"You three arrived at just the right time. I just received word that a squad of mages has breached the Heavenly Terrace Valley that Fellow Daoist Bu was guarding, and they're heading this way. At most, another half a day or so, and the cultivators who fell back from Heavenly Terrace Valley will be arriving here. I'll need you three to go meet up with them." The bald-browed big man didn't stand on ceremony—after a brief explanation, he immediately made his request.
"That's easy enough. Just a small matter. Leave it all to me. No need for Fellow Daoist Han or Brother Gu to trouble themselves!" The old man surnamed Ma looked thoroughly unconcerned, taking it all upon himself in one breath.
This drew surprised glances from both Han Li and Gu Shuangpu.
"Now, don't be surprised, friends. It's not that I'm trying to show off—it's just that I recently obtained an extraordinary treasure and I've been dying to test its power! You two won't compete with me for the chance, will you?" The old man stroked his beard, wearing a mysterious smile.
"Heh heh! If Brother Ma is that confident, Gu naturally won't overstep." Gu Shuangpu chuckled lightly.
Han Li, for his part, simply smiled.
"Fine. Let Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Gu rest up, then. I'll trouble Brother Ma with this. However, I'll have the Murong brothers accompany you. Their thunder-element magic packs quite a punch." The bald-browed big man pondered only briefly before nodding in agreement and sending the twin brothers along.
The old man offered no objection this time. After all, having a guide on unfamiliar ground would make things easier.
And so the old man from Haoran Pavilion and the Murong brothers set off immediately to meet the retreating cultivators of the Nine Nations Alliance.
Han Li and Gu Shuangpu, meanwhile, were led by the woman surnamed Li and Chongxuzi out of the great hall, where arrangements were made for their rest.
Along the way, Han Li separated from the vulture-faced old man. Led by the petite female cultivator, he arrived before an elegant and secluded small pavilion.
"Senior Han, low-level disciples are strictly forbidden from coming here. This should be the finest spot for quiet cultivation. Please rest in this building." The pretty, petite cultivator gestured at the pavilion before them, then stepped to one side.
"Not bad at all." Han Li nodded, a hint of satisfaction on his face.
"Senior, is Fellow Daoist Nie Ying truly all right? I haven't seen Senior Sister Nie in quite some time." The woman didn't leave right away. Instead, after a moment's hesitation, she asked.
"Oh? You know Miss Nie well?" Han Li was somewhat surprised. He studied the woman carefully, asking in a calm, even tone.
Only then did Han Li notice that although this was his first time seeing her, there was something oddly familiar about her delicate brows and bright eyes—a sense of recognition.
Han Li's unblinking stare made the woman surnamed Li somewhat uneasy. Though she was secretly irritated, a blush crept across her cheeks.
"I owe my acceptance into Blade Transformation Dock entirely to Senior Sister Nie's recommendation. How could I not know her well?" The petite cultivator lowered her head slightly and explained.
"Yingning! Li Yingning?" Hearing this, Han Li couldn't suppress the look of surprise that crossed his face.
"Why—has the Senior heard my name before?" Li Yingning caught the strange note in Han Li's voice and raised her head again, startled.
"What is your mother's name? Where was she from?" Han Li didn't answer her question. Instead, he took a deep breath and posed one of his own.
"My mother is Mo Yuzhu, from the Yue Kingdom. Why does the Senior ask?" The woman hesitated for a long while. Feeling there was nothing to conceal, and vaguely recalling something, she finally stammered out her reply.
"Do you still have that spiritual jade pendant?" Han Li was silent for a moment, then spoke the words that made the petite woman's heart skip. Suddenly, things began to dawn on her.
"I do. I've kept it on me ever since I was a child." She answered immediately, then, under Han Li's gaze, turned away with flushed cheeks.
After rummaging inside her garment, she produced a pale, luminous jade pendant and turned back, holding it out with both hands.
Han Li glanced at it, then beckoned. The pendant flew into his palm as if it had sprouted wings.
Running two fingers over the pendant's smooth surface, Han Li let out a long sigh, a trace of wistful melancholy crossing his face.
After a long pause, he spoke again: "I imagine you've already figured out who I am. What did your mother tell you back then?"
Han Li studied the female cultivator before him once more. This time, having put the pieces together, he finally caught a resemblance to Mo Yuzhu in her features. Her beauty wasn't quite as breathtaking as her mother's had been in her youth, but on closer look, she had an entirely different kind of charm—spirited and sharp, with a bold, martial grace.
"Mother didn't say much. Only that it was a congratulatory gift from a fellow cultivator friend of hers, given to me at my birth. Nothing else was ever said." Li Yingning murmured. "In all my years in the cultivation world, I've had people examine the pendant several times, but I never learned anything useful. I never imagined that it was the Senior who gave it—and that the Senior is a cultivator of the Cloudfall Sect."
Her expression shifted between light and shadow, as though she didn't quite know how to feel.