Chapter 21
The Lotus Scent Had Vanished
When did it get to this point?
"'Attempt the Impossible'. Well, isn't she the perfect example!"
Wei Ying was only talking comfortably with Shijie.
"San-niang, what are you doing here?"
Also happily eating her lotus root and pork rib soup.
"What am 'I' doing here?" She derisively asked, her brows arched high. "What a laugh! I can't believe I'm being 'questioned' like this!"
Even joking around with Jiang Cheng, who woke up a day before.
"Does Jiang-zongzhu remember that 'I' am the mistress of Lotus Pier?" Yu-furen spat, her tone lacked sweetness, and resentful. "Do you remember that every inch of this land is part of 'my' domain? Do you remember which one is your 'daughter'?" She gestured at Wei Ying and Shijie. "The one lying in bed, or the one sitting there?!"
Jiang-shushu replied, his countenance grave. "Of course."
Yu-furen wore a contemptuous and mocking smile. "You most certainly do, but what difference does it make? There is not a single day that Wei Ying will rest until she stirs up some kind of trouble! If I had known, I would have made her stay in Lotus Pier properly and not go outside. Could Wen Chao really have dared to do anything to the two young masters of the Gusu Lan Clan and the Lanling Jin Clan? Even if he did, it would mean that they ran out of luck."
She eyes Wei Ying. "Since when was it your turn to play the hero?"
Whenever Jiang-shushu was present, Wei Ying was compelled to give Yu-furen face and not utter a single word in rebuttal, yet in her mind, she thought, 'Wouldn't dare to do anything to them? Sure, sure.'
"I've stated my case." Yu-furen concluded. "You can just wait... one day, she'll bring disaster on our family!"
Jiang-shushu rose to his feet. "Let's talk when we get back."
"Talk about what?" Yu-furen snapped. "Get back to where? I'll be talking about it right here! I have nothing to be ashamed of, anyways! A-Li, come over here."
Caught between her parents, Jiang Yanli hesitated for a moment before going to stand by her A-Niang's side.
Yu-furen grabbed her shoulders and pushed Shijie in front of Jiang-shushu.
"Jiang-zongzhu, it appears that, there are some things I have to say. Take a close look. This..." Jiang Yanli felt the grip on her shoulders tightening, "this is your own daughter, the future head of Lotus Pier. Even if you frown upon her just because I was the one who bore her, her surname is still Jiang!"
She released Jiang Yanli from the weight of her hands.
"I don't believe for one second that you haven't heard of how the outside people gossips..." Yu-furen said, "that, Jiang-zongzhu has still not moved on from a certain 'Sanren' despite so many years have passed, regarding the daughter of his old friend as a daughter of his own -- they're speculating if Wei Ying is your..."
Jiang-shushu shouted, "Yu Ziyuan!" interrupting her words.
Yu-furen reciprocated the exclamation with the same strong emotion, "Jiang Fengmian! Do you think that anything will change simply because you raised your voice?! Do you think that I don't know you?!"
Bam!
They left, still arguing.
"Jiang Fengmian! Why are you leaving?" She chuckles scornfully. "You're feeling guilty? It's unfortunate that the woman you loved chose another man! It is true, whether you like it or not!"
Yu-furen's furious and sarcastic voice only grew progressively louder as they walked away. Jiang-shushu argued back as well, forcibly suppressing his temper.
Jiang Cheng was frozen in place, speechless.
"..."
After a long pause, he cast a sneaky glance at Shijie.
Shijie has her head down and her lips pinched into a thin line. Her eyes trembled. Her hands balled, tightly clutching her lilac-pink robes.
Seeing this appearance, Jiang Cheng pressed himself forward, "A-Jie." he covered her shaking fists with his.
Don't be upset or mad at all.
She opens her mouth to respond to him, "A-Cheng, I'm alright."
Don't feel regret or sad at all.
"Shijie!" Wei Ying called, lugging her stiff, sore body out of bed to inch the distance between them.
"A-Ying," Shijie made an effort to soften her expression, "please get back to bed... you're still not well."
Jiang Yanli's a part of the Yunmeng Jiang Family.
"A-Jie, let's be open to each other." Jiang Cheng said. "You don't need to hide things from me!"
And she's fine, she is totally fine.
Wei Ying held her arm, "Shijie, don't believe those nonsensical rumors!"
She will stand on the side as 'they' shine.
Wei Ying reasoned, "Jiang-shushu is always strict with Shijie, that's because Shijie is his daughter, the future leader of the Jiang Clan!"
'I'm not fine.'
"I'm different. I'm someone else daughter, so..."
'I'm not fine.'
Jiang Yanli couldn't contain her emotions anymore.
The dam has broken.
The floodgates have opened.
"Fuqin is not strict with me. He just doesn't like me."
The two took an inward breath.
Jiang Yanli was also taken aback with her words. "I'm sorry. Please ignore what I just said--"
"Shijie! You're his daughter, of course Jiang-shushu likes you!" Wei Ying argued. "How can there be anyone who doesn't like his own daughter?"
Jiang Yanli is dubious.
She can't move Fuqin's feelings. She can't make his heart bloom.
"But it's true..."
Jiang Yanli felt as if she wasn't herself, as if she had been possessed by an unnamed spirit.
She seemed to have a hard time controlling her tongue.
"...He dislikes A-Niang, and thus dislikes me as well."
Jiang Yanli can't take another night up in her room, waiting for Fuqin's acknowledgement.
Wei Ying's eyes shook ever so slightly. "Shijie--!"
"Fuqin regards me as a coward. Unfit to lead. He believes I am unworthy of my title."
Wei Ying desperately wished to erase the bitterness in her voice.
"You slew the Xuanwu of Slaughter alongside A-Cheng and Lan-er-gongzi while bathing in blood..."
How commendable.
Jiang Yanli can't control the hurricane within her chest.
"But what about me?" She says, her eye rims hued red.
She can't keep down the unspoken, invisible pain.
"I also ran around for seven days..."
Completely exhausted, with not one second of rest.
Always walking alone. Always wanting for more, like Jiang Yanli's still at her door longing to shine.
Like all of you shine.
Wei Ying countered. "Not good enough to be a leader? Who says a leader has to follow the traditions? Among all the people who led the Jiang Clan, did they follow the traditions? Is it necessary for a leader to embody every family trait? Obey every family precept? The Yunmeng Jiang Clan has had a long history of sect leaders."
Wei Ying was adamant that they weren't all the same.
"Even the Gusu Lan Clan produced an exceptional occurrence like Lan Yi, but who can deny her power and position? Who would not count her among the Lan Clan's renowned cultivators? Who could possibly oppose her Chord Assassination Technique?"
"A-Jie, listen." Jiang Cheng verbalized, the resonance of his voice reassuring.
Jiang Yanli's gaze shifted to him.
"In the future, you'll be the sect leader, and I'll be your subordinate. I'll follow your lead! Lan Clan has the Lan Brothers, our Jiang Clan has 'us'."
Shijie was deafeningly quiet, as though she had finally calmed down.
Jiang Cheng continued his message, "Who said that you don't deserve to be the sect leader? Nobody can say this, even 'you' can't, either."
"Shijie, if anyone 'dares' to say you're not good enough, I'll beat them up! Ah!" She groans when she felt her muscles sting.
"Look at yourself. In your current state? Who are you gonna beat?" Reprimanded Jiang Cheng, he facepalms.
Jiang Yanli batted her lashes to quell her tears.
A-Cheng...
A-Ying...
She smiled, "What would I do without you two?"
The skies spread a dreary veil over Lotus Pier.
What was once a place constructed above lotus waters became a horrendous, blazing battleground.
"Attack!"
Everything is in a state of mayhem.
Jiang Cheng's ears were abused by extremely loud, obnoxious noises.
"Jiang Cheng!"
He descried the dead bodies of the Jiang Disciples (and Wen-dogs) lying limply on the field.
Chaos.
The lotus scent had vanished, replaced by the coppery putrid smell of blood and the suffocating fumes of the auburn fire.
Pandemonium.
The banisters, which once proudly displayed his clan's nine-petal lotus, had been torn to shambles. There was no turn or corner that was free of crimson or damage. Even the very waters his home was built had transformed into a deep color of claret, no longer the soothing blue surface he remembered.
"Watch out!"
Wei Ying gave Jiang Cheng a hefty shove, and he nearly fell to his knees.
Slam!
She took the strike intended for Jiang Cheng!
Wei Ying spat out a mouthful of foul blood, struggling to stay upright.
Jiang Cheng's pupils had contracted to the narrowest of slits.
"A-Ying!" Exclaimed A-Jie as she deftly swung her sword at Wen Zhuliu.
Wen Zhuliu shifts his attention to the girl who was already coated in red, ash, and soot. He deflected the attack while his palm continued to emit red whirls.
"Wei Ying! A-Li! Move!"
Jiang Cheng tackled his sisters aside just as A-Niang launched into the direct offense.
The Violet Spider and the Core-Melting Hand had equal abilities. Purple lightning struck ruby-red swirls. Every charge was increasing exponentially. Every attack was deliberate and without compassion.
Just as A-Niang found an opening to deliver the final blast, Wen Zhuliu seized a nearby corpse and used it as a meat shield.
The sharp point of Zidian dug into the corpse, smearing blood all over her visage.
Blinding her.
"A-Niang!" Jiang Cheng bellowed.
Nonetheless, she remained resolutely firm.
She went on the defensive, concentrating on her other sensory receptors to avoid Wen Zhuliu's attacks.
"Qu!"
A-Niang dematerialized Zidian in an instant, grasping Wen Zhuliu's shoulders and hurling him aside.
Afterwards, she yanked Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng, and A-Jie along with her as she leapt over the wall.
Running, they soon arrived at the docks.
"Wei Ying, you wretched girl!"
She tossed Wei Ying onto a sampan.
"I hate you so much!"
Wei Ying's chest heaved up and down.
"Look for yourself -- what Lotus Pier turned into all because of you?!"
She could only stay quiet.
"..."
A-Jie and Jiang Cheng stood beside A-Niang.
A-Jie bit her lower lip. "A-Niang, what should we do?"
A-Niang retorted, "Nothing to do! Couldn't you tell?! That despicable Wen Chao came prepared! The battle today was inevitable."
A-Niang removed the Zidian ring she was wearing on her right hand and situated it on A-Jie's right index finger.
All three were taken aback.
"!!!"
Immensely stunned, A-Jie asked, "...A-Niang, why are you giving me Zidian?"
A-Niang fondled her tresses, the tenderness of her touch were very unfamiliar to Jiang Yanli.
"I've given it to you." She touches her forehead with A-Jie's own. A-Niang shut her eyes. "So, it's yours from now on. Zidian has identified you as its master." Then she broke their contact, gazing intently at A-Jie. "Now, go ahead."
She acted... resigned.
Jiang Cheng was perplexed, "A-Niang, won't you... be leaving with us?"
A-Niang stared at his face.
A foreign, motherly gentleness and a recognizable sternness pierced Jiang Cheng's soul.
Suddenly, he was enveloped in an embrace. She pressed a couple of kisses into his hair as she held him in her arms.
"My dear boy." She said under her breath.
Jiang Cheng had never been kissed or hugged by his A-Niang in such a way before. His head was buried in her chest. His eyes wide with disbelief. He was at a complete loss as to how to react.
One arm wrapped around Jiang Cheng, A-Niang took A-Jie with the other.
This was a moment shared by the family.
It was 'fleeting', unfortunately.
A-Niang separated herself, "Go and never return." capturing the swords from their holds.
A-Jie anxiously questioned, "A-Niang, aren't you coming with us?"
A-Niang did not answer. Instead, she pushed them onto Wei Ying. The latter caught the two of them.
Jiang Cheng and A-Jie were stricken with panic.
A-Jie cries, "A-Niang, what are you doing?!"
A-Jie stood up and tried pursuing her off the boat, but Zidian sparked a current. It morphed into an electric cord that securely encased and bound them on the boat, rendering them completely immobile.
"Stop making a fuss." A-Niang says. "It will let go when you reach a safe place. Zidian will protect you if you come across any danger along the way."
She rerouted her attention to Wei Ying then, instructing her sharply: "Wei Ying! Heed me! Protect Jiang Cheng and A-Li. You have to protect them until you die. Do you understand?"
Wei Ying answers, "Yu-furen..."
"Do you understand?!" A-Niang raged. "Save me all your other nonsense. I'm only asking you one thing -- do you understand?!"
Unable to break free of Zidian, Wei Ying could only give a heavy nod.
Jiang Cheng yelled, "A-Niang! Fuqin hasn't returned yet! Can't we face whatever comes our way 'together'?"
A-Niang's eyes seemed to flush when Fuqin was mentioned.
She tightens her grip on the swords. "Doesn't matter whether he's here or not! Can I not live on without him?!"
She wielded a sword and slashed the rope that tethered the sampan to the dock before kicking the boat's side hard. This kick, combined with the river's rapid currents and strong wind, sent the sampan drifting out a dozen meters. It spun around a few times before settling into a smooth and swift descent down the center of the river.
Jiang Cheng and A-Jie let out heartfelt sobs. "A-Niang!"
A-Niang walked back through the main gates of Lotus Pier, clad in purple robes and brandishing longswords.
They called for her dozens of times.
"A-Niang!"
But A-Niang and Lotus Pier receded further and further into the distance.