Chapter 19: Say goodbye to the past and embark on a new journey
The rising sun dispelled the last bit of chill in the mountain behind the Ye family.
Hidden away beneath the stone wall, Ye Li had already packed her small bag. It was a simple bundle containing a few changes of clothes, the fragments of the nameless body movement manual she'd acquired from the Martial Arts Pavilion (she'd already memorized the contents and had left them behind), the Heart-Cleansing Pill Su Wanyun had given her, and most importantly—the mysterious gray ore and the ancient rune notes.
Most of the spirit stones and elixirs she'd won from the competition were already spent on her cultivation, and the rest were carefully hidden close to her body. She also tucked the seemingly unremarkable dagger from the treasury (she ultimately chose the most unremarkable but sharp one in the weapon section) behind her waist, slightly concealed by the hem of her dress.
She stood before the stone wall, taking one last look at the place that had given her a new beginning. The cold spring remained icy, and she had already plucked and consumed the dew-condensing grass, helping her solidify her cultivation at the advanced level of the Spiritual Awakening Realm. This place had witnessed her transformation from hopeless loser to the family's champion.
It's time to leave.
She picked up her bag, walked out of the secluded place, and walked along the familiar path towards the gate of Ye Mansion. Today was the day to go to the Xuanyun Sect selection meeting point.
She didn't deliberately hide her whereabouts. Along the way, she inevitably met many people from the Ye family.
The collateral relatives and servants who had once bullied, mocked, and treated her like nothing now had complex expressions upon seeing her. Fear, envy, jealousy, regret... all sorts of emotions intertwined.
To her surprise, several young boys and girls from the collateral branches who had been similarly bullied or of low status, as well as several servants who had received the original owner's slightest kindness (such as a cold steamed bun), mustered up the courage and timidly came forward.
"Sister Ye...Sister Yeli..." A thin young man, who seemed to be a member of a side branch who had been bullied by Yelang and others, held a small cloth bag tightly in his hand, his face flushed red. "This...this is the dry food my mother made. You...you can eat it on the road..."
"Miss Yeli," a middle-aged woman, who seemed to be a kitchen helper, carefully handed over a pot of water, "Drink some water on the way..."
"Thank you... Thank you for standing up for our side branch..." another girl whispered, quickly stuffed a pair of roughly sewn but thick cloth shoes into Ye Li's hands, and then ran away like a frightened little rabbit.
Their gifts were insignificant, even a little shabby, but the gratitude and kindness revealed in their cautiousness were out of tune with this indifferent family.
Ye Li looked at the nervous yet sincere faces in front of her, at the rough dry food, clean water and cloth shoes. It was as if a small stone was thrown into the cold lake of her heart, causing a circle of imperceptible ripples.
She was silent for a moment, but didn't refuse. She took the dry food, water bottle, and cloth shoes, put them in her bag, and then nodded very slightly to them.
There were no words, but this action made the collateral relatives and servants flattered. They showed excited and happy smiles on their faces, as if they had received great recognition.
On the other side, a few direct descendants who happened to be passing by, such as Ye Ming and Ye Liang, stood at a distance, staring at her with resentful eyes, like lurking venomous snakes. Especially Ye Lang, who stood in a distant attic, his eyes so sinister that they seemed to drip venom, his hands tightly gripping the railing, his knuckles white.
But none of them dared to take another step forward.
Ye Li's powerful figure that day, who defeated Ye Hua with a single finger, knocked Ye Feng down with a headbutt, and finally won the championship, as well as the possible "adventure" behind her and the ambiguous attitude of the family's top leaders, were like an invisible mountain, pressing them to the point of suffocation and no longer having the courage to provoke her face to face.
They could only watch helplessly as this "waste" that was once trampled upon by them not only won glory, but also began to win people's hearts, and was about to embark on the path to becoming a sect they had always dreamed of!
The jealousy and powerlessness almost tore their hearts and lungs apart.
Ye Li seemed oblivious to the malicious gaze, or rather, simply unconcerned. She collected the meager gifts and continued forward.
Passing through familiar pavilions and towers, and walking along secluded paths once stained with the blood and tears of their original owners, every blade of grass and tree seemed to carry memories of the past: humiliation, despair, and coldness.
She arrived at the grand gate of the Ye Mansion. Outside, several carriages prepared by the family were waiting, ready to take the qualified disciples to the Xuanyun Sect's selection point in a nearby town.
She stopped and turned slowly.
The morning light gilded the vast Ye Mansion with a layer of gold, its eaves and brackets adorning its majestic aura. This was the starting point of her rebirth, but also filled with unbearable memories and cold calculations.
Her eyes swept across the towering walls, as if she could see the unfathomable eyes in the master's study, the sinister face of the third elder, and the conspiracies and betrayals hidden beneath the glamorous appearance.
The mystery of my parents' disappearance still looms over my mind.
Those bullying and humiliation have not been completely forgotten.
But at this moment, her eyes were complex but no longer confused. Everything in the past, whether good or bad, had become a part of her, a whetstone that sharpened her edge.
This is her root and also her shackles.
Now, it is time to temporarily break free from these shackles and soar into a wider world.
She took a deep breath, and the complex emotions finally turned into an icy firmness and sharpness.
This place is just the starting point, not the end point.
Her journey is in the sea of stars, at the top of the myriad realms, and at the end of cause and effect!
As if sensing her surging emotions and resolute will, the fragment of the Samsara Mirror that had been silent deep in her soul trembled slightly again on its own, emitting a faint but mysterious light that instantly flowed through her whole body.
An indescribable, strange feeling, as if resonating with some higher dimension of time and space, flashed across his mind. The fog ahead seemed to have parted a little, revealing an unpredictable and vast path.
Ye Li's eyes suddenly lit up, and then returned to calm.
She no longer had any attachment, turned around resolutely, and strode out of the door of the Ye Mansion, which symbolized boundaries and constraints.
Outside the door, the sky is high and the clouds are vast.
A new journey is right at our feet.
The carriage started slowly, carrying the hope for the future of the Ye family, as well as her flame of revenge and seeking the truth, heading into the distance.
The Ye family was behind her, gradually shrinking and finally turning into a black dot in her vision.
An old story has come to an end, and a new legend is slowly beginning.
---
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
