"Which one? You mean surpassing me in strength and becoming a first-grade Mysterious Rank alchemist?" Bing Tang frowned.

"Oh, that counts too, I suppose. But what I mainly meant was that you should smile more often. My Xiaoxiao is such a cheerful girl, and I don't want you turning her into a cold beauty by rubbing off on her." Wei Zhao said.

"Are you quite finished?" Bing Tang ground her teeth in irritation.

"Finished." Wei Zhao replied.

...

Upstairs, in a bedroom, Tang Yun sat staring blankly at the blue sky beyond the window, looking utterly lost and saying nothing.

Feng Xiaoxiao held her hand and sat beside her. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had no idea how to begin comforting her either. Other people's family affairs were the hardest things to intrude upon. They understood what Tang Yun was feeling, but this knot in her heart was something she had to untie herself.

So no one said a word. They simply remained beside Tang Yun in silent companionship, from dawn all the way to dusk. Gradually, the room grew so dark that they could hardly see one another. Only then did Gu Mengyao walk over and switch on the light.

The sudden brightness seemed to rouse Tang Yun from her melancholy. She turned her head and looked at Feng Xiaoxiao, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu beside her, and a wave of emotion washed over her. Until then, she had been sunk in sorrow and had barely sensed the people around her, as though nothing else existed. Only now did she truly feel the warmth of this family.

"You're all still here... I'm sorry for making you worry." Tang Yun spoke with some embarrassment.

"Yunyun, what are you saying? You're part of this family now, and you're our good friend. Of course we'd worry about you!" Gu Mengyao said. "When we saw how quiet you were, we didn't want to disturb you. But now there's something I want to tell you. Yunyun, just look at how fortunate you are. You already had a mother, and now you've gained another one. Me, I don't even know where my mother is... Compared to me, you're so much luckier!"

"Exactly, exactly! My mother is still lying in an ice coffin. I have to reach the Celestial Rank before I can cure her. Sister Yunyun, you're much luckier than I am too!" Feng Xiaoxiao added.

"That's right! My parents are busy conducting research every day, and I don't even know what they're researching. I hardly ever see them. We're both worse off than you!" Shen Yushu chimed in.

"Hehe... Thank you, all of you. Actually... I've thought it through." Tang Yun smiled at them. "Before, I was simply shocked and couldn't adjust my state of mind right away. But now that I think about it, what's so terrible? I have all of you, and I have Wei Zhao. With you by my side, there's nothing I need to fear!"

"You've really gotten over it?" Feng Xiaoxiao was delighted when she saw the smile on Tang Yun's face. She had thought Tang Yun would need a long time to come around, at least an entire night. She had not expected her to figure it out in a single afternoon.

"It's not really a matter of getting over it or not. You were right. Of course it hurt a little to suddenly discover that the parents I'd lived with for nineteen years aren't my biological parents. But though they aren't related to me by blood, they have treated me better than true parents ever could. What is there for me to agonize over?" Tang Yun said. "Besides, I'm already an adult, and I have a boyfriend. I'm not a child anymore!"

"Haha, then let's go downstairs. Sister Bing Tang and the others must be getting worried waiting for us!" Feng Xiaoxiao said.

"All right!" Tang Yun nodded and went downstairs with Feng Xiaoxiao and the others.

As soon as they reached the first floor, they saw Wei Zhao sitting in the living room with Bing Tang, Xiao Qing, and Xiao Ming. The three women had nothing much to say, while Wei Zhao watched television. Bing Tang sat beside him, watching it with an utterly helpless expression.

There was satellite television in the Ice Palace as well, but for a cultivator like Bing Tang, most of her thoughts were devoted to cultivation. She had little interest in television programs.

"You're back?" When Wei Zhao saw that Tang Yun's face had regained its usual serenity, he felt a weight lift from his heart. He knew she had come around.

"Mm!" Tang Yun nodded first, then walked over to Wei Zhao's side. With a gentle gaze, she looked at Xiao Ming and Bing Tang. "So... what should I call you?"

"Anything you like... You can call me Auntie, just as Bing Tang does..." After all, Tang Yun was now Sister Xiao Ming's daughter, so Xiao Ming answered that way.

"I..." Tang Yun saw the trace of bitterness on Xiao Ming's face, and her heart ached. She felt awkward about saying the word "Mother," but the helplessness that flashed across Xiao Ming's face made the word escape her lips before she could stop it. Though the address sounded somewhat unfamiliar, she had taken the most difficult first step.

"Oh!" Xiao Ming was both startled and overjoyed, and tears immediately spilled from her eyes. While waiting downstairs, she had kept her anxiety hidden, but inside she had been terrified that Tang Yun would refuse to acknowledge her, or think that her arrival had only brought trouble. Now, however, her heart was filled with comfort. She answered with delighted surprise and was about to throw her arms around Tang Yun, but the arm she extended came to a slight halt.

"Mother..." Tang Yun took the initiative and embraced Xiao Ming. It was an instinctive sense of closeness, the bond of blood thicker than water, and she could not help but be swept up in it. This second "Mother" came far more naturally than the first.

Bing Tang let out a sigh of relief, and Xiao Qing did the same. Wei Zhao and the others were sincerely delighted. Though this was a momentous matter for Tang Yun, it had little direct bearing on anyone else. They had been nervous only because they cared about her.

After a long while, the two finally parted. Tang Yun's eyes were already brimming with tears. She seemed to feel the hardships Xiao Ming had endured all these years, and the longing she had carried for her daughter. Tang Yun knew that acknowledging this mother was the right choice.

With the matter settled, all that remained was to go to Tang Yun's home. Now that Tang Yun had accepted everything, dealing with her mother and father would be easy. Wei Zhao could handle it without Tang Yun even needing to step in.

On the way to Tang Yun's home, while Xiao Ming was still wondering how everything should be arranged, Wei Zhao had already made up his mind. "Bing Tang is bound to return to the Ice Palace with Xiaoxiao. She can't stay here forever, so Yunyun's life will hardly change at all. Auntie Xiao Ming, if you feel there's nothing worth staying for at Hidden House Tang, why not live here instead? You can stay with Yunyun's parents and see Yunyun often that way!"

Wei Zhao's suggestion greatly appealed to Xiao Ming. To be honest, there was nothing at Hidden House Tang that she felt any need to remain for.

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