Yue Ling.
Yue Ling.
Yue Ling.
Grandfather Yue called out, his voice warm with love and familiarity but the room was empty. The girl was nowhere to be found. A frown creased his weathered face as he turned to Butler San.
"Where is Ling'er?" he asked.
But Butler San gave no answer. He stood frozen, ashamed, knowing he had been tricked. Yue Ling had vanished under the guise of feeding the spiritual pigs.
"Since when did she start feeding the pigs?!" Grandfather Yue bellowed, fury breaking through his usually composed tone. "Find her. Search everywhere!"
He didn't need to guess long. If she wasn't in the hidden realm, she must be where she always went when upset—the cliff. The place she sat for hours, brooding over the fact she couldn't cultivate like the others.
Far outside the small world, in a quiet village, the air shifted. The villagers were tense. They had learned to recognize the signs.
"The ugly duckling is here."
"The useless one is here again."
It was the code an announcement, a warning. Stalls were shut hurriedly, dangerous tools hidden, faces averted. Trouble had arrived.
Yue Ling, ever mischievous, had once again slipped out, dressed in disguise this time as a boy. She roamed the village with her usual sharp wit and tendency to stir chaos. But this time, someone had tipped off the villagers. A few of them, fed up with her antics, planned to teach her a lesson.
As she sat in a corner, plotting some new mischief, she didn't hear them approach.
Wham!
The cold, disgusting splash of urine drenched her. Yue Ling shot up with a scream of rage, eyes wild, chasing after the boy who'd dumped the bowl on her. He ran fast, but she was faster, fury giving her speed.
But he was only bait.
He led her straight into the ambush.
They beat her mercilessly, mocking, laughing, calling her names. She fought back with everything she had, but eventually, she collapsed. Blood pooled beneath her fragile form, her consciousness slipping away.
Unbeknownst to all, they had spilled her blood at the very spot where an ancient power had waited for millennia.
The meadow shimmered faintly. Then—
Crack!
A small ring, buried and dormant for countless ages, awakened. It jolted awake, glowing faintly, sensing the blood.
"What?! This—this is my master?" it cried out, a voice echoing through the realm though no one could hear it. "A non-cultivator? Am I fated to die unfulfilled with such a useless master?!"
It wailed, shaking with despair.
But then power.
An immense, overwhelming energy was approaching.
It was Grandfather Yue.
The ring trembled, recognizing the might of the man who drew near. Without hesitation, it shrank into a tiny glimmer and transformed attaching itself to Yue Ling's ear, disguising as a simple earring.
Moments later, Grandfather Yue found her.
She was unconscious, broken, bloodied but alive. His face was a storm of rage and grief as he lifted her gently into his arms. No one spoke. No one dared.
Back in the small world, he tended to her wounds himself, never once scolding her.
He simply waited for her to open her eyes again.