Searching Across Nine Lands for Xiao Yan, Only to End in Vain

"I'll be back in a day this time."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then take me with you."

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because you haven't even memorized the entire pill formula." Xuan Jin reached out and pressed her head down slightly. "Go memorize the rest. Once you're done, I'll let you hold your little sister tomorrow."

Xuan Xi's eyes lit up. She turned and ran, but stopped short at the doorway and looked back to shout.

"Dad! Who's that sister in purple? She stood outside the guest room for a long time just now, staring at the sky."

Xuan Jin paused.

"Someone who came seeking help."

"Seeking what?"

"An answer that no longer exists."

Xuan Xi did not understand. She scratched her head and ran off.

That night, Xuan Jin stood in the courtyard for a while.

A lamp was still lit in the eastern guest room. Its wick was tiny, yet it never went out.

At first light the next day, Gu Xun Er was already waiting outside the courtyard gate.

She had changed into a clean dress, and her hair had been tied up again, but she had not managed to hide the exhaustion on her face. Ya Fei handed her a small jade box, but she pushed it away.

"These are pills for the journey." Ya Fei pressed the box into her hand. "The young master's orders."

Gu Xun Er held the box and quietly thanked her.

Xuan Jin emerged from beneath the corridor, dressed in a plain long robe and carrying nothing.

"Let's go."

He raised his hand, and the space ahead silently split open. A faint purplish-gold glow lingered along the edges of the rift, so stable that not even a trace of energy leaked out.

Gu Xun Er looked at the passage, and her heart sank further. Whenever