Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 1068: Pulled Along

The transformation taking place within Li Mei was not a smooth journey filled only with positive light. She sat on a woven mat inside her private room at the inn while the silver moonlight spilled across the wooden floorboards. She closed her eyes and circulated her Qi to heal her recovering body while resting her pale blue sword across her lap. The physical healing was progressing well but her mind often wandered into dark territory during these quiet hours alone. Away from the warm presence of Li Yu and his comforting food, the lingering shadows of her past paranoia began to creep back into her consciousness.

The dark whispers echoed in her spiritual sea. 'What if he is doing all of this just to throw me off?' Li Mei thought as a cold sweat formed along her brow. 'Could this carefree attitude still be a grand act? What if he is using this relaxed journey as some sort of trap to lower my guard before he strikes and claims his place in the clan?'

These dark thoughts coiled around her soul like venomous snakes trying to bite her mind. However, her demonic heart had weakened greatly ever since his formal exile from the main family. The loving care that she received from her parents during her recovery period had also built a sturdy foundation of logic within her mind. Because of that solid foundation, those paranoid thoughts did not last too long each time they surfaced in the dark.

Each time a dark whisper tried to take root in her mind, a bright memory or a logical reason derived from Li Yu's actual actions countered those negative thoughts. When the shadow whispered that he could be poisoning her, she remembered her cousins telling her that he had spent thirty minutes painstakingly burning venom out of her veins. When the shadow whispered about his deep ambition, she remembered him happily trading spirit stones for idle gossip and cooking recipes.

It felt as if she was fighting a fierce duel within her own mind every single night. The dark shadows of her demonic heart clashed with the bright reality of his genuine kindness and those negative thoughts slowly were beaten back into the corners of her mind. The demonic heart became much more small and fragile than it had ever been. She could finally breathe without feeling a crushing weight on her chest.

They spent three full days within the bustling river town while enjoying the local markets and letting Li Mei rest her healing body. Once her strength returned to a comfortable level, the group packed their supplies and continued to head north toward the towering peaks of the dragon sect.

The journey through the vibrant pine forests and rolling green hills took an additional two days of leisurely walking. They followed a winding dirt path alongside a rushing river and the scenery was beautiful. During that travel time, Li Yu had gotten to know his cousin much better than he ever expected.

Because they rarely interacted before this chance meeting, it was very interesting getting to learn about her actual personality outside of the clan. The travel days were peaceful but her mood often fluctuated as they walked along the dirt paths. Some days she was very open and talkative while sharing stories about her early sword training and asking Faen about the local geography of this realm. On other days she remained quiet and kept her eyes focused on the distant horizon while offering only short replies to any questions.

It became clear to Li Yu that she was still fighting off certain internal struggles and dark thoughts. He understood that was a normal part of recovering from a demonic heart affliction as well as being around someone new. They were not going to become friends instantly after the one sided and silent rivalry as well as suspicion.

He decided he would just continue to act as he always did and hopefully one day they could form a true bond. That outcome would be best since they were family after all and family should support each other through hardship.

Li Yu often stopped during the hike to gather wild herbs or inspect strange fruit growing on the trees. Borum would walk ahead to clear heavy fallen logs from the path while Faen scouted the tree lines for wild game. Li Mei watched their fluid teamwork and realized they operated more like a small family rather than a master and his bound servants.

While they were definitely following along with Li Yu, the two hardened warriors seemed to enjoy his pace. Li Yu also gave them a lot of cultivation pills and in Borum’s case ores that they had looted so their cultivation was making steady progress as well.

On the final night before arriving at the Crest Spine Sect, the group set up camp near a shallow bend in the river. Borum stood guard near the dense tree line while Faen rested inside her cloth tent. Li Yu and Li Mei sat together by the warm campfire while the crackling wood broke the quiet atmosphere of the evening. Li Yu was roasting several large fish they had caught from the river and he carefully glazed the meat with wild honey and crushed herbs that he had gathered along the way. The savory smell permeated the camp and helped relax Li Mei further.

Li Mei stared into the bright orange flames and finally could not hold back her curiosity any further. Since they had gotten on friendly terms with each other over the past week, she felt brave enough to ask the question that had been burning in her mind for a long time now.

"Cousin Yu, can I ask you something personal?" Li Mei asked while wrapping her hands tightly around a warm cup of tea.

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"You can ask me anything you want," Li Yu replied while placing a thick piece of firewood into the glowing coals.

"Why were you exiled from the clan?" Li Mei asked with a soft and even voice.

She was never told what the actual reason was when the formal decree came down from the clan leader. She only knew that he broke an ancient pact just like the rest of the clan knew from the public announcement. She was additionally told by her parents that the broken pact involved his grandfather who was currently still missing in the wider cosmos.

Li Yu was taken aback by her sudden question and he paused with his hand hovering over the fire. He never thought to come up with a made up reason for his exile because he never believed back then that he would ever be in a situation where they were sitting around a fire talking about it. The real reason involved her directly and he could never share that with her.

He remained quiet for a long time as he racked his brain for a plausible lie. He stared deeply into the fire and tried to piece together a story that fit the known facts without revealing the hidden truths. Li Mei watched his long silence and took it as though he was still angry about the whole event. She saw his serious expression and quickly regretted asking the question in the first place.

"I am sorry," Li Mei said while lowering her gaze to her tea cup. "I should not have brought it up. It is none of my business and I did not mean to open old wounds."

"No, it is fine," Li Yu finally spoke up and offered a reassuring smile to ease her worries. The only idea he could think of was using what had happened to him with the Gongsun clan back in the other realm since that event also involved an ancient pact that ended up broken.

"I did not want to go along with the arranged marriage that my grandfather set up for me," Li Yu explained while leaning back against a fallen log. "It was an ancient pact that he made with a close friend of his from a weaker clan many years ago. I wanted to be free and make my own choices regarding my future and my partners. But an ancient pact is an ancient pact and clan rules are clan rules. I refused the marriage so the clan had to punish me to uphold the law."

Li Mei widened her eyes as she processed the detailed information. She finally understood why he was kicked out and why the formal order was to remain on normal terms with him rather than treat him as a violent traitor. He was exiled for breaking a marriage pact to preserve his own freedom. Since the pact was with a weaker clan and bore no real political advantages for the main family, breaking it did not impact the Li Clan much at all. There was no heavy political fallout or lost territory to mourn over.

However, clan laws were clan laws and breaking a formal pact did have strict consequences that could not be ignored. Li Mei understood why the clan would do that and now she also understood exactly why Li Yu would do such a thing. Witnessing his carefree way of living and his deep love for freedom to do the mundane things he loved over the past few days made the story fit his personality perfectly. How could such an unbound and relaxed person ever accept a forced arranged marriage like that?

Her mind drifted as she thought about her own complicated future and the burdens she carried. She currently had two arranged marriages set up for her by her grandfather and one by her father as potential political alliances. One arrangement was with a very powerful clan and the other arrangement was with a strong but weaker clan. She thought about the two respective suitors and realized the men were not that bad in terms of personality or martial strength.

The suitor from the powerful clan was arrogant but highly talented with the spear while the suitor from the weaker clan was polite but tried far too hard to impress her. She clearly had no real romantic feelings for either of them right now and felt the exact same indifference toward both men. She currently viewed them as political assets rather than future partners. She was just doing her duty as the heir and accepting the heavy chains that came with the title and its privileges.

"I am very sorry for asking and bringing up such a painful memory," Li Mei told him with a genuine tone of regret in her voice.

"There is no problem at all," Li Yu said while taking a sip of his own hot tea. "It was my decision to refuse the pact after all so I must bear the weight of it."

She looked at his relaxed posture and a surprising question slipped from her lips before she could stop herself. "Do you regret doing it?"

Li Yu looked up at the bright stars shining above the river and answered her honestly. "I do not regret it for myself. I value my freedom too much to live a life chosen by someone else. But I do feel regret for my dad. This whole situation affected him the most and forced him into a very difficult position. I will work hard to make it up to my dad in the future though. And you should know that even though I was exiled from the main estate, I will always come to the support of a Li family member in need."

Li Mei smiled back at him and could feel his sincere words. She did not say anything else as she drifted into her own thoughts and watched the flames dance over the wood.

'He would have made a terrible heir,' Li Mei thought to herself while studying his peaceful expression. 'With how he is and how he chooses to live his life, he would suffer so much if he was given that title and forced to sit in endless meetings. That is very clear to me now.'

She remembered the day Li Canghai revealed his son to the clan. Li Yu's father made it very clear during that grand introduction that Li Yu would never hold the position of heir. Li Mei now realized that Li Yu probably forced his dad to say it like that just to avoid the political burdens and secure his own freedom from the very start. He never wanted the throne she had been fighting so hard to protect.

Li Mei chuckled a bit to herself internally as she thought about all her past worries and her endless overthinking. She had driven herself mad trying to counter a rival who only wanted to cook good food, be with friends and travel the cosmos. Her demonic heart became even smaller and weaker at this time, the dark shadow reduced to just a tiny speck within her spiritual sea. It did not go away entirely because healing such a mental wound was not that simple but it was no longer a threat to her sanity.

The cool night wind blew through the camp as Li Mei continued thinking to herself while Li Yu cooked. While Li Yu would have made a terrible heir and clearly would not want that restrictive role anyway, he would be an amazing leader or a grand figurehead for a faction. The way he interacted with people and how he naturally won people over with his easy charm and genuine warmth was profound. It was a rare quality that not everyone possessed and she found herself admiring that trait as the night slowly slipped away.