A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

She finally understood why Li Lei had looked at her strangely when she asked if Shao Hui was going to get attacked by the wild beast. When she looked up, right beside the fountain, was a snake, about the thickness of two people embracing each other, covered in dark green spots across his body. Quite frankly, it would’ve looked sinister if not for how it was wrapped around the child like a pet, letting the child do whatever he wanted to do to it—

To prevent the child from slipping down, it even used its tail as a makeshift barrier.

Xia Ling was bewildered.

“Mom!” Shaohui beamed upon seeing her, waving his chubby arms and legs. He turned to the snake and said, “Please send me to my mummy!”

And almost as if the snake understood, it obediently deposited the child in front of Xia Ling.

Xia Ling picked up her child and scanned him over and over to check whether he had gotten hurt. Upon realizing that he was fine, she hurriedly berated, “What’s going on here? Why are you with a snake? What if the snake hurts you?”

Upon hearing that, the snake waved its tail in dissatisfaction.

“Don’t be unhappy, I will tell my mother that you are a good and friendly snake,” Shaohui reassured.

Xia Ling was speechless.

Li Lei did not dare to look up. This was why he could afford to leave Shaohui to his own devices to look for Xia Ling. Last night, when he found the cave opening, he had seen the kid riding the snake. Thinking that Shaohui had gotten hurt, he had rushed up to save the child and yet had been greeted with Shaohui’s excitement —”Dad, this snake is adorable!”

Adorable…

Li Lei couldn’t wrap his head around this. The snake was flamboyant, glaring coldly at him as it flicked its triangular tongue, poised to attack.

He was well and truly perplexed by this child.

Shaohui slid down from where he was sitting on the snake and grabbed his father’s hand, guiding him towards the scales on the snake. “Snake, please don’t bully my father, he is a good person.”

The snake looked at the kid and slowly to put its guard down.

Li Lei couldn’t explain what was going on in front of him. “How did you do this?”

The kid blinked in confusion. “I don’t know. I think the little animals just like me.”

The question was, was this snake really a “little” animal?

Li Lei wanted to slam his head against the wall.

Regardless, he was somewhat relieved. For some reason, this snake really loved Shaohui and protected him with whatever it had. When the boy slipped into the hot spring accidentally, the snake had actually tried to fish him back up again.

Li Lei had been surveying the area for a while, and indeed, the snake nest was here — usually, beasts fought near water sources. Only the strongest could live near these places, and these snakes practically owned the entire watering hole. Well, this snake should be the absolute king of the beasts.

And since it had decided to protect Shaohui, Shaohui was very safe here.

With this thought in mind, and the inability to quell his rising doubt, he decided to make his way back to search for Xia Ling.

Here they were today, with Xia Ling going through the initial shock, just like he had, all over again.

Li Lei told her his experience, and she was beginning to calm down in acceptance.

The small family of three settled down around the hot spring, under the snake’s protection. Li Lei distributed some rations for the both of them to eat, and Xia Ling refused to let go of the child, not allowing him to leave her even half a step.

Ironically, it was Shaohui who seemed perfectly fine. “Mom, you don’t have to worry about me. Uncle says that the child of the Phoenix cannot die in the mountains.” For some reason, he had such blind faith in his uncle that when he spoke about him, his eyes lit up.

Xia Ling almost wanted to retort. If it wasn’t for his uncle, they wouldn’t be here. She took an aggressive bite before asking Li Lei, “What next? If we go up earlier, we can bury this wishing knot earlier, and finish this quickly.”

“Xiao Ling, are you sure you want to continue?”

“Why?”

“I…” Li Lei hesitated, unsure whether to continue. “We’ve barely made it midway and so many things have happened. And the most dangerous parts have yet to come. I’m worried that you cannot withstand this. Compared to having the family together, your lives are more important.”

Xia Ling knew what he meant.

He meant to go home.

Xia Ling quietened, running her fingers through Shaohui’s short locks. “I want to be reunited with my child. I don’t mind the risks.”

“But it’s merely a name. You’ve already adopted him, and the world knows that you are his legal guardian. Even if one day he decides to call you his mother, nobody would be suspicious. Is it really worth it to go through all this just to prove to the world that he’s your biological son?”

Xia Ling looked at him silently, eyes glinting.

“Mom…” Shaohui tugged on her shirt sleeve.

“Li Lei, do you think I’m burdensome? Or do you not want to acknowledge Shaohui?” He was right, a small change in status wouldn’t matter much to her. But what about him?

If they didn’t finish the ritual, she couldn’t tell the world that the child was hers. By extension, the child and Li Lei wouldn’t be biologically related either.

Did Li Lei not want to acknowledge Shaohui? After all, he wouldn’t be considered a legitimate child, even if he was the oldest. In the future, if anything were to happen, his status would surely be the talk of the town.

“Of course not.” He was just afraid, afraid that he couldn’t ensure their safety. If misfortune were to befall them on this journey, he could never forgive himself in this life.

“Then there isn’t much to discuss.”

Hence, the three of them sank into silence.

They eventually said their farewells to the snake and left the springs, moving on with their journey upwards. This time, there was barely any talking beyond the necessary.

Finally, a rest stop.

Xia Ling was tired, and drifted off to sleep after having her meal, leaving Li Lei to take on the night watch. In her sleepy haze, she could hear both of them talking—

“Dad, is Mom not happy?”

“Don’t make things up.”

“You’re lying, Mom is not happy because she thinks that you don’t want me.”