Heart Protection (Back from the Brink)

CHAPTER 52

The grave of Yan Hui's mother was on a small hillside outside the village. It was almost noon by the time the pair walked up the hill.

It was a little hot, but that was precisely when the sky would be a stunning clear blue. Wild flowers bloomed everywhere. Yan Hui took a deep breath, walked up the hill, and saw the lone grave that had been unswept for so long. She silently stood there for a long time. Then she knelt down in front of it. However, it wasn't a proper posture like when other people payed respects to a grave.

Yan Hui had an innate undisciplined air. She wasn't overly respectful, yet nor was she disrespectful.

"Mother." She looked off to the side. There was another tombstone erected askew. It wasn't straight like the tombstone Yan Hui was kneeling in front of. She pursed her mouth and called out, "Drunkard old man." She tapped her head against the ground, "Your daughter has returned to visit you two."

Yan Hui carried a jar of wine bought from the village's brewer madam. She uncorked it and poured it out in front of the crooked tombstone. "I'm lazy, so I'm not going to pull out the grass growing here. In any case, it's going to grow back."

Tian Yao had been silently listening for a long time, but in the end he couldn't resist speaking over her: "Since you've come from so far, why aren't you willing to just clean up the graves?"

"When Mother passed away, we were so poor we couldn't even afford a flimsy coffin. She was buried right under the grassy layer." Yan Hui wiped at the words on the gravestone. "What if the grass was grown by my mother?"

Tian Yao silently listened.

Yan Hui's mother died early, so Yan Hui didn't have many memories of her. However Yan Hui still remembered how she felt sitting by her mother's side, watching her mom mend clothing and listening to her humming.

Yan Hui never felt such tender protection from anyone else after that.

After her mom passed away, her dad started to drink heavily. He was stuck in a drunken stupor all day long. Yan Hui as a result grew up like a wild child. Even though Ling Xiao eventually brought her to Chen Xing Mountain, no one could replace the warmth she felt from her mother.

Yan Hui sat in front of the grave for a long time. Then she dusted her butt off and stood up: "Let's go."

Tian Yao turned to look at her: "To where?"

Yan Hui rummaged around in her bag. There was a sound of jingling keys: "I've paid my respects to my parents. Of course we're going to get the reward I nearly sacrificed my life for."

Feng Ya Town was actually still a bit of a distance from Yan Hui's village, but with the Propelling Sword technique, it was only half a day's travel. For the first time, Yan Hui didn't make a fuss about using the Propelling Sword with her tag-along. As long as Tian Yao didn't keep asking her dumb questions, she could pretend to be stupid and silently take him along with her.

In any case, he wasn't hindering her in any way.

With the Propelling Sword technique, they reached Feng Ya Town at nightfall. The pair seemed used to rushing down their journey and staying at inns. Although neither of them had been to this town before, they easily found an inn after reading the signs and asked for two rooms.

Yan Hui originally planned on a calm and deep sleep tonight. But at midnight, she heard a rustling sound on the roof.

It sounded like one person was chasing another right overhead.

Then the two people started to talk right above her room.

According to convention, Yan Hui shouldn't be able to hear what they were saying. However, she used the heart technique Tian Yao taught her and was able to hear the whisperers on the roof right in her ear.