Mutation

The morning mist in the woods had yet to fully disperse. Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the branches, scattering dappled patches of light across the camp. Xia Lun drew in a deep breath of air scented with dew, savoring the tranquility.

It was another utterly ordinary morning, seemingly no different from any other, yet he still found it quite pleasant.

“Morning, Xia Lun.”

Liyana scratched at her nest of unruly hair. Completely unconcerned with appearances, she stretched lazily and let out a long yawn, tears of drowsiness still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

“Morning,” Xia Lun replied.

Suddenly, Liyana jerked upright as though she had remembered something. She hurriedly glanced back into the tent. Only after confirming that Xia Yi was still snoring away inside did she relax again, her whole body going limp.

“Thank goodness. When I saw you were already up, I thought Xia Yi had gone to bother you again.” Liyana’s eyelids drooped lazily once more. She scratched at her head, apparently feeling rather itchy. “Aina, I want to wash my hair. Could you help me?”

Aina raised a hand and pointed. A crystal-clear sphere of water formed at once, enveloping Liyana’s entire head. The sphere began to rotate slowly, then gradually picked up speed, washing away every speck of dirt caught between her strands.

“Glub, glub, glub, glub—”

Liyana opened her mouth and blew out a string of bubbles underwater. Each one was perfectly uniform in size, as though they had been carefully calculated.

This was the bubble-counting method she had invented. Once she had blown around thirty bubbles the size of her thumb, her hair would be clean.

However, when she had proudly told Xia Lun about it before, he had merely looked at her with pity and said nothing.

Just how bored did someone have to be to come up with something so inexplicable?

“Oh… Aunt Liyana, what are you doing?” Xia Yi rubbed his bleary eyes as he emerged from the tent and moved closer to investigate.

“Glub, glub… glub, glub…” Liyana answered indistinctly through the sphere of water.

“Are you having Mother wash your hair?” Xia Yi asked, his little face filled with astonishment.

Xia Lun could not help raising an eyebrow. This kid had actually understood her?

Xia Yi then scampered over on his short legs, tugged at Aina’s clothes, and pleaded, “Mother, I want one too!”

A water sphere settled over Xia Yi’s head.

Xia Lun stared at the pair before him—one big and one small, both with water spheres over their heads and bubbles glugging out around them—and fell into deep thought.

Could Liyana really be allowed to keep looking after Xia Yi?

“Xia Lun, you look pretty interested. Want to give it a try?” Aina tilted her little head up to look at Xia Lun’s profile, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“No.” Xia Lun shook his head decisively.

“Just try it. You might end up liking it.” Aina refused to give up. With a casual wave of her finger, another water sphere condensed in front of Xia Lun and floated toward him, wobbling gently.

Smack!

Xia Lun swept his hand through the air. The water sphere burst on the spot, splashing into a puddle on the ground.

“Glub!” Liyana’s eyes widened. Her expression made it look as though one of her companions had just been brutally murdered right in front of her.

“Xia Lun, how could you treat my magic like that…?” Aina put on an expression of profound grief, though the amusement in her eyes gave her away.

“Water bubble!” Xia Yi went even further. He popped out of his own water sphere, his little body dripping wet as he flung himself around Xia Lun’s leg and wailed through his tears, “Father, how could you do such a thing…?”

Xia Lun placed a hand on Xia Yi’s damp head. A cool sensation seeped into his palm.

“Having fun?”

“Uh…”

Xia Yi glanced back at his mother. Aina appeared to be busy filing her nails. Then he looked at his Aunt Liyana, who was whistling while gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, pretending that nothing had happened.

Xia Lun slowly crouched down until he was eye to eye with his son, a kindly smile spreading across his face.

“Good morning, Father,” Xia Yi said sheepishly, scratching his head.

Xia Lun was not about to have Aina spank Xia Yi over something so trivial. He merely ruffled the boy’s hair vigorously and said earnestly, “Use your head a little more. Don’t let other people stir you up so easily.”

“Use my head? Are we having snacks this morning?” Xia Yi blinked, still unable to understand what Xia Lun meant.

Xia Lun: …

“Forget it. You’re still young. You’ll understand later.”

Xia Lun looked over at Aina. She stuck out her tongue lightly, apparently finding it rather enjoyable to be mischievous every now and then.

As for Liyana… she had always been like this.

“Morning, everyone.”

Mo Lini emerged from the tent next door with a yawn, Little Lan perched atop her head. Xia Yi immediately scampered off to play with his Big Sister Little Lan.

“What an energetic little thing,” Liyana remarked as she watched Xia Yi’s retreating back.

“He’s still much more restrained than you were at his age,” Xia Lun said with a sigh, the corners of his mouth lifting unconsciously.

Liyana wore her usual carefree expression. “You actually remember what I was like back then? I’ve forgotten most of it.”

Xia Lun had no idea how many beatings he had helped Liyana avoid by covering for her in front of her parents.

Young elves were an exceedingly rare sight. After all, before the age of sixteen, elves grew at almost exactly the same rate as humans. But compared to the immense length of an elf’s lifespan, sixteen years was an almost negligible span of time, so very few elves could remember anything from their childhood.

Some elves even believed they had been born looking exactly as they did now…

Come to think of it, he could tell Liyana about that matter now, too.

“Liyana, Aina and I are planning to go together later to—”

But when Xia Lun looked toward Aina, he suddenly froze.

Aina’s expression was more solemn than he had ever seen it.

Xia Lun had never once seen such a look on her face. It was the stillness before a storm, carrying an ominous sense of foreboding.

“What’s wrong?” Liyana asked, also noticing the unusual atmosphere. The playful expression faded from her face as she looked between Xia Lun and Aina with concern.

“There’s something we need to take care of.” Aina drew a deep breath and tore open a spatial rift before them. She took Xia Lun’s hand, then turned back and gave Liyana a reassuring smile. “We’ll be back soon.”

Xia Lun felt the faint tremor in her fingertips, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart. But with Liyana there, he asked nothing. He simply squeezed her hand firmly in return and stepped through the spatial rift with her.

“Aina…”

Liyana stood where she was, reaching out somewhat helplessly, but their figures had already vanished.

“What happened?” Mo Lini walked over, looking puzzled. “Where did Mr. Xia Lun and Aina go?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Liyana put on a smile again. “They probably just forgot something.”