Phoenix's Requiem

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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Yun Ruoyan’s words angered Pei Yingxiong so much that he was momentarily at a loss for words, and all he could do was shake a trembling fist as he muttered, “Just you wait, Yun Ruoyan, just you wait!”

Peony and Xi Lan quickly formed a wall in front of Yun Ruoyan, but she stepped forward and shielded them instead. 

“Sister, aren’t you being too heartless?” A female voice came from outside her residence.

The person who spoke was none other than Yi Qianying, who walked in supporting Madam An.

“Although you were indeed the one who saved Young Master Pei, sister, he only jumped into the lake because of you. How could you say something so heartless?”

Yi Qianying really wasn’t planning to stop causing trouble for her, was she?

In the afternoon, Yi Qianying hadn’t been able to threaten her by bringing up her father, so when Pei Yingxiong had really arrived at her cottage, she quickly brought Madam An over to stir up even more trouble.

As for Madam An, she had always viewed Yun Ruoyan as an eyesore.

Madam An had been superficially polite while Yun Ruoyan was still talented, but as soon as she became useless, Madam An had schemed to replace her with her own daughter, Yun Ruoyao.

It seemed as if no one came to her cottage without the express desire of causing trouble.

Nevertheless, hiding her annoyance, Yun Ruoyan bowed politely to Madam An. 

“Mother, it’s so late at night. Why have you come to my residence?”

Madam An ignored Yun Ruoyan’s bow. “Ruoyan, your sister has already told me what happened this morning. How could you tell your sisters to hide such a big matter from me, and to just send Young Master Pei home like that?!”

Madam An’s tone became even more caustic. “If others were to find out about this, then the whole Yun family will be implicated for ingratitude, not just you!”

“Mother,” Yun Ruoyan straightened up and responded unflinchingly, “I refuse to let my actions be called ungrateful. I won’t sully my name, and especially not my family’s name!”

Madam An nodded satisfactorily. “That’s right! Then, go get the core foundation pill from your grandfather’s place now.”

“Get the pill?” Yun Ruoyan made an embarrassed expression. “The core foundation pill has been passed down my mother’s family for generations, and there’s only one left. It isn’t something we can afford to spend so frivolously.”

Madam An frowned. “Ruoyan, didn’t you say-”

“Mother, you must have misunderstood me,” Yun Ruoyan interrupted her. “What I meant was, I don’t owe anything to the Peis. There isn’t anything I should be grateful about, and this has nothing to do with the pill.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a loud ‘Peng!’ from beside her. Pei Yingxiong had slammed a palm on her table with such force that a table leg had splintered and broken, causing her tea set to fall to the ground and shatter to pieces.

“You’re really good at distorting the truth, aren’t you?!”

Pei Yingxiong turned his tiger-like gaze to Yun Ruoyan. “So this is the gratitude of the Yuns? It seems like I have to meet with Master Yun myself to get justice for my son!”

“My daughter’s naturally stubborn, Elder Pei, so please ignore her disrespect,” Madam An quickly attempted to placate him. “My husband’s out handling official matters today, and I’ll be sure to discipline my daughter on his behalf. Elder Pei, don’t you worry, I’ll give you a satisfactory response.”

After hearing Madam An’s words, Elder Pei forced down his anger, but his fists were still clenched tightly.

Madam An turned around and looked at Yun Ruoyan sternly. “You’re generally quite obedient, but I never expected you to be so stubborn.”

Saying this, she sighed. “My sister [1] departed from this world early, and your father and I didn’t have the heart to discipline you too harshly. Who knew that you would become so spoiled? It seems like I’ll have to be harsher with you in the future. Yun Ruoyan, in the name of your mother, I command you to retrieve this pill from the Lins.”

“Mother, you’re forcing an impossible decision on me. You know how important the core foundation pill is to the Lins. As a member of the Yun family, I can hardly make a decision on behalf of the Lins. Even if Father were to command me himself, this would still be my response.”

Yun Ruoyan had made up her mind not to head to the Lins no matter what happened.

“You dare?!” Pei Yingxiong’s voice was low and deep, the anger in his heart a flaming sea. “In that case, if you’re unwilling to save Ziao, then you can join him in death!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his fist, which had just destroyed her table, punched towards her. His punch was fast and vicious, and it reached Yun Ruoyan’s face in the blink of an eye.

No one had expected that Yun Ruoyan would have been able to dodge in time. After all, Pei Yingxiong was a famed forgemaster, and his cultivation would surely have allowed him to kill Yun Ruoyan with a single punch.

But just as the punch was about to land on Yun Ruoyan’s body, she somehow managed to evade the blow.

The punch landed on the chair behind Yun Ruoyan, splintering it to pieces.

Pei Yingxiong almost couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that the well-known dunce of the Yun family had actually evaded his blow. He raised his fist at Yun Ruoyan, who had dodged to the side, once more. He’d only used 30% of his power that last time; now, he used 70%!

Yun Ruoyan grit her teeth. Old man, you forced me into this! She was about to release the Feilai Blade when she heard her grandmother’s voice from afar.

“Who dares behave so atrociously in my household? Are you taking advantage of the fact that my son isn’t here at the moment?”

The Yun matriarch had arrived at Yun Ruoyan’s door.

Pei Yingxiong stilled. Yun Ruoyan hurriedly ran to the door, calling out for her grandmother.

“Ruoyan, don’t worry, come to me.” Her grandmother pulled Yun Ruoyan behind her as she glanced at Madam An, standing to the side.

“What sort of mother are you, allowing an outsider to take advantage of a child?” Her tone was biting, and her eyes glinted with vigor unbefitting a woman her age.

Madam An quickly lowered her head. “I apologize for my carelessness, Mother, for being unable to shield Ruoyan in time. However, Ruoyan was indeed in the wrong.”

“Oh?” The Yun matriarch turned towards Pei Yingxiong.

“I was too impetuous, and I apologize.” Pei Yingxiong bowed. “I’m simply trying to help save my son!”

Under Madam An’s prompting, Yi Qianying finally recounted the entire story. Because Yun Ruoyan was present, she couldn’t embellish the truth, but she did make Pei Ziao to be more courageous and self-sacrificing than he really was.

“Ruoyan, come with me.” Her grandmother motioned her to her private quarters. Once they were inside, she turned towards Yun Ruoyan and said, “You have to save Pei Ziao.”

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1. Referring to Yun Ruoyan’s birth mother. The two are not biologically related.

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