Chapter 139 – The Most Unique Sixth Rank, Revealing the Blood Blade Patriarch’s Identity - Part 1
Cradled in Li Yuan’s arms, Sheng’er smelled sweet and fresh, not even a hint of the corpse-like stench that seemed to follow the crows everywhere. The comforting warmth of her soft body pressed against his cheek, and as he hugged her, he felt his heart melt.
In that moment, every shred of anxiety and pressure, every little care and trace of bloodshed seemed to vanish. Holding his daughter brought him a quiet peace unlike anything else.
Not far away, Yan Yu was chatting and laughing with Xue Ning.
In Xue Ning’s arms, little Ping’an clung stubbornly to his mother, refusing to walk on his own. When the two women spotted Li Yuan spinning around with Sheng'er in his arms, they both broke into smiles.
Xue Ning teased the boy, joking, “Look at your older sister. You can walk just fine now, can’t you?”
Ping’an, only a year old, didn’t really understand what she was saying, but promptly burst into tears, prompting Xue Ning to hastily soothe him.
A bitter wind hissed, and the cold of falling snow weighed upon the courtyard. Icicles clung to the eaves in jagged lengths like crystal shards. Occasionally, the wind snapped them off, sending them crashing to the ground in glittering splinters.
Leaning against a wall, Yan Yu watched her husband and daughter with a gentle gaze. But when her eyes fell upon the girl’s featureless, milky-white pupils, she let out a soft sigh.
Overhead, crows circled, their black silhouettes stark against the snowy rooftops, mirroring her daughter’s pale eyes. She couldn’t help wondering, yet again, why her Sheng'er was so strange. Could it be connected to that dream?
In that recurring dream, Yan Yu found herself paralyzed, unable to speak. A white-robed figure stood by the window with its back to her, never once turning around. The room lay empty and foreboding, plunged in gloom so deep it was like being trapped under heavy black cloth, while outside the window blazed a terrifying brightness, as though the sun were just inches away.
A few days ago, when Sheng'er took her first steps, the dream shifted. Within its unsettling silence, there was suddenly life. Her daughter was there, able to laugh and move, calling out, “Papa, Mama...”
In the dream, Sheng’er had her cane, thumping it on the floorboards of that eerie little room. Seeing her daughter so carefree in that place brought Yan Yu a shred of comfort, though she still had questions she couldn’t quite frame.