Qing Yu’s steps pressed against the dry leaves, each crunch echoing softly in the quiet forest path. Suddenly, the air shifted... he could feel someone behind him.

  In a single precise motion, his dagger slid from his sleeve, its cold edge flashing as he turned and held it against the intruder’s neck. He had sensed for a while that someone was following him.

  Yet, the moment his eyes met the familiar face, his throat tightened. The one standing there was none other than Mei Gui.

  The dagger trembled in his hand as he stammered, his voice caught between guilt and disbelief. “Senior Sister Mei Gui…! You’re here?”

  But Mei Gui didn’t flare up because of the dagger at her throat. Her anger had an entirely different reason.She grabbed Qing Yu sharply by the ear, her voice thundering so loud that the nearby birds took flight from the trees.

  “You absolute fool! How dare you call the Mingsi River the Yushan River? If any member of the Han Clan heard that, they would have slit your throat right there!”

  After glaring at him for a few long moments, her tone softened. The harshness melted into a warmth so deep that even a mother’s affection would pale beside it.

  “My little troublemaker… I scold you because I don’t want to lose you the way we lost Mother and Father. You must be careful. This world is no longer what it once was. Qing Yu, never forget who we once were… and never forget who we have become now.”

  Saying this, she walked ahead toward the riverbank, where their boat waited. Qing Yu didn’t follow. He stood there, frozen... his eyes heavy, glimmering with the kind of sorrow that came not from the heart, but from the soul itself.

  He whispered hoarsely, “Senior Sister… how could you think that I would ever forget who we are?”

  His knees gave way, and he fell to the ground. Tears poured down his face like a river long held back by grief.

  “I haven’t forgotten, Senior Sister… and I never will.”

  Flashback

  The world was burning. Flames devoured the trees, the houses, the sky itself.A young Qing Yu stood amidst the inferno, his cries piercing through the chaos.

  “Mother! Father! Senior Sister!”

  From within the blaze, two shadowed figures stumbled out... one of them clutching a small girl with singed clothes and tangled hair. It was Lady Zi Gushi, their mother, trying desperately to shield her children from the destruction consuming their clan.

  She pushed Mei Gui hard toward Qing Yu, sending her tumbling into his arms. Behind them, the fire roared, swallowing everything that had once been their home... everything that had once been the Lingxiao Clan.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Qing Yu’s voice broke as he pleaded, “Mother, come with us! Please!”

  But Zi Gushi shook her head weakly, her face twisted in unbearable pain. Still, she smiled through the tears. Kneeling before them, she spoke softly yet firmly, her voice trembling as flames reflected in her eyes.

  “Run… and never return. Never tell anyone who you are or where you came from. Especially not the Hegong Clan, the Yingtian Clan, or the Han Clan. They must never find out that you were once...”

  She coughed violently, blood staining her lips, but forced the final words out.

  “...that you were once children of the Lingxiao Clan. Now go. Run!”

  But neither Mei Gui nor Qing Yu could move. They clung to her hands, refusing to let go.

  Sensing the danger closing in, Zi Gushi drew upon the last of her spiritual energy. Her entire body glowed as she split her essence into two halves. In a single hand seal, she pressed that power into her children’s bodies.

  The red glow of the burning house turned momentarily blue... a mysterious azure light flickered between them and then vanished into their hearts.

  A terrible creak echoed from above. The roof began to collapse.

  Zi Gushi looked at them one final time, her gaze filled with love and sorrow deeper than words.

  “Farewell… my children.”

  A powerful wave of spiritual force burst from her palms, throwing them far away... and then the entire roof came crashing down.

  The children hit the ground hard. When they looked back, there was nothing left. Only fire. Only silence.

  Mei Gui screamed until her voice broke. Qing Yu sat frozen, his mind shattered, his body trembling. And then... as if surrendering to grief itself... he closed his eyes, offering his final farewell to his mother in silence.

  End of Flashback

  Qing Yu opened his eyes slowly. Not as one remembering the past... but as one returning from it.

  A little while later...

  Mei Gui sat in the boat, waiting quietly. The river rippled softly under the dying light. At last, Qing Yu appeared.

  “Senior Sister,” he said with his usual half-smile, “for a moment I thought you’d already reached the Yingtian Clan without me.”

  His joke wasn’t funny... far from it... but Mei Gui still laughed. She could see the redness around his eyes, the quiet exhaustion behind his smile. He had released something heavy from his heart.

  “Come on then,” she said lightly. “Let’s go find your idiot friend Xiao Tang. I’ve got some rotten plums just for him.”

  Qing Yu burst out laughing, truly laughing this time. Their laughter carried over the rippling water as the boat drifted forward.... into the current of the Mingsi River, and perhaps, into the current of fate itself.

  Gufeng Mansion

  Silence blanketed every corner of the grand hall. Every leaf, every stone seemed wrapped in stillness.

  Inside, Gu Zong sat cross-legged in meditation, a faint white aura spiraling from his hands. But his mind was restless.

  In the depths of his thoughts, someone’s face lingered. He formed several hand seals, attempting to summon his guqin, Jiuhuang Yin.

  Yet the instrument did not appear. Every attempt he made met with resistance... as if some unseen, impossible power opposed him.

  Then, a shiver ran through him. A familiar presence... something he had not felt in years... brushed against his spirit.

  He gasped sharply, eyes snapping open. The next moment, his body fell forward, his head striking the table.

  Darkness consumed him as his eyes fluttered shut, his soul sinking into a memory so deeply carved within him that even time itself could not erase it.