Three figures soared through the sky.
Ji Yao's hatred for Shi Tianhe's weakness showed in her frequent glances, each one sharp with frustration. Shi Tianhe, having just endured a great trauma, had survived but lost all spirit. Her expression was hollow and melancholic — if not for a single lingering wish keeping her tethered, she might have had no will to go on at all.
"Master, you should have killed that man who betrayed and abandoned her back then! Why did you spare his life!"
After half a day of flying, Ji Yao finally broke her silence — and her first words were drenched in killing intent, clearly still brooding over the fact that Dong Hai had been wounded yet allowed to live.
Yang Kai shook his head without responding.
"Master?" Shi Tianhe started in surprise, staring blankly at Yang Kai. She cupped her fists and bowed. "Tianhe greets this senior. May I ask your name?"
She had been lost in her own thoughts the entire time and had only just now remembered to ask about Yang Kai's identity. Moreover, the way Third Martial Aunt addressed him struck her as strange.
Third Martial Aunt was a disciple of Ice Heart Valley. Shouldn't her master be the founding ancestor of Ice Heart Valley? Why would she call a man "Master"?
"What senior or no senior — this is the Grand Ancestor. Are you blind?" Ji Yao said through gritted teeth, seething inside. Back in the day, she had been expelled from the sect by Eldest Martial Sister over a man, and now the Grand Ancestor was standing right in front of her and she couldn't even recognize him.
If that wasn't blindness, what was it?
How could Eldest Martial Sister have taken in such a disciple?
"Grand Ancestor..." Shi Tianhe was stunned, her eyes widening as she stared at Yang Kai, unable to fathom what sort of Grand Ancestor he could possibly be.
Yang Kai secretly transmitted his voice: "Tianhe, your Third Martial Aunt has apparently suffered some kind of breakdown during her years away. Her mind isn't quite right — she's mistaken me for Senior Bing Yun. I can't very well correct her, fearing she might spiral again. I'm escorting her back to Ice Heart Valley now, and once she sees Senior Bing Yun, she'll come to her senses. Play along for now and don't give anything away."
Shi Tianhe was taken aback. She never would have guessed that her seemingly perfectly normal Third Martial Aunt had actually lost her mind. Mistaking a man for the Grand Ancestor — that was no small issue.
She was sharp, however, and quickly composed herself. She bowed respectfully. "This disciple was blind. Please forgive me, Grand Ancestor."
"Hmph!" Ji Yao let out a cold snort, looking away dismissively.
Shi Tianhe could only smile bitterly. But her expression quickly changed again. "Grand Ancestor, did you and Third Martial Aunt only just return from the Northern Domain?"
Yang Kai asked curiously, "How did you know?"
Shi Tianhe replied, "Then you don't know what's happened to the sect?"
Ji Yao frowned. "What happened to the sect?"
Shi Tianhe's face went pale. "The sect... has been surrounded. In the Northern Domain, many of our sisters who married outside the sect have been brutally killed. All of the sect's outlying bases have been destroyed. Now Ice Heart Valley itself is under siege — its destruction could come at any moment."
"What?!"
Both Yang Kai and Ji Yao's faces changed drastically.
Ji Yao erupted in fury. "Who did this?"
"The Questioning Heart Sect!" A flash of hatred burned in Shi Tianhe's eyes.
"The Questioning Heart Sect?" Ji Yao's lovely face darkened as she roared, "How dare they! Why would they do this to our Ice Heart Valley?"
Yang Kai's brow furrowed. A thought suddenly struck him — perhaps this had something to do with him.
With that in mind, he spoke up: "Tianhe, tell us everything from the beginning. We truly had no idea the sect was in such trouble."
"Yes!" Shi Tianhe immediately launched into a summary of what had transpired in the Northern Domain over the past few years.
Several years ago, when the Star Boundary's great event — the Shattered Star Sea — opened, the Questioning Heart Sect's Sect Master, Feng Xuan, had suddenly led a force to Ice Heart Valley. That day, the Questioning Heart Sect had gathered a formidable contingent and pressured Ice Heart Valley with overwhelming force. No one knew exactly what conflict arose, but the two sides fought a fierce battle outside the valley, and both suffered heavy losses.
From that day forward, Ice Heart Valley and the Questioning Sect had been like fire and water.
As time passed, the grudge between the two sects only deepened and widened. Many of Ice Heart Valley's disciples who had married outside the sect were tracked down and brutally killed by the Questioning Heart Sect. The valley's external holdings were also razed to the ground, and those forces connected to Ice Heart Valley suffered suppression and persecution as well.
Half a year ago, the Questioning Heart Sect had sent a massive force under Sect Master Feng Xuan's personal command to seize Ice Wheel City, cutting off all routes around Ice Heart Valley — an unmistakable show of intent to destroy the valley in one decisive blow.
Ice Wheel City was the closest major city to Ice Heart Valley and had been a stronghold of the sect since its very founding, serving as a vital hub connecting the valley to the outside world. The fact that even Ice Wheel City had fallen spoke volumes about the direness of the valley's situation.
Half a year had passed since then.
Fortunately, Ice Heart Valley possessed a Sect-Protecting Grand Array, which had allowed them to hold out until now.
"The Questioning Heart Sect and Ice Heart Valley are both first-rate sects of the Northern Domain, roughly equal in strength. Without an irreconcilable grudge, they would never have gone to war. Tianhe, do you know what the root cause was?" Yang Kai asked, his face grave.