Invincible Snake Emperor

Chapter 598: Chapter 578: A Family Reunion

Of course, this was just a minor interlude. Tu Xiao’an had acted silently and without a trace, and by now, he was just stepping over the threshold of the Main Hall.

He had come in excitement, and left in disappointment.

Tu Xiaoyue stared at the stranger’s back until he walked out of the Main Hall, her eyes clouded with thought.

’Mom, your son is back. Mom, your son has come back to take care of you.’

Tu Xiaoyue recalled the words the stranger had just spoken, and a tremor ran through her heart.

Then, as if from out of nowhere, a thought struck her, and she abruptly shot to her feet.

”Mom, I’m going out to get some air. It’s too stuffy in here,” Tu Xiaoyue said to Wen Qiu before getting up and hurrying away.

She had to confirm a wild idea that had just formed in her mind.

Dejected, Tu Xiao’an left the Snake King’s Main Hall and wandered into a side courtyard. A large incense burner stood in its center, smoke curling into the air. Beside it grew a massive, ancient pagoda tree.

To be honest, his mood had sunk. The family reunion he had been so excited for had ended in a rather farcical way.

They say reality is always cruel, and that plans can never keep up with change. Even if Tu Xiao’an’s Cultivation was heaven-defying, he couldn’t change certain harsh realities.

Still, Tu Xiao’an hadn’t come away with nothing. At the very least, he had seen that his mom and older sister were both doing well.

His family’s safety was the most important thing. There would be a day for a proper reunion, anyway.

’I was too hasty.’

But after some thought, Tu Xiao’an decided he would find a chance to reveal himself to his sister first, and then to his mother.

’After all, revealing myself to my sister will be much simpler.’

’Yes, that’s what I’ll do.’

Just then, a kind and familiar voice, tinged with caution, spoke from behind Tu Xiao’an.

”Little Brother, is that you?”

Huh?

Tu Xiao’an shuddered. He spun around to see his older sister looking at him, her tone and gaze uncertain, full of apprehension.

He was instantly overjoyed and exclaimed, ”Sis, it’s me! I’m Xiao’an!”

’Haha, so my sister figured it out! She came out to find me herself. What a wonderful surprise!’

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyue’s confirmation sent waves of emotion crashing through her, like a stormy sea. She slowly walked up to the unfamiliar man and asked, stunned, ”Are you really my little brother?”

Tu Xiao’an’s bewitching eyes sparkled as he said excitedly, ”Sis, do you remember? When I left, I told you that the day your little brother came back would be the day our family was reunited.”

At these words, Xiaoyue’s entire body trembled like a sapling in a gentle breeze. Joy lit up her face, and she suddenly threw her arms around the unfamiliar man before her.

”Little Brother, Little Brother! It really is you! This is wonderful!”

It had to be him. It couldn’t be wrong. Tu Xiaoyue was both happy and excited, her heart bursting with joy.

The little brother she had worried about day and night had finally returned, and he was no longer a snake.

Although his appearance was unfamiliar, as long as it was her little brother, nothing else mattered.

She had accepted her brother when he became a snake, so how could she not accept him now that he looked like a stranger?

”Sis, it’s been so hard for you. You’ve suffered. But Xiao’an is back now. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you both,” Tu Xiao’an said, hugging his sister back. He took a deep breath and a smile as bright as the sun spread across his face.

After a long moment, the siblings separated. Tu Xiaoyue’s pretty cheeks were streaked with tears. She gave her brother’s chest a light thump and chided, ”You brat, where have you been all this time? I thought you’d...”

She had been worried sick. If she didn’t have to stay home and take care of their mother, she would have searched the entire world for him.

”Sis, your little brother is a lucky one. Look how great I am now—I’m human again,” Tu Xiao’an laughed. At this moment, he wasn’t the newly ascended Snake King of the Snake Race from the Yaoling Mountain Range; he was simply this woman’s little brother.

Only then did Tu Xiaoyue take a proper, careful look at her little brother. She touched his face, then his hands, her eyes narrowing into two little crescent moons. ”This is good,” she said. ”This is so good.”

After endless days of hoping and waiting, she finally had her little brother back.

”Sis, will you help me reunite with Mom?”

Even though Tu Xiao’an was now a Demon King, the one identity he truly wanted most was simply that of a son.

He was filled with guilt towards his mother, for making her, in her forties, experience the pain of an elder burying the young.

He remembered how his mother had been against him becoming a Snake Catcher when he was young, fearing that some accident would befall him. But in the end, reality had followed the very path Wen Qiu had most dreaded.

However, winter was ending, and spring was near. Reunion awaited only the wanderer’s return.

Back in the Snake King’s Main Hall, Wen Qiu watched her daughter return and said gently, ”Yue’Er, you were gone for so long. It’s not safe outside, don’t go out by yourself.”

Tu Xiaoyue smiled and replied, ”Mom, I didn’t leave the Snake King Temple. I just went for a walk nearby.”

”Mm, that’s good.” Wen Qiu nodded and continued to gently wipe the Spiritual Rank in her hands. For some reason, the voice from before kept replaying in her mind: ’Mom, your son is back.’

She must miss her youngest son so much that even a stranger calling her ”Mom” once could linger in her mind for so long.

Tu Xiaoyue looked at her mother, hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously, ”Mom, if I told you that Little Brother was actually still alive, would you believe me?”

Wen Qiu stared blankly at her daughter, her heart full of bitterness. It wasn’t a question of belief; it was simply impossible.

”Mom, do you remember our family’s House Snake?” Tu Xiaoyue suddenly changed the subject.

Wen Qiu nodded, but as she thought about it, a trace of panic entered her voice. ”Yue’Er, now that you mention it, you’ve reminded me... I don’t think our family’s House Snake has appeared for a long time. Could it be that it has abandoned us and left?”

”The House Snake left, and that’s why our home is gone.”

When the House Snake goes, the family falls; when the House Snake stays, the family prospers. Didn’t their situation prove that saying true?

”Mom, what are you thinking? That’s not what I meant. And the House Snake hasn’t left either,” Tu Xiaoyue quickly explained.

”It hasn’t left?” Wen Qiu grew even more panicked. Their entire house had collapsed. If the House Snake was still there, wouldn’t it have been crushed to death with no proper burial?

Seeing her mother’s imagination running wild again, Tu Xiaoyue decided not to beat around the bush. ”Mom, what I’m about to tell you might be a little shocking, but please don’t be scared. Just listen carefully.”

”Actually, our House Snake... was Little Brother.”

”After Little Brother died, he turned into the House Snake to silently watch over our family. Then, through Cultivation, that House Snake has now transformed back into a human.”

Tu Xiaoyue tried to make her explanation as simple and clear as possible, but her mother just stared at her, dazed and unresponsive.

Turning into a House Snake, and then the House Snake turning into a person—it was truly a story that was hard to believe.

But a legend had always circulated in Bai Town: if a family member died, they might transform into a small, cute, vibrant green snake about three feet long, allowing them to remain in the mortal world in a different form. This was the House Snake, said to watch over a home and bring it blessings.

”Mom, I know this is hard to accept. But Mom... that young man who knelt before you just now... he is Xiao’an. Your own son, and my little brother.”

Wen Qiu was completely stunned, as if she were struck mute and numb. She had no words, no strength. She looked down at the Spiritual Rank in her hands, then back up at her daughter’s exceptionally serious face, which showed no hint of a joke. A stream of hot tears began to flow silently down her cheeks.

No matter how shocking, no matter how absurd the words were, this woman was willing to believe them. Unconditionally.

Because she missed her youngest son too much.

”Where is he?” Wen Qiu asked, her voice trembling.

Hearing this, Tu Xiaoyue was taken aback for a second before covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Her mother was stronger than she had imagined. She had believed it without a single question.

’Is this what they mean by blood is thicker than water?’

Perhaps her little brother’s kneel earlier had already stirred something in her heart.

In the side courtyard, Tu Xiao’an was pacing back and forth. He and his sister had agreed: if their mother believed her, she would bring her here.

If she didn’t, they would let the matter rest for now. There would be time.

But Tu Xiao’an couldn’t wait to be reunited with his mother. Before, as a mere House Snake, even though he longed for it, he was too ashamed to reveal himself.

But now was different. Even if he wasn’t the original Tu Xiao’an, at least he now had the form of a proper man, one who could stand tall and proud.

Suddenly, Tu Xiao’an stopped his pacing and froze. A woman with crow’s feet around her eyes and white in her hair appeared before him.

It was as if time and space had come to a halt. Even the air seemed to slow its flow.

The woman stared blankly at the handsome young man, and the young man stared blankly back at the woman.

After what felt like a long time, the woman began to walk unsteadily toward Tu Xiao’an, her steps agonizingly slow. When she reached him, her slightly clouded eyes were already brimming with hot tears. She raised a hand, and the words slowly tumbled out, ”Are you my An’Er?”

THUMP...!

Tu Xiao’an’s knees gave way, and he fell heavily to the ground. ”Mom,” he cried out, ”I am An’Er! Your An’Er! Your son!”

’Looks like Mom believed it!’

Wen Qiu’s hand, which had been hovering in midair, finally rested on Tu Xiao’an’s head, stroking it gently. She closed her eyes, and tears streamed down like a bursting dam. Her voice was trembling and choked as she said, ”My child, you’ve suffered... Mom believes you... Mom believes you’re her son.”

Many things in life cannot be explained. Wen Qiu believed this was her son. Even if his face was completely different, the deep familial bond she felt in her heart could not be wrong.

”Mom... Thank you for believing me!”

Tu Xiao’an cried out, and his whole world lit up. He threw himself into his mother’s arms.

He had waited for this moment for too long. He, this snake, finally had a sense of belonging, a home. Everything had been worth it.

At the entrance to the courtyard, Tu Xiaoyue watched the mother and son embrace, already a sobbing mess. Their little family was finally reunited.

On a nearby rooftop, a woman in flowing white robes also etched this scene into her memory.

”So that’s how it is.”

She murmured to herself as a single, crystalline tear escaped the corner of her eye. It was a touching, heartwarming scene.

”Xiao’an, so it hasn’t been easy for you at all. But congratulations... you finally got your wish.”

The woman in white gave a radiant smile, leaped down from the roof, and left Bai Town without a backward glance.