Ning and Ely got on a big flying boat commercially used by cultivators to travel between cities.
Ely had her own boat, but she wanted to spend some time with Ning, instead of flying the thing, so they chose a public one that carried civilians as well.
"This place is not bad," Ning said as he looked at the secluded seats they were given. There was no ceiling or walls on the boat's deck, so Ning could see the scenery far away and around them.
"A lot fewer mountains than I would've expected. Most cultivation worlds usually have a lot of mountain ranges," he said.
"Are you really not going to tell me where we are going?" Ely asked.
"I can," Ning said. "It's a city on another continent. I don't think you will know of it. It's called Baelon city."
"Which continent?" she asked.
"The Blackspire continent," Ning said. "Have you been there before? No right? You should have been stuck here for most of your life here."
"No, I've rarely left the city even. The only time I got to leave was in some sort of competition or showing where I would have to make artifacts to earn some prize," she said.
"Oh, did you win?" Ning asked.
"What do you think?" Ely asked with a proud face. "Against my system, none of the other participants had a chance."
"Woah, good job," Ning said. "I'm proud of you."
"Hmph, you're just patronizing me now," Ely said jokingly.
Ning chuckled as well. "Ah right, I… I heard about your brother. I'm sorry," he said.
"It's alright. I've come to terms with his death already," Ely said. "It was a sad death, but he was surrounded by his family when he died, so I'm sure his final seconds were filled with happy thoughts."
Ning nodded. "Do you want to go visit your niece and nephews?" he asked. "I can take you there."
"Not right now," Ely said. "I've been away from their life for so long that they don't feel like families to me anymore. Just relatives."
She leaned her head against his shoulders. "For now, you are the only family I have."
Ning sighed when he heard the small bit of sadness in her voice. He was about to say something when he remembered.
"Wait, don't you have a family back on Earth?" he asked.
"Earth?" Ely asked. She tried to remember back to Earth, but the memories just weren't there. It had been many years since she had been away from earth, so she couldn't remember it at all.
"Let me help you remember," Ning said as he touched her head. He quickly asked the system to return her memories of her life on Earth.
Memories of lost days flashed before Ely's eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks without her even realizing it.
She saw her mother, the hardworking old woman who would always stay by her side on her sick days.
She remembered her elder brother who started working from a very young age to provide for their family because her medicines cost a lot of money.
Most of her own memories were a blur in her mind. The number of days she had spent inside the room, couped up due to her sickness far outscored the number of days she did see the outside world.
Most of her days were spent watching TV in her room, and that was most of the memories she had.
"I'm sorry, I should have asked you before giving you the memories," Ning said when he saw her tear up.
Ely's tears were falling from her eyes, dripping sideways along her cheeks before falling onto Ning''s shoulders.
He quickly wiped her tears off.
"Thank you," Ely said softly. "I didn't remember I had such a fond memory of my mother and my brother."
"Did you not have a father?" Ning asked.
"No, he died shortly after I was born," Ely said. "He had the same immunodeficiency disease as I did, only mine was worse. He lived to be far older than I ever could."
"I'm happy he did. I wouldn't have had the chance to meet such lucky women like you if not for him," Ning said.
Ely chuckled a little. "It's funny, isn't it? I lost my father early on in my previous life, and then I lost my mother early on in this life. It's like the world wants me to only have a single parent in either of my lives."
"And now, even those parents are dead," Ely said. "I guess you really are the only family I've got."
"Hmm… I'm not so sure about that," Ning said as he quickly asked the system for some information.
Once he got the information back, he asked. "So… I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"
"Good and bad news? What's it about?" she asked.
"Just choose one for now," Ning said.
"Sure, bad news I guess. I don't want the good news to be undervalued by the bad news," she said.
"Okay, so… I'm sorry, but it seems your mother died as well," Ning said with a somber voice.
"Are you joking with me right now?" Ely got a little angry. "What's the point of telling me something like that when I'm already sad about it."
"Well… she was alive until a few years ago," Ning said.
"Huh? What do you mean she was alive? How could she live for such a long time?" she asked.
"It's not a long time, at least not for earth. It has only been 6 years since you died on earth," Ning said.
"What? How is that possible?" Ely looked stupefied. "That can't be true."
"It is," Ning said.
"But… how?" she asked.
"It's a little tricky to explain," Ning said.
"Okay, then tell me what the good news is?" she asked.
"Right, here's the good news," Ning said. "Your brother is still alive, and he is doing quite well for himself."
