Next move

After leaving Lily behind, Shui chose a bar as his destination. He had little experience drinking, but heard that alcohol was the best medicine for times like this. He started off with what he was familiar with, but in terms of getting him drunk it was about the same as water.

'Maybe I should try and find some stronger alcohol.'

The emotional hole in his chest made Shui consider getting drunk, but that couldn't be done immediately so he put the idea aside for now. With his looks, it wouldn't be strange if he got hit on by loose women or men, but he had purposefully released an aura that made it hard for people with such intentions to approach him. Therefore, when a muscular man did sit down beside him, he wasn't too wary of him, especially since he knew who it was.

"Hey, how did it go?" Yur asked.

"She's fine. I dropped her home before I came here."

Yur was relieved that the incident had been resolved, but it was obvious that there was still a problem based on Shui's depressed expression. Shui rarely showed his weak side, so Yur had a hard time figuring out what was wrong. Therefore, he went with the straightforward approach.

"That's good. So, what's got you so down?"

Shui didn't reply, he only kept drinking without a change in pace. Yur didn't bother him and instead ordered a beer for himself as he waited patiently.

"Yur, has anyone ever said that they were a burden to you?"

"Huh? Well, this is a bit of an old story, but after my old man died and it was just me, mum and my little sister, mum got sick. She didn't have much talent in cultivation, and her body was weak so it was no surprise that she collapsed one harsh winter day. I was just starting out as an apprentice under Master, but my lil' sis was too young to take care of mum by herself so I had to stay home. I didn't have as much work during the winter so I didn't think much of it, but I made sure to work on my hammer skills whenever I could, and I guess she took it the wrong way. One night while I was waiting for her to go to sleep, mum apologized with tears in her eyes about holding me back. I never felt that way and told her as much, but she was even more stubborn than me. Sometimes, I wonder if she was able to believe me before she passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it doesn't bother me as much anymore. Anyways, what I mean to say is, sometimes the people who mean the most to you, end up feeling hurt because they think you're sacrificing yourself for them. Even if you try to convince them that they're wrong, they are the ones who make the final decision."

After listening to Yur's advice, Shui pondered on it and how he could use it to resolve his current predicament. Like Yur said, there seemed to be little he could do, but he had to at least give it a shot. After finishing one more cup of alcohol, Shui stood up from his seat.

"What? Leaving already?" Yur asked.

"Yeah, I don't have time to be moping around here. I have a favour to ask you too. Spread the news that the final masterpiece of the harmony series will be on auction in a month."

Yur froze with a drink in hand, "...Are you serious?"

"Of course. I won't stop forging, but this will be the end of the harmony series. Do you think you can handle this one?"

"Hmph, who do you think you're talking to?"

"Good. See you later."

Leaving Yur behind with a confident smirk, Shui stepped out into the night and looked up at the full moon. It was a moon he had seen many times before, but he wouldn't be seeing it here for much longer. He once wondered how long he would stay in this little puddle, but now he had already set a date for when he would leave.

'If I want to live freely, then it's about time I go out and see the world.'

Even though it was just in his mind, Shui took a step forward in his journey.

...

A couple days later, there was a tense atmosphere at dinner in the house of Lily and her siblings. This was due to something recent so she could endure it, but Sia was obviously fed up with it by now. Especially when her stupid brother made it worse by asking that question.

"How come Shui hasn't been back in a while?" asked Ross.

Naturally, after being glared at by everyone except Ryan and Lily, he shut up. Even his twin brother could read the air better this time. After what happened to him at the academy, Ross was inspired by Shui and wanted to get stronger. Ross hoped that he could get some special training or cultivation tips so he looked for Shui but couldn't find him. Since the day when Lily came back alone, Shui never appeared before them.

Yur had already come by to tell them that Shui would be busy with something else, but as they had seen how Lily had been acting lately, they remained anxious. Though she was always diligent, Lily had been spending more time training and even taking harder tasks as a worker, resulting in more injuries when she returned home. Thankfully, nothing life-threatening had occurred, but even Ryan and Sia hadn't been able to make her relax.

As they were confident in his abilities, everyone including Lilia was worried for Lily rather than Shui. While this was obvious for her little brothers and sister, Lilia was more worried about her because she forced Yur to tell her what Shui's plan was. She knew that he was moving forward but Lily seemed to think that he might hate her now.

Lilia told her that Shui would be fine, but besides a fake smile, there was no change in her. Until she saw him for herself, she would likely always believe that he didn't want to see her again.

That night, as Lily combed Sia's hair, Sia finally found the confidence to speak her mind to her sister.

"Big sis, did something happen between you and Shui?"

"No, I was only reminded of my incompetence and helplessness."

'A bad move already?!'

Sia couldn't tell what Lily was feeling from her tone or look at her face, and she wasn't sure she wanted to either.

"So something did happen."

"In a sense."

Sia tried to prod her for more information, but she couldn't tell anything from her sister's tone. Although she would occasionally slip up, Sia knew that when Lily was focused it was hard to read anything from her.

"Uh, don't worry big sis. I'm sure that he'll come back and everything will be the same as before."

"...No, it's fine. That's what I'm afraid of."

"Why?"

"I don't want everything to be the same as before. I want to be able to help him."

"But you help him all the time."

"All I can do are chores that he could have done himself. If there was ever a problem he couldn't solve by himself, he would never need my help."

Sia wanted to refute, but she started to understand Lily's viewpoint. Similar to how Lily felt about Shui, she also wanted to be strong enough to help her older siblings, that was the main reason she was so serious about cultivation.

"That sounds difficult, but good luck big sis."

"Thank you, Sia."