“Sister,” Di Ling Yan couldn’t control her happiness as they strode through the winding corridors, “Mother said children should be children. I always want to smile because that will make everyone else happy too, why don’t you smile too?”
Smile?
Song hung her own head dejectedly. Ever since her parents died in the last civil strife of the Heavenly Domain, this poor child has never known what it meant to be happy or to smile, that’s why laughter was something akin to a far-off emotion.
“Sister,” the pipsqueak suddenly slows down to meet Song’s eyes, “can you smile for me, pleassseeee?”
Ji Song gently pursed her lips, unsure what to do aside from giving it a try. Unfortunately, her effort ended up looking forced and awkward. Even so, that’s enough to satiate the pipsqueak’s demand apparently.
“Sister’s smile is very beautiful,” Di Ling Yan cheers with arms waving up into the air, “I like it so much!”
Looking surprised by the praise of her own smile, Song sounded unsure, “Are you not afraid of me being a bad person?”
“Of course not, your eyes are clean so I’m not afraid.” Di Ling Yan doesn’t even need to think and instantly replied with her reasoning. But before the pipsqueak could say more, she noticed the important person they’ve been looking for, “Mother!”
Without hesitation, she led Song over in a dash and threw herself into those welcoming arms, that little head buried in the woman’s body.
Looking at such a harmonious scene, Ji Song showed envy in her eyes since she’s never experienced maternal love.
After their small reunion, Bai Yan gently caresses her own daughter’s hair before looking over to the extra child present. In a flash, the demon queen’s gaze narrowed into a slit due to what she discovered.
Di Ling Yan naturally didn’t notice the strangeness in her own mother’s behavior: “Mother, the big sister over there is sick, can you help treat her?”
Raising an arcing smile at the request: “Sweetie, you go play by yourself first, mother here will give your friend there a diagnosis.”
“Okay.” Giggling with delight, the pipsqueak jumps off of those arms and ran back over to her newfound friend’s side, “Sister, you can be assured, my mother will definitely find a treatment for you. Once you do, we can both go play in the sun.” That said, the pipsqueak went ahead to give the other side a big hearty hug as a mean to cheer her on before running off.
Originally Song’s heart felt very nervous at having someone diagnose herself, but that jiggling voice of Di Ling Yan’s vocal cord seems to have some sort of magic in there. Without know why, she felt at peace and got a boost of courage as well.
“Mrs. Di.” She timidly addresses Bai Yan after they are left alone.
The child doesn’t know the demon queen’s real name so calling her Mrs. Di wasn’t wrong since the pipsqueak’s surname was indeed Di.
“Your illness, I can cure it.” Bai Yan lays down the bomb with that faint smile of hers.
Though it’s a small matter in the woman’s view, this news rocked the sick girl to the core due to the amount of hope it carried.
She said… my illness, can be cured?
Clenching that weak little hand, Song trembled all over due to the surging emotion coming out from within. She’s long suppressed her desire for a better life, and now the path was laid before herself with the chance for more!
Bai Yan knew her words were going to need a moment to settle down so she waited before continuing, “I’ll save you, but on one condition.”
From excitement came nervousness for Song following that next sentence. Forcing her unstable heart to slow down so she could think properly: “That is?
“I want you to follow my daughter from then on afterwards.”
That brought a brief period of silence to the courtyard due to the hesitation swirling inside the child’s brain. Gritting her teeth after coming to a decision: “Can you really cure me?”