198: Chapter 198 The Truth of That Year

The next morning, when Hun Muxiao pushed open her door, the ghost bell orchids under the veranda were still covered in dew. She hadn't slept all night, having sat before the bronze mirror until dawn. She had looked at that face in the mirror for sixteen years, yet it had never felt so unfamiliar. She washed her face with cold water, strapped the blood abyss sword back onto her back, and walked toward Medusa's bedchamber. What needed to be asked, had to be asked sooner or later.

Medusa had just risen and was sitting at the vanity, combing her hair. Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. The bronze mirror reflected her stunningly cold and beautiful face; time had left no traces upon it, though the majesty in her brows and eyes was a few degrees more intense than in her youth. Hearing footsteps, she did not turn around. Seeing her daughter push the door open in the mirror, a faint smile appeared at the corners of her lips: "Up so early today? You used to never stop sleeping until the sun was high in the sky."

Hun Muxiao did not speak. She walked behind Medusa and looked at her mother's eyes in the mirror. Mother and daughter stared at each other through the bronze mirror for a moment, and the comb in Medusa's hand paused slightly. She was the Queen of the Snake-People Tribe and an expert of the Emperor Realm who had seen countless storms, but at this moment, she saw an emotion in her daughter's eyes she had never seen before—not coquetry, not willfulness, but an extremely serious, somewhat suppressed confusion and unease. She put down the comb, turned around to face her daughter directly, and asked what was wrong. Hun Muxiao took a deep breath and spat out the question she had been holding in all night, word by word: "Mother, am I not Father's biological daughter?"

Medusa's fingers clenched tightly within her sleeves. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the door to the bedchamber was pushed open from the outside. Hun Feng stood at the doorway holding a plate of freshly baked honey cakes. His gaze swept over the faces of the mother and daughter, landed on Medusa's slightly pale knuckles, and then looked at Hun Muxiao's bloodshot eyes. He sighed inwardly. He had been standing outside the door for quite a while, and he had happened to arrive at the door just as Xiao Xiao asked that question.

He placed the honey cakes on the vanity, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather: "What are you two chatting about so early in the morning?"

Just as Medusa was about to speak, Hun Feng raised his hand and pressed it lightly on her shoulder, shaking his head slightly at her, before turning to face Hun Muxiao. He looked at her peach-blossom eyes, which were red from staying up all night, and suddenly laughed: "You didn't sleep all night just for this? You've got eye bags now, you look terrible." He raised his hand and flicked Hun Muxiao on the forehead; the force was neither heavy nor light, just enough to make her shrink her neck back. "Want to know the answer? Fine, I'll tell you—you are indeed my biological daughter."

Medusa abruptly raised her head to look at Hun Feng, but he continued as if nothing were the matter: "I had intended to wait until you were older to tell you this, but since you've figured it out yourself, I'll make it clear to you today. Back then, I went to the Jia Ma Empire on business and met your mother for the first time in the Holy City of the Snake-People. At that time, she was already the Queen of the Snake-People Tribe. I took a liking to her, and she took a liking to me; it was that simple. But at the time, the relationship between the Hun Clan and the outside world was very tense, and your mother's status was special, so our affair couldn't be known by anyone. It was I who went to find her, and each time I went and returned in secret, keeping it hidden from everyone."

He paused, his tone remaining as habitually lazy and casual as if he were recounting an unrelated past event: "Later, your mother became pregnant. The situation was even more complicated then. I didn't dare bring her back to the Soul Realm, so I could only let her give birth to you in secret in the Jia Ma Empire. You were premature; you were born at nine months, a whole month earlier than other children. I wasn't by your mother's side when she gave birth to you. She gave birth to you alone in the Holy City of the Snake-People and nearly suffered a hemorrhage." His tone was very flat as he spoke, but his fingers gripping Medusa's shoulder tightened slightly. "Most premature babies don't look like their fathers. When you were little, you were all wrinkled like a bun, and your mother was even worried you wouldn't grow up. Later, you grew to look more and more like her, but your constitution was sturdier than anyone's, and your talent was higher than anyone's—so it's normal that you don't look much like me. Your sisters all look like their father, but that's because they were born full-term. You were premature; how could it be the same?"

Hun Muxiao listened in a daze, extremely complex emotions surging in her peach-blossom eyes. She had thought of countless possibilities, but she had never thought of this answer. A premature baby, born in secret, Father not by her side at the time, Mother nearly suffering a hemorrhage. Her nose soured, but she still pressed on: "Then why are my memories before the age of five so blurry? I only remember a very large courtyard, remember a man in black clothes holding me, and remember someone braiding my hair…"

"You did indeed live in a large courtyard for a while when you were little, when you were only three or four." Hun Feng did not change his expression. "At that time, I had just brought your mother out of the Jia Ma Empire. Some people within the Hun Clan had objections to your mother's status, so it wasn't convenient to bring her directly back to the Soul Realm. I temporarily settled you and her outside and entrusted a few reliable people to look after you. The uncle who held you was one of the guards, and the one who braided your hair was Xun'er—she often went to keep you mother and daughter company back then. Later, when the situation stabilized, I brought you back to the Soul Realm and formally married your mother, and you started calling me Father. Your memories from when you were little are blurry because the time you lived outside was too short, only a year or two, and you were so young, so it's normal that you don't remember it clearly."

He picked up a piece of honey cake from the plate and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and added vaguely: "If you don't believe me, ask your mother. Back then, in order to snatch your mother back, I disregarded the opposition of the entire Hun Clan and almost fell out with the Clan Leader. You were born in the Holy City of the Snake-People, premature by a month, and I wasn't present when your mother gave birth to you—your mother wouldn't lie to you about these things. So stop overthinking; you are my, Hun Feng's, biological daughter. It's normal for a premature baby not to look like their father; have you ever seen a premature baby that looked exactly like their father?"

Hun Muxiao opened her mouth, and was actually left speechless by his words. She tilted her head to look at Medusa. Medusa looked at Hun Feng's face, which showed no change while spinning lies, and didn't know what to feel, but she knew that Hun Feng was shielding her. If her daughter found out there was another secret to her origins, this family would truly fall apart. She suppressed all complex emotions, cooperated with Hun Feng's lie, and nodded gently: "What your father said is true. Back then, when Mother gave birth to you, it was a premature birth, and I barely pulled through. You didn't look like him when you were little, but your talent was higher than his back then. Stop overthinking; you are Father's biological daughter."

Hun Muxiao looked at her mother's serious expression, then at her father's face which wore an expression of taking it for granted, and the heavy stone that had been pressing on her heart all night suddenly felt much lighter. So, she was a premature baby, which was why she didn't look like Father; so, she had stayed outside when she was little, which was why she had blurry memories. Everything made sense. The head she had kept lowered all night was finally lifted, and the fog that had troubled her dissipated completely in the explanation that her parents had sung in harmony. She suddenly felt she was quite silly, not sleeping all night for such a question, and almost thinking she had been picked up. She rubbed her forehead where Hun Feng had flicked her, and muttered that she knew.

Hun Feng flicked her on the forehead again, urging her to go catch up on sleep, saying that if a sixteen-year-old girl walked around with such large dark circles under her eyes, and word got out, where would he, Emperor Shitian, put his face. Hun Muxiao covered her forehead and made a face at him, then turned and walked toward the door. After walking a few steps, she turned back to look at Medusa and said they should have said so earlier, causing her to not sleep all night. Medusa did not speak, just nodded gently at her. When Hun Muxiao closed the door, Hun Feng still heard her yawn outside the door, muttering, "Born at nine months, no wonder I don't look like Father."

The bedchamber quieted down. Hun Feng leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. Medusa was silent for a long time, then softly said thank you. Hun Feng opened his eyes and looked at her, his tone devoid of the earlier playfulness, leaving only seriousness: "She is my daughter. From the year she was six and rode on my shoulders to pick ghost bell orchids, she has been my daughter. This fact, no one is allowed to change. If she asks again in the future, stick to this same story, don't give yourself away." Medusa nodded gently.

Hun Muxiao returned to her room, took off her outer garment, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes, preparing to catch up on sleep. Half-asleep and half-awake, she suddenly thought of a question—Father said Mother almost suffered a hemorrhage when giving birth to her, but could the constitution of a Queen of the Snake-People Tribe also have difficult labor? Forget it, don't think about it; anyway, she was Father's biological daughter. This thought allowed her to turn over with peace of mind, and in less than a moment, she fell into a deep sleep, a faint smile still hanging at the corners of her lips.