The room itself was lit by multiple lamps filled by small formations to produce calm, yellowish-brown light for a calm and gentle effect.
The formations gathered a specific tune of formation energy, in this case fire (light), into a small ball inside the glass container, creating a miniature fireball that produced a warm glow outside of it; effectively dangerous for a normal human being, but was naught but a candle light to the people present inside that could easily be extinguished with a thought alone.
"I-Is this all? Is this real? Mother, are you alright?" Yun Xiao's voice was full of unhidden hope and expectations. Despite the healthy status of his father as living proof, it was hard for him to comprehend how only a slight tap on the shoulder could heal two decades old wounds that even the most prominent medical saint within the Illusory Demon Realm failed to do so.
The feelings were evidently shared by Mu Yurou as she stared at her hands with a confused and almost disbelieving expression.
"I-It seems so…" Her voice was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Obviously, she herself questioned if this was an illusion of some sort. Only, the presence of her husband and the feeling of her gradually returning strength acted as proof of the miracle she had just witnessed.
"Of course she is alright now. Or do you think I was lying before?" Yun Qinghong asked with happiness, lacing his very existence. He placed his hand over Yun Che's shoulder and looked towards his wife, his face holding an amused but a prideful smirk; as if it was him who healed her. "Let me introduce this person."
Yun Xiao and Mu Yurou's attention was instantly pulled towards Yun Che, both silently waiting for him to finish the introduction.
"Don't be shocked, wife, his name is Yun Che. He is from the Profound Sky Continent, a small city called Floating Cloud City, and the adopted son of Xiao Ying!"
Mu Yurou's eyes widened. A thunderclap rang within her mind, and her posture became unstable, causing her to fall back on the bed with a pale expression.
"Mother!" Scared, Yun Xiao ran to her and hurriedly held her. His face colored with confusion and horror. "Mother, what happened!? Are you feeling unwell?!"
Doubts appeared within his heart, wondering if Yun Che really healed her or not.
But Mu Yurou had no time to clear them. Her eyes by now had filled with tears as they started to trickle down her fair cheeks unstoppably.
"My child… my child… ah, is he really?" Her voice had turned hoarse compared to before, the sobbing and sniffing had taken over it now. She looked towards Yun Che, her face showing that she wouldn't be taking this even as a joke. "Husband… are you telling the truth?"
"Of course." Qinghong's expression had also changed and was once again riddled with emotions. "Why would I lie about such a matter?"
"Ah, my child!" Like an overloaded dam, emotions burst out of Mu Yurou's heart and body. She particularly jumped and hugged Yun Che, burying his face into her fair bosom with such tightness as to be afraid that he was an illusion and would vanish the next second. Her voice choked as the loud cry of a mother filled the silent room. "My child… my child… my child…"
Her voice soon lost its normal luster, and only silent sobs were left, like a broken record, she kept calling him over and over.
Twenty years till now, not a single day has been left that she did not remember her child, did not imagine him growing, did not worry about his well-being, did not wish to meet him again.
Every day, she cursed the heavens for separating her from her child, every day she cried to heaven for befalling such a fate upon them.
It had left an unsolvable knot within her heart that hurt her more than the wounds within her profound veins and the cold poison that ate away her organs.
Now finally being able to meet him again, for the first time, Mu Yurou felt grateful to heaven for twenty years. For the first time, she felt peace and happiness indescribable within her heart which poured out in the shape of now-dried tears and hoarse calls.
The rumors regarding the legitimacy of Yun Xiao being their child were already all over the Demon Imperial Capital. No one believes, at this point, that Yun Xiao was their legitimate child.
Not only did he not resemble any of his parents, unlike Yun Che who looked strikingly like young Yun Qinghong, Yun Xiao never awakened the Profound Handle either. These truths made people unable to believe that Yun Xiao was, in reality, their child.
Despite all this, Yun Xiao never let these rumors affect him. He firmly believed himself to be the son of Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou.
But that conviction was broken today, as if it was laughable to have one, Yun Xiao blankly stared at the mother and child hugging each other.
He did not understand what he felt inside his heart, but he definitely did not feel resentful to anyone within the room.
He was not their real child, and despite that, they never treated him like a stranger. From childhood to adulthood, he was brought up with extreme care and love as if he was their real child.
Yet, the emptiness he felt inside his heart was real.
Unconsciously, he clenched his fists, and his expression had become slightly pale. With a forced smile on his face, he spoke in an even tone.
"Congratulations, father, mother, for finally completing your family."
"What are you talking about, young man?" Yun Canghai, who silently but happily saw the reunion, slapped Yun Xiao's back, causing him to stumble forward towards the family of three and smiling. "You are saying as if you are not a part of this family. It is 'our family,' not yours. Don't make the same mistake or don't blame this Demon King for lashing you a hundred times."
"I—"
"Father is right, Xiao'er." Yun Qinghong looked at Yun Xiao with a gentle expression and smiled. "You are making us embarrassed by saying that. You are still Yun Xiao, the one we raised since he was a child. Do not belittle yourself again, or we will get angry."
"Xiao'er, come." Mu Yurou also called him, wanting to hug him too with the awkwardly buried face of Yun Che.
"Father… mother…" Tears welled up within his eyes. His fist was clenched yet again, but for a different reason this time. He tried his best to control his emotions before falling into Mu Yurou's embrace, not saying anything further.
The room was soon filled with the happy cries of the mother once again as she felt blessed by the heavens itself.
"I feel like they forgot about me…" Yun Canghai embarrassingly rubbed his nose, too embarrassed to join the reunion.
He, like Yun Che, was not good with such things, so he decided to remain silent at the side, quietly watching them with a soft smile.
1
Today, loud sounds of festivity filled the Yun Family as a huge banquet was set.
After the family reunion, Yun Qinghong brought Yun Che and Yun Canghai, followed by Yun Xiao and Mu Yurour, to the gatherings of elders of the Yun Family and explained everything to them.
Needless to say, everyone was shocked yet joyful expressions filled everyone.
Not only did they not receive the wrath of the Little Demon Empress, even their old Patriarch was back with the real Young Master of the Yun Family, who was more talented than anyone they have met in their life; of course, despite this, no one targeted Yun Xiao, especially seeing him still standing beside Yun Qinghong.
After everything was explained, a banquet was held with everyone laughing happily and eating to their fills.
Yun Che also teleported Xiao Lie and let him meet Yun Xiao, who changed his name to Xiao Yun after; though sad for not being able to meet his real parents and hearing about their deaths, he was content with meeting his blood-related grandpa. Due to the love given by Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou, Xiao Yun never felt the absence of parents in his life. Though sad to hear about their death, it did not affect him much.
"You are already married?" Mu Yurou inquired with slight sadness in her voice at not being able to be present at her son's wedding day while also happy to hear that her son wasn't living a bad life back in the Profound Sky Continent. "When are you going to let mother meet my daughters-in-law then?"
"I can teleport them here if you want." Taking a sip out of the alcohol, Yun Che smiled and said, still trying to get used to the sudden love of parents.
"Absolutely!" Mu Yurou's eyes shined. "Mother wants to meet my son's wives!"
"Yes." Yun Qinghong, standing by the side, also nodded eagerly. "They are the wives of the young patriarch of the Yun Family. Call them so we can meet them!"
Yun Che's lips pursed at his drunk father's antics. Despite knowing that he was going to be married to Huan Caiyi, which made it impossible for him to be the young patriarch of the Yun Family, Yun Qinghong still called him the young patriarch. Obviously, he was drunk and seemed to have already forgotten what Huan Caiyi had said to him prior.
"Hahaha! Qinghong, don't be surprised. Your son is a beast in human clothing! He didn't leave a single beautiful fairy from his land and took all the beautiful women for himself."
"You have the wrong grandfather. As I have said before, your grandson is just too handsome for women to ignore him."
"It must be my genes then, hahaha!" Yun Canghai raised the cup of alcohol in his hand and laughed loudly. He was completely drunk.
"Yes, yes. Young Master, call your wives! Let us see the future mistresses of the Yun Family!"
A tired sigh left Yun Che's mouth. This is why he didn't like drinking alcohol. It lowered your human instincts to the level of an animal, and Yun Che didn't like that.
It was going to be a long day for him.
'Well, Qingyue did say that Bingyun came to Frozen Asgard. Might as well call her and ask about that later.'
After the visit of Bingyun and her proposition, which the Grand Mistress and Asgard Mistress readily accepted, the first thing Qingyue and Yuechan did was to contact him about it. Simply asking if it was alright to leave Blue Pole Star to travel to Snow Song Realm, to which he agreed and did not deny.
Given the uniqueness of the Snow Song Realm, if Yun Che wanted his women to enter the God Realm, it was one of the best places to enter rather than any other God Realm. And since he was already planning to visit it soon, he also did not stop his women, obviously eager, from joining the Snow Song Realm.
'But first, let's get a piece of their souls. I want to be ready for anything.' Though grim, the possibilities were endless, same with the greed of people within the Snow Song Realm. Yun Che did not want to take any chances, so he was going to make sure no mishaps happen in the future.
"Young Master, come, dance with us!"
"Sigh… Should have stayed back and absorbed the vital yin of the Golden Crow…" Despite that, he still stood up and followed his fellow clansmen. Once in a while, it didn't hurt to be more… free.
...
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