Chapter 85
The Jade Snow Wanderer and Liyeon recuperated in the cave for a while.
The Jade Snow Wanderer needed to recover the true qi she had expended, while Liyeon needed to take care of his body, which had only just recovered.
The two of them talked a great deal while staying in the cave. Liyeon told the Jade Snow Wanderer everything that had happened to him, especially everything concerning his illness, without leaving anything out. After hearing the whole story, the Jade Snow Wanderer tilted her head in puzzlement.
“Strange. No matter how much yin qi one possesses, it should not be enough to enchant people. If that were the case, the disciples of our sect should also be going around enchanting people, but there have never been any such cases.”
“…….”
“It seems somewhat similar to a Mind-Seizing Technique, which can control a person’s mind. Just to ask, you have never learned such a technique, have you?”
Liyeon answered immediately.
“No. This has been happening since I was young.”
“Hmm…”
The Jade Snow Wanderer remained silent for a moment as though deep in thought, then shook her head.
“I have absolutely no idea about that either. Perhaps it has something to do with the yin qi within you continuously increasing, but I have no idea how to resolve it.”
“…….”
Liyeon lowered his head in disappointment.
The Jade Snow Wanderer stared intently at him before suddenly taking something out from within her robes and holding it out.
A white silk strip lay in the Jade Snow Wanderer’s hand.
“However, once you can freely control your yin qi and improve your constitution, it may get somewhat better. Until then, cover your eyes with this.”
“What is this…?”
“It is cloth woven from white gold silk. It is used to make the White Gold Pibeak, one of our sect’s divine weapons. I had some scraps left over, so I kept them. People outside cannot see through it, but you can see out from within, so it will be good for covering your eyes.”
Liyeon carefully accepted the strip.
The strip resting on his hand had virtually no weight at all, as though it were there and yet not there.
Liyeon fiddled with the strip before speaking.
“Thank you, Master.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer merely nodded.
Afterward, the Jade Snow Wanderer passed down the Snow Mountain Sect’s internal energy cultivation method to Liyeon.
His proper training would be more effective once they returned to the main sect and he could train in the cold environment there, but he first needed to learn how to circulate his yin qi in order to resolve the yin qi within his body.
Fortunately, Liyeon learned quickly. He was intelligent to begin with, but more than anything, his constitution was highly compatible with the Snow Mountain Sect’s cultivation method.
When he circulated his qi according to the essential formula, his body became lighter and his mind clearer. Furthermore, thanks to the Jade Snow Wanderer having opened his Eight Extraordinary Meridians beforehand, the yin qi accumulated within his body circulated through his meridians without obstruction. Naturally, it was only to be expected that Liyeon’s progress would be rapid.
The Jade Snow Wanderer was delighted by her disciple’s progress as though it were her own and said,
“At this rate, you might surpass me before you even reach thirty. The Snow Mountain Sect will have produced a prodigy.”
Liyeon was both embarrassed and pleased. At the same time, he found himself thinking of Seo Dan.
‘You would be happy too if you knew about this, wouldn’t you?’
After discovering the bloodstained veil… Although he had been confused at the time, thinking Seodan was dead, after spending a long time in the cave and calming his mind, he began to think differently.
He still could not be certain that Seodan was dead. The only thing they had found there was the bloodstained veil.
They had not found Seodan’s traditional hat, his clothes, his token, or even his corpse, had they?
If they had found a corpse, Liyeon would have given up. But since they had not, he did not want to give up. Just as Seo Dan had never given up on him, Liyeon wanted to believe that Seo Dan was still alive.
‘Then where could you be?’
Seven days later, the two of them left the cave.
Normally, they would have gone straight to the Snow Mountain Sect’s main headquarters, bowed before the ancestral tablets, and formally announced that Liyeon had become a disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect. But Liyeon earnestly pleaded with the Jade Snow Wanderer.
“I want to search for that child a little longer. My father’s sworn brother is there, and if I ask him, he may be able to find him easily.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer was troubled, but thinking of her one and only disciple, she granted his request.
The two first went to Jiangxi Province. As originally planned, Liyeon intended to stop by the Xiao-song Trading Company branch in Jiangxi Province. He might be looking for him there, or perhaps Seo Dan, if he had survived, might have fled there for refuge.
However, what greeted the two of them was the completely burned-down building of the Xiao-song Trading Company.
Liyeon was flustered and grabbed people nearby to ask.
“Here, this Xiao-song Trading Company… was there a fire? When did this happen? Why is it like this?”
“Did you just come out of some mountain or something? You don’t know about the Xiao Family Calamity?”
“The Xiao Family… what?”
Afterward, Liyeon heard an unbelievable story.
“Right after the Xiao Family was attacked by the Demonic Cult, the Xiao-song Trading Company branches in every region simultaneously went up in flames. People talked about it for quite some time. When the Xiao-song Trading Company burned down, quite a few of the homes beside it were damaged as well.”
“…….”
“Anyway, those Demonic Cult bastards are truly vicious. Even though the Xiao-song Trading Company was under the Xiao Family, they wiped them all out without leaving a single one behind…”
‘The Demonic Cult.’
Liyeon’s hand trembled helplessly.
He had never imagined that even the Xiao-song Trading Company his father had spent his entire life building would disappear like this.
When he investigated afterward, it was exactly as the man had said. The Xiao-song Trading Company branches scattered throughout the Central Plains had turned to ash and vanished in an instant. People cursed the Demonic Cult unanimously, but at the same time, they kept their heads down, afraid that the sparks might reach them as well.
Liyeon also heard another astonishing piece of news around the same time.
The young master of the Namgung Family had disappeared.
According to the rumors, after the So Family was annihilated, the young master, devastated by the death of his sworn brother, had charged alone into the Demonic Cult.
Liyeon did not believe the rumor. He was not foolish enough to act so recklessly.
‘There must be some reason.’
However, he had no way of knowing what that reason was, and he could not immediately meet him and ask for his help either.
Thus, Liyeon could only feel troubled.
After that, Liyeon and the Jade Snow Wanderer wandered throughout various parts of the Central Plains. They stopped by every branch of the Xiao-song Trading Company in case there was someone connected to the Xiao Family, and in every village they visited, they asked around about Seodan.
Just in case, they even went to Hefei and searched the surrounding area. But Seodan was nowhere. They could not find him anywhere.
After about a month had passed like that, the Jade Snow Wanderer said,
“It would be best to stop searching now.”
By then, Liyeon was extremely exhausted. He had never expected Seodan to be this difficult to find.
As time passed, Liyeon became increasingly unstable. His body itself was fine because he never stopped practicing, but there had been more than one or two occasions when he became distracted while circulating his qi and put himself in danger. After this happened several times, the Jade Snow Wanderer could no longer simply stand by and watch.
In the end, she was the one who brought it up first. Naturally, Liyeon did not want to listen.
“N-No. If we look just a little longer, just a little longer, we will be able to find him. He must be alive. He cannot be dead…”
“I did not say he was dead. I also believe that the person precious to you is alive.”
“Then!”
“But look at your condition.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer spoke sternly.
“You have fallen into danger several times because you allowed stray thoughts to enter your mind while circulating your qi. There was even a time when your qi reversed its course, and you nearly suffered a serious accident. Are you truly in a normal state right now?”
“…….”
“Right now, you are no different from the other disciples of our sect who have fallen into an inner demon. What did I say I would do if you went any further and brought harm to the sect?”
The Jade Snow Wanderer’s voice became pleading.
“Do you truly wish for me to expel you from the sect with my own hands?”
Liyeon said nothing. However, as though those words had brought him back to his senses, his clouded eyes became clear.
Only then did the Jade Snow Wanderer speak gently.
“Yeon, I am not telling you to stop searching for him for the rest of your life. I come out to the Central Plains once a year, so you can come with me and search for him then. And once you have grown strong enough, you may even go out into the martial world alone.”
“…….”
“I mean that you should not be so impatient. If that child is alive, you will be able to meet him someday. Is he not searching for you as well?”
‘…Searching for me?’
Liyeon suddenly remembered Seo Dan’s words. The words the child had spoken before they parted.
What had he said while trying to comfort Liyeon, who hated himself?
“I’ll definitely come back. No matter what happens, even if it takes a very long time. I’ll come back to your side no matter what.”
In other words.
“Until then… can you wait for me?”
Only then did Liyeon lower his head. The tears he had been holding back flowed down his cheeks.
“…I understand.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer silently patted Liyeon’s shoulder.
The two soon decided to leave for the Great Snow Mountain.
The unfortunate part was that the Great Snow Mountain was in the Western Regions, far from the Central Plains. They would not be able to come out as often because of the distance, but it was fortunate that they would at least be able to stay for a long time whenever they did come out.
Liyeon followed the Jade Snow Wanderer and mounted a horse. Then, suddenly, he looked up at the sky.
‘Are you looking at this same sky too?’
He intended to do his best.
He would do his best to become healthy and do his best to become strong.
So when they met again, he would have changed so much that even Seodan would hardly recognize him.
He would make sure that Seo Dan would never be reminded of his weak old self.
‘When that time comes, I will be the one first.’
I will protect you.
Liyeon turned his head and looked ahead once more.
Then, with a resolute heart, he took hold of the reins.
At the same time, he earnestly prayed in his heart.
‘I will wait for you. I’ll wait no matter how long it takes, so please…’
Please be safe…
Only the heavens knew whether his heart had reached him.
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