The submission of the two poison beasts had settled everything—the position of clan head could belong to no one but the Sheng family.
Yet having found his long-lost daughter, the head of the Sheng family had already pushed all thought of the clan leadership entirely out of his mind. If no one had reminded him, he likely wouldn’t have let go of Baili Xiaosheng even after nightfall.
With the two poison beasts’ submission accepted, and the clan-head seal personally presented by the old Beast Clan elder, the Sheng family officially became the foremost house of the Beast Clan.
And with that, the grand gathering at the Jade Water and Nectar Heavenly Lake came to an end.
Yet even as the assembly concluded, many lingered, reluctant to leave—including the two poison beasts.
They gazed longingly at Baili Xiaosheng, hoping the girl might take them in, sparing them ten thousand more years of tedious duty guarding the lake.
But Baili Xiaosheng had long since forgotten about the two poison beasts entirely. Held tightly once again in the arms of the head of the Sheng family, she gazed pleadingly at Ziqing and Jun Beiyue, her face full of confusion.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue looked back at her, their expressions complicated, both silently wishing Baili Weisheng were here.
“Prince Yao, Consort Yao, His Majesty requests your presence,” an attendant came to announce.
Prince Nanzhao had lost the wager, and naturally he needed to honor his promise before the Medicine Clan sealed the Heavenly Lake once more.
“Elder Sheng, might you bring Xiaosheng along with us?” Jun Beiyue spoke up.
Only then did the elder Sheng come back to himself. Releasing Baili Xiaosheng, he bowed deeply to Jun Beiyue. “Prince Yao’s great kindness, the Sheng family will remember for a lifetime. Should you ever have need of the Beast Clan, of the Sheng family, you need only ask.”
“Elder Sheng, though she is my adopted daughter, it wasn’t I who raised her,” Jun Beiyue said with a smile, quietly moved to see the elder Sheng show such gratitude—Baili Xiaosheng had, after all, found herself a rather decent father.
“Then who did?” the elder Sheng asked urgently.
“Her master. He wasn’t able to come this time,” Ziqing said, smiling as well—surely this was something to be happy for, on the girl’s behalf.
Seeing Baili Xiaosheng still standing there in a daze, she took the chance to pull her close and said, “Elder Sheng, her master’s name is Baili Weisheng. He found her abandoned in the wilderness over a decade ago and has raised her ever since. Her name is Baili Xiaosheng—she took her master’s surname.”
Since he was acknowledging his daughter, the least he could do was properly introduce her—look at the two of them, one overjoyed, the other utterly bewildered.
Hearing Ziqing’s words, the elder Sheng nodded repeatedly. “Child, you were stolen away the very day you were born. We’ve searched for you for over a decade, and we’re still searching even now! Your mother… your mother fell so ill with grief that she’s been recovering in the temple ever since.”
Baili Xiaosheng’s heart trembled faintly at this, though she had to admit—it was only a slight tremor, nothing more.
After all, everything had happened far too suddenly. The father standing before her was still, to her, a complete stranger.
Right now, all she wanted was her master.
The elder Sheng noticed Baili Xiaosheng’s composure and felt a pang of helplessness. He knew it was unrealistic to expect the child to accept him so quickly, but he was determined, no matter what, to bring her home.
“Child, what happened to your face? Would you let your father have a look?” the elder Sheng asked with concern.
“She was injured. That’s actually why we came here in the first place—to find medicine for it,” Ziqing explained, pulling Baili Xiaosheng even closer as she spoke. “Head of the Sheng family, His Majesty is waiting for us. Shall we go together?”
“How was she injured? Is it serious? Whatever medicine is needed, if the Jade Water and Nectar Heavenly Lake has it, I’ll retrieve it myself, no matter what it takes!” the elder Sheng said earnestly.
The medicinal treasures within the Jade Water and Nectar Heavenly Lake were shared equally between the Beast Clan and the Medicine Clan—unless Prince Nanzhao himself intervened, neither side would easily hand anything over to the other.
But for his daughter’s sake, the elder Sheng was clearly willing to risk everything.
Watching such an anxious father, and then looking at his daughter’s calm, even withdrawn demeanor, Ziqing felt a faint pang of sadness in her heart. Without quite meaning to, she glanced back at Jue Mingzi, only to find him already watching her—his deep eyes holding both tenderness and a quiet sorrow.
Ziqing instinctively looked away. “Elder Sheng, let’s head over first.”
The elder Sheng longed to embrace Baili Xiaosheng again, but seeing his daughter’s lowered head, he forced himself to hold back.
The group set off toward the nearby palace hall. Along the way, Xiong Xiaobao kept staring at Baili Xiaosheng the entire time, his dark eyes darting left and right, full of suspicion and complicated thoughts no one could quite read. In any case, ever since the elder Sheng had revealed Baili Xiaosheng’s true identity as a girl, the boy hadn’t said a single word.
Prince Nanzhao had been waiting quite a while. The moment he saw them approach, he rose at once to greet them, teasing, “Ha, Prince Yao, what impeccable timing to acknowledge this adopted daughter of yours!”
Jun Beiyue merely smiled and said nothing, letting Prince Nanzhao think whatever he liked.
Seeing Jun Beiyue’s reaction, Prince Nanzhao decided it wasn’t worth pressing further, and with an awkward chuckle, changed the subject. “Well, a wager lost is a wager honored—I’ve already had the physicians prepare everything. We can head down to the Heavenly Lake whenever you’re ready. This way, please.”
“Perhaps we should first have the physicians examine this child’s injury. If there happens to be medicine in the depths of the lake, consider it a gift from me to her.”
Even if there truly was medicine in the lake, it belonged to the Medicine Clan. Rather than let the Medicine Clan curry favor with the elder Sheng, Prince Nanzhao preferred to claim that favor for himself.
Hearing this, the elder Sheng immediately stepped back and bowed to Jun Beiyue. “My thanks to you, Prince Yao!”
“Xiaosheng is my adopted daughter—it’s only right,” Jun Beiyue said mildly.
Several physicians soon arrived. Previously, only a single physician had examined Baili Xiaosheng and hadn’t been able to say for certain whether her condition was treatable. Now, with three or four physicians consulting together, perhaps there was still some hope.
Ziqing accompanied Baili Xiaosheng into the inner chamber, while everyone else waited outside.
Aside from Prince Nanzhao’s occasional remarks, Jun Beiyue, ever a man of few words, remained silent as always. Even amid the somewhat awkward quiet, he stood perfectly composed, unbothered.
As for Baili Xiaosheng’s injury, Jue Mingzi and Baili Weisheng had already concluded, before ever coming to seek medicine, that Nanzhao likely had nothing capable of curing her.
Bringing her here to seek treatment had merely been a pretext all along.
At this moment, Jue Mingzi’s mind was preoccupied with another matter entirely—why had there still been no word from Baili Weisheng?
He had set out by sea in pursuit of Meng Wanyue, who must surely have traveled to Nanzhao by water as well.
So many days had passed now—there should have been some word by now, surely.
Could something have gone wrong?
But then again, Meng Wanyue, even accompanied by the gravely injured Xuanyuan Lige, was surely no match for Baili Weisheng and Meng Duo’er together.
And even in the worst case, should Xuanyuan Lige have recovered, Baili Weisheng ought still to be able to handle it.
Jun Beiyue turned the matter over in his mind without finding an answer, a faint unease stirring within him.
Just then, the physicians emerged from the chamber, Ziqing and Baili Xiaosheng among them.
“Well?” the elder Sheng asked anxiously.
The physician wore an apologetic expression, shaking his head, and Ziqing, glancing at Jun Beiyue, shook her head as well.
“How exactly was this injury caused, that not even the Heavenly Lake holds a remedy for it?” Prince Nanzhao asked, puzzled.
“Your Majesty, this injury was caused by the force of water, damaging the cheekbone. Most of what the Heavenly Lake holds are life-saving medicines, so I’m afraid we are simply unable to help,” the physician explained humbly.
Prince Nanzhao could only nod, turning to Jun Beiyue with an apologetic look. “Prince Yao, will you still be going down into the Heavenly Lake, then?”