I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 893: Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Seven: Return Home in Glory

But who can clearly articulate matters of the heart? The most excruciating wounds are often not inflicted by strangers, but by those who have always been kind to you, only to suddenly turn against you. That betrayal comes too swiftly and fiercely, becoming almost too much to bear.

When Xu Shuhui was young, and her mother was the mistress of the house, the Xu family lived in harmony.

The gentle and virtuous mistress cared greatly for Xu Feng’s concubines, and those concubines, in turn, adored their kind mistress. The women of the Xu household led a joyful life as if they were sisters, with Xu Feng’s concubines treating little Xu Shuhui as if she were their own. At that time, the young girl felt she was the happiest person in the world because she had many ‘little mothers’ besides her own.

Back then, each lady of the inner courtyard seemed like a celestial nymph—graceful, virtuous, erudite, and infinitely compassionate. But all that changed with her mother’s passing.

Right there in the mourning hall, those ‘little mothers’ still embraced her with tears, promising through their grief to care for her as their sister had. But the moment they turned their backs, the tears on their cheeks were wiped away, replaced by expressions of placid satisfaction.

Suddenly, Xu Shuhui felt the inner courtyard turn cold after her mother’s departure. The ‘little mothers’ laughed less and less, their words grew sharp and cryptic, and she could no longer grasp their meaning.

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The concubines stopped visiting each other; instead, rumors of attacks against one another arose every few days. Even young Xu Shuhui was not spared as the servants of the concubines whispered that she was responsible for her mother’s death.

Such baseless rumors should have found no audience, yet little Xu Shuhui could feel those ‘little mothers’ glances turning colder and colder, especially after her brother was born. Whenever she tried to get close, she was pushed far away.

If those who she lived with day and night could change so quickly, what of others?

As a child, she often heard servants in the inner courtyard say that a man’s heart was as fickle as the moon in the sky—it loved until it didn’t. Therefore, a woman must never trust a man’s promises made in deep affection, because those words are indeed true, and that’s why they sound so captivating.

But when that love dies, the farewell is also true, and hence, deeply wounding.

But Xu Shuhui, who had fallen for a single glance, could no longer care about all that. She wanted to throw herself into the warm flames like a moth to a flame.

However, her early experiences taught her that no love in this world lasts forever. So she told herself that if one day the love in that man’s eyes faded and changed, she would leave without hesitation.

Xu Shuhui waited, waited for the man to stop loving her. This wait lasted over a decade, and she bore three children, but her husband’s gaze remained as fervent as the day they first met.

Being Tang Sen’s wife was something to take pride in, far more than being a Miss of the Xu Clan. But the women of Ying City knew nothing of this.

They were gleefully waiting for Xu Shuhui to come back begging for forgiveness. The more miserable the runaway girl, the happier they’d be.

Not just them, but also the distinguished ladies of Ying City wanted to see what the once gallant and adventurous young woman looked like in her downfall.

Yet when the procession from Xiling entered the city, everyone was shocked. They watched incredulously as the regal woman, who looked every bit the queen, waved amiably from the Gilded War Chariot to the onlookers on both sides of the street.

Descendants of divine beasts led the procession, with more than thirty large carriages following and hundreds of servants thronging around. It was said that thousands more spiritual beasts had not even entered the city.

Even with Yuanzhou’s wealth, Xu Shuhui’s display dazzled everyone, outshining even the oldest matrons of wealthy clans.

Wasn’t it said that Xu Shuhui eloped to the remote northern region of Longzhou? From the looks of such splendor, even the noble families of Zhongzhou might seem inferior.

Just like Tang Luo said, “Wealth and honor not brought home are like brocade robes worn at night.”

Standing atop the Gilded War Chariot, Xu Shuhui held Little Nuannuan’s hand as she gazed at the familiar streets, her heart filled with a myriad of sentiments.

When she left Ying City more than a decade ago, she had not thought she would return one day; but now that she was back, she felt an overwhelming timidity.

She didn’t know how to face her own father, the man renowned throughout Yuanzhou as the Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint.

Over a decade had passed and her martial skills had barely changed; even her White Rainbow Sword Intent had grown rusty from disuse. She could barely remember the last time she had practiced, as over the years, she felt like a young girl, coddled in Tang Sen’s embrace, away from danger and urgency.

But as she appeared in Ying City, a profound guilt surged within her. Deep down, she felt she had failed her father. Perhaps from the beginning, she had not pursued martial arts out of genuine passion, but to gain her father’s attention. She practiced the White Rainbow Sword Intent day and night, hoping for an approving glance from him during her performances.

As expected, upon seeing his daughter for the first time, Xu Feng flew into a rage. After having the maids take Tang Nuannuan away, he ordered Xu Shuhui to kneel in the ancestral shrine. Despite Xu Changfeng and Xu Changge’s pleas, Xu Feng did not revoke his decree.

“More than a decade’s time, and even a pig would have progressed from initial awakening to unity of spirit and intent. Look at her, has her cultivation changed at all since she left Ying City? Say one more word, and you’ll kneel with her!”

The first meal back in Yuanzhou ended in discord due to Xu Shuhui’s lack of progress in cultivation, no matter how much Tang Nuannuan cried. Xu Feng’s face remained cold, and not having the nerve to defy their furious father, Xu Changfeng and Xu Changge could only sigh inwardly.

When Old Master Xu of Ying City wrote back to Ying City about Xu Shuhui’s situation in Xiling the previous year, the brothers scarcely could believe it. Yet witnessing the procession entering the city and their sister’s cultivation, disbelief wasn’t an option anymore.

What kind of fairy-tale life must it be to make a heroine of Ying City abandon her training for the sake of her husband and child? They heard that Tang Sen only had one wife and spent his days either attending to official duties at the Martial Hall or dining with his family. In that case, why elope at all? Wouldn’t it have been better to marry into the Xu Clan?

No matter how the brothers saw it, the fiercely tempered Xu Feng was nearly driven to death by his daughter’s actions. As a top-level swordsman, he didn’t casually have Xu Shuhui practice the Xu Clan’s “Supreme Sword Scriptures” when laying out her swordsmanship foundation. It wasn’t to do with preferring sons to daughters; he knew Xu Shuhui lacked the innate talent for sword arts, and forcing the scripture on her would only lead to mediocrity.

For this reason, he spent years designing a set of Five Absolute Divine Swords.

It combined the White Rainbow, Black Light, Scarlet Flame, Yellow Sky, and Green Luminescence Sword Intents into a complete set of offensive and defensive sword techniques that were supremely powerful yet easy to master.

Xu Shuhui truly excelled, mastering the first technique, White Rainbow Sword Intent, at a young age and was on the verge of mastering the second when she eloped with a country boy instead.

More than a decade later, the daughter of the Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint returned to Ying City, only to forget how to wield a sword at all. How could he possibly bear it!