"Sister Zhenzhen plays hide-and-seek with , and she catches every single ti!" Nuonuo complained.
Zhenzhen twitched her whiskers smugly. "Well, whose fault is it that my little fox brother has so many tails! No matter what nook or cranny he hides in, the first thing I always spot are those tails!"
WAH! Nuonuo was so aggrieved he was on the verge of tears.
’No wonder my big brothers and sisters can always find !’
’He hadn’t won a single round yet!’
"I don’t want so many tails, they’re so cumberso!" Nuonuo said, looking at his nine beautiful, big tails with disdain.
Yan, having finished cooking, walked over just in ti to hear his son’s complaint. He smiled and said, "I can teach you a little Spell to hide your tails."
Nuonuo happily wagged his tails. "Dad, teach how to do it!"
Yan taught him a simple Spell. Nuonuo was very smart and succeeded on his first try.
His nine tails rged into one big tail. He looked at his new, single tail with fascination, then jumped to the ground and started chasing it, spinning in circles and playfully biting it.
Little Zhenzhen seized the opportunity to pounce on him, and the two little ones tumbled into a playful heap.
Sang Luo looked thoughtfully at the smiling Yan. "Did you use this Spell back then to disguise yourself as an ordinary wild fox?"
"Yes. The world wasn’t as peaceful back then as it is now. A young Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox cub isn’t very powerful, and without the protection of a clan, they can easily be targeted by those with ill intentions. I often disguised myself like this when I was young. Otherwise, I would have likely been skinned and deboned long ago, refined into a Divine Artifact or an Elixir."
"...When I first t you, you looked so filthy, your fur all matted over your face. I thought you were a little injured stray dog," Sang Luo said, her heart aching for him.
Yan sat down beside her, watching the children play and roughhouse in the courtyard. "That’s all in the past. Now that I have you and Nuonuo, I could ask for nothing more."
He turned to look at Sang Luo, a gentle, relieved smile on his handso face. "If all the suffering I went through in the past was just so I could et you and our child, then I would gladly endure it all without a single complaint."
Sang Luo snuggled into his embrace. "Yan, eting you has been my greatest fortune as well."
A deep tenderness flowed between them like the dappled sunlight shifting beneath the tree. The sounds of the children playing drifted over from ti to ti, creating a scene of peace and serenity, as if ti itself had stood still.
"GRUMBLE~"
Suddenly, Sang Luo’s stomach let out an embarrassing rumble.
Yan chuckled. "Let’s get you sothing to eat first. If I let you get thin, who knows how Fei Yuan would taunt ."
"You’re his master, after all. That guy doesn’t act like a disciple at all." Sang Luo couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of the master and disciple, both ancient, still bickering from ti to ti.
"If he hadn’t been afflicted with that Poisonous Gu back then, he never would have deigned to be anyone’s subordinate." Yan rubbed his temples as if nursing a headache, seemingly regretting taking him as a disciple. "Those years he lived in the mansion, he caused so much chaos the chickens and dogs had no peace. He was always climbing walls, tearing off roof tiles, starting trouble, and getting into fights. I don’t even know how many rooms and Alchemy Furnaces he blew up... After him, I never took another disciple."
Sang Luo almost snorted with laughter.
’So that was the secret story behind it all!’
Fei Yuan often teased Si Ye about being unruly as a child, but it turned out he was the original delinquent.
"Darlings, stop playing! It’s ti to eat. Uncle Yan made lots of yummy food," Sang Luo called to the children.
Hearing the call for food, all the kids ca running back.
Sang Luo held the little fox cub and finished feeding him his milk, then cut up so strips of fresh at for him.
After they finished eating, Little Zhenzhen pounced into Sang Luo’s arms and said playfully, "Daddy’s birthday is coming up! Have you decided what gift you’re going to get him, Mommy?"
She then lowered her voice. "Mommy, you haven’t been back much these past few years. I’ve heard Daddy call your na in his sleep several tis, and he even sniffled secretly in his dreams. Wuuu~ Poor, unloved Daddy is so pitiful..."
A vein throbbed on Sang Luo’s forehead. She picked her little daughter up by the scruff of her neck, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "If your father knew you were bad-mouthing him like this behind his back, he’d definitely assign you dozens more worksheets."
Little Zhenzhen dropped the act, pouting pitifully. "But Daddy really does miss you, Mommy. Last year, you forgot to give him a birthday present. He didn’t say anything, but he must have been sad inside! Please don’t forget again this year."
Hearing this, Sang Luo felt a pang of guilt. With so many Beast Husbands and children, she often lost track of important dates. Not to ntion the "three years of pregnancy brain"... She had indeed missed Ah Ye’s birthday last year.
"This ti, Mommy will definitely prepare properly and get your dad a great gift!"
Sang Luo had firmly committed it to mory last ti. Ah Ye’s birthday was on the twenty-ninth of the eighth month. That was nearly a month away, giving her plenty of ti to choose a gift.
Sang Luo said her goodbyes to Yan and returned to the Central Marquis Mansion.
She had just left when Fei Yuan arrived, looking around for soone. "Where’s Little Luoruo?"
"You just missed her. She left a mont ago," Yan said. He had just finished bathing the little fox and was about to carry his son to bed.
Nuonuo lay sprawled in Yan’s arms, fast asleep. His nine fluffy tails were visible again, twitching unconsciously back and forth in an endearing, cute way.
Fei Yuan looked on with envy. "I was the one who helped raise the kids all those years you were away. There’s nothing wrong with the little fox cub calling his second dad, is there?"
"Technically speaking, my son’s seniority is higher than yours."
"..." Fei Yuan was speechless.
After a mont, he spoke again. "Luo’er said that the Night Pavilion Master she t a hundred thousand years ago was Dun, the Divine Venerable of the Ghost Realm. He detained one of your soul fragnts. If Luo’er hadn’t gone to the Lower World to retrieve that soul fragnt for you, you probably wouldn’t have been able to return this ti."
"I know of him." Yan didn’t seem surprised, as if he had known about this for a long ti.
Fei Yuan was amazed. "If you knew that the Divine Venerable of the Ghost Realm had a grudge against you, how could you dare to use such a risky thod? If Luo’er and I hadn’t made that trip, who knows how that guy would have tortured your soul fragnt."
Yan carried his son back to the room to rest. When he ca out, he asked about sothing else entirely. "Do you know who inflicted you with that Poisonous Gu all those years ago?"
Fei Yuan’s expression darkened. The Poisonous Gu in his body had long since been cured, and he had almost forgotten the incident. Yan’s words reminded him of the humiliating affair of being backstabbed by an imperial concubine.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Dun awakened long ago. He has been secretly colluding with the Demon Lord, the Fallen God Angel, and a host of other Destructors. They’ve made many deals. Whether it was Little Treasure’s Exquisite Heart or the Poisonous Gu you were afflicted with back then, his hand was involved in all of it."
Fei Yuan was stunned. He’d never imagined that the Ghost Realm was the true mastermind hiding in the shadows. After his shock subsided, his voice grew grave. "What exactly are these guys trying to do?"
"That’s what I want to find out as well." Yan gazed out at the heavens, his voice cold and flat. "To uncover the truth, one must enter the ga oneself. Dun and I have an ancient feud. He knew that after my soul was reincarnated, he would never let go easily. Since that was the case, I decided to play along and beat him at his own ga."
Fei Yuan understood. He laughed, "I always thought you were so aloof, holier-than-thou type. I never expected you to be a madman, daring to gamble with your own soul fragnt."
"What did you discover on your trip to the Ghost Realm this ti?"
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