Nuannuan opened her eyes blankly and “saw” a chubby, adorable little purple dragon in her mind.
Starry lights immediately sparkled in her pure, crystalline eyes.
“Snakey, a purple snakey! Eat snakey!”
With this snakey, her and her mommy’s tummies wouldn’t be hungry-hungry anymore.
As she spoke, her small body pounced, grabbing the Purple Dragon’s tail and trying to stuff it into her mouth.
The little purple dragon’s body stiffened. What kind of Peerless Demon Pill was this?
She wanted to eat a dragon the moment they met?
With a flick of its tail, it immediately put some distance between itself and Nuannuan.
“Nuannuan, I’m not a snake. I am a dragon, the Purple Dragon. Never mind, listen to me first.”
“Nuannuan, while you were asleep, your grandfather found you and brought you back!”
“Next, we must work together to change the Xiao family’s fate of extinction.”
“Remember to stop your aunt from going out in three days! Otherwise, she will be defiled and die a miserable death at the Zuoxiang Fu.”
“I saved you and your mother, who were supposed to die, and exhausted all my Spiritual Power. I need to go into a deep sleep for a while. You must remember this!”
After saying these words, Dragon Dragon finally couldn’t hold on any longer. He transformed into an egg and fell into a deep slumber within her mind.
Although Nuannuan was young, her mother had mentioned the word “die” when she held her and jumped off the cliff. This gave her a deep, instinctive fear, and she no longer thought about eating the snakey!
Waaaaah… She didn’t want her aunt to die.
At this thought, she opened her mouth and let out a loud “waah” of crying.
“My dear granddaughter, you’re awake! Does it hurt somewhere? Or are you hungry?” Xiao Qingcang rushed in and asked.
Nuannuan turned her head and saw the unfamiliar Xiao Qingcang.
A flash of terror crossed her eyes, and she quickly turned her loud wailing into soft, whimpering sobs. Her thin, small body shook gently, making her look even more pitiful.
Xiao Qingcang distressingly wiped away her tears. Looking at her tiny face—not even half the size of his palm—which was covered in black and blue bruises, even an iron-blooded man like him couldn’t help but feel his eyes redden.
In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Dear granddaughter, I am your grandfather! Please stop crying, okay? Tell Grandfather what you want, and Grandfather will give you everything!”
Grandfather?
Nuannuan remembered the Purple Dragon’s words. Sobbing, she reached out her hands toward him. “Grandfather, Nuannuan wants… wants to find Mommy!”
Xiao Qingcang hurried to agree. “Ah, yes, yes. Grandfather will take Nuannuan to find Mommy right now.”
In the room next door, Wei Qinghan was still in a deep sleep.
Seeing her mother, Nuannuan scrambled to the floor and began blowing air onto the bandaged wounds on her body.
“Mommy’s pain-pain, Nuannuan hoo-hoo… Hoo-hoo and it won’t be pain-pain anymore…”
Such a tiny person, clearly covered in injuries herself with gauze wrapped around her head, yet she only worried about whether her mother was in pain.
Xiao Qingcang watched as she kept blowing on Wei Qinghan’s wounds, refusing to stop even when her face turned pale from the effort, as if this alone could make her mother get better.
Heartbroken, he stepped forward and picked her up. “Nuannuan, your mother hasn’t woken up yet. She is badly hurt and needs to rest. Let’s go outside first, okay?”
Nuannuan tilted her head, looking at her mother’s tightly closed eyes. As if making a great decision, she gave a heavy nod. “Nuannuan be good. Nuannuan won’t be noisy. Mommy, get better soon!”
As the two of them stepped out of the room, they saw a young girl dressed in red martial attire with a ponytail and features as beautiful as a painting running into the room in a rush.
Upon seeing Nuannuan in Xiao Qingcang’s arms, her eyes instantly lit up. “Father, can I hold my little niece?”
“Nuannuan, this is your aunt,” Xiao Qingcang introduced Xiao Yunshu to Nuannuan.
Nuannuan looked at Xiao Yunshu, who was reaching out to her with a face full of love, and thought of the word “die” that Dragon Dragon had mentioned.
Her mouth immediately puckered, and then with a “waah,” she burst into tears and reached out toward Xiao Yunshu.
“Auntie, waah… there are bad people… Auntie, don’t go…”
Xiao Yunshu was startled by Nuannuan’s sudden outburst of crying and quickly took her into her arms. “Nuannuan be good, Nuannuan don’t cry. Nuannuan is safe now, there are no more bad people.”
The moment she held her, she realized this niece was as light as a kitten, so emaciated she seemed to be nothing but bones.
Recalling when they were treating her wounds, her body had been covered in a mix of old and new scars, with hardly a single patch of healthy skin.
Xiao Yunshu wished she could drag out the people who hurt her and tear them into a thousand pieces.
“Auntie, don’t go!” Nuannuan was only two years old and couldn’t clearly express the things Dragon Dragon had said.
She could only grab onto the corner of Xiao Yunshu’s clothes, crying until she was out of breath. Her red, swollen eyes stared at her without blinking, afraid that if she did, her aunt would be gone.
“Okay, okay, Auntie won’t go. Auntie won’t go anywhere!”
Xiao Yunshu only assumed she was afraid of being caught by bad people again to be bullied and mistreated.
After finally coaxing Nuannuan to stop crying, Xiao Yunshu looked at her father. “Father, have you found the people who hurt Nuannuan?”
“They likely came from the south as refugees. Nuannuan’s mother hasn’t woken up yet, so we can’t confirm their identities. We have no leads for now, but it won’t be too late to investigate once they wake up.”
Xiao Qingcang’s eyes were cold and sharp. Since they had harmed his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, he naturally would not let them go.
“Good. Father, once you find them, you must tell me. I must pay them back a thousandfold for Nuannuan!”
Xiao Yunshu’s voice was very low, yet it carried a chilling killing intent.
The people of the Xiao family could endure anything except being wronged.
Even if… she was the only one in the manor currently left standing, she would never compromise.
At this thought, Xiao Yunshu’s gaze darkened. She spoke up, “Father, let me take Nuannuan to see Big Brother.”
Xiao Yunheng, the Heir of the Wu’an Wangfu, was the most brilliant and peerless genius in the history of the Yan Kingdom.
From the age of ten, he followed the Wu’an Wang to the battlefield. By thirteen, he led troops independently and achieved great military honors.
But three years ago, after going off to war, he was sent back to the capital in a comatose state due to heavy injuries and had never woken up since.
Xiao Yunshu carried Nuannuan to Xiao Yunheng’s room.
She pointed to the man lying silently on the bed—gaunt as a stick, yet still possessing a trace of his peerless grace and matchless aura.
“Nuannuan, this is your daddy. Hurry, call him ‘Daddy’.”
Nuannuan blinked her eyes, her little mouth puckering as she looked at Xiao Yunshu aggrievedly. “Nuannuan doesn’t have a daddy! Daddy doesn’t want Nuannuan! Nuannuan is a wild child!”
Everyone else had a daddy, but she didn’t.
Everyone said she was a wild child and that her daddy didn’t want her anymore!
Facing her eyes filled with tears, yet seeing how she tightly pursed her lips, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall, Xiao Yunshu’s eyes reddened with heartache. “Nuannuan is not a wild child. Nuannuan has a daddy.”
Dammit, who exactly dared to say that their Xiao family’s treasure was a wild child!
Once she found out, she would definitely make them regret ever coming into this world.
Nuannuan tilted her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her to confirm, “Auntie, Nuannuan has a daddy? Daddy wants Nuannuan?”
“Yes! Because your daddy is hurt and hasn’t woken up, he couldn’t go and bring Nuannuan back. Nuannuan, your daddy absolutely did not abandon you!”
Nuannuan clapped her hands happily. “Nuannuan has a daddy! Nuannuan isn’t a wild child!”
Seeing her finally smile happily, Xiao Yunshu gently wiped the tears from her face and placed her in front of Xiao Yunheng.