This was the room of a certain young boy.

It was clean and spacious, all the toys neatly put away. The floor was lined with soft carpet and the furniture all had blunted edges. Over the windows, the curtains fluttered in the wind, casting faded shadows over the inside of the room.

Everything seemed tranquil and still.

Feng Chunyi crouched by her son’s bed, carefully placing the sleeping little boy curled up in her arms onto it before covering him with a quilt and tucking it under his chin.

With a fingertip, she hesitantly traced one of Qinghe’s plump cheeks.

The little boy shifted in his sleep and a small mint leaf tumbled out of his locks and fell onto his mother’s hand.

Feng Chunyi stilled and looked down at that leaf with a complicated expression.

Standing at the side with folded arms, Feng Huixin saw the solemn and somewhat afraid look on his wife’s face and asked with worry, “Chunyi, what’s wrong?”

Feng Chunyi shook her head, then paused. In a soft whisper, she asked her husband in a trembling voice, “Ah-Xin, what if after he gets older…Qinghe grows to hate me?”

His eyes showing his puzzlement, Feng Huixin returned, “Why would he?”

“Because he is bound to eventually find out about all the people I murdered and all the bad things I did,” she answered, her head bowing as her eyelashes quivered. Her voice grew slightly thick as if with suppressed emotions.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Feng Chunyi continued, “Ah-Xin…even now, I don’t understand why killing is wrong. I’m only abiding the laws because you are the one enforcing it. I will always listen to you. After all, we’ve long decided that you will be my conscience. But what if finding this about me disgusts our son? If he looks at me like that…like how those people from our world used to look at me…then I can’t, I won’t be able to take it. Ah-Xin, what do I do?”

That cute face of her son was always looking at her like she was his hero, displaying such open adoration and worship. Whenever they sparred and Qinghe was knocked down onto his little butt, he’d still come running back, clutching her robe as he looked up at her with avid excitement and interest sparkling in his clear gaze, demanding excitedly in his childish voice, “Mother, teach me that move!”

Feng Chunyi couldn’t bear to even imagine all that admiration and respect turning to horror and revulsion. She’d rather burn the world to ashes rather than let something like that happen!

Her husband’s steady voice interrupted her frantic thoughts that had been roiling with desperation, “Chunyi, he is our son. He loves you just as much as I do. Even if he finds out, he will understand.”

Feng Chunyi's mind slowly calmed at the assurance she heard in her husband's voice.

In a plaintive tone rife with uncertainty and hope, she asked, “…Really?”

“Yes, really,” Feng Huixin reassured.

Oblivious to his parents’ conversation, Qinghe continued to sleep peacefully on the bed.

……

Feng Qinghe’s home, the Feng residence in the heavenly realm, was large and well-appointed, and despite only housing the family of three, it did not feel empty at all.

Stones and feathers, along with shells and other knick-knacks abundantly decorated the place, each of them with a memory attached to them and lending the house the warm atmosphere of home.

It was a place that brought Qinghe contentment, be it due to his father’s familiar low voice that spoke with care or his mother’s exuberant laughter that rang loud and unrestrained until it echoed off the rafters.

For the four-year-old Feng Qinghe, this was the life he was used to.

Another thing he was used to was his parents’ cooking skills, or rather, the lack thereof.

On this particular day, the family of three sat around the dinner table, each contemplating yet again over the dishes placed in front of them.

One was a bowl of white rice sprinkled with barely enough condiments to be considered edible. Another was a bowl of thick, dark red liquid that could be called more a weapon than a curry. Just looking at it could cause one to go blind due to the deadly fumes it emitted in a thick vapor.

The rice was made by Feng Huixin, Qinghe’s father, and the curry was made by Feng Chunyi, Qinghe’s mother.

As the family of three each struggled with gulping down this monstrosity of a meal that they really should have gotten used to eating by now, the little Qinghe thought seriously about what he could add to the dinner table in the future that would balance it out.

After all, his father usually made the rice and his mother always made the curry, so shouldn’t he also make something like appetizers or desserts to contribute?

Hmm, since he liked sweets, Qinghe decided that he should probably aim for making desserts then. It should have milk, because he liked drinking milk. And he liked the calming scent of mint that he smelled on his mother sometimes, especially after she had just finished tending to her patch of mint plants. So he also wanted his desserts to have mint in them. If he found other tasty things that he liked later on, then maybe he could add them as well.

Satisfied with this, Qinghe seriously nodded his little head while still sunken in thought.

At the side, Feng Huixin and Feng Chunyi looked with warm and mirthful eyes at their son who had on such a solemnly contemplating face as he kept occasionally nodding to himself in a very pleased manner.

“Oi, little son of mine, what are you thinking?” Feng Chunyi couldn’t help but ask, her elbows on the table and both her palms supporting her chin. A wide smile stretched her lips, both sharp and mischievous.

But lost deep in thought, Qinghe didn’t seem to hear his mother.

Feng Chunyi didn’t mind, simply chuckling to herself as she admired how adorable her child was.

With a frown wrinkling his cute little face, Qinghe suddenly stood up, his meal already having been consumed as he had been absentmindedly pondering all this while.

“Mother, Father, I’m going to inspect the mint patch in the backyard!” Qinghe declared decisively.

Feng Huixin looked at his son with vague bafflement showing in his eyes. “Inspect? Why?”

Had his son found any hidden threat or danger there?

With a proud sniff, Qinghe proclaimed, “Because I’m going to use the mint there as ingredients when I make my own sweets!”

Feeling as if he’d explained everything that needed explaining, Qinghe dashed off, not willing to waste a moment more.

Feng Huixin and Feng Chunyi watched their son’s retreating back with helpless and loving expressions.

They knew that more likely than not, their little son would probably end up playing with the bugs and worms crawling on the plants, then end up sleeping in the mint patch while basking in the sun. These days, because of this tendency, he was also beginning to smell increasingly more of mint, just like his mother.

“As he grows older, I feel like I understand him less and less,” Feng Huixin finally confessed to his wife.

Laughing cheerfully, Feng Chunyi slapped her husband on the back and got up. “Don’t fret, dear husband, or you’ll age sooner. We don’t have to understand him. It’s fine as long as we raise him up into a decent person who knows how to find happiness, that’s all.”

After delivering this profound wisdom, Feng Chunyi turned on a heel and began making her dramatic exit, only for her to be pulled back by an arm winding around her waist.

“Chunyi, are you planning on running away again? It’s your turn to do the dishes today,” Feng Huixin calmly informed his wife.

With a strained laugh, Feng Chunyi refuted, “Me? Run away? What makes you say that? When have I run away from such a boring and dull task like washing those stupid dishes?”

In a deadpan voice, Feng Huixin answered, “Plenty of times.”

Feng Chunyi drooped, then began cajoling her husband in earnest, “Ah-Xin, won’t you take over for me this time? Please? I already know that you’re not on call at the Offices of Judgment today. On the other hand, I have this new battalion that got merged into the main force that I really need to begin training soon. And I also have an appointment with Ai Li to talk about the next set of special tools she’s releasing. I know how you love it when we use those tools in bed. I promise I’ll get us some this time to test as well so that we can have more fun tonight. So please, won’t you let me go?”

At the mention of his wife’s friend, the Deity of Romance Ai Li, and her specialized ‘tools’ that his wife liked to bring home, Feng Huixin felt his lips twitch as a faint blush crawled up his neck.

Coughing lightly, he spoke a single, unbending word, “No.”

Standing up while still holding his wife by the waist, he marched towards the kitchen and deposited her there so that she could begin working.

“Ah-Xin, you’re so heartless. So mean!” Feng Chunyi complained with puffed cheeks as she pouted prettily.

Her hands, however, were dutifully washing dishes in the meantime. Of course, the fact that she cracked and broke most of them due to being unable to control her strength was irrelevant.

Seeing his wife’s wronged expression, Feng Huixin felt his heart melting. Unable to help himself, he went up to his wife to pepper her face with affectionate little kisses.

Then with a sigh, he finally gave in and compromised, “Alright, I’ll do the dishes today. You can do them tomorrow.”

Feng Chunyi immediately brightened, her pout disappearing.

Jumping up, she clamped her mouth over her husband’s and tangled their tongues in a short and intense kiss. Then quickly disengaging, she disappeared like the wind to do things that were more fun than washing dishes.

For a moment, Feng Huixin just stood in the kitchen with a somewhat dazed look, then shook it off ruefully before walking towards the pile of dirty dishes to begin washing them.

But unfortunately, despite his attempts at controlling himself, he still ended up breaking just as many dishes as his wife had before.

With a sigh, Feng Huixin persevered.