Chapter 26: The Severed Dragon at the Hanging Cliff

Tang Yi was left utterly bewildered and stunned by the events that had just transpired. He had learned that Hua Ruoxue’s parents had both died by suicide. Now, if Tang Yi wanted to save someone, he would have to reveal himself, but doing so would inevitably cause a butterfly effect, creating consequences beyond his control. Tang Yi could only fret helplessly, not daring to tell Hua Ruoxue the truth right now.

“We’ve repaid the life we owed you, but since we have known each other, I ask you, Brother Tianwei, to do me one last favor—please, take our only child, Ruoxue, to her grandmother. This is my final plea to you… Wan, I’m coming…” With these words, Qin Dongxiu breathed her last, collapsing onto Hua Liwan’s body.

Chu Tianwei gazed at the corpses of the two on the rooftop, his eyes growing dim. He murmured, “Ya’er, I’ve avenged you, I’ve avenged you. I should be happy, so why… why am I not? Not at all… Ha… I should be happy, I want to be happy. I must be happy…” Tears began to fall as he spoke.

“Is this revenge? Is it really revenge?” Chu Tianwei muttered to himself as he ran off, ignoring the bodies on the rooftop. He was lost in despair. Standing in the street, he suddenly drew the great sword from his back, looked up to the sky, and shouted, “Ya’er, I’m coming to find you!” Then he died by his own hand.

“What the hell is this? They all killed themselves…” Tang Yi was thoroughly frustrated. He hadn’t figured out the situation, and now everyone was dead, leaving behind three corpses.

“Just my luck, coming here to clean up bodies for people from over a decade ago. It’s surely unprecedented.” Tang Yi carried the corpses up the mountain, stomped the ground to create two graves—one large, one small—burying Hua Ruoxue’s parents together and Chu Tianwei beside them. After arranging the bodies, Tang Yi was about to cover them when something struck him.

“Wait, after all, you are Ruoxue’s parents, I can’t just bury you so casually. And you, Chu Tianwei, though I don’t know your relationship with the other two, I doubt you were enemies. Consider yourself lucky to rest beside them. It’s only right that I give you all a proper burial.” With that, Tang Yi got to work. After three hours, the two graves—one large, one small—were completed, all made of stone. They would have been finished much earlier, but the inscriptions on the tombstones took Tang Yi a long time to figure out, since the current Song Dynasty used traditional script, and he had to search his mind for the right characters. Standing before the larger grave, Tang Yi put his hands together and bowed in respect.

“All right, as your future son-in-law, I have fulfilled my filial duty. As for you, Chu Tianwei… well, let’s leave it at that. The dead are gone, and the matter is settled.” Tang Yi spoke to the graves.

…

The next morning, Tang Yi went to Hua Ruoxue’s room to tell her about the events of the previous night.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I was so stunned at the time, I didn’t know to try and save your parents…” Tang Yi blamed himself.

“Please don’t say that, Brother Tang. It’s not your fault. Didn’t you say you brought me here just to see my parents, not to interfere? Yet you still tried to help. I know you have a kind heart. Now, could you take me to my parents’ graves? I’d like to pay my respects.” Ruoxue spoke calmly.

“Ruoxue, seeing you so composed puts my mind at ease. Let’s go now!” Tang Yi took Hua Ruoxue’s hand and headed for the door. Just as they stepped outside, Tang Yi suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no, what about little Ruoxue? Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll take you to the cemetery first, then I’ll handle little Ruoxue’s situation.” With that, he led Hua Ruoxue back into the room, locking the door behind them. In the blink of an eye, he transported Hua Ruoxue to the graves.

“Spend some time with your parents, I’ll be right back,” Tang Yi said.

“All right, be careful!” Hua Ruoxue nodded.

“Don’t worry, who do you think your Brother Tang is? There’s no one in this world who can harm me!” With those words, Tang Yi vanished.

Hua Ruoxue knelt silently before her parents’ graves, unaware that her body was flickering briefly, as if she might disappear from the world at any moment.

…

Tang Yi arrived at the Hua residence and grabbed a servant. “Where is the little girl of this household now?”

“Who are you? Are you also looking for our young mistress? Haven’t you seen that the whole Hua household is in chaos, searching for her?” the servant retorted.

“What? Your young mistress is missing? What’s going on? Oh, I’m a friend of your master!” Tang Yi explained, anxious but taking the time to clarify.

“Oh, it’s like this: This morning we found that both the master and mistress were gone, and the young mistress cried, wanting to find her parents. While searching, she too disappeared.”

“I see, I’ll help you look for her.” With that, Tang Yi turned and went back to the inn. The servant found him odd, but since he claimed to be the master’s friend and was helping to search, he couldn’t be a bad person. He resumed his own search for little Hua Ruoxue.

Tang Yi returned to his room, closed the door, and told the innkeeper he wanted a good rest and not to be disturbed.

Tang Yi sat in a chair, eyes tightly shut, unleashing his superpower to its fullest. This ability was even more useful than the divine sense of immortals. Now, Tang Yi could sense every creature within a hundred miles, even feeling the grass, trees, flowing water, and gentle breezes with perfect clarity. The impressions were like a three-dimensional, colorful movie playing in his mind.

He sensed Hua Ruoxue at the cemetery, kneeling motionless, her eyes wet with tears. He noticed she flickered in and out of existence from time to time—not because she was using her invisibility power, but because little Ruoxue was in danger. If anything happened to little Ruoxue, the future Ruoxue would cease to exist. Tang Yi had to find her quickly.

On a mountain west of the town, called Broken Dragon Mountain, there was a long cliff known as Broken Dragon Cliff. At the edge of this cliff, little Ruoxue was running, pursued by a three-legged wolf. Luckily, it only had three legs; if it were a healthy four-legged wolf, she would have been its breakfast already.

Little Ruoxue ran and cried, “Father, Mother, where are you? A three-legged dog is chasing me—it wants to bite me. Boo-hoo…” She stumbled and fell, and the wolf drew closer. Ignoring the new wound on her foot, Ruoxue scrambled up and ran again. But she was only eight years old, hadn’t eaten breakfast, and grew slower as she ran. Finally, the three-legged wolf caught up, biting a chunk out of her right calf.

“Aaah!” Ruoxue screamed, kicking desperately at the wolf’s head with her left foot. The wolf recoiled in pain, then butted her with its head, knocking little Ruoxue off the cliff…