Shen Yuan looked at her for a moment and spoke again, “Looks like the Han Clan isn’t treating you all that well. Seems like the rumors were true regarding your clan.” he said with a sigh as even the high and mighty cultivators can’t escape the fate of being mixed in conflicts.
Whether they be conflicts from outside the family or inside.
Han Qingyu nodded with a sad expression as well, but couldn’t form words to reply to him.
Shen Yuan changed the topic, seeing her like this. “What’s this Ancestral Seal about? And why was he demanding it from you?”
Han Qingyu considered for some time whether it was something an outsider should know.
But then she remembered who she was dealing with as she cleared her throat and spoke, “The Ancestral Seal is an heirloom of our Sect, it’s not only a powerful weapon but it’s also the treasure of the Clans Head. A symbol of leadership and authority.”
She paused here slightly, “Without it, you can’t be recognized as a rightful heir of the family. And no I don’t have it as it was handled down to my brother from our father directly before he went into that fight. And due to moral obligation, other Elders didn’t take it from him.”
Shen Yuan nodded as he got the gist of the Han Clan’s situation. But he continued listening to her patiently.
“But in a recent mission, my brother died.” Her voice shook slightly as she spoke till now but she didn’t shed any tears but lowered her head slightly and continued, “I was trying to collect money for his proper funeral because the clan elders said the clan was short on funds and couldn’t host a funeral for my brother.”
Her trembling intensified as she mentioned this. She was on the verge of tears when she felt a large hand gently caressing her head.
She lifted her head and looked through her misty eyes. Shen Yuan was standing in front of her, caressing her head gently as he said, “You don’t have to carry this burden alone. Since I’m here now, I will help you.”
Han Qingyu felt her nose sting as a lump formed in her throat, “Why…” that’s all she could ask as she looked at Shen Yuan.
“Because I am your brother’s friend. You might not know why I came here since you seem to come here in a hurry.” He spoke gently while patting her head.
He thought about what to tell her for a second, reminscing about his time in the forest as he said with a heavy tone,
“I met with your brother during the training session, and we fought together as well. We made an oath to be sworn brothers while dancing on the line of death. But unfortunately, he couldn’t survive the onslaught of the bandits and died to protect me from an arrow.”
He released a sad sigh as he spoke the last line. Han Qingyu’s eyes began blurring as tears welled up in them.
She finally got confirmation about her brother’s situation but it wasn’t what she wanted.
Nonetheless, Han Qingyu appreciated Shen Yuan for telling her the truth instead of making excuses.
Shen Yuan could only sigh looking at her as he pulled her up for a hug. “It’s okay to cry. Sometimes you shouldn’t hold back in your feelings.”
‘Yue Lan, set up a barrier around this room so our voices won’t go outside.’ he said to Yue Lan who did that quite easily.
Meanwhile, Han Qingyu was shocked to be hugging a stranger for the first time in her life, but it didn’t last for long as she remembered about her brother’s untimely death.
She buried her face in Shen Yuan’s chest, crumbling the wall of composure she tried so hard to maintain for so long.
Her body trembled slightly in his embrace as he patted her back. Soon, she began sobbing softly, wetting Shen Yuan’s robes.
Her hands clenched tightly in Shen Yuan’s robe, Shen Yuan said nothing and continued to pat her back, letting all of her sadness flow through her tears.
After what felt like an eternity, Han Qingyu’s sobs began to stop. Her grip on Shen Yuan’s robes lost as she soon left his embrace.
She pulled away from him just enough to look up to him with her tear stricken face, her silver eyes puffy and red from crying.
“Thank you…” she whispered softly, her voice weak but filled with sincerity, “I- I-”
Shen Yuan smiled lightly and wiped her face with one hand to clear the tear marks.
Han Qingyu looked quietly at him, making him smile lightly as he asked her in a soft voice, “Let’s sit down now.”
He sat as they both sat down near each other. Shen Yuan looked at her and asked “Should we talk about something now?”
Han Qingyu nodded her head and asked, “what do you want to talk about?”
“Before that,” he said as he brought out a ring from his inventory, “This is what your brother left for you.”
Han Qingyu’s hand trembled as she took the ring. She looked at it nostalgically, almost as if remembering her brother.
But she soon sighed and used her blood to take the ownership of the ring. She looked inside for a bit and brought out an ancient looking seal.
“This is what the Elder Han Yun was looking for, Han Clan’s Ancestral Seal. It’s actually not only a symbol of authority but also most of the formations are operated by it.” She said softly looking at the Ancestral Seal which was producing a soft glow after returning on the clan’s ground.
Shen Yuan nodded his head as he didn’t know about this before.
They continued chatting for quite some time, Han Qingyu sharing her knowledge about various things while Shen Yuan asked questions about what he didn’t know.
Yue Lan remained silent throughout the interaction as she didn’t want to interfere with his development.
Shen Yuan finally looked outside and said with a smirk, “Finally couldn’t hold back, I see.”
Han Qingyu looked at the empty gate and got confused, she turned back at Shen Yuan and asked, “What do you mean? Big Brother Yuan?”
She already started calling him Big Brother as Shen Yuan asked for it from her himself.
Shen Yuan lightly smiled and said, “They are encircling this building right now to close off our escape routes.”
Han Qingyu’s eyes widened as she heard this, “But why?? Why would they do this when you came to return the Ancestral Seal to us?”
Shen Yuan smiled lightly and said, “That’s because they are not sure if I want to return the seal or to take control of the Han Clan.”
Before she could ask him any more questions, a thunderous voice came from outside, “Han Qingyu! Give up the Ancestral Seal if you want to live in peace.”
It was none other than Elder Han Yun who came to threaten her. But this time he wasn’t alone as 6-7 other elder were with him.
All of them were in the Origin Core Creation Realm, ranging from 1st to 9th level.
The oldest looking elder among them was at that level. But they were a lot stronger than random bandits as they had systematic training since young and their cultivation manuals were better as well.
