Ch.17 Xiyu's thoughts

Hours before reaching Xuancang Mountains

While her companions and Dongyue were asleep, Xiyu thought of her mother, Lady Peony’s words at the creek on the island. She was a little girl of no more than eight, then.

"Xiaoxi, you are the last of the Muxue clan. Do us proud."

Proud? What did her mother mean? She did not understand what ‘proud’ meant in the eyes of her mother.

Her father had always been distant to her, which she assumed was due to her witchcraft. In the Muxue clan, women had always been favoured over men due to their ability to cast spells. The magic had chosen her. When she was twelve, the magic had ‘called’ to her in a dream. She saw herself walking in a pavilion made of clouds in the sky, where she chose her first spellbook.