"Why push yourself so hard?" Mei Jiu wanted to tell Mei Ru Yan that once they mastered martial arts, their future days would become very difficult.
Mei Ru Yan replied, "I consider myself fairly knowledgeable, yet I've never seen any prominent family as peculiar as this one. Though I don't know the reasons behind it, I can make some educated guesses. Sister, our lifespans are probably predetermined—when we die isn't up to us. But the King of Hell has no say in how we live!"
She smiled resolutely and declared, "I want to make myself strong. Even if I can't defy fate in the end, I want to face death with a smile."
So even knowing that mastering martial arts would make life harder, she wouldn't pass up any opportunity to grow stronger.
Neither Mei Ru Yan nor Mei Jiu had any martial arts foundation. To improve, they couldn't hold back—if their progress was too slow or stagnant, Mister Mo wouldn't teach them more advanced techniques. Simply put, holding back in martial arts only applied to those who had reached a certain level; beginners couldn't afford to do so.
An Jiu was different. All martial arts in the world ultimately shared the same principles. Though she had never practiced this particular style before, her past experience with intense training had taught her how to control her body to its limits and unleash its potential—stripped of all external forms, martial arts boiled down to this.
Mei Ru Yan and Mei Jiu descended the mountain together before returning to their respective residences.
Along the way, Mei Jiu couldn't stop replaying Mei Ru Yan's words in her mind. When she had said, "face death with a smile," Mei Jiu had been utterly shaken. They were around the same age—how could Mei Ru Yan possess such determination?
By the time she returned to Jade Serenity Residence, Mei Yanran had already been waiting in the main hall for some time.
"Mother," Mei Jiu called out, feeling reassured at the sight of her.
"You're back later than usual today," Mei Yanran remarked.
Mei Jiu explained, "My sister was injured, so it was hard for her to descend the mountain. I walked slowly with her for a while."
"Injured?" Mei Yanran adjusted her sleeves, pausing before saying, "I'll go check on her later. Were you alright today?"
Mei Jiu knew she was asking about her martial arts training. "Mr. Qingming gave me a boxing manual. I memorized the movements after one read, but when I tried them out, I made him quite angry."
Mei Yanran covered her mouth with her sleeve and chuckled. "Mr. Qingming is eloquent when lecturing on Zen, but he can never control his temper."
"Mother, I saw a man in black today," Mei Jiu decided to bring up her encounter with the Ghost-Masked Man while herding sheep.
An Jiu didn't stop her.
Mei Yanran's smile faded, her expression turning serious. "A man in black? Where did you see him?"
"While I was herding sheep alone on the mountain today," Mei Jiu recounted truthfully. "I'd seen him before at the ancestral hall—there were ten masked men in black then, five Gandharvas and five Yakshas. The man I saw today was wearing a Yaksha mask."
Mei Yanran suddenly grew tense. "Did he speak to you?"
"Yes. He asked if I was Elder Zhi's new disciple," Mei Jiu said, omitting the part about An Jiu. "And that we'd meet again soon."
"What?!" Mei Yanran's face was now openly horrified. "How could this... How... Could you tell how old he was?"Mei Jiu was startled by her reaction, but at that moment, her mind was completely blank. No matter how hard she tried to recall, she couldn’t remember anything.
"Between twenty and thirty years old," An Jiu said.
At the time, it had been too rushed. She could only judge an approximate age range based on the voice and some minor details.
"Probably between twenty and thirty," Mei Jiu said.
Mei Yanran thought for a while. "It shouldn’t be someone from our family."
Mei Jiu was puzzled. "Mother, who are those people?"
"People from the Crane Control Institute," Mei Yanran replied. She felt there was no need to hide anything from Mei Jiu anymore. Given the current situation, with her still under semi-house arrest and unable to watch over Mei Jiu at all times, it was no longer suitable for Mei Jiu to remain ignorant. "Logically speaking, since you’ve just returned to the manor and your potential is still unclear, they shouldn’t be in such a hurry to add you to the family register. Unless… it just so happens that the family is preparing to send a batch of people to the Crane Control Army…"
As it turned out, every name recorded in the Mei family register was also documented by the imperial court. Whenever someone from the Mei family was to be added to the register, the court would send officials to assess their potential and record everything in the registry. The timing happened to coincide, so the family head decided to expedite Mei Jiu’s inclusion in the register.
"A long time ago, the Crane Control Army was mainly composed of four families: the Mei, Zhao, Li, and Lou families, along with many smaller clans. The previous emperor felt this arrangement was too prone to losing control, so the court established a specialized institution to train talents for the Crane Control Army—the Crane Control Institute."
After the Crane Control Institute was established, it no longer exclusively accepted members from these families. Instead, it began recruiting talented children from the common populace, training them from a young age in an attempt to shift the balance of power away from the dominant families.
These families knew too many imperial secrets. Once they became expendable, their fate was predictable! With no way out, the major families could only cling desperately to their power to survive.
The Mei family’s descendants had gradually dwindled, which was why they were so eager to add Mei Jiu and Mo Sigui to the family register. They even turned a blind eye to the fact that Mei Ru Yan wasn’t a true descendant of the Mei family.
Mei Yanran pondered, "The people from the Crane Control Institute probably wanted to test your potential…"
Thinking of this, she suddenly reached out and took Mei Jiu’s pulse, frowning as she carefully examined it for a long while.
Mei Jiu didn’t dare interrupt. Only when her mother withdrew her hand did she ask, "Mother, what’s wrong?"
Mei Yanran shook her head. "I was just wondering why that person said we’d meet again soon."
Mei Jiu had inherited Mei Yanran’s innate physique, making her naturally suited for martial arts. Otherwise, Mei Yanran wouldn’t have deliberately raised her to be timid and fragile. Now, at thirteen years old, Mei Jiu had never been exposed to martial arts before entering the Mei household. Logically, even if she had some talent, it would already be too late. Why would the Crane Control Institute take an interest in her? Even if it was because of Elder Zhi’s influence, that wouldn’t explain why the person had said, "We’ll meet again soon"!
"Jiu’er, what exactly are you hiding from me?" Mei Yanran grasped Mei Jiu’s hand. "What is it that you can’t tell your mother?"
"I…" Mei Jiu wished she could confess everything immediately, but upon hearing An Jiu’s cold snort, all her words stuck in her throat.
Mei Yanran sighed. "Jiu’er, your mother has no hopes left in this life. I only wish for you to be safe and well. If this matter is important, you mustn’t hide it from me!"Returning to the Mei residence once more, Mei Yanran knew the possibility of escaping again was nearly zero. Her only plan now was to stake everything she had to secure Mei Jiu's peace for the rest of her life.
As dusk fell and Mei Jiu showed no signs of relenting, she didn’t press further.
After dinner, Mei Yanran instructed someone to prepare medicine for bruises and sprains. While waiting, she spoke with Mei Jiu again.
"Yan Niangzi!" Yao Ye's urgent voice suddenly called out.
Mei Yanran asked, "What is it?"
"Old Madam is here!" Yao Ye whispered urgently.
The room was brightly lit, and Mei Jiu clearly saw Mei Yanran's lips tremble, the color draining from her face in an instant.
"Who is Old Madam?" Mei Jiu only knew of two elderly madams in the Mei family and had never heard of any Old Madam—let alone one who could instill such fear in her mother!
"So..." A hoarse voice abruptly sounded from above, unmistakably laughing yet laced with chilling menace. "You still remember this old crone."
Mei Jiu was horrified and looked up toward the ceiling, but even with her sharp eyesight, she couldn’t spot anyone.
"Your daughter has grown so big." The raspy voice suddenly came from the main seat.
Mei Jiu turned and saw a hunched figure clad entirely in black sitting there. The woman was slightly bent, her hands resting on a cane, her body completely shrouded in darkness.
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