Rising (VI)

For a while, Hui Lan had been staring blankly in the night sky and at the moon that was bright among the dark clouds.

For a while it was before Hui Lan closed her eyes and reopened it with the moon shining in her eyes.

...Ever since coming here, she has been on the verge of death for so many times. So many times that she felt insecure about herself.

...The place where she was, she had everything; stability and her skills. However, here, everything was taken away.

...What on earth did they even want from her!?

In the end, no one could give her the answer she wanted.

...However, it was also fun being physically weak again. She hadn't felt like this in a long time. Having to struggle hard for something…

A small smile was revealed on Hui Lan's beautiful face.

...At least, her brain was working fine.

As Hui Lan was lost in her own thoughts, a spark of light was beginning to grow in her heart as she kept staring at the moon.

...While others might run to be the sun, she'll fly and become the moon instead...

Time slowly drifted away and so did Hui Lan who eventually drifted away in her dreamland.

However, without any killer instinct like she had before, Hui Lan had not realised that someone was watching over her from afar.

It was none other than her mother from this time period…

Feng Furen, who had just returned from the Royal Palace, was about to return back to her room, but her sharp eyes had caught onto a person lying on the rooftop of the building that she was going into.

The middle aged lady did not hesitate and went forward towards the person lying down on the rooftop at a time like this, only to find that the person that was lying carefreely was none other than Hui Lan.

Her footsteps came to a halt when she saw that it was her daughter.

She could not help but sigh...however, as she was about to tell Hui Lan to get down, she could see the young lady staring intensely in the night sky with sparkles in her eyes. She stopped again and in the end, she could only decide to let Hui Lan be.

Feng Furen looked around before finding a place to stay while she watched over the young lady's safety.

The elder found a place to sit right across Hui Lan and settled there.

...Seeing that even Su Jou was not around or anyone realized that Hui Lan was here must have meant that Hui Lan had sneaked out.

Some of her past thoughts of her own experiences when she had just arrived into this time period began to replay in her head. When she was heaven's chosen one and had received her own mission, she was still very young.

...Hui Lan must have it hard as well…

Feng Furen looked over to Hui Lan and found that Hui Lan was now sleeping on the rooftop.

...Aiyoo, this girl.

The middle aged lady flashed over to Hui Lan in no time.

...It was certainly not a place for anyone to be sleeping on especially when she was still recovering ah.

Feng Furen then leaned over and lifted Hui Lan up in her arms swiftly. It seemed Hui Lan had lost so much weight that she could feel the weakness coming from her.

...Was it because Hui Lan had once died before?

No matter it was, it seemed she would have to help Hui Lan recover to better health again.

However, just as Feng Furen was about to walk down from the rooftop, she came to an abrupt halt again.

The elder looked up in the sky and the feeling that she had felt in her heart became apparent before her eyes.

The moon that had been brightly shining like a pearl in the sky, a tint of red flashed inside it. It was like a drop of red colour into white paint.

Both Feng Furen and Hui Lan's jade bracelets began to blink fast before Feng Furen's eyes.

...She was back. That woman was really back.

...This was not good. With heaven's candidate weak like this, Hui Lan would have no chance before that person.

Feng Furen's eyes grew into the same shade as her black jade bracelet.

...That person had escaped her confinement once. There would not be a second time again. This time, they must bring her down to where she belonged or else this world would be in endless turmoil.

Feng Furen looked at Hui Lan who was sleeping soundly in her arms and back to the moon that was now slowly returning back to its normal colour.

...They say that if you know your enemy then you would win, but since both sides do not know each other's existence yet, then there was time.

Feng Furen then retrieved her eyes from the night moon and then headed inside Hui Lan's room for her to rest.

...Tomorrow, we should start Hui Lan's first steps for it cannot prolong any longer.

.

.

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Hui Lan woke up with the sounds of plates being placed onto the table.

Slowly, her eyes opened, but the first thing that came into her sight was the wooden ceiling in front of her.

Her brain quickly began recalling last night's event in order from one to the last moment, but she could only remember herself falling asleep on top of the rooftop ah.

...How on earth did she even get here ah?

She quickly got up and looked around.

...She was definitely back in her room.

Just then, Su Rong came up to her and spoke, "Hui Lan, you're finally up?"

Hui Lan turned to the newcomer, "Su Rong?"

"En, why? Surprised to see me?" Su Rong put down a water bowl beside Hui Lan, before speaking again, "You should wash your face and then eat your breakfast ah. Aunt Feng has told us that she wanted to take you somewhere, so you better prepare yourself."

"Ah?" If it was Aunt Feng then it was Feng Furen, but where did Feng Furen want to go?

"Stop gazing off ah and let's go!"

Hence, in no time, Hui Lan was dressed in a covering male's outfit with a hat, finished her breakfast and was now making her way out of the guesthouse along with Su Rong who was dressed up the same as her. They went down along with a few other soldiers that had been guarding their rooms. Others could only see a small group of the soldiers moving in a haste and a tight group as they walked down the stairs of the guesthouse.

Hui Lan and the rest all went to the back door of the guest house where two small servants were bowing their heads beside the door.

Liu Lieutenant gave one of the men a small token and after there was no problem with the token, the two men revealed a wide small before opening the doors for the small entourage to make their way out.

After the door was open, two simple-looking carriages were waiting outside with a few more formidable-looking men standing alongside the carriages closely.

Hui Lan was observing carefully around her to see if Su Rong was taking her to the right place.

Su Rong leaned over to Hui Lan and spoke silently, "You get into the first carriage and I'll be in the second one. Someone is waiting for you there, so take care and listen to her words well."

"Who?" Hui Lan still did not know who Su Rong was even talking about.

Su Rong smiled to relieve some of the stress coming from her friend's expressions before speaking, "You'll find out soon anyway."

Hui Lan did not feel relieved at the slightest bit. She had a degree of trust in Su Rong, but she was also slightly worried because Feng Furen had now known about her secret...she was still unsure how Feng Furen would react about such news because yesterday the elder simply left.

...However, today, was it going to be the same?

Just before entering the carriage, Hui Lan was about to ask something but Su Rong quickly stopped her friend, "Shoo, someone is watching us. Keep yourself tight and you'll be fine."

There were no more chances for Hui Lan to stall the time and both her and Su Rong were now separated from each other.

Su Rong entered the carriage without any hesitations while Hui Lan watched her friend enter.

In the end, Hui Lan could do nothing else but enter her own carriage.

However, upon arriving inside the carriage, someone was already sitting inside waiting patiently for her.

The elder was reading a book in her laps silently, but when the door was open, she slowly closed the book in her hands and looked up to the newcomer.

"You're finally here."