Not long afterward, on the river near the Seven Profound Sect.
Ye Jingtang poled the black-awning boat away from shore. Once they reached a deserted spot, he set down the oar and looked upstream, waiting for the official boat carrying Silly and the others to catch up.
Zhe Yunli sat alone at the bow, hugging her knees, with her long saber and the bundle recovered from the alley beside her. She gazed toward the Seven Profound Sect, looking distinctly dazed.
Zhe Yunli had been curious about her birth parents as a child, but her master had said she had picked her up beside the road. She had believed it and never considered such matters again, treating her master and Master’s Wife as her real parents.
She had suddenly learned what had happened back then and even killed the murderer. A great deal had happened, but her heart was a tangled skein, and she did not know what to think.
To say she had avenged a great wrong—she had never even met her birth parents. All her affection rested with her master and Master’s Wife, who treated her very well, so it was difficult to feel any longing for her birth parents.
Yet simply returning to her usual carefree self felt unfilial. Whatever the circumstances, she could not overlook the debt of having been brought into the world. Besides, the couple had died violent deaths in the martial world. Just thinking about it was pitiful; even though she had never met them, her heart still ached.
After she had sat there for an unknown length of time, Ye Jingtang suddenly came over and sat beside her, smiling.
"It's all right. It's over now. Don't dwell on it."
"Ah..."
Zhe Yunli hesitated briefly, then edged closer to Ye Jingtang and rested her