After a while, Xia Xia's mother returned with a heart-warming meal. Shi Lan found himself consuming chicken soup and rice noodles. Even though he was in pain, he had moved to the sitting room and ate at the table where Xia Xia, her mother, and her sister Xiao Fa were dining, sitting directly beside Xia Xia and opposite her mother.
As they silently dined, Shi Lan stole glances at the woman's face. At first he was unsure, but the more he looked at her, the more he saw it.
'Am I mistaken…'
"Brother Lan, do you like Mother's food?"
Shi Lan abandoned his thoughts and turned to Xia Xia, who was beaming with pride.
He smiled and looked at the food.
"This meal… I can barely tell the difference. It's as though it were crafted by the Earth Goddess herself. With this, she could literally nurture a little loong into a mighty sea dragon!"
Unaware of the innuendo, poor Xia Xia beamed even wider. It was clear she had profound pride in her mother.
Xiao Fa scoffed and continued eating. Shi Lan didn't even spare her a glance.
Xia Xia's mother had been silent since they began eating, until now. Her sweet, almost melodious voice finally broke the quiet.
"Brother Wei seems like a vastly educated young man from the way he speaks. May we ask where he comes from?"
Xia Xia's mother did not look at Shi Lan. Instead, she dipped her noodles into the soup and slowly rolled them before bringing them to Xia Xia's mouth.
"Ahhh…"
For once, Xia Xia looked like a child and stopped confusing Shi Lan. She opened her mouth wide and accepted the spoonful with happy lights in her eyes.
Shi Lan spoke politely afterward.
"I come from the distant reaches of Fire Stone Valley in Riverwind Province."
Xia Xia's mother tilted her head slightly.
"Riverwind… Riverwind… that's quite far away, isn't it? Isn't that the birthplace of the Heaven-Defying Demon?"
Shi Lan responded with a somber smile.
"How would I know? But yes, my home suffered much scorn because of the Heaven-Defying Demon. That is why I packed my belongings and left in search of greener pastures."
She nodded and met Shi Lan's gaze for the first time since they started eating.
"Brother Wei is quite brave. In these times, when demonic beasts run rampant in the forest, traveling such a distance is courting death. Perhaps it was luck that you were robbed by bandits and even greater luck that you encountered Xia'er."
Xia Xia beamed with pride at this, while Shi Lan offered a handsome smile that did not look too handsome thanks to his black eye and scathed face.
However, Xia Xia's mother did not even glance at the smile. She lowered her head and continued eating.
For a moment, Shi Lan thought about his home. Indeed, Riverwind was where he originated from, and he was well aware that his existence had brought them such shame that they never welcomed him.
It was only the men, though. The women had always been kind toward him and had waited for the day he would return home.
One fateful day, in order to teach them and the neighboring cities a lesson, Wei Shi Lan deemed it necessary to slaughter ninety percent of the men who lived there, leaving only those who did not dare challenge him and the children.
All the others met their end, and Riverwind became a province far less populated by men. However, many decades later, the volcano in Fire Stone Valley erupted and killed every one of his townsmen.
Of course, it was not merely a natural disaster, and he made sure to catch the culprit and defile her.
Fire Stone Valley and Riverwind Province, Shi Lan did not know what they were like now, but the last he remembered of them was a burnt wasteland. It was understandable that some small family living in a faraway province would not know that.
Such news was carried by cultivators, and even the Heavens tried their best to conceal the details of that event. What the Heavens did not want mortals to know, they would never know.
Remembering such memories brought a great deal of pain to Wei Shi Lan's heart, and the savory chicken now tasted bitter.
Xiao Fa looked at him and asked in a salty tone:
"What, is my mother's cooking not to your liking? You suddenly dislike the rich taste of my mother's food?"
Xia Xia and her mother raised their heads, looking at Shi Lan with slightly worried expressions.
Shi Lan offered a bright smile.
"This food… I would like to have it every day as long as I am here."
Shi Lan said this while looking directly into Xia Xia's mother's eyes with an unwavering gaze. This man knew what he wanted, and he knew it well. His gaze said it all, leaving no stone unturned.
And for some reason, Chang'e couldn't help but feel that this suddenly wasn't about the food anymore.
Shi Lan then turned to Xiao Fa and addressed her in a berating tone.
"How unfilial of you. Parents are one's heaven. They are your shelter when the wickedness of the sky descends upon you, and when the evil currents of the world rush to sweep you away. They are the foundation of your path. One's mother is gold — more precious than the earth and more valuable than the heavens. No matter what, to open your mouth and call your mother's food lacking in richness is disgraceful of you. This is very unsightly for a ripened lady."
He shook his head in pity and continued his meal.
The table fell silent for a moment.
Wei Shi Lan's words had sounded with such wisdom and elegance that they would put every other scholar in the city to shame. And for Xiao Fa — who valued elegance and status because she wished to enter the Peach Blossom Sect — she suddenly felt as though she had done something deserving of death!
Xia Xia and her mother stared at her with grave expression and suddenly she was looking like the bad guy.
She retorted angrily.
"Wait! I didn't even—"
"You still have the mouth to talk?! Instead of apologizing to your mother?"
Shi Lan pressed, giving her no space to say that his accusations were wrong. Whether they were wrong or not did not matter, his use of words merely turned the situation against her, and even though she had approached him with sarcastic remarks, he had undressed the true intention of her words, with his.
Or maybe even exaggerated them.
And now Xiao Fa felt ashamed and could not look into her mother's glaring eyes. Even her younger sister continued to look at her with pity and disrespect.
Xiao Fa was a very prideful person, she withdrew from the table harshly and stomped out of the room.