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Su Yi was lazy.
However, he wasn’t heartless. If something had happened to Cha Jin’s family, he naturally wouldn’t just sit back and watch.
Thus, he and Cha Jin left that very day, departing Heaven’s Origin Academy on the back of Ning Sihua’s Bluescale Eagle.
……
The Great Wei was west of the Great Zhou. Its territory was vast, but it was piercingly cold year-round, and it snowed most of the year.
Thus, the Great Wei was also called “the Land of Snow.”
Martial arts were in vogue here too. Regardless of age and gender, everyone saw becoming a martial artist as an honor.
Celestial Palace City.
This was the imperial capital of the Great Wei. It was prosperous and flourishing, and neither its size nor its years of accumulated history were the least bit inferior to the Great Zhou’s Jade Capital. It might have even been superior.
Today was the seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month.
The skies were dark and overcast, and flurries as soft as goose feathers floated in the air, interspersed with biting, bone-chilling winds.
The Bluescale Eagle carrying Su Yi and Cha Jin landed several miles from Celestial Palace City.
Layers of snow blanketed the earth, crunching when they walked.
Everything was white and radiant as far as the eye could see. Cold winds howled throughout the boundless landscape.
Although Su Yi wore thin blue robes, he didn’t feel the least bit cold. Instead, he said leisurely, “This is the perfect day for taking a boat, a red clay stove, and some hard liquor out on the river. What could be more pleasant than admiring the snowy landscape over drinks and hot pot?”
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After a moment’s surprise, Cha Jin laughed. “If you’re interested, there’s a lake called ‘Thousand Snows’ about ten miles northwest of the city. It’s surrounded by mountains on all four sides and covered in snow year-round. The Green Shuttlefish living there are a matchless delicacy of the Great Wei. Once we have some spare time, I can take you there. We can go boating on the lake, drink, and eat hot pot together.”
“Let’s see how it goes. If we feel like it, we’ll go. If we don’t, there’s no point in going. Come on, let’s visit your family.” With that, Su Yi put his hands behind his back and walked off.
Cha Jin affectionately patted the Bluescale Eagle’s wings. “Qing’er, wait for us nearby. Once we’ve resolved our business, we’ll return to the Great Zhou.”
The Bluescale Eagle nodded, spread its wings, and soared into the sky.
Celestial Palace City was enormous. The winding black city walls were like a giant dragon, and they were especially striking against the vast, snowy landscape.
There were numerous people coming in and out of the city. The bustling flow of human traffic had no shortage of martial artists.
Thus, although Su Yi and Cha Jin’s arrival attracted quite a few gazes, it caused no uproar.
In the Great Zhou, Su Yi was a famed young legend, the man Crown Prince Zhou Zhili declared the nation’s imperial preceptor.
However, here in Celestial Palace City, he was nothing but an unfamiliar young man. That he drew any attention at all was because he had a peerless beauty like Cha Jin with him.
Cha Jin seemed excited to be in Celestial Palace City, but the worry on her brow never once abated.
She was home after a long absence. This was where she’d grown up, yet she felt nervous.
She was here because her family had run into trouble; she couldn’t rejoice in her homecoming.
After passing through the gates, Cha Jin hired a carriage, and she and Su Yi proceeded directly to the northeast, where the Shen Family lived.
The Shen Family was one of the top clans in the Great Wei.
Its leader, Shen Zhangkong, had received the title of “prefectural king” years ago, and he was a highly-influential authority figure.
The family estate was built in the northeast district, and it covered a hundred acres, including numerous courtyards and pavilions. Even the servants numbered in the hundreds. The estates were the very picture of wealth and tranquility.
When the carriage neared the estate, Cha Jin hesitated, then whispered, “Young Lord… I want to go back on my own first and see what’s going on.”
Su Yi nodded.
He could tell at a glance that Cha Jin worried about bringing him to see her family. It would invite unnecessary questions, or even trouble.
After all, Cha Jin was the family head’s daughter. If she suddenly brought a strange man home, it would inevitably draw attention.
Thus, Cha Jin hurried in on her own.
Su Yi thought for a moment and left the carriage. He planned to find a nearby inn and have a drink.
However, before finding a suitable place, he saw a familiar silhouette off in the distance.
It was a dignified, handsome, elegant young man in red. He was accompanied by two elderly servants as he strutted right through the Shen Family’s gates.
“It’s him.” Su Yi furrowed his brow in thought for a while before remembering. The young man in red was called Lu Hao, and he was Cha Jin’s senior apprentice brother.
Back in the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital, Lu Hao had once attempted to use a talisman sword to assassinate him.
Later on, it was Lu Hao who led the Wheel of the Moon Sect’s outer sect elder, Liu Hongqi, to the House of Waveswept Rocks.
He wanted Liu Hongqi to kill Su Yi, but in the end, it was Liu Hongqi who died. Lu Hao escaped with his life.
Su Yi still remembered that, even as he fled, Lu Hao shouted in fury, saying he’d be sure to come back for revenge.
Who would have thought that now, just a few months later, he’d bump into the guy here, in the Great Wei’s capital city?
Don’t tell me that the Shen Family’s problems are connected to the Wheel of the Moon Sect? Su Yi pondered for a moment, then lost all interest in drinking. Instead, he perched on the walls surrounding the Shen Family and silently enveloped the estate with his divine sense.
……
The Shen Family.
“Big Brother, didn’t the letter say that you… had been captured?” Cha Jin’s eyes widened, disbelief written all over her face.
She would never have guessed that the servants would lead her to her brother, Shen Yanxing!
“Little Sister, for now, please don’t ask any questions. I’ll take you to see Father.” Shen Yanxing sighed, his expression conflicted. He was tall and thin, with a handsome face, and his features were somewhat similar to Cha Jin’s. He was a young elite of the Great Wei’s younger generation in his own right.
He now worked in the Office of Punishment, answering directly to the emperor of the Great Wei, and the emperor himself had praised him before.
“Big Brother, what exactly is going on? Why did you lie to me in your letter?” Cha Jin had been frantic with concern for her father and brother’s safety, but now, she felt as if something were off. It seemed that she’d been tricked.
Shen Yanxing seemed like he dared not look her in the eye. “When you see Father, you’ll understand.”
With that, he turned and led her to the Shen Family’s conference hall.
Despite her confusion, Cha Jin followed him.
On the way there, her keen senses picked up on something. When they saw her, her clansmen and relatives’ gazes were somehow off. Even the guards and servants were looking at her strangely.
“This… What exactly is happening? The letter said something happened to my father. Don’t tell me that’s not the case?” Clouds of doubt arose within her heart.
They soon arrived at the conference hall. The large, lavishly decorated room was crammed full of Shen Family higher-ups seated on both sides of the hall.
All of them were her seniors. Some were elders, while others were deacons.
A dignified middle-aged man in long robes sat at the middle of the hall. He had a willowy beard, and his eyes flashed with electricity. He was extremely imposing.
This was the head of the Shen Family, Shen Zhangkong, a long-famous Xiantian Martial Ancestor of the Great Wei. He was famous throughout the empire, and he had an illustrious reputation.
When she saw so many higher-ups crammed into one room waiting for her, Cha Jin’s heart clenched. Furthermore, seeing her father here filled her with confusion, and her face filled with astonishment.
“Father, you… you’re alright?”
The letter she received said her father had been stripped of his title as prefectural king, and that he’d since fallen gravely ill. It said the Shen Family was beset on all sides, and that the situation was dire.
It even said her elder brother, Shen Yanxing, had been captured…
Now, she couldn’t help but feel bewildered. It seemed as if everything written in the letter was false!
“Lass, you’re finally back,” said Shen Zhangkong. He rose to his feet, his expression conflicted.
This wasn’t the joy of a father and daughter reunited after a long separation. Even Cha Jin picked up on his unusual expression. After years apart, it seems Father has become far more distant, like a stranger.
“Don’t blame me for lying to you in that letter. I had no other choice,” sighed Shen Zhangkong, returning to his chair. “Fortunately, you’re back. Otherwise, I’m afraid the Shen Family would have faced certain doom.”
“Certain doom?” This only made Cha Jin even more confused. “This is the Great Wei. Who would dare threaten the Shen Family? Father, what exactly is going on? Why is that the more I learn, the less I understand?”
Shen Zhangkong fell momentarily silent. “Lass, don’t ask any more questions. All I can say is, only you can save the Shen Family now.”
Bitterness arose on his face, and he turned to the elder seated beside him. “Grand Elder, how about you explain?”
The grand elder wore ornate robes, and he had the bearing of a warrior, with eyes like a hawk. His name was Shen Zhongshan.
The grand elder looked at Cha Jin, and he said gravely, “Lass, our Shen Family is facing imminent destruction. I’ll just ask you this: as a member of the Shen Family, if you had the ability to save all of our lives, would you?”
Cha Jin didn’t even pause to think. “I would!”
Shen Shanzhong looked comforted. “Then I’ll ask you one more question. What if saving the lives of the Shen Family required you to sacrifice your own life? Would you… still be willing?”
Instantly, all eyes were upon Cha Jin. Only Shen Zhangkong and Shen Yanxing averted their gazes, seemingly out of guilt.
Cha Jin was stunned. She said in a daze, “Sacrificing me can save the entire family?”
Grand Elder Shan Zhongshan nodded. “That’s right! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have written that letter. We had you come back because the fate of the entire clan now rests upon your shoulders.”
Cha Jin was increasingly certain that something wasn’t right here, and her heart felt heavy. She instinctively glanced at her father and elder brother, only to discover that they refused to meet her gaze; they dared not look her in the eye.
She felt stunned and disappointed, and her hands and feet felt cold. What exactly happened to make even Father and Big Brother so ruthless? They’re even willing to sacrifice me!?
They… How could they be this cruel and heartless?
She took a deep breath, then gazed at Grand Elder Shen Shanzhong once more. “And what if I don’t agree, Grand Elder?”
The group was instantly in uproar.
Shen Shanzhong’s expression darkened. “Lass, all of our lives are at stake. Why can’t you sacrifice yourself? Don’t tell me you’re really willing to just watch as your father, brother, relatives… and everyone else in the clan all perish?”
His expression was solemn and imposing, his gaze was sharp, and his bearing was imposing.
Cha Jin suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe, and her pretty face was pallid. She’d rushed here all the way from the Great Zhou. This was her home, the most familiar place in the world. She could never have guessed it would turn out this way!