Yan Changyun and Yan Song bought a bouquet of sunflowers and hurried to the hospital.
Seeing the two of them rushing in, Azhu gave a faint smile. "Dad, brother."
Looking at Azhu's radiant smile, Yan Song couldn't help but sigh, *My sister really looks beautiful when she smiles!*
Yan Song sat nearby to chat with Azhu, eager to tell her everything that had happened over the past few years. For three years, Azhu had been in an unexplained coma, and Bai Yin and Yan Changyun had worked tirelessly day and night to care for her. Yan Changyun, convinced that if the doctors couldn't find a problem, it must be the hospital's fault, kept switching hospitals one after another. They even invited Taoist priests and sorcerers, but there was no improvement.
"Oh, let's go home and talk. Azhu must want to go home," Bai Yin urged Yan Changyun.
Now, apart from their eldest son, who was away for work and couldn't make it back, the whole family was reunited.
While Yan Song went to get the car, Yan Changyun pulled Bai Yin aside and whispered, "Did you tell Azhu about Luoluo?"
Bai Yin gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "Of course I did. They are both my daughters."
"That's good, that's good." At least both sides had some mental preparation now.
Bai Yin and Yan Changyun slowly met each other’s gaze, and in that moment, their eyes told each other they were thinking the exact same thing: *Are the two girls going to fight?*
They were quite at ease with Azhu; having raised her under their own eyes for so many years, she was both gentle and sensible. But with Xingluo having just returned, it was hard to say.
Bai Yin poked Yan Changyun. "Be careful what you say when we get back."
"Yes, my dear wife."
Hidden within Azhu’s body, Yaojiu observed the outside world and marveled at the speed of the car. "I’d heard the Mortal Realm was fun, but it’s even more interesting than I thought!"
Azhu rubbed her forehead. *So noisy.*
She had detected something different, but there was no time to delve into it now; she would deal with it later.
"Cat, be quiet."
Yaojiu jolted. "I have a name. It’s Yaojiu. Pretty domineering, right?"
Azhu tried her best to remain patient. "In a couple of days, I’ll find you a vessel. Get out of my head."
Yaojiu flatly refused. What if it were exposed after leaving? Staying in this woman’s Consciousness Sea was the safest place.
Yaojiu changed the subject. "You? Trying to find a vessel for me? Don't think just anything can contain a great beast like me." *If you weren't so special, do you think I would have chosen to come here?*
For three years, Yaojiu hadn't managed to get the upper hand over Azhu.
"I’ll find a way." *Annoying cat, just getting in my way.*
Azhu gave a sharp hiss, and everyone in the car turned to look at her.
Bai Yin touched Azhu’s forehead. "Baby, are you alright?"
Azhu forced a smile to ease the awkwardness. "I'm fine."
***
In an underground bar.
"Sister, how did it go?" Bai Weiyi leaned in close to Xingluo, full of curiosity.
Bai Weiyi had never expected Xingluo to be a wealthy heiress. The Yan family was considered one of the top families in Luocheng, and when the news broke, everyone had been shocked.
Xingluo looked listless. "It was nothing, just the same as always. I didn't have much of a reaction." It was just that someone who had been in a coma was finally coming home.
Xingluo looked down at the room. Master Ming Jing would be arriving in a few days, which was sure to draw attention from many sides. It seemed she needed to make plans early.
Watching Xingluo knit her brows, Bai Weiyi immediately conjured up a dramatic scenario: *The Return to the Wealthy Family: I Am Treated with Cold Eyes by My Biological Parents.* Hearing that there was also an adopted sister in the Yan family, Bai Weiyi felt it was even worse: *The Return to the Wealthy Family: My Parents Drive Me Away for the Fake Heiress.*
Xingluo looked up at Bai Weiyi; she knew without being told that he was letting his imagination run wild again.
Xingluo heartlessly gave Bai Weiyi a flick to the forehead, leaving him with, "Prepare the place. I’ll come again in a couple of days."
Bai Weiyi rubbed his head and watched Xingluo’s departing figure. "Understood."
***
Xingluo stood at the door of the villa, gazing at the brightly lit house from which faint laughter drifted, but she did not move. The cozy, joyful atmosphere and her own solitary figure formed a sharp contrast at the threshold, pulling Xingluo into a void—close enough to touch, yet worlds apart.
After nearly twenty years away from home, Xingluo didn't know if she could adapt, or if she—or they—could accept who she was now.
*Do they really want me back?*
Xingluo pushed the door open and saw a well-behaved girl with hair like a waterfall and clean, delicate features, looking as beautiful as a painting.
She gave Xingluo a faint smile. "Good evening, sister."
Xingluo couldn't help but soften her tone. "Good evening." Now that she finally saw her in person, Xingluo understood why Bai Yin kept saying she would like this sister.
Her gentle, refined appearance and her soft, considerate voice were indeed easy to like.
Azhu looked at Xingluo—a cool, spirited sister.
She couldn't help but recall the gossip she had heard at the hospital today:
"Did you hear? The Yan family’s youngest daughter has been found."
"Really? But don't they already have one? What will happen to her?"
"What can happen? You know how wealthy families resolve these things. Don't play dumb. The Yan family is preparing for a reunion banquet; the whole city will be there!"
"Looks like they’re making up for the daughter who was lost. I guess one of them will have to leave."
Azhu’s hearing was excellent; even sitting in the hospital room, she could hear the whispers from the central nurse station. She smiled faintly, a trace of mirth emerging.
So what? It was the truth, after all. If they weren't blood-related, there was no need to force it, especially since she had never expected anything in the first place.
For Azhu, this was only a matter of time. Sooner or later, she would have to leave and step back onto that other path.
Yaojiu, who had naturally heard it as well, teased, "No way, you’ve just woken up and you’re already about to be kicked out."
"Get out," a voice devoid of emotion replied.
But compared to that, Azhu was more curious about Xingluo. A child who had been lost since the age of five and only found by the Yan family a year ago—twenty years without a trace. It seemed there were secrets buried there.
To Azhu, it was irrelevant. She only needed to protect the Yan family now, to repay their kindness over the past twenty years.
Azhu looked at her own hand, at the lines on her palm… She gave a light scoff. *Truly, the more I owe, the more I accrue.*
Across several lifetimes, debts owed to others and debts others owed her—they were impossible to calculate.
Yan Song sat on the sofa watching TV, though his attention was entirely on the two girls. There was no fire, no arguing; he could successfully report back that all was well.
Bai Yin called them for dinner. "Come and try the sweet and sour pork and the stir-fried vegetables Mom made." At the dinner table, Bai Yin enthusiastically kept piling food onto the girls' plates.
Azhu and Xingluo: *Too much enthusiasm.*
"Ah, ah, ah, ah! I want to eat too, I’m hungry!" Yaojiu complained frantically.
Disturbed by the noise, Azhu suddenly felt the urge to swat him. "You’re a spiritual entity now; what are you eating?"
Azhu coldly exposed the truth. It was true—spiritual entities could not consume food; they could only absorb magic or spiritual energy to nourish themselves.
Yaojiu felt incredibly aggrieved. If he hadn't been fighting with Azhu for three years, he wouldn't be this weak. That damned Azhu had such a powerful consciousness; he had spent three years wearing himself out against her and hadn't gained the slightest advantage.
Yaojiu felt a bit depressed. He was still being bullied, and he couldn't even win the fight. He had finally found a special vessel capable of holding him, but he hadn't expected to end up with such a tyrant!