LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 229: Wei and Yurong’s Small Talk (I)
The brief meeting was now a recent memory.
As Yang Wei and Sun Yurong walked together on the road path of the expansive sect, they were heading back to the Blue Steam Mountain.
Some male disciples looked at them like they were a couple, and you could practically feel the jealousy radiating off them. Most were chewing the edges of their robes in frustration, while others clenched their fists tightly to hold back tears.
"As usual, Senior Brother gets all the women!"
"Even the ones outside the sect!"
"Will we ever have a chance?! I feel like a background character in immortal tales that's only used to elevate how brilliant the main focus of the story is..."
"W-well, at least we have names!"
Even some of the young ladies in the sect were jealous. When they heard that Yang Wei had finally stepped out of seclusion, they wore layers upon layers of makeup to look presentable.
"You put on too much makeup powder-face! Do you think Senior Brother Yang will really look at you?!"
"Watch your mouth, he's coming!"
These desperate young women hurriedly dressed themselves to look fresh in the eyes.
Sun Yurong smiled at Yang Wei and gave him a charming side-eye. "You know, you don't have to walk me all the way back to the Blue Steam Mountain."
Yang Wei casually shrugged. "Meh, it's not that far from the Spirit Harmony Peak, and besides, I guess I miss seeing your face..."
A soft sigh escaped Sun Yurong's beautifully shaped lips, expressing a sort of dramatic sadness. "You say that, but since my sect's been staying here, you haven't even come to visit me once."
"Oh?" Yang Wei responded, his eyebrows softly rising up in surprise—he didn't know she was so good at acting.
Sun Yurong placed a hand on her huge chest and sighed even more deeply, closing her eyes and looking like a sad puppy. She even tweaked her voice a bit to sound like a sad child.
"I honestly thought you'd at least come see me once. It's as if the man who boldly called me, a woman with two daughters, a sweet and loving name like 'Yulian,' has completely forgotten about me."
Yang Wei sighed heavily, as if he'd had an exhausting day. "You just enjoy making me feel guilty, don't you?"
Sun Yurong giggled. "A little," she admitted, her slightly deep yet attractively feminine voice adding to the charm.
Yang Wei flicked his sleeves back dramatically and proudly lifted his chin. When the female disciples of the sect saw this, they all screeched like wild animals, "KYAAAAAA!!" It seemed like his every move drove the more desperate women of the sect wild.
Then, the white-haired mage looked back at Sun Yurong and calmly told her, "Well, now that we're both unofficial harmony elders, we'll be seeing more of each other, so I'm certain we'll have a lot of fun."
Sun Yurong adjusted her silky white hair with a smile. "Hmm, I do like that idea~"
Then, Yang Wei shifted his mood to a serious one. "So, I was wondering. Fangblade seems worried about the fact that the disciples of the White Serpent Sect will have an issue with the sect reunification because they wouldn't want to associate with men. However, she's the one who brought them up in that manner."
Your journey continues on empire
Sun Yurong's initially soft and playful face turned a bit solemn, still smiling, but with an emptiness that could almost make a person feel for her. "No, it's not like that," she paused.
Yang Wei turned his full attention to Sun Yurong, quietly showing how intrigued he was to hear what she had to say.
Sun Yurong continued, "Well, it's not like she instilled those ideals in them, but in a way, she's to blame. The majority of the females in the sect are young girls and women that Matriarch Fangblade came across during her travels across all other major and minor worlds. They had suffered painfully at the hands of men, subjected to domestic and constant sexual abuse.
She realized that aside from the Mashyan World, women didn't hold much authority in other parts of the Azure Tree. She wanted to correct that, and the only way to do this for women who had lost their will to live was by giving them something to live for, a sense of control too. And well... I guess they interpreted that as abducting men and using them as dual cultivation tools."
Keeping his calm, Yang Wei simply shrugged. "Well, I guess it's one of those cases where the end doesn't justify the means."
Just because they got hurt doesn't give them the right to hurt innocent people in return... that's simply not fair. I mean, in all honesty, I'm no saint, but even as individual A, I wouldn't go after individual C, who's got nothing to do with any of it, just because individual B hurt me. *head shake* Highly unreasonable...
Sun Yurong lowered her head, and slowly, her quivering hands folded into tight fists as she walked. "Indeed." Her response felt a bit detached, like something was bothering her and hindering her from giving Yang Wei her full attention at the moment.
"Hm?" It only took one look for Yang Wei to realize what that was, but all he could do was face forward. He didn't know how to ask her in a way that wouldn't stir up bad memories. Besides, they weren't in the best place to discuss what was on her mind.
Then, much to his surprise, Sun Yurong asked him, "Wei, have you heard of the Dragon Ridge Township Incident...?"
The moment she said this, his mind immediately stretched back to when he and Sun Yuying were stuck in the Frigid Celestial Serpent-Dragon Realm.
During the time Yang Wei was recalling most of what happened – how Sun Yuying showed him her scar, the one thing she saw as her biggest shame because of all the painful memories it brought, and even how she cried during that period – he didn't realize he hadn't responded to Sun Yurong's question.
"I-, I suppose you wouldn't know..." Sun Yurong glanced at him, looking despondent.
"Dragon Ridge Township, a small, simple village with people who had simple lives. It was attacked by a large gang of men who tied down mothers and their daughters and made their husbands or fathers watch as they were mercilessly raped..."
That was Yang Wei's answer.
He didn't even flinch when he said it, but somehow, he could clearly feel Sun Yuying's pain now. Originally, when he heard her talk about it, it was painful and frustrating, but saying it himself and recalling it like she did that day made him feel a level of pain that he rarely experienced... or at least, didn't want to feel.
Sun Yurong looked at Yang Wei with fair surprise on their face as they kept on walking. She edged closer to him and asked, "You... you really knew about it? Did you read up on it or was it just gossip? Because no one talks about it, nobody..."
The real reason she felt so disturbed was her desire to protect the survivors from further shame. Many young girls were mentally broken that day, and even those who hadn't fully recovered still suffered in various ways. The mere thought of people writing historical records or making stories about the event terrified everyone. They feared the additional anguish it might bring to the victims.
Even the Queen of Linwu Kingdom had her offers of compensation rejected, as the survivors wanted nothing to do with reminders of such a tragic event.
Yang Wei was yet to respond.
Sun Yurong's body quivered a bit and she asked, "Please, answer me... how do you kn-"
"Your daughter, Sun Yuying, told me..."