A Failure's hopeful Journey

Snow Wistrom was devastated. She stood inside the Silica City Hospital's mortuary, watching the two dead bodies in front of her. Ushijima Choma came to her side and spoke, "Snow, they committed suicide and this coin disk was found in your father's hand."

Snow nodded and said in a voice colder than ever before, "What is inside it?"

Ushijima Choma said in a sympathetic voice, "A video message, addressed to you."

Snow raised her trembling hand, and Ushijima Choma passed her the coin disk. The former connected the coin disk with her Holo-Phone. Soon a holographic video appeared in front of her. A couple with smiling faces were sitting in the video holding hands. 

The middle-aged man was her father, Micheal Wistrom. The middle-aged woman next to him was her mother, Shila Wistrom. The man had some gray and black hair, a dignified face, spectacles resting on his nose. Shila Wistrom had long hair, some wrinkles on her face, but she looked beautiful. Micheal Wistrom spoke first, "Snow, if you are watching this video then it means, your parents have departed ahead of time. I know you will be devastated, but this was the only option left for me and your mother. These people are worse than scum. I have no words to explain the horrors of these people. They made me experiment on innocent human lives. I cannot describe to you how much I hate myself. They fed me a poison pill when I joined this place without my knowledge. They provided me with an antidote every month. Then one day the manager, Jacob Stanley, sent me outside in the depths of whispering woods. There I found a pod of blood shackle tree. I secured it, but a beast attacked my team that night, killing all of them. I ran away but lost the bag with the treasure. Later I tried to find it but could not locate it. The higher-ups blamed me and captured me. They forced me to experiment with some synthetic plants. They wanted to combine humans and plants. The process is very horrendous. When I denied they captured your mother, but you were not found. One day, I and your mother broke out. I was afraid that these people might locate you, so I did not contact you. I used the special frequency to track the pod and found that it was recovered by You Family. I hid the secondary tracker inside the pod so they might not be aware. These people captured me and as a punishment, they cut off your mother's tongue right in front of me." the man had tears in his eyes and Snow was also crying. She wanted to kill people right now. 

Micheal wistrom wiped his tears and spoke again, "One thing you should know is that I owe You family a life-saving grace. You Ziyou, the old master of You Family saved me from a raid of the Dark Dwellers. My parents died starving, then I was taken in by the council orphanage. One night the orphanage was attacked by a group of Dark Dwellers. Just when we fell in despair, Senior You arrived with his team and defended us. In that attack, he lost his wife. She was the teammate of his and she died saving a boy who panicked and attempted to run away. The boy was cornered by a Dark Dweller and that lady jumped in front of the attack, sacrificing herself. The boy was me. Senior, You did not blame me and silently took away that lady's body. You can trust You Family with your eyes closed. I heard from these people they aim to kill the young master of You Family because he is friends with you. They wanted to use us, husband and wife, as a bargaining chip. They laid a trap to lure you all here and kill you. So I and your mother ended this torment. I know we are selfish, but I hope you forgive us, my princess."

Snow just watched the frozen video frame in silence. Ushijima Choma was aware of the blood shackle pod and was not surprised. She said to Snow, "How about we proceed with the funeral?"

Snow woke up from her daze, hurriedly wiped her tears. She nodded to Ushijima Choma. They arranged for the funeral to take place tomorrow morning. Snow was escorted by Robert when they came here. Ushijima Choma asked her to go home and get some rest. The girl obviously denied it at first and wanted to stay, but Ushijima Choma talked to her as a mother. Snow was an ice demoness on the surface, but on the inside, she was a big ball of mush. After Ushijima Choma coaxed her to return to You Mansion with Robert. 

On the way back, she just sat down listlessly. Her eyes kept staring outside the window. She suddenly realized what You Zhichi and her brother would have felt when their parents passed away. She looked outside the window. The sky was turning bright. She spoke, "Mr. Robert, how did senior sister Zhichi handle it?"

Robert was a smart man. He was aware of the meaning behind this question. He spoke in a calm voice, "She did not have the time to mourn at all."

Snow was shocked and asked, "Why?"

Robert replied, "Because when Young Master got the news, he fell into a coma. His condition was very critical. On the other side, the company faced attacks from rivals. Young Miss took the lead and held consecutive meeting solving the company troubles and also took care of the funeral. She did not even visit her younger brother in the hospital once. Not because she was busy, but because she was afraid that if she saw her brother in that condition she would break and things will fall apart."

Snow was surprised by these words. She understood that only by being calm can you achieve something. She thought of something and asked again, "How did You Xi Wang handle things then? I think Senior sister has recovered from the trauma a little now."

Robert did not smile but his gaze changed as spoke, "Young master, woke up and the first thing he did was to visit his parents. He wailed like a child. Then he came back home and directly challenged the throne. He won the battle and only then did the two siblings expressed their grief. Young master grew strong after facing a setback."

Snow nodded and fell into deep thought. She heard Robert speak, "May I say something?"

She nodded, Robert spoke, "Miss, death is the ultimate truth of life. Even if you are a cultivator, you may fail in the tribulation and die. As humans, being sad over losing someone important to you is also normal. Expressing emotions does not make you weak. So I suggest that you let the emotions flow, and not let them overpower you and become a heart knot. I apologize if I said anything insensitive."

Snow shook her head and said, "Thank you."

The girl understood a lot of things after hearing what Robert said. She wanted to avenge her parents, but if she left the hatred control her, she would become what she hated. She closed her eyes and let the restraint go. Tears fell down her face. Robert offered her a tissue box. As they reached the mansion, Snow wiped her face and thanked Robert for his advice. She walked inside but suddenly stopped. She didn't know where to go. At this moment You Zhichi came to her side, sensing the hesitation inside the latter. She gave her a hug. 

You Zhichi spoke in her ear, "You are family, do not worry. This is also your house starting today, Okay?"

Snow felt warm in her heart, raised her arms, and broke into tears while embracing her friend. The two girls just stood there, one crying and one consoling. After half an hour, Snow gradually calmed down and the sun rose from at the horizon. You Zhichi led the girl inside and arrange for her to rest before the funeral. She made her way to the cultivation room of her parents. She poked open the door and saw her brother was covered with a dim golden light. Maya was also basking in the glow emitted from him. She wanted to approach her brother but resisted and decisively walked back. 

She called the elders to the gathering hall. She sat down in her chair and waited for the elders to arrive. After a few moments, the elders arrived. You Zhichi spoke, "This time, these insects have crossed the bottom line. How dare they cause harm to our family and our kin? First grandpa, please call back all the cousins. Tell them to escort the children and the elder sisters back home safely." her voice was cold. She was very angry, unlike her usual temperament. She took a deep breath to force her rage down.

You Qiangda nodded and sent out a mass message to the young one of the family. You Zhichi spoke again, "Granny Xin, activate the intelligence network and assassination squad. I want the dark dwellers on that staircase to experience fear. Before Gougou wakes up, I want to clean the field. Also, do things cautiously, leave no traces of involvement. The master of the family will deal with the rest when he wakes up."

The elders nodded. This time You Zhichi acted strong, as a guardian should do. You family selected a master based on their strength, and a guardian based on their wisdom, decisiveness, and loyalty. You Zhichi was the best candidate and was already a candidate before her parents died. This time the guardian has taken out the sword, and she intended to teach the dark side a lesson.