"Give it a try." After finishing this set of sword techniques, Ye Lanshan stepped aside, letting Xia Ri attempt it.
"Ah, I didn't quite catch it." Xia Ri had been too captivated by Ye Lanshan's graceful movements to pay close attention to the swordplay.
"Fair enough, you've never touched a sword before. Forget it, I'll teach you move by move. Come, watch closely." Ye Lanshan demonstrated the techniques again.
"Master, is this right?" Xia Ri clumsily imitated Ye Lanshan's sword movements.
"No, when holding the sword, you need to sink your elbow and steady your wrist, making the blade tip snap upward from below with an explosive force, like a burst, with the momentum of a magpie lifting its tail. The power comes from the wrist, aiming to flick and strike the opponent's wrist. The way you're doing it is all soft and weak—how can you defeat an enemy?" Ye Lanshan adjusted her posture once more.
"Alright, let's stop here for today." After practicing all night, her swordplay, though not graceful, was finally barely passable.
"Will you come again tomorrow night, Master?" Despite not sleeping all night, Xia Ri was full of energy, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the sword.
Ye Lanshan, seeing her hopeful gaze, hesitated slightly before nodding. "I'll come."
"Really? Thank you for your guidance, Master. I'll practice hard and strive to ease your burdens as soon as possible." Xia Ri couldn't deny her gratitude. She had never seen a master personally teach their servant techniques, especially someone as slow as her, yet her master had patiently taught her over and over again.
Ye Lanshan glanced at the brightening sky and sighed inwardly. *Looks like I can't retrieve the eavesdropping talisman today. I'll have to get it tonight. For now, I'll head back to the Ye residence and grab some formation books.*
"Ye Lan, sir." Yun Di happened to be out looking for Ye Lanshan and, to his surprise, ran into her before even reaching the Ye residence. Excited, he almost blurted out her full name but caught himself just in time.
"Yun Di? Why aren't you staying put in the courtyard? What are you doing out here? Aren't you afraid of exposing yourself?" Ye Lanshan, preoccupied with recent events, hadn't visited their courtyard and was unaware of the major incident there.
"Great, come with me to the courtyard quickly. Ye Yu suddenly fell unconscious, and we've run out of herbs. We don't have enough money to buy what he needs, so I had to take the risk and come find you." Yun Di grabbed Ye Lanshan's arm and hurried toward the small courtyard.
"What? Why did Ye Yu suddenly fall unconscious?" Ye Lanshan grew anxious.
"According to my uncle, it seems his soul is unstable, causing the coma. I don't know the details—come see for yourself." Yun Di didn't understand the talk of three souls and seven spirits his uncle mentioned, so he couldn't explain it to Ye Lanshan.
"Uncle, I've brought Ye Lanshan." As soon as they reached the door, Yun Di shouted loudly inside.
"Keep your voice down. Aren't you afraid of blowing your cover?" Ye Lanshan warned in a low voice, remembering the last lesson.
"It's fine. I've changed my face, so they don't recognize me now." Yun Di was confident in his unfamiliar appearance.
"This is a case of an unstable soul. He's lost one soul and two spirits out of three souls and five spirits. What happened?" Ye Lanshan saw the issue as soon as she entered, but she couldn't fathom what could have caused Ye Yu to lose one soul and two spirits.
"We don't know either. The courtyard has been quiet lately. I remember the day before he collapsed, he was full of energy, but the next day he was unconscious. No one knows what happened." Everyone was puzzled.
"I understand. Everyone, please leave. I need a quiet environment." Ye Lanshan recalled a spell she had learned to summon souls, and now was the time to use it.
Since Ye Lanshan said so, the others cooperatively withdrew.
"Wandering soul, where do you linger? Three souls descend, spirits arrive. Ye Yu, soul, return." After chanting three times, Ye Yu's soul was finally summoned back.
"Miss, why are you here?" Ye Yu opened his eyes, clearly disoriented.
"Tell me, what happened? Where did your one soul and three spirits go?" Ye Lanshan, relieved that his soul had returned, asked.
Ye Yu spoke calmly, "I think I went to another world—the one where I learned swordsmanship. There was someone there who said that since I had come, it meant we were fated, so he kept me there. I wanted to leave, but I found I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried, so I stayed, planning to return when I grew stronger."
"Another world? Someone who can pull souls away—how powerful must they be?" Ye Lanshan lowered her gaze, realizing she had encountered a force beyond her imagination, one that might become her enemy.
"Miss, are you alright?" Ye Yu's worried voice snapped Ye Lanshan back to reality.
*What's wrong with me lately? Always worrying about things that haven't happened. This isn't like me. Since he only took Ye Yu's soul, and not even all of it, it means he can't cross over. If he can't come, why am I worried?*
Ye Lanshan shook her head with a self-deprecating smile, casting aside her concerns.
"Rest now. I'm tired too and need to sleep for a while." She yawned, dragging her weary body to a quiet spot to lie down.
"Child, this is not your destiny. Don't let him control you."
A gentle female voice whispered in her ear. She frowned, turned her head, and fell into a deep sleep.
"Ye Lanshan, wake up! Ye Lanshan!" Everyone saw Ye Lanshan floating in midair, wrapped in a soft glow like a cocoon.
"Hmm?" Ye Lanshan woke up, her eyes dazed, as if she didn't understand what was happening.
The light suddenly dissipated, and she fell to the ground.
"Ye Lanshan, are you alright? What was that light?" Clearly, no one understood what had just happened.
"Light? What light?" Ye Lanshan still hadn't shaken off her confusion.
"Oh, right, where's Ye Yu? Don't tell me he's unconscious again." Seeing everyone gathered except Ye Yu, and their worried expressions, she feared he had run into trouble again.