"Father?" Yun Cangyue's voice trembled slightly. She found it strange to see her father, Yun Muqing, rushing alone out of Mu City under the dim silver light of dawn.
He never traveled without his guards. Something was wrong.
Quietly, she followed him through the narrow forest path. The cold wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it a faint, metallic scent. Her instincts flared murderous intent. Someone was waiting.
She pressed her back against a tree, gaze sharp. An ambush.
A mocking voice broke through the stillness.
"Lord Clan Chief, you truly love your daughter."
Yun Muqing's face darkened. "It's you…"
The man who stepped out from the shadows wore the Yun family's crest yet his eyes were filled with poisonous ambition.
The First Elder, Yun Zhenting, smirked proudly. "Besides me, who else could have made Yun Qianyue join the sect?"
Yun Muqing's face stiffened. "Shameless!"
Yun Zhenting gave a lazy shrug. "It's been days, Clan Head. If you truly had a way, your genius legitimate daughter would already be in the Luochan Sect. Instead, look at you running here alone like a desperate man."
The forest seemed to close in around them.
Yun Muqing's jaw tightened. "So everything was arranged by you. You made Second Brother beg me for help, then used his desperation to push Qianyin into the sect instead cutting off Qianyue's only chance. And now, you force me to come to you again, so the world can call the Yun Family greedy. Ingenious."
The elder chuckled darkly. "The patriarch is indeed perceptive."
He stepped closer, his words turning venomous.
"You were the one who spread the rumor, weren't you?" Yun Muqing's voice trembled in fury. "The one about the Third Prince and Qianyue saying they'd fallen in love."
Zhenting's lips curled into a grin. "Ah, so you've figured it out. The Third Prince, fearing scandal, scurried back to the palace. The sect now believes your precious daughter is a flirt chasing royal affection. Tell me, Patriarch, what sect would welcome such a girl?"
"Despicable!"
"Despicable?" Zhenting laughed. "Perhaps. But effective."
He straightened his robes, pride gleaming in his eyes. "Half of the Yun Family's forces already answer to me. What can you do, old man? Even as a concubine's son, my granddaughter was the one who entered the Luochan Sect. And your 'noble' daughter, what has she achieved? A broken root, a tainted name, and a father who's losing his throne."
Yun Muqing's body trembled. Rage burned through his veins, but he kept his composure. "You will regret this."
Zhenting's voice grew cold. "Regret? I've waited my whole life for this moment. Your daughter's future, your position, both are mine to take. And when the world believes you've stepped down willingly, no one will doubt my righteousness."
Yun Muqing clenched his fists, the veins on his neck bulging.
"You would threaten your patriarch and still dare to call yourself Yun?"
"Threaten?" Zhenting sneered. "No. I simply offer choices."
At his signal, several men in black emerged from the shadows, blades gleaming in the dim light.
"Yun Muqing, if you refuse, don't expect to walk out alive."
Yun Muqing took a slow step back, his hand twitching toward his sword. "You'd kill your clan head just for a seat?"
The elder's laughter echoed eerily. "When the seat is the throne, anything is worth it."
For a heartbeat, silence fell. Only the sound of the rustling leaves answered. Then Yun Muqing whispered, "Can you truly guarantee Qianyue's place in the sect?"
Zhenting smiled. He thought he'd won.
"Of course."
Yun Muqing's expression softened for the briefest moment. "Then my life means little. But even if there's one chance in ten thousand for my daughter's future, I'll take it."
The elder's smile widened. He could taste victory.
But just as Yun Muqing took a step forward.
A sharp voice cut through the air. "In your dreams!"
Before anyone could react, a figure dropped from the trees above; a woman in plain clothes, moving like lightning. She landed gracefully, grabbed Yun Muqing by the arm, and leapt skyward.
The assassins barely had time to draw their blades before she vanished into the forest canopy.
Zhenting froze. "Go! After them!"
The forest exploded into chaos.
But by the time his men reached the treeline, the pair was gone. Vanished like mist at sunrise.
Zhenting's expression twisted with fury. "Impossible… was that Yun Qianyue? No…it can't be. Her spiritual root was destroyed!"
He clenched his fist. "No matter who it was, Yun Muqing must not return to Mu City alive. Send word to the Cloud Pavilion. I want no trace of him left. And the Second Elder,he must not leave seclusion alive!"
His words were venom, his heart already set on blood.
Deep within the forest, Yun Qianyue laid her father gently against a boulder.
"Father?"
Yun Muqing's eyes widened in shock. "Qianyue… it's really you!"
She smiled faintly. "You should rest. You've done enough."
He reached out, guilt shadowing his face. "I should have protected you better. I failed as a father…"
Her eyes softened. "No, Father. You did what you could. It's I who should apologise for the last life I lived, for being blind to the people who truly loved me."
He frowned slightly. "Last life?"
But before he could ask, Yun Qianyue took his wrist, sensing something unnatural pulsing beneath his skin. Her brows furrowed instantly.
"Father… you've been poisoned."
Yun Muqing blinked, startled. "Poisoned? When?"
"It's slow, concealed within your spiritual veins," she said gravely. "Whoever did this knew your body's weakness."
Her eyes darkened. "Zhenting…"
Now everything made sense; her father's weakening health, the loss of his authority, his sudden fatigue these past years. He had been dying slowly, all by design.
She clenched her fists. In my past life, I never noticed. You suffered in silence, while I chased after Ji Hongjun's false affection…
Her heart burned with regret.
This time would be different.
"Father, do you trust me?" she asked quietly.
He nodded without hesitation. "Always."
"Then let me handle this."
She looked toward the distant lights of Mu City, her gaze like steel. "Zhenting wants the Yun Family's throne, but he's forgotten one thing, bloodline is more than power. It's spirit."
Her father opened his mouth, but she interrupted softly, "Don't worry. I'll get you to safety. And the Second Elder, when will he leave seclusion?"
"In three days," Yun Muqing replied, frowning. "Why do you ask?"
Her eyes turned sharp. "Because Zhenting plans to kill him before then."
Yun Muqing's eyes widened. "What?!"
"Father, we must act first."
A gust of wind stirred her hair as she stood, eyes glowing faintly with the light of her spiritual power. A power that should have been lost forever.
Yun Muqing stared, speechless. "Qianyue… your spiritual root…"
She smiled faintly, a spark of determination lighting her face. "He thought he destroyed it. But fate denied me death once. This time, I'll rewrite it."
Her gaze fell upon the path leading back to Mu City, cold and unyielding.
"The Yun Family will rise again," she murmured. "But first… I'll bring justice for our blood."