Volume 6, Chapter 85 – A Rowdy Mother and Daughter

The room’s lights had been dimmed to their softest setting, the warm amber glow draped over the bed like a gauze veil.

Bai Lianyue lay on her side, her long hair — shading from emerald to silver-white — spread loose across the pillow, a few strands falling beside her cheek, rising and falling gently with each even breath. Her brow was smooth and untroubled, dark-red eyes closed, a faint smile still lingering at the corner of her mouth — as though she were dreaming of something wonderful. Her arms had unconsciously drawn the two small figures in her embrace a little closer.

Weiya was nestled snugly in the crook of Bai Lianyue’s arm, her small head buried against her neck, breathing warm and steady. The traces of undried tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, yet she slept with extraordinary peace. Her tiny hand clutched Bai Lianyue’s collar as if, by holding on, she could grasp every last shred of security the world had to offer.

Miya had curled up on Bai Lianyue’s other side, her small face pressed against her back, silver-white hair tangling with Bai Lianyue’s own locks. Her blue eyes were shut, the corners of her mouth gently curved upward, and every now and then she would unconsciously nuzzle against Bai Lianyue’s back — like a clingy little cat.

The three of them asleep in each other’s arms made for an uncommonly warm picture. The only sounds left in the room were the soft rhythm of breathing, woven together with the quiet hum of warm air from the climate system — still and lovely.

Ailiya stood beside the bed for a long while, watching in silence, her eyes full of something tender. With careful, unhurried movements, she drew the blanket up over all three of them, taking care not to disturb the tranquility of the scene, before finally turning away, easing the door shut behind her, and letting her footsteps carry her off.

Faced with such an utterly unguarded Bai Lianyue, Ailiya would naturally have loved nothing more than to curl up beside her and fall asleep together.

But tonight, the silver-haired girl chose to give that particular pleasure to her little sisters instead.

After all, this scheme of hers had, in a way, made use of the twins too — and the guilt it left in her chest was genuine. Yielding Lianyue’s embrace to them was the least she could offer by way of apology.

With Bai Lianyue and the twins settled, Ailiya left the underground base and stepped out into the open air.

The first thing to greet her was the faintly cool breeze of the night, carrying with it the mingled scent of earth and green things. Much of the Lingyuan family estate still bore the marks of the recent battle — crumbling walls and broken columns cast jagged silhouettes under the moonlight, fallen beams sprawled every which way across the ground, rubble and snapped branches scattered throughout. Yet bathed in moonlight, the wreckage lost something of its desolation and gained something of quiet.

Ailiya came to a stop, turned her gaze toward a decommissioned gun emplacement not far off, and the corner of her mouth curved into a smile somewhere between resigned and amused:

“You little thing — so you finally saw fit to come back.”

Perched atop the gun emplacement was a dainty little creature, adorable as carved jade — none other than Xing Wu, reverted once again to her infant form.

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Indeed, it was the energy fluctuations of the little one’s return that had drawn Ailiya up to the surface.

Dressed in a pink onesie, Xing Wu was scrambling and bouncing across the metal wreckage on all fours. Her stubby little legs kicked furiously, small arms bracing against the ground, while her expression carried the faintest glimmer of barely-suppressed indignation — clearly she was none too pleased with this baby form. After crawling a few paces she stopped, flopped onto her back, and kicked her little legs at the night sky as though venting her feelings at the stars.

At the sound of Ailiya’s voice, Xing Wu went still. She lifted her small head, and her violet eyes filled immediately with wariness.

Clearly, when it came to Ailiya — the woman who had put her through no small amount of trouble — Xing Wu maintained a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Alongside the wariness, however, there was something else flickering in Xing Wu’s eyes: urgency. She seemed to want to ask something, her little mouth opening and moving —

Unfortunately, in her infant state, Xing Wu could only produce a stream of “goo-goo, gah-gah” baby noises, entirely incapable of forming an actual question.

Ailiya listened to the babbling for a moment, then dug a finger into her ear with a pained expression.

“Hah…”

After a long-suffering sigh, Ailiya walked over, crouched down in front of Xing Wu, and studied her hapless little face with an expression laced with mild grievance:

“Oh, come on. All that ‘goo-gah’ nonsense — who on earth can understand you?”

One complaint dispensed with, Ailiya didn’t dwell on it. She quietly reached into her clothes and produced a glass bottle. Inside sloshed a milky-white liquid, carrying the faint fragrance of lily-of-the-valley.

No need to guess — it was a certain elf girl’s milk.

And not only the elf girl’s, at that. There was also a trace of Ailiya’s own essence mixed in.

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Without question, Ailiya had blended in a portion of her own personal reserves.

“Goo-gah?!”

Xing Wu’s eyes went instantly wide as saucers, her violet pupils flooding with sheer disbelief. She tilted her little head, staring hard at the glass bottle, then pointed at it, then pointed at Ailiya — clearly asking where this supply had come from. After all, Xing Wu was well aware she’d made off with the elf girl’s entire stockpile before she left.

“Want to know where this came from?”

Ailiya, seeing straight through Baby Xing Wu’s thoughts, gave the bottle a playful little shake and spoke with a mischievous lilt:

“When I was helping Lianyue with her bath earlier, her milk happened to be coming in, so I went ahead and collected a bit to save for later. Didn’t expect it to come in handy this quickly.”

Xing Wu: ??!

Helping with her bath?!

Milking her?!!

What did this awful woman do to my annoying old Mom while I was gone?!!

The mere thought that this woman had perhaps been sneaking around doing things to her dear old Mom again filled Xing Wu with a surge of deep indignation. Her violet eyes brimmed with resentment.

The particular resentment of someone whose home had been robbed in their absence.

One look at that expression and Ailiya knew precisely where the girl’s mind had gone. She gave a scornful sniff.

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“Hmph. Don’t let your tiny little brain run wild — I didn’t do anything improper… Those are stockpiled goods. I was joking with you.”

With that mildly impatient clarification delivered, Ailiya raised a hand, and a surge of cherry-pink Augury Force lifted Xing Wu from the wreckage and deposited her neatly in front of her.

Then Ailiya uncapped the bottle and held the teat to Xing Wu’s mouth.

“Goo-GAH!!”

Baby Xing Wu recoiled, trying to shove the bottle away. She seemed distinctly unwilling to be fed by Ailiya.

Terrified the woman might have spiked the milk with something… much as she had once secretly added chili powder to a previous batch.

And yet —

Her inner resistance was entirely futile. The instincts of an infant body were not subject to veto.

On top of which, Xing Wu was genuinely hungry by now.

And so, guided by sheer biological imperative, the little baby held out for only so long before she ultimately latched onto the teat and began to drink — deeply, hungrily. The resentful little face was, in an instant, awash with contentment.

“Mm~”

The milky-white liquid slid warmly down her throat, sweet and familiar, and the energy it carried spread rapidly through her body.

As the last of the milk was drunk, a soft violet luminescence began to rise from Xing Wu’s skin.

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The light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping her small form entirely as the pudgy infant shape visibly stretched and unfurled before the eye. The pink onesie dissolved away within the glow, replaced by a dashing set of violet armor-dress, and silver-white hair grew swiftly from a newborn’s wisps to waist-length locks tipped with a faint violet sheen. The baby-soft roundness faded from her face, and her violet eyes filled once more with pride and sharp intelligence.

The light receded. Xing Wu stood steady where she was, fully restored to her young woman’s form.

She rolled her wrists, feeling the power surging full and plentiful within her, and had just opened her mouth to demand of Ailiya exactly what she’d gotten up to with her mom — when a distinct, derisive snicker cut her off.

Xing Wu snapped her head up and met Ailiya’s gaze, half-smiling and entirely knowing.

“You— what are you laughing at? So I transformed by drinking milk — what’s so funny about that?”

Xing Wu said this with a faint flush creeping across her cheeks.

To which Ailiya gave no direct answer whatsoever. Instead, she silently let her gaze drift downward to Xing Wu’s chest, the smile at the corner of her mouth growing wider and wider, until she even deliberately raised a hand and pointed:

“Tsk tsk, my dear daughter — aren’t you a little too… flat ? And to think you’re mine and Lianyue’s. How is it you didn’t inherit a single one of our better qualities~”

As she spoke, Ailiya pointedly pressed her own generously endowed assets together for emphasis.

“You—!!” Xing Wu erupted instantly, her cheeks flushing a violent red.

She clapped a hand over her chest on instinct, glaring at Ailiya with eyes blazing, voice surging with a torrential fury:

“You absolute witch !!! What do you mean by THAT?!!!!”