Chapter 54: A Family Reunion

Feng Yu used warm water to wipe down Qi Yue's entire body, changed her into clean clothes, and moved her to the other side of the bed. He then rolled up the waterproof animal skin that had been laid down earlier, intending to take it out for washing when he had time. Using his elemental fire to reheat the bowl of soup that had been half-fed earlier, he continued to feed her.

After washing the surface of the golden egg with warm water, Qi Hua placed it in a small basket by the bedside.

As she drank the soup, Qi Yue asked, "Grand Aunt Qi Hua, how did you get here?" In truth, she felt rather embarrassed. Although Feng Yu had been feeding her for a year, she had been unconscious the entire time. This was the first time she was awake for it, so she forced herself to ask a question to distract her attention; otherwise, her face would have burned even more severely from blushing.

"Qi Yue, child, aren't your birth father named Qi Xiao and your mother Luan Jing?" Qi Hua asked in return.

"Yes, what is it?" Qi Yue asked, looking puzzled.

"What is it? Didn't your father tell you that he had a younger sister?" Qi Hua asked with a trace of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, it seems someone mentioned it when I was very little, but I don't remember clearly. Could you possibly be..." Qi Yue tried to recall, asking uncertainly.

"That's right, I am your aunt. How could I not come when something as major as you giving birth to a cub happened?" Just as Qi Hua said this, Qi Jie returned with Feng Chi.

"Eh? Little sister is awake?" "Ah! Mother is awake!" Two voices filled with pleasant surprise rang out simultaneously.

As soon as he finished shouting, Feng Chi darted over to his mother's side, wrapping his arms around hers and refusing to let go. His mother had been asleep for a whole year, and he had missed her terribly.

"This is your cousin, Qi Jie. You've met before." Qi Hua gestured toward her son and then resumed her complaints, "Your father and mother passed away so many years ago, and no one even notified us. Otherwise, you wouldn't have suffered so much."

After a moment, Feng Chi noticed that his mother's stomach had become completely flat. Spotting a small basket on the edge of the animal skins containing a brilliantly shining golden egg, he realized that his mother had successfully given up his younger brother. Joyfully, he let go of his mother, walked over to the small basket to look at the baby brother, and without disturbing the adults' conversation, gently stroked the shell of the golden egg with his small hand.

"Aunt... Aunt, please don't be sad anymore, it's all in the past now. I'm doing very well right now, and Feng Yu takes great care of me." Qi Yue had no recollection of this relative whatsoever; she had only met her once, a little over a year ago, when she went to the Dark Qilin Tribe to beg for medicine. Therefore, calling her "Aunt" felt rather awkward on her tongue.

"I can see that, but do you two really intend to live in this valley for the rest of your lives?" Qi Hua asked with unconcealed worry.

"What else can we do? The only larger tribe nearby is Lu Yu, which is a mixed-dwelling tribe, but I swore I would have nothing more to do with that place. We don't want to go to smaller clans either. Perhaps in the future, we can travel a bit further and look around," Qi Yue said, not dwelling on it too much. She decided to treat it like traveling through another world.

At this moment, Qi Jie hurriedly changed the subject. "Little sister, the fact that you were able to smoothly give birth to the golden egg this time is all thanks to Uncle's Dark Qilin Token!"

"Father's Dark Qilin Token? Where is it?" Qi Yue looked toward Feng Yu with a questioning gaze in her eyes.

"Um, it had been attached to your abdomen all this time. When I wiped you down right after the birth, I don't think I saw it anymore," Feng Yu admitted. He had been so worried about his mate that he hadn't paid attention to the small black token.

"Stop looking for it. It vanished before the birth. It fulfilled its mission and returned to the Beast God. I imagine the patterns in the sky outside have disappeared as well," Qi Hua said, unsure of how to settle them down, and simply followed her son's lead to change the subject.

"Mother is right. Before I came in, I noticed that the patterns in the sky were indeed gone. Moreover, Father sent word saying that the patterns above the tribe had vanished too, and he asked if something had happened over here," Qi Jie added, corroborating the story.

Seeing the puzzled expression on his mate's face, Feng Yu joined Qi Hua in explaining the whole story of how the Dark Qilin's protection had been unintentionally activated back then. Hearing this, Qi Yue finally understood that she had been able to safely give birth to the little golden egg entirely because her father was protecting her, filling her heart with a mix of deep emotion and sorrow.

Seeing her expression, Feng Yu knew she was mourning her parents. Not wanting her to sink further into sadness, he put down the bowl and spoon, picked up the golden egg from the side, and placed it in Qi Yue's arms.

Holding the golden egg in her arms, Qi Yue remembered that it had taken Chi Er two years to hatch, and asked, "Aunt, how long will this one take to hatch?"

"I don't know either. Cubs of the Dark Qilin Tribe are all viviparous; this is my first time encountering an oviparous situation," Qi Hua answered truthfully.

"Feng Yu, how do your Phoenix Tribe hatch their eggs?" Qi Yue turned her head to ask her mate.

"In our place, the beastmen transform into their beast forms and use the time outside of hunting to incubate them," Feng Yu said after thinking for a moment. This was what his companions in the tribe had told him.

Qi Yue had heard in the modern world that some bird species had the females laying eggs while the males incubated them, but she had never imagined that the Phoenix Tribe beastmen of this beastman continent operated the same way. "Won't different attributes have an impact? For example, will your fire roast the egg and ruin it?"

"It's fine. This eggshell is very hard and can completely protect him. Besides, I am his birth father; the Beast God wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. However, I can't guarantee Chi Er's beast form, since his fire is the Vermilion Bird Divine Flame." Seeing the look of impending tears on Chi Er's face, Feng Yu quickly added, "Chi Er, if you want to play with your little brother, you can just hold him in your human form."

Hearing this, Chi Er's face lit up with a smile. He ran over to Qi Yue's arms and shifted the golden egg into his own embrace.

Seeing Chi Er's exaggerated movements with deep warmth, Qi Yue said softly, "Actually, letting Chi Er hold and incubate it in his human form is just the same. Chi Er's human body temperature is also quite high."

At this, Chi Er's eyes lit up. "Really? Mother, can I incubate my little brother?"

After a moment's thought, Feng Yu agreed, "Alright then, the two of us—father and son—can take turns incubating it."

"Oh yeah! That's awesome! Little brother, Big Brother can help incubate you too. Are you happy?" Feng Yu Chi communicated with the golden egg somewhat foolishly.

Qi Hua and Qi Jie found the sight rather amusing, but Qi Yue knew better. In the modern world, parents began prenatal education when the fetus was four or five months along; considering that her younger son had already been nurtured in her womb for a full year, he could definitely hear them.

At that moment, the little golden egg swayed left and right a few times in Feng Chi's arms, leaving Qi Hua and Qi Jie staring in utter astonishment.

"Chi Er, look, Little Brother heard you. From now on, you must talk to Little Brother more often so that when he comes out, he will feel even closer to you," Qi Yue said gently, hugging her son close.

"I know, Mother!" Little Feng Chi was thrilled to know that his little brother could hear him. Ever since he was born, he had no playmates. Now, finally, he was going to have a little brother to play with.

Looking at his mate's face overflowing with maternal love and his son's eyes full of excitement, Feng Yu felt his heart swell with profound happiness.