Chapter 169

Chapter 169: It Happened for a Reason

Du Ruo Lan stopped mid-step. She turned and looked at Wei Ling Yue, wanting him to ask for her.

Wei Ling Yue coughed lightly. “Yun Xi, why didn’t Yun Qing come back to Kun Yu City with you?”

Yun Xi looked at the two of them and answered unhurriedly, “After we entered the sect to cultivate, we didn’t have many chances to meet. Yun Qing became close with a Senior Brother Ye from Pill Peak, so she mostly cultivated at Pill Peak. After she built her foundation, she entered the inner sect Pill Peak to cultivate. When I left the sect, she seemed to be a registered disciple of the Pill Peak Peak Master, but sadly, she wasn’t formally accepted as a true disciple.”

She continued, “After I took a Master, I even invited Wei Family disciples to visit Soaring Snow Peak. She knew I was returning to my clan, but she didn’t clearly say she wanted to come back with me. I didn’t want to disrupt my elder sister’s cultivation plan, so I returned to Kun Yu City alone.”

Yun Xi’s words were brief and to the point, without missing any key information.

Hearing that, Du Ruo Lan unconsciously dug her nails into her palm. Yun Xi’s meaning was clear: her daughter wasn’t doing well in the sect. It had been nearly ten years, and she still hadn’t even secured a proper Master.

Wei Ling Yue, on the other hand, was overjoyed. The smile on his face grew wider and wider. His second daughter truly had ability. Not only was she already a Golden Core Master at such a young age, she had also taken a Master. That Master was at least a Nascent Soul True Lord. It gave him enormous face.

Wei Ling Yue asked eagerly, “Yun Xi, which True Lord did you take as Master?”

Yun Xi smiled. “I took True Lord Yu Ling of Soaring Snow Peak as my Master. He is the sect master’s senior brother in the same lineage. Before I left the sect, Master was attacking the Soul Transformation realm. If nothing goes wrong, in just a few years, Master will be a Soul Transformation Venerable.”

“Good! Good! Good!” Wei Ling Yue said, nearly laughing out loud. “Yun Xi, you’ve truly brought honor to your father. With a True Lord guiding your cultivation, I’m sure you’ll go much farther than your father ever could.”

Yun Xi followed his words smoothly. “Yes. As Master’s only disciple, he values my cultivation greatly. Before he went into seclusion, he not only passed down techniques to me, he also prepared cultivation resources for me. He considered everything for me.”

Wei Ling Yue grew even happier. His eyes toward Yun Xi gained a bit more warmth and affection.

Du Ruo Lan, however, felt colder with every word. Her daughter’s aptitude was clearly better than this so-called three spiritual roots “waste,” yet her daughter lost at every turn. Even now, she had only barely built her foundation, and she hadn’t even found a chance to return to the clan.

Watching the father and daughter talk so happily, Du Ruo Lan lowered her gaze and quietly withdrew from the main hall. She knew she couldn’t keep Zhuo Hua Courtyard. She had to give it up whether she wanted to or not. If she gave it up herself, at least she could save some face. If she was driven out by force, the only one embarrassed would be her.

After Du Ruo Lan left, Wei Ling Yue continued trying to close the distance. “Yun Xi, how long do you plan to stay in the clan this time?”

“This time, I came back mainly to visit Father, and also to retrieve the items I temporarily stored with the Feng Family,” Yun Xi said. “After that, I need to return to the sect. The sect tournament is coming soon, and I don’t want to disgrace my Master.”

Wei Ling Yue nodded at once. “As you should, as you should.”

Yun Xi continued, “Speaking of it, when Uncle Feng helped collect Mother’s belongings, he said the storage pouch in the hidden compartment of the white jade bed in her room was likely taken by Father.

“I was young at the time, so I felt safe letting Father and Uncle keep things for me. But now I’m already a Golden Core Master. I can protect these things myself. So I want to keep them personally. Father, what do you think?”

After she spoke, her almond eyes fixed on Wei Ling Yue, whose face had stiffened. He clearly hadn’t expected that something already in his pocket would need to be spat back out.

He coughed and tried to explain. “Yun Xi, this storage pouch was something your mother and I…”

But Yun Xi cut in bluntly. “Father, don’t tell me it was something you and Mother saved up together. Ever since I can remember, other than coming to Zhuo Hua Courtyard to ask Mother for pills, you basically never came there. Mother’s things belonged to her alone. Since she’s gone, they should naturally be inherited by me, her only daughter.”

Wei Ling Yue realized he couldn’t fool his way through it. He sighed. “Yun Xi, are you blaming Father?”

Yun Xi didn’t take the bait. She continued calmly, “Uncle Feng already told me that you and Mother became Dao companions for the sake of the clan. There was never any deep affection. After I was born, you met Mother even less. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been Du Ruo Lan, and there wouldn’t have been Wei Yun Qing, who is older than me.”

She went on, “Those are matters of the older generation. As your daughter, I have no right to comment (hui). But after Mother’s ‘fall,’ you couldn’t wait to make Concubine Du into Madam Wei. That was disrespect to Mother and disregard for me.”

“You never considered my situation. Otherwise, how would Wei Yun Qing have dared to come to Zhuo Hua Courtyard in broad daylight to snatch Mother’s belongings?”

“And the Spirit-Melting Pill in my meals – isn’t that also the result of you not valuing me? You thought using Pearl as a scapegoat meant I wouldn’t know who the real mastermind was?”

Yun Xi’s gaze stayed steady. “I didn’t say it because you’re my father. I didn’t want to tear off your face. The Wei Family raised me and even helped me get the chance to enter the Hao Ran Sect. But I have my own ledger in my heart.”

“This time I came back, besides informing the clan that I’ve taken a Master, I also want to tell you this, Father: don’t rely on my influence to do things you can’t take back. I will not clean up your mess.”

Yun Xi’s words were like a heavy slap across Wei Ling Yue’s face. It was as if he was seeing his daughter clearly for the first time. His face flushed red, then pale, then red again. After a long while, he said, “I truly had no feelings for your mother, but I don’t think I ever treated you badly.”

Yun Xi let out a sharp laugh. “Father, you truly didn’t treat me badly. You only treated me differently.”

“Both Wei Yun Qing and I are your daughters, but you stepped on one and lifted the other. When Wei Yun Qing bullied me, you chose to close one eye and open the other.”

“On my fifth birthday, you gave me a dead egg as a gift. You coaxed me, saying it was a spirit beast egg. You said if it hatched, I could form a contract with it. But so many years have passed, and that egg is still an egg. Father, do you want to see it?”

Wei Ling Yue looked at Yun Xi’s open mockery and could only press his lips tight.

Yun Xi continued, “Father, I was born early-wise, and I remember very clearly. The day I learned Mother had fallen, I cried until I fainted. When I woke up, only the maids were beside me. I asked them to carry me to Mother’s courtyard, and I happened to run into Father.”

“You were very unhappy to see me. You knocked me out on the spot and told the maids to carry me back. If I’m not wrong, that was the night you took the storage pouch.”

At that point, Wei Ling Yue couldn’t even find an excuse to deny it. He answered with difficulty, “I used some items in the pouch. I’ll make up for it tomorrow and deliver it to you.”

Yun Xi’s lips curved slightly. “Good. I believe Father won’t keep what doesn’t belong to him.”

Wei Ling Yue felt as if both his pride and his dignity had been stripped bare. He stood up at once. “Yun Xi, rest first. I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Yun Xi didn’t stop him. She only said lightly, “Father, our relationship didn’t become distant overnight. My disappointment has simply piled up until it was enough.”

“I no longer expect fatherly love.”

“Our father-daughter relationship will be like this from now on. Don’t expect too much. It’s fortunate you still have another daughter. I hope she can fulfill every expectation you have.”