A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1554

"That's right. She had beautiful eyes. I only got a quick look at her, but it's hard to forget the air of dignity and grace that she exudes. Your mother's seen many well-respected people in her younger days. I know no one who carries an air of dignity as well as she did. But I wonder what kind of trouble she's gotten herself into that she has to give her own child away. What a poor little thing, all alone and having to fend for herself and her child, without a partner to count on. She must have met the wrong kind of man," Ye Xi-Mei sighed heavily and shook her head.

Ye Xi-Mei's spirits fell as she kept talking. Her brow began to crease with soft lines of sorrow.

Perhaps this had brought up memories of her own.

Had she not been abandoned by a loved one when she had most needed him?

She had suffered endless hardship before she had finally brought Ye Fan back to her hometown, Yeyang.

She had gone through similar hardships, which was why she felt a greater sympathy for the young woman.

She knew exactly how helpless and alone the young woman must be feeling.

That was why Ye Xi-Mei hoped that Ye Fan could find her as soon as possible and do all he could to help the young woman.

Ye Xi-Mei heard a sudden whoosh amidst her sighs.

Waves of heated air erupted suddenly, sending wild winds howling around them in a frenzy.

Ye Fan, who had been quietly sitting at the table, suddenly dashed out into the dark like a cannonball shot out of a cannon.

The gusts of wind erupting in his wake knocked over the sumptuous spread of dishes on the dining table.

A long and heavy silence descended upon the Ye family.

It took a long while before they slowly recovered from their stunned stupor.

"What...what just happened?"

"Fan...did Fan just go crazy?"

The Ye family stared at one another in utter bewilderment. Ye Xi-Mei seemed equally clueless.

"What's up with that rascal? Why was he in such a rush? He didn't even finish dinner," protested Ye Xi-Mei as her eyes gazed out of the window and into the moon. They were filled with worry. "I hope he's alright."

Every mother worried about her son when he was away from home.

Calamity had just visited Jingzhou while their family had somehow found themselves with a stranger's child.

Strange and unexplainable things were happening one after another.

Ye Xi-Mei couldn't help but wonder if these had merely been coincidences.

The warm wind sounded in a young man's ears like the low moaning of a beast as he raced through the sky like a spirit in the night. He moved so swiftly that one could see him leaving afterimages of his slim form in his wake. This was none other than Ye Fan, who had just dashed out of the Ye family mansion.

"I'm sure it's her. It has to be Tang Yun. Long black hair and a purple dress. Carries herself with the dignity and grace of royalty. An incomparable beauty. She's the only person who fits the bill. I should have known it was her. I should have guessed it sooner!" Ye Fan thought fiercely as he curled his fingers into tight fists.

Ye Xi-Mei had told Ye Fan what the young woman who had turned up at the Ye family mansion had looked like when he had first arrived at Jingzhou but he hadn't been paying attention then.

He had been convinced that the child had nothing to do with him and naturally hadn't cared who his mother might be.

But after meeting Tang Yun and listening to what his mother had said, the certainty that Ye Fan had felt had wavered. Could the child really be his and Tang Yun's child?

Why else would Tang Yun travel so far to Jingzhou and place her child in his mother's care?

What else could explain her intense resentment and aggrievement towards him?

There was only one explanation. Tang Yun had given birth to his child.

"But how? When did it happen?"

Ye Fan's thoughts were in a mess. He tried desperately to search the memories of him and Tang Yun.

They had only known each other for two years and had not spent much time together. The only time they had touched each other had been when they had jointly cultivated the Dragon God Body together. They had lost their reason briefly and shared a kiss. Ye Fan remembered distinctly that that had been the most intimate act that they had done with each other.

Could you get pregnant from a kiss?

If that were the case, Ye Fan and Qiu Mu-Cheng should be surrounded by children!

"Was it...that one time?"

Amidst his puzzlement, Ye Fan suddenly recalled the time when he had consumed a fire spirit fruit in a cave to aid his cultivation.

It was written in the Book of Celestial Cloud that the fire spirit fruit was a fruit of pure and immense yang energy. Few who consumed it survived. Only the most powerful martial artists should consume it for cultivation. If one were to attempt the endeavor and should his life be endangered at any point, he could seek out a woman and attempt to correct the imbalance between yin and yang with her. The act could save his life.

"Did I fail in my attempt to consume the fire spirit fruit? Did I only manage to succeed because Tang Yun sacrificed herself to correct the imbalance of yin and yang in my body?"

The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place now.

That explained why Tang Yun had been gone when he had woken up.

That explained the rose-shaped bloodstain on the stone platform.

That explained the explosion of fire-elemental energy waves in Jingzhou.

That also explained Tang Yun's severely weakened condition.

Everything made sense now.

That child was Tang Yun's and his child.

He had inherited the energies in the fire spirit fruit, which had led to a devastating explosion during his birth.

"Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she say anything? That idiot! Why did she try to hide the truth from me? I will be plagued by guilt for the rest of my life if something were to happen to her!" Ye Fan's eyes reddened and panic and anxiety churned in his gut as he raced madly towards the mansion where he had found Tang Yun.

The moonlight was a soft shimmer in the cold night.

A young woman sat cross-legged and alone in a mansion. Her eyes fluttered open slowly.

Her condition had not improved much after a day of meditation.

Tang Yun had known that her rash decision would result in a temporary fall in her level of cultivation but she had not expected it to plummet so sharply.

In fact, she had not expected her stamina and concentration to be as badly affected as well.

She could barely get to her feet, dark spots lingering at the edge of her vision as she struggled to stand.

"I have to leave this place as soon as possible before Ye Qing-Tian and the others find me."

It didn't matter that she couldn't possibly journey far in her weakened state. She had to leave right now. She could feel danger approaching steadily.

The supreme grandmasters of War God Castle weren't going to let her go so easily if they found her.

Tang Yun clenched her jaw and stood up.

She pushed the doors open to the sight of an endless, pitch black night.

She froze suddenly.

Tears began to stream down her cheeks uncontrollably.

For the first time in her life, the powerful young woman felt alone, helpless and afraid.

No matter how strong she was, she still longed for someone to lean on and to hold her during her moment of utter weakness.

Yet, during her dire moments when she was most in need of companionship and care, all she had for company was the dark and the cold.

No one was there to asked her if she had had a warm meal. No one was there to stand by her side as the sun set and night arrived. No one knew the sorrow that she was drowning in right now.