguised like this to test your martial art skill!"

Madame Ling rubbed her eyes and said, "Ying-er, you are really naughty! That's not how a fair duel should be!"

Ying with a guilty tone said, "I'm sorry Madame, I was afraid that intruders might kill Qian and her boy. Therefore I had to do anything to prevent any intruder from entering the house. Who would have guessed the intruders are you and Mister Yao!"

Mister Yao laughed, "Little girl, you have a lot of tricks! As long as you don't use your trick to do evil, then I will spare you! Alright, help her to get inside!"

Ying nodded. She held Madame Ling and helped her to get inside the house and help her clean her eyes.

Qian greeted Mister Yao and Madame Ling and decided to help them to cook for lunch.

"Qian, how's your child? Have you got a name for him?" Madame Ling asked during the lunch.

Qian shook her head.

"He's almost two years old. You should find a name for him!" Madame Ling said.

"Madame Ling, Mister Yao, actually I come here today for him!" Qian said.

"Oh?" Madame Ling said.

"My neighbor matchmake me with a man from another village. I will get married next month!"

"Oh, really? That's good news," Madame Ling said. "He knows about the boy, right?"

Qian nodded. "He's willing to accept him. It is I who is worry about that boy's future."

"Why?" Ying asked.

"His father was a bandit. I'm afraid that someday he will be like his father!" Qian said. "It is said that people at birth are naturally good. Their nature is similar, and the environment and habits that make people turn to evil.** This baby has a mother like you. He will be a good man one day!" Ying said and clutched Qian's hand.

** This is a Confucian belief that people are born pure and sinless.

"Why don't you adopt this baby?" Qian asked. "Madame Ling, Mister Yao, you both have no child. Why don't you take him?"

Madame Ling and Mister Yao were surprised and looked at each other.

"Qian, although we like that boy, we often move around and we don't live in the same place for too long. I am afraid that we can't adopt him!" Mister Yao said.

Qian said, "These past three years are not easy for me. He's not a child that I want! I still have a younger brother also. If not because of your kindness who supported me, then I don't know how my brother and I, and this boy could live until now! And my future husband is not a wealthy person also!"

Madame Ling said. "We have some money. We can give you the money to take care of this baby! The boy will not be a burden for him!"

"But I'm afraid that this boy will be a problem for us in the future!" Qian said.

"Do you love your son, or not?" Ying asked. Her voice was soft but firm.

Qian turned her head and said, "Ying-jiejie, I have to say, I don't know!"

"If the boy dies, will you be sad?" Ying asked. She looked at Qian straight to her eyes. "If you hate him, or if you think that he's a burden… then I will help you to kill him!"

Everybody was shocked by hearing her word.

"I could just strangle him," Ying said plainly. "He's just a baby!"