Chapter 302: A Familiar Operation
The stars tonight were exceptionally bright, and Yu An and Han Li lay side-by-side, admiring them.
The Zaizai were playing nearby. With Lu Lu, their auntie, watching over them, the two of them were able to relax.
As they talked, Yu An suddenly thought about the parents of Han Li and the other three.
The four of them had reincarnated in order to gain physical bodies. They had memories of their past lives at birth, but those memories would quickly fade.
As they grew older, they would recover their memories and return to the temple once they reached a certain age.
There wasn’t much to say about Feng Xuan’s family. His mother had already passed away, and his father... he was a scumbag, not even worth mentioning.
Come to think of it, Yu An didn’t believe she’d ever heard Han Li or the other two mention their parents.
"My parents..."
Han Li’s nose wrinkled, and a shadow of sadness flickered in his eyes. "There’s not much to talk about. My situation was similar to Feng Xuan’s."
"Similar? What do you mean?"
"It means that, just like him, we were nearly strangled to death by our biological fathers at birth. But all of our mothers protected us. Then, you appeared."
Han Li turned to look at her, his gaze softening.
Remembering that Yu An had no memories of her past life, he decided to start from the beginning. "Before we reincarnated, we were all adults. But the paths of humans and spirits are separate, so we couldn’t be together. Later, the Heaven and Earth Stone came up with a solution: for the four of us to reincarnate."
"You were worried about us, so you followed. I still remember it—the moment you stepped out of the Heaven and Earth Illusion Realm, you instantly transformed from a young woman into a little baby."
Han Li couldn’t help but chuckle. "The Heaven and Earth Stone didn’t tell you beforehand, and you were so angry you wanted to slice it in half."
As he spoke, a few blurry images flashed through Yu An’s mind. In them, a chubby little baby stood with her hands on her hips, furiously scolding something.
While yelling, she was directing four transparent, ghost-like figures next to her to beat up a large stone.
The four ghosts... they looked just like Mo Yan and the other three.
Yu An cleared her throat and put on a stern face. "Stop laughing and keep talking."
Han Li immediately suppressed his smile, though his tone still carried a hint of amusement.
"When we were born, you secretly helped us survive until we were three. After that, we were sent to the Tian Family."
"Later, you found us at the Tian Family’s estate, tricked us by claiming to be a little fairy from the heavens, and led us around setting fires everywhere... We even burned down their ancestral hall..."
"Wait," Yu An interrupted, a look of shock on her face as she heard the familiar story. "I did that in the past?"
"Yes," Han Li said, confused. "What’s wrong?"
The expression on Yu An’s face was indescribable. "Back in the Illusion Realm on the Divine Mountain, I... also burned down the Tian Family’s ancestral hall."
Han Li: "..."
’Alright, that’s my An’an for you. A job well done!’
"An’an, after the four of us escaped the Tian Family, you were reported to the Heaven and Earth Stone. Because you had caused such a scene, the Tian Family had rallied other families to lodge a complaint. The Heaven and Earth Stone punished you by sending you to train in the small worlds, and that’s when we were separated."
"When we returned home later, we discovered that after we’d been sent to the Tian Family, our mothers had all been..."
Han Li paused, then uttered a single word: "Murdered."
Yu An didn’t understand. "That’s not right. I remember the Tian Family’s divination predicted you were children of good fortune. Why would they be..."
Han Li gave a bitter smile. "The Tian Family’s divination wasn’t about ’children of good fortune.’ It was about the four of us who had reincarnated. Any child suspected of being one of us was sent to the Tian Family, and they would slowly search for the right ones among them."
"It was only after we returned to the temple that we learned our birth mothers had had all their Heart Blood drained. We don’t know what it was for, but it seems to be related to the current imposter Divine Hall Spirit."
They were halfway through their investigation when they learned that Yu An had run into trouble in the small worlds, and they had hurried to her side.
Unfortunately, they didn’t make it in time. Yu An had already been tricked by Tian Fu and had perished. In their desperation, they followed Yu An into reincarnation...
As Han Li spoke, more and more images surfaced in Yu An’s mind, appearing one after another.
However, the memories seemed to be suppressed by something, preventing them from ever fully returning.
When Yu An told Han Li this, he pondered for a moment. "It must have been the Heaven and Earth Stone’s doing. It’s the only one with that kind of power."
Han Li began to complain, embellishing his story. "An’an, let me tell you, that stupid rock is a real piece of work. Let’s not even talk about anything else—just take the Tian Family. What happened was clearly their fault."
"The Tian Family committed atrocities that defied the heavens and should have been punished. But not only did the Heaven and Earth Stone do nothing, it even sent you away for ’training.’"
"It’s not letting you recover your memories because it’s afraid that once you remember everything, you’ll hunt it down that very night to settle the score."
Little Stone could hear the commotion outside. It was in the middle of a deep sleep when it suddenly heard someone speaking ill of it.
It listened closely and nearly exploded with rage!
’You...! You, Han Li! I went to all the trouble to help you get a physical body, and this is how you repay me?!’
Furious yet terrified, it trembled, deathly afraid that Han Li’s words would cause Yu An to regain her memories.
It waited anxiously for a while. When it saw that Yu An was only frowning and hadn’t put on her signature troublemaking expression, it let out a huge sigh of relief.
’Phew, it’s okay, it’s okay. My seal is still plenty strong.’
’I’ll just go back to sleep. For the time being, at least, the Little Phoenix won’t get her memories back, and my "life" won’t be in danger.’
Yu An, unaware that the Heaven and Earth Stone was hiding and sleeping soundly in her personal space, tapped her head. She still couldn’t remember anything.
The images flashed past and then vanished, leaving not a single trace behind.
’Whatever, I’ll stop thinking about it. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.’
Just as she was about to call the Zaizai back to get some sleep, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. From the sound of it, there were quite a lot of people.
"An’an, they’re probably here for training. I’ll go ask them to find another spot."
Yu An nodded. "Okay."
In the time it took them to speak, the bushes were pushed aside. Sure enough, a large crowd emerged—a whole throng of them, perhaps forty or fifty people.
Yu An glanced over casually, but she froze when she saw a particular figure in the group.
Han Li froze as well, but he wasn’t looking at the same person as Yu An. He was looking at his former biological father.
The Han Family Master.
His gaze rested on the Han Family Master’s face for only two seconds before he quickly walked over to block their path. "Apologies, this spot is taken. Please find somewhere else."
The unusual fragrance was strongest in this area; of course they weren’t going to leave.
The Mo Family Head could sense that Han Li’s spiritual power was unfathomably deep, so he spoke politely. "Young friend, it is late, and we have been unable to find anywhere else to spend the night. This area is quite spacious. Might you spare us a little room?"
He secretly nudged the Han Family Master, who was standing nearest, wanting him to say a few words as well. ’He can’t be the only one doing the pleading, can he?’
As for why he didn’t nudge Master Lan... Master Lan was far too abrasive. The young man might not even bother refusing and just attack them outright!
But the Han Family Master showed no reaction. The Mo Family Head frowned slightly and, glancing over, saw that the Han Family Master was staring blankly at Han Li.
’What’s going on?’
It wasn’t until he let out an intentional cough that the Han Family Master snapped out of his trance. "Right... ah, right..."
’Right about what?!’
The Mo Family Head’s expression soured. He turned to look at Patriarch Feng, only to find that Patriarch Feng was even worse—he was staring at the young man’s wife!
’Heavens!’
’That shameless old lech!’