Broken Bonds

Chapter 6

Returning to the room with food in hand, Qiu Yeyuan soon laid eyes upon a the nerve-wracked face belonging to Yan Feili as he embraced his child; his expression seeming to be one pleading for assistance, as he then immediately called out the just arrived man: "Qiu Yeyuan, please come quickly and have a look! What's wrong with this child? Why is he always crying?! Is he in pain? Which part of him is unwell?!"

"General Yan, please don't fret. A little while ago I had told you that this child maybe hungry, so I went to the kitchen for a small bowl of congee. It should be alright for him to be fed this." Placing the tray down, he picked up the small bowl of porridge; recalling his experience in the kitchen, not to long ago, where he asked a kitchen maid; and cursing himself for not thinking earlier that a newborn child would be noisy out of hunger.

Yan Feili soon also came to this realisation.

At his own recollection of it being normal, and a must, for all women who birthed children to breastfeed. He could not help the appearance of a warm, shy blush.

With that, these two large men clumsily fed the little one that small, half-filled bowl of congee; and, finally, that child calmed once he was satisfied.

Yan Feili's eyes were glued onto the small one slowly falling asleep in his embrace; his heart instantly brimming with gentle feelings of love at the sight.

Staring at his little eyes, his small curled up hands, and his tiny mouth which opened up every now and again to burp—all of which were extremely cute; an indescribable sensation of tender affections rose within his heart, thus now unwilling to put his child down, Yan Feili used on hand to eat his meal.

Qiu Yeyuan, looking on at Yan Feili gazing at his little one so lovingly, was himself unable to halt his own heart from being moved.

Upon thinking back to that time half a year earlier, when Yan Feili fainted during a military drill due to his body being out of sorts, where he was sent to diagnose him. He remembered his own shock after taking the weakened man's pulse. Despite his confidence in his own medical expertise, Qiu Yeyuan still carried out repeated confirmations following his initial diagnosis, and only then telling the other the truth of the matter afterwards.

Back then, Yan Feili's own shock was incomparable to none, as he stared at him in utter astonishment while muttering aloud: "Impossible... That's impossible..." But later, after coming to the realisation that this prognosis was absolutely true; he, like Qiu Yeyuan, had no choice but to believe it.

Qiu Yeyuan knew of a tribe called the "Moye" from a time very long ago. Where in that tribe, regardless of whether one was a man or a woman they can still give birth. This therefore made then viewed by others as a different species entirely. Thus following several warring periods over three centuries ago, along with some ethnic minorities, they gradually became extinct.

Could it be that General Yan carries the Moye bloodline? Is he a descendant of the Moye tribe? He had already told Yan Feili of this speculation once before. But, Yan Feili, being a child orphaned during a war, did not even know who his own parents were so how could he have known the answer to the topic of his own race.

However, that issue was no longer of importance. What was critical at the moment, was how Yan Feili would deliver this child safely. So Qiu Yeyuan recommended that he must both relax and recuperate, and must avoid making any jarring movements. Plus, luckily at that time, the grand battle with the demonic cult had ended, and there were no major issues within the sect. As a result of this, Sect Master Beitang went back to the Northern Border, which meant Yan Feili could leave to a place able to provide him with, that ever so rare to find, peace.

From then on he remained in that remote Bamboo Garden. Rarely associating with others, meticulously concealing himself, and going to Qiu Yeyuan for assistance hence why this matter was found out by no other from its inception.

In fact, the calculated day of his delivery wherein he was supposed to give birth was in a few days. But since Qiu Yeyuan had been busy with so many matters before the coming new year, this date had completely slipped the doctor's mind. Well, that was until Hua Xiangyan secretly snuck into the New Year's Banquet to find him, with an ghost-like appearance, stammering: "General Yan said his w-w-water... um... broke... Please, come quickly..." The sentence seeming as if it had hopped out Hua Xiangyan's mouth. However, Qiu Yeyuan already quickly understood, and immediately hurried to the Bamboo Garden with the stuttering man; scolding himself for his own negligence.

Actually, all along, Qiu Yeyuan had been very curious as to how that child would arrive. Or perhaps, he was really curious as to who that child's father was.

But, being a doctor, Qiu Yeyuan originally had no interest in the personal matters of others, and with Yan Feili, their relationship was not that deep. So although these curiousities lay within his heart, he also never pried.

But now, seeing Yan Feili's deep and sincere affections towards that child, Qiu Yeyuan finally could not resist the urge and said: "General Yan, perhaps it it inappropriate for Qiu'mou[1] to inquire about such a matter, however, now that you have already given birth to the infant safely, it might be best to allow the child's father...um— I mean the other father, to know of this matter."

Yan Feili's entire body suddenly froze; his face washed of all colour.

"General Yan, my apologies. I spoke out of turn," Qiu Yeyuan promptly apologised.

"Please don't... Doctor Qiu has done this Yan'mou a great kindness. Yan'mou truly can never repay such a favor, so how could you have spoken out of turn!" Yan Feili forced a weak smile. "But regarding this matter... it would be quite inconvenient for Yan-mou to say. So please, Doctor Qiu, please forgive me."

Qiu Yeyuan understood at once; feeling ashamed of his own boldness.

"Sect Master Beitang already knows of this situation, but I don't know how General Yan plans to explain this to the Sect Master?" Qiu Yeyuan recalled Beitang Ao's expression when he left, thus asking the other out of concern.

To that, Yan Feili's arms tightened, the child within them releasing a "waa" as he began to cry. Prompting the two men to again clumsily coax the small one for a long time, before the wailing babe slowly calmed down.

A bit of exhaustion overcame Yan Feili. So Qiu Yeyuan placed the child beside him to allow him to lie down and rest; the current issue at this time tossed into the back of his mind.

Once down, he heard Qiu Yeyuan take the dishes from their meal outside, then Yan Feili, looking at the child on top the pillow beside him, at that moment, felt fear enter his heart.

Because of this unexpected situation having taken place to make the Sect Master aware, he had no inkling as o how the man felt about it. Furthermore, on account of the Sect Master's temperament, Can that man even accept this child? But, in the end, this child is of the Sect Master's own flesh and blood, is he not... Yan Feili panicked for quite a while, before finally again dozing off in a daze.

But, who could've known that once he awoke, he would no longer see his child's figure...

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Note:

[1] 某: mou3 - a name filler (for given names). (iana: I left in in because I thought it sounded cute. I'll take my cute wherever I can get it)