Departure

Nea ended up not meeting Liana the next morning. Instead, she continued to hide, changing her position every so often to avoid Brianna. It was petty of her but she couldn't bring herself to see Liana. When the sunset, she returned home. The broken roof which was visible from the distance caused her to cringe. She forgot to fix it. Thankfully, there was no rain these days.

Nea was surprised to find Liana sitting in her living room, drinking a cup of tea. Liana glanced at her and looked at the chair opposite her. "Sit."

Nea frowned at the cold order. She grasped the door handle tightly, wondering if she should run away again.

"Don't bother," Liana said, "Brianna is waiting for you outside."

Nea narrowed her eyes. She didn't bother to look behind her to check Liana's claim and shut the door. "I thought you are supposed to recuperate after the Succession Rite."

"My presence here is not known by the elders."

"Hoo…." Nea observed her guest. Liana sat straight. Her posture was proper and formal. Gone was her carefree attitude and her easy smile. There were the famed old eyes of the Matriarch. It was as if years had piled up on Liana's shoulders.

Neither of them said a thing for a good while.

Unable to endure the awkwardness, Nea asked, "… How are you?"

Liana put down her cup of tea. "As best as I can be. The infection has been purged in the Succession Rite. I only need rest."

"I see…"

Another bout of silence.

"Your disagreement with this situation has been noted," Liana said. "I do not ask you to understand. That is why instead of forcing you to be here, I offer you a chance to accompany the investigation to the continent."

"Are you serious?" Nea gaped.

"This is for a good reason. Your father is a part of the council, and at the moment he is in seclusion. It will be hard to speak to him. However, if he knows that his daughter wishes to see him he will be more cooperative. You will have to stay there as our emissary and no longer have to be trapped on this island. Do you accept this task?"

Nea didn't know how to answer. For a long time, she had wished to leave this stuffy and boring place. To explore the unknown world beyond this small island had been her dream. But now… it felt as if this was Liana's way to cut off the bond between them.

Nea gritted out, "Okay, fine, I accept."

"You do not seem to be happy," Liana said.

Nea turned her head away, no longer capable to stomach Liana's emotionless face. "It's nothing. Are you done? I'm tired."

"… Alright." Liana stood up and lightly closed the door.

Nea covered her face and groaned out. "This is fine." She could finally leave and investigated her mother's disappearance. The investigation team wouldn't let her meddle but they couldn't keep an eye on her forever. When the time was right she could slip away. The continent was huge, they couldn't bother to track her. "I can do this."

Nea didn't see Liana for the next week. She busied herself by fixing the damage to her house and preparing herself for the journey. She had been planning this for a long time, it was not difficult for her to pack up. When the day of departure arrived, Brianna came to her.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Nea said.

There was only one way to leave the island and that was through the teleportation array. Using a boat wouldn't work because there was a barrier surrounding the island. Nea had tried and she kept going in a circle until Brianna brought her back. It was a year after her mother went missing. The array was located in the Sanctum, somewhere underground. Nea examined the surrounding with interest but couldn't muster enthusiasm for confirming the existence of this underground area. Many things had lost their luster to her. She followed the investigation team solemnly.

The teleportation array was located behind a thick stone door similar to the one at the archive. But this door could be accessed by those who had the permission sigil. An unknown person was already standing inside, examining the array. A young man wore an outfit of people from Da Yue with black hair that reached his waist and half of it was bound into a high bun. The young man raised his head when the group got close. His dark eyes curved when he found Nea.

"It has been a while since we last saw each other," the young man said.

"Uh… have we met before?" Nea asked.

"Oh, my bad. I forgot that you haven't seen me in this form."

In a blink of an eye, the striking white-haired boy appeared in front of Nea. Nea's eyes rounded. "White?! Why are you here?"

The boy laughed and shifted back to the young man. "I did tell you that I want to launch my own investigation. Thankfully your current Matriarch is smart enough to convince your elders to let me go. Thus, avoiding the needless drama."

Nea scratched her head. "Oh, yeah, I remember. But why do you look like this?"

"A white-haired boy with blue eyes will bring too much attention. This form will be less conspicuous."

"If the boy is based on your friend then who is this based on?" Nea asked.

"Saint Yulan of course."

"I thought she was a woman!"

"She looked rather heroic. I don't blame you for assuming her to be a man. Many made the same mistake. Well, I merely borrow her face, this body is still that of a man."

"I… see." Nea examined the new face in front of her.

"Are you guys done?" Brianna cut in.

"We can begin at any time," White said. "I can help with the array if you want. I'm quite familiar with it after seeing Yulan created this array many times."

Brianna said, "Thank you for the offer but my team is more than capable to do this."

"Alright then."

The group entered the array. There was more than enough room for everyone since this array could probably fit 50 people. Their team merely consisted of 7 people not counting White and Nea. Nea stood near White, feeling more welcomed with the enigmatic divine weapon.

"Have you said your goodbye?" White asked.

"There's no need," Nea said. "I don't think she cares about me anymore. She had more stuff to pay attention to than a kid like me."

White shook his head, smiling. "Just be sure you won't regret it in the end."

Nea didn't give a reply.

The array began to glow as the activation chant was spoken. Darkness began to emerge under them, pulling them in. Nea looked down uneasily. The art of teleportation was a heavily guarded secret, but Liana had explained briefly how it worked. To teleport one must cut the space and entered the edge of the void. Even the strongest cultivator didn't dare to meddle with the void needlessly. Almost all attempts at touching the void ended… unpleasantly.

"Don't worry," White said, "I'll take good care of you. No void being will chomp off your short legs."

"I'm not short!" Nea retorted. "And I'm not afraid."

White laughed and second later darkness engulfed them.