A face appeared in his mind.
An oval face, delicate features, skin smooth as jade, with a touch of lancholy between the brows, seeming both introverted and sowhat aloof.
Senior Sister Ye?!
A few days ago, he had seen Senior Sister Ye, dressed in vibrant colors, with a beauty that surpassed the flowers. And just within days, she suddenly died?
Mo Hua frowned.
"Could it be I’ve guessed wrong... It wasn’t that Senior Sister Ye?"
In Hundred Flower Valley, there might be more than one ’Ye’ Senior Sister; the one who committed suicide could be soone else.
But even so, Mo Hua had a bad premonition in his heart.
...
Mo Hua couldn’t let this matter go.
A few days later, he sought confirmation from Senior Sister Murong.
Murong Caiyun looked shocked, "Who did you hear this from?"
"A friend I t by chance, who has so association with Hundred Flower Valley said it."
Mo Hua didn’t ntion Hao Se’s na.
Murong Caiyun’s expression turned sowhat lancholy, she sighed softly, "Yes, it’s Sister Jin..."
"Jin Er?"
"The one you ntioned as Senior Sister Ye, her surna is Ye, and her given na is ’Jin’. So she’s..." Murong Caiyun’s expression beca pained, "The female disciple who committed suicide in Hundred Flower Valley..."
"Was it really suicide?" Mo Hua frowned.
Murong Caiyun nodded slightly, "Hundred Flower Valley investigated, it should be suicide. As for the reason, it’s hard to say..."
"There’s talk of her family forcing her to marry, others say the pressure of cultivation was too great, and yet others say she was heartbroken and couldn’t cope, so she ended her life."
"But these are all rumors, whether they’re true or not is hard to determine."
Mo Hua was a bit puzzled, "Her family forced her to marry? She’s supposed to marry this early?"
"Yes," Murong Caiyun replied, "The Ye family is a third-grade family, elsewhere they might be considered a great family, but in Qianxue Territory, they’re only a dium-sized family at best."
"Such families live in the crevices between great families, moving forward is difficult, but stepping back is easy, and once you step back, you may never climb up again."
"Therefore, families like the Ye family have a strong sense of crisis, specializing in flattering and clinging wherever they can."
"Girls within the clan, beautiful in appearance, outstanding in talent, able to be accepted into a Great Sect, are eyed for marriage early."
"Marriage might not happen, but the engagent must be arranged, and the sooner the better, that way they can..."
Murong Caiyun hesitated to continue.
Mo Hua then said, "...sell for a good price, right?"
Murong Caiyun blinked slightly and sighed deeply, nodding:
"Yes."
Marriages within the clan, whether in great families or small ones, most are a form of ’transaction’.
Mo Hua couldn’t help but recall listening to An Xiaofu discussing family ’eight trigrams’ back in Tongxian City.
And possibly Uncle Zhang Lan who fled to Little Immortal City to avoid marriage, making his heart feel lancholic.
It seems there are many helpless situations within clans.
Mo Hua subtly probed further, trying to gather more news about Senior Sister Ye’s suicide from Hundred Flower Valley, but Murong Caiyun didn’t know much, most of the information matched what Hao Se said.
The only new clue was the Ye family.
"The Ye family..."
Mo Hua softly muttered the na, strangely feeling the surna "Ye" was familiar.
But ever since entering Qianxue State Boundary, he had been exposed to many families and cultivators, nurous great families and small clans, even with the sa surna, having ancestry traced back to the sa origin, complicated and intricate.
Mo Hua, originally a Loose Cultivator, felt a bit confused dealing with these complex family nas.
For a mont, he couldn’t recall if he had contacted any cultivators or clans with the surna "Ye".
"By the way, Senior Sister Murong," Mo Hua finally asked, "Where is this Ye family located? It shouldn’t be within Qianxue State Boundary, right?"
"Yes, the Ye family is a third-grade family, not qualified to establish itself in Qianxue State Boundary. As for where..."
Murong Caiyun frowned slightly, "Wait a mont, I’ll check."
She took out a map from a golden phoenix-patterned storage bag, looked through it for a while, and pointed with her slender, fair finger to a spot:
"Here... Mistwater City."
Mo Hua’s pupils suddenly trembled.
"Mistwater... City?"
"Yes." Murong Caiyun nodded, "Mistwater City is a third-grade Immortal City, located beside Mistwater River. The river flows through the city, hence the na ’Mistwater City’."
"The Ye family is among the top-ranking families in Mistwater City..."
Murong Caiyun finished speaking and noticed Mo Hua’s unusual expression, so she asked:
"Is there sothing wrong?"
"Nothing..."
Mo Hua pondered for a mont, shaking his head.
He silently morized the words "Mistwater City", then thanked Murong Caiyun, exchanged a few more courtesies, and took his leave.
Back to the Disciple’s Residence, Mo Hua sat at the desk, furrowing his brow even tighter.
Mistwater City...
The Ye family, Senior Sister Ye, Hundred Flower Valley.
Suicide...
He sensed there were significant issues within.
But there were too few clues, sowhat difficult to piece together.
Mo Hua sighed lightly.
He had only t ’Senior Sister Ye’ once, barely exchanged words, never intended to ddle, and this was an internal affair of Hundred Flower Valley.
Yet now, with ’Mistwater River’ involved, it seed different...
He needed to figure out what truly transpired...
"But, how to investigate?"
Hundred Flower Valley was definitely out of reach, unable to investigate there.
The only viable path was through the Ye family in Mistwater City.
"I’ll make ti to visit Mistwater City soon..."
Mo Hua murmured internally.
A few days later, the holidays fully concluded, Taixu Gate ’opened school’ again.
A new academic year began.
This marked Mo Hua’s fifth year at Taixu Gate.
At the start of school, there were nurous tasks, the elders began teaching, disciples had to focus, along with various miscellaneous errands.
Mo Hua spent seven or eight days handling chores, and life at the sect fell into routine.
Soon, it was the first ten-day break.
Mo Hua decided to set off for Mistwater City.
But before heading there, he wanted to take a detour, going a bit further to visit the broken temple on Kushan Mountain and check on Lord Yellow Mountain.
After all, it had been a long ti, he didn’t know how Lord Yellow Mountain was faring.
Whether there was incense offering, whether the temple was in disrepair, and so forth.
Of course, he also intended to inquire about certain things, like the path of deities, and...
Divine Thought into Sword.
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