猎剑日记：赤棘 Sword Hunt Journal: Crimson Thorn

云璃的日记，讲述她搜猎魔剑的过程。 Yunli's journal detailing her hunt for the cursed swords.

我不擅长揣摩人心，尤其不能理解朱明铸剑师们。

I am not great at understanding the minds of others, but Zhuming swordsmiths confuse me in particular.

在铸炼宫的匠人作坊里，我见识过铸剑师们为铸造出的神兵利器如何欣喜若狂，得意忘形。我也见过他们为造出全新的武器争执不休，乃至恶语相向、亮剑决斗。

In the artisan workshops of the Forge, I have witnessed first-hand the mad ecstasy and unparalleled pride of a swordsmith at the sight of their newest marvels of weaponry. I have also seen them disagree endlessly about the creation of all-new weaponry, sometimes even leading to battles of words and swords.

这些人平素都是和气的好人。唯独谈到「铸剑」一事，他们的脑袋仿佛被剑夺走了。他们想象着剑成之日锋刃上的光芒，对这柄武器能以何种方式斩敌无数而倍感兴奋。尚未铸成的宝剑借着他们的嘴说话，借着他们的图纸显形，借着他们的言语伤人。剑，竟然比岁阳更能夺人心魄。

These people are normally very kind and good people. It's just as if their minds have been completely hijacked when "forging weapons" is mentioned. They become exhilarated when imagining the gleam of a freshly forged blade and how it could cut through countless enemies. Weapons that have not even been forged yet speak through their mouths, take form through their blueprints, and harm others through their words. Swords are even more adept than heliobi at stealing the hearts of people.

我的父亲含光便是这样一个铸剑师。他出于虚荣和灵感，违反禁令，为来自域外的求剑者们铸造种种不可思议的剑器，却从不奉送剑鞘。于是他成了剑鞘本身，倒在了自己的作品之下。

My father, Hanguang, was one of these swordsmiths. His vanity and inspiration led him to violate prohibitions and craft all sorts of unbelievable weapons for visitors from foreign lands. Yet, he never provided them with sheaths. So, he himself became the sheath as he fell to one of his very own prided works.

「好剑之人，必伤于剑」，爷爷每次都会这么叹息。当你手握杀器时，你总想让它有用武之地。而父亲所造的剑又别有不同，它们异常凶险。

"One who loves swords will one day be hurt by swords," my grandfather always used to say with a heavy sigh. When you hold a weapon of death in your hands, you will always crave a chance for it to see use. And the weapons my father crafted were more lethal than any other.

从记事开始，爷爷就在我面前绝口不提他的名字，也严令师兄师姐们缄口不语。但这股讳莫如深的氛围如此诡异，就像嘈杂的人群中总是留有一处空缺，就像是从堆满的书架上刻意抽去一本剑谱，他们越沉默，这份缺失越发明显。

My grandfather never mentioned my father's name ever since I could walk. He also strictly forbade my senior fraters and senior sorors to utter a word. However, this atmosphere of secrecy quickly became an elephant in the room, as if a single tome of swordplay had been removed from a fully stacked bookshelf. The more they remained silent on this matter, the more obvious this silence became.

最终我决心填上这个空缺。我翻出了记录他作品的剑谱，开始寻找它们的下落。

In the end, I decided to fill this void. I browsed through tomes of swordplay that had records of his works, and began to search for these swords' whereabouts.

***

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「赤棘」是他早年所造的作品。长三尺三，有柄、无格、无鞘。

The "Crimson Thorn" was one of his early works. It was three-by-three inches, had a handle, no frame, and no sheath.

「赤棘」的剑体并不开锋，色如黯沉锖铁，横生锐棘，靠近尖端处露出一截犹如烧红镕铁般的尖刺——它的形制不像寻常的剑器，倒像是一节末端伸出长刺来的木杖。

The blade edge of the "Crimson Thorn" was not sharpened. It was the color of dulled iron and covered in sharp thorns. Near the tip of the blade, there was an exposed sharp spike that looked like freshly-cast, red-hot iron... It was not shaped like a typical sword, but more like a wooden club with a long thorn protruding from the top.

按照图谱所载，它是为击杀能迅速愈伤的丰饶孽物所设计而成。金属剑体包裹的核心是一截仿生建木蘖芽——含光当初到底是从哪儿搞来这等危险材料的？没人知道。唯一可知的是，这柄剑受一名曜青仙舟的影卫所托，专为刺杀丰饶孽物而铸。

According to the blueprints, it was designed to kill the Abominations of Abundance that are capable of rapid healing. The core contained inside the metal body of the blade is a bionic sprout of the Ambrosial Arbor... Where did Hanguang get his hands on such a dangerous object in the first place? No one knows. The only thing we can know is that this sword was crafted at the request of a shadow guard of the Xianzhou Yaoqing specifically to kill the Abominations of Abundance.

当剑尖刺进长生种的血肉中，「赤棘」会抽汲伤者的元气，令其躯体迅速凋枯。吹得神乎其神，多半是注入了一些克制长生种细胞活性的毒素吧……铸炼宫的宝剑，多的是这样表面看来功能玄妙，说穿了毫不稀奇的设计。

When the sword pierced the body of a long-life species, Crimson Thorn would drain the spirit of the victim, causing their body to wither rapidly. The effects were said to be unbelievable. It's most likely that the thorns were injected with some kind of toxin that inhibited the activity of long-life species' cells... Many of the blades of the Forge seem to have mysterious abilities like this on the surface but are actually quite understandable once you explain the design.

***

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「赤心而外刺」本是古老典籍中所载的神木异象，是个无比尊荣的吉兆。无论曾经的剑主持之斩杀丰饶孽物的理想如何崇高，「赤棘」已沦为一把专杀云骑的凶器。因为它如今落到了一名「药王秘传」的信徒，莳者昙伽手中。

"A thorned exterior with a crimson core" is documented in ancient texts to describe the miracles of the sacred tree, and is considered an omen of great auspice and honor. No matter how lofty the ideals of the former wielder of this blade were in slaughtering Abominations of Abundance, Crimson Thorn had become a weapon dedicated to murdering Cloud Knights as it had fallen into the hands of Thanjar, a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus.

狩猎的目标信息既定，剩下的便只有行动了。尽管爷爷从不赞同我的猎剑计划，但我知道他一贯口是心非——在他的案头翻到斥候报告时，我便知道这次他又服软了。

Now that I had my hunting target, all that was left was to take action. Although my grandfather never approved of my sword-hunting plan, I knew that he was the type of man to say one thing and mean another... When he flicked through my scout report on his desk, I knew that he had come around to the idea.

「金乌卫」的斥候追索到昙伽退入了伊须磨洲的深处，正在以仙舟人的身份蛊惑当地的渊民和水居者，为他打捞沉没的岱舆废墟中的种种遗器。

Scouts of the Goldencrow Fleet traced Thanjar to the depths of Insumousu. It was here that he was impersonating a Xianzhou citizen to coerce locals and water dwellers to salvage various sunken Daiyu relics for him.

确定了目标所在，我立刻搭乘鸣火商团的运输舰去了伊须磨洲。回收过往几柄剑的时候，我往往和对方来一场单枪匹马的决斗就行。但这一次恐怕没那么轻松了。昙伽雇了一队泯灭帮的杀手，在古老的岱舆废墟周围形成的沉船岛上严守。

Once I was certain of my target's location, I immediately boarded a Whistling Flames transport vessel and headed to Insumousu. When I had gone to reclaim the previous swords, it had always just been a case of facing my opponent off in a simple one-on-one duel. However, I feared that this time may not be so simple. Thanjar had hired a group of Annihilation Gang assassins to guard the island of shipwrecked vessels formed on the periphery of the ancient Daiyu ruins.

我花去一周时间观察地形，清点人数，确认他们的武器。然后是漫长的游击战——抓准对手落单的机会，一个接一个铲除泯灭帮的怪物和药王乱党炮制的孽兽。每斩落一个敌人，我会吹响海螺号角，唤来还活着的昙伽手下来看他们未来的下场：被老铁拍成一滩齑粉焦炭，恶臭四溢。

I spent a week surveying the topography, counting their manpower, and confirming their weapons of choice. Then, I began my lengthy campaign of guerrilla warfare... I would seize the moment that my target was alone, and wipe out the Annihilation Gang monsters and foul beasts created by the Sanctus Medicus rebels one by one. Each time I cut an enemy down, I would sound my conch shell horn, summoning Thanjar's remaining lackeys to come and see the fate that awaits them: Being reduced to no more than a pile of dust and tar that stinks to the high heavens by Old Mettle here.

大约在两周后，对手的士气终于崩溃了。沉船岛上的当地人纷纷传言神弃之舟上有怨灵出没，不顾昙伽手下的鞭打阻挠，当地人趁入夜潜入水中逃走。

About two weeks passed, and my enemies' morale had been totally crushed. The locals on the shipwreck island began to spread rumors that vengeful spirits from the ship forsaken by the gods had appeared, and despite beatings and hindrances from Thanjar's men, they dived into the water and fled under the cover of night.

我选了个风高浪急的黑夜作为结束战斗的好日子。残存的药王妖寇不值一提，但昙伽出手后，战局旋即逆转——因为「赤棘」这把剑竟是活的。每当老铁劈中昙伽后，他随即挥剑刺向自己的手下，「赤棘」毫不留情地吮吸生命，将他手下的生命力榨干，而昙伽的伤势竟在转眼间复原如初。

It was a dark, stormy night with roaring winds and crashing waves when I decided this battle must end. The remaining Sanctus Medicus demons and bandits were no trouble for me, but the battle took a grave turn when Thanjar himself came forward... Because the "Crimson Thorn" was actually a living blade. Whenever Old Mettle managed to strike Thanjar, he would brandish his blade at his own men and the "Crimson Thorn" would mercilessly absorb their life energy, draining the men and completely healing Thanjar's wounds in an instant.

饮了血的「赤棘」绽裂开来，如同荆刺长鞭般挥舞如圆。一旦挨着，剑上的棘刺便会生长攀附，刺进我的身体，窃取我的血髓。

Once its blood thirst was quenched, the "Crimson Thorn" unfurled and swung through the air like a long vine of thorns. As soon as it touched me, the thorns would extend and latch onto me, piercing my body and leeching my blood and bone marrow.

缠斗无疑是不利的。因此，我打定主意借由老铁作掩护，以快取胜，力求一击毙命。当昙伽以「赤棘」紧紧缠住老铁，自以为能夺走武器时，我顺势抛出巨剑，任由它以重量贯穿昙伽的身体，将这个莳者钉在了岩石上，令其动弹不得。

Being entangled would undoubtedly leave me in a bad position. So, I came up with a plan to use Old Mettle as cover and aim to land a fatal blow for a decisive victory. When Thanjar had a tight grasp of Old Mettle with the "Crimson Thorn" and thought he would be able to take it away from me, I launched the giant sword directly at him, pinning the Discipulus Medicus to a rock with the huge momentum and immobilizing him.

之后是对耐心的考验，我在岩石旁守了漫长的一周，却绝不靠近垂死的昙伽。昙伽的生命力像是一堆无论如何烧不尽的柴薪。一开始他竭尽全力地咒骂我，在数个日夜后变成了嘶声哀告。他凭借「赤棘」所偷来的生命力最终消耗殆尽。剑消退还原成了平平无奇的木杖，我从再也不能反抗的昙伽的干尸手中取走了它，用老铁猛力砸碎，再将剑骸收进剑匣。

Then, it became a battle of patience. I watched over this rock for a whole week, yet never approaching the dying Thanjar. His life force was like a campfire that would never die out. In the beginning, he used all his energy to curse and berate me, yet this anger turned to whimpering and begging after a few days. Eventually, the life force that he had stolen using the "Crimson Thorn" was finally exhausted. As the sword reverted to its original form of an unremarkable wooden club, I removed it from Thanjar's mummified hands that could no longer offer any resistance, smashed the sword to pieces with Old Mettle, and placed the shattered remains inside a sword box.

***

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这把该死的剑吸走了我的血，让我一眨眼好似老了几百岁。我还不想那么快变成个小老太婆，于是在塔拉萨又休养了半个月。正当我打算搭乘商船返回朱明仙舟时，一名仙舟人拦住我的去路。

This darned blade had absorbed my blood, making me feel like I had aged hundreds of years in an instant. I had no desire to turn into an old granny just yet, so I stayed in Thalassa to rest up for half a month. Just as I was planning to board a merchant vessel back to the Xianzhou Zhuming, a Xianzhou native blocked my path.

那人谢我代他杀死了昙伽这个竞争对手，也谢我替他粉碎了一把专门克制莳者的魔剑。正当我握住老铁剑柄打算开战时，那人却说，为表谢意，他会为我提供一条我会感兴趣的信息：「含光所造的魔剑，我恰巧知晓其中几柄下落……」

This man thanked me for killing Thanjar, his rival, and thanked me for destroying a blade that was specifically used to suppress the Discipulus Medicus. Just as I reached for Old Mettle to begin combat, the man told me that to express his thanks, he would share with me some information that I would no doubt have great interest in. He said, "I happen to know the whereabouts of a number of Hanguang's cursed swords..."

我望着他光秃秃的脑瓜，强忍心中不能拍碎它的不快，问……

I stared blankly at his bald head, suppressing my discontent knowing that I could not crush it, and asked...

「所以你到底问了什么？」

"Well, what did you ask?"

「偷看美少女的日记是不是不太妥当啊爷爷？」

"Isn't it rude to peek in a young girl's diary, gramps?"