Chapter 63
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Chapter 63: Title
Suiyin and Lu Ciyou discussed the previous night’s events in the courtyard, though Suiyin avoided mentioning Yan Li’s injury.
Their conversation paused when Lu Ciyou suddenly lifted her chin, signaling behind them.
Suiyin turned slightly to see Xia Shi awake. Their gazes locked briefly before Xia Shi’s icy stare froze Suiyin’s attempt to rise, her smile crumbling.
Without a word, Xia Shi disappeared into Yan Li’s room.
"Did you upset her again?" Lu Ciyou asked.
Suiyin nodded miserably.
"Last night… when Aunt Yan came… I said Xia Shi and I weren’t close."
"…"
Lu Ciyou’s lips twitched. No wonder Xia Shi glared. After Suiyin’s constant efforts to get close, even sharing divine connection, claiming they weren’t friends reeked of betrayal.
The young lady shot her a withering look before following Xia Shi inside.
Suiyin swallowed her frustration. She’d had no choice – Aunt Yan’s strange behavior last night demanded caution. One wrong word could’ve ruined everything… and still, the truth emerged.
She sighed, stood up, and followed into the room.
Inside, Xia Shi had just finished examining Yan Li. Her brows relaxed slightly.
“How is she?” Lu Ciyou asked nearby.
Xia Shi answered, “Her meridians and organs are stable. She needs rest now.”
She passed a medicine bottle to Lu Ciyou.
“Help clean her wounds.”
“Alright.”
Xia Shi rose to leave the room for them, quickening her footsteps when passing Suiyin.
Back in the neighboring room, she reached to close the door when hands suddenly wedged through the gap, followed by a head popping into view.
Suiyin blinked at her. “Let me in.”
Xia Shi coldly lowered her gaze. “We’re strangers.”
Suiyin froze, then pressed against the door with pleading eyes. “Let me explain!”
“No need.” Xia Shi’s voice stayed cold. “Strangers.”
Gritting her teeth, Suiyin shoved her foot against the doorframe and threw her weight forward.
The barely-opened door burst wide. Her shoulder collided with softness as a pained gasp sounded near her ear. Someone staggered back.
Xia Shi’s leg hit a chair, sending her falling backward. Before impact, arms seized her – they twisted mid-air, crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
The thud echoed. Someone hissed in pain.
Still aching from last night’s encounter with that strange woman, Xia Shi struggled weakly against Suiyin’s tight grip.
“Release me!”
“No!” Suiyin winced at the burning pain in her back.
“Should your precious Aunt Yan see this, she’ll do more than wipe your hands clean.”
Xia Shi’s strange tone puzzled Suiyin.
Why say “your” Aunt Yan?
“Last night’s words weren’t true.” Suiyin met her eyes. “You know what you mean to me.”
The blunt confession left the speaker calm but the listener flushed.
Xia Shi pushed at the body beneath hers, voice softening. “Get up. This is undignified.”
Hearing the changed tone, Suiyin cautiously loosened her hold.
They stood. With a flick of Suiyin’s fingers, dust vanished from their clothes.
Stillness reclaimed the room. Xia Shi sat at the table, eyes closed in meditation.
Her State of Mind churned, refusing calm.
She exhaled and opened her eyes – just as rustling fabric sounds broke the quiet nearby.
Xia Shi turned her head slightly and paused, her eyes widening uncontrollably at the startling scene before her.
She hurriedly grabbed Suiyin’s wrist—her skin was scorching.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Suiyin had loosened her outer garment and kept trying to remove it, but her hands got trapped mid-motion.
"I’m burning up."
Xia Shi observed the flushed cheeks and sweat-glazed neck glowing pink beneath damp skin.
"Too hot!" Suiyin protested, yanking her hand free to fling something from her waistband.
Xia Shi recognized the discarded object as Suiyin’s storage ring.
When the ring clattered to the floor, a fuzzy lump rolled out with it.
Relief washed over Suiyin after removing the heat source. She fanned herself with a hand, then slyly pressed her warm cheek against Xia Shi’s cooler shoulder.
Xia Shi stared at the twitching lump.
It moved.
After colliding with the wall and wobbling upright, the creature stretched two spindly claws to flip its egg-shaped body. A bald head emerged featuring beady eyes, a tiny beak, and three lone feathers atop its scalp.
Xia Shi struggled to describe this… thing.
Rather hideous.
The featherless chick stared back before chirping: "Mama!"
Xia Shi froze.
Horrifying.
She dragged Suiyin forward to face the creature.
Suiyin bit back laughter, crouching to poke the palm-sized oddity. "What is this?"
"How should I know?" Xia Shi countered. "You ejected it."
"Me?" Suiyin blinked, recalling the sudden inferno in her meridians. Had this… creature caused it?
"From your storage ring," Xia Shi added.
Suiyin mentally catalogued her ring’s contents—elixirs, robes, nothing living…
The egg!
She’d forgotten that peculiar find. It hatched inside her ring?
The chick tilted its head, toddler-like voice piping up: "Two mamas?"
Suiyin: “…”
Xia Shi: “…”
Suiyin glanced back at Xia Shi and saw her calmly drinking tea, making no move to handle the matter.
This wouldn’t do.
She grabbed the featherless little chick and plopped it onto the table beside Xia Shi.
“What do we do?”
Xia Shi raised her eyes, her expression clearly stating *not my problem*.
The chick peered between them, sensing abandonment. It opened its beak and unleashed an ear-splitting wail.
Both women startled. Xia Shi hastily cast a barrier around the room.
Tiny creature, enormous lungs.
“Stop that!” Xia Shi snapped.
The chick hopped toward Suiyin, sobbing, “Bai Bai Mama’s mean!”
Xia Shi: “…”
Suiyin nearly choked trying not to laugh. She pinched her own arm to stay serious. “She’s not your mama. Neither am I.”
The crying stopped mid-snivel.
Suiyin conjured a Water Mirror showing the bald chick’s reflection. “See? We don’t look alike.”
*Poof* – the naked chick became a naked toddler sitting splay-legged on the table. “We DO!” she hiccuped.
Both women jumped to their feet.
Talking animals weren’t strange, but shapeshifting…
Xia Shi had only read about demon cultivators from thousand years ago in the Nine Realms – extinct after heavenly punishment. Even if this child was a survivor, she’d just hatched! Shapeshifting already?
Xia Shi’s guard rose. She wanted answers but first tossed an old artifact robe from her storage ring over the child. The garment shrank to fit.
Dressed in Xia Shi’s old clothes, the tear-stained girl did resemble her. Tiny hands clutched the fabric. “Same as Bai Bai Mama,” she insisted.
“I’m not,” Xia Shi said through gritted teeth. “Where did you…” *Come from* felt wrong for a talking chick-girl. “Where are you from?”
The toddler’s gaze drifted downward… and landed on Xia Shi’s stomach.
Xia Shi: “…”
Suiyin exploded into laughter, earning a death glare.
“Alright, alright, I won’t laugh anymore.” Suiyin comforted Xia Shi, then turned to lock eyes with the little girl. They suddenly grinned and burst into laughter again.
Xia Shi watched this bizarre scene, an improbable thought surfacing in her mind.
Was this child truly not Suiyin’s?
The moment the idea formed, Xia Shi chided herself for the absurdity.
What kind of person could lay an egg?
A knock interrupted them, followed by Lu Ciyou’s voice: “Are you alright? I thought I heard crying.”
Xia Shi dissolved the barrier and opened the door.
Lu Ciyou peered past her and saw the pair inside—one tall, one small—both grinning foolishly. The little girl wore miniature Sanqing Realm disciple’s robes.
“You… this quickly?” Lu Ciyou blurted, eyes wide.
To have such a grown child in mere moments?
Xia Shi: “……?”
Too exhausted to explain, she gestured inward. “Come in.”
The trio formed a circle around the sniffling girl, who kept stealing fearful glances at Xia Shi. Lu Ciyou, amused, poked the child’s cheek. “Whose daughter is this?”
“No idea.”
The words barely left Xia Shi’s mouth when a white blur crashed into her arms.
Ear-splitting wails erupted, leaving her disoriented.
“Bai Bai Mama! Don’t throw me away!!”
“Stop crying.” Xia Shi massaged her throbbing temples, noting Lu Ciyou’s equally pained expression. Only Suiyin remained unbothered.
Xia Shi thrust the child at Suiyin and activated the Taiji Golden Seal, erecting a protective barrier around herself and Lu Ciyou.
When the two finally recovered—eyes bloodshot—Suiyin had quieted the girl.
“Your kid’s cries nearly shattered my spirit,” Lu Ciyou groaned, pressing her temples.
“……”
Xia Shi eyed the now-silent girl, swallowing her denial.
Why did Suiyin’s egg cling to her instead?
She studied the mismatched pair. Their persistence was uncannily similar.
Exhausted from crying, the girl soon dozed off in Suiyin’s arms—then shrank into a bald chick.
“Sh-she’s…!” Lu Ciyou stammered, gaping.
After three rapid blinks, she finally choked out: “What is she?”
Suiyin said, “Do you remember the egg in the dragon’s mouth back in the Valley of Subdued Dragons?”
The young lady blinked blankly. “I remember.”
That egg had nearly been crushed by the dragon’s bite, which would’ve summoned heavenly lightning.
“You hatched that egg!?” She gaped, giving Suiyin a thumbs-up. “Incredible!”
Suiyin: “…”
