After thinking for a long time, Ji Lanruo ultimately did not go to see Ji Qianlin.
However, Ji Qianlin saw Ji Lanruo enter the Taishan Treasure Vault and emerge with ten top-tier spatial rings, each worth a fortune.
Then, her mother ascended to Taishan’s highest peak and took out a flying shuttle.
Ji Qianlin knew then that her mother was preparing to go to Qingquan City to find that damn Ding Nan!
Instantly, Ji Qianlin broke through the restrictions on Siguo Cliff and, in the blink of an eye, arrived at the summit of Taishan Peak.
“Mother!”
The call came from behind Ji Lanruo just as she was about to board the vessel.
Ji Lanruo’s figure froze, and she stopped moving.
“You should be reflecting on your mistakes on Siguo Cliff. Why have you come looking for me?”
Ji Lanruo said without turning around.
Taishan stood about four thousand meters high.
Frost accumulated in spring and summer, snow in autumn and winter.
No matter the season, looking up from below, it appeared a mass of grey and white.
At this moment, the lush green vegetation was coated in a layer of white frost, as if painted with a thick layer of white wax.
The mountain was high, the wind fierce, whipping at the robes of the two women.
They both allowed the biting cold wind to lash against their cheeks.
The frost and bitter wind did not make them shiver; instead, it accentuated their vivid beauty.
“Mother, are you also going to Qingquan City?”
Ji Qianlin said.
Ji Lanruo slowly turned her head and saw the determined expression on Ji Qianlin’s pretty face.
She remained silent for several seconds.
“Mother, you could die!”
Ji Qianlin stepped forward, pleading pitifully.
“Even Fairy Jade Frost went and stumbled. She was someone who could consistently threaten those one or two major realms above her! Yet this time, she died so easily…”
The cold wind howled as the two fell into silence.
After a dozen breaths, Ji Lanruo was the first to speak.
“You should return to reflect on your mistakes.”
Hearing this, Ji Qianlin’s pupils contracted sharply, and a look of grief appeared on her face.
“Mother!”
Ji Qianlin came before Ji Lanruo and knelt down heavily.
Ji Lanruo did not look at the kneeling Ji Qianlin.
“Mother!”
On her knees, Ji Qianlin shuffled forward a few steps and grasped Ji Lanruo’s hands with her own.
“Are you really going?”
Ji Qianlin pressed her forehead against Ji Lanruo’s palm.
“I beg you, please don’t go!”
Ji Lanruo’s palm felt the delicate warmth.
She looked up at the thin clouds that seemed within reach and let out a long sigh.
“Your father is in trouble. I have no choice but to go…”
Ji Lanruo said.
The moment the words “your father” were uttered, Ji Qianlin’s expression briefly turned indignant, but she quickly suppressed it.
“Mother, I beg you. If you must go, at least take me with you,” Ji Qianlin pleaded.
“What would you do there? You’re only at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Transformation Stage. Though you can barely fight a Tribulation Transcendence expert, you’re destined to lose. If you come with me, I’ll have to split my focus to protect you,” Ji Lanruo said.
“Mother, I don’t want you to go! What kind of trouble is so severe it requires a battle between Tribulation Transcendence powerhouses?”
Ji Qianlin said.
“As far as I remember, aside from the culprit who injured our Grandmaster all those years ago, causing his lifespan to be damaged and leading to his premature demise, what other enemies does our family have?”
Ji Lanruo was momentarily speechless.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer.
Strictly speaking, Luo Yao of the Qingzhou Luo Family held no grudge against the Ji Family or the Xishan Sect.
The only grievance was that Luo Yao had stolen her master.
But she couldn’t tell the truth.
She couldn’t very well tell her daughter, ‘Your Grandmaster is actually your biological father.’
If such a thing got out, it would undoubtedly become headline news in the Cultivation World.
Ji Lanruo took a deep breath.
“This matter does not concern you. Do not inquire further.”
“Huh?”
Ji Qianlin’s expression turned ugly.
Then, as Ji Lanruo pulled her hands free from Ji Qianlin’s grasp, Ji Qianlin’s eyes widened in shock.
What do you mean it doesn’t concern me? Mother, you are my mother! Now you might go and never return, how can that not concern me?
“Why must you go?”
Ji Qianlin asked, her heart aching as she looked at her mother.
“Listen to your mother. Go back.”
“No!”
Ji Qianlin wrapped her arms around Ji Lanruo’s legs and looked up at her mother.
“If you can’t tell me the truth, if you won’t say what this trouble really is, I absolutely will not let you leave!”
Ji Lanruo looked down at the grown woman clinging to her leg.
In years past, when she was less than a meter tall, she would always cling to her leg like this.
She was the girl Ji Lanruo had raised through hardship, a piece of her own flesh that had fallen, his daughter.
Ji Lanruo took another deep breath and slowly spoke.
“Luo Yao of the Qingzhou Luo Family… is the enemy I must face on this journey.”
“The Qingzhou Luo Family?”
Ji Qianlin had never heard of this family’s name, let alone “Luo Yao.”
“Right now, your father… is surely suffering under her… torment. I need to rescue him from that woman’s clutches,” Ji Lanruo said, a trace of unease in her voice.
Ji Qianlin stared at her mother in stunned disbelief.
Who was her mother?
The Sect Leader of the Xishan Sect.
Though not the absolute leader of the younger generation, she was still a peerless talent, a heroine of the era, a regional overlord!
And yet, here she was, sounding like a resentful woman from a secluded inner courtyard, fighting with another woman over a man’s affection?
“Mother, what are you saying?!”
Ji Qianlin was almost crying from frustration.
“Do you really like this man so much, this man who’s clearly entangled with other women and looks like a complete philanderer?”
Ji Lanruo’s face suddenly flushed red.
She cupped her cheeks, somewhat bashful.
“Actually… your father didn’t agree. It was me who forced myself on him, which led to your birth.”
“Ah!” Ji Qianlin was utterly shocked.
Her heart began to beat wildly with panic—
What does she mean ‘forced myself on him’?
Was her mother really that kind of person?
“Is he really that captivating?”
Ji Qianlin couldn’t help but ask.
“You don’t understand. Your father is one of a kind in this world. He was incredibly good to your mother. One could almost say that without him, there would be no me,” Ji Lanruo added, seeming somewhat lost in the beautiful memories of the past.
But in Ji Qianlin’s eyes, her mother was having an episode.
Her mother was the pillar of the Xishan Sect; she held up the entire sect.
If she were an innocent little lotus flower, she would have been devoured by other forces long ago.
How could her mother not understand the principle that
‘Once a woman is infatuated, it’s hard to break free’?
Furthermore, aside from the grace of raising her, what other grace could possibly encompass ‘without him, there would be no me’?
Grace of saving a life, grace of rebirth… these were merely subsets of the grace of upbringing.
So, her mother was sick.
She had transformed from a formidable, heroic woman into a foolish woman whose head was filled only with thoughts of a man.
No! My mother is not such a fool!
“That’s not right. If he doesn’t like you, why not let him fly free?”
Ji Qianlin argued.
“If you love him, shouldn’t you want him to achieve his own happiness?”
Upon hearing this, the blush faded from Ji Lanruo’s face, replaced by a leaden, ashen gloom.
The jade-like hands hidden in her sleeves clenched tightly.
She knew this logic.
But letting go… that was something she couldn’t do easily.
She was over four hundred years old, with less than fifty years until she reached five hundred.
All these years, as the Sect Leader of Xishan Sect, how many men had she seen?
But most men lacked his sincerity.
His eyes were clear, his soul noble.
It was almost impossible to see the ugliness of human nature in him.
Words like kindness and gentleness couldn’t fully describe his purity.
He had pulled her out of the chaotic times and given her care and affection.
That was why Ji Lanruo couldn’t forget him.
Since then, no other man had been able to capture her attention or stir her emotions.
Even when some men occasionally caught her eye, her appreciation was based solely on their abilities.
Her master, fearing she would be deceived, had long ago taught her how to judge character.
As she aged and witnessed the vicissitudes of life, she became increasingly adept at reading people.
Only after experiencing the wear and tear of the years did she finally understand what kind of person her master truly was—one who stripped away falsehood to reveal truth, seemingly heartless yet righteous, loving all living beings equally.
Only higher spiritual pursuits could bring her master joy.
She wasn’t like that.
She didn’t want to be heartless yet righteous.
She just wanted to be with her master, a pair flying together through life.
Over the many years, her heart had gradually emptied of all but her master.
But thinking of her master, the regret of losing him would assault her heart, making her feel increasingly hollow inside.
Having been alone for hundreds of years, she should have long grown accustomed to it.
Yet, ever since she found her master again, the thought of him not being by her side made her chest feel cold and made it hard to breathe.
She absolutely could not let go.
She must snatch her master back from the hands of other women!
“Qianlin, I must bring him back.”
Ji Qianlin looked at her mother, her face deathly pale.
“Oh, and if possible, you should keep an eye on Lin Yue’er. That woman is a fox!”
Ji Lanruo said.
“If she makes any unusual moves, be sure to document them!”
“Why?”
“Because Lin Yue’er… she has feelings for Ding Nan.”
Ji Qianlin’s mouth opened slightly, words dying on her lips.
She stared blankly at her mother, who had the appearance of a young matron but acted like a lovestruck maiden.
She couldn’t wrap her head around why Lin Yue’er, who had practiced medicine for years with renowned medical virtue, would be called a fox by her mother.
“Mother… are you still determined to go?”
Ji Qianlin’s voice was full of entreaty.
“I must go.”
“Is it because of love?”
“Mmm…”
Talking to her daughter about going to pursue love made Ji Lanruo feel a bit embarrassed.
“Even if it might cost you your life?”
Ji Qianlin pressed.
Ji Lanruo’s expression shifted slightly.
After a few moments of silence, she nodded heavily.
A look of horror dawned on Ji Qianlin’s face, as if she were witnessing the end of the world.
She couldn’t understand, couldn’t make sense of it.
Why would her mother go to such lengths for that Ding Nan, accepting his philandering, throwing herself at him?
Thus, her expression became one of furious indignation.
“What kind of potion has that bastard Ding Nan fed you to make you so lost?!”
Ji Qianlin shouted.
“I swear I’ll make him—”
Ji Lanruo’s brows shot up.
Before Ji Qianlin could finish, she backhanded her across the face.
A clear red mark from the back of a hand appeared on Ji Qianlin’s fair, jade-like cheek.
“You wretched child! Not only do you insult your own father, but you also intend to do something to him?!”
Ji Lanruo was furious, her hand raised, ready to strike Ji Qianlin again.
Ji Qianlin held her stinging cheek, looking at her mother in a daze.
Her eyes reddened, tears falling from their corners.
From childhood until now, her mother had never harshly scolded her, at most being strict during cultivation training.
Today was the first time Ji Qianlin had been slapped by Ji Lanruo.
Her body at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Transformation Stage was incredibly resilient.
So why did it hurt so much?
Her chest heaved as she began to sob quietly.
Ji Lanruo’s raised hand trembled.
Ji Qianlin was, after all, her daughter.
“Step back,” Ji Lanruo said, flicking her sleeve.
Ji Qianlin’s entire body was flung away, sent flying off the cliff’s edge.
“Mother! Mother… Mother… Wuwuwu…”