The world felt odd. Like it was spinning. Xiulan felt something strange in her chest. Meiling, who had been in the middle of washing Tigu’s hair, turned at the words. Her shock was clear. Ri Zu and Pi Pa, who had been talking about the celebrations, similarly froze. Xiulan’s words broke through the haze of drunkenness; Bailu’s eyes widened, and then a small grin formed on her face. “Ah! Xiu lan,” Bailu enunciated the parts of Xiulan’s name, Beautiful Orchid. “So you’re her little orchid!” The words again resonated with Xiulan. It was her mother’s nickname for her. Little orchid. The names matched. Her mother had joined Soaring Heaven’s Isle Sect after she left. Xiulan sat down on one of the benches, her eyes wide. Her mother was alive. It had long been a quiet hope of Xiulan’s. It had been over a decade since her mother had left Xiulan’s life with a soft smile, continuing her cultivation journey. Her memories of that time were bittersweet. Her mother had loved her and her father, but they could not join her journey to immortality. They would have only been a millstone around her neck. (...)