Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
“The name of this poem is ‘If’…” Jun Mo Xie cleared his throat as a mysterious smile appeared on his face. After adjusting his face a little, he gathered his Qi into his dantian and began in a solemn voice. “Ah… If I were a stalk of wheat, you are the radiant noon sun in the sky; if I were Qingming, you are the River in the painting; if I were a bow, you are the eagle in the sky; if I were a divine sword, you are the sword wielding heroine in the story… If, ah, If! So many ifs, and my heart… is inside it!”
His voice was bright and steady, ringing out through the forest. The entire mountain gorge was filled with the echoes, “Wheat… sun… wheat… sun…”
Finished with his recitation, Jun Mo Xie looked expectantly at Mei Xue Yan and said in a sincere voice. ” Xue Yan, these are my heartfelt feelings. It represents my most genuine intentions, and also my desire… My love is higher than the mountains, and deeper than the seas… Please accept it.”
Mei Xue Yan furrowed her brows and softly muttered the poem over and over again. The more she recited, the more she could not understand it. Finally, she asked humbly, “This poem, what does it mean?”
“You only need to know that this poem contains my hopes for our beautiful future. These sincere feelings of mine can only be represented by the sun in the sky!” Jun Mo Xie said earnestly.
A trace of emotion flashed across Mei Xue Yan’s face. But in her mind, she was still considering in her mind. The emotions in this poem were deep, but its literary standard appeared to be rather ordinary… Mei Xue Yan was like this; as long as there was anything that she didn’t understand, she would always try her best to think about it. But this time, she truly could not understand the poem at all, causing her to feel rather frustrated… After a long time, when she was about to continue asking Jun Mo Xie, a voice suddenly rang out from a far distance away. “Who is creating a din here?”
Following this roar, a person shot over like a shooting star, landing before the two. When the person saw Jun Mo Xie, his eyes lit up and he laughed in a hearty manner, “Mo Xie, you brat! You’re finally here; I’ve been anticipating your arrival these few days! This Uncle’s neck has almost lengthened from waiting…”
This person was Dongfang Wen Dao, Jun Mo Xie’s third maternal uncle…
Dongfang Wen Dao’s eyes widened slightly when he saw Mei Xue Yan, “This is…” As he evaluated Mei Xue Yan in his eyes, he could not help but to praise darkly in his heart. This brat actually found another one… And she’s actually so beautiful…
“Your sister’s daughter in law, my wife…” Jun Mo Xie hurriedly introduced.
Third Master Dongfang immediately grew flustered at this as he patted his pockets and sleeves clumsily, “Why didn’t you tell me beforehand, I-I… This uncle didn’t even bring any meeting gifts…”
Mei Xue Yan had truly suffered greatly by following Jun Mo Xie around… Throughout this journey, as long as it was someone he knew, Jun Mo Xie would introduce her as his wife, his beloved, his partner…
The worst thing was, she could not say anything as these people were either people that were worthy of Jun Mo Xie’s respect, or were people he was close to… But to her, all these people were her juniors, causing her to feel unbearably awful.
As time passed, Mei Xue Yan minded less and less… She had already grown used to it, and her skin had also been tempered and grown thicker… There was no helping it; if her skin was not thick enough, she would have died of embarrassment long ago while following him…
“What need is there for meeting gifts…” Jun Mo Xie rejected suavely. “Wouldn’t it do to just prepare an extra set of gifts after you return? Xue Yan definitely won’t mind…”
“You little brat really don’t regard yourself as a stranger! Don’t you know that your third uncle is not rich?” Dongfang Wen Dao’s eyebrows shot up in response. Staring at his nephew fiercely, the stalwart man shook his head, “Let’s go, your grandmother’s eyes are growing long sighted from longing for you…”
Jun Mo Xie nearly tripped and he rolled his eyes wildly. What? Long sightedness? All old people get presbyopia when they age alright? How could it be from longing for me? What kind of nonsense is this?!
When Dongfang Wen Dao said “we’re reaching soon, it’s just around the corner” for the seventh time, the group finally arrived at the Dongfang Family’s gate… This journey had caused Jun Mo Xie to firmly believe that this uncle of his had a very questionable judgement of distance… From 300 li away, he kept saying “We’re reaching soon, it’s just around the corner,” but the number of turns they’d made from the time they started following him was over a hundred…
The Dongfang Family before Jun Mo Xie was so shocking that even he could not help but to open his mouth slightly.
A mountain valley stretched out before him.
In the valley, the surrounding area was actually filled with multiple patches of fields. In the middle was a large house with a courtyard with red walls and green tiles. The place did not exude the glamor of a large family… Instead, it looked more like a calm, ordinary village…
The only thing was that this extremely ordinary looking village had a monolithic wall with numerous families within it… A wide, spacious expanse of land could be seen in the middle; the ground was paved with densely packed stones. With the passing of so many years, the stone ground had already turned into a black auburn color, without any edges…
Nine people stood before the gate, waiting.
A rosewood chair was set in the middle of the courtyard, and a thin, old lady was sitting atop it. Her hair was as white as snow, and even her eyebrows were of the same white color. Although she looked well advanced in years, her spirit appeared to be exceptionally good. Her face was kindly and approachable, and only from the sharp gleam in her eyes could one see the valiant fire of one that’d swept through the pugilist world in years past…
Her face was wreathed in smiles upon seeing Jun Mo Xie, and her eyes uncontrollably grew wet as they glistened with tears…
“This is your maternal grandmother…” Dongfang Wen Dao introduced in a gruff voice. “Back then… She was an expert in making herself look youthful; even at 70, 80 years old, she could still maintain the looks of a 30, 40 years old middle-aged woman. But when your mother was sent back in such a tragic state… Her hair… turned white in the span of a single night… And her looks degenerated by the day until this… Ai…”
Dongfang Wen Dao’s tone was heavy, and Jun Mo Xie also felt his heart ache as he listened to him…
At this time, he also remembered what Grandpa Jun Zhan Tian said about Old Madam Dongfang: “That maternal grandmother of yours is not a simple character; she’s an existence akin to an old fox. That old woman is clearly 70, 80 years old, but she only looks like someone in her early 30s… She looks exactly like your mother, and they look more like sisters than mother and daughter. She was a most unusual and individual beauty of her generation, and her demeanor is graceful and rich, obviously the appearance of one from a noble family…”
Jun Wu Yi had also solemnly told him before, “Mo Xie, you must take extra care to be more respectful to your maternal grandmother when you see her: although she may look very young, her mind is an entirely different from her appearance. The Dongfang Old Madam is the wisest woman your Third Uncle has ever seen in my life…”
But when he recalled how his Grandpa and Third Uncle had warned him before, he felt even more heartache, a heartache born of pity… Jun Zhan Tian and Jun Wu Yi’s impression of this old woman was still stuck ten years in the past… The Dongfang Madam—his own grandmother—had actually aged to such an extend in such a short period of time ever since she brought her daughter back…
Wrinkled skin and white hair, old and unsteady!
How depressed must one be mentally to deteriorate to such a state?
Although her daughter had married out and borne children of her own, in the heart of the old madam, she was still the little girl with pigtails, running around happily at her heels… The shock of seeing her daughter in a state of brokenness, her spirit shattered and her heart rent, deep in a coma, living a life worse than death… The motherly heart of Old Madam Dongfang could not help but to break as well… With her daughter in that state, what use was there in upkeeping vain images at this time? It was more important to first and foremost, be a mother! With her heart burdened and her spirit worn, her hair turned white overnight… These 10 years, she’d been battling thousands of troubles which shackled her, and powerful external enemies which threatened her family. Now that her heart and spirit were both weary, how was it possible to not age?
At her side, was Second Master Dongfang Wen Jian and Eldest Master Dongfang Wen Qing standing on her left and right. Several youngsters stood behind her, looking over curiously. Three women of dignified bearings stood behind her, silently watching Jun Mo Xie and Mei Xue Yan. As long as the old madam did not open her mouth yet, they did not dare to make a single sound.
“Wen Xin’s son… Mo Xie? Jun Mo Xie?” Old Madam Dongfang stood up shakily and looked at the young handsome man before her. In that moment, she seemed to have seen the shadow of her daughter; it was as if her daughter was skipping towards her in a lively way as she used to do…
But in that instant, she remembered that her beloved daughter was unconscious, her life and death indeterminable. Uncontrollably, her eyes grew red and tears quivered behind her eyelids. Gritting her teeth, the frail old woman took two steps forward, sending her white hair fluttering in the wind. Her voice was somewhat shaky as she beckoned to Jun Mo Xie, “Come… Come closer, let your grandmother take a good look… My dear grandson, what took you so long…”
Jun Mo Xie’s steps also unknowingly grew heavy as an indescribable sour feeling surged through his chest. Forcing a smile onto his face, he walked up slowly and knelt down on one knee and lifted his head to look at this old woman who, for the sake of her family, stayed strong and firm. His heart was only filled with respect and kinship, and… an indescribable sourness…
Back then, when Jun Wu Hui was killed, Dongfang Wen Xin collapsed upon hearing the news, falling into a coma. Old Madam Dongfang had charged out with great fury, commencing a grand slaughter on the continent. The Dongfang Family’s assassins spread their wings, taking the entire Xuan Xuan Continent by force and washing it with blood!
Back then, Jun Mo You and Jun Mo Chou’s bizarre deaths were also avenged by the Dongfang Family. Blood flowed for tens of thousand of li, and even the Tian Xiang Imperial Palace was littered with heads…
All of these things had been done by this frail old woman before his eyes. For the sake of her daughter, she did not hesitate to use the strength of a single Dongfang Family to take on the entire world as her enemy!
What kind of spirit is this!
Even if I must slaughter all living creatures under the heavens, I must have my vengeance!
What kind of deep seated hatred is this… And all that was simply for the sake of her daughter, for the sake of that love!
But it was also because of this reason that the Dongfang Family was surrounded by an alliance of three Supreme forces and driven into an impasse. The heroine of a generation and an unsurpassed beauty was thus forced to give up, swearing several oaths, and carrying her regrets and pain to retire from the pugilist world…
Her vengeance had yet to be fulfilled, and the blood she sought had not been paid in full, yet she was forced to return with broken weapons…
From then on, she moved to a desolate mountainous village, never to return again! Day and night, she watched as her daughter suffered unspeakable pain. She was helpless to do anything about her daughter’s sufferings; for a mother with such deep love for her daughter, how could she endure such torment!
The collapse of the snow-covered sword peak and the driving out of all Xuan Beasts from Tian Fa!
For 10 years, she passed her time in this desolate place… How could the old woman’s heart bear such misery? These kind of harsh conditions: how long would it take for them to be fulfilled? If the oaths could not be fulfilled, wouldn’t the proud Dongfang Family all grow old and die in these desolate lands? For the sake of a single daughter, the entire family clan was being pulled down. Even if she didn’t have any regrets in her actions, it would still be difficult to face the rest of the family. What kind of pressure was this! The stress and worry constantly weighed on the heart of the old madam.
Two tasks… If she had not agreed to these conditions back then, the Dongfang Family would have been wiped out, with no chance of ever rising up again! Left with no other choice, she’d agreed to the tasks. But in exchange, they’d only obtained the chance to drag out their feeble existence…
Jun Mo Xie suddenly felt like could understand this grandmother of his very well… This seemingly frail old woman was shouldering a huge pressure, one that was too, too heavy…
