Shen Xingyue was completely stunned and did not come to her senses for a long time.

What was this mess? Setting fires, stealing cars, and even taking away two of her sisters?

“Mother, whom did he bring along with him?”

Third Grandaunt said angrily, “Who else could it be? It’s Zixing and Ming’er! These two ungrateful brats who can’t do any better ran away with that b*st*rd!”

“They don't know each other very well, do they?” Shen Xingyue questioned. The two girls were quite proud and arrogant. So it was hard to imagine them running away with a stranger.

“I’ve thought about it. They are definitely together now. With their skills, it would be a piece of cake for them to bring Li Mu back. So much time has passed and they are still nowhere to be seen. Obviously, they’ve run away together with him with no intentions of coming back.”

The more Shen Xingyue listened, the more confused she became. Were Shen Zixing and Shen Ming’er that powerful? How could those two little girls possibly catch Li Mu back?

Besides, how much time had passed? All she did was just sleep. Even if she did sleep for a long time, it wouldn’t be too long either, right?

She was so confused that she didn't even know which question to ask first.

“Mother, are Zixing and Ming’er very powerful?”

Proudly, Third Grandaunt replied, “They grew up training with me in the mountains and are so skillful that commoners can't even get close to them. Li Mu certainly isn’t their opponent.”

Shen Xingyue doubted her words but was unable to verify this statement. Hence, she chose to trust her for the time being.

“How long was I asleep for?” She finally asked the question that concerned her most.

Third Grandaunt had no intentions of hiding it from her and replied, “A total of forty-nine days!”

“Huh!”

Shen Xingyue thought what Third Grandaunt said was unbelievable. She couldn’t have slept for such a long time. She hurriedly took out her mobile phone to check the calendar and realized it was true. Many days had passed.

Although she couldn't remember which day exactly did she fall asleep, there was one thing she could be sure of. At least a month had passed. Hence forty-nine days as told by her mother was probably accurate.

“I can't believe I've slept for so long!” She thought.

Shen Xingyue recalled carefully and suddenly remembered something. She hurriedly asked, “Mother, I’ve slept for such a long time. Does it have anything to do with my recovery?”

Third Grandaunt let out a long sigh. Before Shen Xingyue woke up, she and her elder brothers had numerous discussions on whether to tell Shen Xingyue the truth or not after she woke up.

They repeatedly weighed the pros and cons and finally agreed that they should not lie to her. The truth would come to light sooner or later. And Sheng Xingyue would find it out herself someday too.

It would be better to tell her the truth rather than let her find out about it and not be able to accept it. By doing so would also help Shen Xingyue be clear about her responsibilities. It was not acceptable to let the clan sacrifice for nothing.

Now that her daughter had mentioned it, Third Grandaunt shouted towards the outside of the house, “All of you can come in now!”

Senior Village Chief, Fourth Grandfather, Sixth Grandfather, Ninth Grandfather, and some of the heads of the Shen Family all crowded into the room. Apart from a few seniors who had seats, everyone else had to stand.

Shen Xingyue knew most of the people here. Most of them were her elders from her uncle's generation except for Senior Village Chief and her grandfathers. But of course, they were now her siblings.

She also noticed two elder people among them. A man and a woman both with white hair were seated as well.

Third Grandaunt introduced them to her specifically, “My daughter, I don't think you know the two of them as they have just returned to the village. This is your Fifth Aunty, and the other is your Seventh Uncle.”

Shen Xingyue hurriedly rose to greet the two of them as they greeted her back amiably. Fifth Aunty proceeded to say sadly, “Big Brother was so cruel back then. He forced Third Sister to stay in the mountains and forced me and Seventh Brother to go far away. He also forced…”

Seventh Uncle tugged at her sleeve and said with a smile, “Fifth Sister, let's not talk about those things anymore. Now that Yueni calls her mother, Third Sister’s efforts are finally paid off. We should be happy for both of them.”

The few other elder people didn't know what was going on. But they knew something must be behind all this upon hearing what he said. However, they couldn't ask too many questions in front of the younger ones hence they echoed along.

The more Shen Xingyue listened, the more confused she became. Looking at Third Grandaunt in confusion, she asked in a small voice, “Mother, what are they talking about?”

“There's no hurry. I will tell it to you later!”

Third Grandaunt wiped her tears and said to everyone, “Everyone is here now. Let’s get down to business!”

Right after that, someone thundered loudly, “Shen Xiao, you old beast! Old b*st*rd! I'm back! Give me back my wife and daughter!”

Immediately afterward, they felt the ground shake and heard a thundering rumbling sound.

Seventh Uncle shouted, “Oh no! Brother is breaking the formation!”

Senior Village Chief and the others were furious. Shen Xiao was their elder brother. It was like a slap in the face to hear someone insults their deceased brother in public. And this person even broke the formation of the clan!

Some of them got up and were about to go out to settle the score with that man when they heard Third Grandaunt call out, “Sit down. Don't act rashly!”

The crowd was puzzled when they heard the man shout, “Ying, are you here? Honey! I'm back! I'm here to save the two of you! Please answer me!”

Third Grandaunt’s name had the character ‘Ying’ in it. Hence, everyone looked at her in unison. A hint of shyness flashed through her face as she said with an annoyed voice, “Seventh Brother, go and bring him in! Tell him to stop shouting. It’s embarrassing!”

“Okay!” Seventh Uncle responded. With a sway of his body, he disappeared in a trance.

Shen Xingyue was shocked at the sight of it and couldn't help but let out a shriek.

Fifth Aunty said with a smile, “Yueni, don't be scared. Your Seventh Uncle's the Magic of Relocating is the best among us. I’ll ask him to teach you that in the future!”

Completely confused, Shen Xingyue felt that she couldn’t comprehend everything that was happening right now. Why did it shake so bad just now? And what’s with the instant disappearance of Seventh Uncle? Suddenly, she realized that this might be the reason her fiance to run away.

Before she could figure it out, there was another flash before her eyes and two more people appeared out of nowhere. Shocked, she let out another startled cry.

One of them was Seventh Uncle. And the other was a Taoist master who was wearing a Taoist robe. With rosy cheeks and a beard, he had immortal vibes. It’s just that instead of a bun on his head, he had a crew cut and looked neither fish nor fowl.

When the man saw Third Grandaunt, he headed straight for her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her profusely with snot and tears flowing down his cheeks.

“Darling, I’m late! I’m sorry to let you suffer all this while!”

Third Grandaunt also hugged him and cried out loud, while Fifth Aunty and Seventh Uncle shed tears as well. The others who didn’t know what was happening looked dumbfounded.

It was Sixth Grandfather who reacted quickly and scolded the juniors, “What are you all standing around for? Get out of here!”

Only then did the juniors of the Shen Family get to their senses and run out in a hurry. They hid far away and no one dared to get close to the room.

Senior Village Chief waited for a while and asked after seeing them calm down a little. He asked: “Third sister, who is this?”

Third Grandaunt said shyly, “Second Brother, he is my husband!”

“Oh!” Senior Village Chief felt dizzy all of a sudden. “Since when did Third Sister get married? And judging by the man’s words, she seemed to even have a child already! What could that mean? Sigh, it’s so complicated!” He thought.

Third Grandaunt then proceeded to introduce him to the crowd, with the brothers and sisters greeting him respectively. Senior Village Chief was the last one to be introduced to.

“Hubby, this is my Second Brother!”

The Taoist master clasped his fist and saluted while exclaiming, “Second Brother!”

Senior Village Chief hurriedly greeted him too, “Elder Brother!”

Third Grandaunt glared at him and complained, “Second Brother, what’s wrong with you? Why are you calling him Elder Brother too? He’s not your Elder Brother!”

“Oh! Right! Younger Brother!”

The Taoist master who had already noticed Shen Xingyue stared straight at her. Trembling, he asked, “Darling! this is…”

“Our daughter!” Third Grandaunt responded shyly.

Pulling Shen Xingyue over, she pointed at the Taoist master and said to her, “My daughter, this is your biological father! Quickly! Call him Father!”

Shen Xingyue was completely and utterly baffled. She was already confused before this. And now she was totally perplexed.

The Taoist master immediately hugged her and wailed aloud. Right after that, he hugged Third Grandaunt too and the three of them cried together.

Shen Xingyue cried along with the two of them. Although she was still unsure of what was really going on, she knew that Third Grandaunt was her biological mother, and the Taoist master was her biological father.

They couldn’t stop crying. Senior Village Chief and the others who were standing aside kept comforting them and persuading them. Only then did they stop crying after what felt like half a day.

Third Grandaunt proceeded to tell Senior Village Chief and the others, “Second Brother, it was not my intention to hide this matter from everyone here. But Big Brother forced us not to tell anyone. Now that the bet has been annulled and our family has been reunited, it’s time to let everyone know about it.”

Senior Village Chief and the others immediately pricked up their ears.

“Third Sister, let me tell them instead!” Fifth Aunty said from the side.

Third Grandaunt nodded as a sign for her to take over. Fifth Aunty then proceeded to clear her throat and told the crowd the whole story.

It turned out that when the Shen Family reached Shen Xiao's generation, the main lineage was poorly populated with only two siblings left, who were Shen Xiao and Shen Ying respectively. Shen Xiao got married and had a son, whereas Shen Ying focused entirely on monasticism and went to the mountains for spiritual practice at an early age. Due to that reason, she didn’t consider marriage as something important when she was nearly forty.

Fifth Sister and Seventh Brother of the Shen Family were closest to their Third Sister. Hence they often went to the mountains to visit her. One fine day, one of Seventh Brother’s friends came to visit when he planned to visit his Third Sister on that very day too. Hence he brought his friend along.

That's right. Seventh Brother’s friend is none other than the Taoist master. His Taoist name was Zihe Taoist. And his lay name was Yang Zihe.

He had been studying Taoism since the age of three and, like Third Grandaunt, had devoted his life to monasticism and rarely left the mountains. Seventh Brother from the Shen Family was considered one of his few close friends.

Perhaps it was fated, as the two of them who met for the first time hit it off right away and shared common interests.

Zihe Taoist and Third Grandaunt talked about Taoism for seven days and seven nights without feeling tired at all. The more they talked, the more they fell for each other, which then progressed into a relationship.

Yang Zihe stayed in the mountains from then on, and the two of them lived happily ever after.

Only Fifth Sister and Seventh Brother knew about it. And the two siblings helped them to keep it a secret until Shen Xingyue was born. That was when the matter could no longer be concealed.