"Master Xiao, do you remember that time you were looking for a night-blooming cereus..."
Chi Xiuchuan pushed his plate of pastries toward Xiao Xiao.
Little White Fox and the white snake exchanged approving looks with the human.
Chi Xiuchuan couldn't help smiling.
He didn't notice that Feifei and Taotie also looked at him with satisfaction.
Xiao Xiao let the few demons feast to their hearts' content, then looked at Chi Xiuchuan.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao indicated that he remembered. A thoughtful look crossed his face.
"It was the family I borrowed the night-blooming cereus from back then..."
"Something happened in their family."
Chi Xiuchuan's words confirmed Xiao Xiao's guess.
Xiao Xiao didn't speak. He simply listened quietly as Chi Xiuchuan told the story.
"...Actually, it wasn't that family. Something happened to the family of the male homeowner's younger brother..."
The family who had the night-blooming cereus was named Tao.
The man had once been Father Chi's patient.
Even after he recovered, he stayed in touch with Father Chi and sent gifts over during holidays and festivals.
A few days ago, he ran into Father Chi at the hospital and told him what had happened to his younger brother's family.
The younger brother of the man surnamed Tao was naturally also surnamed Tao.
To distinguish between the two, they would be referred to as Tao the Elder and Tao the Younger from here on.
Tao the Younger's first wife had died in a car accident two years earlier.
Their six-year-old daughter had survived by a miracle, protected beneath her mother.
But perhaps the sight of her mother dying had been too traumatic. Even after the girl's physical injuries had healed, the psychological trauma remained.
The girl had lost her voice.
There was nothing wrong with her vocal cords,