Chapter 169: Yu Ans Gift (2/2)
Due to the events that happened during their ceasefire, the Divine Sword sect had lost all of their allies and were blacklisted from joining any of the major events in the country. Only under the royal court's supervision were the Divine Sword sect and Chaos sect allowed to participate in the royal court's annual tournaments.
...
After a moment to lament the loss of her friend, the Matriarch continued speaking,
”Back then, the Divine Sword sect's crimes were just rumors. Xiao Jianhong was never a part of the Black Paradise sect so I could never ask him about it myself. The only time I could see him was when he came to visit Yu An. Yu An knew how I felt about him, so one day she gave me a gift, and convinced me to do something bold. Unfortunately, that was the day when the Divine Sword sect's crimes came to light. When my mother caught us, she expelled Yu An, blacklisted Xiao Jianhong, and put me under confinement in my own home for several years. I never heard from either of them again.”
Truth was, the Matriarch did see Xiao Jianhong at least once a year because of the annual tournaments, but she couldn't muster up the courage to ask him what happened to Yu An.
Li Lian felt her heart ache when she heard how tragically the Matriarch's story ended. The worst thing about it was that Li Lian knew how things played out, but she couldn't tell the Matriarch about it otherwise she'd be exposing a dangerous secret.
The carriage became awkwardly quiet. The Matriarch only wanted to build a trusting relationship with Li Lian, but she ended up over sharing her past with her.
Li Lian was reluctant to let the story end this way, so she hesitantly gave the Matriarch a clue.
”Master... now that you're the Matriarch of the Black Paradise sect, can't you go visit him?”
The Matriarch shook her head.
”No one really knows what's going on in that sect, but from what I've been told, Xiao Jianhong already married the Patriarch's daughter of the Chaos sect.”
Despite knowing this, the Matriarch didn't seem upset at all. She continued speaking,
”Besides, the reason Yu An convinced me to sleep with him that day was to teach me a valuable lesson. My love for him was just an illusion. I never really loved him, I just wanted to sleep with him.”
Li Lian felt like her master's words were directed at her, but Li Lian knew that she deeply loved Xiao Fang, and didn't just love him for the sex. She had gone through months without sleeping in the same bed as him, but her feelings for him remained the same. Even if he was to lose his cultivation and become a cripple from the waist down, she still wouldn't love him any less. She thought about Xiao Fang everyday, and she knew he did the same.
”Master, you said that Yu An left you a gift?”
”Did I say that? I suppose she did, but I wouldn't call it a gift.”
Li Lian tilted her head curiously, but the Matriarch didn't explain. The gift Yu An gave her wasn't a gift, but a curse. Yu An gave her a complete Dual Cultivation method book and in all this time she was never able to get rid of it. It was the one thing she had that reminded her of Yu An. What the Matriarch didn't know was that it was the last remaining complete Dual Cultivation book in the country since the annihilation of the Dual Cultivation sect.
”Anyways, enough about me. I'd like to meet your fiancé, can it be arranged?”
”O-Of course, if that's what Master wants.”
”Good, I can't wait to meet him.”
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