Mo Yuhan's grandfather plummeted from the sky.
He had been inside the spatial world, yet the moment he struck the ground, he was no longer within it — he had fallen into the real world.
At the same time, his son's corpse landed beside him.
And now, Long Xiaoxiao's Master — who had been bound moments ago — had regained her freedom.
As it happened, the very instant her restraints vanished, she witnessed the sight of Mo Yuhan's grandfather crashing to the earth.
She froze, her expression still twisted with fury, but the emotion in her eyes was unmistakable — disbelief.
The moment she was freed, her intention had been to find Mo Yuhan's grandfather, to stop him, to berate him.
But she had never expected that when she saw him again, he would already be dead.
"Why… why is it like this?"
"What happened?"
Long Xiaoxiao's Master descended to the ground and examined him carefully. Her disbelief gave way to reluctant acceptance, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
Regardless of what Mo Yuhan's grandfather had done, it could not change the fact that he had been her closest friend — a bond forged through life and death.
To have a dear friend suddenly die was something she could not accept.
But she was no fool. She quickly arrived at a likely explanation.
"Chu Feng?"
She looked in the direction where Chu Feng was, and she could still see his every movement.
She knew Chu Feng had not done this himself, but she knew it had to be connected to him.
There was undoubtedly someone guarding him from the shadows.
"Foolish. Utterly foolish."
Long Xiaoxiao's Master gazed at Mo Yuhan's grandfather's corpse and closed her eyes.
This was not the outcome she had wanted, but things had reached this point, and she knew nothing could be undone.
Chu Feng bore no fault in this matter, nor did the person behind him. The only one at fault was Mo Yuhan's grandfather, undone by a momentary lapse into darkness.
Even as his closest friend, she could not side with him on the matter of right and wrong — so the thought of vengeance had never once crossed her mind.
She kept the matter quiet and brought Mo Yuhan's grandfather, along with Mo Yuhan's father's body, to Mo Yuhan.
But Long Xiaoxiao's Master did not mention that her grandfather's death might be connected to Chu Feng.
She simply told her that her grandfather had offended someone whom none of them could afford to cross — someone whose true identity remained a mystery.
Mo Yuhan's reaction, however, was remarkably calm.
Though she was clearly grieving — tears falling without cease — she did not make a scene, nor did she shout, nor did she press for clues about the person who had killed her grandfather and father. She simply wept, and with trembling hands, she put away the bodies of her grandfather and father.
"Yuhan, I know this is hard to accept, but things being what they are, we must face reality. You should try to bear your grief."
"If you're willing, you may stay by my side. What I mean is… if you're willing to become my disciple, you can become my disciple, and I will pass on everything I know to you."
"If you'd rather not, I will still look after you as though you were my own granddaughter, and I can pass on my skills to you as well," Long Xiaoxiao's Master said.
Mo Yuhan spoke, and when she did, her voice was hoarse.
"Senior, please don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"Grandfather told me long ago that what he did could bring misfortune upon him at any moment, and that I needed to be prepared."
"But I suppose I'm quite useless. I had told myself so many times that this day might come, yet when it actually arrived, it was nothing like I had imagined. I couldn't control my emotions at all."
"Grandfather always said that no matter how many bad things, how many wrong things Father had done, he was still his son, and he didn't want to lose him."
"I didn't understand before, because I had no real bond with Father."
"But now I understand…"
At this point, Mo Yuhan finally broke into sobs — deep, wrenching cries that tore from her very core. Tears streamed down her cheeks like raindrops, falling onto her body and the ground.
Seeing Mo Yuhan like this, Long Xiaoxiao's Master did not know what to say. She knew that at a time like this, no words of comfort would help.
The pain of losing a loved one was something only those who had lost could truly understand — and was she not enduring that same pain herself?
But she also knew that the pain she bore was nothing compared to Mo Yuhan's.
Mo Yuhan's mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to her, and her father had fallen into a half-dead state. It was Mo Yuhan's grandfather who had raised her single-handedly.
He taught her to walk, taught her to read, taught her to cultivate martial arts.
He was her only anchor — her only family.
…
Deep into the night, Mo Yuhan departed.
Long Xiaoxiao's Master knew, but she did not step forward to stop her. She understood that this was Mo Yuhan's own choice.
But there was another pair of eyes watching Mo Yuhan.
The white-haired woman and the red-robed woman.
The red-robed woman had split off from the white-haired woman to escape separately.
She had initially assumed she was doomed — after all, the enemy had already left a mark on her — but she later discovered that her pursuer had no intention of chasing her down.
Worried that the enemy might have gone after the white-haired woman, she hurried back to find her, only to discover that the white-haired woman was also safe and sound.
They had let them go? That was clearly abnormal.
Confused, she returned once more.
And all she witnessed was the scene of Long Xiaoxiao's Master handing Mo Yuhan's grandfather's body over to Mo Yuhan.
"It seems that kid Chu Feng is no ordinary character."
"My intervention turned out to be completely unnecessary," the red-robed woman said with a self-deprecating laugh.
What Long Xiaoxiao's Master had deduced was the same conclusion she had reached — she too believed the person responsible was connected to Chu Feng.
"But… he seems to know nothing about it," the white-haired woman said, looking in Chu Feng's direction.
"Perhaps that person simply doesn't want him to know," the red-robed woman replied.