Chapter 493 - 270: Lu Ruyan
Su Liyan covered her mouth and chuckled. Pouting her lips, she looked toward a small dog in the distance and said, "Honey, that’s him over there!"
A small, yellow-furred dog ambled over to the pile of food, lowered its head, and began tearing into it. The other Da Xingzi all made way, leaving much of the food for the yellow dog.
A dog? A ferocious tiger?
Su Liyan saw his concern and said, "Honey, the forest is only so big. If he couldn’t shrink his body, it would be hard to stay here."
"Oh, right! That makes sense!" Lu Yuan nodded as he watched the yellow dog. He hadn’t noticed that before.
Gongyue Monarch’s voice, somewhat hurried, echoed in Lu Yuan’s mind. "Master, I sense a very familiar aura. That aura is back again. Master, please let me out!"
Hearing Gongyue Monarch’s call, Lu Yuan produced the Top Grade Spirit Capturing Device from his left sleeve. He silently recited a Spell and released Gongyue Monarch.
Gongyue Monarch floated in mid-air, looking all around, searching for that familiar aura.
Gongyue Monarch’s appearance caused quite a stir. Many of the Da Xingzi sensed the Da Xingzi who had materialized out of thin air.
Su Liyan’s mother was taken aback but said nothing.
A huge whirlpool formed in the center of the reservoir, as if something was about to emerge.
The yellow dog, which had been tearing at the food on the ground, let out a puppy-like yelp in Gongyue Monarch’s direction, followed by a low growl, as if warning him not to cause trouble here.
Many other Xingzi also cried out in warning!
Gongyue Monarch paid them no mind. He scanned the area and locked his gaze on Yunyun.
In a flash, Gongyue Monarch floated over to Yunyun’s side. His hands glowed as he lifted Yunyun, who was also a Void Body, into the air!
This sudden turn of events left Lu Yuan at a loss. Yunyun was the darling of all these Da Xingzi!
It was one thing for Gongyue Monarch to ignore the Da Xingzis’ warnings, but he had actually grabbed their favorite!
Su Liyan first sought her husband’s thoughts, asking, "Honey, why did you let him out?"
The yellow dog roared, its body swelling until it transformed into a ferocious tiger, though much smaller than the one they had seen on Elephant Island.
The tiger leaped to Gongyue Monarch’s side and roared, "Let her go!"
Yunyun looked at the man before her and raised a hand, gesturing for the tiger to quiet down.
Yunyun blinked her eyes and asked, "Mister, do we know each other?"
Gongyue Monarch studied her for a long time without speaking.
Lu Yuan was growing impatient. He asked, "Gongyue Monarch, don’t just keep holding Yunyun up. If you get mobbed in a minute, I can’t protect you!"
Gongyue Monarch was reluctant to put Yunyun down, muttering, "So familiar, so familiar... Your name is Yunyun?"
Yunyun floated over to Su Liyan’s mother’s side and said, "Yes, Grandma gave me the name. Isn’t it pretty?"
Gongyue Monarch looked at Su Liyan’s mother, first performing a deep bow. He said, "Madam, how did you come to meet this young lady, Yunyun?"
A red glow emanated from Su Liyan’s mother’s hand as she touched Yunyun’s body. "Yunyun is a good child," she said. "When I met her over a decade ago, she was being hunted by a group of Grand Celestial Masters. I was the one who rescued her from them!"
Yunyun nodded in agreement.
Gongyue Monarch looked at Yunyun and extended his right hand. "May I ask you to place your hand on mine?"
Yunyun floated over and placed her small hand on Gongyue Monarch’s. A flood of images, all of long-forgotten events, rushed into her mind.
A handsome, dashing man appeared in her mind’s eye, and Yunyun couldn’t help but call out, "Daddy?"
That single word, "Daddy," startled Gongyue Monarch so much that he immediately pulled his right hand back, now more certain than ever.
Yunyun looked up at the person before her. Wasn’t he the same man from her memories? She asked, "Are you my daddy?"
Gongyue Monarch gave a slight nod. "My daughter was about your age when she passed away. The aura on you is so familiar..."
Before Gongyue Monarch could finish, Yunyun threw herself into his arms and began to wail.
Seeing this, the tiger at their side transformed back into a yellow dog and lay down by the pile of food to continue eating.
The surface of the water also grew calm.
Yunyun sobbed, crying out, "Daddy! I’ve waited for you for so long! I was starting to forget what you even looked like!"
Gongyue Monarch said no more, simply holding her in his embrace...
Lu Yuan picked up Bengbeng, turned to leave, and sent a telepathic message to Gongyue Monarch: "I’ll allow you to not return. You can stay here."
Lu Yuan had already released the Binding the Top Grade Spirit Capturing Device had on Gongyue Monarch, losing his control over him. Lu Yuan trusted his judgment wouldn’t be wrong.
Lu Yuan and the others left the reservoir and headed for his father-in-law’s house. On the way, Su Liyan teased with a smile, "Honey, I guess you won’t have a thousand-year-old Da Xingzi protecting you anymore~"
Lu Yuan said nonchalantly, "I have my wife, isn’t that enough?"
"Oh, stop it. I’m your wife, not your bodyguard!"
"Alright, honey!"
...
Lu Yuan pushed open the gate to his father-in-law’s house.
"Dad, we’re back!"
"Grandpa, your granddaughter is back!"
Su Liyan’s father heard someone calling for him from outside. It was his daughter’s family, they were back.
Su Liyan’s father was covered in sweat. A folded towel was draped around his neck, and he occasionally used it to wipe away the perspiration as he came out to greet them.
One look and Lu Yuan knew his father-in-law was sick and had the shivers.
Even in the dead of winter, he was constantly breaking out in a cold sweat.
Lu Yuan gave his wife a gentle nudge from behind. Su Liyan took the hint immediately, stepping forward to support her father as she led him into the house.
When Lu Yuan and the others entered the room, they found it wasn’t warm. The small stove hadn’t been lit.
Su Liyan’s mother asked, "Liyan’s father, why haven’t you lit the fire? It’s so cold!"
Su Liyan’s father replied, "I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve been sweating constantly lately. I can’t even get off the kang, I just stay curled up in bed all day and don’t want to get up!"
Together with his wife, Lu Yuan helped his father-in-law onto the kang, letting him lean against the wall at the head of the bed.
Lu Yuan snapped his fingers. The small stove burst into flames without any Spirit Stone Slag being added. He said, "You still need to keep a fire going in the house. A damp room makes it easy for people to get sick."
Lu Yuan rolled up his father-in-law’s sleeve and placed a hand on his wrist. "It’s nothing serious," he said. "Years of tilling the fields, combined with catching a bit of a chill today. You’ll be fine after taking this Elixir."
Lu Yuan handed the Elixir to Su Liyan. She poured some hot water from a thermos into a porcelain mug and brought the medicine and water to her father.
With Su Liyan married into a good family, her mother spoke with a bit more confidence. "Liyan’s father, why do you put yourself through this? You refuse to live the city life, and now your body is in this state. What for?"
During the busy farming season, Su Liyan’s mother also had to return to Changliu Village to work the fields. She was also worried about him at home. She had tried to persuade him several times, but Liyan’s father was stubborn and refused to go to the city no matter what.
If he looked down on his daughter, he could have always chosen to go to his son’s place.
Su Liyan’s father took the Elixir with the hot water, handed the cup back to his daughter, and said, "Liyan, Dad has no face to see you! Because you were a girl, and from the Half-demon Race, I never treated you well since you were little..."
Su Liyan’s mother knew all this, and Su Liyan knew it in her heart as well.
Su Liyan interrupted, "Dad, don’t say any more. I already know!"
"No! I have to say it. For years, Dad has felt so guilty but never had the courage to say it. But today, I must say it. Dad was wrong!" Two tears rolled down Su Liyan’s father’s weathered, sun-chapped face.
’What is with today? First a father-daughter reunion, now a father-daughter heart-to-heart,’ Lu Yuan wondered to himself.
For a man of Su Liyan’s father’s age, admitting his own mistakes was an incredibly difficult thing to do.
Su Liyan forced a smile and said, "Dad, I understand. You don’t have to hold onto these feelings, okay?"
Su Liyan’s father wiped the tear tracks with his old hand and nodded.
Su Liyan took her father’s hand and said, "How could a good daughter blame her own dad?"
Bengbeng, who was lying on the edge of the kang, cried out, "Grandpa, why are you crying?"
Su Liyan’s father smiled and said, "The wind just blew something in my eye. The child is already a year old and doesn’t have a formal name yet, does she?"
Su Liyan looked at Lu Yuan, who gave a slight nod.
Su Liyan understood. "Honey said we were waiting for an elder in the family to give her a name! Dad, would you do the honors?"
Su Liyan’s father waved his old hand dismissively. "I’ve been a farmer my whole life. What kind of nice name could I possibly come up with!"
Lu Yuan also chimed in to persuade him.
Su Liyan’s father thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s call her ’Ruyan.’ Just like her mother."
Everyone said in unison, "Lu Ruyan!"