265: Chapter 265 Companionship

Hun Feng was true to his word.

From that day on, everyone in the Imperial City noticed a change. The time the Hall Master spent reviewing documents was compressed from four hours a day to less than one, with all remaining administrative affairs handed over to Hun Qian and the four great branch Hall Masters. Hun Qian managed to hold it together at first, but after a few days, he started running to Soul Mie Sheng with a stack of files three times thicker than usual; the two locked eyes, both seeing the same wry smile on the other's face. But no one complained—it was rare for the Hall Master to have free time, and as subordinates, they could only be happy.

Hun Feng compressed his daily cultivation time to one hour. During this hour, he trained harder than ever before, often stepping into the secret chamber alone before dawn, driving the twin laws of space and time to their limits, repeatedly striking at the boundaries of the power of rules within a cocoon of interwoven silver and gold light. When he emerged from the secret chamber, the lingering resonance of the laws still clung to his dark black robes, but the expression on his face was no longer the furrowed contemplation of the past; it was the relaxation of someone preparing to eat breakfast.

All the time outside of this one hour was given entirely to his family.

Breakfast was a fixed, immovable routine for the family. The long rosewood table in the side hall of the Imperial City's main palace had always been mostly empty in the past—Hun Feng ate in his study, Cai Lin ate on the city walls, the daughters each had their own cultivation lessons, and Hun Feng's six women each had their own affairs. Now, however, at the hour of the dragon every day, the long table was guaranteed to be packed full. The six women sat on either side of Hun Feng, the seven daughters took their seats in turn, and even Xue Wei had been dragged along by Yao Yao to join for a few meals, with the excuse: "Since you have to watch the Hall Master eat in the study anyway, you might as well sit down and eat with us."

Hun Mulan was a little unaccustomed to it at first. She was the youngest, but her height was already catching up to her older sisters; sitting at the end of the table, watching her father personally place food into her mothers' bowls, she always felt that this scene was not quite the same as before. In the past, her father would always finish his meal in a few bites and then get up to go to the study, occasionally looking up at them, giving a few instructions about cultivation, and then leaving. Now, he sat at the table, sipping his porridge in a leisurely manner, occasionally picking up a piece of crispy bamboo shoot for Cai Lin, adding a piece of roasted meat to Yao Yao's bowl, casually refilling the empty teacup beside Xun'er, and leaning over to ask Yun Yun if the spirit rice porridge was to her liking today.

Asked this in front of the whole table, Yun Yun felt a bit uncomfortable, her hand holding the bowl unsteady, a faint blush rising on her gentle face as she softly said, "It is," her voice three parts softer than usual.

"Mother, you're blushing." Hun Mulan called out to her mother across several of her sisters, and the table immediately burst into laughter. Cao Ying laughed so hard she almost dropped her chopsticks, and Yao Yao was even less reserved, slapping the table, her peach-blossom eyes curved with laughter.

After breakfast, Hun Feng would usually lead the vast, bustling family out of the city. Although the Burning Heaven Mountain Range was covered in volcanoes, there were also many places with excellent scenery—such as the hot spring valley behind the mountain, hidden among several dormant volcanoes, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, the spring water emitting faint white steam as it surged from the ground, with patches of fire crystal flowers growing in the valley, each one like a small cluster of solidified flame. Then there was the Fire Crystal Cliff, over a thousand feet high, its cliff face embedded with translucent fire crystal ore; at sunset, the entire cliff would be dyed golden-red by the setting sun, the light flowing like a waterfall of molten gold pouring down from the cliff top. And there was the Sky Star Terrace, the highest platform in the Burning Heaven Mountain Range, facing the continuous volcanic range; at night, lying on the stone slabs, one could see the galaxy spanning the sky, with occasional shooting stars streaking across.

In the past, Hun Feng only passed by these places when patrolling the spirit veins, never pausing his steps. Now, he took his wives and daughters to visit them one by one. He accompanied them to watch the sunset on the Fire Crystal Cliff three times; in the hot spring valley, he rolled up his trouser legs and went into the water to fish out a fire crystal stone for Cai Lin that was said to nourish the skin; on the Sky Star Terrace, he lay in the middle, with Xun'er on his left and Yao Yao on his right, the daughters sitting around them, and the youngest, Hun Mulan, lying on his lap counting stars.

The liveliest time was the one by the mountain stream. The stream water flowed out from the hot spring valley, the temperature was neither cold nor hot, clear to the bottom, and the pebbles at the bottom of the stream had been polished round and smooth by the water. Yao Yao was the first to take off her shoes and socks and step barefoot into the water, turning back to wave and call out to the others that it was cool. Cao Ying hesitated for less than a breath before following her into the water, and the two splashed each other in the stream, their laughter echoing through the valley. Cai Lin sat upright on a flat blue stone by the stream, her purple snake eyes watching the two playing in the water, a faint smile hanging on the corner of her lips. She never went into the water—not because she didn't want to, but because she always had to maintain that cold, noble demeanor in front of others; she couldn't bring herself to do something like wading in water. But Hun Feng knew she enjoyed it in her heart, so he didn't force her, just sat beside her, keeping her company as they watched the laughter and joy in the stream.

The daughters were even more wild with play. Hun Muying and Hun Muqing took off their outer robes and jumped into the water wearing only their inner garments, splashing each other until their hair was soaked through, not caring that the strands were plastered to their faces. Hun Muxian and Hun Musheng rolled up their skirts and sat on the stream stones to soak their feet, each holding a cup of cold tea that Xun'er had brought, occasionally exchanging glances and smiling to themselves. Hun Muling caught a small fish in the stream and held it out to Hun Mulan, scaring the youngest sister into a shriek, but then she realized the fish was only as long as a finger and chased Hun Muling around the stream three times in anger.

The six women watched their daughters playing, smiles in their eyes. Yao Yao came up from the stream, stepping barefoot on the grass, her peach-blossom eyes sparkling; she had picked a bunch of wildflowers from somewhere to weave into a wreath and quietly placed it on Cai Lin's head when she wasn't paying attention. Cai Lin raised her hand to take it off, but Hun Feng held her hand down and said, "It looks good, keep it," so she really didn't take it off, just glared at Yao Yao, though there wasn't a hint of anger in that look. Yao Yao laughed so hard beside her that she couldn't straighten her back.

Dinner was still the whole family sitting around one table. After the meal, Hun Feng would accompany his wives and daughters to sit for a while on the viewing platform behind the main palace, sometimes chatting about cultivation insights, sometimes about interesting things in the Imperial City, and sometimes not chatting at all, just quietly watching the magma erupting from the crater rise and fall in the night. The girls chattered around their parents; Hun Muling said she had almost won against her second sister at the Martial Arena today, and Hun Muqing expressionlessly corrected her, saying she was still far off. Hun Muxian spoke softly about a lost sword manual she had recently found in the Scripture Pavilion, and Hun Musheng rarely took the initiative to add, "I have seen that volume too." Hun Mulan dozed off beside Yun Yun, her head bobbing, but Yun Yun didn't wake her, simply reaching out to support her tilting head and letting her rest on her lap.

Around the hour of the pig, the daughters returned to their respective rooms. Hun Feng would take the hand of the wife who was accompanying him that night and return to the sleeping quarters. He kept them company talking, watching the stars, and doing everything he hadn't had time for in the past. The smiles on the faces of the six wives became more frequent, and their complexions became more radiant, as if they had been nourished from the inside out by something invisible, their whole being exuding a soft light from their very bones. One day, Yao Yao woke up early and looked in the bronze mirror, then suddenly turned back to Hun Feng, who was putting on his outer robe, and said, "How come I feel like I've become better looking?" Hun Feng, without turning his head, said, "You were already good-looking," which made Yao Yao keep the corners of her mouth curled up all morning. There was a new, rarely seen gentleness and charm at the corners of Xun'er's eyes, not heavy, but extremely faint, like a thin layer of glaze on white porcelain. Even Cai Lin's complexion was much better than before, and occasionally in front of people, she would slightly curl the corners of her lips, causing a few daughters to whisper to each other, "Mother looks really beautiful when she smiles."

The one with the biggest change was Xiao Yi Xian. She remained as cold and reticent as ever, but there was finally a healthy flush on her fair face. It was not rouge, but a healthy, nourished luster that shone through from beneath her skin. When she walked, she was no longer as light as a shadow as before; her footsteps had a solid echo as they landed on the stone slabs.

Such days passed one by one, and even the daughters began to complain. That evening, the family was sitting on the viewing platform watching the sunset when Hun Muling suddenly nudged Hun Muying with her elbow and muttered—but her "whisper" was at a volume that the whole table could hear: "Second sister, don't you think Mom and Dad are showing off their affection too much lately? They're stuck together every day, it's giving me goosebumps."

Hun Muying took a sip from her teacup without changing her expression, a hint of a smile flashing in her phoenix eyes: "You only just noticed? I've been watching it all day. Didn't you see Dad applying sunscreen ointment for Mother Cai Lin in the hot spring valley this morning? That technique, that expression—tsk tsk."

"And at lunch, Dad picked up food for Mother Yao Yao six times." Hun Muqing added expressionlessly, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, "I counted. Six times. He picked up food for me once."

"You actually counted?" Hun Muling turned to glare at her.

"I was bored." Hun Muqing remained expressionless.

Hun Muxian sat to the side holding her teacup, a helpless smile rising on her elegant face, and she shook her head slightly. She was most like Xun'er, seeing through things but not speaking of them. Hun Musheng was more direct; she put down the pastry in her hand and said, "You'll get used to it," then continued eating the pastry. The youngest, Hun Mulan, lay on the table, looking at the parents stuck together on the left, then at the disgusted sisters on the right, and yawned, saying: "I think it's quite nice. Mom and Dad are happy, and I'm happy too."

Hun Muying reached out to ruffle her little sister's hair, her phoenix eyes full of doting affection.

Hun Feng sat on the other side of the viewing platform, and every word of the daughters' conversation drifted into his ears. He peeled a spirit fruit for Cai Lin and handed it to her without changing his expression, then casually tucked the outer robe that had been blown loose by the wind around Xun'er's shoulders, before picking up his teacup to take a sip, a faint smile rising on the corners of his lips.

On the way back to the sleeping quarters that night, Hun Muling was still discussing with Hun Muqing whether they should hide at the Martial Arena tomorrow to avoid the limelight. Hun Muqing expressionlessly replied, "It's useless; last time when Eldest Sister came back, Mom and Dad were still lovey-dovey in front of her," and Hun Muling immediately looked desperate.