A Letter of Farewell

The dozens of tribesmen stared at the young man before them, yet felt a shiver of fear. They could sense that everything around them seemed to be trembling.

Kill the great demon Winged Serpent?

The young man before them wanted to kill the Winged Serpent?

“You weren’t lying to me.” Ji Ning swept his gaze across the group of tribal men. “Miwa is really dead?”

“How could we dare deceive you? Ask anyone in the entire Blacktooth Tribe, and they’ll tell you the same.” The tribal men were genuinely terrified. Both the young man’s aura and the Ji Clan token he carried filled them with dread.

“Let’s go.”

Ji Ning urged his Blackjaguar forward, heading directly toward the distant Blacktooth Tribe.

Qiuye and Mowu mounted their own Blackjaguars and followed.

Two arrow towers flanked the wooden gate of the Blacktooth Tribe’s palisade, guarded by over a dozen tribal warriors.

“Outsiders, halt!” a warrior immediately barked.

Ji Ning’s face was dark. He pulled out his token directly and shouted, “Have Blacktooth come see me!”

The warrior’s eyes widened at the sight of the token. He quickly called out, “Please wait! I’ll go inform the chieftain at once!” Leaping down from the arrow tower, he landed on the ground and sprinted into the tribe. Moments later, a scar-faced middle-aged man in black animal hide, surrounded by a cluster of warriors, came running out. It was Blacktooth, the chieftain of the Blacktooth Tribe.

The moment he saw the three people outside on their Blackjaguars—especially the face of the one in front—his body trembled. He roared, “Open the gates! Quickly! Welcome the young master of the Ji Clan!”

“A young master of the Ji Clan?” The tribesmen of a small settlement like the Blacktooth Tribe were shocked. They hurriedly began to open the heavy gates.

Blacktooth himself knelt directly, his knees hitting the ground. “Blacktooth pays respects to the young master.”

The other tribal warriors quickly knelt as well.

“Take me to your dwelling.” Ji Ning remained mounted on his Blackjaguar as he issued the order.

“Yes.” Blacktooth quickly led the way ahead.

Ji Ning stared at Blacktooth’s back, a trace of bitter hatred rising in his heart. He knew that Chuncao’s death couldn’t truly be blamed on Blacktooth; the man was surely heartbroken himself. And yet, Ji Ning couldn’t help but hate him. He had entrusted Chuncao to her father, only for her to die in the blink of an eye. If she had stayed with him…

Ji Ning’s left hand clenched involuntarily, his knuckles turning white.

“Young master, this is my home.” Blacktooth arrived at one of the larger stone houses in the tribe. Two women and a young child stood at the entrance, all looking nervous and ill at ease.

“Who is he?” Ji Ning stared at the young child. The child’s features were so similar to Chuncao’s… it struck a chord in his heart.

“He is my child,” Blacktooth answered respectfully, then snapped at the women and child, “Get back inside!”

The two women and the child quickly retreated.

“Let’s talk inside. Mowu, stand guard at the door. No one is to enter.” Ji Ning dismounted from his Blackjaguar and entered the house with Qiuye. Blacktooth followed, looking apprehensive.

Inside the house.

Ji Ning looked at Blacktooth. He sat down on a stone chair and said coldly, “Blacktooth, I entrusted Chuncao to you because I hoped she could reunite with her birth father and live a good life! But I didn’t see Chuncao when I entered your tribe.”

Blacktooth quickly replied, “Young master, Chuncao isn’t in the tribe right now!”

“Not in the tribe?” Ji Ning frowned, scrutinizing Blacktooth. The man was still lying, even now?

“Not long after she returned to the tribe, she met a young traveling merchant and fell in love with him. I knew the young man, and I trusted him.” Blacktooth spoke very fluently, as if reciting a well-rehearsed line. “When a daughter is grown, she must be married. So I gave my daughter to this traveling merchant in marriage. Before Chuncao left with him… she left a letter for you, young master.”

Ji Ning felt a surge of anger as he listened. You, Blacktooth, dare to deceive me? But at the last sentence, he softened his voice. “A letter?”

“I’ll get it right away.” Blacktooth ducked into the adjacent room.

“Young master?” Qiuye looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning said softly, “Easy.”

Ji Ning was no fool. He wasn’t some simpleton who only knew how to train. Based on the information he had gathered… there was no doubt that Chuncao was dead. First, the group of men he had questioned outside the tribe had all told the same story, insisting that anyone in the tribe would tell him the same.

Those men had no reason to lie to him.

Also… Chuncao had been separated from her father for so long, and she had left Ji Ning just to reunite with him. Why would she marry and leave again so soon after coming back?

“Young master, this is the letter Chuncao left for you.” Blacktooth handed over a piece of white animal hide.

Ji Ning took a deep breath. A letter? This was likely a final testament, something Chuncao had deliberately written when she was gravely ill. Ji Ning’s slightly trembling hand reached out and took the white animal hide. He unfolded it and read carefully.

The delicate pictographic characters appeared before his eyes. The handwriting was very familiar. The moment he saw it, his heart clenched. It was Chuncao’s handwriting!

“Young master, after I returned to the tribe, I was truly, truly happy. I saw Father again, and I even gained two younger brothers… It felt like being a child again, back with my parents, a whole family together…”

She wrote about various trivial matters.

The letter was filled with Chuncao’s pure joy. Ji Ning could feel that joy between the lines. She really had been happy to return.

“Two younger brothers?” Ji Ning’s mind stirred. He had only seen one son of Blacktooth earlier, and the tribesmen had said that when the Winged Serpent great demon had raged, more than half of the Blacktooth Tribe’s members had died, including one of the chieftain’s sons.

Ji Ning continued reading.

“I met him.”

“Every woman has a man destined for her. The moment I first saw him, I knew he was that man. Seeing him smile made me happy; seeing him frown made me worry; seeing him training his sword arts so hard made me want to watch from the side. Just watching him was a gift from the heavens. So I decided… I would marry him!”

Ji Ning could clearly see spots on this part of the letter, as if tears had fallen and left marks.

Ji Ning’s heart trembled.

Marry?

Was the man Chuncao spoke of… himself? The moment she saw him, she knew he was the man destined for her. Seeing him smile made her happy, seeing him frown made her worry, seeing him train his sword arts made her watch from the side…

If you wanted to marry me, why didn’t you tell me to my face!

Ji Ning closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face.

Chuncao was only a maidservant, but the men around him mostly took many women. Ji Ning had never loved anyone in his past life, and he had long grown accustomed to the customs of this world. Even if he truly married a few women, it wouldn’t be a problem. But they had to be women he cherished and cared for.

He would have nodded if Chuncao had wanted to become his woman.

“Young master!” Qiuye, seeing Ji Ning in tears, felt a pang of anxiety. She had grown up as a maidservant herself, so she naturally wouldn’t read the letter as Ji Ning did. But seeing him cry… Qiuye’s heart tightened.

Ji Ning opened his eyes.

He continued reading.

“Young master, if you are reading this letter, it means you came to the Blacktooth Tribe to see me.”

“I am truly, truly happy. Chuncao is only a maidservant. The fact that the young master would come all the way to the Blacktooth Tribe to see her means that… at least… she occupies a small place in the young master’s heart… Chuncao is so, so happy. Really. So happy.”

The letter ended there.

Ji Ning’s eyes were moist.

Happy?

Are you really so happy?

“Haha.” Ji Ning let out a loud laugh, a laugh filled with sorrow. The family who had always been by his side…

“Young master.” Qiuye was growing worried.

“Young master.” Blacktooth was also filled with fear.

Ji Ning turned his head to stare at Blacktooth, his eyes like sharp swords. He growled, “Blacktooth, even now, you still want to lie to me? Speak! Tell me! Tell me everything!!!”

Blacktooth’s face changed dramatically. His entire body began to tremble.

Thud!

Both of Blacktooth’s knees slammed onto the stone floor. His body shook with pain as he let out a long-suppressed, heart-wrenching wail. “Miwa!!!”