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Reaching the shop the next morning, Yang Ze finally saw the deserted street filled with people.

"Boss..." The familiar sound with the familiar faces greeted him with a smile.

"Hmm..." Nodding to them with a smile, Yang Ze looked around for the familiar figure but didn't see her. Though it was somewhat unexpected, it wasn't something that he wouldn't be able to accept. Opening the doors, Yang Ze entered the shop and started his daily routine.

And just when a few minutes passed, a loud commotion started outside the shop.

"Shit... Aren't these people from the Xia family!? What are they doing here!?"

"No idea."

"Maybe they are here to become a member too."

Looking at a group of people that were making their way, the crowd instantly burst out into discussion. It was rare for so many members of one of the prominent families to just barge into any business.

However, no one was willing to go and ask them, they all just stood there on the sidelines, waiting for the scene to unfold.

"Huh!?" Inside the shop, Yang Ze furrowed his brows. Listening to them, there seemed to be trouble. But before he could step outside, a familiar figure entered his sight.

"Heeeyyyy...." Xia Xueqi followed by more than twenty people waved her hand before rushing toward him.

"What are you doing!? And why bring these many people here?" Rubbing his forehead, Yang Ze felt a headache coming.

"Well... Since our family is taking profits from you. Then I thought it is natural for us to help you out. So... I brought some scholars here to help you out in the business. Now, you won't have to worry about anything."

"Go... Do exactly as I taught you. And if you guys face a problem, then you can ask Yao Xiang." Pointing to the meek girl in the back, Xia Xueqi looked at Yang Ze with a smile.

"Now... Since they are already here. How about we both take a walk." Grabbing him by the wrist, Xia Xueqi pulled him outside the shop. Before Yang Ze could even say anything, she looked back at the new members and shouted in a loud voice.

"YOU GUYS BETTER DO THE JOB OR ELSE... HMPH!"

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"We have been roaming for the past TWO HOURS. Where exactly are we going?" Yang Ze who has been just following her from the moment she pulled him out, asked with a frown.

"Geez... You cry like a girl. Relax, I am not going to do anything. Just follow me."

Ignoring her remarks, Yang Ze looked around "We are already pretty far away from the city... Are you sure we are in the right direction!?"

"Oh my god! Just stop whining and keep on walking." Shaking her head Xia Xueqi pulled him further. At this moment, both of them were traversing through the small mountain range that was a distance away from Mehull city. The mountains here were small in height, roughly five to six hundred meters. And with both their physique, there wasn't any problem climbing them.

"I couldn't tell, but you seemed to be strong." Xia Xueqi looked at him with watery eyes.

"Huh!? Where did that come from?"

"We have been walking for quite a while, but you don't seem tired. Not even a drop of sweat..." With some suspicion, she looked at Yang Ze up and down. In her mind, she was a powerhouse in the middle Qi guiding realm, so it was natural for her to not get tired, but Yang Ze in front of her was a regular person, so it was pretty unusual for him to walk for so long without getting tired

"Did you already forget what I told you?" Shaking his head, Yang Ze continued "I used to live in the mountains, so I am pretty used to this."

"I see."

With silence, their journey continued.

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"HOW MUCH LONGER? It's been four hours... FOUR DAMN HOURS."

"Ugh. Stop whining. We are almost there."

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"XIA XUEQI... IT'S BEEN FIVE HOURS."

"I KNOW... We are almost there."

"YOU HAVE BEEN TELLING ME THE SAME FOR THE PAST FOUR HOURS."

"See that..... That is our destination."

"..."

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"Aahhh! Finally..." Standing at top of the mountain, Xia Xueqi took a deep breath and looked in front of her happily.

Following her gaze, Yang Ze too slowly moved his head.

"This..." In front of the mountain, they were standing now, was a valley surrounded by other three mountains. In the middle of the valley was a lake surrounded by patches of grass and flowers. The entire valley seemed to be dyed in green with dots of colors as flowers all over it. Looking around, Yang Ze didn't see any tree or large bush. It was as if, this valley was only for those flowers and grass.

"Beautiful. Isn't it!?" Looking at the valley, Xia Xueqi smiled heartily. Taking off her shoes, she threw them to the side before running towards the lake downside.

"Wait... You serious!?"

"Hahahahahaha." Keeping one hand back, Xia Xueqi turned around and slowly bent her waist, she then raised her other hand towards Yang Ze and signaled him to follow her with a laugh before rushing down.

"You are serious." With a sigh, Yang Ze shook his head and slowly followed her.

It didn't take long for them to reach the bottom of the valley where the lake was. Looking at Xia Xueqi who was sitting there with her feet in the water, Yang Ze slowly walked towards her before sitting beside her.

"What!? Isn't this place to your liking!?" Xia Xueqi rested her chin on her palm and asked the question with a smile.

"It is..." With a short pause, Yang Ze continued "Much beautiful that any other place that I ever saw."

"What is this place called!?"

"This!?" Opening her arms, Xia Xueqi slowly fell backward on the grass.

"This place is called Valley Of flowers."

"Hmmm..." Nodding, Yang Ze silently enjoyed the tranquility.

"Hey... Do you know why I brought you here?" Xia Xueqi who was still looking at the sky suddenly asked the question.

"No. I don't."

"Booooo...." Xia Xueqi looked at him like she was looking at an idiot.

"To cheer you up. I thought that yesterday I might have overstepped my boundaries. So, here we are."

"Xueqi..." Yang Ze looked at her with a serious expression. "Can I ask you something!?"

"Sure... Other than asking me to be your Dao Partner, you can ask me anything."

Ignoring her crafty smile, Yang Ze hesitated briefly before asking his question.

"Why do you treat me so well!? I mean, a prodigy like you... You don't have any reason, so why do you treat me this good?"

"....."

"..."

After a long silence, Xia Xueqi didn't immediately answer the question, but took a deep breath and slowly started speaking while still looking at the red hue that filled the sky.

"I used to visit this place with my mother. And the interesting thing is... She was the one who discovered this place and gave it its name..."

With eyes filled with remembrance, she slowly spoke further

"You see, unlike my father or me, she was just a simple woman. She never once practiced in her life, didn't know any martial arts, and yet, it was her that held the family together."

"At the end of every week, both of us would come here and sit at this place for hours... Just talking and doing nothing. Sometimes, we would sit here gazing at the stars without speaking a word."

"You know, at first I didn't like it here. I hated this place... OH god! How much I hated this place."

Speaking till here, her voice slowly became hoarse, as if she was trying to hold herself back from crying.

"I wanted to be like my father, I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be best at everything. And this is why I hated her. I hated her for being weak, for being a normal person. She couldn't even defend herself... How could a woman like her be worthy of my mother!? How can she be worthy of my father!? How can she be worthy of the name Xia!?"

With each sentence she spoke, her voice was filled with anger. Yet Yang Ze perceived this wasn't the anger she had towards her mother, but towards herself.

"So... I started to grow distant from her. I didn't want to look at her. There were even times, I would say things I shouldn't have to her.

And, yet after all these, she always comforted me, always smiled at me....."

"..."

"..."

The scene plunged into a long silence. Yang Ze was a quiet listener who didn't want to interrupt her. So, he too fell back on the grass beside her and looked at the sky.

"Even my father... He too thought that marrying her was a mistake. The family too wasn't very fond of her. In their eyes, even a maid was better than her... At least they can order the maid around. Hell, if it wasn't for my father to impregnate her, she wouldn't even be accepted as her wife. God knows what they were all thinking."

"Twelve years ago on my sixteenth birthday, when the entire family was in celebration, we got the news...." Speaking till here, her voice suddenly stopped.

"The news...." Clenching her fists, she slowly uttered the word.

"The news that she died on her way back home."

Looking at her, Yang Ze didn't know what to say. Should he console her!? Should he say something to lighten the mood? But before he could think of a way, he heard her speak again.

"Apparently, the carriage she was on was intercepted by the bandits, and no one including her was able to escape alive. We were only able to retrieve her body."

"And you know what the worst part is!? The worst part is that no one from the family even thought of avenging her. I mean, think about it... A bunch of lowlife bandits killed a member of the family, and what was their reaction!?

Nothing... Other than giving out condolences, they did nothing? And see, this is what I never understood. How could such a BIG and ESTEEMED family like ours not take revenge on those lowlives? I mean, they not only killed a member, but they slapped the entire Xia family's face in the public. But even after all that, there was no reaction. It was... It was like the person who died wasn't even a part of the Xia family."

"You see how they say that you only realize the value of something after it's been lost!? Well, this was exactly the case here.

It wasn't until I lost her, that I realized her importance in my life. It was then I realized I lost the only person who ever loved me selflessly, without any expectations. At that time, I realized what I had lost."

Two streaks of tears slowly fell from the corner of her eyes. At this time, her voice grew incomparably soft.

"After her death, things were not what they used to be... I asked my father to take action against those scums, but he just ignored me. So... In the end, I made a decision. I made the decision to do it myself...

And three years ago when I reached the middle stage of the Qi guiding realm, I hunted them down. I hunted them and killed them. Butchered them like they were pigs."

Xia Xueqi's voice was filled with cold murderous intent. It was as if even after killing all of them, her murderous intent didn't subside.

"And then... Then I lost any purpose...."

Xia Xueqi looked at Yang Ze with a smile and spoke softly.

"Just like you, I lost my purpose... I lost my way. I didn't know what to do... I didn't know where to go. And after staying aimless for a long time, I came across my mother's diary. A diary that she hid deep in her room."

"And you know what was written on that diary?"

"What was written on it!?" Yang Ze asked softly.

"Heh... She wrote everything from our birth to our birthdays to all the small events that happened."

"She even found happiness in small things... Things that we deemed insignificant, were happiness to her.

And at that time... I decided... I decided that I wanted to be just like my mother. I wanted to live a simple and happy life. A life where I won't have to worry about anything. A life where I won't be burdened by the expectations of others."

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"You asked me why I treat you well even though you are a mortal and I am a prodigy from the Xuanwu Academy...

There is no special reason... It's just when I look at you, I see myself... Lost... afraid... helpless... You are just like how I once was... No ambitions, no goals, no plans for the future...

Both of us are exactly the same. I lost my mother, my only source of comfort and you lost someone dear to you too... In a sense, who can understand you better than me, and who can understand me better than you?"

At that moment, her clear limpid eyes looked Yang Ze in the eyes.

"My mother always used to nag... She would always say things that I didn't understand at that time. And out of those things one stuck with me throughout these years.

She always used to say; Trees bear fruits only to be eaten by others; the fields grow grains, but they are consumed by the world. Cows give milk, but she doesn't drink it herself - that is left to others. Clouds send rain only to quench the parched earth. In such a giving, there is little space for selfishness.

What I am doing now, is exactly following her words."

"I see." Yang Ze was slowly beginning to understand this woman in front of him.

"That's all you have to say to me!?" Xia Xueqi snorted in displeasure. For the first time, she told someone about this, and all she got in reply were these anti-climactic words.

"What do you want me to say!?" Yang Ze looked at her with a blank expression.

"You..." Pointing her fingers to him, she trembled in anger.

"Hahahahaa... Joking..." With a short laugh, Yang Ze looked at her gently and slowly raised his hand before placing it at top of her head.

"Huh!?" Startled by this sudden action of his, Xia Xueqi didn't know how to react. But before she could even do anything, dizziness overtook her as she slowly lost consciousness.

"You see..." Caressing her hair gently, Yang Ze slowly spoke.

"Both of us are indeed the same... We both lost our path and then tried to find it. We both came to treasure things only after we lost them... But there are still some differences between us... I envy your hope, your dreams, your desires...

You see... Life isn't so simple. It doesn't always end up on a happy note. Not everyone gets to live their fairytales. Just like you, I once found my dreams, my ambitions again... But as fate would have it... Sigh..."

Yang Ze didn't finish his sentence but stood up with a heavy sigh. Sometimes silence is better than words.

Stretching his body, Yang Ze gazed at the sky that was slowly getting dark.

"Now then... If you have heard enough, why don't you tell us something about yourself too!?"

Slowly rotating his head, Yang Ze looked in the opposite direction as his eyes grew colder and colder.

"..."

"..."

"Are you going to come out or should I just pull out your head from your body!?"

"He....

Hehe....

Hehehehehehhehehehehe....."

A hoarse terrifying laughter suddenly engulfed the valley as a black figure slowly walked out of the shadows... Making its way towards Yang Ze slowly.....