A Mere Woman

A thick layer of hazy curtains obstructed the view.

Jiang Ying Yue felt that she had walked for a long while. The path ahead of her stretched long into an unending distance.

Yet, her steps kept moving till she saw the haze surrounding her getting lighter.

Through the light curtains of the haze now Jiang Ying Yue could vaguely see many fleeting shadows.

Prompted by an unexpected urge Jiang Ying Yue's gaze and steps instinctively followed and chased after those shadows.

After chasing for a certain distance, the thin layer of fog gradually lifted leaving a clear view ahead.

Clang!...

Swishhhh.....

Clang...clang...clang!

Swish!...

A series of crisp yet jarring noises of weapons accompanied by many flashing shadows locked fiercely into a brutal battle greeted Jiang Ying Yue's eyes.

The scene was intense and chaotic, however, after a few moments of careful observation Jiang Ying Yue let out a gasp.

Alarmed and anxious Jiang Ying Yue instinctively wanted to rush over, but only to realize her body seemed to have frozen in that place.

Helplessness engulfed her as the corner of her eyes were tinged with red while her gaze followed the back of the woman who was fighting against ten or so men valiantly.

Despite being at a disadvantage because of the number the woman who didn't flinch, instead, her move grew only fiercer until she was overpowering them.

Just as Jiang Ying Yue was watching the scene and awaiting the end the fog surrounding her grew thicker and once again covered the view.

Jiang Ying Yue repeated the previous steps, walking till the haze grew lighter, then following the noises.

And this time.....when the scene appeared Jiang Ying Yue was once again startled by that familiar back of the woman.

All though she was standing far and the scene was blurry Jiang Ying Yue immediately recognize the person at first glance.....because that person was her mother.

Madam Jiang, who usually had an aloof and elegant air about her was now in tatters. Her whole person seemed to be covered in endless gloom and hopelessness as the scene captured her walking down a desolate hallway covered in blood.

Moreover, not only the entire hallway was stained with blood but even the person herself was drenched in red from her head to toe.

With her heavy and lifeless steps, Madam Jiang dragged a blood-stained sword in one hand while her other hand was holding onto a string of a broken pendant that was dripping with blood as well.

Drip...drip...drip...

Scarlet blood trickled down that broken pendant drawing a bloodied trail on the floor.

Jiang Ying Yue's half-closed eyes snapped open.

Huff...huff!...

Jiang Ying Yue felt suffocated as if something huge was stuck in her throat.

As Jiang Ying Yue watched her mother in that corpse-like state a pang of sadness and heartache never like before.

Jiang Ying Yue took a deep breath to calm her heart not daring to close to eyes fearing that she would doze off once again and dream the same dream.

Yes, it was a dream--a very real-like dream--Jiang Ying Yue could even now feel a heavy pang just thinking about that scene.

Trying to distract herself, Jiang Ying Yue got up from the bed carefully and walked to the window.

Time hadn't passed that long, it had only been a short while since they got into bed to take a nap--maybe a quarter of an hour or half an hour at most.

After taking a look downstairs at the pedestrians on the streets Jiang Ying Yue wanted to head down to borrow the inn's kitchen to prepare something for Jiang Ying Mei to snack on after the girl woke up.

However, just as she had taken a step urgent system prompts started blaring almost blasting her eardrums.

" Are you f*cking kidding me?! Do you have to be that loud? I can hear you well!" Jiang Ying Yue reprimanded immediately while pressing her ears.

" Dear Host, the system has detected another major task for you currently--"

" Wait, hold on....another major task?..... Are you kidding me, how long has it been?! I haven't even gotten the chance to retrieve my bonus package and you are here already sending me for another mission, are you even a human...oh wait, are you even a system?!" Jiang Ying Yue scolded looking extremely dissatisfied with the system's way of working.

However, the system appeared to be in a rush and continued soon after that urgently, " Dear Host, this is an urgent matter--a rescue mission--the target of the host's mission is Nangong Ruyi, age: 34 this year....."

The system ranted out and soon a bunch of information popped out before her view.

And what immediately caught Jiang Ying Yue was a strangely familiar name at the top with a red underline.

Nangong Ruyi.....why did this name sound so familiar?.... Nangong Ruyi, Nangong Ruyi....wait was it not her mother's name!

Jiang Ying Yue's expression immediately changed and the languid aura surrounding her was gone.

With a sharp glint in her eyes, Jiang Ying Yue instantly darted out of the room without a response and barged directly into the next door without any care or hesitation.

" Sister Lanlan, help me take care of my brother, I'll be gone for a few days!" leaving these words to the person who had yet to recover to her senses Jiang Ying Yue dashed off at full speed.

Wei Mo who was acting like her shadow was left in utter bewilderment while following behind her wordlessly.

Anyway, his master had warned him not to let Miss Jiang get in harm's way, her safety was his priority!

Jiang Ying Yue didn't care about anything as soon as rushed out of the city gate she summoned a giant golden tiger out of nowhere and rode away on it.

This tiger was the male tiger of the tiger pairs that Jiang Ying Yue had saved previously during beast tide in the Beast Heaven mountain.

The tiger and his partner were injured severely during the battle barely leaving any breath after they were rescued. However, after completing her first task her space was also upgraded and the same went for the things that resided within it.

Abhram and Azure both had gained their freedom and could go out to have some fun outside for half a day while the days within the space had grown four times longer than the days outside. The Moon spring had also managed to gain some effect from this quest, and now its healing effect grew a bit stronger.

So under the healing effect of the Moon spring and the dense spiritual air of the Brahma the pair of tigers were recovering quickly.

Hence, the speed at which the tiger gave a run wasn't at all lacking. It may not be in its best state but it was better than riding a horse.

The tiger carried Jiang Ying Yue on his back and skidded past everything that came along the way in a flash.

Wei Mo was extremely dumbfounded for a second when he saw the sudden appearance of a huge and ferocious beast out of thin air, but it only lasted for a moment before he resumed his chase.

All these years Wei Mo would be following his master for nothing if he couldn't get over such a 'trivial' thing.

"Abhram, teleport!" commanded Jiang Ying Yue after going for a considerable distance.

As soon as his master's words fell Abhram performed his trick. He was swift in action and just with 'hmph' the person and the tiger both had managed to cover miles with a skip.

Obviously, along with other things, Abhram's teleportation skill had also gotten an upgrade.

Wei Mo who had just dismissed the previous anomaly boasting that he wasn't one to be daunted by such a simple trick now had his jaw almost dropping to the ground in shock.

When he saw the person and the beast both disappear into the thin air just in a similar fashion he nearly stumbled on his track and hit a rock.

This 'trivial' matter should be adequate enough to be considered shocking, right?....

...

Wind City, not far from the capital.

Clang!...

Clang!....

Swish.....

Boom!

" Nangong Ruyi, it seems like we underestimated you." The man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he stared at the woman opposite fixedly.

" You're not at all bad, you are indeed powerful....so powerful that it makes me shudder when I'm facing you. No wonder, after all, you are the strongest one....." The man's voice trailed toward the end before he suddenly broke into maniacal laughter, which looked very menacing and unsettling.

" Ha....but so what?! In the end, you are but a mere woman--a lovestruck one at that--What a pity holding such a terrifying power but not knowing how to use it!" Then he gave her a condescending look and criticized her righteously, " You could have gotten the whole word within the palm of your hands, you could have anything yet you opted to hide here living your days in shame instead of seeking fortune and glory for our clan. Shame on you! Nangong Ruyi, you are the biggest stain on our clan, an abominable existence like you shouldn't have existed in the first place!!"

The man roared in hatred, his eyes overflowing with unwillingness and jealousy.

Why...why?....He wondered everyday...

Why was it that all the gifted ones in their clan were all women while the men were only stuck to being average?

He looked down at a woman the most and not only him every male member of their clan did the same.

To them, they were just stupid and incompetent fools who were used as bargaining chips.

He really couldn't understood, and neither could the other male members why were these stupid creatures blessed by the Heavens to this extent?

They didn't do anything and easily got everything at their fingertips while people like him, who really deserved such favors were left in the mud to fend for themselves.

This was so infuriating!

The man was indignant, especially, when he thought that this woman might go back and sit on the throne of the clan elder.

" Are you done?" Nangong Ruyi's cold and indifferent voice sounded, her heroic face not even showing a tinge of her emotion, " If you are done then let's finish it, I don't like to be long-winded."

It was a simple sentence but Nangong Ruyi was already scolding the man for being long-winded in such an indirect manner.

It could be seen from where Jiang Ying Yue inherited her temperament from.

The man was momentarily left speechless, unable to comprehend her meaning.

' Idiot!'

Nangong Ruyi couldn't help giving an inward scoff when she saw the former's idiotic look even after a couple of moments.