Back in the Celestial Realm, Meng Ling sighed while looking into the Observation Pool. Hearing her sigh, Zhao Yan looked over and saw what she was looking at.
"Looking at Tian-er again? What happened to her this time?" They had an Observation Pool at home that was tuned to their daughter so that they will be able to see her whenever they wanted to. Of course, they could use Profound Observation to do the same but with an Observation Pool, they do not have to constantly expend on their Qi to sustain the image.
"She met a group of thugs and their leader tried to attack her. The nerve! And with those lecherous eyes as well! But that’s our daughter we're talking about. Naturally she won.” She ended her rant with a smug smile. In an instant, Meng Ling tone changed from rage to pride as she recounted what she had just viewed to her husband.
"That's our daughter alright!" Another proud parent appeared as Zhao Yan chest swelled with pride from hearing his daughter won.
His face turned serious the next moment though. "Meng Ling you know to never interfere right? Tian-er is now a human. She has to get through her First Reincarnation on her own. That one time you entered her dream to help her will be the first and last time you'll be interfering." He gave his wife a warning look, knowing full well she would interfere at every chance she could get. He had to stop her a few times already.
Pouting, Meng Ling nodded her head petulantly. However unwilling she was to throw her baby daughter to the world, she knew it was in the rules to never interfere. Sighing heavily once more, she turned back to the Observation Pool.
——
When they reached back the inn, Ye Yu and Lan Ying headed up to their rooms while Zi Yue hung back for a while. She wanted to give a bag of roasted chestnuts she had bought to Lan-Yi. Lan-Yi was the first person they met in Bei Lian plus even though they haven’t had a proper conversation yet, somehow Zi Yue just had good feelings about her.
“Lan-Yi, these roasted chestnuts are for you! They taste really good so I bought another packet for you to try them. But.. I’m afraid they might be a bit cold by now…” Zi Yue suddenly realised that from the time they had bought the roasted chestnuts till now, a few hours had passed and the chestnuts were probably cold. Sheepishly, she gave a packet of cold chestnuts to Lan-Yi.
Lan-Yi was surprised by Zi Yue's gesture. They barely knew one another plus Zi Yue was a guest so she had never expected something like this. Feeling touched, she reached forward to accept the gift.
“Not a problem, dear. I can always reheat and re-roast the chestnuts. Thank you, I will enjoy these.” Accepting the bag of roasted chestnuts, the smile she gave Zi Yue was filled with genuine pleasure.
Having finished what she stayed behind for, Zi Yue made a little more small talk before bidding goodnight to Lan-Yi and headed up to her room.
——
For the next few days, the three of them walked around town, trying food, checking out the shops and took in the beautiful scenery all around. Bei Lian was a beautiful country surrounded by flora and fauna. Everywhere they went, they were able to see beautiful blooming flowers along the pavements, planted around shopfronts, in the houses they passed by, it was a town of spring. The people of Bei Lian prided themselves on creating a place where flowers bloomed all year round. Visiting the main city of Bei Lian at different times would allow one to see different flowers in different seasons. Since it was currently spring, the whole town was filled with flowers that bloom in spring. It was stunning.
However much they loved and enjoyed the beauty of the main city, they knew that their stopover here was temporary and that they should head to the next continent soon. There was no time pressure on them, but they were excited to visit other continents, to go farther. Bei Lian after all was still part of their homeland and pretty near their hometown. Thus, they decided to set off for the continent of Nan Jing three days later and told Lan-Yi so.
Lan-Yi was sad hear that. Although she knew that they were travellers and would leave someday, but she had grown fond of the three of them over the past few days of interacting with them. They were around the same age as her son and reminded her of him. Ruo Sheng had joined the Heaven Spirit Sect situated in Bei Lian four years ago and came home to visit sometimes. He was unable to come home all the time because the disciples have to stay in the Sect quarters and train. Only on certain occasions can the disciples return home.
Furthermore, he had started later than his peers, having entered only at the age of 15, three years later than the normal disciples. Thinking about it, she sighed in regret. She always knew that he wanted to join the Sect to learn and to become a cultivator and had encouraged it. However, in the year he was supposed to take the test to enter the Heaven Spirit Sect, his father, her husband, fell gravely ill. At that time, she had to take care of her husband and run the inn alone. Seeing her work so hard, Ruo Sheng had given up on taking the test to help her run the inn and take care of his father.
Unfortunately, her husband passed away in the next summer, leaving without a husband and her son without a father. While grieving, she succumbed to illness as well. Ruo Sheng ended up having to take over the family business and run it on his own while nursing her back to health. Thankfully, it was not a serious bout of illness and within a month she recovered fully. This time, she took back the reins of the business for she wanted Ruo Sheng to go on and take the test to join the Heaven Spirit Sect. It was about time. He had delayed it for almost 2 years now.
However, he was unwilling. He had insisted on staying on and helping her until he felt reassured that she would be able to handle running the inn alone. He was afraid that it might be too much for her. That took another one year.
Finally, after much persuasion and reassurance on her part, his mind was put at ease. After three years of waiting, he joined the group of hopefuls taking the yearly test and passed it with flying colours. He was then accepted into the Sect and moved in. Because of that, he often stayed in the Sect to train and to cultivate, training harder than anyone else in order to make up for the three years that he had missed.
She missed her son dearly, but she understood and thus supported his determination.
As such, when she met these three youngsters who looked around the same age as her son, had good manners and were rather lovable, she had slowly grown fond of them. Hearing their plans to leave soon, it felt as if she was preparing to send her own children off once again….
The sound of glass shattering startled her out of her thoughts. A few steps away, a young girl was looking at a man standing opposite her, face as pale as a sheet of paper. At her feet was a mess of shattered glass which had just barely missed hitting her feet. The man took a step towards the girl, hand reaching out towards her. Lan-Yi could not see his face as he was back-facing her, but she could clearly see the fear written on the young girl’s face. The girl flinched, backing away from the man as he stepped closer towards her, looking as if she was ready to bolt anytime.
It was obvious that the man was not good news.
Lan-Yi’s protective instincts flared and she marched forward towards them. This was her inn and she was not going to stand for anything happening here. It looks like it was not just her alone who felt like they had to do something about this. A few customers had stood up as well, standing between the man and the girl, some asking the young girl what happened and some trying to talk the man into calming down.
“Excuse me! Mister! What do you think you are doing here in my inn?” Fiercely, Lan-Yi planted herself between them, joining those who had reacted first. She finally got to see his face and when she did, she sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes painted murder. In that moment, she felt fear. However, she was not going to let it take over and firmly stood her ground.
“Get out of my way lady. That wretch will die in my hands today! This does not involve you, nor does it involve the rest of you here. I won’t spare you just because you’re a woman.” Eyes coldly sweeping across those blocking his path, the man’s eyes landed on Lan-Yi as he growled the words out. His eyes flashed and his face darkened as they continued standing there, refusing to move an inch.
Losing the patience he never had in the first place, his roughly shoved her aside, doing the same for anyone else who stood in his path. Actually all these interventions would have been the perfect opportunity for the girl to run away. However, her legs felt like lead and she was unable to move a step.
Lan-Yi was not one to give up. She stood up and ran in front of the girl, flinging her arms out as if to shield the girl from him.
“I warn you, do not take another step. I do not know what happened between the two of you, so why don’t we all calm down first. This is my inn and I am not going to allow anything to happen here! Mister, you look like you’re an understanding person, why don’t you take a seat first?” Knowing that she would not be able to fight him, Lan-Yi tried to persuade him into calming down. Even if she had to ignore the fact that the man before her looked like he could snap her neck easily.
“Mister, calm down! Not everything requires violence!”
“Exactly!”
“Plus she is just a young girl, what are you trying to do to her!”
“Yes, Yes!”
The others chimed in, agreeing with Lan-Yi’s words
“I said, it does not concern all of you! I said before that I won’t spare you even if you’re a woman. Since you won’t move, I will make you move!” Grabbing a chair, he threw it towards them. Scrambling, they barely avoiding being hit by the chair. Madman! He was a madman! He threw the chair at them without caring if it would kill anyone!
The man looked at the pair and sneered. He was going to first get rid of the annoying innkeeper before killing that wretch. That old lady, a mere woman, dare to block him? And that wretch dared to run away from him? Women should know their place. He was going to teach them that today.
Having cleared most of the people in his path, The madman suddenly pulled out a knife from his sleeves and stomped towards Lan-Yi who was now hunched over the girl, shielding the girl with her body. Lan-Yi initially wanted to block him but seeing him pull a knife out, she turned to the girl and covered her with her body to protect her. She could feel the young girl shivering in terror under her. Lan-Yi herself was afraid too. She might just die in the madman’s hands today.
Seeing the man stomp towards the two women, the bystanders surged forward in an attempt to block him, but he easily swept them away one by one as if he was swatting flies. They were no match for him. They watched in horror as he lifted the knife, bringing it down onto the pair.
What happened next happened so quickly.
Before the knife reached Lan-Yi, a blur figure dashed past them and grabbed hold of the hand wielding the knife. Wrenching it aside, the newcomer quickly delivered a strike to the man’s solar plexus to incapacitate him and prevent him from going any further.
The next thing they saw was the madman doubling over, his hand clutching his stomach in pain and a young lady standing in front of the collapsed figure.
“What just happened here? Did you see that?!”
“Did you see how the man collapsed with just one hit from her? That was amazing!”
“One hit! He was so strong but she was able to knock him down with one blow.”
“Ehhh, that young lady looks familiar…”
“Yeah, now that you mentioned it…”
“Oh! Oh! Isn’t she the one who beat up those thugs in the Market Street a few days ago? I remember her!”
Seeing the appearance mysterious third person, the crowd regained their senses and started talking about the newcomer.
Lan-Yi had not seen what happened as she had been hunched over the girl, hoping to be able to offer even a tad bit of protection with her small body. However, listening to the discussions around her, she could roughly figure out what had just transpired behind her. Heaving a sigh of relief, she looked up to thank their saviour and was surprised to see a familiar face.
“Zi Yue!” She exclaimed in surprise as Zi Yue gave her a small smile in return.