We Will Eventually Let Go

In the Central Region, tucked away in a remote mountain gully.

The area was dense with forests and overgrown with wild brush, messy and untamed—just the sort of desolate place where no one would expect to find human presence.

Yet nestled in this small hollow stood a modest courtyard.

The yard was small, but kept spotlessly clean. A small vegetable patch grew against the corner wall, stocked with greens and radishes, everything one might need. A few bamboo poles held up drying clothes, giving the place a touch of everyday life.

A figure approached from beyond the hollow.

It was Mu Xi, just emerged from the Netherworld Ruins.

Inside the ruins, she had searched for Ye Shu for a very long time, without finding so much as a trace of him. Seeing that the barrier was about to seal shut, she had no choice but to slip out with the crowd.

She had even been thoroughly questioned by the people outside.

Fortunately, all the loot had been snatched away by that fellow Ye Shu—she carried nothing incriminating on her, and those who had been swindled by them had died cleanly, so she got through without trouble.

Only, there had been two women in the group who didn’t seem like they had come to take Ye Shu’s life—rather, they appeared to be protecting him.

“Just like him, huh—someone always watching his back.”

Mu Xi muttered under her breath, then pulled a radiant golden pill from her robes. The moment it appeared, medicinal fragrance filled the air, and even the grass and trees around seemed to perk up.

“Tsk tsk, so he wasn’t bragging after all.”

She held it up against the sunlight, examining it for a moment, and couldn’t help but marvel.

“If he hadn’t handed me the pill before he left, this trip into the ruins would have been a complete waste.” Mu Xi tucked the pill away, a look of hopeful anticipation spreading across her face, as if she could already see her master’s cultivation restored, standing tall once more.

“With this, Master is sure to get better!”

Her master had raised her like a flesh-and-blood child, and she had always carried that debt of gratitude in her heart. So even if her master was wrong, she was willing to walk that path beside her to the very end.

With these thoughts, Mu Xi strode eagerly toward the courtyard.

By now, she had completely changed her appearance. Gone were the hemp clothes; she now wore a green skirt, a silver-white long sword at her waist, and her hair was combed into a neat, practical bun, revealing a clean, pretty face. Altogether, she cut a dashing and capable figure.

Like a heroine of the jianghu, righting wrongs wherever she went.

The only thing unchanged was the youthful defiance that had never left her brow.

At a glance, she was practically a second Ye Shu.

Mu Xi pushed open the courtyard gate, her steps light, and called out cheerfully: “Master! I’m back!”

The yard was silent.

Mu Xi didn’t let that dampen her spirits. She walked on, pushing open the door to the house, and a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out to greet her.

The light inside was dim; a curtain half-covered the window, letting in only a few thin slivers of sunlight. A woman in an old white robe with silver-white hair sat in a rocking chair, staring blankly out at the little vegetable patch, her whole demeanor heavy and lifeless.

At the sound of the door, a spark of life flickered in the woman’s eyes.

She looked up, and seeing Mu Xi arrive, travel-worn but with a smile still on her face, she spoke softly.

“Qingran’s back, is she?”

“Yes! Has Master been missing me?”

Li Qingran walked over with a grin, then wrinkled her nose on purpose and said: “Master, I keep telling you—your body’s weak, you need to get out in the sun more. Staying cooped up in the house all day is no good.”

Her tone carried a hint of playful scolding.

She wouldn’t take any argument. Without waiting for a response, she lifted the rocking chair, master and all, and carried it outside, setting it in the full blaze of the sun. Then she crouched down, placed both hands on Feng Mengli’s knees, and sent strand after strand of spiritual energy into her.

Watching her disciple kneel at her lap, the woman’s eyes held an unreadable expression.

Ever since the Yunxiao Sect was wiped out all those years ago, the disciples had scattered in every direction, gone their separate ways. Only this one young apprentice had remained by her side through it all, day and night using spiritual energy to nourish her withering body after she lost her cultivation, even going so far as to journey to the Central Province in search of a way to restore her power.

That bond of loyalty, she had always kept close to her heart.

"Qingran..."

The woman raised her hand and gently stroked the girl's hair. "On this trip out, did you get hurt?"

"Not at all, not at all!"

Li Qingran looked up, flashing a broad grin of white teeth, and pounded her chest. "With how strong I am, how could I possibly get hurt? I'm amazing!"

Seeing the girl's animated, lively expression, the woman could not help but chuckle softly.

"Then tell me about it."

"What did you gain on this journey? What did you see and hear?"

"Hehe, I was just about to tell you that." Li Qingran scratched her head, looking at her with hesitation, as if holding something back. After a few moments of wavering, she finally spoke up. "This time when I went out, I saw him."

"Him?"

The woman blinked, not understanding.

"It's... it's my fiancé," Li Qingran said with a hint of embarrassment.

After all, he was the one who had caused the fall of their sect.

"What?" A flicker of surprise crossed the woman's eyes. "But didn't he already die?"

"Right? That's what I found strange too."

Li Qingran nodded and then recounted everything that had happened within the ruins, in full detail. From her first encounter with "Shi Bei," to the two of them teaming up to trick others, to when his identity was revealed, the bloodbath within the ruins, and finally his mysterious disappearance—she related it all with vivid flair.

The woman listened quietly, and only after Li Qingran finished did she murmur the name to herself several times.

"He's still alive, still alive..."

Her tone carried an indescribable, ambiguous feeling.

Li Qingran had been secretly studying her expression the whole time. Seeing no anger, nor any strong resistance, she finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. Then she quickly switched to a cheeky grin and scooted closer.

"Master, I have some good news for you!"

With that, she pulled a shimmering golden elixir from her robe, spread her fingers, and held it out before the woman, exclaiming brightly.

"Ta-da!"

"Master, look at what this is! It's a pill that can restore your cultivation! I went through a ton of trouble, braved all sorts of hardships, just to find it!"

"With this, you won't have to suffer anymore!"

She held up the elixir, eyes sparkling, her whole face screaming praise me, praise me.

The woman picked up the elixir, but did not take it right away.

Instead, she turned to speak.

"Qingran, for the past fifteen years, your master has kept thinking—was I truly wrong back then? Those words have echoed in my ears constantly, day and night, and every day I ask myself: was I wrong?"

"Master, what are you talking about?"

Li Qingran furrowed her brows slightly, puzzled.

What words?

She had no idea at all.

Back then, wasn't it because her master had chosen to honor her three-year promise by going to the Demon Beast Mountains to kill Ye Shu, but failed to finish him off, allowing him to grow stronger and eventually destroy the Yunxiao Sect?

Master had indeed been wrong—but it was for her sake.

Li Qingran looked at her, full of confusion, but the other woman had already shaken her head and turned her gaze toward the distant forests and mountains.

"Qingran, I know you like that boy."

"It's only because of the Yunxiao Sect that there's always been a thorn in your heart."

"Your master has thought it over for fifteen years, and finally understood."

"I was the one who was wrong."

“All of this was brought on by my own doing. You must not blame him.” The woman slowly turned her head to look at Li Qingran, her eyes holding nothing but acceptance.

“Master, what are you talking about!”

Caught completely off guard, Li Qingran’s face flushed bright red as she stammered, “I—I would never like him. That was all arranged by my family. I... I...” Her voice trailed off as scenes from the ruins with that man involuntarily flooded her mind, and her tone grew weaker and weaker.

“E—even so, that doesn’t mean I like him.”

“He’s just... not awful, that’s all.”

Li Qingran forcibly changed the subject. “Anyway, none of that matters. What matters is that you can finally recover your cultivation and live like a normal cultivator again, Master!”

“I’m going to pick some vegetables from the garden and we’ll have a proper celebration!”

With that, she didn’t wait for a reply and hurried toward the small vegetable patch in the corner of the courtyard, desperate to avoid any more embarrassing words from her master.

Until the sun sank low in the west—

Having picked plenty of good vegetables, Li Qingran raised her head, her face beaming with a happy smile. “Master, I picked so many vegetables! Today I’m going to make you something delicious!”

She dashed back into the courtyard, but her smile froze mid-step.

The vegetables in her hands hit the ground with a soft thud.

“M—Master?”

Li Qingran stared blankly at the figure sitting in the wicker chair at the center of the courtyard.

The last remaining rays of the setting sun spilled down from the mountaintop, illuminating the woman in the chair. Her eyes were gently shut, her right hand resting casually on the armrest with her five fingers spread open, a round, glossy golden core lying at the edge of the chair.

Sunlight fell across her face, peaceful as if she were merely... asleep.

The Grand Sect Master of the Cloudsoar Sect.

Feng Mengli, peerless beauty of the Eastern Wilderness—dead.