Ding Shuying froze as she was helped to her feet. Then her expression dimmed. She slowly looked around the place where she had lived for so long.
Here, she had cultivated from Foundation Establishment all the way to the Golden Core Realm. Changsun Qiuhua had given her this place. Apart from her parents, she respected no one more than that woman, her grandmother.
The old woman rarely spoke, but while her parents were often away in the Heavenly Demon Grassland, she had always kept Ding Shuying safe. This place held the most peaceful and beautiful years of Ding Shuying's life.
Here, she had no longer drifted from place to place with her parents, never knowing where they would live next. There had been no more bloodshed from fights that erupted at the slightest provocation, no more terror as she hid behind them...
Ding Shuying knew that the mysterious young man had appeared just as he had said: he happened to be passing by. If he had meant to save her, he would not have waited until now. But what would become of her afterward?
Ding Shuying drew her gaze back and looked at Li Yan again. This time she did not kneel. Instead, she gave him a graceful curtsy. She knew he had acted for her father's sake and did not want to become too deeply involved with her.
"Senior, you were willing to save me out of pity and out of regard for my father. If I ever have the means to repay you in this life, you need only say the word. I will do it, even at the cost of my life!
"You were willing to lift me from this sea of suffering. That is a kindness that gave me a second life. How could I dare