Chapter 141: Members of the Yu Family

On a gentle slope along the lower reaches of the river stood a row of crudely built wooden huts. Each leaned at an alarming angle, as though it might collapse at any moment. In front of the huts was a stone-built stove with a large pot resting over the fire. Several women were busy around it, and the morning breeze carried their low conversation through the air.

Yu Youwei deliberately made her footsteps heavier, sending the fallen leaves beneath her feet crackling brightly.

The women around the stove turned at the sound. When they saw her, they cried out in delight, “Ninth Sister!”

Those who called her Ninth Sister were either sisters-in-law or elder sisters, and Yu Youwei did not recognize a single one of them. She greeted them all indiscriminately. “What are you cooking, sisters? It smells wonderful!”

A young woman stirring the pot with a wooden ladle smiled. “Wild mushroom soup, with some fresh demon-beast meat added. Would you like to taste it first, Ninth Sister?”

Yu Youwei had just eaten medicinal porridge at Night Five’s place and was not hungry, but she smiled. “All right.”

After finishing a bowl of richly fragrant mushroom soup, she also learned how the Yu family members had been faring.

Overall, things were fairly stable. Everyone worked together, living a primitive life of self-sufficiency. They had encountered no high-level demon beasts, but there were plenty of low-level ones with delicious meat, along with mushrooms and fruit growing everywhere. Food was plentiful.

Aside from Mu Yuyan, none of the Yu family knew that Night Five and the others existed. Ye Yincheng had entered with the Yu family, but afterward had separated from them and stubbornly refused their care.

When they had first arrived, a herd of Red Cloud Deer had suddenly appeared and carried them in, abandoning them by the river before running off. They had searched for nearly a thousand miles in the direction from which they had come, but had found no way out.

The women who were preparing food at home had remained behind, while the elderly and children gathered wild mushrooms and fruit in the nearby woods. Everyone else had taken provisions and continued searching for an exit.

Yu Youwei could not help feeling relieved that they had not searched in the direction of the tangled forest where the demon-realm creature lived. If that creature had caught hold of them, none of these old, weak, sick, and infirm people would have been able to resist. Even after her body had been tempered in the Dragon Blood Pool, she had been utterly defenseless against the blood-red radiance emitted by the monster. Had she not possessed the Scarlet Flame Sword, she would have been reduced to a skeleton.

The Old Madam Yu emerged from the woods with a group of older women. Each carried or held a small child, while one or two toddlers toddled along behind them. When they had met in the Yu family’s secret chamber, the women had been tense and bewildered. Now they appeared as relaxed and composed as if they were out for a spring excursion. Though their clothes were not as bright and luxurious as they had been at home, they showed none of the dishevelment or panic of refugees fleeing disaster.

They had emerged from the shadow of misfortune so quickly and adapted to their new surroundings so thoroughly that Yu Youwei had to admit they were a group of remarkably strong women. The smile on her face deepened.

“Ninth Girl?” The Old Madam paused, her expression exceedingly complicated. There was joy in it, as well as doubt, unease, and guilt. She did not know how she ought to face this granddaughter of hers.

The others, however, had no such reservations. They crowded around Yu Youwei and bombarded her with questions about the world outside.

Yu Youwei summarized Yu Ruoshuang’s marriage to Ling Yanfeng in a few words, then said, “The Yu family disciples in the Sword-Wielding Sect will be looked after by Sister. They’ll be fine. She has recognized Ling Yanfeng’s vicious nature and won’t be caught off guard by any more of his schemes. The Wu family has also been destroyed by the Qian Emperor. The Yu family’s crisis can more or less be considered over. Everyone should discuss whether we want to remain here or return.”

All eyes turned toward the Grand Madam. Here, her position as the mistress of the family gave her the highest standing, so naturally the decision rested with her.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Let’s wait until your eldest aunt and the others return. Then we’ll discuss it together.”

A violent bout of coughing came from one of the leaning wooden huts, so severe that it seemed the man’s chest might burst apart.

“Father is awake. I’m going to see him.” A handsome young boy beside the Old Madam ran off happily. His eyes were narrow and elongated, gleaming with intelligence.

When he saw Yu Youwei’s gaze following the boy, the Old Madam said, “That is your eldest brother’s youngest son, Yu Yihao.”

Her eldest brother—that meant Yu Shixiang, the eldest grandson of the main branch of the Yu family. When Yu Youwei had married, it was this elder brother who had carried her out of the house.

Seeing the sorrow in the Old Madam’s eyes, Yu Youwei immediately understood that her elder brother had little time left.

“I’ll go see him,” she said softly.

The Old Madam nodded without a word.

The cheerful atmosphere instantly grew heavy. Yu Youwei suddenly felt as though her legs had been filled with lead. Following Little Yihao into the well-lit hut, she found her heart growing heavier still.

The crude wooden hut had three walls through which daylight leaked, while rays of sunlight filtered through the leaf-covered roof. The fragrance of raw timber filled the room, but the air was muddied by the smell of rotting flesh and medicine.

“Father, would you like some water?” Little Yihao asked softly, leaning over the edge of the bed.

After another violent fit of coughing, the figure on the bed, wrapped in bandages like a cocoon, spoke in a hoarse and indistinct voice. “Yihao, ask Ninth Aunt to sit down.”

Yu Youwei took two steps forward and sat on the edge of the bed. Putting an arm around Little Yihao, she naturally took her elder brother’s hand and felt his pulse.

“Elder Brother, there’s no need to stand on ceremony between family. Just tell me if there’s anything you need.”

“Family indeed. Good—Ninth Sister truly is broad-minded, worthy of being Fourth Uncle’s daughter.”

Yu Shixiang gave two laughs more grating than a duck’s quack. After a bout of labored breathing, he said, “There is not much else I need to say. I only have a few words for you to deliver to our second brother. Tell him not to let his brilliance shine too openly. Revenge and restoring the Yu family’s honor must both be pursued gradually.”

“I’ll tell Second Brother. After this catastrophe, he won’t act so rashly again. Rest assured, Elder Brother.”

“The Wu family may have been destroyed by the Qian Emperor, but it is like a centipede that remains dangerous even after death. The Wu family’s roots do not lie in the Qian Dynasty. Do not lower your guard. And the Qian Emperor’s intentions are difficult to fathom. Destroying the Wu family may appear to be an act of aid toward the Yu family, but perhaps the Yu family will be the next target he intends to uproot completely. The Qian Emperor will never again permit the Yu family to produce another Yu Tianming.”

After speaking at such length, Yu Shixiang rested for a long while before continuing. “Then there is the Ling family. They are joined to the Wu family like branches growing from the same root. Since Ling Yanfeng has already made his move, Second Brother’s position in the sect will surely become more and more difficult. Tell him to endure for now. As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. He must not act out of wounded pride.”

His cultivation core had been destroyed, and his internal organs were in complete disarray. His life was being sustained solely by medicinal pills, and he had reached the end of his strength. Yet he showed no concern for his own death. His heart was fixed only on the safety of his younger brother, and Yu Youwei’s respect for him deepened.

She blinked mischievously and pretended to sound carefree. “I encouraged Sister to contend for the position of sect master, and it seems her maternal grandfather supports her as well. I also gave Ling Yanfeng two choices: death, or becoming a live-in husband of the Yu family. Aren’t your little sister’s methods vicious?”

“Brilliant!” Yu Shixiang burst into laughter.

He tried to clap, but in the end could not even raise his arms. Before the laughter had faded, two tears rolled from his eyes, and his eyelids drooped.

Little Yihao still had not understood what had happened when two hot streams of tears ran down Yu Youwei’s face.

Outside the door, the Old Madam closed her eyes.

“Bring Xiang’er’s mother back,” she said. “Prepare for the cremation.”