Ning Buwei felt a bit dazed.
In the darkness, Chu Jun’s beautiful eyes suddenly gained a dangerous and oppressive quality that made his heart skip a beat.
Chu Jun was for… for what?
Ning Buwei felt the answer he thought of was a bit absurd, yet somehow natural.
Chu Jun’s originally neat and white clothes had been pulled into disarray by him, and he was pressed against the rock.
Ning Buwei could even feel the other’s uneven breathing and slightly elevated body temperature. His gaze slid from Chu Jun’s lips and nose, down past his fair, slender neck and beautifully shaped collarbone…finally stopped by his own black sleeves bundled in one spot—
He was still touching Chu Jun’s waist, with no barriers between them, making him urgently want to do something.
The indescribable stimulation turned Ning Buwei’s brain to mush just as he thought of the answer. When he spoke, he realized his voice was extremely hoarse, “I……”
Chu Jun seemed to give a light laugh.
He had only started speaking but couldn’t remember what he wanted to say, but when connected with what Chu Jun had asked earlier, it took on a completely different meaning.
The great demon lowered his head in annoyance and bit Chu Jun’s shoulder.
Chu Jun’s hands, which had been loosely resting on his waist, suddenly tightened.
The originally angry bite inexplicably changed meaning, but just as he finally managed to touch the Adam’s apple he had coveted for so long, a familiar crying sound came from the cave.
Ning Buwei’s movements paused.
Chu Jun’s body slightly stiffened.
Ning Buwei gritted his teeth in displeasure, gave Chu Jun’s chin a hard kiss, and pressed his forehead against his shoulder, trying hard to suppress the urge to give his son a beating.
Ning Xiu’s crying became increasingly heartbreaking. Chu Jun let out a light sigh and squeezed the back of Ning Buwei’s neck,
“…Let’s go check on him.”
When they returned to the cave, Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang were frantically trying to comfort Ning Xiu, but the little one had cried himself into a tear-stained mess, gasping for breath, with his lips turning somewhat purple from crying.
Chu Jun drew a soul-calming talisman with spiritual power on Ning Xiu’s chest, but he still couldn’t stop crying.
Ning Buwei immediately put aside his earlier displeasure and reached out to take Ning Xiu, “What happened?”
“Big Yellow and Little Black woke me and Zizhang up earlier, and then we found Xiao Shan crying.” Jiang Yizheng anxiously looked at Ning Xiu, “We couldn’t comfort him no matter what.”
Ning Xiu hiccupped while crying and started coughing. Ning Buwei quickly patted his back and reached out to feel his forehead – it was burning hot.
“He has a fever,” Ning Buwei’s brows furrowed even deeper.
When Ning Xiu was just born, he had been caught in autumn rain for half a day without getting sick, and he had never fallen ill while following him around everywhere. Apart from his unstable soul, his body had always been very healthy.
Chu Jun finished drawing the talisman and checked his sea of consciousness again, but couldn’t find any major problems.
“Can…can I check his pulse?” Yang Lingzhu, who had been hiding in the corner, suddenly spoke up. Though her voice was small, everyone turned to look at her.
Yang Lingzhu became nervous from being stared at and quickly said, “I’m a medical cultivator, I know a little about pediatric medicine.”
Ning Buwei nodded.
Yang Lingzhu came over and took Ning Xiu’s wrist to check his pulse, then felt his neck and back, “…Excessive fright…he probably had a nightmare.”
She took out a small blue jar from her sleeve, silently recited an incantation, and pulled out dozens of herbs. She efficiently ground them up and put them into a small sachet, then handed it to Ning Buwei without daring to look at him, saying softly, “Just let him wear this normally. Children with unstable souls are prone to being frightened and developing fevers. The fever should break in fifteen minutes.”
Ning Buwei took the sachet, checked it once and put it on Ning Xiu, saying to Yang Lingzhu, “Thank you.”
Yang Lingzhu shook her head slightly and walked to the side.
Yang Lingzhu’s sachet was indeed effective. Ning Xiu gradually stopped crying, but his little hands were still tightly clutching Ning Buwei’s clothes, occasionally hiccupping from crying.
Ning Buwei sat down with him by the fire, let out a slow breath, and reached out to wipe his tears, somewhat amused, “Was it really worth getting this scared over just a nightmare? You’re a Golden Core cultivator after all.”
“Hic~” Ning Xiu sniffled and looked up at him with wide eyes, with crystalline tears still hanging from his eyelashes, looking quite pitiful.
Seeing his little expression made Ning Buwei feel somewhat heartbroken too. He reached out to pat his back, “Your father and mother are both here, don’t be afraid.”
Ning Xiu seemed to understand and turned his head to look for Chu Jun while clutching his clothes.
Chu Jun came over after settling the other children and sat beside Ning Buwei. Seeing Ning Xiu staring intently at him, he reached out to feel his forehead – it was still a bit hot.
“Want me to hold him?” Chu Jun smiled at him.
“Ah~” Ning Xiu made a soft whimpering sound and used his free hand to grab Chu Jun’s pinky finger and pull it toward himself.
Chu Jun had no choice but to follow his pull and place his hand on his little belly.
Only when Ning Xiu was being held by Ning Buwei with his little belly covered by Chu Jun’s hand did he finally show a relieved expression on his face, letting out a slow sigh, “Ya~”
Scared me to death~
Ning Buwei also sighed, “Troublesome little thing.”
Ning Xiu curled up into a small ball in his arms, blinking as he looked at Ning Buwei, softly cooing, “Ah yi~”
Father~ That was so scary~
Ning Buwei saw his lips were a bit dry and looked at Chu Jun beside him, “Give him some water?”
Chu Jun took out a small water bottle from his storage ring, only half the size of Ning Buwei’s palm, and handed it to him, “Just warmed it up.”
Ning Xiu only drank two small sips before refusing to drink more. Probably after confirming that Ning Buwei and Chu Jun wouldn’t leave, he smacked his little lips contentedly, closed his eyes, and soon his breathing became slow and steady as he fell asleep.
After a while, Ning Buwei felt his forehead and found some sweat. He said softly to Chu Jun, “He’s sweating.”
“Still feverish?” Chu Jun loosened the small blanket wrapped around Ning Xiu a bit.
Ning Buwei shook his head.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and certain things that had dissipated earlier began to spread silently again, making this already not-so-spacious cave feel increasingly cramped.
Ning Buwei glanced at his neck, where the red mark he had bitten earlier was still visible, mostly hidden by his collar but occasionally peeking out, particularly inviting to the imagination.
He was holding his son’s small water bottle and suddenly felt thirsty. He cleared his throat and looked down at Ning Xiu in his arms.
Chu Jun took the bottle from his hand and said softly, “I’ll hold him, you treat your injuries.”
Ning Buwei wiped Ning Xiu’s sweat and carefully handed his son over. As soon as Chu Jun’s hands touched the small blanket, Ning Xiu frowned and whimpered.
They both immediately stopped moving, anxiously watching Ning Xiu.
Ning Xiu sniffled once in his sleep, then quieted down again.
Ning Buwei looked up at Chu Jun and found him looking back, couldn’t help smiling at him.
Unlike the great demon’s sinister, crazy smiles or teasing, provocative smiles, this was just a pure smile without any particular meaning, yet especially clean.
Chu Jun was stunned for a moment, then smiled back at him, taking Ning Xiu into his arms. When he looked up again, Ning Buwei had already closed his eyes to meditate, though the tips of his ears were noticeably red.
“Ah~” Ning Xiu stirred and opened his eyes groggily, looking confused.
“It’s alright,” Chu Jun gently patted him, “Go back to sleep.”
Hearing his voice, Ning Xiu’s barely opened eyes closed again.
After adjusting his breath for a while, Ning Buwei finally felt his burning ears cool down, feeling somewhat annoyed.
What was he doing smiling stupidly at others like an idiot?
Everything was quiet around them, and Chu Jun’s earlier words began echoing in his mind again: ‘…Ning Buwei, what do you think I was doing it for?’
Tch.
****
The next morning.
Ning Buwei was woken up by noise.
Dog barks and dragon cries, wood crackling in the fire, footsteps back and forth, mixed with the fragrance of rice porridge and some kind of thick soup, along with deliberately quieted conversation.
“…Venerable, can we put the Yang Yuan pill in this soup…No stealing, Little Black!”
“Yes.”
“Sister, I want roasted sweet potatoes…”
“Shh, Huan Huan, keep your voice down, Father is still sleeping…They’re roasting now, they’ll be ready soon.”
“Big Yellow, move your paw…your tail’s getting singed…”
So noisy.
Ning Buwei thought hazily, then rolled over, half-asleep he thought this pillow was quite comfortable…hm? Where did the pillow come from?
Before he could figure it out, a warm little hand patted his face, “Ah!”
Ning Buwei opened his eyes to see Ning Xiu sitting on a small cushion smiling at him, “Dai ah~ ya~”
Father~ Wake up~ The sun is warming your bottom~
Ning Buwei lazily chuckled and poked his belly, “Oh, is the ancestor not making trouble anymore?”
“Ai ya~” Ning Xiu pressed on his face trying to stand up, squishing his father’s handsome face out of shape.
A light laugh came from above.
Ning Buwei looked up and met Chu Jun’s face directly, though from a bottom-up angle. He had to admit the beauty was pleasing to the eye from any angle—Ning Buwei suddenly sat up.
Ning Xiu lost his support and stumbled forward, falling into Chu Jun’s arms. He took the opportunity to find a comfortable position and lay down, “Ah~”
Ning Buwei looked at the slightly wrinkled fabric on Chu Jun’s leg, now understanding why the pillow was so comfortable, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember how he had fallen asleep while meditating, and so deeply at that.
One big and one small sat on the ground looking at him. Ning Buwei reached up to touch his nose, “Ah.”
Ning Xiu thought he was imitating his speech and excitedly nodded, “Ah!”
Ning Buwei: “…………”
Chu Jun reached out to pat Ning Xiu’s head, “Get up and eat.”
Ning Xiu perked up at the mention of food, holding onto Chu Jun’s knee to stand up, and wobbled towards the pot. But he hadn’t taken two steps before he started stumbling, about to face-plant when Ning Buwei grabbed him by the collar.
Ning Xiu patted his little chest, indicating he had been startled.
Ning Buwei held his little hand and jerked his chin at him, “Go on, eat your porridge.”
Ning Xiu grinned and stumbled forward four or five steps holding his hand, then saw Jiang Yizheng ladling out porridge, while he was still a “long way” from the pot. He immediately became anxious, pointing at the large flowered bowl in Jiang Yizheng’s hand, pronouncing with unprecedented clarity, “Porridge! Porridge!”
The previously noisy cave suddenly went silent, everyone including the dogs turned to look at the little one standing there.
Seeing his father, mother, and siblings all looking at him, Ning Xiu became a bit shy and blinked, but his gaze remained stubbornly fixed on his flowered bowl, “Ah~”
I want to eat porridge~
Ning Buwei never expected that his son’s first word wouldn’t be father or mother, but “porridge.”
Perhaps… this was the power of food.
Although strictly speaking, except for Ning Xiu who had cultivation level but couldn’t use it, this false Golden Core cultivator, everyone else whether human or spirit beast was above Qi Condensation stage and could fast, they didn’t seem to realize this point, all enthusiastically gathering around the pot.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang had somehow made a pot of thick soup with unknown ingredients, and even made several pancakes and roasted four or five sweet potatoes. Ning Xiu would drink at most one bowl of rice porridge, and the rest was mercilessly divided among the older ones.
Although Ning Buwei didn’t care much about food desires, he quite liked having everyone gathered noisily together to eat. Feng Zizhang came over again to give them two pancakes stuffed with roasted meat.
Cui Yuanbai wobbled over with two bowls of soup for him, with a piece of meat in his mouth, mumbling unclearly, “Da Da, you and Fath…here’s bowl.”
Ning Buwei quickly took them, and Cui Yuanbai rushed off again to pester Feng Zizhang for more roasted meat.
Ning Xiu, hugging his big flowered bowl, had been fed about half his porridge by Chu Jun when he started staring unblinkingly at the food in front of Ning Buwei. “Ah~ ah~ ah~”
Smells so good~ Meat meat~ Want to eat~
“Stop ‘ah-ing’, drink your porridge.” Ning Buwei swallowed a pancake with meat in one bite, then held another small pancake to Chu Jun’s mouth.
Ning Xiu’s expectant gaze followed the small pancake to Chu Jun’s face, “Liang~ ah~”
Mother, I want pancake and meat~
Chu Jun glanced at Ning Buwei, saw his hand hadn’t moved and was still watching Ning Xiu, so he had no choice but to open his mouth and eat the small pancake in two bites.
Ning Xiu stared at them both with a dazed expression, sniffing hard, still faintly smelling the meat’s fragrance, but not even seeing a meat crumb.
The Golden Core cultivator was dealt a blow. Even the porridge being fed to his mouth didn’t smell good anymore. He licked his lips insistently, sitting on Chu Jun’s leg, stubbornly staring at Ning Buwei.
Ning Buwei happily spread his hands to show him, saying righteously, “Look, all gone, all eaten up.”
Ning Xiu turned to look at his brothers and sisters.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang righteously spread their hands, indicating the meat pancakes were all eaten. Big Yellow secretly licked the pancake crumbs from the corner of his mouth, happily wagging his tail.
Ning Xiu unhappily lowered his head, leaving only a small whorl of hair visible to Ning Buwei, and wouldn’t eat the porridge Chu Jun was feeding him anymore, even quietly sniffling once.
Ning Buwei and Chu Jun: “…………”
To avoid further stimulating their poor little brother, Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng took everyone outside the cave, then happily waited for the fragrant roasted sweet potatoes while munching on meat.
Neither Chu Jun nor Ning Buwei had raised such a small child before, and didn’t know what Ning Xiu should eat, but judging from their son’s tiny baby teeth, he probably couldn’t eat meat pancakes.
But his pitiful little expression was really quite sad to see.
With no choice, Ning Buwei pulled off a small piece of roasted meat, thinking to let his son lick it to satisfy his craving, but accidentally pulled off too big a piece.
Ning Xiu’s eyes lit up as he stared at the meat in his hand.
“This is all our family has left,” Ning Buwei solemnly fooled the child, “We’ll split it between the three of us.”
Having said that, he tore the meat into three pieces, one of which looked particularly large.
Ning Xiu swallowed hard.
“We’re adults, so we need to eat the big pieces.” Under Ning Xiu’s expectant gaze, Ning Buwei put the biggest piece in his own mouth, then gave the second biggest to Chu Jun, leaving only a tiny bit of meat crumbs in his palm. Meeting Ning Xiu’s confused gaze, he said with a straight face, “This is yours, open up.”
Ning Xiu obediently opened his mouth, and Ning Buwei put that bit of meat crumbs in his mouth.
The little one seriously and expectantly smacked his lips again and again, only tasting a tiny bit of flavor, immediately opened his eyes wide, “Wa~”
Smells so good~
After the “wa” his little face showed some confusion, “Da~”
Just…not much taste~
Ning Buwei and Chu Jun looked at each other, both turning their heads away at the same time.
Ning Xiu saw his father and mother’s shoulders shaking, and asked in confusion, “Ah da?”
What’s wrong?
Ning Buwei laughed while patting his stomach, “Father’s full, are you full?”
Ning Xiu uncertainly looked at Chu Jun.
Chu Jun reached out to pat his own stomach, saying gently, “I’m full too.”
Ning Xiu first looked down at his own round belly, then learned from Ning Buwei’s action and patted it hard, raised his head and solemnly nodded at Ning Buwei, “Da~”
Then I’m full too~
Just still a little hungry~
