Yun Yao's Past

I answered, "Got it, sis. I'll be careful." Then I ended the conversation with Nangong Yiyi inside the Yin gathering token.

My conversation with Nangong Yiyi had lasted only a few seconds. Once I came back to my senses, I continued sizing up the young man named Jiang Yujie.

He had a crew cut and wore a leather jacket.

A belt was strapped around his waist, though it was a size larger than an ordinary belt.

There were slots on the belt, with eight identical throwing darts neatly tucked into them.

Those darts looked as though they had been made from some kind of "animal bone."

But upon closer inspection, they also had a metallic texture. For a moment, I couldn't tell what material they were made of.

His arms were thick and strong. He wore black cropped pants that left his ankles exposed.

He wore a pair of black leather boots, giving him a bit of a Wild West cowboy vibe. Put a tall hat on him, and he would look even more the part.

Yun Yao's grandfather looked at us. "All right, all right, don't stand outside.

Guests are guests. Let's go inside first. Please, both of you, come in."

Yun Yao smiled at me. "Come on, let's go in first."

Then she shot Jiang Yujie a glare. I noticed that he seemed a little afraid of her.

He walked around to my other side, and then all of us headed into the mansion together.

The inside was enormous, with many servants bustling briskly about.

Whenever they encountered Yun Yao and her grandfather, they bent at the waist and greeted them, "Greetings, Family Head. Greetings, Miss."

Yun Yao and her grandfather merely nodded slightly.

We went all the way into a huge living room, which had both an antique elegance and modern decorative touches.

There were countless antiques, calligraphy pieces, and paintings. It looked extravagantly luxurious.

Yun Yao's grandfather sat down on a sofa that had clearly been custom-made just for him, then raised a hand at us. "Sit."

Then he softly said to Yun Yao, "Yao Yao, have the servants bring tea." Yun Yao nodded.

Before long, two servants brought over a tea set and cups and began brewing tea for us.

Their technique was meticulous, and the tea set was exquisite. Soon, waves of tea fragrance drifted through the room.

They placed the tea before us. Its aroma was refreshing and soothing, and I felt somewhat awkward, unsure whether I should drink it or not.

Jiang Yujie, on the other hand, had no such reservations. He picked up his teacup and took a drink, only for the scalding tea to make him grimace in pain.

"It tastes good, but it's way too hot," Jiang Yujie said, blowing air from his mouth.

Yun Yao rolled her eyes at him. "Why didn't it scald you to death? Better yet, it should burn that filthy mouth of yours rotten."

Then the two of them started bickering back and forth.

Yun Yao's grandfather could only shake his head with a bitter smile. I watched their quarrel with an awkward expression as well.

What I hadn't expected was that Yun Yao looked like such a pure and lovely young girl, yet her language was incredibly crude. She was only one step away from insulting Jiang Yujie's ancestors.

The corner of my eye kept twitching as I listened from the side.

"All right, all right. You two grew up together, and you've loved bickering since you were children. Why are you still the same now that you're grown up?

Yao Yao, Yujie, there are guests in the house. Don't lose your manners," Yun Yao's grandfather said with a smile.

Only then did the two of them reluctantly shut up. They glared at each other once more before finally letting it go.

"Young friend, tell me about your situation," Yun Yao's grandfather said to me.

I stood up, intending to speak, but I didn't know how to address the old man. So I said, "It's like this, Yun Family Head..."

Before I could finish, Yun Yao's grandfather interrupted me.

"There's no need to address me that way. Our two families have had a good relationship, after all. Just call me Grandpa Yun."

I nodded and said okay, then repeated what my father had left me.

I kept something up my sleeve and didn't reveal certain important matters.

For example, Nangong Yiyi, the martial uncle who had taught me cultivation, and the matter of killing Little Puppy Huang Baibin in the cave.

I also concealed everything in my small space, as well as the Yin gathering token. I kept all those important things hidden.

Before martial uncle left, he had told me that when dealing with people, one should only speak three parts of what one knew. I had remembered that firmly.

I didn't dare expose all my trump cards. I was afraid I wouldn't even know how I died.

Grandpa Yun pondered for a moment. "Because we rarely leave the city, we don't know much about these matters.

But your father's disappearance and Yun Yao's father's disappearance happened at roughly the same time."

I froze, not understanding what was going on, and asked:

"Um... Grandpa Yun, why did Yun Yao's father disappear too? Does it have anything to do with my father's disappearance?"

I glanced at Yun Yao again and found that her eyes were a little red. She kept her head lowered and remained silent.

Grandpa Yun sighed. "Sigh... This goes back a long time."

Then he continued, "That was many years ago. Back then, my son, Yun Yao's father,

went somewhere with your father. I don't know where it was, but they were gone for a long time—two or three years, at least.

When he came back, he brought an infant girl with him and said she was his child. I was furious at the time.

After all, we were a prominent Lineage, and reputation mattered greatly. But the child had already been born, so there was nothing I could do.

I had that useless son of mine perform a blood-drop kinship test with the baby girl, and in the end, their blood fused.

I still couldn't accept it, so I went to all sorts of hospitals for paternity tests.

Every result was the same. That baby girl truly was my son's biological flesh and blood.

I had no choice but to accept it. Then I told my son to marry another woman, but he refused no matter what.

I said I would cast him out of the family, but he said that even if I did, he still would not marry. He didn't want to wrong the baby girl's mother.

And so, I had no choice. Nor could I truly cast him out of the family."

Seventeen years passed just like that, and life had been quite peaceful during those years.

Until some time ago, when my son told me that something might happen. The matter from back then might no longer be containable.

I asked him what it was, but he wouldn't tell me. He only told me to take good care of Yao Yao, and then he vanished without a trace."

I asked uncertainly, "That baby girl back then was Yun Yao?"

Grandpa Yun nodded and sighed, looking at Yun Yao with affectionate eyes.

Yun Yao threw herself against her grandfather and began to cry. Grandpa Yun gently patted her back.

It took Yun Yao quite a while to stop crying. Jiang Yujie, too, watched the scene with tightly furrowed brows.

After a while, once Yun Yao had been comforted, I thought everything over from beginning to end.

I realized that Yun Yao's experience was similar to mine. Neither of us had ever met our biological mother.

I arranged my words. "Actually, I've never met my mother either.

Perhaps she had still been around when I was little, but in all my memories, there isn't a single recollection of her.

My father said that my mother left when I was still very young.

Now that I thought about it, the 'very young' my father spoke of must have been about the same as Yun Yao."

Grandpa Yun looked at me, and a trace of sorrow passed through his eyes as well.

Grandpa Yun sighed. "Sigh... So you two are alike after all."

"It's all right. You can live here from now on, at Yun Mansion. Having two more people around is good.

Yun Mansion may look large, but there aren't many true relatives left."

"There are so many people here. Why do you say there aren't many relatives?" I asked.

Grandpa Yun closed his eyes in pain and shook his head, showing that he didn't want to say any more.

Yun Yao sniffled as she said, "Because my uncles sacrificed themselves in battle to protect the Yun family.

Those who are still alive spend most of the year away and rarely return. Besides, there are only a few uncles left alive."

Thinking of my own circumstances, my nose stung, and several tears slipped down as well.

My father's whereabouts were unknown, and I didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Qianqian had become a soul, and as for my grandfather, I had never held out any hope.

The only living person who had been good to me, martial uncle, had also left me to seek the truth. I was truly alone in the world, a solitary man with no kin.

If we were talking about misery, I had it far worse than Yun Yao. At least she had such a vast family fortune and could have anything she wanted.

Even if she simply lived as a wealthy idler, she could still spend her entire life freely and happily.

What about me? Either I would live under someone else's roof, wander from place to place, or perhaps die somewhere one day with no one even knowing.

Was there any other choice besides those? At least for now, I couldn't think of one.

Before I knew it, night had fallen. Yun Yao led me to the room arranged for me and said someone would come call me when dinner was ready.

I answered okay, and then Yun Yao left.