After she left the Heaven Secrets Sect, Zhou Yu went straight to a valley, and she listened to a young woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail playing the zither.
Despite her young looks, the woman was actually very old, and her cultivation was above Zhou Yu. Suddenly, she stopped her zither playing and asked her. "How long have we not seen each other?"
"Hmm? A few thousand years perhaps." Zhou Yu answered as she approached the woman, but she immediately sat on her lap and embraced her neck. "Did you miss me, Ao Yangyu?"
"Don't you already know the answer?" Ao Yangyu asked her back instead. "What made you suddenly decide to return to the upper realms? Are you bored of wandering in this universe?"
"Hehe." Zhou Yu chuckled at that. "You know that I am the spirit of void, and it is my duty to explore this universe. Anyway, I returned to the upper realms for a special reason, but I can't tell you anything for now, and you will find out about it in the future."
"Secretive as always, huh?" Ao Yangyu then hugged Zhao Yu's waist. "Does this mean you will be managing this organization again?"
"No." Zhao Yu shook her head. "Back then, I founded this Sunset Valley to accommodate you all, and I also need help dealing with problems in the upper realms. But you guys are stronger than me now, so I won't handle this organization anymore, and you guys can handle it yourselves."
"So why did you suddenly come to see me?"
"I wanted to ask you about the Huang and Nangong Clans' relationship." Zhao Yu then got off Ao Yangyu's lap. "Even though I haven't followed the news about the upper realms for a long time, I know the situation more or less, and I heard that Nangong Yuhai wants to marry his third daughter to Huang Ba."
"Hmm?" Ao Yangyu raised her eyebrows. "Where did you hear about that?"
"I heard it from Ye Zhong, especially since Nangong Nichang is one of his direct disciples."
"Ye Zhong, huh?" Ao Yangyu nodded in understanding. "Honestly, I haven't heard about it, but it might be related to Nangong Yuhai's disappearance several years ago."
"Oh?" Zhou Yu looked at her in surprise. "How did Nangong Yuhai disappear? And where did he disappear?"
"No one knows." Ao Yangyu then passed a scroll to Zhao Yu before speaking again. "Back then, he went looking for something in the Vast Sea Realm, but he suddenly disappeared without a word, and no one managed to find him."
"Vast Sea Realm, huh?" Zhou Yu muttered as she read the report on the scroll. "What happens next?"
"After several years, Nangong Yuhai suddenly returned to his clan, but they found nothing strange about him." Zhou Yu felt puzzled after hearing that, and Ao Yangyu told her again. "However, I heard that he often went back and forth between the Sky and Star Cloud Realms after that, so I sent some people to spy on him, and they told me that he often visited the Huang Clan."
"What is he doing in the Huang Clan?"
"Unclear." Ao Yangyu replied with a shake of her head. "The people who followed them didn't notice anything strange in their relationship, and Nangong Yuhai was just visiting the clan like an ordinary guest, but he seemed to be very close to Huang Xiaoxian."
"Huang Xiaoxian, huh?" Zhou Yu muttered as she nodded. "If Nangong Yuhai really has a relationship with that woman, I think his disappearance is related to those demon cultivators from the demon gate. They seem to have done a lot of things without you guys knowing, and they even managed to infiltrate the Tian Clan."
Ao Yangyu was shocked to hear that. "Are you sure about that? How did they infiltrate the clan?"
"I haven't gotten a definite answer about that yet." Zhou Yu sighed softly before continuing. "Honestly, I had returned to the upper realms three months ago, and I went to the Tian Clan, but I found Tian Yueling's condition really weird. I thought her illness was related to those demon cultivators, so I decided to infiltrate the Gu and Xin Clans, and I discovered that they were the masterminds behind her illness. However, I already cured her, and they are looking for their spy now."
"I see." Ao Yangyu then contacted several people and ordered them to look for detailed information about those matters. "Are you leaving now?"
"Yes." Zhao Yu nodded to her. "I still have important matters, so I have to leave now, but I will come to see you again."
Ao Yangyu felt disappointed hearing that. "All right, I hope you will come here often in the future; the others will be happy to meet you again."
"Anyway, contact me once you get new information about those people, but you should also warn the others not to move for now, and I will meet those kids later."
After she disappeared from her sight, Ao Yangyu herself also disappeared from the valley, for she wanted to investigate Zhou Yu's stories herself.
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Zhou Yu could only shake her head after she returned to Greencloud Forest, for Ling Yun was still relaxing with Xiao Xiao, but she did not disturb them and allowed them to vent their longing.
Zhou Yu then sat beside Nangong Nichang and asked her. "Do you remember anything about your father's disappearance several years ago?"
"Eh?" Nangong Nichang was taken back for a moment after hearing that, but she shook her head. "I was still very young at the time, and my father sent me to the sect shortly after he returned, so I didn't know anything about it."
"I see." Zhao Yu nodded in understanding and asked her again. "Don't you know that your father has prepared a fiancé for you?"
"What?" Nangong Nichang exclaimed and looked at Zhou Yu in shock. "How did you know that my father had prepared a fiancé for me? I didn't know anything about it, and my mother never told me either."
Zhao Yu thought for a moment and decided to tell Nangong Nichang the truth. "Previously, I went to see Little Zhong and chatted with him, and he told me that Nangong Yuhai wanted to marry you off to Huang Ba, but only he knew about the matter for now."
"Huang Ba? Who is he?" Nangong Nichang asked with a raised eyebrow, especially since he had never known her before.
"Huang Ba is the young master of the Huang Clan in Star Cloud Realm, and he is renowned as a lecherous man, so I was really surprised to hear that your father wanted to marry you to him." Nangong Nichang's expression turned ugly after she heard that, and she wanted to contact her parents to confirm it, but Zhou Yu stopped her directly. "For now, you should not ask your parents about this matter, for I suspect that your father is already under Huang Xiaoxian's control, so he decided that way for you."
"What do you mean by that? Why is Huang Xiaoxian controlling my father?" Nangong Nichang asked with a puzzled look.
Zhou Yu sighed softly before she told her about the Huang Clan, and she also told Nangong Nichang about their relationship with the demon cultivator from the demon gate, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"Senior-"
"I know you're worried about your parents, but you can't do anything for them right now." Nangong Nichang became gloomy after hearing that, and Zhou Yu spoke again. "Anyway, I've asked some of my old friends to look into this matter, and they will definitely do something to extricate your father from Huang Xiaoxian's control if that really happens."
"I see." Nangong Nichang let out a heavy sigh and fell into deep thought.
"All right, you don't need to think about them for now, and you should think more about yourself." Nangong Nichang looked up at Zhou Yu again. "Are you going to accept the arranged marriage?"
"No." Nangong Nichang shook her head vigorously. "I haven't thought about getting married, let alone marrying a stranger. Besides, you yourself said that the Huang Clan has relations with those demons; I certainly don't want to be part of that clan."
"That's good." Zhao Yu then expressed her idea. "What if you leave your sect?"
"Huh?" Nangong Nichang was surprised by that. "Senior, I have stayed in my sect for too long, and my master is very kind to me, so I cannot leave my sect and him."
"I know that." Zhou Yu nodded to her. "However, if you continue to stay in the sect, your father will definitely take you home once you reach 21 years old, and he will also definitely force you to marry Huang Ba. If that really happens, I dare to guarantee that you will have no other choice but to marry him."
Nangong Nichang fell silent after hearing that, and she knew that Zhou Yu's words were true, for she couldn't possibly go against his own father. However, she found it hard to leave her master, who had cared for and taught her so many things.
Zhou Yu shook his head, seeing her like that, and she then gave a token to Nangong Nichang. "You don't need to decide now and think things through first, and you can use this token to contact me."
"Thank you." Nangong Nichang answered quietly and kept the token, but her mind continued to be filled with questions about her parents and clan.
- To Be Continued -
