Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Father… He Loved Her Deeply

After bidding farewell to Chu Yao and the others, Sang Nian walked briskly towards Sang Qiyan’s courtyard.

Things were progressing more smoothly than expected. Next, as long as she passed Sang Qiyan’s test, she and Xie Chen Zhou could officially set foot on the path to the Xiaoyao sect.

However, there was one more thing…

Sang Nian looked around at the scenery, secretly clenching her fist.

Just as she reached the courtyard gate, Wen Buyu and Sang Qiyan came out laughing and talking. They stopped when they saw her.

Sang Qiyan glanced at her: “Sober now?”

Sang Nian said sheepishly: “Completely sober.”

Sang Qiyan didn’t want to scold her, so he deliberately put on a stern face to scare her: “If this happens again, I won’t let you off easily.”

Sang Nian repeatedly assured him.

“Speaking of which, it’s my junior sister’s fault,” Wen Buyu said softly, “She’s always been mischievous and often gets others involved. I’m truly sorry.”

Sang Nian laughed: “We have similar interests, how could it be considered getting others involved.”

“Thank you, Miss Sang, for your understanding. Then I’ll take my leave.”

With that, Wen Buyu smiled at her and left in large strides.

Sang Qiyan looked at his back, sighing unintentionally:

“You should have matched with someone like this, a dragon among men. It’s a pity…”

Sang Nian pretended not to understand and hurriedly dragged him into the study.

Sang Qiyan was puzzled: “What’s the matter, you’re in such a hurry?”

Sang Nian slammed the door shut, “Brother, I came to see you about two things.”

Sang Qiyan: “Which two things?”

“First,” Sang Nian said, “Did someone present you with a spirit artifact? Something related to our family’s mine.”

Sang Qiyan raised an eyebrow: “You’re quite well-informed. It was only delivered yesterday, and you already know about it today.”

Sang Nian said seriously: “That thing can’t be used.”

Sang Qiyan was puzzled: “Why?”

Sang Nian didn’t know how to explain it for a moment.

In the original book, not long after Sang Yunling and Xie Chen Zhou entered the Xiaoyao sect, something happened to the Sang family.

Tracing it back to the source, it was because of a spirit artifact.

A spirit artifact that could detect and excavate spirit stone veins, it could extract more spirit stones in a day than a thousand miners could in three days combined.

Without a doubt, this spirit artifact was quickly put into use.

But no one knew that it was only a half-finished product.

That day, the spirit artifact triggered an explosion in the underground veins, burying the entire Qingzhou under the ground, killing countless people, including everyone in the City Lord’s Mansion.

And all of this could have been prevented.

Sang Nian gritted her teeth and made up an excuse:

“I had a dream, I dreamt that something was wrong with that thing, and you all died because of it. I was very scared, can you ask a few artifact refiners to check it?”

Sang Qiyan softened his tone: “Nian Nian, this concerns the spirit mine, it’s not something you can mess around with…”

“I’m not messing around,” Sang Nian grabbed his arm, “It’s precisely because it concerns the spirit mine that we need to be even more cautious, don’t you think?”

Sang Qiyan looked like he couldn’t do anything about her, “Alright, I’ll invite the elder of the Tianheng Sect’s Artifact Refinement Hall tomorrow.”

Sang Nian insisted: “Today, right now.”

Sang Qiyan had to give in: “Alright, right now.”

With that, he opened the door and gave a few instructions to the guards on duty. The guards went off to carry out his orders.

He walked back in, “Now you can rest assured, right?”

Until the result came out, Sang Nian’s heart was still hanging. She twisted her fingers, not saying a word.

Sang Qiyan suddenly remembered something and his face turned cold:

“That little demon who abducted you hasn’t been caught yet, but I’ve already reported it to the Wan Xian Alliance and issued a bounty. Within three months, he will definitely be caught. When that happens, you can do whatever you want with him.”

Sang Nian said absentmindedly: “You decide.”

Soon, several elders from the Tianheng Sect’s Artifact Refinement Hall rushed over.

Sang Qiyan said to Sang Nian: “It’s dark and cold underground, stay here and wait for me, I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he took the elders and left, disappearing at the end of the path.

The waiting time was agonizingly long.

Sang Nian was restless.

Sang Qiyan didn’t return as quickly as he said he would.

After two full hours, he reappeared at the study door, his face grave.

Sang Nian jumped to her feet: “What happened?”

“There is indeed a problem,” he said in a low voice, “You were right.”

Sang Nian let out a sigh of relief: “It’s good that we found out in time.”

“I’ve already sent people to thoroughly investigate that artifact refiner,” Sang Qiyan said, “I’m afraid this matter is not simple.”

Qingzhou had many spirit mines, and where there were trees, there would be wind. There were many people who secretly coveted them.

This was something that wasn’t written in the book, and Sang Nian didn’t know who the mastermind was, so she could only leave this matter to him to investigate.

“It’s thanks to you that you discovered something was wrong in time, otherwise Qingzhou would have faced a great disaster.” Sang Qiyan’s eyes flashed with a hint of probing, “But, did you really dream it?”

Sang Nian said decisively: “Yes.”

So, Sang Qiyan actually didn’t ask further, and changed the subject:

“You said there were two things, what’s the second thing?”

Sang Nian organized her words: “I want to go to the Xiaoyao, sect with Chu Yao and the others, taking Xie Chen Zhou with me.”

“Want to go play?” Sang Qiyan said, “You’ve never left home since you were little, brother is worried about you being alone, why don’t we go together?”

“It’s not about going to play.” Sang Nian replied, “I’m going to participate in the Xiaoyao, sect’s new student selection, and become a disciple like Chu Yao.”

The cheerful expression on Sang Qiyan’s face immediately disappeared.

“He can go, but you, I won’t allow it.” He said.

There was no room for discussion in his words.

Sang Nian explained:

“Brother, I really don’t want to be trapped in this small courtyard for the rest of my life. I also want to see the world outside.”

Sang Qiyan pinched his brow: “If the house is small, we can expand it. I’ll add another twenty miles of land to the east.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Sang Nian said urgently.

“Nian Nian, you’re not in good health, you can’t handle the kind of things that Chu Yao and the others do,” Sang Qiyan advised, “Listen to your brother, stay at home, don’t go anywhere. Home is the safest place.”

“…Brother, I know I won’t live long, every day could be my last.”

Sang Nian said seriously:

“But precisely because of this, I don’t want to die with regrets, wondering why I didn’t go out and see the world at that time. I don’t want to stay in my shell anymore, brother.”

Sang Qiyan shook his head:

“You’re too naive. The cultivation world is not as good as you think. On the contrary, it’s full of dangers. If you’re out there, I can’t protect you like I do in Qingzhou.”

“I’ll protect myself.” Sang Nian refused to back down.

“Protect yourself?”

Sang Qiyan was furious, before he could think carefully, he blurted out:

“Your mother was also a cultivator, she died under mysterious circumstances. How are you going to protect…”

By the end, his voice had gradually softened.

Sang Nian caught the sensitive word: “My mother?”

A trace of annoyance flashed in Sang Qiyan’s eyes: “Go back. Don’t think about this anymore. I won’t agree.”

Sang Nian wouldn’t let up:

“What did you mean by that? My mother was a cultivator? What do you mean by ‘your mother’? Isn’t she also your mother?”

Sang Qiyan turned around: “Don’t ask. It’s not important.”

The original character’s background was probably not that simple.

This was related to whether she could leave smoothly, Sang Nian grabbed his hand and pressed him for an answer:

“Of course it’s important. Brother, I want to know who my mother really is. What have you been hiding from me all these years? If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself. Can you guarantee that nothing about what happened back then will leak out?”

“…”

After a longer silence, Sang Qiyan took a deep breath and looked down at her:

“My parents were both stone miners in the underground veins. They died in an accident together. The previous City Lord of Qingzhou took me in and let me call him father.”

“When I was ten years old, father brought you back, who had just been born, and told me that from then on, you were my sister.”

Sang Nian was stunned, “You mean…”

“We’re not actually siblings.”

Her guess was confirmed, but she didn’t expect it to turn out this way.

Sang Nian didn’t know what to say for a moment, so she motioned for him to continue.

Sang Qiyan continued:

“I don’t know much about your mother. I only know that she was a sword cultivator. Later, she was ambushed and seriously injured. You were born prematurely, and she didn’t survive.”

“Father loved her dearly. Not long after she passed away, he died of grief.”