Mandarin Duck Swords
Translator: Sylph
Editor: Elsa
He Yan pondered seriously in front of the weapons rack by the high platform of the arena.
She hadn’t practised with swords much in the past as it was a bit inconvenient. Most of the swords on the weapons rack were willow leaf swords and large ring swords, which weren’t very practical for her. She thought for a long time before reaching for one of the lowermost knives on the rack.
The recruits were stunned at the sight of it.
Some who didn’t understand asked, “Why is this sword so small? It doesn’t even reach the length of a human arm.”
Jiang Jiao explained as he was knowledgeable, “This is a mandarin duck sword. They come in pairs.”
The mandarin duck swords were indeed small; the same length as a forearm. The two swords were enclosed in the same sheath so they could be hidden in sleeves or boots. The blade was wide and thick, its length was only a few inches long from the front of the tip. This made it convenient for backhanded and defensive movements.
He Yan slowly drew the swords out of the sheath. One was a little longer than the other. Since the other was slightly shorter, this indicated the rarity of these swords being used.
Not bad, she praised in her heart. She casually played around with the swords, testing them.
Wang Ba came down to the stage and was startled when he saw the mandarin duck swords in He Yan’s hands, “Is he actually going to use the mandarin duck swords?”
Huang Xiong, who was on stage, was equally confused. After seeing He Yan choose those swords, his perspective of He Yan had changed in his mind, “Double swords?”
He Yan nodded, “Double swords.”
“I didn’t expect you to know how to wield double swords at such a young age,” Huang Xiong said, “Sure enough, everything’s possible!”
He Yan humbly replied, “It’s all because of life experiences.”
The crowd at the bottom didn’t like the sound of it.
Du Mao stretched out and patted Liang Ping, “What exactly does He Yan’s family do? How can he be that good at martial arts? What kind of life experience forced him to do this? Had he been abducted from the streets as a child and forced to sell his art?”
“Who am I going to ask if you ask me?” Liang Piao was irritated. How does He Yan know how to wield mandarin duck swords? Seriously, what decent family would train their children to fight with mandarin duck swords? These swords were mostly used by the Green Forest people!
Who the hell is this guy?
Without saying anything more, Huang Xiong slowly pulled out his long sword from its sheath and nodded slightly at He Yan, “Brother He, please enlighten me.”
How could she be called a ‘brother’? She wailed in her heart.
Even if she was a 19-year-old in her previous life, she was still too young to be called a ‘brother’ by Huang Xiong. She should be calling Huang Xiong ‘uncle’ instead. Now that Cheng Lisu calls her ‘elder brother’, she should be calling Xiao Jue ‘uncle’ as well. But, if she calls Xiao Jue an uncle, how could she call Huang Xiong ‘elder brother’?
Huang Xiong was old enough to be Xiao Jue’s father!
As she was thinking this, Mak exclaimed, “Brother He, be careful!”, but Huang Xiong had already rushed over with his sword.
The man danced ferociously like a tiger with his golden-backed sword. He slanted the tip of the sword across the left side, shifted his right foot slightly, turned around and slashed at He Yan.
He Yan bluffed. She crouched down to avoid the attack and used her backhand to split the tip of the blade. Golden-backed sword in the front and the mandarin duck swords in the back.
Huang Xiong’s brute force was so strong that he swung He Yan’s sword away but He Yan was already aiming at him and had thrown the sword at him. Huang Xiong turned his head to avoid it just as He Yan raised her hand to grab hold of the sword that had just been thrown. The two of them were frozen, staring at each other.
Huang Xiong was not Jiang Jiao. Jiang Jiao was still young after all. Huang Xiong’s sword had been with him for thirty years, so the man and his sword had already formed a deep bond. When they fought, He Yan had already learned that this man’s skills were better than hers.
She must fight quickly or else she’d have to admit her loss. He Yan calculated.
Huang Xiong’s heart was in knots. He had fought hundreds of people over the years, both good and bad. But how old was this young man? He had just thrown a sword with one hand and caught it with the other. How did he do it? Had he been playing with swords since the age of three?
To He Yan, Huang Xiong was a burly figure, the swordsmanship of his was both fierce yet clumsy, and he lacked flexibility. It seemed that she made the right decision of choosing mandarin duck swords. She can now break the ‘fast’ rule.
Her eyes moved and she snapped, “Continue!”
And then she ran at him at the speed of lightning.
Huang Xiong gripped his sword in his right hand, diagonally stepped to the left and stabbed straight at He Yan with a single strike.
He Yan also struck at him at the same time. Although she looked thin, her strength was not weak. The two swords were stuck together but He Yan still had an extra sword. She bent her elbow and raised the back of her sword to her head and stabbed Huang Xiong.
Huang Xiong could not dodge. A corner of his clothes was cut off. There was a sudden scream from the crowd.
From this moment, the crowd noticed that He Yan’s movements became more rapid.
Her footwork was extremely flexible. One of her swords were wrapped around Huang Xiong’s golden-backed dagger, whilst the other was waiting for an opportunity. Although Huang Xiong had never stabbed her, he was no longer able to take advantage of her. The single blade was fierce, but the double blade swords were dexterous.
Using softness to conquer strength so that the weak could defeat the strong.
“Earlier you asked me to enlighten you. I remember that we have a Record of Arms for Dual Swords,” She casually spoke, “I’ll dictate it to you.”
Huang Xiong was stunned. She slung a sharp word back at him in a snitch.
“The new moon breeze gave birth to two arms of weapon, the left and right are used as one.” She held long swords on both left and right hand, her posture valiant.
“The two arms were dazzling as they entwined in front of the eyes. Later, Yu Yuyang received the solitary sword.” The long swords danced, making it difficult to see the youth’s appearance. Only his loud voice could be heard.
“Only the hand alone was quick as lightning. I have already entered the shooting stance.”
With every step, He Yan pressured Huang Xiong.
“But I know the sword in the past was not complete, so there’s no point in using both left and right.” The sword swept towards Huang Xiong’s neck but he narrowly avoided it.
“Today, I used the right sword to defend with the appropriate swordsmanship, but I used the left one to attack.” She used both swords skillfully yet willfully. The sword was her hand and her hand was the blade.
In the arena, she fought and danced. In contrast to the unhurried clashes of the weapons, the movements were a blur.
The clanking sounds of the knives colliding with each other only made one’s heart clench with anticipation.
When Cheng Lisu came over with a few other people, this was what they saw.
“Uncle, look. I told you my big brother will win!” he exclaimed excitedly.
This exclamation drew the gaze of the surrounding people. Someone who recognized Xiao Jue immediately cried out excitedly, “It’s the General! General Xiao! General Feng Yun has come to the arena!”
General Feng Yun?
With that said, the eyes of the new recruits were drawn to Xiao Jue. The cries reached the arena.
He Yan’s ears twitched. Xiao Jue?
She looked sideways and saw that Xiao Jue stood next to Shen Han and Cheng Lisu not far below the arena.
The young man was wearing a dark blue veil embellished with cranes. His style was elegant and neat. With picturesque eyebrows, he looked like a mystical being that came out from a picture scroll when compared to the new recruits. Her figure was rough and crude, whilst he was like a bright moon amid clear winds. The distance between them was too far so He Yan couldn’t see his appearance. She thought that he must be looking like an indifferent flower on the vast Gaoling Mountain peak.
She didn’t expect Xiao Jue to actually come to see her compete in person. Does this mean that yesterday’s improvised match had finally reached the right people? Had Xiao Jue noticed that she had such a superb talent?
“Big brother, watch out!” Cheng Lisu’s exclamation reached her ears as she was mindlessly thinking.
When she looked up, the golden-backed sword was already ready to strike at her.
