Ju Zi"s pretty face grew red and swollen as she found it hard to breathe, but her eyes were staring unblinkingly at Xu Tianran. She wasn"t willing to give any quarter, and her entire body was quivering from anger.
If she had felt any grat.i.tude towards Xu Tianran before, then everything in her heart had vaporized in this moment.
Had Xu Tianran not trained her into a tool when he brought her back all those years ago? She had saved his life afterwards, and in her heart, everything that she owed him had been returned.
The reason why she was willing to do all kinds of things for him was because she wanted to get her revenge. But how could she not have any feelings at all when they had been together for so long?
But Ju Zi truly understood how naïve she was in this moment. How could any sentiment in the world fetter a man like that? All the yearning and feelings in her heart were but illusions, and she found herself so laughable that she had placed so much hope on a person like that.
Xu Tianran felt his heart skip a beat as he stared into her eyes. An intense pain jolted his brain as he subconsciously released his grip, and Ju Zi fell down beside him.
Xu Tianran supported his forehead with his hand as he shut his eyes in agony.
“Forget it. Just settle this however you want. We"ll try all we can to search for the crown prince, and we"ll talk afterwards if that doesn"t work out. You may go.”
Ju Zi got onto her knees, trembling. She lowered her head, and her voice sounded hoa.r.s.e and began to shake as she said to Xu Tianran, “Thank you, Your Majesty.” With that, she crawled out of Xu Tianran"s bedroom on her knees.
What Xu Tianran couldn"t see was that Ju Zi"s eyes were filled with resentment and ferocity, but she completely hid her murderousness and didn"t show any of that at all.
……
Long Xiaoyao stood in a pitch-black room without a single ray of light at all with his hands behind his back. His eyes were filled with desolation.
“You"re hurt?” A mildly hoa.r.s.e and shrill voice could be heard, and a layer of dark red colors glowed inside the room. The Death G.o.d Douluo, Ye Xishui silently appeared not far behind him.
“I haven"t tasted the feeling of being hurt in a long time. I didn"t expect Old Poison to be so brutal and intense, that he would choose such a path. That he would rather die for his country in front of millions instead of living for a few years more. Another from our generation has fallen.”
Ye Xishui said plainly, “Why aren"t you asking me why I refused to help you? Don"t you wish to interrogate me about that?”
Long Xiaoyao shook his head. “Why should I interrogate you? Why should I ask when I know the answer? The truth is, I"ve always known who I am to you. But I"m afraid there might not be much left for me to give you.”
Ye Xishui"s voice suddenly turned cold. “I will not stop you if you want to leave. You can leave whenever you want to.”
Long Xiaoyao turned around and stared at Ye Xishui"s pale face. His voice immediately turned gentle, and he said, “Xishui, I would have left a long time ago if I wanted to. Why would I wait to do that now? Since I made a promise back then that I would use the remainder of my life to pay you back for the sins that I have committed, then I will stay true to my word. The reason why I said there might not be much left to give is because every person"s life will eventually come to an end! Du Busi"s life has a limit, and so does mine.”
Ye Xishui"s body quivered as she arrived in front of Long Xiaoyao in a flash. Her fingers had blood-red fingernails, and she pressed her hand against Long Xiaoyao"s chest.
Long Xiaoyao didn"t move, nor did he attempt to stop her at all. He just let her plant her palm firmly on his chest.
Ye Xishui"s expression slowly changed after a few moments. “You"re so severely injured?!”
Long Xiaoyao laughed, and his laughter was extremely warm. “I"m very happy to feel just a thread of your care and concern. Don"t worry, I won"t die for a while, and I still have to protect you for some time. No matter how you treat me, Xishui, you"ll always be the only woman that I"ve ever loved in my heart.”
Ye Xishui"s breathing suddenly became rushed, and her eyes turned ice-cold and evil as she stared insidiously at Long Xiaoyao. She spun around after a few moments and disappeared in a ray of red light.
A dash of bitterness appeared on Long Xiaoyao"s face. There wasn"t any sadness, only a trace of deep regret. He closed his eyes and said, “I have wanted to leave this world for a long time, but in the end, I still can"t bear to lose you!”
……
Crisp crying sounds echoed throughout the skies, and the Heavenly Sun Douluo who was soaring through the air suddenly paused. His expression also became a little awkward.
“Mama, mama, mama!” A childish voice rang out from the swaddling cloth, and this Rank 97 t.i.tled Douluo"s first reaction was to stop.
The winds were strong, and he had been using his soul power to protect the bag of cloth in his bosom. He could feel some intense struggling coming from, and that came with vigorous bawling. This Transcendent Douluo no longer knew what to do.
The Heavenly Sun Douluo stopped, and everyone else stopped one after another as they stared at the bag at his chest.
The Heavenly Sun Douluo relaxed his grip a little, and a tiny head poked out from within his arms.
It was a beautiful little boy. His skin was as white as snow, and so tender that a drop of water could appear from a gentle squeeze. He had dark black hair, and his large eyes were also black. Even though he was crying so hard that mucus and tears were flowing all over his face, everybody who could see him couldn"t help but give him praise – what a beautiful little child!
The clothes he was wearing were made from excellent fabric, and it made his tender skin even more eye-catching. His crying sounds were extremely bright and loud.
“Uh…” The Heavenly Sun Douluo had only been thinking about completing his task. Furthermore, the Sun Moon Empire"s crown prince had been very quiet, because he was in a deep sleep when he had taken him away. But the group of t.i.tled Douluo became a little helpless once he woke up.
The youngest t.i.tled Douluo partic.i.p.ating in this operation was at least eighty years old, excluding Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong. Even if they had family when they were younger, they wouldn"t personally raise a child with their status and ident.i.ties!
“Uh, you"re a girl, can you coax him?” The Heavenly Sun Douluo arrived in front of Tang Wutong as he spoke and pa.s.sed the child to her.
Tang Wutong was a little dumbfounded. She was a girl, but she was still young and unmarried! Even though she spent all her time with Huo Yuhao, they had never done anything. She subconsciously took the little boy, and couldn"t help but feel anxious and panicky because she didn"t know how to hold him.
Perhaps a female"s glory began to show its power, because the little boy immediately stopped crying once he was in her arms. He blinked his enormous eyes as he stared at Tang Wutong, and stuck his index finger in his mouth. He seemed very curious.
The Heavenly Sun Douluo immediately heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the boy was no longer crying.
“Auntie, milk!” The little fellow suddenly spoke, and Tang Wutong"s face flushed red. Furthermore, the little fellow didn"t give her any chance at all as he stretched out his pudgy little hands to grab her shirt.
“Ah—” There were still so many people around her, and Tang Wutong immediately screamed out loud.
Huo Yuhao was also startled, and he almost didn"t hesitate as he took the child from Tang Wutong"s embrace.
Tang Wutong had that mysterious seal on her body. If this little child accidentally touched a place that he wasn"t supposed to touch and triggered the seal, the retaliation produced wasn"t something that a child who was barely more than a year old could take.
“Wa—” The little boy didn"t get what he wanted, and immediately began to bawl once more.
Huo Yuhao hadn"t raised a child before either! He didn"t know what to do, and reacted in a flurry as he hurriedly and gently patted the child"s back in an attempt to placate him.
Strangely, Huo Yuhao patted the child"s back just a few times before the kid stopped crying once more, and stared at Huo Yuhao with those large black eyes of his.
He was just so cute. Anybody would want to pinch and squeeze those cute and chubby cheeks of his. Anybody would even feel like giving him a kiss.
Furthermore, for some reason, an inexplicable feeling flashed across Huo Yuhao"s heart when he stared into the baby"s eyes.
This is Ju Zi"s child!
“Wa—” Huo Yuhao didn"t get to think for long before the boy began to cry once more.
The Heavenly Sun Douluo frowned and said, “What should we do? He"s too noisy. Why don"t we knock him out?”
Tang Wutong immediately frowned. “He"s just a baby. How can you even say that? What if you hurt him? Is he hungry?”
Huo Yuhao thought about how the boy wanted to suckle her breast. He immediately said, “He should be hungry. But a small infant like this should want to drink milk, yes?”
Everyone"s eyes went to Tang Wutong once that was said.
Tang Wutong was greatly embarra.s.sed. “Why are all of you staring at me? I… I don"t have any…”
One of the t.i.tled Douluo who was relatively more experienced said, “This baby should be around a year and three months old. He should be able to eat normal food. Even though he can drink milk, that"s not a necessity. We are quite some distance from Radiant City by now, so why don"t we get him something to eat and let him calm down before anything else?”
“Yes, it seems like we have no choice.” The Heavenly Sun Douluo felt a little humiliated when Tang Wutong chided him. But he thought about what he had said, and how had he wanted to make a move against a tiny baby who was barely more than a year old, and he felt extremely awkward and guilty, so he immediately agreed.
Everyone descended from the sky and found a relatively obscure hill.
n.o.body had any experience feeding a baby. Finally, Huo Yuhao was the one who took that responsibility.
No matter what, this boy was Ju Zi"s son. He was very clear that there was nothing he could do or say to these t.i.tled Douluo for now, so he would have to wait for everyone to leave the Sun Moon Empire before anything else. He had to protect this baby, no matter what, because the child was innocent no matter what his ident.i.ty was. Furthermore, he was Ju Zi"s flesh and blood!
There wasn"t any delicious or sumptuous food out in the wilderness. Huo Yuhao boiled some water he softened some dry rations by simmering them in water before he gave them to the little boy.