Seeing that Yun Xuechang had confirmed the child’s identity, the petite, black-haired girl immediately leaned forward and introduced herself with a beaming smile.
“Hello there, little Rongrong! My name is Qu Linglong, and I’m your mommy’s best friend! You can call me Auntie Qu… ugh, even though I’m barely 100 years old, calling myself an auntie feels a bit weird…”
She started muttering to herself halfway through before shaking her head and flashing a perfect, standard smile again.
“I’m sorry, little Rongrong. Auntie Qu didn’t know you were Friend Yun’s daughter just now. I said the wrong thing. Can you forgive me?”
“Mhm, I forgive you, Auntie Qu.”
The pink-haired girl nodded obediently while chewing on her tanghulu.
“That’s great!” Qu Linglong’s dark eyes lit up, her smile growing even more radiant.
“Little Rongrong, do you like playing with toys? A message-sending mechanical bird, a spiritual energy firework tube that can project any pattern, a mechanical puppy that can run, jump, and sing… I have them all right here!”
Before she even finished speaking, several mechanical arms *click-clacked* out of the large wooden box on her back, each holding a novel toy.
“Since this is our first time meeting, if your mommy is willing to buy them, I can give you a 20% discount — hey, hey, hey! I wasn’t finished yet!”
“That’s enough, Friend Qu! Stop constantly trying to swindle my senior sister out of her Spirit Stones!”
Lin Qianqian used all her strength to drag the still-chattering Qu Linglong aside.
“Honestly, you know she always spends her Spirit Stones recklessly…”
After a series of *clatter-bang* noises, she straightened her side braid and gave a shy smile.
“Um… hello, Rongrong. My name is Lin Qianqian, and I’m your mommy’s junior sister. If you don’t mind, you can call me Auntie Lin.”
“Mhm! Auntie Lin!”
Hua Xiangrong nodded obediently once more.
“Wow! Senior Sister, your daughter is seriously so cute!” Lin Qianqian’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the doll-like girl. “I hope Xiao Li and I can have a daughter like this in the future too!”
“That’s enough, Friend Lin,” Qu Linglong couldn’t help but interject from the side.
“We’ve been on the road for 10 hours, and I haven’t heard you mention ‘your Xiao Li’ for a single second. Just how many ‘Xiao Lis’ have there been? Are you sure you weren’t scammed by some bad woman again?”
“Xiao Li… she’s different!”
Lin Qianqian’s face flushed at the remark, and she hastily retorted, “Friend Qu, don’t talk nonsense if you’ve never met her!”
“Right, right…”
Qu Linglong nodded dismissively, clearly not taking it to heart.
“Oh, right, I just thought of something.” Qu Linglong slapped her forehead. “Since Rongrong is here, does that mean her other mother — her mom — is also here in Fulong City?”
Several gazes simultaneously shifted toward Hua Xiangrong.
“Mhm! Mother is here too!”
Hua Xiangrong swallowed the last bit of tanghulu and spoke with muffled clarity.
“Mother brought me to Fulong City! We’re staying at an inn in the city. I’ll take you to find her, Mommy!”
Thus, Yun Xuechang and her group followed Hua Xiangrong to the inn where they were staying and waited quietly for Hua Yan’s return.
Until this very moment —
‘So how did Yun Xuechang and the others end up here?! They even suppressed their Spiritual Power on purpose! I didn’t sense them at all! Could they be lying in wait just to ambush me — ‘
Before Hua Yan could recover from the shock of opening the door, a petite black shadow carrying a wooden box rushed in front of her like a *whoosh*.
“Oh my! Greetings, fellow Daoist! What a pleasure to meet you!”
Qu Linglong grabbed both of Hua Yan’s hands and shook them enthusiastically.
“You must be the legendary close friend of Friend Yun and Rongrong’s mother! I’ve heard so much about you!”
She smiled warmly, but her bright, dark eyes were busy sizing up the red-haired beauty in front of her.
‘Mhm, she’s actually this stunning. No wonder even the high-and-mighty Friend Yun fell for her…’
‘She’s dressed luxuriously and has an extraordinary aura. To be able to raise little Rongrong to be so clever and obedient, she must be someone who isn’t short on Spirit Stones!’
‘If I can build a good relationship with her, never mind the toy money for Rongrong, I might even be able to land a few big business deals!’
Thinking this, the smile on Qu Linglong’s face became even more genuine.
“May I ask how I should address you, Friend?”
“My mother is called Hua Y—”
“Hua Yan’er! My name is Hua Yan’er!”
Hua Yan hastily cut off her daughter’s words while glaring fiercely at Hua Xiangrong, who was nestled in Yun Xuechang’s arms, looking innocent but clearly trying to stir up trouble.
“Got it! Friend Hua Yan’er! A pleasure to meet you!”
‘The surname is Hua… and she has red hair…’
‘Could she have some connection to the Demon Cult’s Hundred Flowers Valley?’
Qu Linglong followed along smoothly, but her mind was racing.
‘But I’ve dealt with Hundred Flowers Valley before. I remember they only have one pampered only son named Hua Yan.’
‘Is she a bastard daughter…?’
‘Oh, whatever! Whether she’s from Hundred Flowers Valley or not doesn’t matter. As long as Miss Hua Yan’er has Spirit Stones in her pocket, that’s enough!’
With a shift in her thoughts, Qu Linglong began introducing the others with a smile.
“Come, Friend Hua, let me introduce you — this is Fairy Lin Qianqian, a fellow disciple of Friend Yun Xuechang.”
“F-First time meeting you, Friend Hua. I… I’m Lin Qianqian.”
Lin Qianqian folded her hands in front of her and bowed slightly toward this beautiful and unfamiliar red-haired fairy.
“As for this one — “
Qu Linglong’s hand turned toward the white-haired girl sitting silently with a cold expression, and she gave a mischievous wink.
“Ah, I suppose I don’t need to introduce this one! After all, you two are old acquaintances, aren’t you?”
“This is the first time your family of three has been reunited in years, so you must have a lot to talk about! Friend Lin and I won’t disturb you any longer. Take your time chatting!”
Before her voice had even faded, she grabbed the still-dazed Lin Qianqian and slipped out the door, even thoughtfully closing it behind her.
And so, only three people remained in the room, staring at one another.
“…”
A long, awkward silence ensued.
‘Damned Yun Xuechang! You’re the one who found me, so why are you the one not talking!’
Hua Yan stared at the cold face she had remembered for ten years, her cheeks puffing out in annoyance.
“You…” “I…”
The two of them spoke at the same time and stopped at the same time.
“You go first.”
The white-haired girl’s voice was ethereal, devoid of any discernible emotion.
“Fine! Then I’ll just ask directly!”
Hua Yan wasn’t polite at all and immediately demanded, “How exactly did you find me here?!”
“?”
This question made Yun Xuechang pause for a moment.
“It was Rongrong. I got lost in the city and happened to run into her. She brought me here.”
“?!”
“Hua, Xiang, Rong!” Hua Yan’er instantly flared up in anger. “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room and practice your cultivation today?!”
As the culprit, Hua Xiangrong’s eyes shifted guiltily, and she buried her little head into Yun Xuechang’s flat chest, playing the ostrich.
Hearing Hua Yan shout the full name, Yun Xuechang was also slightly taken aback.
‘Hua Xiangrong…?’
‘Clouds think of clothes, flowers think of faces; the spring breeze brushes the railing, and the dew is thick and fragrant…’
‘Did she name the child this because of… me?’
The cold girl couldn’t help but feel a bit stunned, a complex and indescribable emotion quietly welling up in her heart.
‘She raised the child alone for all these years and even gave her a name related to me… while I knew nothing.’
“How have you been over these years?” she asked softly, looking at Hua Yan.
“Hah, I’ve been doing great!”
Hua Yan crossed her arms and snorted, her tone stiff.
‘For the past ten years, I’ve cultivated hard every day just to avenge that defeat and the humiliation of being transformed! How could I not be doing great!’
“Then… did you ever think of me?”
Yun Xuechang’s voice grew even softer.
“Of course! I was thinking about you every single moment!”
Hua Yan gritted her teeth, each word sounding as if it were forced through them.
‘As I thought…’
Yun Xuechang lowered her cold eyes, her heart feeling increasingly troubled.
‘So she has been thinking of me all this time. It makes sense; if she hadn’t, why would she have given birth to Rongrong and raised her alone…’
‘It’s my fault for not fulfilling my responsibilities as a parent…’
As a female sword immortal who had been taught proper morals by her Master since childhood, her sense of guilt deepened.
“What are you doing here this time…?”
‘Why didn’t she ever look for me for so many years, yet she coincidentally came to Fulong City at the same time as me? Calling it a coincidence would be too…’
She probed softly once more.
“Hmph! It’s all because of you!”
Hua Yan’s tone remained sharp.
‘If you hadn’t left the child at the entrance of Hundred Flowers Valley, I’d still be the Young Master of the Demon Cult! Why would I come to a godforsaken place like this!’
“It’s because Mother’s secret was discovered by Great-Grandmother!” Hua Xiangrong, who had been playing the ostrich, suddenly turned her head and raised her hand to answer. “We’re here to take Mommy back!”
“It’s not your turn to talk! I’ll settle the score with you later!”
Hua Yan’er’s brows narrowed as she glared the pink-haired head back into hiding.
‘You brat! I haven’t even dealt with you running off to play yet, and you dare expose the fact that my female form was discovered by Grandmother in front of Yun Xuechang!’
‘Just wait until we get back! Even if Grandmother pleads for you, don’t think you’re escaping this!’
Being glared at, Hua Xiangrong shrunk her neck back timidly.
‘This is bad, 099. I feel like my butt is going to suffer for this mission…’
‘Do you have any compensation for me? This should count as a workplace injury, right?’
‘If you had just followed the path of honest cultivation, Host, you wouldn’t be at risk of getting your butt smacked at all…’
099 grumbled before sighing helplessly.
‘I have to say, Yun Xuechang and Hua Yan are really unlucky to be stuck with an abstract transmigrator like you…’
‘Hehe?’
‘What the hell is “hehe”! Host, don’t start acting cute just because you turned into a little girl!’
Ignoring the mental interaction between 099 and Hua Xiangrong, those words sounded entirely different to Yun Xuechang.
‘So, she gave birth to Rongrong in secret… and she only came to find me because her grandmother found out and punished her?’
The white-haired girl lowered her eyes in thought, her guilt intensifying.
She tightened her hold on the child and looked up at Hua Yan, her tone incredibly serious.
“Fine. I will go back with you and meet your grandmother.”
After a pause, she added, “But only after I complete this Evil-slaying Mission down the mountain.”
“Once I’ve finished this, I’ll go back with you.”
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