"That year, Tian Ge passed the Cloudreach Sect's test and left, but I didn't pass..." Ye Xiaozhu plucked at a flower in her hands, picking and picking until its petals were all gone. She looked a little nervous. "The elder conducting the test said I wasn't suited to learning swordsmanship, but that I should have quite an affinity for mystic arts. He suggested I try other sects..."
Chu Ge nodded slightly. This had been written into the opening of the main story. It was the reason he had given for separating Chu Tiange and Ye Xiaozhu, the childhood sweethearts, while also laying the groundwork for Ye Xiaozhu's later role as the "Demonic Path's holy maiden." Although he had never continued that storyline, the logic was still there. No problems with that.
"My parents were still alive then, and I didn't want to leave. I thought Tian Ge could come fetch me once he finished his training and came down the mountain. I didn't necessarily have to find a cultivation sect myself. I was just an ordinary person. How was I supposed to know where to find an immortal sect...?" Ye Xiaozhu said aggrievedly. "But I waited two years, and Tian Ge never came..."
Chu Tiange: "..."
Chu Ge pretended not to hear. "We know about that early part. Start from when you left the village."
"After I left the village, I didn't know where I could learn mystic arts either, so I headed south to stay with relatives. I wanted to see if they knew where to find immortals. But halfway there, I ran into people from the Demonic Path abducting people. Several villages along the way had been taken away, and I got abducted too before I knew what was happening..."
Chu Ge glanced at Chu Tiange. Chu Tiange