Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 209 : The Revelation (1)

Chapter 209: Chapter 209 : The Revelation (1)

"Why?"

Understandably, Zhang Fengxi was confused by this nonsensical request. When an alpha and an omega got married, there were but very few joyful events that could trump the joy over the birth of a child.

Dread filled Zhang Fengxi’s heart when he came up with the only explanation that made sense to him.

"Does Jianyu not wish to have a child?"

Xie Jianshen scoffed as if Zhang Fengxi just said something utterly ridiculous.

"We never talked about him giving birth to any child, so I guessed that he never planned to. Then again..."

Xie Jianshen narrowed his eyes at Zhang Fengxi.

"...I would not be surprised if he changes his mind after the two of you get married."

All omegas wanted to give birth to their alphas’ children. Most alphas referred to it as motherly instinct, the drive to procreate, to populate the realm. Having lost his mother due to the high pressure of birthing another child, Xie Jianshen was unable to see it that way.

Then again, he went through the same experience with Jiang Rufeng. Later on, he came to understand why omegas chose to give birth.

It was love.

Love made the omegas sacrifice themselves.

They paid to see their child by shedding tears and spilling blood.

Alphas sowed the seeds, and omegas reaped them. The despicable nature of this arrangement would never change.

Xie Jianshen was pulled out of his trance when he heard Zhang Fengxi’s words next.

"You are asking me to deny myself and my wife the chance to welcome a child together. I need to know the exact reason why."

"Understandable," the omega agreed. "In fact, I have it here with me."

The reason was available in the form of a small scroll that fit inside Xie Jianshen’s palm perfectly.

"Prince Zhang Fengxi, I am sure you know about a baby’s Birth Reading."

Zhang Fengxi gave a subtle nod.

A Birth Reading was, in a nutshell, a summarized prediction of a baby’s future.

In the Heavenly Realm, the secondary gender of their children was especially important because it determined whether or not their children would perpetuate their family lineage.

Then again, it was impossible to find out until said children differentiated years later. By then, if the first children differentiated into omegas, the pressure of giving birth to a second child would be very big on the wives, often leading to horrid consequences.

In order to mitigate this problem, parents brought their newborn babies to the Goddess of Fate and Destiny for Birth Readings.

The Goddess of Fate and Destiny was able to see everyone’s future starting from birth to death, but her tongue was tied. She was only able to share predictions that she knew for sure would not affect the future.

Most of those predictions were trivial, but if the parents were observant enough, they might just catch a snippet or two that told them what they really wanted to know.

"He will lead a peaceful, uneventful life" was often translated to "He is going to differentiate into an omega".

"His life will be turbulent and full of challenges" was often interpreted as "He is going to differentiate into an alpha".

"I have Little Yu’s Birth Reading here," Xie Jianshen said. "Why don’t you take a look?"

A Birth Reading was a private and discreet piece of someone’s life. Usually, parents kept their children’s Birth Readings to themselves and used them as guides to raise their children. Zhang Fengxi did not even get to read his Birth Reading because his parents refused to share it with him.

A tiny voice in Zhang Fengxi’s head told him that he was not supposed to take a peek into Xie Jianyu’s Birth Reading.

It was improper, unless Xie Jianyu himself decided to share it with him.

Then again, the one who held it in his hands and offered it to him right now was Xie Jianshen.

Besides -- so Zhang Fengxi told himself to justify his action -- he was not going to use it against Xie Jianyu. There was no harm in knowing this little detail about his future, was there?

Zhang Fengxi thus took the scroll from Xie Jianshen’s hands and unrolled it.

The Birth Reading only contained one sentence.

"Xie Jianyu does not stay for long."

Xie Jianyu.

Does not.

Stay.

For long.

As Zhang Fengxi read the sentence over and over again in an attempt to make sense of the revelation, an ominous feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. It was almost as if someone was punching him again and again.

No...

No, it can’t be...

Maybe he read it wrong.

Zhang Fengxi blinked a few times and read again.

Maybe...

Maybe one can interpret it another way.

And yet, no matter what angle he used to understand the sentence and how many times he tried to interpret it, he failed to see it as a good prediction. In fact, it was...

"You don’t need to gloss it over in your head," Xie Jianshen’s ruthless voice broke through Zhang Fengxi’s train of thought, effectively crushing every bit of hope in his heart. "It is what it is. Little Yu is not destined to live a long life."

Xie Jianshen’s words confirmed his greatest fear. Zhang Fengxi’s hands trembled violently. Before he accidentally ripped the Birth Reading into pieces, Xie Jianshen took the scroll away from him.

"Why?" Zhang Fengxi pressed a hand against his face. His entire body was bathed in cold sweat. The warmth from his little intimate encounter with Xie Jianyu, the sweet kisses he just shared with the omega evaporated into thin air just like that.

"How? Why? Impossible!"

Rejection was his defense against this painful prediction, but his rejection meant nothing. Xie Jianyu’s fate was sealed inside the strip of paper.

Zhang Fengxi had a thousand questions to ask, but no one could answer them. No one but maybe the Goddess of Fate and Destiny.

Xie Jianshen calmly rolled his younger brother’s Birth Reading and tucked it away.

"When she was pregnant with Little Yu, our late mother was under very high pressure. Her distress affected her pregnancy. Little Yu came to the world as a very weak, premature baby," Xie Jianshen began with his explanation.