Cangjian Villa is a sizable sect, boasting over a thousand disciples in the local region. The master of Cangjian Villa has two biological sons, the two men currently standing before him. Beyond the master, there are also a second and third villa master, making for a total of three masters, each overseeing different business affairs.
The younger sister Shen Ye mentioned is named Shen Ningshuang. Recalling her, Shen Han remembers a lively and clever little girl. Under normal circumstances, if his younger sister were getting married, he, as her brother, should be happy. But Shen Han was puzzled. "Ningshuang is eight this year?"
Shen Ye fell silent, offering a slight correction. "She’s nine now..."
"So," Shen Han pressed, "nine-year-old Ningshuang is getting married?"
Shen Ye’s expression was full of awkwardness; his face was flushed crimson, and his eyes held a weary, intense sense of resentment. Yet, in the end, all that resentment dissolved into a single sentence. "They are a well-matched family, so the marriage contract has been set. She hopes you can give her your blessing."
Shen Han understood. There was no need for further questioning. Looking at his brother's expression, he knew the situation was far from as light as he made it sound. Shen Han didn't dwell on it. He picked up a brush, wrote a letter, sealed it in an envelope, and handed it to his eldest brother.
Shen Ye did not linger. The journey of over a thousand miles had been a rushed trip, and his departure was equally hurried. Before he left, Shen Han tucked two steamed buns into his hands. Shen Ye’s eyes reddened; he nodded silently and left.
...
An incense stick later, Shen Han returned to the lakeside. The falling snow made the cliff-side pool look exceptionally cold and desolate. Shen Han pondered—he should go back and take a look; he really had to go back.
His little sister had been clever since she was small, with great talent for martial arts. Even though she was remarkably bright compared to her peers, she had never looked down on her brother, despite his mediocre aptitude for martial arts. His predecessor had watched the little girl slowly grow up.
"I will go back, but I shouldn't use my current identity." If the villa had some hidden troubles, he could solve them from the shadows. He could not truly watch an eight-year-old child be married off; that would be an absolute farce.
As for the Isolated Island, it was heavily guarded, and the only ships capable of leaving were under the control of the Martial Arts Alliance. In reality, for the current Shen Han, never mind mere guards—wiping out the entire Martial Arts Alliance would be little more than idle conversation. But was there any point in destroying the Alliance? No. Was the Alliance the only source of trouble in this world? Not exactly.
Lost in thought, Shen Han employed his cultivation technique—the "Great Shift" art he had learned there. His form turned into a bubble of shadow, and amidst the overcast sky and light snow, he vanished in an instant.
With one more step, he had moved thirty miles away from the Martial Arts Alliance, looking out at the massive cities hidden deep in the mountains. It had been over a year since he last left. Did he have any significant thoughts about the mundane world? For the time being, not really. As for the thousand-mile journey between the Martial Arts Alliance and Cangjian Villa, for him, it would take no more time than a cup of tea.
...
In a courtyard at Cangjian Villa, soft lamplight flickered. Inside the room, Shen Ningshuang was sobbing. She clung to her mother, crying, "I don't want to marry that man. I don't like him. I don't like him."
The woman felt a pang of agony in her heart. How could she not understand what her daughter was trying to say? But this was not a simple marriage. Cangjian Villa was finally in decline. Many powers in the world were targeting the villa in secret, and business was clearly not as easy as it had been two years ago.
In particular, Pure Yang had ordered a massive quantity of weapons from the villa. Yet, halfway through transit, the shipment was hijacked by unknown assailants. This was shocking. The escort agency Cangjian Villa had hired was the Longmen Escort Agency. Between them and the villa’s own disciples, they had never once lost a shipment since the villa's inception.
But this time, it happened. Not only were the weapons gone, but every single person sent—from both the villa and the agency—had disappeared without a trace. In these times, "disappeared" meant a death sentence if they hadn't been found within a month. The villa had been in a sharp decline ever since.
Pure Yang was a prestigious, righteous sect; ordering weapons from Cangjian Villa was meant to be a gesture of friendship. Instead, Pure Yang had suffered heavy losses, and so had Cangjian Villa. Even if Pure Yang claimed they wouldn't pursue the matter of the weapons, Cangjian Villa could never take advantage of others. The weapons owed had to be delivered, and forging them required an astronomical amount of silver.
It was a staggering sum, and the villa could no longer sustain itself alone. Thus, Cangjian Villa and Yunwu Villa had reached a private understanding. Yunwu Villa, like Cangjian, was a sect that relied on weapon forging. They proposed a marriage alliance between the two. To bring the sects closer, Cangjian Villa had offered up Shen Ningshuang, the person of the highest status among them.
It was a desperate show of sincerity, and a deeply shameful act. After all, the grand Cangjian Villa had over a thousand disciples! A year ago, they made Shen Han take the fall; a year later, they forced Shen Ningshuang to step up. Was there truly no one left in Cangjian Villa? The world had clearly lost faith in them. At such a critical juncture, other considerations no longer mattered.
"Ningshuang, Mother is sorry. Mother is truly sorry!" The woman could only hold her daughter and weep.
Shen Ningshuang’s tears fell like broken pearls. "I want to see Brother Han. I want to see Brother Han. If... if Brother Han thinks this is okay, then I won't say another word."
"I haven't seen him in over a year. He's at the Martial Arts Alliance, and you won't take me to see him. He must be suffering in confinement."
The more she spoke, the more her heart ached; the more she spoke, the more she buried her head and wept. She was only an eight-year-old child. In peaceful times, what would an eight-year-old understand? Being forced to understand this now was a truly painful thing.
All of this was witnessed by Shen Han. He stood quietly in the room, under the dim light, less than half a zhang away, watching the weeping Shen Ningshuang on the bed. Neither of them could detect him. His cultivation technique for concealing his presence was exceptionally powerful; he did not exist in the room like a ghost, but rather, he was there, yet invisible to them. Even if their gazes swept over him, they would simply brush him off as if he were air. They wouldn't give him a second thought. It was an extremely sophisticated technique of aura concealment.
"So that's how it is."
In front of them, Shen Han pulled open the door and closed it behind him, stepping out into the snow-covered courtyard. Having returned to Cangjian Villa for only a little over an hour, he had already gathered the full story from all sides.
In short, Cangjian Villa’s business had plummeted because of the lost weapons. If those weapons could be recovered, the villa could regain much of its vitality. As for his eldest brother, Shen Ye, his actions were a classic case of acting first and reporting later. Shen Ye had clearly known that Shen Ningshuang would use Shen Han as an excuse, which was why he had gone to find him beforehand. The words about the marriage were, in essence, just a desperate attempt to trick the little girl into accepting her fate.
"So, someone robbed the villa's weapons?"
"Hmm."
"I shall pay a visit to the Longmen Escort Agency. They should know the details."
Shen Han vanished into the snowy night, his eyes filled with chill. He rarely left the Isolated Island. But now that he had left, it meant that heads were going to roll.