Chapter 5: Running Away from an Arranged Marriage

  Night draped its heavy curtain across the sky, yet the Xu estate remained brightly lit. In the grand hall, Patriarch Xu Chengyi sat across from a richly dressed middle-aged man. Wisps of incense curled upward from the burner on the table, and the flickering candlelight revealed the somber expressions of the two men.

  "Brother Xu," the guest said, setting down his teacup with deliberate gravity, "since you have agreed to this marriage arrangement, please bring your daughter to Haicheng on the tenth of next month. There, she will meet my son, and we shall formally confirm the engagement."

  Xu Chengyi nodded slightly, his eyes deep and shadowed with hesitation. After a long pause, he finally replied, "Of course."

  News spread quickly throughout the estate. In the gardens, noble dies praised the match, while servants whispered with envy that their young mistress was to marry into one of Haicheng’s prestigious families.

  But when Xu Sanbao heard the news, her face darkened instantly.

  "An arranged marriage, decided by others… Even in a world with magic and cultivation, some rotten traditions still haven't changed," she thought bitterly, shaking her head with self-mockery.

  It wasn't marriage itself that she feared—it was the feeling that her fate had already been sealed.

  She despised it.

  But it didn’t matter.

  She had already decided—she would leave the Xu estate and see the wider world for herself.

  Night fell deeper. The autumn breeze stirred the flowers and grasses in the courtyard, carrying a trace of lingering summer warmth.

  Inside her room, the candle fme flickered gently, illuminating several neatly packed bags on the floor. The bed's canopy was half drawn, books were stacked neatly in the corner, and a small wooden carving of a cat had been pced carefully on the table.

  Standing at the door were her two closest companions—Li Xiaon and Wu Yuyu.

  They had been her personal maids since she was eight years old, never leaving her side.

  Li Xiaon was calm and composed, always thinking things through meticulously. She was a source of unwavering reassurance, fwless in her conduct, and trusted even more than many noble dies' confidantes. She appeared utterly loyal, always putting Sanbao’s interests first, never revealing her own emotions. Yet Sanbao knew—beneath that composed surface, Xiaon harbored her own calcutions. Her loyalty was real, but she was also shrewd about survival within a noble household.

  Once, a Xu family guard had secretly confessed his feelings to Xiaon in a letter. She had seemed shy and touched at first, as if genuinely moved. But not long after, the guard was abruptly transferred away, accused of accepting bribes from outsiders. The whistleblower? Xiaon herself. She even managed to feign sadness afterward, but privately told Yuyu, "He was just a repceable guard. I won’t let someone like him bring me trouble."

  Wu Yuyu, in contrast, was bright and cheerful like a ray of sunshine. She cked Xiaon’s worldly sophistication, but made up for it with pure kindness. She loved crowds, made friends easily, and could chat warmly even with kitchen maids. She appeared carefree, but her mind was perceptive, often noticing things even Sanbao herself missed.

  Years of cultivation had gradually strengthened Sanbao’s abilities too. She could sense things ordinary people couldn't.

  The flow of the wind, the ripple of water, even faint disturbances of spiritual energy in the air.

  Sometimes, her fingers would faintly glow blue without her intending it, or she would effortlessly find things others couldn’t.

  In this world, the cssifications of power were strict—cultivators, ability users, and martial artists. As for magic, it was a unique discipline practiced on the western continent…

  Now, looking at the packed bags, Xiaon's soft voice broke the silence: "Miss, are you certain about this?"

  Sanbao didn’t answer immediately. She stood quietly by the window, gazing out at the night-shrouded estate.

  "I used to think... I would spend my whole life here, living quietly," she murmured, her fingers tracing the carved patterns on the window frame, her eyes full of wistful confusion. "Maybe I should just accept the arrangement?"

  Her gaze swept over the room—the dolls on the bed, the books on the shelves, the carved wooden cat in the corner...

  This pce held all eighteen years of her memories.

  But was she truly willing to spend her entire life trapped here?

  She closed her eyes. Her fingertips curled slightly.

  Finally, she spoke: "Let's go."

  At the side gate, the guard lowered his eyes as he looked at the three figures in hooded cloaks.

  "Xiaon, why are you going out so te?"

  Xiaon stepped forward with a soft ugh. "Just sneaking out for a little fun with my sisters—you promised you'd look the other way, remember?"

  The guard hesitated, but eventually waved them through. "Be quick and don’t get caught."

  The three of them slipped through the side gate, vanishing into the night.

  Just as they were about to round a corner, a shadow leapt down lightly from the wall, nding by the carriage wheels.

  "Meow…"

  Sanbao looked down—and froze for a moment.

  A familiar calico cat stared up at her.

  She smiled, gently picking it up.

  "It’s you…" It was one of the strays she often fed in the estate—this lively little calico she especially liked.

  Xiaon frowned. "Miss, are we bringing the cat too?"

  Sanbao stroked the cat’s soft back and smiled. "Yes. From now on, it’ll come with us. Let's name it Sanhua Bao."

  "Of course!" Xiaon and Yuyu exchanged smiles and readily agreed.

  The carriage wheels turned, and the vehicle rolled slowly into the darkness.

  From this moment on, their journey had truly begun.