escape

Jiang Yingyue's fingers stiffened; the icy metallic touch traveled through her palms straight to her heart, bringing waves of absurd chill. This Thunder Sword, which had brought her senior sister Ji Yinglei to the brink of death, felt like a lifeless object in her hands, refusing even the slightest electrical current. What kind of recognition was this? It was more like a cold mockery, a shackle that had locked her firmly in a cage.

Ji Yinglei's face was still pale, and the sweat on his forehead had not yet dried, but in his usually calm and resolute eyes, there was now a complex emotion that Jiang Yingyue had never seen before. There was deep worry, an undisguised sense of loss, and even a hint of heaviness that Jiang Yingyue could not decipher, like dark clouds pressing down.

Jiang Yuan shifted his gaze from Ji Yinglei and returned it to Jiang Yingyue. His eyes no longer held the complexity of before, but instead exuded a heavy, unyielding authority.

"Moon, put down your sword."

Jiang Yingyue trembled. Put down the sword? Put down this sword that had inexplicably chosen her, yet destroyed all her dreams? She looked down at the silent Thunder Sword in her hand; the azure light on its blade seemed to have dimmed, the blue-purple arcs of electricity vanished without a trace. It was like an ordinary, heavy metal object. A tremendous sense of grievance and anger surged within her like magma, threatening to burst from her throat.

She didn't want to let it go! She wanted to throw it far, far away! She wanted to rush down the mountain right away!

However, her father's gaze, her senior sister's weary, silent stare, and the mixed expressions of awe, curiosity, and a hint of bewilderment from all the disciples around her formed an invisible net that bound her tightly.

She is now the sect leader of the Bright Moon Sect.

This realization sent a jolt through her stomach. She bit her lower lip, tasting a metallic, metallic flavor of blood, and used all her strength to hold back her tears. Finally, with an almost self-destructive resolve, she plunged the Thunder Sword back into the stone base at the center of the sword platform.

A clear, resonant sword sound rang out, the blade trembled slightly, and then fell silent again.

The sound seemed to break some kind of spell. Jiang Yuan finally nodded slightly, his face revealing neither joy nor anger: "The ceremony is complete. From this day forward, Jiang Yingyue shall be the new sect leader of my Bright Moon Sect."

There were no cheers, no celebrations. Only a heavy silence filled the training ground. At the elder's signal, the disciples bowed and saluted, their voices rising in uneven tones: "Greetings, Sect Master."

Afterwards, Jiang Yingyue smashed everything she could in her room by herself. She didn't understand why this was happening, why no one had told her that the sect leader selection was today, and why she, so unruly, had been chosen. Her frustration was beyond relief, and she grabbed a shard of broken mirror and threw it towards the door again.

However, there was no sound of the shard hitting the door. Jiang Yingyue immediately looked towards the doorway warily, and sure enough, it was Jiang Yuan who caught the shard.

At this moment, Jiang Yingyue even hesitated for a long time about whether or not to call him father. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but could she really ask them now without worry?

“Speak, I will answer whatever you want to know,” Jiang Yuan said first. “But the fact that you are the sect leader will not change.”