Chapter 350

Chapter 350: Solid Reasons, No Way to Argue Back

After clearing away the troublemaker, Eldest Young Master Song acted like nothing had happened, smiling at Yu Zhi Yi as he said: “Second Miss, we can set out.”

[Yu Zhi Yi didn’t mind that Miss Wei planned things for herself. In this world, it’s hard for women; wanting a better life isn’t something to blame-so long as you don’t suddenly go crazy or hurt other people for no reason.]

She said calmly: “Let’s go.”

As Yu Zhi Yi’s group spurred their horses toward Juxian Manor, Miss Wei, sniffling and teary, also climbed the mountain.

But she didn’t enter the Martial Alliance right away. She had a strong will and didn’t want anyone to see her looking miserable, so she found a quiet corner to wipe her tears and planned to go up only after her eyes weren’t so red.

Suddenly, a gentle female voice asked: “Miss Wei, what’s the matter?”

Miss Wei trembled, wiped at her eyes by instinct, then turned and said awkwardly: “Oh, Aunt Chen, it’s you. I’m fine-just got sand in my eyes.”

Chen Ruo Lan sighed: “Were you bullied?”

Her look was full of tolerance and pity.

At first, Miss Wei didn’t want to talk, but seeing Chen Ruo Lan’s tender concern made her think of her own mother. Her mother only liked her brothers. Toward her, the daughter, she wasn’t cruel, but she also wasn’t attentive. Whenever the brothers got even a tiny cut, Mother worried as if the sky were falling and wanted to invite a divine physician at once. But toward her daughter, Mother’s attitude was basically: as long as you’re alive, that’s enough.

When she was little, Miss Wei tried to win Mother’s love. But as she grew older, she slowly learned that not all parents like daughters, and her parents were exactly that kind. They raised her with good food and clothes only because she looked decent and could marry well someday to form an alliance, paving the way for her brothers.

This was the first time an older woman had guided her so gently, so Miss Wei couldn’t hold back and told what happened at the foot of the mountain.

Crying, she said: “Aunt Chen, I was clearly trying to set up authority for them, so why did they treat me like that? Even if I did have a little selfish plan, I didn’t hurt them. I did it for their good. They went too far! And that Second Miss Jiang-everyone acts like she cast a spell on them. It’s one thing if Second Young Master Jiang and Fifth Young Master Jiang side with her; they’re her real brothers. But why do even the two young masters of the Song family follow her lead?”

A sharp light flashed in Chen Ruo Lan’s eyes as she soothed: “Miss Wei, don’t cry.”

She gently wiped away Miss Wei’s tears, speaking with helpless regret: “If only I had gone down the mountain a little earlier, I could have spared you this humiliation.”

Her gaze held careful restraint as she added: “Ever since Second Miss Jiang returned, my big brother and second brother believed she suffered outside, so they treat her much better than others. Many things others can’t do, they indulge her to do.”

She shook her head: “You don’t know-many times even the Eldest Miss has to give way to her. It’s only my Xin Yue who suffers…”

She stopped suddenly, as if she had said too much, and quickly covered her mouth.

Miss Wei pressed her: “What about Xin Yue? Last time I came, she was fine.”

Chen Ruo Lan shook her head: “It’s nothing-nothing at all. Don’t ask. I’m telling you this only to say: Second Miss’s standing in the Martial Alliance is not low. Calling her the Alliance’s darling is no exaggeration. You’d better not provoke her, or you’ll only hurt yourself.”

“I’ve said all I can. Take care of yourself,” she finished, and turned to leave.

After only a few steps, she seemed to remember something, turned back, and asked, a bit hesitant: “By the way, Miss Wei, you just said they took people down the mountain?”

Miss Wei nodded at once: “Yes, they went down. Why?”

Chen Ruo Lan frowned but only said: “It’s nothing.”

Miss Wei clearly saw the deep ‘?’-shaped crease between Chen Ruo Lan’s brows and didn’t believe it was “nothing.” But Chen Ruo Lan offered no more and soon walked off.

Now Miss Wei frowned: [Could it be they aren’t allowed to go down the mountain?]

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was true. After all, the Earthly Ranking Conference was about to begin. The Jiang Clan brothers, as leaders of the Martial Alliance, were usually responsible for keeping order in the Alliance. Leaving without permission must have broken the rules.

Miss Wei grew excited the more she thought about it. [Good-if they broke the rules, that woman should be punished.] She didn’t believe that, in front of the whole Martial World, Alliance Leader Jiang and Second Master Jiang would still cover for that woman.

…

“What is this place?” The Jiang Clan and the Song family brothers stared at the strange wasteland, shocked.

This clearly fell within Juxian Manor’s territory. In recent years the manor had grown quickly and often held banquets. They had attended a few and weren’t unfamiliar with the surroundings. But the place Yu Zhi Yi brought them to felt completely unknown.

Yu Zhi Yi said calmly: “This should have been a forest or a mountain range before. That’s why it feels unfamiliar now.”

They didn’t understand: “What do you mean ‘should have been a forest or a mountain range’?”

Jiang Liu Yi had an excellent memory and quickly recalled: “This used to be a mountain forest.” But could a whole forest disappear overnight?

In their minds, only a natural disaster could do that. Yet even if a disaster changed the land, the ground should show signs. This wasteland had none of the marks of a recent catastrophe.

Yu Zhi Yi explained: “A formation. Someone once used a large formation to wrap this whole area, so what you saw was a forest. It was just an illusion.” A formation big enough to cover so much land wasn’t something an ordinary person could set, and ordinary people couldn’t break it either. Yet the formation had clearly been destroyed, revealing the land’s true face.

She rubbed her fingertips, analyzing many possibilities in her mind. [Either the person who set the array broke it, or Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent and the others did.] No matter what the truth was, she had to go in. The danger here clearly went beyond what normal Martial World experts could handle. One careless step, and Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent and his companions could lose their lives.

She warned them: “It might be dangerous inside. I don’t suggest you go in.”

Jiang Liu Yun, who had come to widen his horizons, objected at once: “But sister, I’m about to join my sect. I can’t become your fellow disciple and still know nothing, right?”

Jiang Liu Yi said coolly: “If there’s real danger, staying with you is far safer than splitting up. Besides, you predicted those people would be hurt-that’s even more reason to bring us in. Otherwise, how will you bring them out?”

Their reasons were solid; there was no way to argue back.