A Phoenix Mark? Why would Fourth Imperial Uncle have a Phoenix Mark on him?

Was it not said that only those bearing the Phoenix Mark could be a Phoenix Son or a Phoenix Daughter?

If Fourth Imperial Uncle was a Phoenix Son, then how could her Imperial Father have possibly ascended the throne?

“Jiu’er.” Feng Li’s faint, weakened voice rang out once more.

He looked at her, and even though his face was drained of all color, the corners of his lips still curved upward ever so slightly.

The little girl was unharmed — he could rest easy now.

Watching Feng Li’s eyes gradually close, Feng Jiu’er suddenly snapped back to her senses.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle.” She gripped his shoulders and called out softly.

But Feng Li could no longer hear her voice. His head lolled to one side, and he slipped entirely into unconsciousness.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle…”

Feng Jiu’er drew a deep breath, adjusted his robes, and concealed the familiar pattern on his shoulder.

Holding Feng Li in her arms and laying him flat on the dry straw, Feng Jiu’er immediately reached for her small cloth pouch.

She understood clearly — Fourth Imperial Uncle had been wounded to this extent because he had saved her. If she did not save him in return, he might very well lose his life.

Pushing aside the tangled web of doubts churning in her heart, Feng Jiu’er knelt before Feng Li and opened her needle case.

Acupuncture, massage, medicine, channeling her inner energy, more massage, more medicine…

On Feng Li’s body, Feng Jiu’er exhausted every method she could think of.

She felt her own cultivation returning to her — and not only that, it had surged forward by leaps and bounds.

Whether all of this was the reason Fourth Imperial Uncle had grown so frail and sickly, Feng Jiu’er did not dare think too deeply about.

She only knew that even if she had to spend her own life doing it, she could not let him die.

After the girl beside him had labored for a long while, Feng Li, having just recovered a sliver of strength, slowly opened his eyes.

“Jiu’er.” His gentle voice drifted through the cave — soft, so soft it was almost inaudible. “Don’t… wear yourself out for nothing.”

“Fourth Imperial Uncle… I’m just… a little tired, I’m alright! You needn’t worry — cough…”

“Don’t move! It will be better soon.” Feng Jiu’er refused to withdraw her palms and continued channeling her inner energy into him.

“You mustn’t…” Feng Li shook his head and reached out a hand, lightly grasping the small hand resting over his heart. “Jiu’er, stop… now.”

“If you don’t stop… I’m going to be angry.”

Meeting the man’s listless yet resolute gaze, Feng Jiu’er had no choice but to withdraw her hands.

She lifted his hand and let her slender fingers rest lightly at his pulse point for a brief check.

Assured that his condition had stabilized somewhat, Feng Jiu’er exhaled a quiet breath.

His cultivation had been entirely depleted and his body was terribly weak — but he was not yet in mortal danger.

Yet… Fourth Imperial Uncle had given all of his cultivation to her. What would become of him after this?

Why did he have to be so foolish?

She gently set his hand down, then knelt back a step and straightened her spine, kneeling before him with a grave expression.

Feng Li looked at her, his thick brows drawing together. “Jiu’er, what are you doing?”

“Don’t get up!” Feng Jiu’er fixed her wide eyes — shimmering with unshed tears — on the man lying before her.

Feng Li gazed at her steadily, puzzlement swirling in the depths of his eyes.

“Jiu’er…”

“Don’t speak!” Feng Jiu’er cut Feng Li off. “You only need to answer one question for me — answer it truthfully.”

“No — you must answer it truthfully. If you don’t, I will never want to speak another word to you again.”

She was not trying to threaten him. It was simply that her heart ached — it truly ached terribly.

Fourth Imperial Uncle… no. He was not her Fourth Imperial Uncle. Absolutely not.

How could an imperial uncle go this far for her sake?

“Jiu’er, what exactly…” Feng Li’s voice was still very weak.

Were it not for the perfect silence inside the cave, his voice would truly have been impossible to hear.

“Don’t speak!” Feng Jiu’er hardened her heart and cut him off once more.

She knelt there, her legs feeling as though they were weighted with a thousand pounds.

Feng Li gave a gentle nod and said nothing more.

Looking at his ashen face, Feng Jiu’er bit down hard on her lip, refusing to let herself cry.

“Tell me — Feng Qiongcang is not my real father. He simply isn’t. Isn’t that right?”

Jiu’er’s words made Feng Li’s fingertips stiffen, his entire body going taut.

He offered no reply. This matter was something he could not speak of — dared not speak of.

If he did, Jiu’er’s life would be in danger.

But Feng Jiu’er could no longer allow him to keep it hidden.

“You are my father. Tell me — isn’t that right?”

The moment the words left her lips, her tears broke free, streaming down her cheeks.

She was a Phoenix Daughter. Her mother was not — which meant her father must be a Phoenix Son.

Fourth Imperial Uncle was a Phoenix Son, which meant her Imperial Father certainly was not.

Third Imperial Brother had once said that in every generation, there could only be one Phoenix Son or one Phoenix Daughter — never two.

No! He was not her Fourth Imperial Uncle. He was her real father — without any doubt.

“Don’t deceive me any longer! I don’t want to be deceived anymore. I don’t want this!”

“Why, when I clearly have a father, did I grow up like a stray child? Did either of you ever ask my opinion? You never did!”

Her father had deceived her, and so had her mother. How could they both be so cruel?

Thinking back to the first time she had met Fourth Imperial Uncle, Feng Jiu’er felt as though someone had overturned an entire spice rack inside her chest.

Sour, sweet, bitter, and sharp all at once — she could not tell which feeling was which.

The familial warmth she had felt from Fourth Imperial Uncle was something she had never once felt from her Imperial Father. Why had she never stopped to truly think about that?

Even though Feng Li had not yet confirmed it, Feng Jiu’er had already accepted it as fact.

She merely wanted to hear the confirmation from his own lips — one final time.

Meeting the little girl’s stubborn yet pitiable gaze, Feng Li paid little mind to the word “you all” she had used.

He looked at her, then raised his hand with some difficulty.

“Come here. Let Father hold you properly.”

Hearing the answer she had longed for, Feng Jiu’er bit down on her lip — but the tears came anyway, flooding like a broken dam, impossible to stop.

“Father.” She whispered the word softly and flung herself into his arms.

Feng Li wrapped his arms around the girl nestled against him, his large palm moving weakly and gently over her back in slow, soothing strokes.

In the faint glow of the candlelight, one could still make out along the corner of Feng Li’s eyes a trail of glistening beads — rolling down and falling onto the dry straw.

Feng Jiu’er held Feng Li tightly, her breath hitching now and then with quiet sobs.

From this day forward, she not only had a mother — she had a father too.

Feng Junzhuo was not her father. No wonder she had never once felt any paternal love from him.

Her father was Feng Li — a man who doted on her dearly, and who was extraordinarily remarkable.

After crying her fill, Feng Jiu’er casually picked up a corner of Feng Li’s robe and dabbed at the corners of her eyes before sitting up.

Looking at the man before her, she pressed her lips together, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved upward — until at last she let out a startled laugh.

“How foolish can you be? To save me, you transferred every last bit of your lifetime’s cultivation to me. Did you think doing something like that would make me forgive you for abandoning me for over ten years?”

Suppressing the urge to hit him, Feng Jiu’er gently helped Feng Li sit up.

Her heart ached — ached for the parents she had, for what had been — and at last Feng Jiu’er understood the meaning behind Long Feiyan’s final words.

The Feng Clan possessed no legendary supreme martial arts manual. But the Feng Clan had her own father.

That was the most fundamental reason why her mother had crippled her martial arts.

Because she had her own father — and so she had access to supreme martial arts.

But why had her mother done this to hurt her father? Why?