A sharp pain pierced through his skull, rousing Ling Yun from sleep. He bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood, pushing back the scream that threatened to escape from his throat. No matter the pain, he couldn't wake Yaoyao up. She was curled beside him in peaceful slumber.

  Deep breaths. In... and out.

  In... and out.

  When the stabbing ache subsided enough to be bearable, he carefully disentangled himself from Yaoyao's arms and quietly left the hut.

  Reluctantly, he had become too familiar with this routine. These headaches had plagued him as far back as he could remember. They mostly arrived at night, disturbing his sleep. Usually lasting a minute or two, they caused him enough pain to grit his teeth and start pulling his hair before leaving as mysteriously as they came.

  The village doctor had inspected him many times but couldn't find anything wrong. Finally he admitted defeat, giving him some medicine for a good sleep. Same as the doctor, they turned out to useless. Many in his clan including his father arrived at their usual conclusion- another misfortune caused by "Cursed child Yaoyao".

  Hmmph. How ridiculous. I was suffering from them before Yaoyao was even born.

  The crescent moon hung high in the night sky. The training grounds were empty at night. Of course, no one would be stupid to practice his spear in the dark risking injuries. Most of the clan members must be asleep. Only the occasional chirping of the summer crickets disturbed the stillness of the night, before fading away.

  Ling Yun settled beneath the tree, his usual spot, making himself comfortable. Pulling out the flute from his robes, he brought it to his lips and started playing.

  The breeze stilled, the crickets stopped chirping as the night seemed to pause. It felt as though even the heavens themselves were unwilling to disturb this scene.

  Under the starry sky, the only existence shining brightly was a young man, his visage of an immortal untouched by the filth of this world, playing a beautiful melody, the silver of the moon reflected in his deep blue eyes.

  He kept playing till his heart was free from the anger of the past, the frustration of the present and the fear of the future. His bitterness was carried away by the notes, leaving only a calm emptiness in their wake. By the time his fingers relaxed, the headache had receded, leaving clarity in its place.

  He put down his flute and let his thoughts wander, about his present and future. If one ignored his defective physique, he was born with a good hand.

  An upper medium grade spirit root with a high affinity for wood element. In his generation, he was the only one with a medium grade spirit root apart from his older cousin, who was the current young master. Most of them had lower grade spirit root while rest were mortals.

  Since he couldn't fight and couldn't stay with the clan, learning a trade to survive was his only choice. Judging by his wood attribute, becoming a spiritual healer or a herbalist would be a nice path.

  He had been planning for this for a long time. The clan provided the youngsters three low grade spirit stones a week. Instead of using them for cultivation, he has been secretly saving most of them, using barely less than half.

  He was close to breaking into the fourth level of Qi refining. The first three levels of Qi refining were to absorb the natural Qi from the surroundings to build a stable whirlpool in the dantian. After you reach the fourth level, you can store Qi in your dantian which could be used for different skills.

  After reaching the fourth level, he would leave the clan and actively search for a decent lone herbalist or a healer in a village far from here. He would offer his savings as a 'gift' to be accepted as an apprentice. Then after he was settled, he would take away Yaoyao from the clan and maybe, maybe they can live happily ever after.

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  If it weren't for Yaoyao, I would've just taken my flute and travelled the world, playing melodies unbound.

  Shaking his head at his silly thoughts, Ling Yun went back inside the hut. Yaoyao was snoring softly. He smiled and kissed her forehead before sliding back onto the bed and embracing her.

  No matter what the future holds, I will always take care of Yaoyao. Big brother will be always by your side.

  With that final thought, he drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  "Again! I failed again!"

  "Accursed Heavens! How long do you think you can keep me down?"

  "I know you are trying to break my spirit but you will never succeed. It had only been fifteen years. Even if fifteen millennia pass, I won't stop trying."

  "I have already broken the cycle. The day will come when I break this shell and emerge again."

  "This time, you won't be able to stop me."

  ***

  "Aaah! Big brother! Big brother!"

  Yaoyao's pained cries roused him from sleep. He sprang up and quickly checked her. Her forehead was scalding, showing signs of a high fever.

  "Yaoyao, don't worry. Big brother will bring some medicine. You will be fine soon. Okay, so don't cry."

  Giving her little hand a squeeze, Ling Yun quickly ran to Granny Sha and asked her to take care of Yaoyao before racing to the medicine hall.

  The medicine turned out to be useless. Hours passed but the fever refused to relent. Yaoyao, who was deliriously crying moments before, had gone deathly silent.

  Ling Yun felt a great uneasiness in his chest. Their village doctor has gone to another village to treat some urgent patient. There was only one choice.

  Father. Only he can do something.

  It had been a year since he had entered the patriarch, his father's room. The room smelled of stale wine. Sadly but predictably, he found his father sitting on the chair, drinking directly from the jar.

  His hair disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, his father was silently staring out the window, showing no reaction to Ling Yun's entrance.

  Ling Yun immediately knelt on the ground and started to plead, "Father! Yaoyao is sick from fever. Please, we need the family carriage to take her to Blue Moon city. Please, help me father."

  The patriarch kept gazing out the window as if he hadn't heard anything. Or perhaps any words from this unfilial son were like air to his ears.

  "Father please! Yaoyao, Yaoyao will die if you don't do something. She's your precious daughter."

  Hearing the word daughter, something snapped. His father suddenly threw the half-full jar at his head with full force. It was too fast to react and the jar broke on his forehead, drenching his face and clothes with wine. Fortunately, there was no cut, only a bruise bloomed.

  "How dare you! How dare you call that devil spawn my daughter!" His father's face contorted in anger.

  "Save her! She killed my Linger. My lovely Linger. Oh Linger! Why did you have to leave me alone?" His father began to deliriously ramble about his dead wife and tears started flowing from his eyes.

  Suddenly he paused, and as if remembering some thing, started cackling. "You said she's dying? Good! Very good! Hahaha! The heaven has finally listened to my prayers! Hahahahaha!

  "Inform me when she dies. I've been saving the green bamboo wine for a special occasion."

  Continuing his mad laughter, his father took out another jar of wine from the cupboard and started drinking again.

  Ling Yun got up and took one last look at his father drinking, turned around and left. He swallowed back the rage and raced back to Yaoyao.

  Forget about father. I have to save Yaoyao.

  Back in the hut, Yaoyao had regained consciousness. She was sitting up, her back supported by Granny Sha. Granny Sha was desperately fighting back her tears, trying to maintain a calm facade in front of the little girl.

  "Big Brother." Her faint voice called out upon seeing him. Ling Yun sat next to her and held her palm. "Yaoyao don't worry. You'll be fine. Big brother.. your big brother will definitely do something."

  Yaoyao smiled weakly and with great difficulty, she raised her hand and lightly caressed his cheek.

  "Big brother. It's ok now. Yaoyao knows she would be going soon. Thank you for caring about Yaoyao so much. Yaoyao knows she has caused so much trouble for big brother but please let Yaoyao be next to big brother in the next life, okay. Promise, Yaoyao will do good next time.

  "Can Yaoyao be with big bro...."

  Yaoyao fainted into his arms, as if her life were slipping away. A dam broke- tears uncontrollably started flowing from his eyes.

  "Yaoyao... wake up. Don't leave your big brother alone... Yaoyao

  YAOYAO!"

  A raw, primal scream erupted from his throat.

  No, it can't happen. We were supposed to leave the clan and live happily.

  Think, Ling Yun think. Something, anything.

  "I'm telling you he must be in Core Formation realm. He was seen flying in the Grey Mountains."

  The lone cultivator...

  "Granny Sha, bring my sash."

  Wiping the tears from his face, his expression was resolute. He put Yaoyao on his back with Granny Sha securing her in a makeshift sling.

  "Young master, where are you going?"

  Without looking back, Ling Yun fastened his boots and left the hut, leaving behind his words filled with half hope and half determination.

  "I'm going to save her."