The Little Stone in the Immortal Lord's House (Part 2)

The little demon was easily satisfied. With a silk ball stuffed in her arms, her left hand holding the sparkling beads on her hair ribbon, and her right hand clutching the immortal's robe, she stopped looking around and obediently let herself be held.

Only when Xie Zhuo stopped did she raise the hair ribbon in her left hand: "Father, wear it."

"Why would you let me wear something that you don't like?" Xie Zhuo would rather have the face that resembles her wear the hair tie than wear the fancy hair tie herself.

“I can’t see it if I wear it on my own head.” The clever little demon said matter-of-factly, and then he raised his arm and wrapped the hairband around Xie Zhuo’s hair: “I’ll tie it for Daddy!”

The beads in his hair shimmered in the sunlight as he moved. Xie Zhuo lowered his gaze and swept over the little demon lying in his arms, staring intently at him. He simply let the man play around.

—

Back at the Jade Palace, the little demon, her toes barely touching the ground, completely forgot about the hair tie and instead asked a question:

"Father, should I call you your son?"

Xie Zhuo's hand hadn't yet retracted when Xiao Yao grabbed his little finger and held it in her hand. The warm and tender touch made him momentarily unsure whether to correct the issue of address or name first.

“Your son is not your name…” And I am not your father either.

Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, the impatient little demon asked impatiently, "Then what's my name?" He had seen that everyone else in the mortal realm had their own names.

Xie Zhuo's hand clenched slightly. He was a little stunned as he looked at the little demon's eyes, which were even brighter than the beads on her hairband. He had never thought about the little demon's name. There were only the two of them in the Jade Cry Palace. The little demon was also too self-aware. Whenever they made eye contact, she would run towards him. There was almost never a time when he needed to call her "little demon".

Moreover, he never imagined that he would be the one to name the little demon.

"If you have a favorite character, you can use it as your name."

After much thought, he replied in this way. He and Xiao Yao were two completely unrelated individuals who had only happened to be together for a period of time. Rather, it wasn't as Xiao Yao claimed; such an important thing as a name, which was meant to be shared for a long time, should be decided by Xiao Yao herself.

"Then I want to be called Zhuoyu!" The little demon showed no remorse for taking someone else's name and excitedly addressed Zhuoyu Immortal Lord.

"Why?" Xie Zhuo, whose name had been taken away, showed no anger and did not rush to deny Xiao Yao's idea.

The little demon opened her eyes, shining like obsidian, and leaned closer to him, pressing against his leg. Her voice was still full of excitement: "I like Daddy. Daddy's name is Zhuoyu." The little demon's thoughts were simple and unpretentious; she wanted to be like the person she liked, both in appearance and name.

Xie Zhuo didn't need to think too much to understand that he rarely had the urge to tease a child: "But my name isn't Zhuoyu."

The little demon's smile vanished instantly. She released his hand, wrapped her arms around his legs, and looked up at him expectantly, asking, "What's Daddy's name?"

"Does it have to be the same as mine?"

Xie Zhuo squatted down, ran his fingers across Xiao Yao's nose, picked up the silk ball that had been thrown at his feet, then picked up Xiao Yao, who was making it difficult for him to move, and walked towards the study where he usually stayed.

The little demon pressed her head against his chest and nodded vigorously, her hair and cheeks brushing against him, making his heart itch.

His name before he lost his memory has long been lost to the river of time, and his current name is rarely mentioned:

"Xie Zhuo, my name is Xie Zhuo."

“Then I’ll also call myself Xie Zhuo.”

Xie Zhu gently patted the head of the little elementary school student: "Wouldn't other people be unable to tell the difference between you and me?"

“But it’s just me and Daddy here.” The little demon sat on Xie Zhuo’s lap, swinging her legs, and said matter-of-factly.

The afternoon sunlight, filtered through the windows, was no longer glaring and shone warmly on the two of them.

Xie Zhuo's lowered gaze held a tenderness he himself was unaware of: "But in the future, you will go to a more vast world and meet many, many people." At this point, the immortal paused for a moment, but quickly erased the unusual expression: "If you can't think of a name right now, don't worry..."

The little demon looked up, and the immortal's face became upside down in his eyes. The future immortal lord would surely be by his side, and having the same name as him seemed really inconvenient.

"Father, please help me think of something."

The topic circled back to the beginning. Xie Zhuo had no intention of naming the little demon, but his mind stirred the moment the little demon finished speaking. The little demon's true form resembled a piece of lustrous blue stone. Although it was not as translucent as jade, the word "Qiong" lingered on his lips, and when combined with his surname...

His lowered gaze met the expectant eyes below, but he ultimately didn't utter those two words:

"Let's call you Xiaobao for now. As for your formal name, think of one yourself first. If you really can't think of one, then I'll give you one."

"Then my name is Xie..."

"No." Xie Zhuo calmed the fidgeting little demon down: "Xiao Bao, sit still, be careful not to fall."

The unfamiliar yet unique name was called out for the first time, and the little demon seemed to be under a spell, his hair standing on end and his muscles stiffening slightly: "Daddy, call me again."

Xie Zhuo didn't bring up the inappropriate title again, and readily agreed:

"Xiao Bao".

...

But just as the title appeared out of nowhere, after Xiao Bao woke up the next day, he reverted to his usual form of address, only occasionally uttering a few words when he was half asleep.

—

A ball the size of a palm rolled to my feet.

Xin Xuan looked in the direction the ball had come from.

A child who looked seven or eight parts like his senior brother chased after the ball without looking to the side. As the child got closer, he could clearly feel that the child had the same lineage as his senior brother. Not long ago, he had heard rumors about his senior brother having a child, and now it seemed that it was true.

He hadn't seen his senior brother for only a few years, and he never expected that his senior brother's child would be so grown up.

He slowly squatted down, picked up the temari ball from the ground, put on a kind expression, and handed the ball to the child who came to him.

The ball, which was smaller than his palm, required the child to hold it with both hands.

Before he could speak, the child staring at his face spoke first:

"Xin...Xian." Realizing he had mispronounced the syllable, the child pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, then straightened his tongue and tried again: "Xin Xian, Xuan..." After trying for a while, he finally managed to pronounce it correctly on his first attempt: "Xin Xuan." His furrowed brows instantly smoothed out, and he called out several more times: "Xuan, Xuan!"

Xin Xuan squatted down beside the child, patiently listening to the child call out his name: "You know me? Did your father tell you?"

The little demon nodded and then shook his head. Xin Xuan didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't pay much attention. He picked up the knee-high child from the ground and walked towards the back room, teasing the child who was sitting comfortably on his arm.

“I am your father’s junior brother. Call me ‘Uncle’ and let me hear it.”

The child, with innocent almond-shaped eyes, affectionately called out, "Xuan." Clearly, he didn't want to give up the syllables he had painstakingly pronounced correctly.

Xin Xuan wasn't about to argue with a child who couldn't even speak clearly. He pinched the face that resembled his senior brother's and asked to himself, "What's your name?"

The child had just opened his mouth when one side of his cheek was pulled, making the words he uttered completely incoherent. He slapped away the mischievous hand and reluctantly said, "Dad calls me Xiaobao."

Xin Xuan stopped in front of the open door, his gaze lingering. His senior brother was dressed simply, but his hair was tied with a gaudy hair tie, while opposite him…

The two people playing chess inside turned their heads at this moment and happened to see the little demon struggling to get down to the ground.

Xie Zhuo picked up the child who ran up to him and put him on his lap before turning his gaze to Xin Xuan, who was slowly crossing the threshold behind him.

"Old man, what are you doing here?" Luo Hong's shadow sat down beside Xie Zhuo and looked up at the person on the other side of the chessboard.

The man he called "old man" had a handsome face and looked to be no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Hearing this, he didn't feel offended and still had his ever-present smile on his face: "What? Only you are allowed to come?"

Xin Xuan, too lazy to respond to Xin Yi's seemingly gentle but actually sarcastic words, turned instead to tease the child who had buried his face in Xie Zhuo's arms whenever Xin Xuan approached:

"Senior brother, when did you have a cub?"

What sounded normal to a bird sounded strange to Xie Zhuo, a human. His lips twitched as he explained the child's origins.

Mentioning that stone from back then, Xin Yi got down to business: "Jade carving, a hundred years have passed, have you thought of a plan to deal with this calamity?"

Xie Zhuo lowered his gaze to the chessboard that had been disrupted by the child running over. The white pieces that had been surrounded were all out of their original positions. He didn't answer, picked up a piece that was about to fall off the board, and turned to look at the little demon that Xin Xuan had taken to play in the yard. The little demon, who had just been sulking with Xin Xuan, flew around on a bird and then followed closely behind the young man...

His dark eyes didn't look away. Xin Yi, sitting opposite him, caught the reflection in his pupils, placed another piece on the cleaned chessboard, and said in a light tone, "You are not alone now. Even if not for yourself, you should think about that child."

"I know."

...

—

That night, the Jade Palace fell silent.

Xie Zhuo gently patted the little demon awake, who had fallen asleep again: "Little Bao, don't be lazy."

The little demon, who had opened her eyes a crack, saw a familiar figure. Her nose was filled with the fragrance she could smell every night when she slept. She closed her eyes completely, and her body, which had been sitting cross-legged, went limp and she fell forward.

Xie Zhuo reacted quickly and caught the child's soft body to prevent him from bumping into anything.

He gently shook the child in his arms, whose breathing was gradually becoming even. The child's delicate nose twitched, and his lips pursed as he uttered a muffled sound: "Daddy, sleepy..."

His hardened heart suddenly softened, and he resignedly patted the restless child gently, already finding a reason for the child in his mind: cultivation cannot be rushed...

—

The next day.

The little demon pouted and followed closely behind the immortal.

Xie Zhuo deliberately concealed the spiritual energy emanating from his body. He wanted to cure the child's problem of not absorbing spiritual energy unless it was fed to him. He pretended not to see the child and sat down on the couch to meditate.

"Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord..." The little demon, who only knew that Xie Zhuo had made him start cultivating, could not understand the former's thoughts and kept calling out while lying on the edge of the low couch.

Xie Zhuo kept his eyes closed, seemingly ignoring the sounds around him.

After a while, the little demon quieted down, and the room gradually returned to silence, with only the occasional sound of clothes rubbing together. Just when he thought the little demon had calmed down and started cultivating, he suddenly felt a dampness on his drooping left index finger.

Xie Zhuo suddenly opened his eyes. In his mind, the little demon, who should be diligently cultivating at this moment, climbed onto the low couch with her short legs. After calling him in vain, she bit his finger.

"Give in," Xie Zhuo said.

That being said, he was worried about breaking the child's baby teeth, so he didn't use any force.

Hearing the sound, the little demon looked up at him, as if to report that he had ignored her for a long time. She quickly looked away, hummed twice, and the action of sucking his finger was reduced to nibbling. Her rice-grain-sized teeth rubbed against his fingertip, causing no harm but bringing a ticklish sensation.

The child's stubborn refusal to give in gave Xie Zhu a headache. He racked his brains for a way to deal with the current problem, only to realize that in his long memory, there was only one child, Xiao Bao, and he had no experience in taking care of children.

Fortunately, he had lived a long enough time to see how ordinary families coaxed their children.

He took out Xiao Yao's favorite toy from his storage space and waved it in front of her. Xiao Yao pushed it away without hesitation with her chubby hands, tilted her head back, stared at him with unblinking eyes, and stubbornly bit his finger.

After a brief stalemate, Xie Zhuo was the first to give in. A faint spiritual energy lingered around his fingers, and taking advantage of the moment when the little demon relaxed her guard after tasting the sweetness, he quickly withdrew his hand.

He used his spiritual power to clean the drool off his fingers, and the little demon, having lost its spiritual power, whimpered and snuggled into his arms: "Immortal Lord, I want more, Daddy..."

Xie Zhuo reached out and slipped his hands under the little demon's armpits, lifting the boneless little demon who was sprawled out like an octopus: "No, from now on you will have to breathe spiritual energy on your own."

The little demon stood there listlessly, his lips pouting, clearly not agreeing with what he said.

"Didn't I say yesterday that I should cultivate diligently?"

The little demon, who had been playfully snuggling against his arm, lifted her head and stared intently at him with her round, almond-shaped eyes, taking in his entire figure: "Why do I need to cultivate? I am a stone, and I can live for a very, very long time. Even without cultivation, I can stay with you, Immortal Lord, for a very, very long time."

Xie Zhuo paused in his grip on Xiao Yao, who seized the opportunity to snuggle into his arms. Her soft cheeks pressed against his heart, just as they always had, separated only by a thin layer of skin and fabric.

The child's innocent and sincere words were like a fresh spring flowing back into a dead river, making it flow again. Sadness first flowed from the depths of his eyes, but was hidden by his drooping eyelashes.

Xie Zhuo lowered his head, his long, dark hair first forming a nest for the little demons, just big enough to hold them, like warm downy feathers. He gently touched Xiao Bao's forehead: "No, Xiao Bao, you shouldn't live for anyone..." The skin on the child's forehead was just as soft, like a fragile life that had once stayed in his arms in a strange memory. Xie Zhuo paused for a moment, his eyes filled with tenderness: "Never mind, if you don't want to think about it, then don't."

-----------------------

Author's Note: It's suddenly so cold today, my hands are freezing even when I'm typing. Thankfully, the main story is finished, and this side story should end in one more chapter.