Hongyi sighed, though a smile played on his lips. "The usual. The City Lord is raising tariffs on the northern trade routes again, and the grand elders are bickering over the new medicinal herb shipments. But the moment I step into this room, none of that matters."
He poured her a cup of warm, spiritual ginger tea from a jade teapot, carefully blowing on it before handing it to her.
For the next hour, as the afternoon sun slowly began its descent, bathing the room in a warm, golden-orange hue, they simply chatted. It was a slice of domestic bliss, a quiet sanctuary shielded from the ruthless, dog-eat-dog reality of the profound cultivation world outside their walls.
As the sky began to show the first hints of dusk, Hongyi looked at her belly, his eyes tracing the subtle movements under her silk gown. "It has been exactly nine months, hasn't it?" he asked, a mix of excitement and deep-seated terror in his voice. "I think... I think the child will come soon."
Dongxue took a sip of the warm tea, her expression the picture of calm confidence. "Yes, dear. Very soon. And I am certain of it, Hongyi... this is a boy. I hope he can live up to your expectations."
Hongyi's eyes widened, a brilliant, joyous laugh escaping his chest. He carefully leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her and resting his cheek against her shoulder.
"If you say it, then it is the absolute truth! A boy! Oh, Dongxue, if this is true, it is the greatest news the heavens could bestow upon me. I will hold a feast that lasts for seven days and seven nights! The entire Floating Cloud City will celebrate his birth!"
Dongxue smiled, stroking his back. But as she looked over his shoulder, her sharp eyes caught the micro-expressions he thought he had hidden. Even as he laughed, there was a tightness around his eyes. A shadow that never truly left him.
She knew exactly what it was.
A year ago, the birth of the twins had not been the peaceful, serene event they had planned. Floating Cloud City was a place where wealth bred jealousy, and jealousy bred murder. On the night of the twins' birth, a group of elite, black-clad assassins had breached the estate, hired by a rival merchant guild to slaughter the Xia family and seize their assets.
Xia Hongyi, a man of commerce rather than profound cultivation, had been utterly helpless.
It was his sworn brother, his best friend Xiao Ying—the greatest genius of the younger generation in Floating Cloud City—who had stepped into the blood-soaked courtyard. Xiao Ying had been a rising star, a man destined for the great sects.
But that night, to protect Dongxue, Hongyi, and the newborn twins, Xiao Ying had burned his profound veins. He exhausted every ounce of his profound strength and life force fighting off the assassins.
The day was still as fresh and horrifying as if it were happening right now. Xiao Ying, collapsing onto the marble floor, his body ruined, turning to Hongyi with a bloody smile to tell him that the babies were safe. Xiao Ying died shortly after, leaving behind a grieving father, Xiao Lie, and his own newborn son.
The scar on Hongyi's soul was deep and jagged. On that day of immense grief and overwhelming gratitude, Xia Hongyi had fallen to his knees before Xiao Lie and made a solemn, unbreakable vow: To repay the life of my brother, one of my baby girls will marry Xiao Ying's son, Xiao Che, when they come of age.
Dongxue felt a profound pang of helplessness. She was just a mortal woman in the eyes of the world. She possessed no profound strength to fight off assassins, nor the power to change the rules of the continent.
Because of her weakness, one of her beautiful, innocent daughters—either Qingyue or Xueyue—would be forced into an arranged marriage to repay a blood debt. She would have to marry the young master of the declining Xiao clan, regardless of her own feelings or aspirations.
I am sorry, my daughters, Dongxue thought, her heart aching as she looked at the cribs. And I am sorry to you, my son. You are born into a family with heavy burdens.
Suddenly, as if the heavens had heard her sorrowful thoughts, a violent, tearing agony ripped through her abdomen.
It was completely unlike the mild cramps of the past few weeks. This was a ferocious, blinding pain that stole the breath from her lungs. The teacup slipped from her trembling fingers, shattering against the wooden floorboards, the warm tea spilling over the rug.
"Ahhh!" Dongxue gasped, her hands flying to her stomach, her face instantly turning ashen white.
Inside the womb, Ethan was violently jolted awake by a massive, crushing contraction. The walls of his world were aggressively pushing him downward. The peaceful rhythm was gone, replaced by chaotic, biological urgency. Oh God, it's happening! It's actually happening! he panicked in his infantile mind.
Hongyi froze for a fraction of a second, staring at the shattered teacup. Then, the calm, dignified patriarch of the Xia Clan utterly vanished.
"Dongxue?!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, his chair crashing backward to the floor. "Dongxue! Is it time?! Now?!"
"Yes!" she managed to grit out, sweat instantly beading on her forehead as another contraction hit her like a battering ram. "The baby... he's coming!"
Panic, raw and unfiltered, exploded in Hongyi's eyes. He rushed to the door, throwing it open with enough force to crack the hinges.
"HEALERS! GET THE HEALERS! NOW!" he roared into the courtyard, his voice echoing across the entire estate, startling the guards and sending a flock of birds scattering from the back mountain. "MAIDS! BOIL WATER! BRING THE TOWELS! MOVE, ALL OF YOU, MOVE!"
The serene estate instantly dissolved into organized chaos.
Footsteps thundered down the hallways. A half-dozen maids rushed into the room, their faces pale with anxiety, immediately moving to prepare the large bed. They carefully helped a groaning Dongxue from her chair to the soft mattress, propping her up with pillows.
Moments later, the head physician of the estate, an elderly man carrying a massive wooden medical box, sprinted into the room, gasping for breath.
"Patriarch, step aside! Please give us space!" the healer commanded, his professional demeanor cutting through Hongyi's panic.
Hongyi was practically pushed to the corner of the room, his hands trembling as he watched his beautiful wife writhe in agony. He gripped his own hair, praying to any god that would listen. Please let her be safe. Please let them both be safe.
On the bed, Dongxue gripped the silken bedsheets, her knuckles turning white as she let out a piercing scream.
The birth of the Abyssal Emperor had begun.