Elixir of Immortality

Chapter 12

"Bàba?" I asked, knocking gently on the door. There was a groan and the door opened. Bàba looked horribly sick and I hoped the village's local healers would come soon to aid him. "I-I need to talk to you."

"It's late—"

"It's about Hou Yi and Hēi'àn De Mìmì." I sighed. "I know everything."

He widened his eyes and grabbed Xiran by the shoulder, pulling her inside the bedroom and locked the door. "Xiran, you can't tell your māmā about this!" Bàba cried out. He never told Māmā? "I-I never intended for you to find out."

"That we're descendants of Hou Yi? Or that Hēi'àn De Mìmì isn't actually a real town in East Asia but an actual ghost town?" I had never talked back to my bàba but my blood was boiling. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Bàba's eyes soften. "No."

I was just going to keep living a lie. "I...okay."

What else could I say?

I touched my jade necklace. "Aunt Ponyo told me that this was a family heirloom, so I assume it's connected to Hou Yi or Chang'e in some way? Bàba, please, I need and want to know the truth."

He mumbled a few words, heading back to his bed. He sat on the foot of his bed, sighing. "Your auntie can be reckless, she is less traditional than we are, she handed you that necklace like it was nothing when it was everything."

"What is it exactly, Bàba?" I asked timidly.

"My father and the elders who came before us," he said, looking down at the floor, "told me that the jade necklace was important. Said it held the key to Hou Yi's heart and it was everything to him, that is all they would tell us. Auntie Ponyo...she was always a bit rogue so I was worried when she gifted you the heirloom.

"We both agreed that the next generations to come—they would never discover we were direct descendants of Hou Yi and neither would the village. But your aunt always finds a way to anger me."

I sat at the foot of the bed with him. "Why didn't you want the next generations to know?"

"Because times change, Xiran. When you were born, everything changed, I could feel it in my bones. Ponyo came to me in distress, saying she had a vision," he replied in Chinese, ashamed. I had never seen Bàba so ashamed and embarrassed—of what? His heritage? Throughout my life, it was gutting to see the man who I looked up to have his world break apart. "Ponyo said that you were cursed, you would never fall in love and no one was capable of loving you romantically."

"Oh." I was shocked and wounded. Auntie Ponyo said that about me? I loved Auntie Ponyo, she was the fun auntie, in fact, she was my only auntie. What else do people say behind my back? "Continue, please."

Bàba grimaced. "I was spooked and worse, Hēi'àn De Mìmì started to ask questions. I suppose everyone felt the atmosphere felt...different. The rumours got to your māmā and you were only a child, Xiran. I couldn't bear to see the gossip spiral out of control, I knew it would affect you. So one night, I went out to shut them up in spite and met up with Auntie Ponyo—we promised to never tell you or your māmā."

I swallowed the bump in the back of my throat. "I'm sorry."

Bàba blinked, confused. "Why?"

"Because our lives are also spiralling out of control! You're sick and your health is declining! I'm the source of all of this—if I wasn't b-born, we wouldn't have these problems." I never cried in front of my family, I tried not to. It made me feel weak in front of them and I needed to be tough for all of us. "I'm different, you said it yourself, but I'm different in a horrible way."

"You are different in a different way," Bàba chuckled, wiping away my tears. "Xiran, do not apologize for my mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes throughout my life—lying to your māmā and you, lashing out at Hēi'àn De Mìmì that one night.

"And hiding this big secret from you, even if it's your birthright, might be my biggest mistake. But, Xiran, you are not one of my many, many mistakes. You are my daughter and I will always love you if no one else does."

My eyes gave away and I cried on his shoulders. It was sloppy and soon enough, Bàba was crying with me while hacking. "X-Xiran," he said in a raspy voice. "You are correct, I am ill. I'm happy that you found love today, Xiong Lee sounds like a good boy."

Xiong doesn't even love me, he only needs my help. I buried my head in his shoulder, wrapping my arms around my bàba. "Of course, don't worry," I said. "We love each other."

I lied to Bàba that night.