Dragon City in the Far North.
Nan Shuishui brushed the snow from her clothes and entered the dining room.
Two young girls sat across from each other in the dining room. Xue'er was serene and graceful, while Qiuqiu was pretty and lively.
She took the seat at the head of the table and glanced at Xue'er, meeting the girl's clear eyes. Nan Shuishui sighed inwardly before speaking:
"Xue'er, the city lord's residence hasn't received any messages about anyone looking for you."
"Oh."
Xue'er answered, then lowered her head dejectedly.
The atmosphere at the table fell quiet along with the girl's spirits.
Just then, Nan Qiuqiu comforted her:
"Sister Xue'er, it's all right if you can't find your family for now. Why don't you make this your home from now on? I really like you, Sister Xue'er!"
"C... can I?"
Xue'er abruptly looked up at Nan Shuishui, seeking her permission.
Nan Shuishui had taken the girl in half a month ago, and she had not sensed the slightest malice from her.
Xue'er's cultivation talent was also excellent. Her Martial Soul was the Snow Maiden, and at a bone age of sixteen, she had already advanced to Soul King.
She was sweet-looking, blessed with the finest gifts of nature, and well-behaved and sensible, like a crystal of the purest ice. Nan Shuishui truly wondered which parents were fortunate enough to have a daughter who had seized the very wonders of heaven and earth.
"Of course. Xue'er, you can stay as long as you like. Tianqing has gone away to school, as it happens. With you here, the Earth Dragon Sect will be livelier too."
"Mm, Aunt Nan."
Xue'er nodded, breaking into a brilliant smile. But then, as if she had remembered something, she grew hesitant. Her little lips pouted, and she was too embarrassed to speak.
"What is it? Is there something you can't tell Aunt Nan?"
Nan Shuishui laid her warm hand over Xue'er's. Held by Nan Shuishui, Xue'er seemed encouraged. She gritted her teeth and finally mustered the courage to speak:
"Aunt Nan, may I call you Mom?"
The dining room fell silent. Xue'er lowered her head, not daring to look at anyone.
Nan Shuishui was taken aback as well. She stroked the smooth back of Xue'er's hand, easing the girl's nervousness:
"Can you tell Aunt Nan why?"
"It's just... when I first woke up and saw you, you felt especially dear to me. I want to call you that. May I?"
Xue'er looked at Nan Shuishui pitifully, her eyelashes fluttering and her damp eyes shining. She was so innocent and pure that one could not bear to refuse her.
Nan Shuishui's heart was deeply touched; she nearly melted. A protective urge rose within her, and she agreed almost without hesitation:
"All right, Xue'er. Since you're willing to call me Mom, you're my daughter from now on."
"Mom-"
"Yes, my good girl."
Xue'er eagerly threw herself into Nan Shuishui's arms. Nan Shuishui was overjoyed to hear her call her Mom. She hugged her tightly, her eyes growing moist as she wept for joy.
They truly looked like a mother and daughter reunited after years apart.
Watching the mother and daughter reunite, Nan Qiuqiu let her chopsticks slip from her hand. They clattered to the floor.
How did I gain an older sister in the blink of an eye?
Mom won't stop loving me, will she?
Sure enough...
"Qiuqiu, Xue'er is your older sister from now on. You must learn from your sister in everything you do, understand?"
Nan Qiuqiu said nothing and nodded mutely.
Nan Shuishui rubbed Xue'er's head and took an ice crystal radiating a dim, chill cold from her Storage Soul Tool:
"Xue'er, since you've accepted me as your mother today, I don't have much to give you. This piece of Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow should help you take your cultivation a step further. Keep it and cultivate well with it. Remember not to tell anyone else, understand?"
Feeling the extreme cold coming from the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow, Xue'er rejoiced inwardly, but she did not show it. She merely glanced at it before wrapping her arms tightly around Nan Shuishui's waist and nuzzling her little face against her:
"Mom, I don't need any presents. I'm perfectly happy just having you."
"Keep it. What a good child..."
Watching Nan Shuishui overflow with motherly love, Nan Qiuqiu felt a growing panic in her heart:
So love can disappear, can't it?
Nan Shuishui seemed to finally notice her own daughter's resentment. She raised a hand, and a bead appeared in it. She held it out to Nan Qiuqiu:
"Qiuqiu, your Brother Tianqing sent this to you."
Nan Qiuqiu took it. The bead was golden and transparent, like amber, with a mosquito about a centimeter long inside it.
Brother Tianqing still remembers his promise to me. Brother Tianqing really is the best!
Nan Qiuqiu glanced at Xue'er, who had her face buried in Nan Shuishui's embrace:
Hmph~ Even if she takes a share of Qiuqiu's motherly love, I'm Brother Tianqing's best little sister. No matter what, I won't yield the bond we've built over twelve years as brother and sister!
After lunch, Nan Shuishui returned to her room and closed the door. Once she reached her dressing table, she took out a package with a letter lying on top. It had come from Yu Tianqing.
She unfolded the letter. Yu Tianqing had filled an entire page:
"My wife Shuishui, seeing these words is like seeing me. I've been gone a week, and I miss you terribly."
"I've arrived in Star Luo City. Unlike the Far North, snow doesn't fall here all day, and it's especially lively. Even late at night, the lights are still bright."
"Amid the bustle, I've seen the lights of countless homes, yet you're the one person missing from my side. It makes me miss you all the more. I hope that one day we can travel arm in arm, visiting every corner of this continent and leaving our footprints behind."
"I also bought a garment and sent it with this letter in the package. It's a style of clothing unique to the Star Luo Empire. When I saw others wearing it, I thought my wife Shuishui would look even more beautiful in it."
"..."
After reading the letter, Nan Shuishui glanced at the pink garment in the package and muttered with a little huff:
"Stinky man, all he knows how to do is waste money."
Meanwhile, Xue'er entered her room, where a green-haired woman was sitting in a chair.
Xue'er was not surprised to see the Ice Empress. Her innocent, carefree expression vanished, replaced by a cold aloofness, and she casually tossed the piece of Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow to the Ice Empress:
"Bing'er, go back and absorb this Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow first. Have A-Tai and Xiao Bai guard you while you break through to four hundred thousand years."
"Xue'er, you're the Lord of the Far North, an ice and snow spirit born of heaven and nurtured by earth. How can you acknowledge a human woman as family?"
The Ice Empress caught the piece of Profound Ice Marrow, her expression complicated.
She had heard every word of the conversation just now.
"After a Soul Beast Transformation, one needs to enter human society and adapt. That's more beneficial to my cultivation. I have a snow lotus sealing my origin, so my Soul Beast presence won't leak out at all."
"Mom is good to me, and you don't need to worry about my safety either."
At this, the Snow Empress smiled from the heart. But when she saw the Ice Empress's expression, she explained:
"Bing'er, I took human form mainly to get close to that person. He chose to lure you away alone for the sake of those close to him, so he clearly values his bonds too. Nothing else matters, understand?"
The Ice Empress wanted to speak but hesitated. She felt that since the Snow Empress had taken human form, she had not only become a human, but seemed to have become a different person altogether.
A bittersweet feeling welled up in her heart. She felt as though the Snow Empress she had known was drifting farther and farther away.
She opened the window with an indignant look and turned into a streak of green light, leaving as though she were fleeing.
The wind and snow grew a little stronger, and the Ice Empress looked back toward the Earth Dragon Sect:
The Snow Empress was leaning against the window, watching her from afar.
Nan Qiuqiu held up an amber-colored bead, examining it carefully against the light from the window.
Nan Shuishui looked in the mirror, studying herself from side to side. The garment crossed diagonally over one shoulder, leaving the collarbone on the other side bare.
The pink garment wrapped around her snow-white body like a hibiscus in bloom, elegant and dignified, a beauty whose grace and fragrance could rival the finest flowers in the land.