Looking at the sleeping Xiao Yunheng, Nuannuan reached out her thin, tiny hand to hug him, pressing her face against his chest with deep attachment.
“Daddy… Daddy, I’m Nuannuan!”
Right then, the Purple Dragon Egg in Nuannuan’s mind seemed to sense something and wobbled gently.
As she held Xiao Yunheng, Nuannuan felt a wave of warmth wash over her. Suddenly, she saw that Xiao Yunheng was enveloped in a thick, swirling black mist.
A significant amount of that black mist was being sucked away by her hands as she held him.
However, there was simply too much black mist. What her hands could absorb was only a tiny fraction of it.
“Auntie, Daddy is… all blacky!”
Nuannuan didn’t know why her father had become like this, and she was shocked to see her own hands “eating” the black mist on him.
Terrified, she began to wail.
“Oh, Nuannuan, don’t cry. Auntie’s got you, don’t cry!”
Xiao Yunshu hurriedly picked Nuannuan up. Thinking the child was frightened by the dim room, she quickly walked outside.
But what she failed to notice was that as the black mist was partially drawn away by Nuannuan, Xiao Yunheng’s eyelids seemed to flicker. Then, as the black mist swirled back over him, he sank back into a deep slumber.
When Xiao Yunshu passed the room next door, she paused and spoke toward the tightly shut door:
“Second Brother, this is Nuannuan. She is Big Brother’s daughter who was lost outside. Do you want to come out and see her?”
The only response was dead silence. The door remained closed, without a single sound from within.
Xiao Yunshu sighed, knowing that her second brother, Xiao Yunxiu, still didn’t want to see anyone.
She could only turn and leave with Nuannuan in her arms.
Nuannuan looked at the closed door with confusion.
Why was Daddy “blacky,” and why was there “blacky” stuff coming out of this room too?
Just as she subconsciously reached out and grabbed a wisp of black mist, watching it get “eaten” by her little hand, the window of the room was slowly pushed open by a long, fair hand.
Xiao Yunxiu looked at Nuannuan’s face—a face that bore a striking resemblance to his eldest brother—and at the child who was as small and frail as a kitten.
A spark of light flickered in his deadened eyes.
But then, they sank back into desolation.
She was just a two-year-old girl; what could she possibly change?
The downfall of the Xiao family had long been predestined!
The window slammed shut once more.
“Blacky…” Nuannuan pointed at the closed window and tilted her little head, her eyes filled with confusion.
That person was just like Daddy—all blacky.
Xiao Yunshu glanced at the window that had just closed. No candles were lit inside the room; it was pitch black.
“Nuannuan, that is your Second Uncle.”
He had once been a peerless genius.
At only fifteen years old, after Xiao Yunheng fell into a coma, he had taken command of the Cangyun Army and shouldered the responsibility of defending the nation.
To his misfortune, he was betrayed by his own lieutenant and captured alive by the enemy.
No one knew what had happened during those seven days and nights of captivity.
When he was finally rescued, the Xiao family discovered with immense grief that his legs were crippled and his martial arts cultivation was completely destroyed.
Since Xiao Yunxiu woke up, he had kept himself locked in his room, refusing to see anyone.
“Second Uncle… is also blacky!”
Nuannuan noticed that the black mist her hand had touched had been eaten up by the Purple Dragon Egg in her mind.
Her clever little brain understood: that black mist was bad stuff. It was what made Daddy and Second Uncle sick!
However, the Purple Dragon Egg could eat the black mist.
If she could just eat up all the black mist on Daddy and Second Uncle, would they get better?
“Princess, the meal is ready!”
A servant came forward to report at that moment.
“Come, Nuannuan, let’s go eat first?”
Xiao Yunshu pinched Nuannuan’s sunken little cheek with heartache.
How much suffering must this child have endured to be so thin, without even a bit of baby fat?
Now that they had found her, they would never let her suffer again.
Xiao Qingcang was already waiting by the dining table.
Seeing Nuannuan arrive, he immediately took her into his arms and picked up a piece of soft, easy-to-digest pastry.
Nuannuan took it and, with a big “om-nom,” stuffed the entire pastry into her mouth. The sweet, delicious flavor instantly melted on her tongue.
Nuannuan’s eyes lit up instantly, and she whipped her head around to look at her grandfather.
Her large eyes were full of pure surprise.
“So good! It’s too good!”
For the first time in her life, she realized there was such delicious food in the world!
It wasn’t the dry, hard-as-rock biscuits that she feared would break her baby teeth with one bite.
Every single delicacy on the table was something she had never tasted—things she had never even seen before.
“Eat slowly, no rush, there’s plenty! Here, have some porridge first.”
Xiao Yunshu brought over the porridge, blew on a spoonful, and fed it to her.
The porridge had been specially simmered for Nuannuan until it was soft and smooth, and the temperature was now just right.
In addition to that, there were pieces of fish with the bones already removed.
Wow! This is so good!
This is also so good!
Nuannuan took a bite of the pastry her grandfather fed her, then a sip of the porridge her aunt provided.
Her eyes kept darting toward the various plates of chicken, duck, and fish.
As she moved, the few tufts of stray hair on her forehead swayed back and forth.
“So good! So good!!”
So many, many good things!
Nuannuan couldn’t even keep up with the eating!
“Princess!”
Just then, the butler arrived to report: “The Zuoxiang Fu has sent an invitation, inviting the Princess to attend her flower-viewing banquet.”
The Zuoxiang Fu?!
Nuannuan’s eyes widened suddenly. Forgetting the food, she grabbed Xiao Yunshu’s sleeve.
“Auntie, don’t go!”
“There are bad people!”
“They bully Auntie!”
Seeing the terror in Nuannuan’s eyes, Xiao Yunshu quickly comforted her:
“Nuannuan, don’t be afraid. There are no bad people! Grandpa and Auntie will protect you.”
Poor Nuannuan, she must have been terrified by bad people before to be this clingy.
Nuannuan still gripped her sleeve tightly, refusing to let go. “Auntie, there are bad guys! Don’t go out!”
Xiao Yunshu gently patted her back. She was secretly happy that the child, whom she had only met today, was already so dependent on her.
She turned to the butler and said, “Inform the Zuoxiang Fu that I have urgent matters to attend to and cannot go.”
“Yes!” The butler bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Xiao Yunshu saw that Nuannuan’s little belly was already bulging, yet the girl still earnestly ate whatever they fed her.
She was like a little hamster, terrified that if she didn’t eat this meal, there wouldn’t be another.
She had clearly been traumatized by hunger.
“Nuannuan, let’s stop eating for now. Let’s go play, okay?”
Nuannuan looked at the abundance of food left on the table and refused to budge.
“Auntie, Grandpa, eat fast! Eat fast! Don’t let the bad people steal it!”
Nuannuan’s delicate little face was full of anxiety.
There was so much food!
If they didn’t finish it, what if the bad people came and snatched it away?
“Nuannuan, are you afraid the bad people will steal the food?”
Xiao Qingcang had seen refugees fleeing from famine before. Forget grain; in the places they passed, even tree bark and grass roots would be gnawed clean.
And when people were truly driven mad by hunger… they might even turn on each other.
Nuannuan’s mother had taken her on a long escape; the hardships they must have endured were beyond imagination.