"Why... Father..."
"Why did you abandon me? Why..."
"No, don't! Don't go, please! Mother is gone, does Father not want me either? I'm begging... you!"
In her dream, the young girl seemed to return to several years ago, when she had only been a few years old.
She watched the only family she had left in this world—her father—pack his things and leave, abandoning her alone in their home.
Back then, she had begged and pleaded without stop, crying endlessly. She could only hope through her tears that her father would change his mind and not leave her... not leave this home.
But... he did not. Without even looking back, as though he had never had a daughter like her, he left with such decisiveness, such determination!
The girl had grown up in a family that was not too poor. Her father had been a judicial officer under the Wu Zhou dynasty. Their household could not be called wealthy, but they had lived far better than most commoners.
Especially in the beginning, before Empress Wu Zetian had been removed from power, they had also been members of the Wu family. Though they were very distantly related to Wu Zetian, they still received some preferential treatment in many places. Her father's income had been much greater than his official salary, and he could occasionally earn a little extra on the side.
The only thing that dissatisfied the girl somewhat was that her father had been too obsessed with seeking immortality and the Tao. While her mother had still been alive, it had been fine. He had not let it interfere too much with their normal lives.
But after her mother passed away, her father completely changed. He became possessed by Taoist arts, abandoning his official post, his life, and