"Let’s go, Brother Yuan." Lady Chu said as she walked to stand beside Yuan.
Yuan nodded and said, "We can go back to the immortal caves for now."
He then turned to look at the grand elders and said to them, "Please excuse us."
The grand elders didn’t say anything and silently nodded their heads in a dazed manner.
"Follow me."
Yuan began walking back to the immortal caves with Lady Chu following closely beside him.
As for Meixiu, she quietly followed them from behind, silently wondering to herself what kind of relationship they had and how they knew each other.
Lady Chu’s butler also followed them from behind Meixiu.
’I don’t recall seeing this woman before... Just where did she meet Yuan? They also seem to go way back...’ Meixiu wondered to herself.
She had been with Yuan ever since he was adopted into the Yu Family, and as Meifeng’s daughter, she got to see a lot of influential people. However, she doesn’t recall this hazel-eyed beauty, who definitely looked very influential just by her graceful appearance alone.
Their journey back to the immortal caves was a quiet one without anyone starting a conversation.
Yuan was still in a daze because of his sudden reunion with Lady Chu, who has been by his side even before he could learn how to walk in the orphanage.
As for Lady Chu, she was too nervous to say anything, and she was satisfied with just being by his side again.
Eventually, they reached the immortal caves, and Yuan brought them inside.
"Is he with you?" Yuan turned to look at the old man that had been following them but stopped at the door.
"Yes, he’s my caretaker. You can trust him." Lady Chu nodded.
"Are you coming inside?" Yuan asked him.
"I don’t want to disturb the Young Lady’s reunion so I will wait out here until you’re done," he said to them in a calm voice.
Once they entered the immortal caves and sat down, Yuan removed his mask and said, "Before we start our conversation, allow me to introduce you to each other."
"Meixiu, this is Liuxiang, a very important friend of mine from the orphanage that I used to live at before I was adopted into the Yu Family. And Liuxiang, this is Meixiu, my caretaker, who is also very important to me."
"Hello," Meixiu said to her in a low voice.
"Hello..." Lady Chu responded in a similarly low voice.
Although this is Meixiu’s first time hearing about Lady Chu, it wasn’t the same for Lady Chu, who has known about Meixiu for many years now.
After the brief introduction, they returned to being silent, as both of them had so many questions but didn’t know where to start.
Eventually, Yuan said, "Well... Let’s start with you, Liuxiang. What happened to you after I left the orphanage?"
"I know I told you to stop calling me ’Lulu’, but it doesn’t feel right when you call me anything else, so you can continue calling me ’Lulu’." Lady Chu said.
And she continued, "Anyways, shortly after you left the orphanage, I was also adopted and entered the Chu Family, so I am currently Chu Liuxiang."
"I see... I hope you lived a good life after your adoption." Yuan said to her.
Chu Liuxiang chuckled and said, "Hardly. My life has been repetitive, boring, and even painful at times ever since I joined the Chu Family."
"What do you mean?" Yuan asked.
"You can probably tell from my aura that I am a Spirit Master just like you, right? Well, the Chu Family is actually a hidden cultivation family, but unlike the Six Spiritual Families that live in seclusion and away from society, we hide in plain sight."
"The Chu Family is an immensely successful family in the modern world with many businesses around the world, but at the same time, it’s also a cultivation family that has known about cultivation since ancient times."
"So you’ve been cultivating ever since you were young?" Yuan asked.
"Yes. Apparently, I have the perfect body for cultivation, and someone from the Chu Family noticed my talents by chance and decided to take me into their family. In other words, they adopted me for my cultivation talents, and I have been cultivating in seclusion ever since I joined the Chu Family."
"That means I cannot leave the Chu Family’s territory. Although they have a lot of land, and there were a lot of things to do, it was still a boring life, especially since I spend most of my time training and cultivating alone..."
"Hell, I can even count the number of people I have met during the last 10 years using just my hands. Of course, I am still grateful to the Chu Family for adopting me, and they treat me very well."
"That does sound like a very boring life..." Yuan agreed with her. copyrighted © content.
He can imagine how Chu Liuxiang felt since he also had to spend many years in seclusion inside his room and without the ability to move his body.
"It was painful at times, but it wasn’t that bad overall, especially when compared to your life at the Yu Family..." Chu Liuxiang sighed.
"Huh?"
Seeing Yuan’s puzzled face, Chu Liuxiang continued, "I know what the Yu Family made you go through, Brother Yuan. I know how they treated you like a tool for their own benefit and how they tossed you away like trash when you suddenly became sick and was no longer useful to them."
"I am sorry that I wasn’t able to come to you sooner, Brother Yuan, but I wasn’t allowed to do anything until I finished my training, nor was I aware of your situation until the end of my training... If I had known about it earlier... Then maybe you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much... You didn’t deserve any of that..." Chu Liuxiang sighed, even feeling the urge to cry.
A gentle smile appeared on Yuan’s face after hearing her words, and he said, "It’s okay. Although it was painful at times, there were also joyous moments that made everything worth it in the end— at least that’s what I think."