Humming to herself, Zi Yue packed the last of the necessities she would be bringing with her on her journey. Three more days and she would be out adventuring at this time. She was looking forward to being able to learn all she can about the continents herself instead of having to rely on reading books about them. As her father always say, you have to experience it to truly understand it. She figured that was one of the reasons why he had been willing to let her leave.
“Yue-er, is this a good time?” A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. Looking up, she saw Zi Feng leaning against the doorframe, requesting for permission to enter.
“Of course, come in. Is something the matter?”
“No, not really. I just wanted to talk to my sister before she leaves. Are you almost done packing?” Glancing around the room, Zi Feng could not help but feel sad.
His sister was leaving them so soon. He knew that with her adventurous spirit, she would never be contented with staying at home forever. He had known about her little trips to town, everyone knew about it, even their parents. No one said anything because they knew it was impossible to keep her locked up at home.
However he didn’t expect her to be leaving so soon. The world out there was so dangerous. Even with her monstrous powers, who knew what kind of stronger monsters were out there. Zi Yue was not the strongest in the continent, not to mention the world. There were some cultivators out there who would view Zi Yue as a toddler even with her cultivation at Immortal 4th Stage. They were that insanely strong.
Zi Feng had always been protective of his sisters. He remembered seeing Zi Yue’s small and fragile self when she was just born. He had gently held her hand and swore to protect his sister there and then. It was the same with Zi En.
Seeing her brother’s melancholy look, Zi Yue walked towards him and wrapped him in a hug.
“Feng, I’ll be back soon before you even know it. I’ll be back with all sorts of stories to tell you, Zi En, mom and dad. Don’t worry, your sister here is strong. I will kick all the bad guys to the other end of the world if they dare do anything to me. And I will write letters plus send messages home! I promise.” For some odd reason, Zi Yue felt some sort of deja-vu when she said the first few sentences. It was as if she had said the same thing to someone before..
Brushing off the weird feeling, she looked up at her brother and smiled at him. She knew what her brother was worrying about. He was always so protective like a mother hen when it came to both Zi En and herself. She felt warm inside. She was really lucky to have a brother like him who cared so much about her.
“BIG SISTERRRRR!” At that moment, a pink flurry thing ran in and cannonballed into Zi Yue, tackling her onto the ground. For a 13 year old, she was quite strong to be able to do that.
“Big Sister, I just came home from school and I heard that you’re leaving?! You cannot leave!” Hugging her tightly, Zi En cried and refused to let go.
“En, let go of Yue. You’re grabbing her too tightly. She looks like she can’t breathe.”
Zi En, their youngest sibling, had grown up very attached to her sister. She had followed her sister around a lot when she was younger and saw her older sister as a role model. Even sending her off to boarding school was difficult enough because Zi En did not want to part with Zi Yue. In the end, they had left the persuading to Zi Yue. This was going to be a tough hurdle to jump over.
“En-er, your big sister is going to be leaving for only a couple of years. I will be back soon alright? As I was telling Feng, I will often write letters and send messages home. I will also buy lots of presents for you okay? Be a good girl alright?” Zi Yue was clear on how much her sister relied on her and knew that Zi En was going to be the one who would oppose her decision the most.
“And you have Feng. Big brother will be here to play with you in my place.”
“But.. Big brother and big sister are different…” Zi En lips quivered and her voice hitched with the last word as tears threatened to fall.
“Oh sweetie. Come here. Let me give you a hug.” Holding her, Zi Yue gently caressed and patted her younger sister. Lulled by the gentle pats Zi Yue was giving her, Zi En slowly fell asleep in her embrace. She may be 13 but she was still the Zhao family’s baby. They doted on her a lot.
“Looks like you have your work cut out for you for the next few days before you leave.” Looking at his sisters, Zi Feng shook his head in pity for his sister. His second sister can be very obstinate when it comes to matters regarding Zi Yue. Zi Feng did not mind being in second place in his second sister’s eyes. He loved them both so it was really heartwarming for him when he sees how much Zi En loves Zi Yue.
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Taking Zi En over from Zi Yue, he carried her to her own bedroom and tucked her in. Shaking his head with a smile, he switched off the lights and headed back to Zi Yue’s room to continue their conversation. It was one of the last few days he could spend talking to his sister after all.
——
The past two days, Zi Yue bustled to and fro trying to settle any last-minute duties and spend time with her family members, treasuring the time before she left. The weird feeling of deja-vu hit her again but she could not put her finger on when she had experienced this before. Odd.
Today was the final day and she had woken up especially early. Rising out of bed, she slowly washed up and proceeded to take a stroll around the house. Looking at the place she had lived in for the past 18 years, she wanted to take it all in and retain it in her memory, knowing that it would be a while before she would be here again.
Now that it was time to head out, she did not feel as excited as she was initially. It was a weird feeling. She wanted to leave but there was this feeling of longing as well. It finally hit her that she was really going to be leaving this comfortable abode in a few hours times.
——
“Big Sister, you have to write to me, you promised! I will miss you…” Zi En had finally accepted the fact that her sister would be leaving after Zi Yue had promised countless of times that she would write wherever she was.
Hugging Zi En tightly once more, Zi Yue stepped back and took one last look at everyone. It would be a while before she’d see them again. She was very lucky to have grown up in a warm and loving family and to have their support in her decisions. They may have been initially unwilling and against this idea, but right now, she knew that they stand behind her decision and supports her.
Because they are family.
“Take care everyone! I will be back a more mature and experienced person. Let’s go Lan Ying, Ye Yu.”
Waving their goodbyes, the trio set off.
——
Their destination was the main city of Bei Lian continent.
The three of them lived on the outskirts of town. It was odd that a family of such influence would be located in the outskirts but Zhao Yan and Meng Ling wanted to have their family grow up in their hometown instead of in the main city. The both of them grew up there, all their friends were there and most importantly, they met each other there. So they had lots of fond memories of that place and wanted their children to grow up there.
The main city of Bei Lian is not the same town that Zi Yue often sneaked out to. So it was their first time visiting the main city and it was exhilarating.
“Are you sure we have to get through this forest before being able to make it to the main city? I’m quite sure there was a shorter route there. Zi Yue? Zi Yue!”
“Huh? Sorry sorry, I wasn’t listening. I was trying to figure out how to use this map. I’m quite sure this map is wrong… The trees are the wrong shade of green…”
Fumbling with the map, she stared at it and frowned. This was the map her father had packed for her. She could not understand why it was not showing her the way. Did she take the wrong map by mistake?
Gaping at her, Lan Ying and Ye Yu looked at one another in bewilderment. They never knew that the genius cultivator was directionally challenged! Zi Yue had led the way so confidently and they had assumed she knew her way. It was only after walking for hours that they started suspecting something was wrong. Then she led them into the forest and they knew that they were walking in the wrong direction.
They regretted not checking the map themselves. It was too late for regrets now. It was quite certain that they were now lost.
Their journey had just started and they were already lost!
“Young Mistress, why don’t you hand me the map. It looks like it is going to be turning dark soon and we are not nearing the main city so why don’t you set up the camp with Lan Ying while I figure out where we are.”
“But I was so close to figuring out where we are. Just give me a while more!” Zi Yue did not want to give the map to Ye Yu. She did not want to believe that her direction sense was that bad.
“Oh, alright… Here you go. Have it. I do believe that the map is flawed. You’ll see what I mean.” Seeing the look on her friends’ faces, Zi Yue had no choice but to surrender the map over.
As Ye Yu took a look at the map, the girls busied themselves with setting up camp. The sun was setting and they would probably be sleeping out here tonight. They were a little worried about sleeping out in the forest because even though they were all individually strong, they were unsure of what lies in the forest.
They decided to take shifts to look out for danger while the other two sleeps. They may not have much experience travelling before but they were still cultivators after all. They knew how to protect themselves from dangers.
Rationing their food in case they end up stuck in the forest longer than they expect, they quickly ate their dinner and went to bed, with Ye Yu taking the first watch. Sleep was necessary for the long journey ahead.
——
Jolting awake, Zi Yue leapt to her feet. Lan Ying was already awake and Ye Yu was on high alert. They had sensed danger.
——
Hidden under the covers of the trees were six pairs of hungry eyes. And they were looking at the three humans.