In the end of the tunnel, there was a river and a small dock. A luxurious boat was waiting for them. Romano waved his hands from the boat.
When Mu Lan came closer, Romano hugged her. "I missed you, little princess."
Mu Lan cuddled in his embrace. "It wasn't that long, you know."
Romano was hurt by her words. "What? How can you be so cold?"
Osiris playfully said, "She got herself a new family. How can she miss us?"
Mu Lan frowned at Osiris. "What are you talking about?"
"She even calls Jing Sheng mother-in-law. It's like she is already married. So shameless!" Carlo scoffed, turning his head away.
Osiris came closer to Mu Lan and teased her, "Tell me dear, are you that eager to get married?"
Mu Lan's cheeks turned red. "Oh, get out." She grabbed Osiris by his face and shoved him away.
Romano spoke in a sad tone, "So, our little princess is not our little princess anymore."
Osiris patted his back in sympathy. "Don't worry. You will get some little princesses from her in the future."
Carlo gasped and said in an irritated tone, "Don't curse!"
Mu Lan was speechless. How could her having girls be a curse?
Pedro asked, "How long are you all going to block the entrance? Get moving."
Romano told Mu Lan, "Little princess, he is waiting for you in his room."
"Alright." She nodded and walked inside. She opened the door of the room where Juan was and saw him looking outside the window, watching the gorgeous scenery of the Arno river.
"It's a beautiful view." Mu Lan commented.
Juan glanced at her and smiled. "It is. It's been a while, little one. Come here and seat down."
Mu Lan came forward and sat on the couch beside him. She asked, "How are you?"
She didn't want to admit but she was nervous. She not only eavesdropped but also got to know some information that she shouldn't have known.
Juan chuckled. "Why are you nervous?"
Mu Lan instantly said, "I-I'm not! Hey, how can you ready my mind…"
Juan patted her head. "It's amusing to see you obedient." If she wasn't nervous, she would have hugged him and talked more cheerfully. Her expression gave her away.
"Hhh." Mu Lan pouted.
He said, "I heard that you got to know about The Mongoose. Are you curious to know what this is?"
Mu Lan gazed at him doubtfully. "Are you going to tell me? Isn't it taboo for me?"
He nodded. "It is. But we didn't let Carl to erase your memory, did we?"
She hesitated before answering, "…No…" She was too into thinking about The Mongoose that she forgot Carlo could erase that part and she would forget forever and never make trouble for them.
Juan declared, "I want you to know about them."
Mu Lan agreed. "Okay, but why now?"
"Because I think you are mature enough not to do anything recklessly. You have a huge family to take care of now, don't you?" Juan smirked.
Before, she was hot blooded and couldn't stay in a place more than a month. She always traveled and made enemies and friends. She didn't have to worry about her enemies hurting her family as they were as powerful as she was. But now, she had to think rationally as she had some family members who were vulnerable. So, she couldn't move recklessly anymore. Furthermore, she had a man she loved and they were planning to make a family together. That way, she had to settle down. Making enemies with someone as strong as The Cobra would be a wrong move for her.
'Savage!' She thought.
Juan leaned back on the sofa. "The Mongoose has a deep relation with us, The Cobra. Do you know who is the greatest enemy of a mongoose?"
Mu Lan nodded. "Ah, yes, the snakes. The Indian gray mongoose and others are well known for their ability to fight and kill venomous snakes, particularly cobras. They are adept at such tasks due to their agility, thick coats, and specialized acetylcholine receptors that render them resistant or immune to snake venom. However, they typically avoid the cobra and have no particular affinity for consuming its meat."
Juan smiled. "You did your homework, I see. Well, it was years ago when I created The Cobra for the first time. As the eldest and being capable leader of my clan, my parents were very proud of me. My twin brother was jealous of my power. So, he made his own team and called themselves The Mongoose."
Mu Lan became excited when she heard about Juan's family. However, she didn't interrupt him. They never talked about their own family members. They always stuck together, and that's why Mu Lan never asked them if they had their own families.
Juan continued, "I shaped my team to protect the innocents from the dark. But my twin brother had the opposite motive. He wanted to rule the world. He wanted the world beneath him. Thus, he secretly formed his team. I already knew what would happen if we were to fight against each other. And, we did. As a result, our clan was destroyed."
He went on, "We both hid ourselves from each other. So, did our team members. It was a good thing that we never showed our team members' faces to the enemy. It was a clever move for us. We tried to locate my brother and his team. We ruined their plans one by one, making them more aggressive. Nevertheless, we were so busy to find out their next plan that we didn't notice that in our team, we had a traitor."
"When we discovered, it was too late. They got their hands on the elixir. And do you know what they did with it?" He glanced at the girl who looked like a child listening to a bedtime story.
"What did they do?" Mu Lan's blood was boiling in excitement.
"They created the strongest poison. You suffered from it too." Juan's eyes flashed.
Mu Lan gasped. "You don't mean…"