"I couldn't even pass the first test to the point I ended up this way. When you all need me, I can't even move or think without seeing it...
I know it was all an illusion, but I can't unsee my four years there. You dying but not seeing the body, the lives I took after, and..... Grandfather's look when he saw me do what I did before he died. It was one of remorse, regret, shame, betrayal. Seeing him look at me that way was just as hard as seeing you die.
Yu Mei told me the waterfall reveals what's in our hearts. From how you acted, it seemed like you saw Mom and Dad. This might be the first time I'm thankful I didn't get to see them; despite wishing for it for so long, I felt my heart break.
If they saw what I did, the lives I took, both innocent and guilty, they would be ashamed of me, just as Grandpa was. I'm glad you didn't see it too. To see your sister doing worse than what the black viper has ever done to us.
I'm afraid Yi. I'm worried that this is the dream and that those four years are real. I'm so scared when we meet Grandpa, he will look at me with those eyes, I'm afraid you will look at me that way too, and Mom and Dad, I wonder if they saw it too, their daughter turning into a bloodthirsty villain, and what about senior brother Yang Qing?
I can't help but hope we don't make it through the test because if we don't, maybe what I saw will never happen. I won't lose you like we did Mom and Dad, and Grandpa will never get to look at me with those eyes, and I won't have the lives of all those people on my hands.
Life in Purple City wasn't so bad, right, Yi?..."
A light chuckle echoed around in the groove, replacing the muffled soft cries from earlier.
"We can work for Grandpa and Grandma Wang at their restaurant, and with their identities, we won't have to worry about being bullied, and maybe with enough savings, we can open up the intelligence broker agency you always wanted. That wouldn't be bad.." Zou Liqin softly said as her voice trailed towards the end with some tiredness to it.
"I'm sorry, Yi. You won't be ashamed of me, right? At least you'll be alive," added Zou Liqin in a sleepy and tired tone.
Sounds of even breathing soon filled the area with the gently swaying of the branches of the trees and grass.
....
Glowing respite valley, days before the entrance examination
"Can you believe it, Liqin!! We are at the Order, and very soon, we may very well join it," Zou Yi excitedly said as he held his sister's shoulders.
"Mmh," muttered Zou Liqin, equally as excited.
"I can't believe we are here, joining something bigger than the Zou clan. Brother Yang Qing said Grandpa was already let out and had sent a message informing him of our whereabouts, and Grandpa and Grandma Wang were also coming.
It all seems too good to be true. If only Mom and Dad were here, then it'd be perfect," said Zou Yi with a melancholic sigh escaping from his lips.
"I wish they were here," muttered Zou Liqin with sadness.
"Don't worry, we can go back to the clan when we make something of ourselves, clean their tombs, and tell them not to worry, that we are okay now.
Do you know Liqin..." Zou Yi paused as his gaze turned distant with a small smile.
"This is the first time in a long time since we lost them that I am actually looking forward to the next day and the day after that.
The future doesn't seem bleak anymore; we have something to look forward to. I'm almost afraid to close my eyes, only to open them and find this is all a dream.
Liqin, let's live. This is our turning point. From this moment forth, let's live for each other, for ourselves, for them, and for whatever the future has in store for us," Zou Yi said with a gingerly smile as he stretched his hand forward.
"Let's," Zou Liqin said as they tightly clasped their hands as some form of pact.
...
"It seems I slept," muttered Zou Liqin as she dryly laughed.
"Thank you, brother, even in that state, you still find a way to help me...." Zou Liqin had a forlorn look as she said this.
"I'm still afraid, but we did promise to live, and I can't have you worry, or Mom or Dad, or Grandpa, and Grandpa and Grandma Wang.
You can do this, Liqin!! You're the daughter of the youngest blue-grade formation master the Zou clan has ever seen, and the daughter and sister of the biggest troublemakers the Zou clan has also ever seen," said Zou Liqin as she laughed in a genuine cheeriness, though was still touched by sadness and a little bit of anxiety.
"Now, which direction should I choose?" muttered Zou Liqin. She went to one tree and broke a small branch from it.
Just as she was about to toss it in the air, she stopped and walked closer to Yu Mei before she tossed it as she said,
"I hope you can lend me luck on this, sister Yu Mei."
The branch rolled around in the air, and when it fell, it pointed in the northeast direction of her.
"Is this a coincidence," she wondered. The northeast direction was the same direction Yu Mei had chosen when they were about to venture into the mountain.
Already resolving herself, she took out her coat and Yu Mei's and tied them together. She gently picked up Yu Mei, who was closest to her, and placed her on the coat; then she went for her brother and He Shan.
The trio fit perfectly on the tied-up coats. She checked the coat and them over and over to ensure they were tightly fastened to the coat, after which she breathed out to calm her nerves and started making her way in the northeast direction, dragging the coat with the trio with her left hand while her right hand tightly held onto the mallet.
She braved on step by step, carefully surveying all directions making sure they weren't ambushed, and looking for any clues that could be found.
....
"Huh, why I'm I here again," said Zou Liqin in confusion.
She had barely been walking for ten minutes when she found herself in the same circular patch of grassland she came from. Nothing seemed off, and her appearance in the grassland seemed so natural that she almost thought it was a different grassland, but when she saw the area she had dug, she realized it was the same place.
"Of course, it wouldn't be that easy," she smiled as she smiled bitterly.
Just as she was about to choose a random direction and see if she would reappear in the same place again, she heard something that prompted her to raise her head.
"Are those swallows?" she muttered, somewhat unsure.
