Missing Thoughts

(Some content has been omitted due to content policy conflicts)

Because Lady Su believed Mister Zhou's words about cold air entering the body and harming it, she would help Yu Sui expel the cold air every seven days.

Yu Sui smiled at Lady Su, holding out the tiger plush toy in her hands and inviting her to play.

Lady Su didn't spare her another glance and turned to leave.

The Mute Woman couldn't speak.

Lady Su didn't speak to her.

So, Yu Sui was already one year old, and still a child who couldn't speak.

*

Ever since Lady Su said that Qingkui was being looked after by Mister Zhou, Yu Sui hadn't seen her older sister again.

Not until tonight, when someone attacked the Ancestral Hall. After Lady Su killed them, Mister Zhou arrived with a wailing Qingkui, saying she had been frightened and kept crying, clamoring to see her mother.

Yu Sui climbed out of her small bed and peeked outside, only to be pushed back by the Mute Woman guarding her.

"Go back," Lady Su crouched down and wiped the little girl's tears.

Qingkui choked out, "I don't want to, I want to sleep with Mother."

She seemed to have seen Yu Sui inside and changed her words, "I want to sleep with Mother and Sister."

Lady Su frowned, seemingly preoccupied with other matters, and ignored her, letting the Mute Woman take Qingkui inside.

When Qingkui saw Yu Sui, she acted as if she'd found a new toy. She stopped crying and leaned closer, reaching out to pinch Yu Sui's cheek. Yu Sui tilted her head and smiled at her, and Qingkui smiled back.

"I haven't seen you in so long," the four-year-old Qingkui sat by Yu Sui's bed. "I've grown taller, and you've gotten bigger too."

Yu Sui blinked.

"Why aren't you talking?" Qingkui turned to look at her. "You should call me Older Sister."

Yu Sui: "Old-- "

Qingkui earnestly taught her, "Old--er Sister!"

Yu Sui: "Old--er."

"That's not how you say it!" Qingkui pointed to herself. "Older Sister!"

Yu Sui playfully refused to call her that. Qingkui sighed at the end of her teaching, "You're so stupid."

The two children played until Qingkui, falling asleep first, lay down beside Yu Sui. Yu Sui also closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Lady Su walked into the room, lifted the tent curtain, and looked at the sleeping children. She leaned down and pulled the blanket Qingkui had kicked off back over her.

Mister Zhou stood in the shadows of the doorway and said gravely, "The location of Mount Luo has already been discovered by them. The Luosha Practitioners from the Yin-Yang School, Military School, and Taoist School have all been summoned. Your old wounds haven't healed, and if this drags on, their numbers will grow, and the people coming here will become stronger. It will be difficult to protect Qingkui."

2 Chapter 2 (Page 2/2)

Lady Su lowered the tent curtain and turned around, her dark, bright eyes glinting coldly.

She was silent for a moment, then said softly, "You take Qingkui and leave."

Mister Zhou looked up.

Lady Su said, "Let Qingkui leave. Let her grow up safely, far from conflict and danger."

"Mister, I'm only asking this of you this once."

Lady Su bowed her head to Mister Zhou.

"Are you going back?" Mister Zhou stared at her and asked.

Lady Su's eyelashes trembled slightly, then she raised her head and said, "I will take the other child back. All eyes will be on this child, and no one will pay attention to Qingkui."

Mister Zhou agreed.

The next day, Qingkui was woken by the Mute Woman. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, still looking half-asleep.

"Kui'er," Lady Su reached out her hand to Qingkui. "Let's go."

Qingkui responded and took Lady Su's hand as they left.

After this day, Yu Sui never saw her older sister Qingkui again.

*

Yu Sui was not idle when she was awake. She often detached her consciousness to observe the cluster of flames deep within her mind. Sometimes the flames were still, and sometimes they flickered, burning.

She called the moment she first received knowledge of the Strange Fire the "Inheritance Baptism." During the Inheritance Baptism, the flames Yu Sui saw were the same as the flames in her consciousness now.

Was this the Strange Fire?

It could burn all things in the world, crack the earth, and devour all living beings.

Yu Sui's consciousness wanted to touch that small cluster of flames, and then she truly felt the temperature of the flames – it was ice-cold.

When she fell asleep, her consciousness stayed by the flames, but she felt warmth spreading through her limbs, blocking the cold air from Mount Luo outside her heart meridian, so she didn't feel any pain.

When Yu Sui was alone, the flames remained still.

Only when someone approached her did the flames begin to move.

During the year no one spoke to her, she would talk to the Strange Fire herself. Although the Strange Fire didn't respond, she at least had someone to confide in.

Yu Sui patiently studied the Strange Fire. After Mister Zhou and Qingkui left, Lady Su visited her less and less. She only had the Mute Woman by her side.

Based on their previous conversation, the pursuers who would visit Mount Luo next would be stronger. Lady Su was injured and hadn't healed yet, so she wasn't strong enough to protect her children from these people.

Thus, Lady Su planned to take another child back with her.

Yu Sui wondered if she was the other unlucky child. Where would "back" refer to?

One month later.

The Strange Fire deep within Yu Sui's consciousness stirred slightly. Someone, treading the starry night, arrived by the child's bedside and reached out a hand. A dark brown sleeve fell by the bedside. Fingers, with distinct joints, curved slightly as the man gently lifted the sleeping child.

A gust of wind blew the door open with a bang. All the candles on the ground were extinguished, leaving only the moonlight to stream in and fall upon the man.

Yu Sui opened her eyes and saw a smiling face, handsome and elegant, yet sinister.

Though he smiled, a heavy oppressive aura emanated from him, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue around your neck, its fangs already sunk into your throat, forcing you to obey.

The man looked at Lady Su outside the door and said with a gentle smile, "Susu, you made my daughter and I wait over a year to see each other. Don't be difficult now, come back with me."

This year, one-year-old Yu Sui met her father, Nangong Ming, the only non-royal king of Qingyang Nation.

Lady Su stood outside the door, her expressionless face, head slightly bowed. She said nothing.

The maid and the Mute Woman were held captive by the people Nangong Ming brought, unable to move. There were also many bodies on the ground.

Nangong Ming walked out carrying Yu Sui, completely ignoring everyone else. He naturally walked up to Lady Su, lowered his head, and pressed his forehead against hers. "If you hadn't been soft-hearted, all my daughters would have died. You kept one, and I will be grateful to you."

Yu Sui felt that her father was an even more difficult character than her mother.

Nangong Ming's words were gentle and soft, but the atmosphere around him grew increasingly sinister. The air seemed to be drawn out, and an invisible gravity pressed down on her heart, making her uncomfortable. A sense of fear rose from the depths of her heart for no reason. Yu Sui truly experienced what it meant to have an aura that could "scare a child into crying."

She struggled in Nangong Ming's arms, babbling and frowning to express her discomfort.

Nangong Ming distanced himself from Lady Su, glanced at Yu Sui with a smile, and patted her head to comfort her. "Susu, let's go. Come home with me."

Lady Su had no choice but to follow Nangong Ming.

This was also the first time Yu Sui had stepped out of that dark little room.

The outside world was more interesting than Yu Sui had imagined.

She only had time for a fleeting glimpse of a corner of Mount Luo before Nangong Ming took her back to the Imperial Capital of Qingyang.

The mountains and seas along the way offered breathtaking scenery. Before Yu Sui could savor it, she had already stepped into the Red Gate Red Wall of the King's Mansion.

Lord Nangong returned to his mansion, bringing back Lady Su, who had been away, and the young princess born elsewhere.

From the main gate to the main hall, there were people everywhere. Servants bowed their heads, serving as instructed, holding the clothes and food prepared to welcome the lady and the young princess.

Nangong Ming was only interested in the child in his arms from beginning to end, using different objects to amuse her. As soon as Yu Sui's gaze shifted away from what he was holding, Nangong Ming would switch to something else.

The main hall was already filled with members of the Nangong family.

Several young ladies fanned themselves, their gazes occasionally sweeping outside the hall. The older ladies rested with their eyes closed in their seats. The three boys at the next table played by themselves, not speaking to each other.

Men in brocade robes either sat or stood. Those standing frowned and paced back and forth near the entrance.

Distant relatives stood to the side, silent.

Nangong Ming had not married, so there was no official consort in the mansion, but he had three concubines. Including Lady Su, who had now returned, there were four.

As the dark figure approached, the men and women seated stood up.

"Is everyone here?" Nangong Ming entered the main hall carrying Yu Sui. The flowering trees along the aisle swayed gently in the morning breeze. He placed Yu Sui on the table and said to everyone with a smile, "The King's Mansion has a new young princess. Her name is..."

Nangong Ming looked at Lady Su. "Does she have a name?"

Lady Su looked back at him with a cold expression. "No."

Nangong Ming showed no anger, still smiling gently.

Yu Sui wanted to quietly get down from the table while Nangong Ming wasn't looking, but she accidentally knocked over a bowl. The delicate porcelain bowl shattered on the floor with a loud crack.

The sound of shattering made the atmosphere in the hall become eerie and oppressive again.

Yu Sui didn't dare to move, sitting at the table pretending to be foolish.

Nangong Ming leaned down and picked up a shard of the porcelain bowl. He placed the shard in Yu Sui's hand and said gently, "May broken things bring peace. Since it's so fitting, you shall be named Nangong Sui."

When the name Nangong was spoken, everyone's gaze turned towards the two of them, with clear disbelief.

Because they knew that only those who were future inheritors of the King's Title could bear the surname Nangong.