Chapter 470: Yan Rouwan’s Secret
Late at night, the Sang family members were all exhausted from a long day and had gone to sleep.
Tang Yubbing was the last to return. After finishing work at the company and taking care of family matters, she walked into the courtyard, yawning, and just happened to see Yan Rouwan playing with some cats.
Jiao Jiao and Hei Xia had fully awakened their intelligence, like two immature children.
Yan Rouwan often joined in their play.
“Sister Yubbing, finally done for the day?”
Seeing Tang Yubbing come back, Yan Rouwan greeted her with a smile.
“Yeah.” Tang Yubbing rubbed her sore shoulders and turned to look around, “I heard Shi Qingyan say that Si Jingzhu ran back crying. Did you see her?”
“I did.”
Yan Rouwan couldn’t help but sigh, “That girl’s face was like a ghost; she came back and immediately locked herself in her room. I guess Aunt Yu’s earlier blow was too much for her.”
“Was her reaction that extreme?” Tang Yubbing looked a bit surprised.
“Just a guess, might not be right.” Yan Rouwan blinked, “But when she ran back crying, she kept muttering something about a nightmare coming true.”
“But she’s been taking Young Master Sang’s medicine; she shouldn’t be dreaming.”
“So I wonder if it’s not a dream but rather something she felt. After all, her transformation was nurtured drop by drop with Aunt Yu’s blood—”
Tang Yubbing imagined Si Jingzhu seeing things from Aunt Yu’s perspective tangled up with Young Master Sang.
She suddenly felt like she could understand the little girl a bit.
“But it’s just Aunt Yu making a move first… Does it really need to be like this?”
“No choice. These are old grudges left over from the time in the Water Moon Sect. Si Shimei probably hasn’t forgiven Aunt Yu yet.”
Tang Yubbing didn’t rush back to her room but sat next to Yan Rouwan, casually cradling a cat in her arms and gently petting it.
The little Hei Xia nestled into her embrace, purring softly.
“Speaking of which, it’s not just about Si Jingzhu.”
“Do you miss anything from our time in the Water Moon Sect?”
Yan Rouwan thought for a moment and shook her head, “To think about it… it doesn’t seem like there’s much to miss.”
“After all, so much time has passed, and our former master has now become Aunt Yu, serving tea and water. Everything’s different.”
“That’s not quite right.” Tang Yubbing smiled in rebuttal, “At least you’re still the dazzling and outstanding prodigy.”
“I remember when I dragged you into the Demon Cult, you were just a small cultivator at the Nascent Soul level. And now you’ve smoothly reached the initial stages of tribulation without me even noticing how you leveled up!”
Yan Rouwan chuckled shyly, “It’s not that special. The Sect Leader is a bit younger than me and is already at the Ascended level.”
“That’s your twisted side.”
Tang Yubbing pouted quietly, “You’re the only one without any lucky encounters, yet you’ve advanced the fastest with the least training time.”
“Let’s not talk about the Sect Leader’s unique circumstances. Back when I stepped into the Harmonization Stage, I can’t even begin to count how many heavenly treasures I consumed from the company and family.”
“And you, just through your general cultivation, managed to rise without any bottlenecks, heading straight to tribulation. As fellow cultivators, your aptitude makes me so envious!”
Yan Rouwan giggled.
“Sigh, comparing people makes you feel inferior; this is what you call a true prodigy.”
Tang Yubbing sighed deeply and couldn’t help but glance down at the little Hei Xia in her arms, “Do you think your mom is furious?”
Little Hei Xia mewed obediently.
“… I’m not her mom.” Yan Rouwan chuckled, shooting a glare at Little Hei Xia.
“But you and Young Master Sang raised this cat together.” Tang Yubbing said matter-of-factly: “You both are definitely her mom and dad.”
Yan Rouwan was momentarily stunned.
She had never thought about this before.
“Our… child?”
Looking at the docile and cute Hei Xia, Yan Rouwan’s cheeks inexplicably flushed.
“Yawn~ I can’t take it anymore; I’m so tired. You should sleep early too.”
With that, Tang Yubbing yawned and returned to her room.
Yan Rouwan held the cat, continuing to sit alone in the softly lit courtyard under the moonlight. Her beautiful eyes were lost in thought, not knowing what to think about.
—
—
Suddenly, Yan Rouwan opened her eyes.
As she stood up in confusion, the surrounding scenery had somehow changed.
The previous courtyard had completely disappeared, and both Jiao Jiao and Little Hei Xia were nowhere to be seen.
It felt like she was in a barren and hazy mist.
Yan Rouwan stumbled to her feet and wandered aimlessly through the fog.
She sensed that there was a voice calling out to her.
It was both real and illusory, resembling both a man and a woman, barely audible.
“… Who’s speaking?”
Yan Rouwan searched in confusion for a long time.
At last, at the end of the mist, she saw a feather floating in mid-air.
The feather was pristine and pure, unlike any bird or beast’s, delicate to the point where you’d hesitate to touch it.
Yan Rouwan recognized this feather.
It was a treasure she found in a secret realm while working at the Heavenly Punishment Department.
Though she didn’t know its use or origin, she could feel the vast spiritual power it held and the inexplicable warmth it brought.
The Heavenly Punishment Department has always had the rule that employees could keep treasures they found without handing them over to the company.
While most treasures Yan Rouwan found in the secret realm were given to the Demon Cult, there was something about this feather that made her want to keep it.
Originally, she planned to use this feather as a gift for Young Master Sang.
But at this moment, she didn’t know if she was dreaming.
She also didn’t know why this feather suddenly appeared in her dream.
“Are you… calling me?”
Approaching the feather, Yan Rouwan gazed at it for a long while, eventually unable to resist reaching out to gently touch it.
“… Hmm!”
Suddenly, fragmented and vague memories flooded her mind.
Yan Rouwan winced and covered her head in pain; those memories were so chaotic and fragmented that they couldn’t form a continuous image, making it hard for her spiritual sense to understand the specific contents of those fragments.
It felt like something from a higher plane that she couldn’t perceive.
But eventually, those chaotic memories settled slowly until they completely dissipated.
Yan Rouwan finally grasped the feather.
The feather felt unusually smooth, like stroking her favorite little kitten.
She had loved these fluffy things since she was a child.
Yet, in that moment of holding the feather, a sense of bloodline connection and mutual understanding surged through Yan Rouwan, making her unable to help but softly murmur:
“Ancestral Immortal Feather…”
