Chapter 912: Reunion
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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Galetron]
O R A N G E S T A R
[Alma S.] [Azurixa] [Christine G.-L.] [K.Rom]
[Lily J.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Anasi G.] [Jwyla C.] [Passerby] [Rose Ky] [Xena]
G O L D S T A R
[Anne C.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Debra W] [Smurfinbatik]
C E L E S T I A L C O N Q U E R O R
[Ava C.] [kuroneko_chan] [Leeyue] [Manon]
[Raquel G.] [Sophia W.] [Val Nes] [Woon Li Ying]
Also, many thanks to everyone who bought me coffee (*≧∀≦*)
Liao Chen finally set his little disciple down.
Gu Jiao held Little Jing Kong’s hand, guiding his gaze toward Xuanyuan Qi on the opposite side, and said softly, “Jing Kong, that is your granduncle.”
“Granduncle?” Little Jing Kong’s round eyes widened in surprise, clearly confused about the meaning of that title.
Gu Jiao paused briefly before explaining, “He is your father’s biological uncle.”
Little Jing Kong’s big eyes opened even wider. “I… have a father?”
Gu Jiao gently patted his small head. “Yes, you have a father and mother who love you very much.”
Little Jing Kong tilted his head up to look into Gu Jiao’s eyes. “Then why didn’t they want me?”
Gu Jiao gazed at him sincerely, plucked a tiny flower petal from his hair, and said softly, “They wanted you. They always wanted you. But they went to a very, very faraway place, and they couldn’t take you with them.”
Little Jing Kong tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Oh… like how JiaoJiao goes off to fight battles and can’t bring me along?”
Xuanyuan Qi’s eyes darted nervously to Gu Jiao.
They had originally planned to tell the whole truth in one go, but at this point, everyone felt that the reality was simply too cruel.
He was only six years old.
He should not have had to grow up in the shadow of the grief of losing his parents.
Gu Jiao paused for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Mm, something like that.”
“Oh.” Little Jing Kong nodded thoughtfully, as if carefully processing the answer.
Xuanyuan Qi let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Why didn’t you try to lie to him?”
“Would lying help? Failure is still failure. Well-meaning lies are the dullest things in the world.”
She had truly changed a great deal.
She now had compassion; she could sense the emotions of others and would even adjust her own principles for their sake.
Little Jing Kong was a very clever child, blessed with astonishing learning abilities, yet there were some matters that lay beyond his comprehension, leaving him no room to doubt what he was told.
“Then… will they come to see me again?” He asked Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao said softly, “They can’t come. They asked your granduncle to come visit you in their place. Will you… feel disappointed?”
“A little bit.” Little Jing Kong admitted honestly, scratching his small head. “But… since they didn’t actually abandon me, I’ll reluctantly forgive them!”
Gu Jiao’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Both Xuanyuan Qi and Liao Chen felt the tightness in their expressions ease.
Let him live on carrying hope in his heart.
Little Jing Kong walked up to Xuanyuan Qi, blinking his large, shining eyes full of anticipation. “Granduncle, when I grow up, will you take me to meet my parents?”
Xuanyuan Qi lifted his calloused hand and carefully placed it on the child’s head. His throat tightened painfully, and his arm trembled slightly.
He managed a smile and said, “Alright.”
“Granduncle, my name is Jing Kong.” Little Jing Kong introduced himself with utmost seriousness.
Xuanyuan Qi looked at him, and in that moment, he seemed to see the image of Little Sixth in his childhood from years ago. His eyes reddened without him realizing. “How old are you?”
Little Jing Kong puffed up his small chest. “I’m nine years old!”
Liao Chen stared at him in speechless disbelief.
Little Jing Kong added, “Fine, I exaggerated by three years.”
When Little Sixth had been a child, he had also been small and frail, and he, too, always liked to add extra years to his age… Xuanyuan Qi gazed at Jing Kong, suppressing the tightness in his throat, and said with a gentle smile, “Jing Kong is your monastic name. You have a real name, too.”
“Hm?” Little Jing Kong tilted his head, puzzled.
Xuanyuan Qi finally lowered the hand that had rested on his head, gently ruffling his hair, and then drew him into his broad embrace. “…Your name is Xuanyuan Xi.”
At that moment, Xuanyuan Qi did not yet know that this name, quiet and well-behaved as it sounded, would one day… make all seven kingdoms tremble.
……
Meanwhile, Yao shi had gone to the kitchen to instruct the cook to prepare several of her best dishes to entertain the guests.
Gu Xiaobao had already been carried away by Gu Yan.
Yao shi returned to her own room.
As she was tidying things up, a knock sounded at the door.
“The door is open. Come in.” She said.
It was Gu Jiao who entered.
Yao shi looked at her, momentarily stunned. “JiaoJiao?”
Gu Jiao had her hands clasped behind her back. After a brief hesitation, she walked to her mother’s side. “Um…”
She started to speak, but the words faltered on her lips.
Yao shi glanced at her, lowered her gaze, and smiled faintly. “Are you leaving right after the meal?”
She continued folding clothes under the dim yellow lamplight, which made it hard to see whose clothes she was folding.
Steeling herself and swallowing the bitterness in her heart, she said, “It’s alright. Mother understands.”
“I think… maybe you don’t know.”
“What?”
“I didn’t skip going to the palace just to let them meet Jing Kong.” Gu Jiao pressed her lips together. “I… wanted to see you.”
Yao shi’s whole body trembled in shock, and she looked at her daughter in utter disbelief.
Gu Jiao lifted one hand and pointed to her own chest. “Here… I think of you.”
Yao shi’s eyes instantly turned red.
She had always felt that her daughter was distant from her. Not that her daughter was unkind, but that there seemed to be an invisible barrier between them.
She had tried, again and again, to draw closer to her daughter.
She could feel her daughter’s goodwill toward her.
Yet she could never truly step into her daughter’s heart.
Until this very day, her daughter had never called her “Mother.”
Just earlier, when introducing herself to Supreme Commander Xuanyuan, her daughter had paused. Yao shi knew that the word “Mother” would not come out, yet at the same time, her daughter did not wish to embarrass her by coldly calling her “Madame” in front of outsiders.
Yao shi had once comforted herself with the thought that her daughter’s independence stemmed from the fact that she had never raised her for even a single day, and so she silently bore that loneliness.
Even if her daughter never called her “Mother” for the rest of her life, she would accept it.
But just now, her daughter had said that in her heart… she thought of her.
In that instant, Yao shi could no longer suppress the torrent of feelings inside her.
Tears swirled in her eyes. “JiaoJiao… Mother doesn’t know what to do… I don’t know how to make you call me ‘Mother’ even once…”
“Mother.”
Gu Jiao called to her.
Yao shi turned to her in disbelief, completely stunned.
“It’s not because I didn’t like you.” Gu Jiao said quietly. “I… had some bad experiences. I just couldn’t say it.”
“What bad experiences?” Yao shi’s heart clenched, her thoughts flashing to Gu Jinyu’s biological parents.
“It wasn’t the Gu couple.” Beyond that, Gu Jiao didn’t wish to speak any further.
“Alright… Mother won’t ask anymore,” Yao shi said in a tearful, choking voice. “Then why can you say it now?”
Gu Jiao said, “I don’t know. I just… can.”
The unbearable memories of her previous life seemed to be healing under some unseen influence.
Was it because of Jing Yinyin, because of Yao shi as her mother, or because the version of herself who once lost control in bloodlust had not been cast away as a monster by anyone this time?
She could not say.
Human emotions were far too complex for her to truly comprehend.
She simply followed her instinct and acted on it.
Whether she was right or wrong, she did not know.
“So, then… do you like it when I call you that?” Gu Jiao sat stiffly on the stool, not moving a muscle except for her darting eyes.
The young war god who had once terrified the battlefield now looked like a child waiting anxiously for the correct answer.
Yao shi suddenly let out a small laugh through her tears, walked over, and pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. “I like it. Mother likes it very, very much. Can you call me again?”
Gu Jiao was hugged so tightly that one side of her cheek was squished into a soft puff.
She pouted with the lips pressed into a chubby curve. “Mother.”
It was truly the most beautiful sound in the world.
Yao shi felt her entire heart melt, and every wound she had ever carried seemed to be healed in that moment.
Tears glimmered in her smiling eyes as she hugged her daughter even tighter. “Ah! Again, one more time!”
Gu Jiao, with her little mouth completely squashed out of shape: “…mmther.”
Yao shi: “…”
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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Description:
In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.
When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.
The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.
From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.
***
Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.
After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"
Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"
Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”
Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
He hasn't finished his lines yet though…