Let Me Tell You A Story . . .
They found themselves unable to control their emotions several times, and it was no coincidence.
Most surprising to both of them was that they didn't truly feel the need to resist these emotions. The feelings were akin to the curiosity of a young girl.
The sensation was strange, as if they were not conversing with a young man who was several generations their junior, but rather with an esteemed senior brother they held in high regard.
This peculiar feeling left them bewildered, as they had never experienced anything like it before in their lives.
"I'm laughing at the two of you," Cha Eun Xiao stated blandly as he smiled. He finally raised his head and gazed at the ladies with profound eyes, much like an elder brother regarding two younger sisters.
His gaze conveyed a sense of yearning and delight at finally reuniting with someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Yue Shuang, are you fully recovered now?" Cha Eun Xiao gently inquired.
The question was rather abrupt.
Yue Shuang widened her eyes and exclaimed, "What are you talking about? Recovered? I was never ill!"
Cha Eun Xiao remained composed and continued, "You used to experience pain in the left side of your buttocks when it rained heavily, didn't you? Do you still feel it now? It's wonderful to know!"
The ladies were unaware that the young man would suddenly broach such a private topic.
Yue Shuang's countenance, typically cold and unflinching even if the heavens were to fall, suddenly turned red. Although she appeared fierce and forceful with her wide-open eyes, her tone became surprisingly soft as she shouted, "That's not true!"
Shouting was the only response she could muster, akin to that of a young girl.
On the other hand, Yue Han also blushed and was furious as she gritted her teeth. "Kid, if you keep spouting nonsense, I'll kill you!"
Turning to Yue Han, who was vehemently threatening him, Cha Eun Xiao remarked, "Yue Han, Yue Shuang did not sound very confident. I suspect she is still afflicted by that ailment. Well, then I assume you are as well. You frequently experience pain on the right side of your buttocks, correct?"
"Ah!" Yue Han exclaimed, her face turning pale as if she had witnessed a ghost in broad daylight.
They were both shocked after experiencing embarrassment and anger.
What Cha Eun Xiao mentioned was unquestionably a closely guarded secret. No one in Qing-Yun Realm had knowledge of it.
[How does he know our secret?]
[Only one person knows, and he isn't...]
Cha Eun Xiao flashed a warm smile.
"Are you surprised? Wondering how I, this young Cha Eun Xiao, am privy to a secret that no one should be aware of?" He inquired gently.
"Of course... not!" Yue Shuang retorted before launching into another shouting fit. "That's not true!"
Cha Eun Xiao nodded and remarked, "Alright, it's not true if you say so. Do you really need to be so furious?"
He then began, "Allow me to share a tale... Once upon a time, twins were born... but they were forsaken from the day they entered the world due to their congenital disabilities."
Yue Shuang and Yue Han's faces became pallid, their eyes filled with terror. They resembled two small birds trembling in the midst of a rainstorm, no longer the domineering and formidable cultivators they once were.
"These two little girls were heaven's jest... Their lower halves were fused together... They shared a single bone in the lower part of their bodies, situated below their waists but above their thighs... How embarrassing, yet essential!" Cha Eun Xiao gazed at Yue Shuang and Yue Han with warm and gentle eyes. "It was almost impossible for anyone to believe that two children born with such a disability could survive. Separating them was a nearly insurmountable challenge. Any surgical procedure could have claimed the lives of two newborns before it even concluded. Thus, they were abandoned shortly after birth."
"They were left in a desolate field during a snowstorm. They were mere infants, yet their lives were to be cut short," Cha Eun Xiao explained.
"When they were on the brink of succumbing to the cold, a young beggar happened upon them," he continued, his gaze fixed on Yue Shuang and Yue Han.
The two ladies were trembling, their eyes never leaving Cha Eun Xiao.
"The beggar felt compassion for the two girls, realizing he couldn't simply leave them to die," Cha Eun Xiao recounted. "So he acquired a knife and conducted a life-saving operation to separate the two infants."
"The beggar had a wealth of worldly experience and understood that the girls needed to be separated in order to survive," he said. "Without a separation, their fates were sealed. The operation, although rash and perilous, at least offered them hope. The heaven might have taken pity on these two little girls. Following that daring and unskilled procedure, the girls were successfully separated, though they lapsed into unconsciousness. Yet, they were still breathing. They survived."
"For the next seven days, the beggar cared for the two infants, using every means to ensure their survival," Cha Eun Xiao continued. "He resorted to theft and deception, doing whatever it took to keep them alive."
"These two girls, who had just entered the world, were teetering on the brink of death," he said. "However, they were the beggar's sole source of hope in the world, for he too had been abandoned as a child. Thus, he would go to great lengths to protect them."
"Perhaps heaven was moved, or perhaps it felt guilty. It granted a miracle to the young beggar," Cha Eun Xiao spoke in a deep voice. "In the face of wind, snow, and an incurable ailment, these two girls, who were destined to perish, miraculously survived."
"They did not die."
"What a miracle! A miracle of life that defied explanation, both then and now," Cha Eun Xiao intoned.
"However, even after this miracle, the path ahead was far from auspicious for them," he continued. "The two girls were not in perfect physical condition. The injuries they sustained at birth left them immobilized. Even after their wounds healed, they were unable to move and could only lie in place."
"Throughout these days, the beggar tirelessly cared for the two girls, resorting to theft and deception to acquire food, medicine, and clothing, all in a bid to keep the three of them alive," Cha Eun Xiao narrated. "With the beggar's unwavering determination, they eked out a modest existence."