“The best food isn’t at the table.”

Xiao Hua grabs Ming Qiao’s chubby hand and doesn’t let go. Her lips, bright red like rouge, are so vibrant that Ming Qiao finds it hard to look directly at her.

“Besides, the banquet hasn’t started yet. If you go back now, there won’t be any food.”

Xiao Hua’s argument is reasonable, leaving Ming Qiao unable to respond. He tries to think of another excuse.

But then Xiao Hua says: “Don’t you want wedding candies? Brother Chun Sheng has lots of them.”

Ming Qiao is silent. Struggling to calm his trembling legs, he asks: “Are we going to find Chun Sheng now?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Hua smiles and adds: “When the candies come, I’ll even give you mine.”

“No need.” Ming Qiao replies. Right now, he doesn’t really feel like eating candy.

“Let’s go.”

Ming Qiao, determined to take his parents away from this place, thinking that finding Chun Sheng is the only way.

So, despite his fear, he tightens his face, steps forward heavily, and follows Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua.

“Ming Qiao, do you think our village is nice?” With Xiao Hua there, Tie Zhu doesn’t speak as much.

Ming Qiao’s hands are sweaty. Without looking at Xiao Hua, he manages to answer: “I don’t know.”

“I don’t live here, so I wouldn’t know if it’s nice.”

“Hehe, it’s wonderful here.”

Xiao Hua eagerly endorses the village. “My grandparents said our ancestors here were even immortals!”

“This is an immortal village. My grandma says one day, the immortals will come and take us away.”

Ming Qiao thinks for a moment and honestly replies: “My daddy says there aren’t any immortals.”

His dad used to say that the spiritual energy on the Cang Xuan Realm is getting thinner. Becoming immortal is as unlikely as him suddenly being able to run ten laps around a valley—It’s impossible!

“There are immortals. Our village had an immortal once, and they promised to come back for us someday!”

Though still smiling, Xiao Hua raises her voice, emphasizing: “As long as our village stands and our people continue, the immortals will come to take us away.”

Startled by her tone, Ming Qiao shrinks a little. “All right.” 

He says, nodding. “I hope they come to get you soon.”

Ming Qiao’s comment amuses Xiao Hua, who laughs and pulls him forward. “Let’s hurry and get lots of wedding candies!”

Ming Qiao is practically dragged along. After just a few steps, he’s already panting. “Slower, slower! I can’t keep up!”

Seeing his flushed face, Tie Zhu slows down, advising his sister: “Xiao Hua, don’t go too fast. Ming Qiao can’t keep up.”

Both Tie Zhu and Ming Qiao slow down, and Xiao Hua’s smile dims a bit. “Fine, we’ll go slower,” she says.

Ming Qiao lacks Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua’s stamina. To avoid being dragged, he starts chatting with Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua to keep them distracted. “Are you guys real siblings?”

“My grandma says I’m a sister.” Xiao Hua answers but doesn’t say if they’re blood-related.

Ming Qiao thinks Xiao Hua resembles a paper doll. But if she were a paper doll, would she have a brother and grandparents?

“My dad says I’m not a sister.”

Then Xiao Hua adds, with a cheerful smile, “Our family has no mother, and there were too few people, so I came.”

“My grandma says I’m a sister, but my dad says I’m not.”

Ming Qiao almost gets dizzy from her words, but his mind spins with a guess. He’s unsure if Tie Zhu is a paper doll, but Xiao Hua likely is.

Maybe it was just Tie Zhu initially, and when the adults found the family too small, they crafted Xiao Hua.

Thinking this, Ming Qiao’s chubby legs start trembling again. He pulls himself together and changes the subject. “Let— let’s not talk about that.”

Ming Qiao needs a moment to recover. Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua’s stories sound like ghost tales. 

To soothe his nerves, he takes a deep breath and decides to share a bit about himself with his temporary companions.

Aside from his brother, You Qing, he’s never really had other kids to play with. So even if Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua may not be human, he decides to treat them as if they are for a while.

“You didn’t see my mother earlier. He’s beautiful.” By the time Tie Zhu arrived, Ming Qiao’s mother had left.

So, Ming Qiao feels a bit disappointed that Tie Zhu didn’t get to see his beautiful mother. “My mother is beautiful and loves me a lot!”

Ming Qiao is a sensitive child. Although his mother isn’t like his dad, who used to always kiss his cheeks and say he loved his “precious Qiao Qiao”. 

But Ming Qiao understands. His mother is learning to love him little by little. He helps him dress, wash his face, and even stays by his side as he sleeps.

He may not know cultivation or Qi Refinement yet, but his mother patiently teaches him. In front of him, he’s not the noble Immortal General, but a mother who shares simple, everyday life with him.

Talking about his mother, Ming Qiao’s face lights up with a sweet smile. Wu Ye, watching his little one’s sweet smile, still feels his heartbeat racing.

His long fingers grip the wine cup, and a bit of wine spills as he fails to notice. His thoughts linger on the word “dad” he heard earlier.

The little one called him dad. In front of other kids, the little one called him dad. Wu Ye, with no parents and an uncertain origin, had fought dogs for food and shared coffins with the dead for warmth.

Unlike Qing Heng, who mastered the arts of a gentleman—tea, chess, and cultivation, with innate spiritual talent. Wu Ye was uneducated, poorly read, with barely legible handwriting, only skilled in skipping stones ten times in a row.

If Qing Heng is the moon in the sky, Wu Ye is the mud at the bottom of a pond. Qing Heng shines, admired by all, while he hides in darkness, always wearing a mask.

To this day, he’s never revealed his other identity to Qing Heng. He is unlike Qing Heng in every way, incompatible with him in everything.

A child as lovely as Ming Qiao deserves a mother like Qing Heng. As for him… How could someone like him ever be called “dad” by a child like Ming Qiao?

“It’s nonsense.” Wu Ye mutters, downing his wine in one gulp. The wine’s heat makes his chest feel warm.

Meanwhile, in the scene recorded in his spiritual memory, Ming Qiao talks about his mother and then mentions his father.

“My mother loves me, and my father loves me too.”

“Tie Zhu, the one who held me was my dad.”

Unable to call him “dad” directly, Ming Qiao finally calls him that in front of his temporary friends. With his head raised, his face shines with pride as he speaks of his dad.

Though his current dad is a bit different from the gentle and calm one in his memories. But Ming Qiao knows that either version of his dad will love him.

“My dad is the best in the world. I love him very much.” As he speaks, his bright face dims, and his voice softens.

“My dad always wants me to call him uncle, but I don’t want to.” To avoid calling him uncle, Ming Qiao has been avoiding addressing Wu Ye altogether.

Listening to him talk about his parents, Xiao Hua’s face, usually cheerful, now shows a hint of confusion. “Dad… uncle.”

She doesn’t quite understand: “Dad is dad, and uncle is uncle. Why would you call your dad ‘uncle’?”

Ming Qiao lets out a small sigh. He’s a child who returned from the future, but he can’t share that secret with Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua.

He can’t tell them his secret. So he simply says another reason: “Mom doesn’t let me call him that.”

Xiao Hua immediately gets it: “Oh, your mom doesn’t want your dad around.”

Just like when her grandparents argue, her grandpa doesn’t let her dad call grandma “mom”.

Ming Qiao: “.…..”

Ming Qiao opens his mouth, but in the end, he can’t respond. Right now, it’s true that mom doesn’t want dad around.

“Mom will like dad someday.” Ming Qiao says, pausing to gather his words. 

“He’ll definitely like dad!” One day, mom and dad will fall in love and have him! 

The kids keep chatting as they walk. Soon, they cross the path in the backyard, reaching the end where they stop in front of a room decorated with red wedding characters.

“We’re here.” 

Xiao Hua points at the door, saying: “Let’s find brother Chun Sheng!”

Ming Qiao: “Okay!”

The door opens, and the three kids walk in together. Ming Qiao looks around the room but doesn’t see anyone. He asks, puzzled, “Where’s Chun Sheng?”

“Right here.”

Xiao Hua lets go of Ming Qiao’s hand and strides over to the corner where a curtain hangs. She lifts the curtain with a strong pull, revealing a large red coffin inside.

Ming Qiao: !!!

Seeing the coffin, Ming Qiao’s legs give out, and he plops to the ground. His voice shakes: “A c-coffin!”

“That’s brother Chun Sheng’s bed.”

Xiao Hua notices Ming Qiao on the floor and explains: “Don’t be scared. Brother Chun Sheng is sick, so he sleeps here. Coffins bring good luck. Brides can, too.”

After explaining, Xiao Hua claps her hands on the coffin. “Brother Chun Sheng, I want some wedding candy!”

She asks for candy while already beginning to pry open the coffin. Sitting on the ground, Ming Qiao’s face turns pale with fear.

After a few knocks, the coffin lid slowly opens. A man dressed in a red wedding robe and black hat, with a pale face, sits up. He grabs two handfuls of candy and hands them to Tie Zhu and Xiao Hua.

“Brother Chun Sheng, give me a bit more for Ming Qiao!”

“Ming Qiao?” A raspy, weak voice escapes the man’s lips.

He lowers his gaze, his eyes settling on Ming Qiao.

Ming Qiao: “.…..” Ming Qiao’s lip quivers as he nearly starts to cry.

“This is Ming Qiao. Isn’t he nice-looking? He’s wearing our family’s red string!”

“Very nice-looking.”

Chun Sheng says, then grabs another handful of candy and hands it over. Ming Qiao, too scared to stand up, can’t accept it.