11 Meeting The Family - 3.4

Silence met Fan Zhu Xia's words when she asked and the only movement that happened in the hall was the servants quietly leaving the three of them alone.

It wasn't like Fan Hui Zhong or Fan Hui Liang wanted to hide it, but it was more like they didn't know how to answer.

A couple of minutes had already passed yet the two brothers showed no signs nor any intention that they were going to respond.

Shifting her gaze between her father and uncle who were refusing to meet her gaze, Fan Zhu Xia couldn't help but sigh before slowly getting up from her seat and brushing her robes to get rid of the non-existent crumbs that could have fallen when she was drinking tea and nibbling on the pastries.

Her actions didn't go by unnoticed and both Fan Hui Zhong and Fan Hui Liang instantly looked at her with similar troubled expressions.

"Xia'er... It's-"

Shaking her head gently, Fan Zhu Xia wryly smiled with eyes that were filled with understanding as she interrupted her uncle from finishing his sentence.

"Uncle, please... There is no need to explain, I understand."

Sensing something amiss with his daughter, Fan Hui Zhong opened his mouth to speak but Fan Zhu Xia still beat him to it, the moment she saw his expression.

"Father, you should continue talking with Uncle. It seems as though you are needed here and you shouldn't make any decisions hastily."

"But Xia'er..."

Looking at his eyes directly, Fan Zhu Xia just shook her head and smiled gently. To others, it would look as though she was completely untroubled and at peace but to someone who has known her for a long time just like Fan Hui Zhong, he could see that this smile wasn't as genuine as the ones he usually sees.

It was like her smile hid her true emotions and thoughts yet her eyes seemed as though she could accurately guess what he was thinking of.

And the moment she spoke her next words, his suspicions that she had an inkling of his thoughts were confirmed.

"Father, please do not let me affect your choice in this matter. Whether you stay here or not should not be influenced by my presence."

Seeing the signs of distress on his brother's eyes, Fan Hui Liang couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt so he immediately spoke up and said, "Xia'er, it is not like we don't want to tell you, it is just that your grandfather's state is complicated."

Seeing her uncle misunderstand the conversation between her and Fan Hui Zhong, she couldn't help but let out another sigh as she replied, "Uncle Liang, I already know that. Just based on both of your silence earlier already made it easy for me to get the gist of the situation which is why I'm telling Father to think things through first before simply deciding to just leave again."

Hearing her response, it left Fan Hui Liang stumped but filled him with a sense of gratitude and joy because of the effort she took to try and convince her father to stay.

On the other hand, Fan Hui Zhong was anything but happy because he had a faint idea on what was going through his daughter's head right now.

Filled with turbulent emotions, Fan Hui Zhong called out his daughter's name with in a distressed tone, "Xia'er!"

"Father please stop... I know what you're thinking but there is no need for it! You've already helped me enough as it is, so please excuse me... Xia'er will just be in the gardens outside while the two of you talk."

Without another word, Fan Zhu Xia respectfully cupped her hands and bowed towards the two of them before quickly walking out of the room leaving them no chance to stop her.

"Brother, what did she mean?" Fan Hui Liang carefully asked after witnessing his niece's outburst and Fan Hui Zhong looking conflicted.

"I had promised Xia'er that I'll never let her be alone again." Hui Zhong replied, looking pained which in turn made Hui Liang feel guiltier.

"Was it because we didn't answer her question about Father's condition?"

"Not entirely... It may have played a part. Not telling her wouldn't have offended her but me not answering would have made her think that I still had reservation against her."

Looking troubled, Hui Liang couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that normal? Even my sons do not know the whole story behind Father's accident."

Sighing deeply, Fan Hui Zhong closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly, his whole aura changing, losing his intimidating air and just looked as if he was a man who is just exhausted and tired from carrying a heavy burden as he sat there.

"You don't understand! Xia'er, she's already been through so much and to see her withdraw back into herself, it's just..."

Trailing off, Fan Hui Zhong just shook his head and continued talking in a self-depracating tone, "I told her that I'll always treat her like my own daughter but then I hesitated to tell her the truth!"

"Brother..." Fan Hui Liang reached out in an effort to offer comfort while he called out to his brother but Hui Zhong just shrugged his hand off and stood up, looking agitated as he started pacing back and forth.

"Liang'er, this is the first time that that girl asked m something that was personal without me encouraging her. This was the first time she took the initiative to actually get involved and act like how a daughter should, like how a granddaughter would express concern over their grandfather!"

Seeing his brother so aggravated and filled with disappointment towards himself, Hui Liang stayed silent and let him continue his ranting.

"But what did I do? Instead of accepting it, I hesitated instead! I know Zhu Xia... For her to ask, she was just looking for a way to show that she could help our family."

"But how Brother? You of all people should know how many physicians has checked Father but all that they could do was stabilize his condition and prolong his life."

"I know that but Xia'er is different..."

"No matter how different she is, there's nothing she could do. Not unless she was from or was trained by someone from the Mystic Terra Mountain which is highly unlikely!"

Keeping quiet, Fan Hui Zhong just looked at him pointedly until understanding dawned on him and shock could be seen on Fan Hui Liang's face.

Full of shock and disbelief, Hui Liang could only weakly deny what his brother was implying and said "No..."

"She is not from Mystic Terra Mountain. Not anymore."

Hearing Fan Hui Zhong confirm it, Fan Hui Liang felt his body weaken with shock and he held on to the table while he stared at his brother with wide eyes.

He just couldn't believe that the young lady that he just met was from the mysterious Mystic Terra Mountain!

Everyone knew that people from there was impossibly talented physicians and that even the people with the lowest position there could rival a highly skilled doctor throughout the lands.

It was just that aside from being extremely secretive, the people that resided at the Mystic Terra Mountain only belonged to a lone small clan who tried to remain distant and separate with the conflicts outside of their territory.

Due to this, their clan had no close ties to any specific power as far as everyone knew but despite of this, they were still well-liked and highly respected when they travelled to other territories, although there was rumours that spread a couple of years ago that their clan fell into ruin and were wiped out.

This was the reason why Fan Hui Liang was so shocked in the first place ans could only ask, "Brother, how?"

"That isn't important. What is important is that from the moment I adopted her, she became a member of the Fan Family."