anwhile, at the far end of the table,
Huang and Zhu flushed so deeply they nearly matched the lacquered wood of the table.
The dragon brothers, fad for their formidable martial skills and talked about across the provinces for their exploits in battle, sat frozen, silently pleading for the mountain mist to rise up and hide them from sight.
"Mother…" Huang muttered, his voice touched with panic and embarrassnt, eyes scanning around the table for rescue.
Zhu buried his face in his hand, shoulders hunching as he tried to hide a mortified smile.
Across from them, Xiao Chi's eyes sparkled, her whole being alight with sudden excitent.
"Yes! Yes!" Xiao Chi cheered loudly.
"They are perfect!"
She bounced in her seat, unable to contain her delight.
"If they marry my brothers, they will stay here!"
She clasped her hands together.
"And then I will have sisters to play with every day!"
Her enthusiasm swelled, bright and infinite as the sky above the pavilion.
"We can ride dragons together!"
"And explore the mountain!"
"And steal peaches from the monkey spirits!"
"And sleep in the phoenix nest!"
"And fly over the waterfall!"
Her fantasy soared, already creating new adventures.
But Red was not finished. "Oh!" she spoke abruptly. "And your son!"
"Oh!" she spoke abruptly.
"And your son!"
She pointed cheerfully at Shi Min.
"He is impeccable with both dragon and phoenix!"
She nodded with conviction.
"I think he is perfectly suited for my Xiao Chi!"
"Don't you think so?"
Ling Li felt the ground tilt right under her, the world wavering at the edges. Her hands clenched on her lap, breath faltering in shock as if she'd stepped into a dream she could not control.
A single thought resounded in her mind:
'Did I truly co here just to barter away her children?
No, no, no,' she insisted silently, clutching at the last shreds of composure.
Ling Li stared at Red and the Azure Dragon, words lost sowhere amid disbelief and surrender.
Speech had abandoned her entirely.
Ren imdiately noticed her mother's distress, reading the tension in Ling Li's white-knuckled hands and distant expression.
She stood, her movent swift as a startled bird.
"Ah! I think that will not do!"
Everyone turned toward her.
Ren smiled politely.
"My brother Shi Min manages an empire," she explained. "Even among seasoned rulers, he commands authority—unflinching in crisis and keen-eyed for opportunity. His presence steadies the room, and his words, though few, are enough to move armies and earn loyalty.
He cannot remain on Mystic Mountain."
She cocked her head, considering the matter with careful grace.
"Unless… little Xiao Chi is willing to leave the mountain."
Xiao Chi's ears perked instantly.
Her phoenix eyes widened.
"Does that an…"
She leaned forward eagerly.
"…I could see the outside world Mystic Mountain?"
Ren smiled.
"Yes.
Of course."
The response was instant and explosive.
Xiao Chi jumped out of her chair.
"Mom! Then I will be Brother Shi Min's wife!"
She clapped her hands excitedly.
"Allow to pack my things at once!"
She spun around.
"Uncle Bear!"
The guardian bear halted mid-step.
"Let's go! We must not leave any of my treasures behind!"
Before soone could react, the little phoenix shot from her seat, springing into a nimble backwards handspring, then vaulting over the table with all the grace of a master acrobat. Her feet touched down lightly on the shiny floor, pirouetting in a single, impossibly fluid motion before she vanished in a mist of feathers and laughter.
She was gone, leaving only a trace of astonishnt in her wake.
Everyone stared in shock.
"!!!!"
Red and the Azure Dragon gazed at the vacant spot where their daughter had been.
They sat frozen, faces wavered between confusion and shock, as if the world had altered under their feet.
Shi Min closed his eyes, opened them again, as though wishing the scene would rearrange itself into sense.
"...."
'Did I just get myself a little wife?'
A shadow moved across the Azure Dragon's face, horror dawning slowly.
'It took almost three hundred years to finally have a daughter…
And she hasn't even lived two years…
And now my cabbage is being stolen by a pig?!'
He fixed Shi Min with an expression of complete betrayal.
Four Eyes snorted loudly.
"Now you know how it feels," he said smugly.
"When the daughter you raise gets eaten by a pig.
HMPH!"
The Azure Dragon glared at him.
anwhile, another joyful voice disrupted the quietness.
"Does this an I will also stay here and beco Brother Huang's wife?"
It was Chin Chin.
Ling Li "…."
Ling Li pressed her fingers to her temple, eyes squeezed shut, a weary breath escaping as the pressure of the mont hung over her like a burdenso cloak.
'I truly do not know what to do with this child.'
If only she could faint, right here at the table, and escape this madness for a mont's peace.
'Let faint, let faint, please let faint,' she cried silently.
Shi Min finally spoke.
"You are still too young," he said calmly.
"You have much to learn.
You may return when you co of age."
Chin Chin imdiately protested.
"But I am older than Xiao Chi!"
She pointed accusingly.
"She can have a husband, but I cannot!
That is unfair!"
A dumb silence swept the table, every eye brimming with disbelief at Chin Chin's outburst.
"!!!!"
Four Eyes leaned back calmly with a smirk.
"You're human," he replied. "Humans don't grow as fast as phoenixes."
"You do not grow as quickly as phoenixes."
'I am not losing a daughter today.'
"HMPH."
Just then, Xiao Chi ca running back happily.
Chin Chin blinked.
"Little sister Xiao Chi!
Are you finished packing?"
Xiao Chi nodded energetically.
"Yes!"
She pointed proudly at the space rings hanging from her wrists.
"The entire closet is here!
This ring has my toys!
This one has my pets!
This one has my treasures!
And this one has my weapons! Swords, throwing daggers, a fire-wreathed staff, even so enchanted talismans — everything we might need for an adventure.
The Azure Dragon slowly turned his head toward the guardian bear.
The bear nodded respectfully.
Everything she said was true.
His Majesty collapsed into his chair, gazing up at the drifting clouds, grief whirling together like hurricane winds in his chest.
"Are you truly willing to leave Mom and Dad?"
Xiao Chi slanted her head innocently.
"Mom, you can visit anyti."
She turned toward Shi Min.
"Right, Brother Shi Min?"
Shi Min felt his spine shiver.
But sohow—
He nodded.
"Yes."
"See?" Xiao Chi said triumphantly.
She grabbed his sleeve.
"Brother Shi Min, where will we live so Mom can find us?"
Shi Min answered automatically.
"Shanghai."
"My!"
Xiao Chi clapped happily.
"Then we will live in Shanghai!"
Red and the Azure Dragon nearly rolled their eyes at the sa ti.
Ling Li laughed quietly, the sound unsteady yet genuine, as relief softened her tired features.
She finally intervened.
"Why don't we finish our lunch first?" she suggested calmly.
"Then the children may explore the mountain."
She grinned softly.
"We will be staying until tomorrow."
"There is still plenty of ti left to discuss these matters."
Everyone slowly relaxed.
The children happily resud eating.
The grown-ups exchanged helpless looks.
Sowhere deep within the mountain,
Even the spirit birds seed to laugh.
Which had started as a tranquil luncheon had developed, as if by so mischievous spell, into a full-fledged marriage negotiation.
Yet as laughter rang out and the children talked about new adventures, no one saw the spirit monkeys sliding through the branches, or the curious lights beginning to dance above the waterfall. On Mystic Mountain, chaos persisted, never far, and the day's true surprises had rely just begun.
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