Jian Li felt sad as she stroked her sheathed longsword. Her soul cultivation was the thing she was best at and most excited for, but now it had hit a wall.

She was no longer able to practice the third stage of the Jian Family Art.

"Have you been to the dining hall yet?", Jian Ye abruptly said as 'a realization dawned on her.

Jian Li shook her head in response. None of them had eaten since they left the village. They had been too busy.

"Then let's go. Even if you don't need to eat as often due to the worldly energy you store inside, remember eating good food could have the effect of calming your mind.", Jian Ye said with a guilty look.

Now that Jian Li thought about it, she had rarely even seen her eldest sister eat.

"Come on then.", Jian Ye said, and both Jian Li and Jian Chen nodded their heads.

Jian Chen silently looked at Jian Ye though, who seemed distracted, as the three of them walked out of the room with Jian Ye taking the lead.

The dining hall was enormous, filled with people of all shapes and sizes. As Jian Chen and Jian Li walked in, some people nearby immediately started whispering and the dining hall fell silent.

Even Jian Ye seemed startled, as she looked around. Jian Li and Jian Chen were confused, but didn't comment. Jian Li felt uncomfortable, but Jian Chen's grip on her hand tightened, trying to give her some comfort.

All of a sudden, someone stood up from a table laughing and everyone snapped their heads in the direction of the loud laughter. Jian Li saw the young man fighting on the stage while he was outnumbered from before, who had begun laughing.

Slowly, people started to turn their attention away and started to speak with eachother again. As he stopped laughing, it seemed like he was deliberately looking in her direction.

Jian Li felt a chill run down her spine, and she squeezed Jian Chen's hand even tighter.

Jian Chen, Jian Li and Jian Ye quickly found a lone table close to a window and sat themselves down. Jian Ye immediately began requesting two bowls of soup and two plates of noodles. Jian Chen and Jian Li also ordered their fairly simple meals.

"There's something I need to discuss with you two.", Jian Ye said after the food arrived.

"Alright.", Jian Chen replied. Jian Li remained silent, having a slight idea of what her eldest sister wanted to talk about. She still hadn't told them what she had done earlier.

"While I was gone, a few things happened.", Jian Ye said, a worried look on her face.

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"What happened?", Jian Chen asked, concerned.

"First of all, Wen has been acting strange.", Jian Ye said seriously. "I've tried remotely talking to him, but he's still not talking."

Jian Li raised her eyebrows. She felt curious as to why her eldest brother decided to ignore Jian Ye. He would probably ignore anyone else if he was busy, but even ignoring Jian Ye seemed suspicious.

"It's probably nothing, we've barely been gone for a day and he could be busy with his usual forging. You know how dense he usually gets.", Jian Chen said.

"And more importantly, there was the other matter too...", Jian Ye said.

"What other matter?", Jian Li asked, now even more curious.

"There was a man who had visited the headquarters today.", Jian Ye said.

She took a brief pause as she waved her hand.

Quickly, a faint barrier of light encasing the three of them appeared. Jian Li felt like she was put in bubble as the sounds outside of it became muffled.

"And he is one of the people that Meng Liang sent for me since might be able to help with our father's ailment. He has an expertise in Dark Arts like the one that struck father. He Jian also told me that one of the other people that Meng Liang sent to help me, had been killed on the way."

"And then?", Jian Chen asked.

"He Jian told me that if I wanted to find out more about people like him, I should go and see Han Zhi, the sect leader of the Wind and Thunder Sect. But first I'll go back to the village with He Jian and visit father so that he could inspect him in person. Maybe he'll be able to help him somehow. But he highly doubts it.", Jian Ye said, her tone becoming grave.

"Do you know how long you'll be gone this time?", Jian Chen asked.

"At least a week, maybe two. I'll try to come back as soon as possible.", Jian Ye said.

"Alright. When you come back, we'll be waiting for you.", Jian Chen said.

A strange feeling overcame as she looked at Jian Ye. She felt like Jian Ye was still holding something back, but she would wait until Jian Ye was willing to tell what it was herself.

"Jian Li, what's wrong?", Jian Chen asked, looking at Jian Li with concern.

"It's nothing.", Jian Li said. "Before I forget, I've arranged an Elder I trust to take care of you in my absence. Her name is He Yu. She is one of the most reliable people I know, so you're in safe hands."

"Alright. If she is good enough for you, then she'll be more than good enough for us.", Jian Chen said.

"I also have something for both of you.", Jian Ye said, making a small jade box appear from thin air.

"What is it?", Jian Li asked.

Jian Ye opened the box and inside the box were two of the tablets that one of the Elders earlier on had used to contact someone else. The only difference was that the ones Jian Ye had in the box were a lot smaller.

"It's a transmission tablet. I'll be able to contact you and send you a message from anywhere. I was only able to get two one-way transmission tablets on short notice though, so you'll just have to wait for me to initiate the contact. But always keep it close to you.", Jian Ye said.

The faint barrier of light started to fade away and the rest of the dining room began to sound normal again.

"Thank you so much, Ye.", Jian Chen said, smiling.

"That's right. You're both my younger siblings. I'm going to take care of you and protect you, so don't be afraid. I'll be back before you two know it.", Jian Ye said with a smile that was slightly off.

"Why are you smiling like that?", Jian Li asked.

"I'm just happy to know that you'll wait for me.", Jian Ye said.

The two of them smiled back at Jian Ye.

Even though the both of them knew that Jian Ye was intentionally holding off on some important details, they trusted her enough to know that it was probably for their own good.