Leaving (Two Chapters Combined)

The bracelet shimmered with a soft purple luster beneath the light. The few energy circuits along its edge had been sealed completely, and a faint blue glow flowed across its surface.

Na'er reached out to take the bracelet. The moment her fingertips touched the metal, she paused slightly.

The bracelet still held a trace of the warmth from Chu Yan's palm, fitting warmly against her fingertips.

She lowered her head to look at the purple bracelet resting quietly in her palm, then looked up at Chu Yan. Slowly, she slipped it onto her left wrist.

It fit perfectly, following the curve of her wrist—not too loose, not too tight, as if it had been measured for her.

The instant it touched her skin, a gentle warmth seeped from the inside of the band and slowly spread up her wrist. It felt as though an invisible hand were softly brushing over her meridians—warm and soothing.

Na'er lowered her eyes to the purple band on her wrist. After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice slightly hoarse and soft. "Brother, when did you start making it?"

"I worked on it off and on for more than two months." Chu Yan gathered the tools on the table and put them back in the drawer, speaking casually. "I reworked it twice a while back. The energy circuits in the first version had a flaw in their layout, so it would heat up if you wore it for too long. It only stabilized after I switched to another conductive material."

He paused and glanced at the bracelet on her wrist. Once he'd confirmed it fit, he continued, "You can wear it all the time. There's no need to take it off, and bathing or sleeping with it won't affect it. The energy core inside will last more than half a year. When it runs out, tell me and I'll replace it for you."

Na'er nodded and said nothing more.

She only lowered her head and gently ran the fingertips of her other hand over the bracelet's smooth surface, tracing its circumference again and again.

A little while later, Chu Yan stood up, pushed his chair back under the table, and turned to her. His voice was gentle. "All right, it's getting late. Go back to bed. You have school tomorrow."

Na'er climbed down from her chair and stood in front of him, looking up.

Her purple eyes shone especially brightly in the warm yellow lamplight. The mist in them had cleared, though a faint redness still lingered at the corners.

She parted her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only smiled, her eyes curving. "Thank you, Brother."

"Go on."

Na'er turned toward the door. After taking two steps, she stopped and looked back at him. Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she spoke.

"Brother, I'll always remember today."

Without waiting for Chu Yan to answer, she hugged the little pillow and hurried out of the room. The silver-white tips of her hair flickered past the doorframe and disappeared.

Chu Yan stood where he was, watching the door close again. He stayed quiet for a moment, then let out a soft breath and returned to the desk, sitting down and closing the drawer.

A few tiny metal shavings from assembling the Soul Tool still littered the tabletop. He brushed them into the wastebasket with his fingertip, then put the pen and notes back where they belonged.

When he was done, he sat in his chair for a while, his gaze resting on the night beyond the window.

He knew Na'er hadn't said "If I leave one day" as a casual hypothetical.

Na'er's memories were awakening—or had already begun to return. The fact that she could say those words meant she was already preparing herself for something.

He and Na'er had shared plenty of memories. For the past few years, he'd looked after her as his little sister. Now that she might be leaving, he couldn't help feeling reluctant to see her go.

But if she truly had matters of the Soul Beast Clan to deal with, he wouldn't force her to stay.

All he could do was leave her with a good impression while he was still too weak to do anything else, so that when she had to make a choice in the future, she would hesitate—and remember that someone here was waiting for her.

Was this... a form of manipulation?

A few more days passed. The regular elementary school nearby had let out for the holidays, and Na'er no longer needed to get up early for class.

That day,

Chu Yan stood at the courtyard gate, gazing quietly for a few moments at the closed door of the west wing.

Normally, Na'er would have rushed out by this time. Sometimes she would wait for him to finish practicing his staff on the stone bench in the courtyard; other times... In any case, there was always a small figure darting about there.

But today, she didn't appear.

The door was shut. There was no light inside, and the curtains were drawn tight.

Had she already... Sigh.

Chu Yan stood at the courtyard gate for a while, a vague premonition stirring in his heart. Then he walked over and stopped in front of her door.

He raised his hand and lightly knocked twice.

"Na'er?"

There was no answer from inside.

He knocked twice more and waited several seconds, but there was still no movement.

Chu Yan lowered his hand and stood silently before the door for a moment. Then he reached out and pushed it.

It wasn't locked, and swung open at his touch.

Everything in the room had been neatly put away. The quilt was folded perfectly, the pillow sat at the head of the bed, and the sheets were stretched so smooth they didn't have a single crease—as if someone had carefully tidied everything before leaving.

The room was still clean and orderly, but Chu Yan noticed at once that the little pink rag doll that had sat on the bedside table was gone. The storybooks she'd flipped through countless times were missing from the desk, too, and even the little yellow flower on the windowsill—the one that had bloomed for three years—was gone.

Chu Yan stood in the middle of the room, his eyes sweeping over its empty corners before settling on the tabletop.

A letter lay there, pinned down by a small stone so the wind wouldn't carry it off. Beside it was a tiny pendant.

He walked over, picked up the letter, and unfolded it.

The paper was the same kind of plain white sheet Na'er used for her homework. Its edges were unevenly cut, and the handwriting had been carefully formed, stroke by stroke. It was a little childish, but neat and clear.

"Dad, Mom, Brother, Big Sister Xiao Yan:

I've left.

Thank you so, so much for taking care of me all these years. I really am especially, especially grateful. I remember the first day Brother brought me home. Mom served me a big bowl of rice, Dad patted my head and said, 'Make yourself at home,' Big Sister Xiao Yan took my hand and said, 'We'll play together from now on,' and Brother stood nearby, smiling at me.

I remember all of those things. Every single one.

But I've remembered who I am, and my family has come to get me. I have no choice but to leave. I was so happy with all of you—so happy that sometimes I forgot I still had other things to do.

I don't want to leave you either, but the memories that have been coming back tell me I have to go. There are so many things I need to do.

Brother, thank you for being with me as I grew up. Even though it was only three years, it was already more than I could have hoped for. I'll keep wearing the bracelet you gave me. I'll never take it off. You have to cultivate hard and become the strongest person as soon as you can, so no one will ever be able to bully you again.

Oh, and the silver pendant on the table is for you. It's the only valuable thing I own, so keep it safe.

Don't miss me too much, okay, Brother?

Love, Na'er"

Chu Yan silently read the letter from beginning to end twice. Then he slowly folded it and put it in his storage bracelet.

He stood by the desk, looking down at the silver pendant.

It was a smooth, round silver gemstone about the size of his thumbnail, its surface mirror-bright, with a few natural facets. A very fine silver thread passed through it.

Faint rainbow-colored light seemed to flow within the gemstone, as if a small piece of shifting rainbow had been sealed inside. Sunlight filtering through the window gauze refracted into tiny specks of light.

Chu Yan reached out and picked up the pendant. It felt cool and light in his hand, but its texture was unusual.

That girl had certainly left in a hurry. She hadn't even said goodbye—just left a letter and run off.

He held the pendant for a while, then finally sighed softly, his tone helpless. "You sure left in a hurry, you little rascal. You couldn't even say goodbye to your brother in person."

The room was silent. No one answered.

He looked down at the silver pendant in his palm, then up at the empty room. Turning around, he walked out and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Next time I see you, I'm giving your butt a good smack."

What Chu Yan didn't know was that in a small alley about half a mile from the Chu Clan estate,

a silver-haired little girl in a white dress stood at the corner of the alley, clutching a pale blue ribbon in her hand and staring straight toward the Chu Clan estate.

Her eyes were red. A veil of tears clouded her purple eyes, no matter how often she blinked. The tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks, dripping onto her collar and staining a small patch dark.

A step behind her stood a tall man.

He wore a dark gray robe, and the shadow of his hood obscured his face. The presence around him was steady and weighty, like a silent mountain.

"My Lord, it's time to go."

Na'er didn't turn around. She kept looking toward the estate for a while longer, then lifted her sleeve and roughly wiped the tears from her face. She carefully tucked the ribbon into an inner pocket of her clothes.

"Mm."

She answered, glanced once more at the courtyard walls of the distant Chu Clan estate, then turned and walked deeper into the alley.

After taking a few steps, she stopped and looked back.

She gazed back for a few more moments before turning around and hurrying deeper into the alley.

Just as Chu Yan was about to return to his room, Xu Xiaoyan ran in through the courtyard gate.

She was wearing a short-sleeved, pale yellow shirt and was full of energy. As soon as she came in, she looked around and called out, "Na'er, little sister! Look what I brought you..."

Then she saw Chu Yan standing alone in the middle of the courtyard. The familiar little figure was nowhere to be seen, and her voice cut off abruptly.

"Brother Yan? Where's Na'er?"

Chu Yan looked at her and answered in a slightly softer voice than usual. "She left."

"Left?" Xu Xiaoyan froze. She hid what she was holding behind her back, hurried over, and looked up at him. "Where did she go? When will she come back?"

"Maybe... she won't."

Then Chu Yan handed her the letter.

Xu Xiaoyan took it and read it. Her expression changed, too. She lowered her head and stared at the crooked handwriting for a long while, fingers pinching the edge of the paper until her knuckles turned slightly white. After a long silence, she finally asked in a subdued voice, "Will she... come back to visit us?"

"She said she has a lot to do."

"That doesn't mean she couldn't spare the time to say goodbye to us." Xu Xiaoyan's voice held a hint of hurt. She lowered her head, then raised it again a moment later and said,

"She really just left like that?"

"Yeah. But it's all right. Once we get stronger, we'll see her again."

A few more days passed, and Chu Yan gradually got used to not seeing that silver-haired figure wandering around the courtyard.

Every morning, he practiced his staff as usual, cultivated Soul Power, and worked on controlling the Yan Divine Weapon. Xu Xiaoyan sometimes came by to visit, and the two of them would sit for a while at the stone table in the courtyard, chatting about this and that.

That afternoon, Chu Yan was inside, leafing through his grandfather's Soul Guidance Array Notes, when steady footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate. A moment later, someone knocked.

"Young master, the master asks you to come to the main hall. There's a guest."

Chu Yan put down the notes, answered, and tidied his clothes before going out.

He crossed the central courtyard and the corridor, and as he reached the entrance to the main hall, he immediately spotted the figure seated in the guest's chair.

She appeared to be a woman not yet thirty. She wore a simple, elegant moon-white dress and a light blue gauze shawl. Her dark red hair was loosely pinned at the back of her head with a wooden hairpin, with a few wisps falling beside her ears.

She was slowly drinking tea, her posture relaxed and composed. She wasn't deliberately releasing any presence, yet simply sitting there was enough to make the atmosphere in the entire hall quiet down.

Chu Yan's master, Leng Yaozhu.

Three years had passed, but her appearance was almost unchanged from when they first met. Time had left no trace on her face. Her deep brown eyes and the composure that seemed to be rooted in her very bones were still the same; only her gaze had gained a softer gleam than before.

Chu Yuntian sat in the host's seat, chatting with her. When he saw Chu Yan enter, he beckoned him over. "Yan'er, Tower Master Leng is here. She happened to be passing through Eastsea City and stopped by to see you."

Chu Yan stepped forward and stopped in the middle of the hall. He bowed respectfully to Leng Yaozhu. "Greetings, Master."

At this, Leng Yaozhu set down her teacup and gave him an appraising look. The corners of her lips curved slightly. "You've grown quite a bit. You're a young man now."

After saying this, she looked him over for a few more moments. Her gaze paused briefly on the aura around him, and a satisfied look flashed through her eyes. "You're at level twenty-nine. You've built a solid foundation—eighteen levels in three years, steady and sure, with no sign of rushing your progress. Very good."

Chu Yan neither downplayed his achievement nor acted pleased with himself. He simply replied, "That's because of your guidance, Master."

Leng Yaozhu chuckled at his words and shook her head. "I didn't teach you all that much. You're the one who put in the effort."

As she spoke, she set down her teacup and stood, straightening her skirt before looking at Chu Yan. "I came this time not only to see how your cultivation is progressing, but also to tell you something in person."

She paused, her tone turning more serious. "It's about time I made up for that apprenticeship ceremony. There'll be a month free before you enter the intermediate academy. Come to Shrek City then, and I'll take care of the arrangements."

Chu Yan gave a slight nod. "This disciple understands."

Looking at how unruffled he was, Leng Yaozhu gave another helpless smile. Then she took a palm-sized silver-white metal pass from her sleeve and tossed it to him. Chu Yan raised his hand and caught it. It was slightly heavy in his palm, and the words "Heavenly Spirit Pagoda · Special Access" were engraved on its surface, with a string of tiny numbers at the bottom.

"With this, you can enter the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda in Shrek City without filing a report in advance. You can go straight to the upper floors. Just let me know when you arrive."