Master Zhong and Chao Yan escort Meilian back to the cottage. Her father is waiting for her return. Jun Zhi got word that Meilian had disappeared and hurried to the cottage to keep Mr. Gu company.
Meilian sat inside the carriage and she felt anxious by the second she got closer to her home. Her only fear was that after this incident her father would stop her from going outside. She didn't want to be caged and would rather explore the world and learn new things. Meilian told herself that everything would be fine, but she doubted her own thoughts. All she could do was prepare herself mentally for her father's condition after her return.
After some time, the carriage stops, and the lump in her throat gets bigger and unbearable. The carriage door opens and Chao Yan helps Meilian down to the ground. She could still feel the stinging pain in her ankle as soon as her feet touched the ground. Meilian holds onto the carriage to support herself.
Master Zhong walks up to Meilian and without a warning, he lifts her up and carries her. Meilian is surprised by his actions but she doesn't resist his advance. He carries her all the way to the cottage and as they got closer Meilian saw her father walking up to them as soon as he noticed their return. Meilian also sees Jun Zhi right behind her father. She can't help but smile when she sees him.
Mr. Gu walks up to Master Zhong and he stops.
"Do you know somewhere I can put Miss Gu down?" Master Zhong asks.
"Please follow me," her father says and walks back to the cottage with Master Zhong following right behind.
They walk into the emergency room and Master Zhong puts Meilian down on the bed.
"Thank you," Meilian tells Master Zhong.
"I'm indebted to you Master Zhong," Mr. Gu tells him. "Both you and the sect. If you ever need my assistance, please let me know"
Master Zhong nods his head and turns around to take his leave.
Jun Zhi enters the room and walks straight to Meilian.
"How are you feeling Xiao Lian?" he asks.
"I'm alright," she says. "I might still not be over what just happened"
As she says that, she looks down at her bruised hands. Mr. Gu had left the room to escort Master Zhong and Chao Yan out and shortly after comes back. He walks up to his daughter and pulls her into a tight embrace. Meilian is shocked by his actions and without realizing it, she begins to cry. She had bottled up her emotions since getting kidnapped and after getting home she finally relaxed and was able to let go of her emotions. Mr. Gu just kept hugging her, relieved his daughter was alive, and came safely back.
Meilian calmed down after some time and Jun Zhi talks to her.
"What really happened?" he asks her.
She tells her father and her friend everything that happened, from going up the mountain to collect the herbs, to finding people clad in dark purple and how they caught her watching them and brought her with them to take her to their sect.
Mr. gu's facial expression changes. He was beginning to think his one big fear was beginning to come true and he began to worry that the particular sect would recognize his daughter and come back for her once their sect leader got wind of the incident.
He came to a conclusion. He had to send her away to ensure her safety. He needed to send her away somewhere far away where she could be thought more about her healing ability.
After Jun Zhi leaves for the night, Mr. Gu tells his daughter what he was thinking. He doesn't want anyone to know about her departure, to further keep her safe.
"I'm sending you away Lian'er," Mr. Gu says to his daughter. "I'm doing it to keep you safe"
Meilian stays quiet.
"I'll send you to an old friend," he says. "He will teach you anything you want to know about healing people and he would teach you how to use a sword so you can protect yourself"
"When should I leave father?" she asks.
"You leave tomorrow before dawn," he tells her. "You should pack everything you need. The rest my friend will provide for you"
Meilian understood what her father wanted. The moment she got taken, she felt helpless. If her father hadn't sent people for help, she would never have seen her father ever again. She needed the strength to protect herself. She prepared a bag and put in everything necessary for her. Soon as she finished she went to sleep.
Her night was restless. The same nightmare occurred again. However, some things were different in this dream. There was a woman standing in the middle of a pavilion, the same woman that fell down a cliff. She seemed to be waiting for someone. In her hand, she held a man's handkerchief. The woman looked happy and shy. She wore a beautiful dress and her head was decorated with beautiful flower ornaments. She looked like a beautiful flower. Soon after a man comes into view and he walks up behind the woman, she hasn't noticed him. The man taps the woman's shoulder and she turns around, becoming even shyer as she notices the man smiling at her. The man takes out a wooden box and gives it to the woman who suddenly begins to tear up. Then the nightmare shifts to her regular dream
The next morning Meilian wakes up before the sun is up. Her father got into her room and told her the carriage is ready and waiting, and the person escorting her knows where to drop her off. Meilian puts on some simple clothes that would hide her head and face and has a backpack. She gets into the carriage and before she leaves, Mr. Gu gives her a pouch with some food and other things.
"I've put a scroll and a letter inside this bag," he tells her. "Once you open it, you will know what to do next. Be sure to read the letter first on the road"
Meilian nods her head and keeps the bag close to her. After their final goodbyes, the carriage takes her away.
After leaving Fuzhou Kingdom she opened the bag her father gave her and read the letter. The letter reminded her how she wasn't able to tell Jun Zhi goodbye face to face. Her father had her write him a short letter to tell him goodbye. With a heavy heart, she opened the letter and read its contents. Mr. Gu had written that he is giving her this letter to inform her more about her situation, in case anyone was spying on them. He had written that this trip was going to take a day if everything went according to his plan. Meilian was going to enroll in a school. She was heading out this very moment because enrollment was happening and if she left now she would make it before they began. The school thought a lot of things, but she was only going to take two of the courses there, healing and swordsmanship.
She is going to learn more about healing and take the swordsmanship class to learn how to wield a sword. He mentioned that because he didn't have a fighter background, he couldn't teach her how to protect herself but that the school would help her in his stead.
Meilian wasn't sure why her father was this afraid that he had to send her away, but she knew that at least for him, she had to become strong so her father could rest easy.
The rest of the letter told her there was someone at the school that he knows that knows her background and will be able to help her truly with her secret ability. He will notice her when she enters the premise of the school, so she wouldn't have to go looking for him. He will tell her a phrase and she will know it and she just has to respond to it.
He tells her lastly that he loves her so much and hopes to see her again after she had become a strong and independent woman. He tells her that her mother would be so proud of her. Meilian begins to weep silently while hugging the letter. Mr. Gu wrote at the end that she should burn the letter, in case anyone got hold of it accidentally. She wipes her tears then uses a basic fire spell and burns the letter, then throws it out the carriage watching the ashes float in the air.
Meilian digs around in her father's bag and sees that he had left her a book, his book. She recognized it as her father's medical book. Inside he had written down different types of cures as well as his own remedies. After seeing the book, Meilian smiles.