"In half a month, not two and a half."
"Right when the rainy season has closed in Rivernorth, yet is coming in Riversouth, you'll take her to Rivernorth."
"Accompanying you will be… our Clan's First Elder, 'Gongyang Yiyue.'"
"Our caravan will also follow you on the journey, with the Clan Banner at full mast."
"She won't enter with you, but wait outside the territory of that force."
"If you come out alive, the Gongyangs will handle the aftermath for you."
"If you die there, we will retrieve your body, but not avenge you."
"I can't let my daughter sneak into Rivernorth with you unnoticed. In that case, she might well die."
"…"
The ever-present smile faded from the blue-robed man's face. For the first time, he eyed the old man with seriousness. He had thought this conversation would be filled with insults—he was used to that—but the outcome surprised him.
After a long while.
He uttered softly,
"What gumption."
"But why depart in half a month? The family I am going to kill will be having a birthday celebration in two and a half months. That's the timing I've long decided on."
"You'll most likely die this time. Is it too much if you spend two months in Rivernorth with her before you die?"
"…"
He held the old man's cloudy gaze, then shook his head and agreed, "No."
The Gongyang Clan's First Elder, "Gongyang Yiyue."
He had heard of that name.
A Night Watcher.
He had activated himself once, dealing a devastating blow to an enemy force. A Night Watcher represented a deterrent trump card; few forces kept one.
They needn't do much.
Their presence alone was enough to make others think twice.
And the Gongyang Clan caravan, holding high the Clan Banner, was another daunting factor.
For any Clan with a reputation, raising the Clan Banner declared one thing to the outside world:
"We are passing through your territory merely in transit, with no ill intent. We are on an important mission. Any force that dares obstruct us will face the Gongyang Clan's frenzied retaliation."
The "Clan Banner" was not to be raised too often.
That would chip away at the weight it carried.
The last time the Gongyang Clan had the Clan Banner fly over their caravan was seventeen years ago.
That was…
Several months after the aging Patriarch had been blessed with a daughter, when the mistress had suffered a cultivation backlash, they desperately needed a Life-Returning Pill to save her. The Clan mobilized all they could; the caravan, with the Banner flying overhead, risked their lives tearing their way through the Perpetual Night, covering eight hundred li to reach the Alchemy Sect for a Life-Returning Pill.
They cut straight through the core territories of several forces, detouring little, if any.
None dared to stop them.
Even forces stronger than the Gongyang Clan did not stand in their way.
It was winter back then.
The Gongyang Clan Banner sped across the snowy plains, giving rise to a legendary tale in Riversouth: "Riversouth Gongyang hoisted the Banner for eight hundred li to save his wife."
That "Gongyang" was the old geezer before him.
Gongyang Gao.
And seventeen years later,
The Gongyang Clan Banner was about to flutter over Riversouth once more.
This time,
It was only meant to ensure his daughter's safety, to see her return unharmed.
The blue-robed man said no more, then, with a light tap of his foot, vanished into the dense forest in the blink of an eye.
…
Not long after the blue-clad man left,
A commotion rose from below. A young woman in a white dress was climbing the tree ungracefully, her legs wrapped around the trunk as she struggled upward.
Seeing this, the old geezer couldn't help but smile wryly. With a wave of his sleeve, spiritual energy brought his daughter up on the treetop, then stabilized her footing.
"Father, what did you say to him?"
The young woman, having just steadied herself, asked breathlessly, uncaring about her image.
"What's the hurry?"
"Do you think I would keep it from you when we're back?"
The old man fumed with slight exasperation, "I agreed to let you go to Rivernorth with him. The First Elder, 'Gongyang Yiyue,' will accompany you the whole time. The caravan will also follow you on the journey, with the Clan Banner at full mast to ensure your safety."
"Great!"
The young lady excitedly pumped her fists in the air. "That way, Rivernorth Old Demon won't die."
"…"
The old man glanced at his daughter, not bothering to correct that it was "ensure your safety," not "both of you." Instead, he pulled out an ancient-looking box from his robe. He gently stroked it for a while before handing it to his daughter.
"This is the 'Life-Returning Pill' that we brought back from the Alchemy Sect seventeen years ago."
"As long as there's a breath left,"
"no matter the condition—"
"Cultivation backlash, poisoning, soul invasion by Eerie Creatures—"
"This can save those who an Altar cannot. One pill, and life returns from death's door."
"This pill didn't reach your mother in time back then."
"I hope…"
"On this journey, it can keep you safe."
"Dad…"
The young lady took the pill box, her eyes reddening with unshed tears. She looked up at the old man, then buried herself in his embrace and mumbled, "That's so sweet of you. I thought you'd force me to stay."
"…"
The elderly man spoke no more, but just patted his daughter's back gently, his gaze distant as he peered toward Rivernorth.
If possible, he would have wanted to go himself.
But,
When the Clan Banner went out into the world, the Patriarch had to take command back in the Clan. Otherwise, who could command the Clan to unleash retaliation at all costs? His daughter was best protected only when he was still in charge of the Clan.
When near death, his late wife's greatest regret was giving up on that thing in her youth at his urging…
It made him feel that the girl he loved had died long ago—died after he persuaded her out of it. The decades that followed were lived in a daze, and she only regained clarity on her deathbed, with recurring regret.
Better go ahead and do it than regret it for a lifetime. Even if she died, there would be no regret.
And what he had to do was in command back in the Clan.
…
The elderly man affectionately ruffled his daughter's hair, then, with a wave of his sleeve, had her alight on the ground using spiritual energy. "I'm staying here alone for a while. It's been a long time since I stood here."
Not long after seeing her daughter off.
A masked, black-dressed, powerfully built man skimmed past treetop after treetop from a distance, arriving swiftly by the old man's side. He handed over a bamboo scroll, his expression grave and solemn.
"Master,"
"All the information about Rivernorth Old Demon has been gathered. It's all here."
Then he added hesitantly,
"His life history was far from being 'honorable.' Are you really going to entrust the Young Lady to someone like this?"
"Rumors have it that..."
"The Rivernorth Old Demon simply enjoys killing. With no justified reason, when the itch strikes, he would slaughter a group of people to relieve it."
"Someone like that..."
"Isn't he even worse than the Young Master of the Alchemy Sect? At least the Alchemy Sect Young Master..."
His words cut off abruptly.
Gongyang Gao spun his gaze toward the black-robed subordinate. "Did you accept favors from him?"
"Your servant did not," the man in black hurriedly bowed his head, realizing he had spoken out of turn.
"Then do not mention it again."
"Last time Young Master of the Alchemy Sect came, he said that after the rainy season in Riversouth ends, he will come and propose to us..."
"Let him come, then. The Gongyangs will not be lacking in hospitality."
Gongyang Gao tucked the bamboo scroll into his robe, unwilling to discuss it further.
A scion of a prestigious sect, the strongest Alchemist of the younger generation, the future Sect Leader of the Alchemy Sect, handsome, and eloquent.
Indeed promising.
By all accounts, he seemed unrivaled by this Rivernorth Old Demon.
But Gongyang Gao did not like him.
The reason was simple: his daughter did not like him. Anyone his daughter disliked, he disliked as well.
Moreover...
This would be the seventh marriage proposal from the Alchemy Sect's Young Master. His previous seven wives had all met tragic deaths. This time, he had set his sights on their Gongyang Clan.