Su Yi said, "With so many eyes on this Yu Jing City, aren't you worried about being misunderstood?"
Moon Shiyan softly replied, "If you dare to come here alone, I simply came to meet you. Why should I fear those criticisms?"
Su Yi smiled, finding this woman intriguing.
He pointed to a nearby stone bench and said, "Sit."
However, Moon Shiyan declined, saying, "I have already seen you, and now I should leave. By the way, I'm looking forward to the battle between you and Su Hongli on the fourth day of May."
After speaking, her figure flashed like an illusory stream of light and disappeared without a trace.
Su Yi raised an eyebrow, only then confirming that Moon Shiyan had genuinely come to see him and had no ulterior motives.
Afterward, Su Yi fell into contemplation.
He had previously sensed an extremely obscure aura emanating from the ancient sword behind Moon Shiyan.
It wasn't a terrifying power or a mystical treasure, but rather something resembling a "living being."
"Could it be that there is a sword spirit hidden within that ancient sword?"
Su Yi stroked his chin, his eyes filled with a hint of regret.
Moon Shiyan did not harbor hostility; otherwise, he could have taken the opportunity just now to use his divine sense and explore the mysteries of that ancient sword.
"Ning Xihan's body contains a mysterious power, Mu Xi has the blood of a qilin, making her a potential body possessor, and this Moon Shiyan has a hidden secret within the ancient sword behind her..."
"Looking at it this way, those prominent figures in the Great Zhou likely have different secrets."
"What about Su Hongli? Could he also be a body possessor?"
The night grew darker.
Su Yi stood up and walked into his room.
As usual, after completing his cultivation, Su Yi lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
But this night, he had a dream—
Inside a damp and dimly lit room, the flickering light of a yellowed lamp cast mottled shadows.
A weary-looking woman sat there, the candlelight reflecting on her face, unable to dispel the deathly pallor that nearly made her transparent.
She was emaciated, occasionally covering her lips and coughing harshly, but when she looked at Su Yi, her eyes were filled with tenderness and doting.
Four-year-old Su Yi sat on a high stool with a bowl of noodles placed on the table in front of him. The broth was thin, with a few wilted vegetable leaves, steaming but lacking flavor.
The woman's eyes gazed at Su Yi, speaking softly, "Yier, today is your birthday. Although you're still young, mother no longer has time to wait. There are things that I must tell you, and you must remember them in your heart, alright?"
Su Yi raised his little face and asked, "Mother, what do you want to tell me?"
The woman gently ruffled Su Yi's hair, her eyes slightly red, and said, "In the future, if I'm no longer here, you must take good care of yourself. No matter how others treat you, you must find a way to survive. Do you understand?"
Four-year-old Su Yi nodded vigorously, "Yes!"
But the woman sighed bitterly, her expression filled with sorrow, and said, "I have burdened you. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have suffered so much, my child..."
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and fell, one after another.
Four-year-old Su Yi stood up and wiped away the tears for the woman, saying with concern, "Mother, why are you crying? Yier is not suffering. In the future, I will definitely listen to you, take care of myself, and live well. You also need to take care of yourself. When there's a chance, I will beg Father to take care of your illness and injury..."
The woman smiled with relief, embracing four-year-old Su Yi tightly, and whispered softly, "Yier, Mother... really wants to be with you as you grow up..."
Her voice gradually faded away.
Four-year-old Su Yi stood there blankly, suddenly feeling that his mother's body, which had been holding him, was growing colder and colder.
Until eventually, it turned as cold as ice...
That day was the second day of the second month, known as "Dragon Raises Its Head."
It was his birthday.
It was also the day his mother passed away.
The flickering, yellowed candlelight on the table, the bowl of flavorless longevity noodles, and the figure that held him tightly but passed away suddenly became an indelible image.
Suddenly, the scene in the dream changed—
Slap!
A slap struck Su Yi's face harshly, sending his figure flying backward, falling more than ten zhang away. His originally delicate cheeks instantly swelled up, burning with a sharp pain, and blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with burning hatred, glaring fiercely at the distant figure.
That figure wore a purple python robe, imposing and majestic, with a cold and indifferent expression. The aura emanating from him was domineering and intimidating, as if he were a god-like sovereign.
Su Hongli!
"Rebellious child, I knew long ago that you had always planned revenge against that despicable woman who was your mother. If it weren't for the fact that you carry the blood of my Su Xuanli, I would have killed you long ago!"
Su Xuanli crossed his arms, his gaze sharp, exuding a terrifying aura. He looked at Su Yi with indifference.
It seemed as though he wasn't looking at his son, but a pitiful and laughable ant.
"I only want to know now, did you kill my mother?"
Su Yi wiped away the bloodstains from his lips, his voice hoarse. His eyes were bloodshot, and his chest heaved.
Faced with such questioning, Su Xuanli furrowed his brow slightly, disdainfully saying, "My actions as Su Xuanli require no explanations to anyone, especially not to a rebellious child like you."
"Don't let me see you again in the future. Otherwise, I will use the name of the Su Clan's Patriarch to sever our ties in the name of justice!"
After saying that, Su Xuanli turned and left, his imposing and majestic figure disappearing in an instant.
However, his words echoed relentlessly, each word piercing deeply into Su Yi's heart like a knife, stirring up a roaring hatred that was on the verge of erupting.
He gritted his teeth tightly, suppressing the boiling and roaring hatred within his heart.
"Su Yi, you're just a bastard now, with your cultivation crippled and no longer the top disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect's outer sect. Even your father doesn't want to see you anymore. Just accept your fate obediently."
A young man dressed in a brocade robe approached, smiling as he squatted in front of Su Yi on the ground, his eyes filled with pity.
Su Bonan!
The legitimate son of Su Xuanli, the main wife of Su Hongli!
"Of course, I'm not here to mock you on this occasion, but to tell you something."
"A few days ago, my mother found a marriage prospect for you. From now on, just be a dutiful son-in-law."
Su Bonan smiled, reaching out to pat Su Yi's cheek, a gesture filled with humiliation.
"By the way, I don't want to see you in this Yujing City anymore. Otherwise, don't blame me, your loving younger brother, for being heartless!"
...
Suddenly, all these scenes disappeared like bubbles.
Su Yi trembled all over and woke up abruptly from his sleep.
As he opened his eyes and saw the familiar surroundings, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Although those scenes were just dreams, they had once happened to Su Yi in reality.
In the darkness, Su Yi sat up from the bed, his deep gaze filled with unfathomable chill.
The dream, like a reversal of time, made past memories flash by like fleeting glimpses. Although they were all long gone, Su Yi knew very well that this was the influence of obsession.
If it were a demon in his heart!
The next morning.
Just as the day was breaking, thunder rumbled, and a heavy rain suddenly poured down, lasting only a tea's time before it stopped.
It was like summer weather, like a capricious woman.
Su Yi woke up early, washed himself, and tied his long hair into a bun with a wooden hairpin. Holding an oiled-paper umbrella, he left the Songfeng Residence directly.
Walking out of Taofu Alley, Su Yi hired a carriage and headed north along the wide streets of Ruian Lane.
Half an hour later.
The carriage stopped outside the north city gate.
Su Yi got off the carriage and handed a piece of gold to the coachman, instructing, "Wait here."
With the coachman's ecstatic gaze fixed on him, he walked alone towards the distance.
To the north of Yujing City, there was a range of continuous mountains called "Qingqi Mountain."
Su Yi's only impression of this mountain was that when he was four years old, after his mother Ye Yufei passed away, he was taken by a group of servants and buried on a hill in Qingqi Mountain.
Splish, splash~
Just as Su Yi arrived at the foot of Qingqi Mountain, a heavy downpour poured down, creating a curtain of rain that pelted the vegetation in the mountains, causing rustling sounds.
Su Yi opened up the oiled-paper umbrella and walked forward, relying on his vague childhood memories.
After a while, he stopped halfway up a mountain ridge.
Wild grass grew abundantly here, and there was a tomb mound with a cypress tree planted on one side.
There was no tombstone.
Only a solitary tomb mound covered in weeds.
Su Yi looked at the tomb mound, as if he had returned to when he was four years old.
It was another pouring rain, from the burial of his mother, Ye Yufei, to the end, and Su Hongli never appeared.
Not a single member of the Su family in Yujing City came.
Su Yi remembered himself kneeling in the muddy rainwater, staring blankly at the tomb mound, unable to shed a single tear.
At that time, he was still too young to understand what life and death meant.
In the end, when those servants tried to take him away, he panicked and said loudly, "I want to go with my mother!"
The servants all laughed and said that his mother had died a long time ago, and if he wanted to go with her, he would have to die too.
Then, regardless of his cries and struggles, they ignored him and left, taking him away.
Since that day, he became an ignored figure in the Su family of Yujing City, experiencing neglect, suppression, and mockery... His entire childhood was filled with darkness.
Thinking about this, Su Yi couldn't help but sigh softly.
Even though he had been reincarnated and was now cultivating again, recalling the past brought forth an inexplicable sense of sadness in his heart.
In his memory, his mother, Ye Yufei, was an extremely gentle and strong woman. Even when she was confined and seriously ill, she never showed any sadness in front of him.
After standing in silence for a long time, Su Yi waved his sleeve.
Invisible sword energy whistled out, cutting off the surrounding weeds near the tomb mound, which were then blown away by a gust of wind, leaving nothing behind.
"On the fourth day of May, I will bring some offerings from the Su family, and on the fifth day of May, I will come to see you again."
Su Yi muttered to himself.
Then, holding the oiled-paper umbrella, he turned around and walked down the mountain.
In his previous life, he was known as the Xuanjun Sword Lord, revered throughout the Nine Provinces of the Great Wilderness.
But that was all in the past.
In this life, he was the son of Ye Yufei!
As a filial son, he had a duty to avenge his mother, to sever the old grudges, and to break down the barriers in his heart!
Just as he descended from the mountain ridge, Su Yi suddenly stopped, his gaze looking into the distance through the curtain of rain.
A tall and slender figure stood under a large tree, hands behind their back, their gaze also fixed on Su Yi as he walked down from the mountain ridge.
In that instant, the sky rumbled with thunder and lightning, echoing through the mountains, sending shivers down the spine.