Chapter 59 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

Leaving the Mountain

Dawn had not yet broken when two supervisory disciples knocked on the door of the small cell where Diệp Sương spent her last night on Vân Tiêu Peak, announcing that the expulsion order would be executed that morning without delay, as if the sect wanted to end the matter before public opinion could stir further.

"You have half a moment to pack your things," one said, his voice cold but not completely emotionless, as if he himself felt guilty about the task assigned to him.

Diệp Sương nodded, stood up, and looked around the small room one last time. She did not have much to pack—a set of civilian clothes given to replace the confiscated disciple's clothes, an old inkstone given by Mr. Tám Mực, and the package of documents still hidden, fortunately never discovered during the search because it had been sent back to Tạ Vân Khê for safekeeping right before the first trial.

*

On the way to be escorted out of house arrest, she saw Âu Bội Nhi standing in the hallway despite orders not to make contact, her eyes red from crying all night.

"You are not allowed here," a supervisory disciple said, but Âu Bội Nhi did not move, just stood there, looking straight at Diệp Sương.

"I don't care about any rules," she said, her voice choked but determined. "I'll wait here until you pass by, if only to see you one last time."

When Diệp Sương passed by, Âu Bội Nhi rushed forward to hug her despite the resistance, tears falling down her shoulders and shirt. "I will find out the truth," she whispered in her ear. "No matter how long it takes, I promise."

"Thank you," Diệp Sương replied, her voice choked up, "for always believing in me, right from the first day."

*

Chung Nhã Trúc was also present, standing a short distance away, not daring to get too close because her position as an inner sect disciple forced her to be more careful, but her eyes, when touching Diệp Sương, carried everything that words could not describe.

"Sister," Diệp Sương called softly as she was led past.

"Go safely," Chung Nhã Trúc replied, her voice trembling, trying to maintain her composure in front of the monitoring disciples. "I will always remember you, no matter what the council says."

*

At the three-entrance gate, where Diệp Sương once walked through for the first time with the shaky legs of a thirteen-year-old child, she now walked through again, in the opposite direction, with a heavier mood than anything she had ever imagined.

Tạ Vân Khê stood waiting right outside the gate, regardless of any prying eyes that could put her position on the council at risk. She came closer and put a small cloth bag in Diệp Sương's hand.

"There's a little silver in here, enough for you to live on for a while," she said, her voice quiet but full of determination. "And a letter of introduction, not in the name of the sect, but enough for a few outside acquaintances to recognize who you are, if you need help."

"Thank you, Elder," Diệp Sương said, her voice choked. "I don't know how to respond."

"You don't need to repay anything," Tạ Vân Khê replied, holding her hand tightly. "Just keep yourself safe, and never lose faith in the path you have chosen. I believe, one day, the truth will be revealed, and when that day comes, I will personally come to take you back."

She paused for a moment, her eyes looking at Diệp Sương with affection mixed with undisguised pride. "I still remember the first night I met you in Tùng Lĩnh Village," she said softly. "You were a thirteen-year-old child lying exhausted on the bed, yet your eyes burned with a will I had never seen in another child. I still see that look in you now, even as you face the greatest injustice of your life. Don't let it go out, Diệp Sương." Diệp Sương nodded, tears finally could no longer be held back, rolling down her cheeks in the rare moment she allowed herself to be weak in front of someone she trusted absolutely.

*

Thanh Việt stood waiting at the first turn on the road down the mountain, out of sight of the three-entrance gate. His appearance seemed to have been standing there for a long time, waiting for this moment.

"You're not allowed to see me off," Diệp Sương said when she saw him, both happy and worried. "If you're discovered, you'll be in trouble."

"I don't care," Thanh Việt replied, stepping forward and holding his hand tightly. "I told you, I will stand by your side, no matter the consequences."

The two surveillance disciples escorting behind stood at a respectful distance, perhaps they themselves could not bear to interrupt the clearly painful moment of separation taking place before their eyes.

*

"Where will you go?" Thanh Việt asked, his voice shaking as he tried to suppress his emotions.

"I don't know for sure," Diệp Sương admitted. "Maybe first I will go to Tùng Lĩnh Village, meet Mrs. Chín Lài and Mr. Tám Mực. After that, I will find a way to continue investigating, even though I am no longer a sect disciple."

"I will find a way to contact you," Thanh Việt said, his voice determined. "Either way, I will find you. And I will continue to investigate from the inside, along with Elder Tạ Vân Khê. We will not let this end here."

Diệp Sương looked at him, a complex mixture of the pain of separation and fragile hope rising in her heart. “I promise you one thing,” she said. "Don't put yourself in danger just because of me. Your family, your future, is still there, I don't want you to risk everything."

*

"I have already traded," Thanh Việt replied, his voice was soft but firm. "As soon as I stood up to speak before the council, my father knew about it, and perhaps, my relationship with him will never be the same again. But I don't regret it. I only regret that I couldn't have done more to prevent this outcome."

He raised her hand and placed a light kiss on the back of her hand, a solemn gesture that was completely different from all previous expressions of affection between the two of them. "This is not goodbye," he said. "It's just a temporary distance, until the day I can find you again, with my honor restored." Diệp Sương nodded, unable to say another word, and simply hugged him one last time before the two supervisory disciples approached to remind her that it was time to continue the journey.

*

He walked without looking back, afraid that if he looked back again, he would no longer have the courage to continue taking heavy steps away from the mountain peak that had been his second home for nearly four years.

The road down the mountain stretched before my eyes, familiar but now carrying an indescribable feeling of strangeness, as if the mountain itself was saying goodbye to it in its own way - the wind blowing through the pine forest created whispering sounds like a last whisper, the morning sunlight filtering through the foliage creating flickering streaks of light on the trail it had passed countless times.

Diệp Sương tightened the small luggage bag in her hand, which contained all that was left of a life that had just been taken away, and continued, step by step, towards the distant horizon where an uncertain future awaited, carrying in her heart not despair, but a smoldering, never-extinguished fire of determination.

Halfway down the mountain, where the trail split into two branches - one leading to Lam Thủy Town, the other leading in the other direction around the low hills towards remote Tùng Lĩnh Village - the two surveillance disciples stopped, announcing that their escort mission officially ended here, within the boundaries of the sect's territory.

"From here, you go on your own," one person said, his voice less cold than before. "We have no right to interfere any further." Diệp Sương nodded, stood still for a moment at the crossroads, looking in two different directions - a direction reminiscent of Lam Thủy Town where Âu Bội Nhi grew up, where clues about the Special Coordination Line were still unfinished, a guide to the old home where Mrs. Chín Lài and Mr. Tám Mực were still waiting, unaware of what had just happened to the adopted child they had sent off with so much hope.

Finally, after a long period of standing still and thinking, he chose to head towards Tùng Lĩnh Village first, telling himself that he needed a place to lean on, to regain strength and alertness, before he could continue the unfinished battle ahead. It tightened the strap of its luggage bag, taking the first steps on a new path, a path no longer sponsored by any sect's name, leaving only itself, with everything it had learned, believed, and gone through all those years.