After leaving Heather’s office, Chu Feng played with Duo Duo and Xiao Hu to their hearts’ content for a whole afternoon and only packed up to leave after sunset. The two kids seemed happy after saying goodbye to Heather and leaving Happy Valley, but Yun Muqing seemed to have pent up anger and kept avoiding Chu Feng. It was like there was something on her mind, and she might as well have had the words ‘I’m unhappy’ carved onto her forehead.
“Daddy, Mummy’s jealous you got so close with Miss Heather and had so much fun talking to her,” Duo Duo said matter-of-factly. She was holding the Snow White doll Heather gave her as she rested in Chu Feng’s arms. “You’ve got to make her happy again and stay away from Miss Heather, or I’ll get angry too. Hmph!”
Chu Feng pinched her cheeks amusedly. “You heartless rascal. Didn’t you just take a present from her and butter her up? What’s with this instant betrayal?”
“Yeah, but Miss Heather is still an outsider. I’ll always be on Mummy’s side. Teehee.” The girl smiled mischievously with a look of glee.
Yun Muqing could barely conceal her smile, her frustration significantly relieved as she said, “Let’s go home!”
“Whee, we’re going home!” Chu Feng lifted his daughter high in the air, the pale moonlight casting three long shadows amidst the girl’s joyful chattering.
“Daddy, why did Miss Heather call you Ashura?”
“That’s a very, very long story. I’ll tell you some other day.” Chu Feng picked up his daughter again. His gaze became nostalgic; the image of two silhouettes on the Xi Ye border appeared in his mind’s eye, an image from three years ago where one was old and the other was young.
“This mission is nothing like what you’ve experienced, boy. The Holy Temple has dominated the Western underworld for more than 200 years, so it has a solid foundation and a hundred-thousand-strong army. Their leader, Demon King Satan, is unpredictably powerful and rumor has it that he’s already godlike. Can you really do it?”
“If he’s Satan, then I’m Ashura, the King of Hell. We’ll see which of us is the more evil one.”
“Ha! Exactly the kind of guts I’d expect from a soldier that I, Qin Shihuang, trained! The day you come back victorious, I’ll set up a celebratory banquet myself and drink ourselves silly!”
“Deal!” The young man stepped toward the sunset in his pristine uniform, facing the howling wind with absolute certainty.
Three months later, a man who called himself Ashura rocked the Western underworld by decimating Satan’s army and then Satan himself with nothing but his own fists and a sword. He sacked the Holy Temple, drenched the underworld in blood, then disappeared into thin air just a few days after making his name as the legendary Ashura. In the West, his story was a mind-blowing historical legend. At the same time, in the plains of Donghua, the Dragon Soul’s God of War emerged in Xi Ye. With three gold stars on his shoulder and millions of men under his command, he became a different legend as a general—that man’s name was Chu Feng.
After returning from Happy Valley, Chu Feng enjoyed a few days of precious rest. Every day, he could play with his daughter, cook a little, and lead a generally carefree life. Yun Muqing, though, seemed to keep picking a bone with him and passive-aggressively brought up Heather in almost every conversation they had. She’d even taken the moral high ground and kept calling him ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ and a man who ‘put relationships before friendships’ and suchlike.
Chu Feng could feel a headache coming on as the situation got more and more awkward with this human bundle of jealousy. At this rate, there was no way Yun Muqing would fully accept him or let him reveal his identity as Duo Duo’s biological father; the pressure was suffocating.
On this day, Chu Feng took Duo Duo to kindergarten as usual. And as usual, Xiao Hu was already waiting at the school gates with his backpack, jogging over with a bunch of junk food the moment he saw Duo Duo. “Duo Duo, here’s the milk tea, chocolate, and mini cakes you wanted. Please let me copy your homework.” Xiao Hu begged with pity and a little caution.
Without batting an eye, Duo Duo took the snacks and pouted with an expression of arrogance. “Well, since you look so pitiful, I’ll give it. But promise me this will be the last time.”
“Thank you, Duo Duo. This will be the last time, I promise.” Xiao Hu took the homework with both hands as if he was holding a precious treasure. Chu Feng felt amused watching these two, because Xiao Hu had been making the same promise for a week in a row. Yet here he was, shamelessly bribing his daughter with snacks every day after.
With that, he solemnly patted Xiao Hu’s shoulder. “Young man, as a boy with responsibilities, don’t you feel shame for copying a girl’s homework every day? Besides, the weather’s been chilly lately. What if you catch a cold waiting for Duo Duo everyday like this?”
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