Her Broken Shackles

A bittersweet smile touched Bai Yunxi's lips as she watched Su Kang's retreating figure, a pang of sadness echoing in her heart. Why do I feel this way? she wondered

Su Kang, meanwhile, felt a surge of determination. He was certain of one thing: Bai Yunxi carried no lingering affection for her deceased husband. Even if a spark remained, he would fan it into oblivion, replacing it with a flame of his own.

The Li family has a rule that a disappeared person will not be considered dead until he has been gone for 18 years.

Yet Li Fang had spoken about his father's death long before the official declaration and funeral ceremony.

Li Fang would not do something like this if not for her mother. Bai Yunxi must have fostered that belief, protecting her son from false hope.

"I have been trying to win her heart for just one month. It's fine. I don't have to rush. I won't let a dead ghost get in my way." Su kang thought.

Now, he just has to give her enough time to figure out her thoughts. She has to find her own path.

....

In the next two days the flight continued; he occasionally stopped in the way for Bai Yunxi's needs.

He kept his distance, refraining from deeper conversation. He sensed she needed space, a chance to process the whirlwind of emotions stirred by their recent exchanges.

For Bai Yunxi, however, the silence brought little solace. She knows that she likes him to some extent, and he has done a lot for her, but she is used to suppressing her emotions.

...

The Great Rift Valley is a beautiful and natural place. Surrounding mountains and hills are yellow and green colored; a big and wide river is flowing in the gap between the rift.

The water of this river is clean here in the valley; we can see slightly under the water from its surface. There is a small city in the area.

This Rift Valley city has around twenty-five thousand people living in it. This valley has a second-level spiritual vein, so this city is filled with cultivators.

One spiritual boat landed in a nearby village. Su Kang used his spiritual qi to lift Bai Yunxi out of the boat.

The gesture was so seamless, yet its implications left her heart unsettled. Before she could ask anything, Su Kang walked off purposefully.

Su Kang left her behind and went to inquire about something. He asked somequestions and then left in a certain direction.

"He is searching for someone?" She thought.

Bai Yunxi did not know anything. She is confused about this whole situation, but she followed behind him.

After a fifteen-minute walk, they reached a secluded bamboo hut nestled amidst swaying trees.

Su Kang knocked on the door, and after a pause, an old man with white hair and a weathered face answered. His muscular frame hinted at a life of hard labor despite his age.

"Who are you?" the old man asked, his deep voice cautious but steady.

"I'm searching for a woman who might live here. May I confirm her identity?"

Su Kang's tone was calm but firm, his demeanor commanding respect. The old man studied him briefly before nodding.

"Come in." He stepped aside, his intuition sensing that Su Kang was not an ordinary traveler.

As Bai Yunxi entered the hut behind him, her breath caught. Lying on a simple wooden bed was an older woman dressed in a gray robe, her hair streaked with white.

Though age and hardship had left their marks on her, her face retained a familiar beauty—a face Bai Yunxi had long feared she would never see again.

"Mother..." The word slipped from Bai Yunxi's lips like a whisper.

The woman turned her head, her expression shifting from confusion to shock. Tears welled in her eyes as recognition dawned.

Bai Yunxi's composure crumbled. She rushed to the bedside, dropping to her knees, her hands trembling as they reached for the woman's.

"My daughter… my daughter…" Her mother's voice broke with emotion as she raised her hand to touch Bai Yunxi's face. That's when Bai Yunxi noticed—her mother's right arm ended at the elbow.

"Mother!" Bai Yunxi cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. Her mother wept openly, pulling her daughter into a trembling embrace.

Su Kang stood silently, watching the reunion unfold with an unreadable expression. Sensing this was their moment, he stepped outside, leaving them to share their grief and joy in peace.

Su Kang then left without letting them know. He left the village and disappeared in a certain direction.

Bai Yunxi and her mother both calmed down after crying their grievances. Then they started asking about each other's past. The old man brewed tea for them and served them.

Her mother told her that some people used beasts to attack them. Her father sacrificed himself to save her.

He tricked them and let her escape through a water boat. But even then she was attacked by wild water beasts. She lost half of her right hand and her right leg from the knee.

She was saved by the hunters. She was unconscious for two months.

After waking up, she couldn't remember anything. She lost her memory, and she did not have any spiritual qi around her to help her.

In the beginning she settled in the hunter village; later she moved.

With her somewhat strong body, she decided to live as a hunter. She kept moving from place to place.

She settled in this city ten years ago and lived here. A few years ago she slowly started to remember about her previous life.

She gestured toward the old man. "He helped me rebuild my life. For years, I lived as a hunter, moving from place to place, but my memories slowly returned. By then, I was too weak to travel alone, and I didn't have the resources to return to you."

If she decided to travel alone, she might be killed by rogue cultivators.

Bai Yunxi listened intently, tears streaming down her face as she imagined the pain her mother had endured.

"You've suffered so much, Mother. I'm sorry I wasn't there… I thought I'd lost you."

Her mother cupped her face, her expression tender. "No, Xi'er. What matters is that we're here now."

It was already evening, and some children were poking their heads from the door to look at them. The old man

gestured them to come later and left with them.

He came back again with food. The children also came with him.

"Old granny, this is some food that our mother prepared for you and elder sister." A fourteen-year-old girl said.

"Thank you, Wu'er, come and sit down too." The old woman said.

Bai Yunxi noticed that Su Kang is not here anymore. The old man's surname was He. She ate dinner with them.

Some of these children were grandchildren of the old man; he and others were from the locality. Her mother is close with these children.

Old man He took the children out and left saying goodbye. Both mother and daughter slept together and talked until midnight before sleeping.

The next morning, Bai Yunxi sat with her mother, their bond already strengthening after a single night together. But something else weighed on her mind—Su Kang's sudden disappearance.

"Where is the young man who brought you here?" her mother asked, sensing her daughter's distracted state.

Bai Yunxi felt lighter now, the burden of her past somehow… lessened after reuniting with her mother. Su Kang's reassurance about Li Fang, his quiet strength, had eased her anxieties about her son.

She felt… free. She told her mother everything, her voice soft, confessional.

Her mother's eyes flashed with anger. "You didn't tell him? About Li Xiao?"

Others might not know about her, but she knows. Li Xiao pursued Bai Yunxi for four months, yet he failed to win her heart.

She agreed to marry him because the Bai family needs that connection, and she didn't dislike Li Xiao. At least their marriage was not based on the love in the beginning.

Li Xiao was a disciple of the Qingyun sect, and they thought in the future he might help Bai Yunxi too in cultivation. Her daughter did all this for them.

Bai Yunxi shook her head, shame creeping into her voice. "Mother, he's… different. His family…"

"Do you like him?" her mother asked, cutting her off, her voice sharp, but gentle.

Bai Yunxi thought about it. The laughter, the teasing, the quiet comfort of his presence… she'd felt everything with Su Kang, a whirlwind of emotions she hadn't allowed herself to feel in years. She looked at her mother, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

Her mother understood. "Try, Xi'er," she said, squeezing her hand.

"Find your own happiness."

"I have already thought about this.

Mother, you don't have to worry about this." She said with a reassuring smile to her mother.

For the first time, she allowed herself to wonder—not as a widow or a mother, but as a woman—what her life might look like if she let him in.