Chapter 5: "Confrontation at the Ancestral Hall"
After a long day of exercise training, Ling Yue returns to her home after breaking through to the second level of the constitution domain. In her mind, she's been wondering if there's any changes that have occurred in that strange place known as "Red Mist Sky".
Slightly moving her consciousness, Ling Yue enters into that world again.
Still the same with only a plot of land the size of one Li, but unlike before, the white mist seems to be lighter this time around. Nevertheless, she still can't make out what lies beyond that fog.
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(1 Li = 500 meters)
As her gaze moves downward, Ling Yue's eye quickly fell upon that Vitality Condensing Grass. Making sure what she saw was real and not her imagination, her eyes widened in disbelief!
It can't be, was she hallucinating? One strand, two strand... All she did was stay outside for three days and a field was born from that single strand of grass. Additionally, each piece of the herb was exceptionally strong and healthy, coming close in height to her knees. What's more, several strains had budded seeds of light green hue at the tip.
If the Yuan energy of this "Red Mist Sky" is many times that of the outside world and could enrich the growth of the plants, wouldn't I be rich if I brought in some other rare herbs like ginseng and lingzhi?
(lingzhi - a mushroom like cap medicinal plant with a reddish dark hue)
However, being penniless herself, where was she going to find the money to buy those precious ginsengs and lingzhi? Shaking her head helplessly, Ling Yue can only push the idea away.
"First harvest some Vitality Condensing Grass and see if I can sell it to subsidize the family expenses." Recalling the clothes worn by the three in the family, she moves in quickly to pluck those herbs.
But as soon as the herb came into contact, Ling Yue noticed a strange trembling sensation in the palm of her hand. It was the black cauldron tattoo. Then before she knew it, the herbs in her possession had transformed into a series of green light and was sucked into the cauldron.
In a few short breaths, the grass was no longer a grass, it was a tiny pool of emerald green liquid.
"This is?" Sniffing the stuff, she can tell the concentration of medicinal properties in this liquid was far higher than the grass itself.
Due to not knowing the name of the green substance, Ling Yue can only call the refined green fluid "Vitality Condensing Liquid".
With it, she believes that the time before she breaks into the third level of the constitution domain would be greatly shortened. But good things comes with a price. After the refining process, she noticed that the sheen from her cauldron tattoo had grew dimmer.
Now she understands. In order to utilize the refining ability of her newfound power, she must expend a good amount of Yuan energy. In her current state, she can deduce her limit lies at a single use per day.
After leaving the strange place known as "Red Mist Sky", Ling Yue once again sat herself down and began meditating to regain her strength.
Then suddenly, she was awakened by a series of hasty footsteps.
"Little young miss, hurry and wake up. Your mother's been summoned by the family chief." Granny Liu cries with anxiousness on her face.
Since Ye Huang Yu injured the boy's arm during the fight from before, add in the fact that Ye Qing's father (Ye Huang Cheng) had always been on bad terms with her, it's a certainty that the incident would be brought to the master's attention.
The current family head, Ye Gu, was Ye Huang Yu's birth father, and had once held high hopes for his daughter in the past.
He strongly opposed the idea of Ling Yue's mother marrying her father at the time, but Ye Huang Yu refused to listen. In the end, this pitiful woman fell into a state of being discarded and could only fall back onto her side of the family for care.
It didn't help either when both daughter and father had tempers of iron steel. Therefore, the two never exchanged dialogue for years on end after returning home.
But this time though, due to Ye Huang Yu's rash action of beating Ye Qing, she might be punished by the disciplinary rules of the house for good.
Hearing Granny Liu's word, Ling Yu immediately got up and dashed towards the ancestral hall without a second thought.
"Little young miss, come back!" Granny Liu's mournful voice echoed behind her, but there's no way it's going to reach the girl's ear now.
Meanwhile over at the Ye family's ancestral hall, a state of solemnness hangs in the air.
Sitting in the middle of the ancestral hall was Ye Gu on his master chair, and on his side stood several male of stalwart build.
As for Ye Qing, this pale looking boy was currently standing by his father's side with the help of several family members supporting him.
Without surprise, this father and son pair was glaring daggers at the perpetrator.
Among the families making Autumn Maple Town their home, the Ye household can be considered one of the biggest. Years ago when the great ancestor of the family came to this town with nothing in hand, he had managed to strike it rich after discovering a giant ore vein in this part of the land.
After many years of development and changing hands, the current generation now fell onto Ye Gu and his offsprings possession. With much luck and fortune, he's been gifted with five children with Ye Huang Yu being the only girl among his kids. Below that are seven grandsons and five granddaughters. From these numbers, he can say he's been gifted by the heavens to have so many descendants.
For this affair of his daughter injuring her nephew Ye Qing, all of the members of the fifth house had come today to bear witness so they can get justice.
(To explain the different houses. Once a man marries more than one wife, the wives are divided into something called houses to differentiate their status and all of the children born from her. Example: first wife and her kids are first house, second wife and her kids are second house, and so and so on.)
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Ever since Ye Huang Yu entered the hall to confront everyone, Ye Gu had remained silent without spouting a word. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at his daughter.
Ye Gu was fifty something this year, but because of his daily persistence in continuing his training, this old grandfather had retained much of his youth and looked no older than a man in his forties.
"Father, you must stand up for my son this time. In another two months are the family's examination test. He worked very hard during this period and had progressed quite quickly in hopes of reaching the top three. But now, his wrist bone's been crushed. Forget about the family examination test, he can't even continue his regular martial art training." Ye Huang Cheng had one son and a daughter that's constantly training outside year-round. As such, he's very doting towards his only son.
"Kneel!" Ye Gu suddenly opens his eye, glaring furiously at his only daughter with those eagle like pupils.
Ye Huang Yu used to be his most valued daughter. From the tender age of three, he had personally tutored her in martial art; however, it was she herself whom ruined all this by marrying that heartless man and then getting abandoned.
Ye Gu can turn a blind eye to everything in the past, but now she went so far as to suddenly injure his grandson Ye Qing without cause. This matter cannot end without a proper answer.
In the face of her father's reproach, Ye Huang Yu didn't defend herself; instead, she straightened her back like a spear and stood there, justifying her actions as so.
Watching this, the other three sons from the other houses couldn't say a word and can only keep quiet while Ye Qing and Ye Huang Cheng snickered on the side. The two had determined the woman would be doomed for certain after today's punishment.
Seeing his daughter's unwillingness to kneel nor apologize, Ye Gu's face promptly took on an unsightly appearance for her actions symbolized a clear defiance to his authority.
"The ones whom needs to kneel are they!" Piercing through the crowd like an arrow, Ling Yue rushes inside.
Ling Yue may have stayed in the Ye household for over a decade, but the amount of times she's seen this grandfather of hers can be counted with a single hand.
Following her arrival, the atmospheric stalemate shattered like glass and drew the attentive gaze of the crowd upon herself.
"Isn't that retarded girl Ye Ling Yue?" everyone exclaimed at the intruder.
But the one to be most shocked here can only be Ye Gu. Seeing his granddaughter in this fashion, his eagle like eyes began scrutinizing the girl before him.
A small and exquisite face, a pair of eyes filled with brilliance, is this the same granddaughter he knew?
In his memories, Ye Gu recalled the girl had looked no different from a little monkey, small and dark skinned. Hardly a match for the one standing before him today.
Although Ling Yue's stature remains on the low side, her body appears to be very sturdy, especially those crescent shaped eyes that radiated life.
"Ling Yue, who told you to come?" Ye Huang Yu hurries to push her daughter behind herself.
The Ye family's disciplinary rules are very strict. By interrupting the family head's word, that alone would be enough to warrant a good beating by the rod.
"The Ye family rules are here to penalize those who did wrong, and my mother here did no wrong! The one to kneel are they over there, not us!" Without fear, Ling Yue raises her tiny finger and points to the father and son pair over to the side like a lunging spear.
"Youngling, you are maligning us. Your mother broke the rules, so according to the rules, she's supposed to receive twenty beatings by the rod." Ye Huang Cheng jumped forward out of anger and rebut the claim
"So bullying the weak is to warrant the rod? All right, what a good rule of the Ye house! Then let me ask you, how should we punish Wang Gui, Ye Qing and his peers for inflicting so many wounds on me over the years?!" At that, Ling Yue partially removed the upper portion of her dress to reveal what's underneath.
At this moment, only gasping sounds could be heard in the ancestral hall.
After she opens up her robe, the hidden scars and wounds, both dark and red, big and small, were revealed to the world.
There are whip marks, punch bruises, burns, and some blackish and purplish marks that had clearly been there for some time.
It's difficult for everyone inside the hall right now to imagine how this emaciated young girl had managed to live her life until now. Ten years of hardship wasn't something a young child can easily endure.
"What!" Shattering the master chair with a single palm smack, Ye Gu's face was filled with indignation and disbelief.
It's true he deliberately ignored his daughter and granddaughter, but Ye Huang Yu was after all his flesh and blood. He may not have said it out loud, but never once did he reduce their living allowance.
"Father, child didn't know about all this!"
"My lord, please have mercy."
Both Ye Huang Cheng and Steward Gui (father of Wang Gui) immediately came to their knees.
Because of how hurt she was after being discarded by her husband, Ye Huang Yu had been stuck in her own little world for all these years. As such, despite her daughter suffering so many injuries, she truly didn't notice due to how dispirited she's become.
"Ye Huang Cheng, you raised a good son!" Just as she's about to jump at her target like an enraged lioness, her hand was suddenly halted by Ling Yue's intervening pull.
"Mother, child's grudge will be avenged through my own hands." With her bone chilling smile, Ling Yue's gaze swept through the people inside the hall.
In the end, whatever they ate of hers will be forced back out through her own hands.
For those present, they all felt that uncomfortable chill running up their spines.
She's but a thirteen-year-old girl, how can her eyes give off such intensity?
Meanwhile, Ye Huang Cheng continues to kneel on the ground as the coldness of the floor seeps into his bone. In his mind now, he can only think of one thing: he must remove this daughter and mother pair. For if he doesn't, this scourge will continue to plague him and his son.