Chapter Thirty-Nine: Hope

To be honest, Ye Pei was still a little surprised when she heard those words.

Zi Qingrong had barely stepped through the door before uttering them, only to realize Ye Pei wasn't in the room. “Huh? Where did she go?”

At that moment, Ye Pei was sitting quietly on the roof, practicing a method from that mysterious, dubious booklet. Hearing the voice, she smiled and shook her head, flipping through the window back into the room.

“Where were you? I was thinking…”

“You want us to leave without telling your father, don’t you?” Ye Pei said with a laugh.

“Oh!” Zi Qingrong looked surprised. “You heard that…”

“I was on the roof, tending to my internal injuries,” Ye Pei replied.

Zi Qingrong eyed her suspiciously. “Why would you go on the roof to heal your internal injuries… Actually, never mind. So what do you think? Let’s pack up and head out in the dead of night.”

Ye Pei’s smile deepened. “You just got back after being away for so long—shouldn’t you spend some time with your parents?”

Zi Qingrong waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve hardly left home since I was little. It’s just a trip to Sacred Sacrifice Mountain—it won’t take long.”

Ye Pei shook her head again, chuckling. “I thought you were a quiet girl, well-read and gentle.”

Zi Qingrong grinned slyly. “You gave me too much credit.”

Ye Pei thought for a moment. “But your father’s concerns do make sense.”

Zi Qingrong sat down, poured herself a cup of tea, tasted it and found it a bit too hot, so she stuck out her tongue, then glanced at Ye Pei. “You’ll protect me, right?”

“Of course.”

“You’re sure you can protect me?”

“Naturally.” Whether a duel or a brawl, Ye Pei had never been afraid of anyone.

Zi Qingrong laughed. “Then what’s there to worry about? Let’s just go. It’s no big deal.”

Looking at the girl’s charming innocence, Ye Pei couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Alright then, we’ll leave when night falls.”

“I knew you’d say yes!” Zi Qingrong clapped her hands, then headed out. “I’ll go pack.”

However, the Zi family residence was the lord’s manor, guarded day and night. Even at night, sneaking off wouldn’t be easy. Before long, Zi Qingrong came back to discuss the route and method with Ye Pei.

As midnight passed, Ye Pei tucked the booklet into her chest, climbed silently out the window onto the roof, and with a few agile leaps arrived at Zi Qingrong’s chamber.

Zi Qingrong’s room was on the second floor. Not far from the front gate stood the lord’s guards, so Ye Pei jumped from the rooftop to the ground behind the house. Zi Qingrong was already waiting by her window.

Seeing Ye Pei arrive as promised, Zi Qingrong beamed, waved, and tossed down a bundle. She whispered, “Catch it carefully!”

With Ye Pei’s keen senses, she heard perfectly, nodded with a smile, and as Zi Qingrong closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, she leapt from the window, nearly twenty feet up.

In an instant, Ye Pei summoned her strength, pushed off the wall, and soared upwards, catching Zi Qingrong in midair before landing gracefully, exhaling only after they were safely on the ground.

“Why did you jump like that…” Zi Qingrong murmured.

“If you dropped from twenty feet, even if I caught you, you’d still get hurt.” Ye Pei set her down and picked up the bundle.

Zi Qingrong blushed, and seeing Ye Pei already turning away, she made a face at her back, then muttered, “Fine,” and followed.

Staring at the two-story-high courtyard wall ahead, Ye Pei turned to Zi Qingrong. “So this is your family’s lowest wall? How is it any shorter than the others?” When Ye Pei first entered, she’d noticed all the courtyard walls were unusually tall—around twenty feet. Zi Qingrong had said they’d pick the lowest wall.

“Well… The walls are the same height, but the ground here is a little lower.” The manor was built on a mountain slope.

“…Right.” Ye Pei rubbed her forehead. “If the ground is lower, aren’t we standing lower too? What’s the difference?”

Zi Qingrong blinked, stuck out her tongue, and said, “Didn’t think of that at the time…”

Ye Pei sighed. “If I weren’t injured, carrying you over would be easy.”

Though the wall was high, Ye Pei could scale it alone with her physical skills, but adding Zi Qingrong made it a different matter.

“What now…” Zi Qingrong fretted.

Ye Pei thought for a moment and smiled. “How could I forget my precious tool?”

She reached to her waist, drew out the Demon Snow Iron, which shimmered in the night air and transformed into a long-handled iron hook. Hooking it on the wall, Ye Pei said, “Climb on my back.”

Zi Qingrong blushed, but still wrapped her arms tightly around Ye Pei’s neck.

Once ready, Ye Pei quickly climbed the wall with the girl on her back, retrieved the iron hook, and leapt down the other side.

Zi Qingrong hopped off and, seeing Ye Pei’s flushed face, exclaimed, “Why are you so red? You’re almost purple!”

Ye Pei coughed twice and rubbed her nose. “You really don’t know?”

She strode forward as she spoke.

Zi Qingrong hurried after her. “What did I do?”

Ye Pei took a deep breath before answering. “Do I have to tell you how tightly you held on?”

An awkward smile crept onto Zi Qingrong’s face. “Um… So, we should head west now.”

…

The next morning, naturally, Zi Qiong discovered that his precious daughter and Ye Pei had vanished.

“A grown daughter can’t be kept at home! She’s run off with some boy she barely knows! I thought she was still asleep, but she sneaked out on me!” Zi Qiong howled in his daughter’s chamber.

Beside him, Zi Qingrong’s mother, Hong Yu, said, “Oh, come on. You never let her get close to other young people. Not only do you look down on the other clans, but the few young men who survived already have fiancées. Speaking of which, those Lin brothers’ fiancées have it tough, don’t they?”

Zi Qiong replied, “Why do I feel a strange sense of schadenfreude…”

Hong Yu snapped, “What I mean is! She’s hardly interacted with boys since she was little! Now she sees a talented, accomplished young man and is drawn to him—it’s only natural! This is mostly your fault!”

Zi Qiong’s fair face reddened a little. Avoiding his wife’s gaze, he hurried out and shouted, “Bring Zi Yankong here! Now!”

Before long, a middle-aged man appeared before Zi Qiong.

“Lord.”

“My daughter and a young man slipped out of the manor last night. Take some men and go after them. If the girl wants to come back, bring her home. As for the boy, he seems to be heading to Sacred Sacrifice Mountain on business. If the girl refuses to return, give this to the boy and make sure he takes it.”

As he spoke, Zi Qiong fetched a medicine bottle from the depths of his cabinet.

“Lord,” Zi Yankong asked as he accepted the bottle, “what is this?”

“Fire Eyes,” Zi Qiong replied.

Zi Yankong paused, then exclaimed in shock, “But isn’t that boy—”

Zi Qiong cut him off. “That’s enough. If Qingrong wants to return, fine. If not, I have to make sure she’s safe. If the boy’s identity is exposed, it could cause trouble.”

Zi Yankong suggested, “Should I shadow her quietly instead?”

Zi Qiong waved a hand. “The treaty! The treaty! They’re going to Sacred Sacrifice Mountain—you’d be courting death. Don’t worry. As long as his identity isn’t revealed, the boy’s skills should be more than enough to handle ordinary trouble.”

…

Wangmai, a remote mountain village at peace with the world.

“Young man.”

“Ah, Elder Hui, is something the matter?” Seeing the gray-clad old man enter, Yue Zhe set down his axe.

Yue Zhe owed much to this elder, who had helped him settle in this little house outside the village. He never knew why the old man helped him.

The elder called himself Elder Huiyao and lived alone, seemingly of high standing in the village.

“Come, drink with me,” Elder Huiyao said, producing two jars of wine from who knows where.

Yue Zhe smiled. “Gladly.”

After a few cups, the elder asked, “You said your name is Ye Lan?”

Yue Zhe froze, then answered, “Yes.” When he arrived, he’d realized he shouldn’t use his real name, so he’d given Alang’s name instead.

“Hahaha…” The old man suddenly burst out laughing. “Your young master’s life or death is uncertain, and you’re hiding away here?”

Yue Zhe was startled. As he struggled to process this, the old man went on, “Enough. You’re the son of Dragon-Phoenix Blade Yue Yuncheng. Even with a disguise, you can’t fool me.”

“You know I’m in disguise?” Yue Zhe didn’t know what to say, inwardly cursing the disguise technique Ye Pei had taught him.

The old man chuckled. “Don’t doubt Ye Pei’s disguise skills. They’re more than enough to fool ordinary people.”

Now serious, Yue Zhe asked, “May I inquire, senior, who you really are?”

“I already told you, I am Elder Huiyao,” the old man replied.

“My father wandered all over Wangmai. I know most of the famous scholars and warriors, but I’ve never heard such a name.”

The old man drank his wine. “Who told you I’m from Wangmai?”

Yue Zhe was startled. “But you don’t have wings… Are you from the Yan tribe?”

The old man laughed again. Then his gaze sharpened, and a surge of sword energy nearly knocked Yue Zhe off his seat. Looking at the stunned young man, the elder smiled. “Look into my eyes—do you see any flame in them?”

Yue Zhe was completely bewildered. “Then who are you…?”

The old man finished his wine, stood, and as if performing a magic trick, produced two bamboo swords. “Take these. Practice your swordsmanship.”

Yue Zhe took them, muttering, “Just bamboo swords? They’re so light I—what!” Only after accepting them did he realize they were astonishingly heavy, even heavier than his own twin blades.

“What…”

By now, the old man was already heading out.

“Don’t worry about your identity—I won’t let it slip. Train well; there are things in this world that still need you.”

Yue Zhe answered gloomily, “What can I do… Me, save the world?”

At the gate, the old man paused, then tossed back a final remark.

“Ye Pei is alive. When he returns, he’ll need your help.”

That left Yue Zhe rooted to the spot.

The old man had already walked far, nearly back to the village, when suddenly a long cry—furious, excited, and sorrowful—rose from Yue Zhe’s remote cottage.