Shaking off his thought Xiao quickly walked into the room where he saw the midwife presenting his sister to his mother. Even now, she kept crying at the top of her lungs without stopping. Entering the room, he could see his mother taking his sister in her arms and looking at her tenderly.
As Xiao entered the room, the servants saw him and bowed. His mother, Yun Lan, raised her head and looked at Xiao. Seeing her beloved son enter the room, Yun Lan smiled and spoke tenderly to Xiao.
"Come, Xiao, come and meet your sister."
Xiao, sighing on the inside, ran up to his mother with an excited smile. Getting closer to his mother, Yun Lan smiled affectionately and moved her body down a bit from the bed to show his sister to him.
Reaching the bed, Xiao could see his sister still crying in his mother's arms. He noticed her small silver hair and sky-blue eyes that were open as she cried out. Looking at his mother, Xiao excitedly asked, "Mother, what's her name?"
Even though Xiao already knew her name, he still had to keep up the act. He didn't want to make his mother suspicious for she is smart enough to pick up any changes in him. Hearing Xiao's question, Yun Lan smiled brightly and spoke to her son, "Yun Xuanyin, that's your sister's name."
After she finished speaking, Yun Lan lifted Xuanyin in a higher pose to feed her. However, a few minutes passed and Xuanyin refused to drink her milk. She just kept crying out loud without stopping, causing worry among everyone in the room. Xiao's mother even tried to feed his sister forcefully, but she rejected it and continued crying. It was within this atmosphere that Xiao spoke.
"Mother, can I hold her?"
Hearing Xiao's voice, his mother hesitated. After all, he was young, and there might be a chance that he might accidentally hurt his sister. But everyone in the room was at their wits' end about what to do. Seeing that his sister had not stopped crying, Xiao's mother extended her hands and placed his sister into his arms.
Xiao moved forward and took his sister into his arms. Looking at his little sister crying in his arms, a sense of nostalgia hit him. In his first life, he had ignored his sister, something that everyone had to do to keep themselves safe.
His sister was born with a powerful physique adapted to rule over ice, but due to her inner supreme Yin ice block, she continuously faced ice attacks from inside her body, affecting those close to her regardless of their cultivation.
Of course, those with higher cultivation could endure it, but children could not. As a result, his sister had lived a lonely life. It could not be forgotten that Xiao, in his first life, was an arrogant person who had left his sister to suffer. Moreover, Xuanyin couldn't cultivate, so she was pushed away by the family.
But that changed when her physique activated. After that, she became a proud and arrogant Phoenix who soared in the sky. Her luck was also great. At the time Xuanyin's power activated, a powerful figure was touring the lower heavens. They recognized her talents and took her away.
The next time Xiao had seen his sister was in the higher heavens. At that time, Xiao had only reached the third heaven using tricks and his evil techniques. Even then, at the third heaven, he was nothing, not even worth the dirt on the ground. Meanwhile, his sister was a proud cultivator standing at the top.
He had once seen his sister being adored by those who were strong, while he was merely sand in the dust. At that time, jealousy and anger filled his heart as he called out to his sister. But all he got was cold, unmoving eyes looking at him as if he was not worth a grain of sand in her eyes.
Xiao came out of his daze and he looked at his sister, who was crying in his arms. Was he angry at her? No, he didn't even have the right. It might have been late, but before his death, he had heard about all that his sister had done for him. If it weren't for her, he would have died a thousand times over.
That was also when he remembered that lonely sight—the sight of his sister looking up at him with gentle and adoring eyes. Those were the very eyes that longed for the warmth of a family, the very eyes from his childhood that craved the warmth of a brother to fight off the cold that held her body.
But back then he didn't even give her a gaze for he had hurt his sister. A single tear fell down Xiao's eyes as he looked at his sister. This time, he wouldn't let her get hurt, This time, he would be the brother he should have been. This time, anyone who wanted to hurt his sister would have to walk over his corpse!
With that, Xiao closed his eyes, diving deep into his consciousness. He was trying to get the feel of one of his skills, {Connection.} It was a gamble, but he still tried, he kept maneuvering through his inner mind, trying to touch upon the power that might perhaps lay dormant within his soul.
He kept trying to get the feel of the past, the very same feeling that would fill him when he would wield his skills, the search lasted for 5 seconds after which he found it, 5 different threads swirling around within him and he pulled at the one that felt right at home. Soon, he could feel his passive skill {Connection} covering his body.
The first to notice the difference was Yun Lan. She didn't know how, but she suddenly felt that her son was more pleasing to the eyes. No, she felt that he was more connected to her.
The next to feel the connection were the servants, and finally, his sister in his arms. The skill {Connection} was pretty useless. All it did was make a person feel as if they had a connection with Xiao, a skill that helped him deal with several ladies back in Ingrid. However, there was another use to it.
If a person allowed it and if he placed a {connection} on them, he would be able to feel what that person was feeling, another key element that helped him keep the complete loyalty of his mercenary members. Not only that, but the person he connected with would also feel closer to him. The best thing was that he would be able to share their pain through the connection.
Xiao didn't wait as he placed his {connection} on his sister. Since she was a child, there was no way for any resistance. Soon, he could feel his sister's pain and the coldness that filled her body. He grunted as he bit his lip.
'What the!'
Feeling the pain and coldness in his body, Xiao's heart shook. Not from the pain, but from realizing the fact that his sister had to go through such a thing during her childhood. Within seconds, the cry from his sister's mouth stopped.
Looking down, Xiao could see his baby sister had stopped crying and was looking at him, her twinkling blue eyes gazing at him with wonder, a sense of silence and peace falling between the two of them after which Xuanyin slowly fell asleep, the pain he took away filling his sister with peace. Seeing his sister's cute sleeping face, a truly happy smile came upon Xiao's face. In this life, he would protect her.
The room had become unusually silent as everybody looked at Xiao, who was hugging his sister in his arms.
"Looks like Xuanyin got attached to you fast."
It was Yun Lan, his mother, who broke the silence. She had a smile on her face as she beckoned him over and took his sister into her arms. As he seemed to walk away, his sister seemed to wake up. Seeing this, his mother suggested that he sleep with her. At first, he wanted to refuse, but seeing his mother's insistence, he could only relent.
And with that,, he slept close to his mother as his eyelids seemed to close on their own due to his tiredness. He might have only woken up now, but he had used a lot of his energy just to use one of his skills. Additionally, he was still just a child, so he started falling asleep easily.
The tiredness of using his skill, the shock of coming back, and the faint fragrance of his mother, which Xiao had forgotten, filled his nose as he quickly fell asleep.