In the secluded and elegant guest courtyard behind Qingxu Temple, where spiritual energy lingered like mist and bamboo shadows danced in the wind, Aunt Su, or rather Su Wan, slowly opened her eyes. Those beautiful eyes, which had once carried too many complex emotions — pain, struggle, guilt, resolve — were now as clear and peaceful as if cleansed by mountain spring water. The meridians in her body, which had been almost shattered from forcibly using forbidden techniques and being severely wounded by the demonic entity's fragmented soul, had now healed completely, even becoming more resilient and broader than before her injury. Her damaged soul, which had been on the verge of dissipating, had been nurtured day and night by Tang Xiaoqi at the cost of his own life essence, using the pure Qing Lotus Purification Source. It was not only completely stabilized but even faintly showed a newborn-like vitality.
She felt the surging spiritual energy within her body and an unprecedented sense of lightness, gently exhaling a breath of turbid air. This breath seemed to also expel the gloom and heaviness that had accumulated in her heart for decades.
The courtyard door was gently pushed open, and Tang Xiaoqi walked in carrying a small jade pot containing a spiritual medicine he had personally brewed for calming the mind and strengthening the foundation. Seeing Aunt Su already sitting up, her complexion rosy and her gaze clear, his face immediately showed genuine joy: "Auntie, how do you feel?"
Su Wan looked at him, her gaze gentle, carrying the affection of an elder looking at a younger generation, along with an indescribable gratitude. She smiled faintly, and this smile shed all the heaviness and pretense of the past, appearing exceptionally genuine and warm: "Never felt better. Xiao Qi, you have worked hard." Her voice was no longer the old tone with deliberate distance or suppressed pain, but had recovered its original clarity.
Xiao Qi set the jade pot on the stone table beside her and poured a bowl of warm medicinal broth for Aunt Su, shaking his head: "Auntie speaks too highly of me, this is what Xiao Qi should do." He paused, looking at Aunt Su's now-different eyes, his heart also happy for her. He knew that what was healed was not only the physical injury but also the heart that had been tormented for too long by hatred, guilt, and helplessness.
Su Wan took the medicine bowl but did not drink immediately. Instead, she gazed at the swirling steam in the bowl, her expression somewhat distant. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly, her tone calm yet carrying an unquestionable determination: "Xiao Qi, my injuries have healed, and it is time... I should leave."
Tang Xiaoqi's movement paused, and he looked up at her. Though surprised, he was not overly so, as if he had already sensed this coming. He did not immediately try to dissuade her, but listened quietly.
"This Qingxu Temple is very nice, peaceful, harmonious, like a paradise untouched by the world." Su Wan's gaze swept across the bamboo outside the window and the distant mountains, her tone carrying a hint of reluctance but more of a sense of release: "These days recuperating here have been the most peaceful time I have had in nearly a hundred years. Seeing you grow so much, seeing the unity of Qingxu Temple from top to bottom, I sincerely feel gratified for Sister and Brother-in-law."
She shifted her gaze, her eyes becoming resolute: "But this place is ultimately not my destination. Su Wan, the first half of my life was trapped by feelings, burdened by the family, mired in Shadow Snake Pavilion. Though not of my own will, I was an accomplice to evil, and my hands... are not clean. In the second half of my life, I can no longer be confined to one place, living comfortably with a peace bought at countless costs."
She looked at Xiao Qi, her eyes revealing complex emotions: "Your father, my Brother-in-law Xu Zhan, chose the most heroic way, sacrificing himself to pave the way for you, giving his final effort to protect this world. And I... I am still alive. This life of mine was saved by you, and also because Brother-in-law... at that final moment, the warning from his moment of clarity kept me from complete submersion."
"I can no longer simply be living." Su Wan's voice was not loud, but every word was clear and struck at the heart: "I need to search for myself, to find who Su Wan is after stripping away the identities of Widow of Xu Lan Mountain Manor and Silver-Faced Envoy of Shadow Snake Pavilion. Who am I truly, and where should I go?"
She paused, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes: "Moreover, that mysterious divination cultivator Tianjizi, he has appeared at several coincidental moments, providing key clues but with mysterious purposes. He even secretly funded the assassination attempt against you. This person has deep scheming and terrifying calculations. Whether friend or foe is difficult to distinguish. He is like a venomous snake hidden in the mist, more dangerous than Shadow Snake Pavilion with their open attacks. Until I expose him and ascertain his true purpose, I cannot sleep peacefully."
"So," Su Wan finally spoke her decision: "I intend to leave Qingxu Temple and travel the world. On one hand, to traverse mountains and rivers, find my true self, make up for the life I missed. On the other hand, I will use some of the connections and hidden networks I accumulated in Shadow Snake Pavilion to secretly investigate Tianjizi's whereabouts and background. This, too, is a form of compensation for my past, a reply to you, to Sister and Brother-in-law, and to all the souls of Xu Lan Mountain Manor."
She looked at Xiao Qi, her eyes carrying a pleading quality: "Xiao Qi, I know you are now deeply powerful and respected, and have reliable fellow disciples by your side. But it is easy to dodge a visible spear, hard to defend against a hidden arrow. Investigating this Tianjizi person, perhaps it would be more convenient if I do it rather than you or Qingxu Temple investigating directly. I am in the dark, he is in the dark. That matches well."
Tang Xiaoqi listened quietly, his heart surging with emotions. He understood Aunt Su's decision. She needed a long journey to bid farewell to the past and reshape herself. And investigating Tianjizi was both her way of repaying her karmic debt and indeed the most suitable choice. Aunt Su had once been at the upper levels of Shadow Snake Pavilion, and she understood the rules of darkness and the treachery of human hearts better than he did.
He did not try to dissuade her, because he knew this was a necessary path for Aunt Su's heart, and the Dao she had chosen.
He stood up, took out several items from his storage magical artifact: a stack of carefully crafted survival talismans containing a thread of his Qing Lotus Origin power that could withstand several attacks from Nascent Soul cultivators at critical moments; a pair of small communication discs for long-distance messaging that could connect regardless of distance as long as they were within the same realm; and a jade bottle filled with various top-quality pills for healing, detoxification, and restoring spiritual energy.
He pushed these things in front of Aunt Su, his tone sincere: "Auntie, Xiao Qi understands and supports your decision. The road ahead is long, and human hearts are unfathomable. Please do take care of yourself. Take these for emergencies. Qingxu Temple will always be your home, and there will always a place for you here whenever you wish to return."
Su Wan looked at the extraordinarily precious items on the table, then at Xiao Qi's clear and steadfast eyes. Her eyes grew warm. She did not refuse but took everything, nodding heavily: "Good, Auntie accepts them. Rest assured, after experiencing so much, I will not easily take risks again. I will take care of myself."
She stood up, walked to the window, gazing at the flowing clouds in the sky, her voice carrying a hint of etherealness: "It is time to go out and see the mountains and rivers that Brother-in-law and Sister once protected. What they truly look like."
Three days later, morning.
Outside the mountain gate of Qingxu Temple, the thin mist had not yet scattered.
Tang Xiaoqi, Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng, Third Senior Sister Liu Yun, and Zhao Tiezhu and others who had heard the news had all come to bid farewell to Aunt Su. There was no grand ceremony, only simple parting words.
Su Wan had changed out of her palace robes into a neat set of blue-gray combat attire. Her long hair was simply tied up with a wooden hairpin. On her back was an ordinary-looking travel bag. She looked more like a female cultivator traveling the world than the former Silver-Faced Envoy with a heavy heart.
She bowed deeply to everyone, especially to Tang Xiaoqi: "Everyone, take care."
Tang Xiaoqi stepped forward and handed Aunt Su a seemingly ordinary wooden small-sword pendant: "Auntie, keep this with you. If you face a life-and-death crisis, crush it. No matter where I am, I will sense it and rush to your aid with all my strength."
Su Wan took the sword pendant, sensing within it a thread of sharp and familiar sword intent (that was the fusion of Xu Zhan's protective sword intent and Xiao Qi's own sword intent). The last trace of parting melancholy in her heart was also dispersed by a warm current. She tightly gripped the sword pendant in her palm, looked at everyone once more, especially deeply at Tang Xiaoqi, as if wanting to engrave his appearance in her heart.
Then, she resolutely turned around, stepping firmly onto the downhill path. Her figure gradually merged into the morning mist and mountain scenery, walking toward the vast and boundless world.
Tang Xiaoqi stood before the mountain gate for a long time, gazing in the direction where Aunt Su had disappeared, his heart silently blessing her.
This parting, the road ahead is unknown. But he believed that Aunt Su, having shed her heavy shackles, would surely find her true self in her travels. And in that complex world, she could find the crucial clue about Tianjizi for him, for Qingxu Temple.
Parting is for a better reunion, also for... standing firm in a broader world, fighting side by side.