25 Masked Experts (1/2)
Wang Xiaoyun was quiet for some time, pondering the question. ”I don't know,” she said after careful consideration.
”I have no real goal in life. I obviously want to become a great Primordial Beast Hunter and bring fame and honor to my family, but other than that I have no wishes.”
”Perhaps I was waiting for the knight in shining armor riding the white horse to appear in front of me,” she sighed. Just as she had spoken, Xue Wei raised an eyebrow and laughed. ”do you want me to find a white horse to be eligible for your love?” he asked teasingly, but Wang Xiaoyun just snickered. ”I would love to see you on a horse, I wonder if you are even able to stay seated on one!”
”I will let you know that horseback riding is not needed.” Xue Wei grinned back, the two of them teasing one another. ”We are cultivators. We can ride mortal horses, but they are not very fast. As soon as we become Earth Warriors, our speed will outstrip them, but until then a few people will ride horses I guess.”
”Also, it is much more impressive to come riding on a Fierce Beast than any mortal horse. Why don't you imagine your hero on some sort of Fierce Beast rather than a white horse?”
Xue Wei was teasing Wang Xiaoyun, and both of them laughed. It did not take long before Wang Xiaoyun also laid down and allowed for the soft green grass in the park to act as a comfortable blanket.
Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun smiled at one another. They talked about random things, but neither approached the topic that made them the most worried.
The rest of the day was spent in bliss for the two; they spent a long time on the grass in the park just talking with one another, and the rest of the day was spent strolling the bustling city's busy streets.
”Are you available tomorrow?” Xue Wei asked hesitatingly as they were about to part. It was once again dark, and it was clear that Wang Xiaoyun had to return to the Wayfarers' caravan as soon as possible, but neither of them wished to be away from one another.
Wang Xiaoyun nodded her head and said nothing. She knew that he wanted to spend more time with her, but she was also aware that it was not possible for the two of them to be together. She was after all a Wayfarer, and he was not.
Wayfarers married other Wayfarers to ensure that their bloodline was as powerful as possible. Although the Wayfarers seemed few and far between, there were more than a million of them. Every ten years, all Wayfarers would gather to hold a celebration, and this was the location where most of them would get married.
Watching Xue Wei vanish into the distance, Wang Xiaoyun shook her head. ”Still, I cannot stop myself from loving him,” she sighed, but the moment she had said that a cackling sound came from just beside her, shocking her deeply and causing her to tremble.
The cackling sound was Grandma Meng. ”Young one, sometimes tradition is not everything,” she said half seriously, half laughing. ”Others have left the Wayfarer community before for the sake of marrying normal people.”
”But grandma, I am the young miss of this tribe. If I leave, who will take over? Father only has me as a child,” she interjected, but she could feel how her voice was weak and her eyes darted away.
She was tempted to give up the life of a Wayfarer and live a casual and carefree life together with Xue Wei, but her family ties had made her feel torn, and ultimately she knew that she could not let her parents and family down.
Even though she had fallen in love, love was one thing but responsibility was another. She could not shy away from her duty as the young miss of the Wayfarer caravan, and thus her only option was to give up on love.
”Well, don't worry too much,” Grandma Meng smiled, but her smile contained a trace of pity. ”Why don't you just look forward to tomorrow and make sure to enjoy yourself as long as it lasts? I am sure that this young man is not stupid. He would never ask you to give up your family for his sake.”
Just as Grandma Meng was about to leave, another shadow appeared in front of the two women. This time, it was the seventeen-year-old boy who had been seen earlier this morning trying to hold back Wang Xiaoyun from going with Xue Wei.
”Finally back?” he asked, his voice cold and his eyes dark with anger. ”What does it matter to you?” Wang Xiaoyun asked defiantly while turning around to leave, but the young man caught her by the wrist again and started scolding her.
”I might not be your real brother, but I have seen you grow up. What do you think you are doing, throwing away all honor and good name that we Wayfarers have by running around chasing that guy everywhere?”
”Did you not know, he was considered trash for so long. It is as if this City itself is incapable of getting past the surprise that he is not scum of society, but you, you just throw yourself in his arms, lay down in the park to chat with him and send him long glances as if the world revolves around him.”
”This is truly not acceptable. Your father is not here, but he would ground you if he were!”
Hearing the scolding, Wang Xiaoyun's face turned paler and paler with each passing word. She started trembling with anger and did everything in her power to drag her arm back, but no matter what she tried, it didn't help. The boy in front of her was a real Wayfarer, and one who had had his bloodline activated more than a year ago. He was by now an Earth Warrior of the seventh layer, and he was many times stronger than the woman in front of him.
Wang Xiaoyun's face contorted, and she sneered back at him, ”You are not my father, and as you said, you are not my older brother. Who do you think you are telling me what I can and cannot do?”