Yun Qing cradled the little chick's "corpse," his shoulders shaking.
"Wah, Little Golden Fur, your father doesn't want you anymore. He thinks you're nothing but a useless incarnation. From now on, you and I will have only each other."
"Don't worry. Your big brother will preserve your 'mortal remains' properly and burn the finest dried spirit insects for you every year."
Those sobs, those tremors, that pose of utter devastation-anyone who heard him would grieve, and anyone who saw him would weep.
Provided they ignored the four eyes secretly peeking through his fingers.
Yun Huang stood with his hands behind his back, his pale golden eyes calmly watching his elder brother cry as though his "heart and guts had been torn apart." His face remained utterly expressionless.
His Majesty the Immortal Emperor had swept across Ten Thousand Ages. What spectacle had he not seen?
A quarter of an hour.
Half an hour.
The sobbing still rose and fell in expressive waves. He could even adjust its volume and anguish according to where Yun Huang looked.
Whenever Yun Huang glanced over, the crying abruptly grew three degrees more heartrending. Once he looked away, it subsided a little into quiet sniffling.
"...Utterly lawless," Yun Huang muttered.
The sobbing paused briefly, then resumed with even greater effort-and some new lines:
"Little Huang, open your eyes and look at your big brother! I'll never tug your fluff again, never laugh when your feathers puff up again, boo-hoo!"
Yun Huang closed his eyes briefly and decided that out of sight was out of mind.
The next instant, he became a streak of light and shot straight into the depths of the Star-Watching Terrace. Before leaving, he glanced at the fellow still "pouring his heart into the performance" and said casually:
"Wait here a moment. The