(coin=10000)】Today, recommend one of his original novels that played really well with me】~ Jiang Nan
My name is Yu.
The largest assassin organization in the world is 'Dark Current,' and right now I am the top-ranked assassin in Dark Current.
I was a slave since childhood, had no name, and didn't know who my parents were, until I was taken to Dark Current by my master and Ci when I was eight. That day, the sky was filled with rolling goose-down snow. I fell on the icy, bone-chilling street, covered in thick white snow, as pedestrians hurriedly passed by me.
The falling white snow drifted like pure feathers into my eyes, turning into sorrowful, burning tears. I seemed to see heaven and felt my soul slowly being pulled from my body. At the moment closest to death, I saw Ci's smile, warm like sunlight. He gently helped me up and said to me, 'I will take you away.'
I quietly lay on Ci's back; his back was so warm and comfortable. I did not know where Ci would take me, but I was not afraid. The person walking in front of Ci was his master; wrapped in a black cloak, I could not see his face. Later, he also became my master. The streets were sparsely populated, leaving only the endless, rolling, broken goose-down snow.
That year, I was eight, and Ci was ten.
I first killed someone as the assassin 'Yu' when I was twelve. On a winter day with rolling snow, I killed the slave owner who had abused me since childhood. What I found ridiculous was that as he was dying, he knelt before me, begging for mercy—from me, the 'little bastard' he used to frequently beat and scold. Watching him kneel in front of me like a dog on the street, devoid of dignity, perhaps when a person chooses to live miserably, they disregard everything.
I slowly cut his throat with my sword. At that moment, seeing him in such pain made me very happy. The blood flowing from his throat spread on the snow-covered white ground like fire.
My master said to me, 'Yu! In the future, the top-ranked assassin of Dark Current will be you, not Ci.' He spoke very seriously and earnestly, without explaining the reason, and I did not ask.I don't know why the thorn is so good to me. He admits his mistake and gets punished for me, secretly saves me some treats, and even happily strokes my head...... and I don't like that, because I want to be the number one assassin ranked by the pride of my master. That feeling lasted until three days ago. Three days ago, he was stabbed to death by my sword. My master said that two tigers cannot share one mountain, but the undercurrent can only have one number one. My goal was to become the number one assassin ranked among the undercurrents. So I duel with Ci. The day before the duel, I met Ci in the main hall of the undercurrent. He smiled at me, his smile still as warm as sunlight. I solemnly said to him, "I will give it my all." The wind blew my snow-white hair backward, and then I brushed past him without looking back. The next day, I duel with Ci on the high platform of the undercurrent. Below the platform were my master, along with other undercurrent protectors and assassins. After a long battle with the stimulus, we were still evenly matched. Suddenly, Master shouted, "Only one of you can live to be the leader of the undercurrent." As soon as Master finished speaking, I saw Thorn's furrowed brow, as if suddenly remembering something difficult. At that moment, my sword slowly pierced through Thorn's chest, and I saw Thorn's warm, sunny, charming smile again. But it lasted only a moment, then slowly rippled gently across the air, staining a large patch of white ground with fresh blood. Finally, he slowly collapsed in front of me in a pool of blood, like a blooming red lotus, blooming lonely and painfully on the ground. The master said assassins must have no emotion, or else they would be killed. Like the assassin, I knew the assassin could easily pierce his sword through my chest. I started killing at twelve, and the assassin began practicing killing at ten. I imagined he would be even more ruthless and cold than I was, but in the end, my sword pierced his chest. I seem to understand why the master said that the assassin ranked number one in the undercurrents would be me, not the assassin, because assassins were not truly ruthless, while I truly had no feelings at all.The moment Ci fell before me, I became the top-ranked assassin of the Dark Current organization. My master dressed me in a down robe made from pure, soft white peacock feathers. It symbolized supreme status. My master said it was a magical robe, allowing me to drift through the air like a feather and move with extraordinary speed, making killing much easier in the future.
Wearing the robe, I truly felt like a feather; my feet slowly lifted off the ground and drifted upward. Cheers came from below the high platform, but I didn't feel the victory I had before. Watching Ci's corpse gradually become clear beneath my feet, I cried. It was the first time I had cried in the Dark Current; previously, even when I was starving or whipped by the slave masters, not a single tear fell. But today, after killing Ci, tears gently slid down my face, tearing through the cold air and eventually landing on Ci's flawless white face. All of this happened in an instant, and I didn't let my master or anyone present see me cry, because I am the top-ranked assassin of the Dark Current.
My master said that a killer must never let go of their weapon. I slowly drew my sword from Ci's chest, the bright red blood covering my cold blade. The blood dripped down the blade, a few drops falling onto my pure white down robe on the ground, then spreading across my robe like glaring flames. For the first time, my heart felt a sharp pain.
Ci was the first person to fall before me with a smile, showing not an ounce of fear. It was also the first time I realized that the blood of someone falling in front of me had warmth.
After becoming the top-ranked assassin of the Dark Current, my master's first task for me was to go to Jiangnan to find the "Snow Lotus" that grows in the ten-thousand-year ice mountain. He said it was a gift for the 'Flow Lord.'
My master always hid in a black robe, and the others in the organization called him the 'Great Protector.' I couldn't see his face or know how old he was, though his voice sounded a bit aged. He said that I am his pride, the pride of the Dark Current organization, and a once-in-a-century prodigy.If it had been while Ci was still alive, I would have happily thought that the words my master said were praise unique to me, praise that no one else could ever have. Now, I actually feel a bit ridiculous, as if it were a great irony toward me for having killed Ci.
After the duel, that night I went alone to Ci's room, and in Ci's room I found a very delicate box.
I slowly picked up the box, but at the same time it seemed I triggered some mechanism. I heard the sound of gears turning in the room. Suddenly, many arrows shot at me from all directions. My heart jumped instinctively, and I was about to dodge them like I would dodge the hidden weapons normally. Just as those arrows were about to pierce me, my robe suddenly wriggled and fluffed up, and all the pure white feathers scattered. In that moment, all the arrows shot at me froze in midair, lightly floating up and down. I held my breath and watched in astonishment as the arrows hovered in the air, my heartbeat gradually calming. The arrows then slowly fell to the ground.
I was even more astonished with the box in my hands. If it weren't for the robe, anyone moving the box besides Ci would have died. I slowly opened the box and found some letters inside.
I carefully read each letter every day.
It turned out that Ci had a younger brother. They wandered together, relying on each other, and eventually his brother died of illness outside the door of the clinic in winter. Because Ci had no money, he lost his only relative, his beloved younger brother, in that cold winter. Ci held his brother despairingly as he walked along the snow-covered streets. Snowflakes, as white as feathers, gently fell on his brother's flawless face. Ci looked at his brother's face, tears burning, and shouted to the sky amidst the rolling, breaking snow.
After burying his brother, Ci met his master. His master stood in the rolling, broken snow, still wearing a completely black robe. His master said to Ci, 'If you want revenge, come with me.'
That year Ci was seven. Ci told his master that he hated the clinic that didn't treat his brother, that he hated all the physicians in the world, that he hated his parents, and that he hated everyone in the world...
Later, he became a top assassin in the secret stream. After Ci met me, he saw me as his deceased brother. He liked to take care of me as he did his brother, and he liked to stroke my head as he did his brother's.I finally understood everything that Ci did to me, everything an older brother did to a beloved younger brother. Holding those yellowed letters, my body trembled slightly, and I slumped weakly on the stone floor. What had I done?
I personally killed someone who loved me dearly, so ruthlessly, so indifferently, with no hesitation. Tears streamed from my eyes again, and my heart ached once more.
In my deepest regret, I saw the person who loved me the most, yet he died by my sword.
Three days later, I arrived in Jiangnan, and it was exactly as mentioned in Ci's letter: beautiful mountains, clear waters, thin mist, and a small town nestled in the fog. Ci said Jiangnan was the paradise he longed for and that he would come here if he had the chance. But he would never have that chance. I left him in the dark, damp “Deep Current Gorge” where sunlight never reaches—a place that all assassins who die in duels finally go. Only decay awaited Ci.
Ripples slowly spread in circles beneath my feet. A bamboo raft quietly glided on the river, veiled in faint water vapor. Fish bit at the hem of my pure white peacock feather robe, soaked in water, stained with Ci's blood, greedily licking.
The slightly moist air drifted slowly past my face. My waist-length white hair gently fluttered backward in the wind. The green mountains on both banks were elegant, and the towers and pavilions appeared hazy and ethereal on the clear river. Everything lingered in the misty rain of Jiangnan. At this moment, I felt a long-lost sense of peace and relaxation. Indeed, Jiangnan was like paradise, just as Ci had said.
There were no people here I needed to kill. My gaze did not have to roam over passing pedestrians. I could quietly enjoy the scenery here.
In his letter, Ci wrote that everyone has the right to love and be loved; we are emotional beings, not plants or flowers.
Occasional melancholy sounds of the zither drifted through the thin mist into my ears. Though mournful, the music brought a sense of joy and beauty, soft as silk, beautiful as a quietly flowing river. People on the shore all praised the elegance and charm of the zither. Those who did not understand the instrument could only hear its surface sounds.I looked at the enchanted expressions on the shore and couldn't help but reveal a faintly ridiculous expression. To be able to play such a desolate sound so beautifully and movingly, I thought that besides the high skill of the person playing the zither, the zither itself must also be an unmatched treasure in the world.
I lightly leapt onto the shore, and the bamboo raft rippled in circles around me. My body floated lightly like a feather from the raft, drifting in the thin mist over the river. My waist-length, pure white hair floated neatly in the subtle mist. I saw my reflection in the river, like a lonely and proud white bird crossing the sky.
As I drifted like a feather in the air, all eyes on the shore converged on my pure white figure, with expressions revealing a crystal-clear and bright sense of amazement.
I gently landed like a falling feather on a pavilion by the shore. The falling white feather slowly sank into the cold, clear river water, and I heard the exclamations of amazement from the people on the shore.
The sound of the zither came from the opposite shore. I lightly leapt toward it and drifted again like a feather through the thin river mist, gradually sinking into the haze, while louder exclamations came from behind me.
Continuing the serialization… (/coin) Passing through the mist, I lightly landed like a falling feather on a pear tree by the shore. The tree was full of pear flowers as pure as snow. I was immersed among the swirling pear blossoms, my long white hair scattering in the air amid the floating flowers. The zither music came from the pavilion across, and the falling pear flowers, swayed by the wind along with the mournful melodies, scattered lonely piece by piece and finally sank into the clear river water.
The one playing the zither was a woman dressed entirely in white like snow. Her long white hair floated gently in the wind, her eyes were clear and lively like river water, her face as flawlessly white as pear blossoms, and her slender jade-like fingers gracefully plucked the strings, spreading a gentle and beautiful melody. I quietly watched her until she finished the piece, then applauded gladly.
She smiled at me, her smile as charming as a small town lingering in the light mist, and I felt a strange sensation toward her.
One who can play such zither music certainly is no ordinary person. I saw her zither—it was the world-famous 'Silent Zither.'I had heard in the undercurrents that a silent zither is not truly incapable of producing sound; it is just that ordinary people find it difficult to control, and some cannot produce any sound at all. That is why it is called the "silent zither" in the world. According to legend, only those who are truly destined with it can play a melody that captivates all listeners.
I was intoxicated by her beautiful and melodious zither, which carried a faint trace of melancholy. Slowly, I floated down from the pear blossom tree, landing softly like a feather in front of her, with pear blossoms scattering around us in the air. She looked slightly surprised, with the corners of her mouth lifted and her eyes quietly bright, gazing at me.
I bent slightly, reaching out my right hand to her, smiling as I said, "My name is Yu. Miss, why is there a faint sense of sorrow hidden in your melodious zither? And do you think I am a bad person?"
She smiled at me, her clear eyes shining with trust. Slowly, she placed her left hand into my right hand. I straightened my back slowly, smiling and quietly looking at her.
The pear blossoms continued to drift quietly around us.
I held her hand tightly and lightly leapt towards the river, and together we floated like feathers. We flew above the river, drifting along the air as if we were falling pear blossoms.
The people on the riverbank watched us in astonishment, shouting in amazement. I quietly watched her face in the wind, still as pristine and enchanting as the pear blossoms. She quietly looked at me and smiled.
After flying in the air for a while, we landed gently on a bamboo raft in the river, as softly as feathers.
Her long hair and mine floated in the air. I gazed at her and smiled quietly.
She smiled and said to me, "Young Master Yu! My name is Nanxi."
(To be continued, continue with "Jiangnan" (Middle))
