Sword Heart

[Short story, complete at 100,000 words.]

When Ci Ying was eighteen, she descended the mountain in search of the Dao. In just one year, she became invincible under heaven, her sword renowned throughout the world.

After founding Shangyang Sect, Ci Ying entered seclusion for a century to comprehend the Dao, but when her ascension failed, she arrived three hundred years in the future. To avoid qi deviation, she planned to refrain from fighting whenever possible. But a troublemaking fox kept her from living a carefree life.

She found a fox in Shangyang Sect's secret realm. When he took human form, his beauty was second to none, but he was weak, arrogant, and sharp-tongued, causing her plenty of trouble.

The fox spirit Chang Shu was so beautiful that the daughter of Guiyi Sect's leader took a fancy to him and forcibly abducted him to be her live-in husband.

Chang Shu gripped her hand, his eyes brimming with tears. "You'll come rescue me, right?"

She answered firmly, "I'm not going. You're nothing but trouble."

Heartbroken, Chang Shu cursed her for three days and three nights.

On the day of the wedding, Chang Shu was tied up and forced to bow at the ceremony.

Ci Ying went alone, sword in hand, and stormed into Guiyi Sect.

Alone with her sword, she defeated every disciple and forced Guiyi Sect's founding patriarch to come out. They fought to a stalemate, both badly wounded.

Ci Ying wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and smiled. "I wasn't finished. Even if you're trouble, you're only allowed to cause trouble for me. No one else has that right."

The elders of the various sects who had come to attend the wedding of Guiyi Sect's leader's daughter were horrified by Ci Ying's sword strike! Especially when they saw her standing with one foot on the head of Guiyi Sect's leader, they felt an inexplicable chill run through their own heads.

They seemed to see the scene from four hundred years ago, when that legendary powerhouse had pinned them to the ground.

There were only two things Ci Ying wanted to keep by her side throughout her life: her sword, and Chang Shu.

But Chang Shu doesn't seem to want to stay by her side. He is always looking for a chance to run away.

When she caught him escaping for the Nth time, Chang Shu yelled, "I don't like you! You can keep me here, but you can't keep my heart!"

Ci Ying replied calmly, "Oh. I don't want your heart anyway."

Later...

Chang Shu threw a tantrum and begged Ci Ying to accept his heart. After all, the person before him was the one he'd yearned for across a thousand years.

Theme: When you have someone you want to protect, the sword you wield becomes a living sword