Chapter 915: Chapter 533: Return (Part 3)
Zhao Douan stepped forward, his figure gradually merged into the stone wall, disappearing from sight.
Xu Zhenguan watched his breath completely vanish. The White-clothed Empress stood alone in the old building, the afternoon sunlight slanting through the window.
Sorrow seeped into her eyes, a sense of loss overtaking her.
...
...
Linfeng, inside Ning’an County government.
In a tightly shut room, Zhao Douan, cross-legged and meditating on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes, feeling the world spinning around him and a strong fatigue surging through his heart.
In the Sea of Consciousness, the Green Lotus swayed, spreading a hazy radiance to replenish the Divine Soul’s expenditure.
"Back already? So tired... Indeed, as before, entering the Human World is especially exhausting, but this should be because of entering the painting. The time in the Imperial Palace was not too impactful since the latter period is much longer..."
Zhao Douan held his head; his temples throbbed. He simply took out a few invigorating pills and swallowed them, feeling slightly better.
"Too tired, I need a rest before attempting visualization again. I have a hunch that trying to visualize immediately will end up failing."
Zhao Douan felt the turbulence of the Sea of Consciousness, the mental exhaustion, breathed deeply, and abandoned the thought of immediately trying "Divine Travel" or returning to the Capital.
"Has it been so long?" Zhao Douan stepped down from the bed, glancing at a sandglass on the table, "Indeed, the time within the scroll is hard to estimate, but the time spent visiting Zhenbao in the palace was definitely spent. I wonder whether Xue Shence has returned, along with the Jade Sleeve Priestess..."
Zhao Douan, uninterested in resting, simply packed up a few weapons from the table and pushed open the door.
Outside, Song Jinxi dutifully performed his duties. Seeing Zhao Douan exit, he remarked, "Sir, have you rested... well?"
This Tributor’s expression was peculiar, feeling as though Mr. Zhao entered for quite a while, yet seemed even more fatigued.
"Has the Jade Sleeve Priestess come out?" Zhao Douan did not explain, asking calmly while looking towards the inner hall.
The door opened with a creak, and Yu Xiu emerged from the inner hall, her eyes somewhat swollen, seeming to have cried, her demeanor unusually emotional compared to her usual calm.
She approached and seriously saluted Zhao Douan, "I saw that the sir was resting just now, so I did not disturb."
Not... in a short while, why are you being so polite to me? Zhao Douan thought suspiciously, "Did something happen?"
Yu Xiu gestured for him to enter the inner hall for a private conversation.
Zhao Douan instructed Song Jinxi to guard the door and returned to the inner hall with Yu Xiu, seeing Nie Yurong already freed from restraints.
The female assassin of the Embroidered Robe Envoy was also crying with puffy eyes, yet a smile played at her mouth.
Seeing his entry, she who bore a similar appearance to Yu Xiu stood and suddenly knelt before Zhao Douan, speaking sincerely without hostility, "Sinner Nie Yurong thanks Commander Zhao for his great kindness!"
Zhao Douan: ??
...
Two quarters later.
"So, Nie Yurong and you, Daoist, are sisters separated for years?" Zhao Douan sat in the hall, gripping a half-bitten apple, his expression colorful, feeling like he was splashed with melodramatic soap opera drama and was thoroughly confused.
The story was not complicated:
Yu Xiu and Nie Yurong were originally sisters born on Yunfu Road, possessing excellent innate talents. Due to Evil Mages colluding with bandits, chaos ensued, causing the sisters to flee with their family. On the way, their parents were killed by bandits, and the sisters were scattered.
Yu Xiu, due to her extraordinary cultivation talents, was noticed by a priest from the Heavenly Master Mansion, who was out to eliminate the Evil Mages, and was brought back to be cultivated as a disciple.
Nie Yurong was unexpectedly taken by the Mu Prince Manor people, trained to be an Embroidered Robe Envoy.
Since then, the two sisters were separated by thousands of miles, unable to reunite, yet both continued searching for each other, although after many years, there were no traces left.
Yu Xiu Priestess, now much calmer, sat opposite Zhao Douan, holding her sister’s hand, smilingly explaining, "My secular surname is Nie, but after entering the Heavenly Master Mansion, I took the Daoist title. For many years, I practiced in the Capital; only after graduating could I walk the Martial World, and that’s when I went to Yunfu Road. These years, my presence at Yunfu Road, even in the territories of the Liao Clan and Western and Eastern areas of the Southern Border, was partly an attempt to find my sister’s whereabouts."
Nie Yurong’s tears had not yet dried, and she too clung to her sister’s hand, emotionally charged, "I was chosen by the Mu Prince Manor, secretly trained, and the strict discipline of the Embroidered Robe Envoy organization meant no freedom of movement. The priests within the Heavenly Master Mansion were too distant from us; I never imagined my sister would become a priest and a Heavenly Master’s disciple."
Zhao Douan curiously asked, "Daoist, have you asked Heavenly Master Zhang for help in searching?"
Yu Xiu understood his meaning, nodding then shaking her head, smiling bitterly, "Indeed, I sought my master’s assistance, but although my master has high cultivation, the younger sister was under the protection of a small Divine Mage in the Mu Prince Manor, practicing concealment techniques, thus my master couldn’t ascertain."
After a pause, she suddenly said, "Nonetheless, when my master sent me with the sir to Linfeng, he hinted I might fulfill a wish this time. At the time, I did not understand, but looking back, he likely already vaguely saw my reunion with my younger sister."
A vast Martial World, decades had passed; meeting again was not easy.
Zhao Douan still harbored doubts, worried whether there might be deceit, but hearing Zhang already hinted at it, eased his mind.
Hmm, even I could accidentally encounter Pei Niannu’s "descendants," Princess Consort Lu Yan’er.
Yu Xiu’s reunion with her sister doesn’t count as anything extraordinary.
"Mr. Zhao," Yu Xiu suddenly stood up, earnestly said, "I understand my younger sister belongs to the Mu Prince Manor, an enemy under national law, now captives should be severely punished. I dare to ask you, sir, to show mercy, this favor Yu Xiu will remember for life and surely repay."
Zhao Douan smiled, waving his hand, indicating she needn’t be so formal, briefly contemplating, "The priest’s involvement in defeating the White Clothes Sect’s young master and later slaying Fan Long from Divine Dragon Temple alone counts as me owing you a favor. Still, your sister being an Embroidered Robe Envoy, if let go, would violate national law..."
Yu Xiu turned tense at once, whereas Nie Yurong surprisingly showed no fear. She smiled gently, suddenly spoke to Yu Xiu, "The reason I endured those cruel trainings in the Mu Prince Manor for years, surviving till today, was not for fame and fortune, but just to see my sister. Now that my wish is fulfilled, I am content; my sister, as a priest, should act impartially. Mu Prince Manor colluded with Evil Mages, my hands are not clean, there’s no need to plead for me."
She looked at Zhao Douan, calmly saying, "Whatever is appropriate, Commander, please do not show leniency beyond the law, everything should be judged by national law."
She didn’t want her origin to affect Yu Xiu’s future!
Nie Yurong clearly understood she could never live a normal person’s life now, and as an assassin, there was no turning back.
But Yu Xiu still had a bright future ahead.
Even if the Heavenly Master Mansion stood beyond worldly matters, being drawn into imperial intrigue due to her could present hidden dangers, especially pleading with this infamous sinister, conniving power minister...she didn’t want to witness this.
Yu Xiu panicked, her expression changed, "What nonsense are you talking..."
Zhao Douan watched their argument with a smiling face, suddenly chuckling, "Alright then, I have two choices for you."
He raised a finger towards Nie Yurong, "The first path, I help you completely erase this identity, thereafter you as an Embroidered Robe Envoy will be ’dead,’ the real you can live anywhere, as long as you’re in areas controlled by the court, I guarantee your safety, provided you don’t commit anymore crimes. As a trade-off, Yu Xiu Priestess must help me with affairs for a period."
"The second path, you continue being an Embroidered Robe Envoy, helping me with some affairs, simultaneously becoming a Shadow Guard for the court. Completing this would count as your achievements, offsetting your crime, earning merit for redemption."
Nie Yurong didn’t hesitate, stepping forward before her sister, "I choose the second path."