Chapter 72 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

Return Uninvited

For twelve long days, Diệp Sương, Miên Trà and Du Khinh crossed increasingly desolate lands as they approached Lam Thủy Town - cracked fields, unusually dry wells, occasionally encountering groups of displaced people walking together in opposite directions, their eyes empty from exhaustion and fear.

"This scene," Du Khinh said, his voice low as they passed by an abandoned village, doors wide open, belongings left scattered as if people had run away in a split second, "is much worse than what our clan imagined when hearing the news from Rễ Bàng Hamlet."

Diệp Sương did not answer, simply tightened her bag strap and walked faster. Each scene of desolation she passed strengthened her resolve, but also made the fear in her heart grow with every mile.

*

When they were about half a day away from Lam Thủy Town, they encountered a temporary checkpoint set up by imperial soldiers to prevent the flow of displaced people from entering unaffected areas. A captain stopped them, his wary eyes swept over Miên Trà and Du Khinh.

"These two..." he stammered, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword.

"They are friends," Diệp Sương said quickly, raising her hand in reassurance. "We are here to meet with the Tông Vân Các, bringing important information about the source of these upheavals."

The captain hesitated, but before he could decide, a familiar voice rang out from behind the control group, making Diệp Sương's heart stop for a beat.

*

"Mist?"

Cố Thanh Việt stood there, having just come down from Tông Vân Các to coordinate with the imperial army to review the area around Lam Thủy Town according to Tạ Vân Khê's orders. He stood still, unable to believe his eyes, then rushed forward and hugged her amid the surprised eyes of the captain and the whole group of soldiers.

"You're alive," he whispered in her ear, his voice trembling with pent-up emotions over the past several months. "I was worried... I didn't know what to say."

"I'm fine," Diệp Sương replied, her voice equally choked, squeezing him tightly. "But Mr. Viet, time is running out. I need to meet with the council of elders immediately, as soon as possible."

*

Thanh Việt stepped back and looked her up and down, then at Miên Trà and Du Khinh standing behind her in undisguised surprise. "This is…"

"Hidden Vu Clan," Diệp Sương replied, her voice full of pride and seriousness. "It's not a legend, Mr. Viet. They are real, and they are also suffering the consequences of the very thing that is threatening Cửu Vân right now."

Miên Trà walked up and bowed according to the rules Diệp Sương had taught on the way. "Hello, sir. I am Miên Trà, messenger of the Vụ Ẩn clan."

Thanh Việt, although still stunned, still managed to maintain his demeanor and bowed his head in return. "I'm Cố Thanh Việt. It's a pleasure."

*

The captain, after hearing Thanh Việt confirm his identity and sponsor the whole group, finally allowed them to go through the checkpoint, although his eyes still could not hide his cautiousness when looking at Miên Trà and Du Khinh.

On the way to Lam Thủy Town, Thanh Việt recounted everything that had happened at the sect - the emergency meeting, the seven simultaneous disturbances, the fierce confrontation between Tạ Vân Khê and Húc Bá Nguyên, and the fact that Lam Thủy Town had suffered heavy damage just a few days ago.

"Is Bội Nhi's mother okay?" Diệp Sương asked immediately, her heart tightening.

"She's safe," Thanh Việt reassured. "But an entire market street collapsed. Bội Nhi is now at the sect, worried about her mother but cannot leave her position because of the emergency."

"What about Húc Bá Nguyên?" he asked again, his voice becoming sharper. "He still hasn't given up opposing Elder Tạ Vân Khê?"

"He's still stubborn," Thanh Việt replied, his voice bitter. "Even though the evidence is increasing day by day, he still tries to blame it on natural disasters and bad luck, instead of admitting the possibility of human hands behind it. But this time, even those who were on his side began to waver, because the damage was too obvious to deny." Diệp Sương nodded, clutching her sleeve. She knew that this was the most fragile moment—when fear of disaster could cause people either to search for the truth or to cling even more tightly to comforting but false explanations.

*

When the group entered Lam Thủy Town, the scene before their eyes left Diệp Sương speechless. What had once been the busiest market in the area was now a field of scattered ruins, with large cracks cutting across the road like unhealed scars. Here and there, groups of people still tried to clean up and search for what remained.

"This..." Miên Trà whispered, her voice trembling as she witnessed for the first time the scale of the devastation that humans suffered, "this is worse than what I imagined from the story."

Du Khinh was silent, his eyes scanned the ruined scene, and Diệp Sương realized that this was probably the first time he truly understood, not through words, but with his own eyes, the pain that humans were suffering no less than his clan had endured for many generations.

*

They stopped to rest at a hastily set up aid station on the edge of town, where homeless people were being given porridge and blankets. Diệp Sương helped distribute porridge until it was completely dark, not saying much, just quietly observing each haggard face, each child huddled in their parents' arms.

An old woman sat huddled in the corner of the relief tent, her hands shaking holding a bowl of hot porridge, looking up at Diệp Sương with dull eyes. "I've been trading in that market all my life," she said, her voice cracking, "and yet in just one night, everything I built was turned to dust. I wonder what God is punishing us for."

Diệp Sương knelt next to her, holding her trembling hand. "It's not a punishment, ma'am," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "This is not God's will. This is the consequence of the wrong choices of some people, and I will do my best to hold those people accountable."

The old woman looked at her for a long time, not fully understanding the sentence, but her eyes softened at the sincerity in the strange girl's voice. She nodded slightly and turned back to finish her bowl of cold porridge.

"This is what I want the council to see with their own eyes," he told Thanh Việt as they both sat by a small fire at the end of the day. "Not through reports, not through cold numbers, but through the faces of real people who are suffering because of something that the very system they believe in has silently caused."

*

Thanh Việt looked at her, his eyes filled with admiration and sadness. "You've changed a lot," he said softly. "Not only in what you know, but in how you see the world."

"Maybe so," Diệp Sương replied, smiling tiredly. "Being expelled taught me many things that four years in the sect could never teach me. It taught me that justice is not only in the hands of those who have the right to judge, but also in the hands of those who dare to stand up to protect each other when the system fails."

That night, before going to sleep, he took out the silver bracelet of the Vụ Ẩn tribe to look at it under the firelight, then looked towards the distant Vân Tiêu Peak, where the sect's lights still flickered in the darkness, wondering if tomorrow, when he set foot back at the place where his banishment sentence was announced, how the council of elders would receive it.

*

The next morning, the group continued their journey to Vân Tiêu Peak, accompanying Thanh Việt to ensure safety through the checkpoints. As the familiar trail gradually appeared before her eyes - the path Diệp Sương had walked down in shame nearly a year ago - a feeling of both familiarity and strangeness rose in her heart.

"No matter what happens ahead," Miên Trà said, holding Diệp Sương's hand tightly, "remember, you're not alone." Diệp Sương nodded, squeezed her little brother's hand, then looked up at the towering mountain peak ahead, where the familiar three-entrance gate was gradually appearing out of the morning mist, preparing herself for the confrontation that she knew would decide not only her own fate, but that of an entire kingdom standing on the brink of disaster.

Thanh Việt walked beside him, his hand gently touching his arm for a moment, like a silent reminder that no matter what was ahead, he would not let him face it alone again. Du Khinh and Miên Trà followed closely behind, both of their eyes fixed on the giant sect towering on the top of the mountain, a scene that no member of the Vụ Ẩn clan had ever witnessed during many generations of seclusion.