Mother

"No, Father! Listen to me explain... Ah!"

"Xiao Yan Zi climbed up here himself. I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me—"

"Is that what I'm asking about, hmm?"

Wails mixed with the horrifying sound of someone being whipped like a spinning top echoed through the night sky. The scene was utterly bleak and chilling, desolate and profound.

Clack.

Xiao Yan silently closed the door, shutting the human tragedy outside.

He was merely a weak, helpless, pitiful bystander. Pursuing responsibility, invoking clan law, and the like naturally had nothing to do with him.

Perhaps he would even have to add his undercover identity to the list? Being whipped into a spinning top now is still better than being caught and dragged back halfway there in the future. One beating for running away from home, another for leaving without saying goodbye, and yet another for becoming a mercenary...

Eldest Brother, I'm doing this for your own good!

"Third Young Master."

Hearing the commotion at the door, the Maid came out from the inner room and bowed to greet him.

"How is Mother?"

"Madam slept for a little while earlier, and she's only just woken up..." The Maid patted the towel on her arm. "She said she didn't want to sleep anymore, so I wiped her face."

Hopefully she wasn't woken by those screams. Xiao Yan considered whether it would be feasible to have Xiao Zhan gag him before starting the beating again.

"Got it. Go ahead and take care of your duties."

"Mm."

A heavy curtain separated the outer and inner rooms. Even the inner room's windows were covered with a layer of thick cotton. They were opened for ventilation only at noon on clear days; otherwise, the room remained stifling and sealed.

"Yan'er?"

Under the dim firelight, the woman lying on the bed breathed faintly. Even speaking seemed to take considerable effort, sounding more like a sigh than words.

"Mm." Xiao Yan walked to the table, touched the lid of the kettle with a finger, and poured a bowl of water.

"Did your Second Brother and the others provoke your father again?"

"Mm, but it was Eldest Brother's fault."

Xiao Yan poured water back and forth between two bowls as white steam rose in waves. "Does Mother like Eldest Brother a lot? You scold Second Brother every time."

"Sigh..."

The mother's voice was filled with exhaustion, along with a faint tremor. Perhaps she had recalled something. "Your Eldest Brother has had a hard life... I can't side with your monkey-like Second Brother all the time and neglect him."

A half-grown boy carried his younger brother and fled, catching up with the main group as they pursued them through the forest where enemies lay hidden...

Rain poured from the heavens. The youth played in the water and kneaded mud with his younger brother. When the boy cried that he was hungry, he climbed trees to raid birds' nests and caught rabbits on the ground, handling everything from food and drink to bodily needs...

He accompanied his younger brother through every winter and festival, slowly learning to cook and mend clothes himself until their circumstances improved enough to hire servants...

And there was that frail body, along with the cultivation he had neglected for so long...

The eldest son of the Xiao Clan, whom everyone discussed, had taken on far too much.

"A hard life? Then doesn't that include you, Mother?" Xiao Yan blew on the hot air rising from the water's surface and took a sip.

"A hard life? Your mother is content enough. Closing my eyes early would only mean one less burden..." His mother rambled somewhat, once again dragging out matters that did not need to be mentioned. "Back then, I never expected to gain anything from this journey."

"This journey?"

"..."

The woman fell silent for a while, not knowing which memory she had sunk into—or perhaps there were simply too many memories, and she did not know where to begin.

Was it the injured youth who had stood before her and saved her life? Or the moment he had held her tightly in front of Father and said, That's right. It has to be her.

Perhaps there had also been those words amid that chaotic blood-soaked night: I'm here, I'm here...

"Yes, this journey."

"It's still early~ Mother still has a long road ahead. You'll be walking for a very, very long time." Xiao Yan wiped his face, carried the bowl over to the bed, and held it out. "Want some water?"

"No, no need..."

"Here."

Before his mother could finish speaking, the bowl was already pressed to her lips. After hesitating several times, she ultimately drank more than half of it.

Xiao Yan glanced at her slightly dry lips but said nothing.

The same conversation had probably happened countless times in this room, with the Maid answering every question with "No need."

It was just like a repeat of the people and events from his previous life.

I'll pour her some more water later...

"You're injured."

Though she had been bedridden for a long time, the woman's senses remained as sharp as ever. He had held the bowl out for only a brief moment, yet she had already detected something unusual in the scent.

"It's nothing serious. I only scraped myself a little while climbing the mountain. I didn't even bleed."

Xiao Yan adjusted the bandage around his hand. The few simple movements just now had loosened its edge again.

You're lying.

The woman did not speak again, but she knew exactly what had happened.

That distinctive smell... She had used this medicine too, applying it countless times to her husband. Even when she and Xiao Zhan had first met, that same scent had clung to him.

He had clearly injured his muscles and bones.

"Don't push your cultivation too hard. You're still young. If you damage your body, you'll regret it later."

"But Eldest Brother said I had to seize every moment in cultivation and never waste my time."

"That child! What nonsense has he been teaching you every day? How can someone your age train like that?!" The woman was clearly angry, yet she seemed considerably more vigorous.

The scapegoat on my back is already heavy enough. A few more charges won't matter...

Without hesitation, Xiao Yan continued throwing his teammates under the carriage and setting up his brother. "But Eldest Brother said that if I didn't cultivate properly, I'd have to go outside and become a mercenary just like him... Mm, I heard he might not even be able to come back once every few years."

The room suddenly fell as silent as death.

"Call Xiao Ding... to your mother."

The woman's words emerged with unprecedented clarity, each one distinct. "Your father too."

Eldest Brother, you know me. I'm doing all this for your own good.

Before leaving, Xiao Yan glanced back at the bed.

Going to the Great Desert to become a mercenary, gone for years with no return date. In the original story, you probably never even got to see Mother one last time...

"Eldest Brother—Mother wants to chat with you!"

"Huh?"

A certain spinning top that had just come to a stop raised his head and looked over.

"Ahem... I told Mother." Xiao Yan closed his eyes, enduring his grief and sympathy. He almost burst out laughing.

"You! No, wait—what?!"

The sky collapsed on Xiao Ding.

His adorable, sensible Third Brother had finally become just like his Second Brother.

The white-robed youth, who had been leaping around and crying for Father and Mother, could now only cry for Father. He rushed over, hugged Xiao Zhan's leg, and begged for help. "Father, my dear Father! Quickly think of something and save my miserable life!"

"Those who help themselves receive Heaven's help."

Xiao Zhan clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the moon. "Pray for yourself."

Don't drag your father into your deadly schemes, you little bastard. You put on a respectable face all day while doing nothing but plotting against your old man!

"Father, Mother said you too."

"Wait... What?!"

The Xiao Clan Leader pointed at the moon, then at himself. Even studying the moon was enough to get him dragged into this? Surely not...

"Ahem."

As if realizing that the spinning top around his leg was watching him, Xiao Zhan tugged at his belt and puffed himself up. "Fine! Just tell your mother that this clan leader knows."

"Mm!"

Xiao Yan turned toward the inner room. "Mother—Father says he's the one in charge!"

"You little brat, what did you say?!"

The Xiao Clan Compound was very lively that night, even becoming the subject of study for the other two clans for a time.

What kind of conspiracy is this Xiao Zhan planning? .JPG

The old mother's name was never given. She only appeared in one chapter anyway, so I won't give her a name.

October 6 update—

New readers may not know what this is, but it doesn't matter. You'll understand once you read further—if you can make it that far—

The original work never explicitly explained why Xiao Yan set aside his transmigrator mentality and completely integrated himself into the world of Battle Through the Heavens. It only said that his family had been supportive, without even one extra sentence. So I'm doing my best to fill in that gap. One of the core elements of this book is expanding on the original work...

Xiao Zhan had enormous internal and external troubles to deal with: the clan was fracturing, authority was being fiercely contested, and there was a mountain of problems. Yet he could still joke and play with his sons like a brother, never placing even the slightest bit of pressure on his little family.

The two brothers never said it aloud, but they cared deeply about their father and their family. They climbed onto the roof to listen in, and each had his own opinions and plans. As for the mother, she was afflicted with a serious illness and usually accompanied by Xiao Yan. She was gentle, frugal, calm, and sensitive. Born into an ordinary family, she paid close attention to every detail concerning her family members and cared deeply about their feelings. She never hesitated to show concern and would never allow any one of them to feel neglected.

At the same time, this roughly establishes the protagonist's underlying nature: forceful—even toward his mother, though more subtly—stubborn, and genuinely not a very good person (not really). He had transmigrated into this world, but he had become a member of this family.