The garden fell quiet.
Even the breeze seed to still.
Yu ilin’s voice, though gentle, had iron beneath it.
Yu Ming clenched her fists, defiance rising like a tide. "I’m not a child anymore! You raised to be strong, to walk my own path. Why won’t you let ?"
Yu ilin’s eyes did not waver. "Strength ans nothing if it leads you into ruin. Even the most talented cultivators can fall prey to forces they do not understand."
"I do understand!" Yu Ming snapped, her voice trembling. "I’ve trained harder than anyone. I’ve hidden my progress, followed your orders, and stayed quiet while they planned to sell off like a political pawn! And now, when I finally ask for sothing for myself, you still say no?"
Silence fell like a weight.
The matriarch didn’t respond imdiately. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her expression a mask of solemnity and restraint. But she did not budge.
Yu Ming’s resolve cracked, and her gaze slowly drifted sideways—toward Noah.
Her eyes were pleading now, a silent request dancing within them.
Noah looked back at her, and for a mont, he said nothing. He simply breathed, his hand still resting on the teacup as though the weight of the entire conversation hadn’t shifted onto his shoulders.
Then he spoke.
"If Yu Ming is with ," he said quietly, "no harm will co to her."
The words were not loud, but they held a weight heavier than stone.
Yu ilin’s brows twitched ever so slightly, but she remained silent.
Noah’s voice remained calm, yet sothing ancient stirred beneath it. "You asked yesterday about the Red Dawn Cult. What I didn’t tell you then is this—Xin Yan and I, we’re not just avoiding them. We’re preparing to confront them."
Yu ilin’s gaze sharpened. "You intend to fight them?"
"We already have," Xin Yan answered, her voice like tempered steel. "And we survived. We have even forced them to run away and escape from the empire with their tails between their legs, and we will continue to do so every ti we encounter them."
Yu ilin still looked doubtful of those boastful claims, but feeling the blood and qi of the woman with snow-colored hair, she let them continue without saying anything else.
"As for their curse power." Noah added calmly from the side as he raised the teacup to his lips and blew lightly on it, "We have a way to counter it we did not tell you about."
The woman narrowed her eyes hearing those words while Noah continued without pausing even once. "This power is sothing that we have shared with no one. Since it is our ace in the hole against the cult mbers, we decided the fewer people who knew about it, the better."
A flicker of surprise crossed the matriarch’s face, but she caught herself quickly. She let out a strained breath and looked at Noah deeply.
Yu ilin let her gaze rest on the pair before her. She was no fool.
Even with her decades of cultivation and mastery over multiple senses, she could not fully grasp their depths. Their presence was oddly veiled, and it was not hidden with brute force or so rudintary technique.
Either they had encountered sothing that warped the natural perception of qi, or... they were far more dangerous than they let on.
For a fleeting second, a chill ran down her spine.
"You’re hiding more than you’re saying," she said, her voice like a quiet ripple across a still pond. "I am not sure I feel alright with sending my daughter with soone I barely know..."
Her words made Yu Ming’s heart clench, fearing she would reject the proposal outright.
"You are not from any ancient family, are you?" the matriarch suddenly asked, the thought on her mind.
Noah didn’t flinch. Instead, he gave a tired smile, the kind born from hearing the sa question too many tis.
"I’m not from any ancient family," he said softly. "Nor is Xin Yan."
"You’re certain?" the matriarch pressed. "Not even one of the lost lineages from the other continents?"
Noah’s smile curved a little higher at the edge. "Nah, they are overrated."
Yu ilin exhaled, a mixture of frustration and faint amusent tugging at her otherwise impassive face. "You’re annoyingly good at avoiding straight answers."
"And you’re terrifyingly good at cornering people," Xin Yan added with a cold smirk on her face that made the purple-haired woman flinch in her place, although barely noticeably.
That finally drew a quiet snort from the matriarch, who crossed her arms and turned back to Yu Ming, her features softening ever so slightly.
"You really want this?" she asked.
Yu Ming nodded firmly, without a trace of hesitation. "I won’t run away, Mother. I’ll send word when I can. But if I stay here... I’ll only stagnate."
A mont passed.
Then another.
With a sigh that carried the weight of too many sleepless nights, Yu ilin finally relented.
"Fine," she murmured, looking away. "You may go."
"Really?" Yu Ming’s eyes widened, half in disbelief.
"But only after I finish preparing a few protective items," the matriarch added quickly, narrowing her eyes.
"And you must allow Ai to create a communication imprint on you."
Yu Ming leapt forward, nearly bowling her mother over in a tight embrace. "Deal! Deal, deal, deal!"
"Don’t suffocate ," Yu ilin said dryly, though one hand rose to pat her daughter’s back with a gentleness that contradicted her tone.
Noah stood, offering the matriarch a light nod of respect. "Thank you for trusting us."
"I’m not sure if it’s trust," Yu ilin replied, releasing her daughter and brushing a stray strand of hair from her own face. "Maybe it’s just a mother’s affection for her daughter."
She stepped away, her robes fluttering slightly in the garden breeze. "You’ll leave in three days," she said over her shoulder. "That’s all the ti I’ll need."
Then she vanished down the stone path, her figure soon swallowed by the early mist curling through the trees.
Yu Ming let out a deep breath, spinning to face Noah and Xin Yan, her eyes bright.
"She agreed!" She whispered like a little girl who’d gotten away with mischief.
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