Chapter 255: It Is Complicated
Su Ruo rolled her eyes without slowing. "I wasn’t causing trouble."
"You always say that."
"I just went to get something important."
The serpent beast opened his mouth to argue, then suddenly paused.
His expression shifted. His sternness dissolved into concern.
"...Were you crying?" He stepped closer, instinctively reaching toward her face.
Su Ruo’s response was immediate.
She lifted one foot, Thud. Her kick landed squarely against his shin.
The young serpent hissed, hopping backward while clutching his leg.
"I wasn’t crying!" she snapped. "Stop touching me!"
She rushed up the stairs.
The serpent beast rubbed his injured leg with an aggrieved expression before hurrying after her.
"But I’m your brother!" he called after her. "Why are you always like this?"
Their voices disappeared into the manor.
Ningyan remained perched upon the rooftop. To his own surprise... He realized he had been smiling the entire time.
"..."
The smile slowly faded.
He touched his own lips. "...Was she crying because of me?"
His brows knitted together. "And..."
His gaze lingered on the manor entrance.
The thought had barely formed when every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. An overwhelming presence silently appeared behind him, oppressive like a mountain pressing upon his shoulders.
Ningyan’s body immediately stiffened.
A deep, steady voice broke the silence. "You shouldn’t enter another beast’s home without an invitation."
The words were calm.Yet beneath that calm lay unmistakable authority and curiosity.
Ningyan slowly closed his eyes.
"...Wonderful." He sighed inwardly.
Did I just get caught... by a dragon?
Ningyan didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He didn’t even dare breathe.
According to everything he had been taught, dragons despised phoenixes more than any other beasts. If he were discovered here, everything he had painstakingly planned would crumble before it even began.
So... He chose to flee.
Without turning around, his figure plunged from the rooftop like a falling feather. Before his feet could touch the ground, a blackish-red portal silently bloomed beneath him.
The void swallowed him whole.
Then... It vanished.
Jun Haoxuan stood alone upon the rooftop, his hand still half-raised, genuinely caught off guard by the stranger’s speed.
"..."
He let out a slow breath before turning his gaze toward the dragon guards stationed throughout the manor.
Every single one remained standing like carved statues. Not one had noticed that an intruder had slipped into the manor, hidden himself above their heads, then escaped without leaving so much as a ripple of spiritual energy.
Jun Haoxuan pinched the bridge of his nose. "...Useless."
With that, he stepped down from the rooftop and returned to the manor.
By the time he entered his chamber, the solemn look on his face had already softened.
"Papa!" A streak of green immediately rushed toward him.
Su Ruo, now dressed in a fresh set of robes, practically bounced across the room, her pale green eyes sparkling.
"I got you a birthday gift!" She proudly held out a beautifully embroidered storage pouch with both hands.
Jun Haoxuan had originally intended to scold her for disappearing without a word.
Instead... His attention shifted to the pouch.
A smile tugged faintly at his lips. "Thank you."
He accepted it before leaning down to press a gentle kiss against her forehead.
Su Ruo giggled happily. "Open it!"
Amused, Jun Haoxuan untied the pouch.
The instant he reached inside, a magnificent sword emerged.
Lightning burst across its blade with a deafening crackle, filling the chamber with dazzling blue arcs.
Jun Haoxuan blinked. "...The Dragon Blade?"
He carefully examined the weapon before looking back at his daughter with genuine surprise.
"...This is quite the gift." His smile deepened. "Thank you, A-Ruo."
Then... His expression slowly flattened.
He looked at her. Then at the sword. Then back at her again.
"You stole this from the Fish Clan’s treasury, didn’t you?"
Su Ruo blinked innocently. "...Yes."
Then she grinned. "But it belongs to you now. Happy birthday, Papa."
Jun Haoxuan couldn’t help laughing. "I truly think you’ve been spending far too much time with Wuhen."
Su Ruo only smiled wider.
Jun Haoxuan carefully stored the sword away before speaking. "We’re returning to the clan tomorrow. My business in Water City is finished."
The smile on Su Ruo’s face immediately disappeared. "I want to stay."
Jun Haoxuan raised an eyebrow. "Why? Your grandparents have already begun preparing your marriage. You shouldn’t linger outside for much longer."
Su Ruo puffed out her cheeks. "I’m not lingering. I already agreed to the marriage, didn’t I? Besides..."
She folded her arms. "No one keeps pestering Su Miao or A-Mian about getting married."
Jun Haoxuan chuckled before gently patting her head. "No one is forcing you, A-Ruo. You were the one who insisted you wanted to marry him."
"I know..." She huffed. "But I still have something important to do here."
Jun Haoxuan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "...Does this ’important matter’ involve stealing more legendary weapons?"
Su Ruo ignored the question entirely.
Instead... She suddenly stepped forward and wrapped both arms tightly around him.
The unexpected embrace left Jun Haoxuan frozen.
"...Father."
His breathing stopped. His heart skipped painfully.
He knew she wasn’t talking about him. She was talking about Ningyan.
"...I miss him." Her voice was quiet and fragile.
Jun Haoxuan slowly lifted his arms and returned the embrace, closing his eyes as an old ache spread silently through his chest.
"...Me too." His voice was almost a whisper. "I always will."
Su Ruo buried her face against him. "I know."
She smiled sadly. "It’s obvious. All of you miss him. Sometimes..."
She hesitated. "It feels like his absence broke all of you. You’ve only managed to keep living because of me... Miao... and Mian. And because..."
She looked up at him with damp eyes. "...Father would’ve wanted you to."
Silence settled between them.
Jun Haoxuan’s lips curved into a faint, bittersweet smile.
After a long moment, they slowly pulled away from one another.
He looked carefully into his daughter’s eyes.
There was something different about them tonight. Something restless and hopeful.
His own heartbeat quietly quickened. "...A-Ruo."
His voice became almost inaudible. "...Did you..."
He swallowed. "...see him?"
Su Ruo stared at him, utterly stunned. She clearly hadn’t expected that question.
That expression alone was enough.
Jun Haoxuan’s heart sank. "...You did."
Su Ruo lowered her head. "But... it can’t be him."
Her voice trembled. "He’s dead."
"A-Ruo...."
"I thought..." She laughed weakly through her tears. "I thought it was just a beast who looked like him. He... he hasn’t changed from my memories."
Her lips quivered. "He looks even more..."
She couldn’t finish.
The tears she had been desperately holding back finally spilled over.
"He..." she choked, covering her mouth as a sob escaped her. "...he didn’t recognize me."
Jun Haoxuan closed his eyes briefly. "A-Ruo..."
"It’s him!" she cried, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I’m sure it’s him!"
Jun Haoxuan sighed. "You should..."
"You all knew, didn’t you?" She took a hurried step toward him. "Dad Wuhen told you! He told all of you after Fire City! That he’s alive. It really is him... isn’t it?"
Hope. Desperate, aching hope.
Jun Haoxuan couldn’t bring himself to crush it. "...It is."
The answer came quietly. "But you must understand..."
His voice grew heavy. "Things are... very complicated."
Su Ruo frowned. "How? If he’s alive, why isn’t he with us? Why is it complicated?"
A painful thought struck her, making her breathing hitch. "...He doesn’t remember us? Did his own kin... do this to him?"
Question after question tumbled from her lips. Questions Jun Haoxuan himself wished someone else could answer.
He remained silent for a long while.
Then... "I’ll go to him."
Su Ruo’s eyes widened. "You will?"
A hopeful smile immediately broke through her tears. "You’ll bring him home? You’ll make him remember us?"
Jun Haoxuan looked down at the Dragon Blade still resting in his hand.
The lightning dancing across its surface reflected in his quiet golden reptilian eyes.
After a long silence, he stepped forward and gently kissed Su Ruo’s forehead once more. "Go to sleep. It’s late."
The hope on her face dimmed.
"...Yes papa." She nodded obediently before quietly leaving the chamber.
The door slid shut behind her.
Silence returned.
Jun Haoxuan remained standing where he was before slowly walking toward the wall.
He rested one hand against the cold stone. His shoulders seemed to grow heavier.
He already knew. Wuhen had told them. Meishan had confirmed it.
Ningyan... was alive.
But the beast who had returned was no longer the Ningyan they had lost.
He had become a demon beast. A being overflowing with demonic energy.
He was powerful, unpredictable and dangerous.
"...Complicated." The word escaped him as nothing more than a weary whisper.
His fingers slowly tightened around the hilt of the Dragon Blade. "...It truly is."