Chapter Sixty-Six (End of the Main Story): It’s a Xiao DengPao again. Do you like it?
Cheng Father was next to him so he grabbed him quickly and asked, “XiaoYu, what’s wrong?”
Ji XiaoYu was speechless, but the hand holding the phone was visibly shaking and a “hey, hey” was coming from it. Father Cheng’s heart sank and he pulled the phone right out of his hand. Afraid, he said, “I’m Cheng YuTang’s father. What’s wrong?”
Mother Cheng had a bad hunch, so she waited nervously while holding Cheng PaoPao.
A minute later, Father Cheng’s face turned white as he hung up the phone. Mother Cheng asked quickly, “Old man, what’s going on?”
Father Cheng answered mechanically, “TangTang’s subordinate said that he’s currently in a severe coma, all of his organs are on the verge of systematic failure. The doctor just notified him it’s a critical illness……”
“What? How could this be?!” Mother Cheng cried in disbelief. Her eyes turned red at once. “Wasn’t he still okay when he went out to work this morning? How come suddenly……”
“Don’t worry, TangTang has always had a healthy body. He’s had a regular examination done every year, so this has to be a misdiagnosis.” Father Cheng took a deep breath and calmed his mind, saying, “I’m going to the hospital now!”
Ji XiaoYu breathed out, saying, “I-I’m going too!”
Mother Cheng also said, “And me!”
Cheng PaoPao didn’t understand what his grandparents and dad were talking about, only knowing that they were going out, so he couldn’t help but wave his two little arms in excitement, “Ah ah!”
“Then let’s go together.” Father Cheng knew he couldn’t stop them, so he didn’t argue and personally drove them to Ning City People’s Hospital – that is, the hospital Ji XiaoYu and Cheng YuTang once stayed at and that was now controlled by HongSheng’s investment.
After getting on the road, Cheng PaoPao was as excited as ever, pointing a chubby finger all around at the traffic on the street and screaming “ah ah” non-stop. Ji XiaoYu was sitting next to him but couldn’t smile at all. He put his hands on his lower abdomen where he had started to ache again, forcing himself to calm down. The captain must have just been joking just now. Nothing bad will happen, I’m sure of it!
……
Outside the intensive care unit of Ning City People’s Hospital, in addition to Yang YiPeng, there were several HongSheng executives who had come. Everyone was silent, looking dignified, until the sound of rapid footstep disturbed the quiet corridor.
Father Cheng stepped forward and asked in a low voice, “What the h.e.l.l is going on? What disease does YuTang have?”
A vice-president who had worked under Father Cheng ten years ago stammered in reply, “Old Mister Cheng, the doctor has said that Cheng Zong’s situation is v-very rare. The specifics aren’t clear yet. They’re now consulting on the re-rescue plan and the results will take a little longer.”
Ji XiaoYu saw Cheng YuTang lying in a hospital bed with his eyes closed and his face bloodlessly pale through the ICU window. His body was covered with various tubes and wires and all kinds of medical devices were beeping and going off. A group of doctors were arguing endlessly around him. All of a sudden, he felt as if he had fallen into a frozen lake and, after a moment of silence, he slammed the door of the ward open desperately.
Immediately, a doctor stepped forward to stop him, saying, “Sir, you can’t come in!”
Ji XiaoYu brushed him aside with a slap of his hand and rushed straight to the side of the bed.
Another doctor rolled up his sleeves and said angrily, “Hey, what’s wrong with you? This is……”
“It’s alright, never mind him, this is the Cheng Zong’s spouse!” The dean recognized Ji XiaoYu and quickly stopped the doctor.
Ji XiaoYu shuddered and grabbed Cheng YuTang’s hand that was on top of the sheet. This hand was normally warm and powerful and always seemed to be in control of everything, but at this time, it was spread out lifelessly, with an ominous coolness that didn’t match the warm season. His pulse was so weak that it could barely be felt.
It took him a few seconds to make a sound from his choked-up throat, shaking as he held Cheng YuTang’s hand and crying out, “My child’s father, what happened to you? You have to wake up, how can you scare me like this……”
The man didn’t react, even his eyelids didn’t tremble.
Ji XiaoYu turned and tugged at the dean’s white coat and asked with red eyes, “Aren’t you very skilled? Isn’t this one of the hospitals that boasts of the highest level of care in the country at the moment? Then you wake him up right now, hurry up!”
The dean, a tall, large man in his mid-eighties, was like a child with no ability to resist under the force of his hand. He panicked and explained, “Mr. Ji, please calm down! Cheng Zong’s situation is very rare, not caused by trauma, nor did we find any specific lesions in his body. It’s a sudden multi-organ failure, just like an elderly person who has suddenly reached a hundred years in age, when the body’s organs inevitably lose vitality. This is popularly referred to as premature aging……”
Ji XiaoYu’s aching heart shattered and he was totally confused. He cried out incoherently, “You’re talking nonsense! He’s always been in good health. He’s not old at all! He’s only 34 years old. It’s his birthday today. He said that he would come home tonight and make me a good meal! You wake him up right now and make him better right now. Otherwise, I’ll tear down your entire hospital!”
The dean broke out in a cold sweat and could only try to persuade him without any enthusiasm, “Mr. Ji, don’t be impulsive, we’ll do our best to save Cheng Zong, but doctors aren’t all-powerful. We can only do our best and obey the mandate of the heavens1……”
Father and Mother Cheng, who was holding Cheng PaoPao, also entered the ward. Mother Cheng’s tears fell at once and she kept muttering, “Im-impossible, how could this be…TangTang got up in the morning and ran out. He was still okay when he left……Today is his birthday. He told me in the morning ‘Ma has worked hard, thank you, Ma’……”
Father Cheng took Cheng PaoPao in one hand and grabbed his wife who was about to pa.s.s out. He had spent most of his life recklessly, successful in every endeavor, but he couldn’t help but shed tears at this moment.
The HongSheng executives and other numerous employees gathered outside the ICU were moved by this scene, their hearts dismayed. Some female employees couldn’t control themselves and began to sob uncontrollably.
Cheng PaoPao didn’t understand, sticking out his fat little hand from Father Cheng’s arms, screaming for his father to hold him. After a few calls, he saw that his father was lying in the bed, sleeping with his eyes closed, ignoring him, and suddenly he got anxious, a few words popping out of his mouth, “Fa, father, hug!”
This was the first time in four and a half months that Cheng PaoPao had spoken. Although the p.r.o.nunciation was still a bit inaccurate, everyone both inside and outside the ward understood.
The Cheng family should have been cheering to celebrate this, but at this moment, there was no happiness at all, just even more grief.
An elderly female doctor sighed and rubbed her eyes, then whispered, “The current levels of medicine and medical care are well developed, but there are still many problems that can’t be overcome. In the case of Cheng Zong, unless immortals exist……”
Ji XiaoYu caught that word and suddenly raised his head, immortals? He hadn’t seen one before and he didn’t know how to find those extraordinary, refined immortals, but Grandpa Hou had lived for hundreds of years. He had a lot of knowledge, so there must be a way to find them and save his PaoPao’s father!
He wiped his tears and turned, pushing through the crowd both in and out of the ward to run outside.
Father Cheng said anxiously, “XiaoYu, where are you going?”
Cheng PaoPao was also very anxious, his father wasn’t waking up and his daddy was also leaving, causing his young mind to feel greatly panicked and uneasy. The little guy, who had never shed a tear since birth, opened his mouth and cried for the first time, calling unclearly, “Ddaddy!”
“I’ll trouble you to take care of PaoPao. I’m going to find someone to save TangTang, I will find them!”
Ji XiaoYu cruelly didn’t look back and before his words finished echoing in the ward, the man had already rushed out of the ICU and disappeared down the hallway in the blink of an eye at an incredible speed.
……
At 9pm, Ji XiaoYu took a sports car to drive from Ning City, heading to Xiao Qing Shan.
He was distraught, his stomach bursting with pain, but his mind was incredibly clear and his hands holding the steering wheel were extremely stable. The sports car traveled on the highway at twice the speed limit, leaving countless vehicles, both large and small, behind.
He now finally understood Cheng YuTang’s feelings during the critical situation when he was in a coma after being shot.
It was a kind of heartache pain that took his breath away, leaving him just desperately wishing he could do something about the cause of the pain.
He used to think that a hundred years was too short, that it would pa.s.s in just a snap of hie fingers, but now he could only blame himself for being greedy and dissatisfied, wasting so much precious time in vain.
He and Cheng YuTang had been together for less than a year and they had only been married for six months. He still had the unborn ErBao in his stomach.
Thirty-four, PaoPao’s father was only thirty-four years old today. If he could, he would willingly trade his spiritual power and long life for fifty years of peace and health for that man.
The 300 kilometer distance from Ning City to Xiao Qing Shan had taken Ji XiaoYu three days of walking through the mountains last year, but tonight, it took less than an hour and a half to reach the foot of the mountain.
A bright, round moon hung in the sky. Xiao Qing Shan, as always, was resting quietly on the ground. The mountain forest was filled with the blowing night wind, with a sound like a tide surging, which sounded so familiar and so warm.
Ji XiaoYu got out of the car, covered his abdomen with one hand, and stumbled up the mountainside, shouting as he ran, “Grandpa Hou! Grandpa Hou!”
His stomach cramped painfully, the interval getting shorter and shorter. He understood now that this wasn’t abdominal pain caused by eating something bad, but the pain of ErBao’s impending birth.
ErBao, you also love your father, you’re also worried about your father’s safety, so you’re coming out half a month early, because you want to make it out to this world sooner to see him, right?
You will, I’m sure you will definitely see him!
The sound of Ji XiaoYu’s nearly broken screams startled the birds in the mountain to spread their wings and fly off. Little animals that had fallen asleep were awoken from their dreams and they poked their heads out of their holes to look around.
“XiaoYu, you d.a.m.n kid, screaming your heart out in the middle of the night! You went down the mountain for more than half a year and, as soon as you get back, you scream like h.e.l.l so everyone can’t sleep. Is your b.u.t.t itching for a spanking!” An old voice suddenly sounded out from the branches of an old pine tree overhead, full of swearing and anger.
Ji XiaoYu looked up and who was it but an old monkey with a white beard!
Joy filled his heart. He suddenly tripped on a stone beneath his feet and fell to the ground. There was a sharp pain in his abdomen, keeping him from moving for a long time.
“Yo, are you prostrating yourself to apologize to this old man? Alright, alright, get up. This time will be forgotten, but next time will be used as an example,” Hou ChangSheng grudgingly said, slowly climbing down from the tree. He saw that Ji XiaoYu was still curled up on the ground, motionless, and he got a bad hunch. He approached and took a look using the moonlight. He couldn’t help but be surprised, “XiaoYu, what happened to you??”
Ji XiaoYu had gone pale and his forehead was full of sweat. He endured his abdominal pain and ignored the question, “Grandpa Hou, tell me quickly, how can I find the immortals?”
Hou ChangSheng helped him sit up. He frowned and said, “This kid. You’re fantasizing, you must be confused. There are only spiritual beasts in this world. Where did these immortals come from, I’ve never seen them in my eight hundred years of life.”
When Ji XiaoYu heard this, he began to cry and his voice cracked as he said, “N-no way! Grandpa Hou, I’m begging you to tell me, to save PaoPao’s father, wuwuwuwu……”
Hou ChangSheng had raised Ji XiaoYu since he was a child and his feelings towards this little pheasant spirit were as if he was his own grandchild. Seeing him crying so hard he was out of breath, he felt more heartbroken than he had ever felt before and, full of despair, he couldn’t help but panic too as he said, “XiaoYu, don’t you cry! Speak clearly, why are you looking for an immortal? Who is PaoPao’s father?”
“PaoPao’s father is, he’s my husband, the man who got me pregnant with the egg,” Ji XiaoYu choked out, unable to bear his shame. With a shaking hand, he pulled his phone from his pocket and turned on the screen to show Hou ChangSheng the wedding photo of the two husbands kissing Cheng PaoPao. “Grandpa Hou, my little egg hatched. PaoPao has grown so big, but his father suddenly went into a coma this evening. The doctor said that he has systemic organ failure. Only the immortals can save him……”
“Aiyoyo, this little doll is pale and fat, so cute, almost exactly the same as when you were a child!” Hou ChangSheng looked at the photo, both surprised and happy. Then, he complained in dissatisfaction, “This kid, really, just going out on your own all happy, this kid got so grown up that he didn’t come back to tell this old man about this good news. Do you even have this grandpa in your thoughts?!”
Ji XiaoYu was filled with guilt and anxiety again, saying with trepidation, “Grandpa Hou, I’m sorry, I did wrong! But now PaoPao’s father is dying, we need to find the immortals right away to save him! As long as he can be saved, no matter how much you hit me or scold me or punish me, I can take it. You can even take all of my cultivated power! If he died, I, I also……”
Before he could finish speaking, another sharp pain hit. Ji XiaoYu’s vision went black from the pain and he almost fainted.
Hou ChangSheng hurriedly grabbed his wrist and pushed spiritual power into him to protect his core. He immediately said grumpily, “Such a stupid thing to say, what’s the use of Grandpa Hou hitting you, what’s the use of having your cultivated power, as long as you can live a happy and happy life? Don’t worry, I don’t know where the immortals are, but your husband won’t die so easily.”
Hearing the latter half of the sentence was like letting Ji XiaoYu see a ray of light in the darkness of the dawn. Even his abdominal pain was a bit lessened. He grabbed the old monkey’s arm, shaking him and asking, “What method can I use to save him? Grandpa Hou, say it!”
“*hiss* Ouch! Let go, you’re about to break this old man’s arm!” Hou ChangSheng grit his teeth as he screamed. After Ji XiaoYu loosened his hand, he said with exasperation, “There’s no method. Your husband will wake up on his own after a while!”
In disbelief, Ji XiaoYu said, “How? He’s been in a coma, not even responding when I call him. The doctor said……”
“Human doctors don’t know c.r.a.p. If they know that you were a spiritual beast, their eyes would roll back into their heads in fright,” Hou ChangSheng wasn’t polite as he spoke. “h.o.m.os.e.xual dual cultivation is an act of rebellion against the heavens. Otherwise your kid wouldn’t be here, you know?”
Ji XiaoYu blinked his tearful eyes and said in a daze, “I don’t know, no one ever told me, you never told me.”
“Uh, really? Maybe I can’t remember because I’m so old……” Hou ChangSheng was tongue-tied for a moment, then he waved his hand randomly, “That’s not important, I’ll just tell you now. Spiritual beasts will lose their cultivation due to release of their life essence (sperm) and their life will be correspondingly reduced. On the contrary, humans benefit from it. The longer they spend with a spiritual beast, the better their energy and physique will be and their life will be extended. When the spiritual beast essence absorption by the human acc.u.mulates to a certain level, the original flesh and container of the body can’t bear it and will crash like an overloaded machine. It will seem like a near-death state of a coma and organ failure, the same as when if a spiritual beast fails while cultivating. When a spiritual beast’s cultivation fails, it backlashes and turns the spiritual being into ash, but a human body doesn’t do that at all. In less than half a day or two, when the body has automatically improved its cells, blood, and nerves to withstand the spiritual beast essence, the person will wake up by on their own. As long as there’s no big accident, it should be no problem for them to live another eighty to a hundred years.”
So it was just a false alarm? Ji XiaoYu almost couldn’t believe his ears. For a time, he was so excited that he wanted to cry tears of joy, “Grandpa Hou, are you telling the truth? You’re not lying to me? If PaoPao’s father doesn’t wake up, then I’ll, I’ll……”
“You’ll what? Beat an old man until he bows?” Hou ChangSheng rolled his eyes. “Your husband absorbed essence so quickly, it’s clear that you two frequently……”
“Grandpa Hou, what’s that?” Ji XiaoYu was so excited that he didn’t catch what the old monkey whispered afterwards.
“Nothing!” Hou ChangSheng couldn’t be exposed as a brazen old man. He hummed and said, “Of course what I just said is true, what good would it be to lie to you! I say, why are you so stupid, kid – thinking only of that man, not even caring about yourself? For a spiritual beast and a human to be together is just meant to be something happy and harmonious for a moment, but if you’re together for a long time, you’ll lose your lifespan. It’s bad for you! Thankfully it hasn’t been that long since you and that man got together, so there’s still time if you leave and come back to Xiao Qing Shan to cultivate and make up for the loss of your energy after a few years of cultivation.”
“No way, I won’t leave him unless the heavens strike me down and I disappear from this world!” Ji XiaoYu didn’t even pause to think before answering. Then he said seriously as he met the old monkey’s angry gaze, “Grandpa Hou, thank you for your concern. But I really love him. My children can’t live without him. Instead of cultivating as a powerful spiritual beast who can live for thousands of years, I’d rather grow old with him and live with him through this ephemeral lifetime.”
Hou ChangSheng saw that his mind was set and, knowing that he wouldn’t be persuaded, had to shake his head and sigh, “Ay, that’s the same thing your father said at that time, your family is full of romantics.”
Ji XiaoYu smiled with tears in his eyes. He wanted to make a call back to ask about Cheng YuTang’s current situation, only to find that the phone had run out of power and automatically shut down.
He instantly took a knife to the heart. He couldn’t stay here any longer so he stood up, intending to go down the mountain and rush back to Ning City. However, when he moved, light flashed in his eyes and a sharp pain in his stomach made him fall back to the ground.
Worried again, Hou ChangSheng said, “XiaoYu, what the h.e.l.l is wrong with you? Is it that your husband sucked your essence out too quickly?”
Ji XiaoYu blushed from shame and didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry, “No! It’s, it’s that I’m pregnant with another egg and I’m probably, probably going to lay it soon.”
Hou ChangSheng: “……”
The old monkey couldn’t help with this kind of a thing. He could only help him back to his old nest halfway up the mountainside to lay the egg.
Ji XiaoYu lay on the silk thatch, rolling back and forth in pain. He sweat all over and couldn’t help but complain in his heart, ErBao, ah, ErBao, couldn’t you come out later, why do you have to come out at this time?!
I don’t even know if PaoPao’s father is awake. If only he could be here with me, since it really hurts, ah, ah, ah, ah……
When I laid PaoPao last year, I didn’t feel anything because I was clueless. This time I feel both wronged and lonely. That man has missed out on this twice.
The moon climbed into the sky and then gradually sank to the west.
After a whole night’s struggle, the sky filled with a touch of light. Just as the pain was about to make Ji XiaoYu faint and pa.s.s out, he finally felt that his body ease. And then there was a little round extra something under his b.u.t.t.
With a shaking hand, he pulled the egg out, watching it glow warmly in the dim cave. Suddenly, his nose was a bit achy again. He finally thought that all the hard work was worthwhile.
Last time because of the pain of laying the egg, he couldn’t help but transform into his original form. This time, he had maintained his human form the whole time. PaoPao’s father had sucked up his essence, but that didn’t seem to have reduced his innate power……
“Baby, are you here? Baby!”
Groggy, Ji XiaoYu thought in a daze, was it so painful that I’ve gone delirious? I’m having an auditory hallucination.
“Baby! Can you hear me? If you hear me, answer me!”
The man’s voice was little closer, so close it was as if he were a short walk away.
Heart tense, Ji XiaoYu struggled to turn over and clamber up. He squeezed out two syllables from his dry, sore throat, “TangTang……”
A second later, a man rushed in the entrance, stared stunned at him for a few seconds, then fiercely took him into his arms.
On a big tree outside the cave, the old monkey smiled and shook his head. Then he swung away on the branches and left.
Ji XiaoYu closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, letting himself press all his weight into the man’s arms. He greedily sniffed his scent of sweat and a bit of a medicinal smell. Although he didn’t smell very good, it gave him extra peace of mind.
“Baby, I’m sorry, I made you worry……” Cheng YuTang kept kissing the top of his head, tightening his arms and holding him down, the force so extreme as if he were going to embed Ji XiaoYu into his body.
Ji XiaoYu’s ribs starting feeling a little sore and he quickly said, “Aiya, let me go, you’re squeezing my egg!”
Cheng YuTang: “……”
He loosened his arms and watched his little wife spread out his hand. There was a smooth, little round egg lying in his palm. Suddenly, his heartstrings trembled and he held his breath. It took him a while to ask, “Th-this is our ErBao?”
Like a child showing off, Ji XiaoYu said, “Yes, it’s a Xiao DengPao again. Do you like it?”
Cheng YuTang didn’t answer, taking the little egg from his hand and kissing him with utter affection. Then he took him into his arms again.
The cave suddenly lit up. The sun was rising, generously and selflessly splashing down golden light, waking the sleeping Xiao Qing Shan, and shining on the two people clinging together in the cave.
A new day had dawned.
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Footnotes:
1. obey the mandate of the heavens (听天命): resign oneself to fate, obey the natural law of the world ↩
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