Chapter 43 – Little Uncle Shi Xian

No—!

The ages didn’t match.

Young General Shi ignored his weakened body and got up, coming right to Xiaojiu’s side.

His trembling hands gripped Xiaojiu’s shoulders tightly.

“You… who are you??” Shi Xian’s voice carried a choked disbelief, his eyes gradually reddening. At that moment, it was as if he had traveled through time and seen the shadows of his carefree, playful older brother and younger sister from childhood.

Xiaojiu and the others were caught off guard by the sudden surge of emotion, but she could feel there was no malice in it. She wriggled free from his grasp and took a step back.

“You know me? I’m Xiaojiu from Taoyuan Village. Who are you?”

Shi An stood nearby, blinking his big eyes. He didn’t understand what was going on, but still nodded along.

The commotion brought Gu Lao and the others running in.

“What’s going on? Why are you out of bed? Are you in such a hurry to die?” Gu Lao was furious. What kind of grown man carried on like this?

He quickly pushed Shi Xian back onto the bamboo bed.

Scolding him harshly, he said, “You’re the only surviving male of the Shi family. Do you really want to make the enemy happy by ending the family line?

“I spent five years keeping you alive! If you want to die, go die somewhere else—don’t die in my Medicine King Valley.

“If I didn’t owe your father a favor, do you think I’d bother about your life or death?”

—The Shi family again?

These past few days, Xiaojiu had heard the name “Shi” more than a few times.

Pinned back to the bed, Shi Xian turned his gaze again toward Xiaojiu and Shi An, staring as if afraid they would disappear if he blinked.

Shi An, a little scared, hid behind Xiaojiu.

“My name is Shi Xian,” he said. Shi Xian was certain these two must be the children of his Fifth Sister and Third Brother— they looked too much alike.

But Xiaojiu and Shi An both shook their heads; they had never heard the name before.

Still… all of them had the surname Shi.

Halfway through shaking his head, Shi An suddenly stopped. He peeked out from behind Xiaojiu.

“Little Uncle?”

Shi An had remembered—he’d seen this name before, carved on a memorial tablet in the family’s ancestral hall.

But… wasn’t Little Uncle dead?

Hiss—!

Everyone gasped in shock.

They had just been talking about the Shi family, and now a man who had supposedly been dead for five years was standing alive before them.

Gu Lao no longer cared about scolding Shi Xian for straining his body.

Right now, he wanted to know what was going on even more than Shi Xian did.

Not long ago, he had received news from the capital that the Shi family’s only young grandson had gone missing, and the Shi family’s matriarch had fallen gravely ill. At the time, Gu Lao had considered writing to tell her that her youngest son was still alive in Medicine King Valley, with a sliver of hope. But Shi Xian, worried that his days were numbered, hadn’t wanted to give his mother another false hope. His father and older brothers had all died protecting him, leaving him to survive in disgrace. He had no face to return home and thought death would be better.

Shi Xian pulled Xiaojiu closer, gazing at her face, identical to his Fifth Sister’s when she was young. His eyes grew moist.

Softly, he said, “Xiaojiu, I’m your Little Uncle.”

Then he pulled Shi An over and hugged him tightly. “Shi An, I’m your Little Uncle.”

Inside the bamboo house, everyone exchanged bewildered looks.

How had this turned into a family reunion so quickly?

Xiaojiu tilted her head in confusion. “Then… who are my parents?”

Why was she calling him Uncle, Shi An calling him Little Uncle, yet Shi An also called her “sister”?

Xiaojiu  was starting to feel dizzy from all the twists and turns.

Shi Xian patted her head, unsure how to tell her about her family background.

Her mother was dead, and her father might even be the one who killed her mother and maternal grandfather’s whole family?

Could someone her age even handle that?

“Your mother was my fifth sister, she…”

Shi Xian’s words trailed off, his brows knitting together.

He was about to say that his sister had fallen off a cliff and died—

But wait, that couldn’t be right. If she had died, then where did Xiaojiu  come from?

“You’ve never seen your mother? Or… did she leave you anything?”

Xiaojiu  blinked her big eyes at him, then pulled a jade pendant from the bag on her back and handed it over.

“Grandpa Clan Leader said that when he found me, I already had this on me.”

Shi Xian took the pendant. It was carved with intricate, ancient patterns, and in the center was a small ruby that glowed warmly under the sunlight. On the surface of the gem was a tiny carved character: Shi.

“This was your mother’s most treasured pendant. She said she wanted to leave it for her child. She loved you very much. I don’t know if she’s still alive.” Shi Xian’s voice choked.

He thought that if his sister were still alive, she would never have abandoned her daughter—something must have happened.

Shi Xian handed the pendant back to Xiaojiu .

Xiaojiu  looked at it in her hands, feeling a heaviness in her heart.

She had always thought she was an unwanted child. She often heard the aunts from neighboring villages say that many people would throw away baby girls because they were “useless.” She assumed her parents had thought the same and abandoned her.

But now she was being told she still had family, that her mother had loved her, and had never wanted to give her up.

Xiaojiu  couldn’t quite describe how she felt. At that moment, she just wanted to return to Taoyuan Village and see her beloved villagers.

She tucked the pendant close to her chest and said seriously, “I’ll take good care of it.”

Seeing Shi Xian’s hopeful gaze, she thought for a moment, then called him “Little Uncle.”

Shi Xian’s eyes instantly grew wet, and he nodded gently in response.

After watching the entire “recognition of kin” unfold, Gu Lao finally spoke: “Now, do you still want to throw your life away? Still want to keep wrecking your body?”

Shi Xian looked a bit embarrassed—having it said out loud that a grown man had been trying to end his own life wasn’t a good look.

Now, far from wanting to die, he couldn’t wait to get better. He wanted to uncover the truth about what happened back then, take good care of his family, and check in on the Shi family army…

There was so much he needed to do.

Seeing that Shi Xian was finally willing to take care of himself, Gu Lao let the others leave the bamboo house so Shi Xian could rest.

Xiaojiu  squatted on a stone outside the bamboo house, staring off into space.

Zhao Hu and the others squatted beside her, looking like they wanted to say something but didn’t dare.

“Just say it,” Xiaojiu  said, already itching to smack them for being so awkward.

“Village Chief… are you going to go back to the capital with them?” Zhao Hu and the others looked at her anxiously.

The Village Chief had found her family.

Would she leave them to go to the capital?

Would she stop being their Village Chief?

Would she leave them forever?

…

The more they thought about it, the more it felt like the sky was falling.

Tears started dripping down their faces.

Xiaojiu  smacked Zhao Hu on the head, nearly knocking him to the ground.

“What are you thinking? My home is in Taoyuan Village. You’re my family. Even if I go to the capital, I’ll take you with me. Don’t worry—if I’ve got one mouthful of food, you’ll have one bowl to wash.”

“Village Chief, you’re our god!” Zhao Hu and the others finally relaxed, wiping their tears and grinning from ear to ear.