What If...I Remember?

Chapter 65

“Mother doesn't love me anymore. Father doesn’t love me anymore.” A-Li sobbed, fiddling with his sleeve as he spoke, and Feng Jiu exchanged glances with Bai Zhen, who was chewing on a single piece of straw, before she asked her cousin concernedly, “Did Gugu and Gufu punish you?” “No. But Father wanted to send me to Kun Lun, and Mother agreed.” A-Li cried, and Bai Zhen merely gave his nephew a lopsided grin, “Did your Mother agree to it at once, A-Li?” “No. But she agreed to it nonetheless.” A-Li tried to wipe the tears from his face, and Feng Jiu gave a small laugh, “Then it means she still loves you, A-Li.”

“Why?” The little boy looked up at them in confusion, and Feng Jiu pulled out a slightly crumpled handkerchief from her sleeve as she handed it to her cousin, “Because she hesitated. Gugu must not have wholly wanted you to go to Kun Lun either. If she did, likely you would have been there long ago, Little Riceball.” “But Father doesn’t love me, then.” A-Li shouted as loudly as his little voice could allow, “He wanted me booted off to Kun Lun right away for a year and a half.”

“Well...Ye Hua does things without sharing his reasons. Maybe you should ask your father why he’s so anxious to send you off to Kun Lun?” Bai Zhen suggested, not quite bothered by the fact that his nephew was still rather upset, and A-Li kicked his legs in the air in frustration, “He says it’s because I’m going to be a brother.” “Isn’t that great? You learn new things to show off to your siblings.” Feng Jiu pondered, being the only child of Bai Yi, and A-Li paused, finding some sense in feng Jiu’s words, but still pouting after a while, “How would you know, Sister Feng Jiu? You never had any siblings.”

“Aye, but I have you, little cousin.” Feng Jiu grinned, and A-Li blinked, before he pouted again, “But even so, why haven’t Mother and Father showed up yet, then?” “Well...maybe they’re busy, A-Li?” Feng Jiu spoke slowly, for she herself wasn’t sure why Bai Qian, who was normally quite protective of A-Li, had yet to show up, but Bai Zhen merely snorted, “Your father must have predicted you would come to Qing Qiu, A-Li, that’s why they haven’t shown up looking for you.” “So they don’t want me?” The little boy’s eyes that had only just dried up began to fill with tears again, and Feng Jiu waved her hands hastily, “No, no...maybe they are really just busy, Little Riceball...they’ll definitely come for you later...”

But Bai Zhen merely laughed, much to the surprise of both Feng Jiu and A-Li.

“I’m afraid you’ll only see them in days’ time, little A-Li...”

...

“Qian Qian...you can stop if you need, you know?”

Ye Hua’s words were telling her to stop...but how could she, if she had yet to make the grass into a pill? Yet Bai Qian could not blame him for wanting her to pause. Waves of heat radiated from the glowing medicinal furnace, tiny fiery embers flying out from between some of the holes in the gate and sides of the furnace as flames licked the bars of its cage, and even as Bai Qian stumbled slightly, attempting to bear the heat while she held out a single palm, cultivation flowed from every inch of her palm’s surface and into the furnace, wrapping itself around the single divine grass that floated in the furnace, slowly turning into a orb-like shape.

How much cultivation would she donate to the child? Bai Qian had no idea. She could remember, from somewhere in the back of her mind, that she would need her cultivation for her ascension to the position of Heavenly Lady in the future, but the things at hand were more important, and with a determined expression, Bai Qian began doubling the amount of cultivation that she had been feeding into the furnace, her bluish-green aura burning faintly around her as her cultivation began leaving her rapidly. But alas, albeit her determination, the action proved too much for Bai Qian to bear as she currently was.