Once they were settled inside the large tree house, a heavy silence filled the room.
The only sound was the crackling of the small fire in a stone bowl in the center.
Su Mingxuan sat on a fur-covered floor, staring into the flames with a dazed expression. He looked like a man who had suddenly aged ten years in a single afternoon.
Finally, he lifted his head and looked at Lan Yue. His voice was thin and trembling, barely above a whisper. "Child... is Wang Mulan... is she alive?"
Lan Yue looked at him with wide, sympathetic eyes and nodded. "Yes. My mother is alive. She is the Priestess of the Dragon Beast City now."
The color drained from Su Mingxuan's face, and he let out a long, shaky breath.
"Good... that is good. She always wanted to be a priestess. She was always the most capable, the most intelligent..."
He started to praise her, but his voice broke.
