Mother walked in through the doorway dressed in ordinary clothes. Expressionless, she looked at me, Brother Ruize, and Xia Yunxuan in turn before finally fixing her gaze on Xia Qingping's face.
"Ren Min..." Xia Qingping froze, staring at Mother with a complicated expression, then sprang to his feet. His lips trembled slightly, as though he wanted to speak but could not. Xia Yunxuan also stood, looking distinctly awkward. His simple "You're here" carried emotions too tangled to describe.
I froze as well, unsure what Mother and Yu Xiaoxue's arrival meant at that moment. Clearly, though, they had discussed something and arranged to meet here. After all, they had only come after the meeting.
"I'm here. Whatever you have to say, please keep it brief and get to the point," Mother said calmly. Yet her words struck my still heart like a stone dropped into an ancient well.
Either Xia Qingping or Xia Yunxuan had invited Mother, or she would not have opened with those words. But what were they trying to do? I was confused, yet also hopeful that the misunderstandings between them might finally be cleared up.
Seeing that the Xia family apparently had important matters to discuss, Yu Tianxiao, Jiang Zhuoxue, Li Jingyu, and Ren Yu all found excuses to stand and take their leave. There was also plenty left to handle in the abandoned town, which gave them another reason to go.
"Shall we continue discussing the matters concerning the Daoist and Confucian sects tomorrow morning?" Ren Yu asked on his way out.
"I hope Fellow Daoist Zou Zhiwen will also be able to attend tomorrow morning's meeting." Xia Yunxuan escorted the Daoists all the way to the door before signaling for an attendant to lead us to a private reception room.
The hotel was quite large,