A Yearning to Protect
As soon as she went into her opening sword stance, Zhi Ruo no longer looked like an elegant and fragile princess.
Zhi Ruo became a soft sword. She may be a woman, yet she was still a sword.
Sharp. Swift. Agile... Heartless!
Yes, she was heartless!
She was a woman who loved the sword and the sword alone.
She was a girl initially abandoned by all. Her mother had died at childbirth, not that she was from any great family to start with. If not for Zhi Ruo's superior talent and hard work, she would have been just like any of her father's daughters from a concubine... a mere political pawn without a say about her future.
Yes, she is a proud woman. It was because she paved her own bloody path to where she's standing right now! She deserved to be proud! This was her hard-earned freedom!
With a laugh, she rotated the spiritual qi in her dantian. "Let us fight for three days and three nights once more!"
Zhi Ruo looked as martial-looking as any sword cultivator who had battled their way through blood and sweat their entire lives. The pure sword qi inside her body slowly dispersed around her feet, causing slash marks to appear haphazardly on the training grounds.
"Hmm?"
Her perfectly arched brows knitted when she saw that Ye Mo still had not unsheathed his sword. In fact, except for the greeting etiquette, he had not even moved an inch from the moment she arrived.
"What's wrong, Elder Ye?" she frowned, yet even her frown could cause others to be wholeheartedly mesmerized. "This is not the first time we've exchanged moves. What are you hesitating for?"
"I am not in the mood."
"What?"
"I said, I am not in the mood." Ye Mo could not help but sigh. "I'm sure you've heard of my daughter, Little Yin—"
"Are you looking down on me, Elder Ye?"
"No..."
"You do not have a wife. How could you have a daughter?"
"But Little Yin is someone I recognize as mine, although we are not related by blood."
With the narrowing of her eyes, the battle intent exuded by Zhi Ruo strengthened, almost suffocating the servants near them.
"You. Do. Not. Have. A. Daughter." Her face flushed in annoyance. A child he just met, he wants to take her in as family? Was he taking her for a fool? "At the very least, that I know."
Ye Mo smiled wanly at the anger in Zhi Ruo's face. Daughter? In fact, he never imagined himself having one anytime in the near future. However, a single encounter changed his perspective.
He remembered his chaotic feelings that moment he found Yin bleeding in front of the black-robed assassin. He had never felt so anguished and tortured as back then. It was as if he had lost something very important to him, and that pain... he never wanted to feel that way again.
In his head, he could not help but hate himself for not taking care of her better. For not protecting her more. For putting her in danger. For not doing 'more'.
That energetic little freak who always calls him 'old fogey'...
He would regret it his entire life if she is not saved!
As a sword cultivator, it was important that his Dao heart remains pure and true to his feelings. And that very Dao heart yearns to protect Yin!
"I know you know what happened. I've decided to adopt Little Yin, so she's my daughter," he firmly answered with an unwavering gaze. "From the moment I found her, I am her father."
The sincerity in his dark eyes caused Zhi Ruo to be thin her lips and look away. It felt like he had physically slapped her in the face.
A father huh...
Heavy silence enveloped the courtyard, so heavy and real it could be cut by a knife.
"On my way here, I heard something," Zhi Ruo whispered, finally breaking the silence. Her eyes were lowered, like the shadows under her feet were suddenly very interesting to her. "If your patriarch was here, things would have been different. However, with how things are now, that girl will not be returned to you. It is better that you give up now and go home. I heard that the Purple Plumed General arrived in the city today. As the elder in charge of the city defense, you ought to be there in the welcoming banquet."
"Thank you, but I will not leave until I at least see my daughter safe and sound."
"Suit yourself," she scoffed.
Zhi Ruo never looked at him again. She sheathed her soft sword on the beautifully-crafted belt scabbard over her phoenix robe. Just as she turned to order the serving maids and guards around her, Ye Mo dryly cleared his throat.
"For our friendship's sake, c-could you... find a way for me to see the situation of her recuperation? I'm sure with you status, you..."
But he was cut off by a thunderous explosion that nearly caused his ears to bleed. The air impact even made him take a step backwards to stabilize himself. From the direction of the heart of the mountain ranges, the Divine Moon Peak, a mushroom of black smoke appeared.
He felt like his heart jumped towards his throat.
"Little Yin!"