The demon blade’s soul clinging to the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade had slipped its leash like a shadow loosed from its owner, no longer under Scarlet Leaf’s control.
Its movement lost all rhythm, flailing and hacking like a storm-maddened beast thrashing in tall grass.
Kelor dodged the wild swings, but she missed her footing like a sparrow snagged mid-flight, tripped hard, and ate dirt till her face was gray.
Lingcai dove sideways, air hissing like a cold river as the edge whooshed over the crown of her head.
Hell!
The worst problem wasn’t stopping the frenzy; it was treading a blade’s edge to stop it without cutting Scarlet Leaf.
Scarlet Leaf still had more strength than Lingcai, so the possession hadn’t swallowed her whole, but time spilled like sand from a cracked hourglass.
Xueyu heard the clamor outside and slammed the coffin’s inner wall, heart hammering like a drum in a storm.
In her panic she ignored the sharp wood biting her fingers like thorns, pried at the broken seam, and forced her way out like a fish bursting a net.
The demon blade in Scarlet Leaf’s hands lunged for the fallen Kelor like a hawk stooping on prey.
…!
Xueyu didn’t hesitate; she swept in and scooped up Kelor’s small body like lifting a child from fire, then rolled aside like a leaf caught by wind.
The Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade chopped down, carving a crack half an inch deep where Kelor had just been, like a plow slicing wet clay.
Xueyu’s hand flew to her hip for her sword, but she remembered she’d tossed her belt and blade when she’d stormed off, that memory flicking cold sweat down her spine like icy rain.
Bare hands against Scarlet Leaf under a demon blade’s pull—she felt chill beads gather like dew on winter grass.
She snatched a broom from the yard, planting herself against the blade like a scarecrow facing a charging bull.
At least it was something that could swing like a stick.
Lingcai feared Xueyu might hurt her own wife, and her voice came tight as a bowstring:
“Knock off those black tendrils; it only controls people through those! And don’t hurt my Leaf!”
Xueyu growled with grief-tinged heat, words flaring like sparks:
“Does this thing look like a weapon to you? Your bar’s way too high!”
As the demon blade surged again like a wave ready to break, Lingcai seized a quick idea and threw it like a rope:
“Can’t you cast? Even a broom can take a seal! Hurry!”
“Don’t rush me! Push me and I’ll forget the signs! Uh… first—”
Xueyu bit her thumb, blood blooming like a red thread, and dragged a long streak along the broom’s handle.
Under her hand signs, the broom kindled a blue-green breath like river mist coiling over stones.
She lifted her hands over her head and drove a diagonal cut from high right to low left like a temple stroke, shouting as if loosing thunder:
“Water Binding Art! Eight Directions! Dragon! Killing! Array!”
Azure waves surged up from the ground like blade-crests, meeting her swing in a scissor-cross like two shears.
They bit down on the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade like fanged jaws locking on steel.
The broom couldn’t bear that strain; it snapped with a sharp crack like a twig under boot.
The blade took the strike, wrenched free of Scarlet Leaf’s grip like a fish torn from a line, and spun into the air.
Ding. Dong. Ding.
It whirled and dropped onto a millstone, landing like a coin on stone.
The black tendrils that had been clawing like brambles recoiled at once, yet the evil miasma clung like smoke that refused to thin.
Lingcai and the others backed off, space opening like a ring of clear ground to keep the soul from finding a new host.
They watched for a long breath, and when the blade made no next move, their sighs fell like wind easing after rain.
Xueyu tossed the broken broom and let relief spill like water from a tipped jar:
“What is this thing even…”
“A demon blade…”
Lingcai quickly told Xueyu and Kelor what she’d gone through, the demon blade’s Illusory Bloom unfolding in her words like a ghost flower.
It seemed the blade’s soul hadn’t dispersed with its body’s destruction; it had crept into the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade like a parasite finding a fresh tree.
Kelor frowned, the line between her brows sharp as a drawn stroke:
“We can’t leave it like this. It’s the product of forbidden craft and it’s dangerous. We should contact the Knight Order and seal it.”
Lingcai blinked, stunned, her thoughts scattering like sparrows:
“Uh? I mean…”
“What?” Kelor cut a glance over, quick as a knife.
Lingcai spoke her worry plain, laying cards like tiles:
“If you seal it… you’ll take the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade too, won’t you…”
“What else would we take?” Kelor’s reply was dry as sand.
“That blade… it’s ours, you know? It’s something I made.”
The words came blunt, because that sword was a gift she’d forged for Scarlet Leaf, sweat and heart poured like molten ore; losing it felt like a raw cut.
“What’s your plan, then?” Kelor shook her head, calm as a lake.
“If you can deal with it, keep it. I won’t object.”
Lingcai had no wish to hand over the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade, but this was her first time facing a man-made soul; she searched her mind like combing reeds, trying to find a way to separate the demon blade’s artificial soul from the sword.
In her head, the blade’s crying went on like a rain that wouldn’t stop:
“Mom… I miss you… save me…”
“Don’t leave me…”
“Don’t…”
Sigh.
Lingcai hugged her head, sighs drifting like smoke.
As a manufactured soul, its fate tugged at sympathy like a thin thread; but even if she wanted to help, she couldn’t talk to it, their words falling apart like leaves.
If only it could turn human, she thought, then at least her voice could land like seeds in soil.
…Huh? Turn human?
Lingcai shot to her feet and clapped, the sound crisp as flint:
“I’ve got a way!”
“Since an artificial soul can transfer and possess a blade like a spirit finding a shell, then if we craft it a new vessel, we can seat it inside!”
Her excitement flared like lantern light, but Scarlet Leaf cut in, voice steady as a hand on the hilt:
“Lingcai. By your plan, wouldn’t we need to forge a special sword and let it replace the Crimson Cherry Blossom Blade as the demon blade’s host…”
“Who said it has to be another blade?” Lingcai’s answer was cool as jade.
Scarlet Leaf blinked, lost amid the thought like mist:
“So, what do you mean?”
Arms folded, Lingcai spoke with the confidence of a craftsman before the forge, heat rising like a proud flame:
“Did you forget how I ended up like this? I’ve got a brilliant idea…”
Besides, the demon blade’s crying sounded like a girl’s voice, clear as a silver bell; matched to this plan, it was seamless as silk.
Lingcai drew a breath and declared to everyone present, her words ringing like a gong:
“I’ve decided! Let’s use Alchemy to turn the demon blade into a girl!”
