Ever since hearing from his senior brother how to alleviate Xie An's suffering, Xie Shuci has devoted himself to alchemy to the point of neglecting sleep and meals.
In order to clear his mind of distractions, Xie Shuci strongly requested Xie An to take him to the place where he had previously secluded himself for cultivation, so that Xie Shuci could also begin his own secluded cultivation to refine elixirs.
Upon hearing this, Xie An's face immediately darkened. He thought to himself, "My lover, whom I've waited a hundred years for, has finally returned to my side, but before we've even had a few days of intimacy, she says she's going into seclusion and won't see me for the time being. Even if it weren't Xie An, any normal person would not have allowed me to have my way."
"Xie Shuci," Xie An called out to him with a stern face.
Xie Shuci glanced at him timidly and muttered, "A temporary separation is for being together forever in the future."
Xie An looked at him quietly, her voice calm and composed, "Even if we don't separate, we will always be together."
"Ouch!" Xie Shuci clung to his shoulder with a pained expression. "Xie An, please be more generous. I promise I'll come out to see you every other week."
Xie An narrowed his eyes. "A week?"
"Oh... that's seven days."
"No," Xie An replied decisively.
"How about five days? I'll refine pills for five days, then come home and spend two days with you? Or if that's not possible, I can work from 9 to 5 every day? You can cook dinner for me, and I'll come home for dinner?"
Xie An: "..."
In the end, Xie An could not persuade Xie Shuci.
After Xie Xiaoci acted coquettishly and explained how heartbroken she was to see his wounds, Xie An reluctantly nodded in agreement to his "9-to-5, weekends off" arrangement.
During this time, the king, thinking that he would never see his father anyway, was led back to Tianzhu City by the two lion beasts.
Xie Shuci would go to the mountain cave to seclude himself for cultivation from dawn till dusk every day, while Xie An would wait for him at home like a dutiful wife, washing his hands and cooking for him every day.
Xie Shuci felt that life couldn't be more comfortable, until one day he was so focused on his practice that he didn't notice the time. When he came to his senses, it was already night.
Xie Shuci returned home trembling with fear, only to be greeted by an unusually fierce "little wife" on the bed.
After living like this for a long time, Xie Shuci began to have a certain degree of confidence in fusing the Soul-Locking Chain with Xie An's body. However, to avoid any other accidents, Xie Shuci asked his senior brothers from the Little Immortal Sect to watch over him from the side.
The Fulong magic artifact that Xie Shuci had left behind in Jiyue City had been in the hands of Elder Meng. Not long after Xie Shuci returned, he sent someone to return the artifact, which was then used to suppress Xie An's evil aura and was integrated into Xie An's body.
The process of refining the Soul-Locking Chain and the Dragon-Subduing Artifact was relatively easy, but when he was fusing them into Xie An's body, Xie Shuci felt Xie An's constant pain through spiritual connection, and his mind went blank for a moment. Although he tried his best to stabilize his mind and successfully fused the Soul-Locking Chain and the Dragon-Subduing Artifact into Xie An's body, he still suffered a backlash at the last moment and instantly lost consciousness.
Xie An, whose body had recovered, awoke from his coma two days later.
The first thing he did after waking up was to look for Xie Shuci, but strangely, Xie Shuci was not by his side. Instead, a senior brother was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a strange expression.
Seemingly realizing something, Xie An's expression darkened, and he sat up abruptly in bed. "Where is Xie Shuci?"
The senior brother's expression became even stranger. He said, "When the Soul-Locking Chain and the Dragon-Subduing Artifact were integrated into your body, Xie Shuci suffered a backlash. His body and mind... have some problems. You should be prepared."
Upon hearing this, Xie An's face turned frighteningly pale. "Where is he?"
His senior glanced at him and said, "Come with me."
Xie An followed his senior brother with a cold face. They walked around two corridors and came to a courtyard with a closed door. Faint sounds could be heard coming from inside.
"Go in." His senior brother gestured with his chin.
Xie An pursed his thin lips and pushed open the door.
"No! I'm a police officer, you're a thief, you should be afraid of me! You should run away when you see me, understand?"
As soon as the door was opened, a childish voice rang out from inside.
Xie An paused, feeling inexplicably that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
"Little Daddy, but I run too fast, what if you can't catch me?"
Xie An recognized the speaker; it was Xie Shuci's wolfhound, which could change size at will.
The chubby little boy stood in the yard, and frowned in distress upon hearing this. "Then you be a policeman too, and make them thieves! I'm the boss, you have to listen to me, go catch the thieves!"
"Okay! I'm a police officer! I'm here to catch thieves! Little Silver Brother, you guys are thieves!"
"Awoo~"
Qianliu: "..."
Xiao Jin: "..."
Xie An: "..."
"Thank you for your letter."
Xie An, standing by the door, had several black lines on his forehead as he looked at the little figure in the courtyard who looked like he had rolled around on the ground a few times and was covered in dirt.
The little boy paused for a moment, then turned to look at him. He found it was a strange older brother, who was very handsome, but also seemed a little scary. The little boy jumped behind the king and said haltingly, "Who...who are you? I don't know you."
Xie An narrowed his eyes, turned to look at the king, and asked, "What's going on?"
The king said, "Father has shrunk and doesn't remember us anymore."
Asahi explained, "After he refined your body, he suffered a backlash, and his body and mind turned into those of a five-year-old child."
Xie An pursed his lips, walked expressionlessly to the king, placed one hand on the king's head, and the king instantly turned into a little puppy, being lifted up by the scruff of his neck. The next moment, he reached out his devilish claws to Xie Xiaoci...
"Ah! I don't want to, I don't want to become a dog! Don't turn me into a dog!" Xie Xiaoci's face turned pale with fright. He thought his new friend had been turned into a puppy by the big brother who suddenly appeared. He turned around and ran away, wailing and kicking his short legs. "Waaah, I want to go home... Auntie, Auntie, please take Xiaoci home..."
As Xie Xiaoci ran, he suddenly felt his body become lighter. He looked down and found that his legs...
His legs slowly lifted into the air, a strange thing wrapped around his body. He was so frightened that he dared not shed tears, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, muttering, "A monster...a monster is going to eat Xiao Ci..."
The next moment, Xie Xiaoci stretched out his arms and legs, struggling desperately forward, but it was no use. His body was pulled backward by that strange thing until a hand grabbed his collar, lifted him up, and turned him towards the door.
Xie Xiaoci burst into loud sobs, her shrill cries piercing the sky and giving everyone a headache.
The king, being a copycat, even though he was perfectly fine, started howling as soon as his little daddy started crying, as if it were fun.
Xie An carried the King in his left hand and Xie Xiaoci in his right, attracting many stares along the way. Fortunately, the people of the minor immortal sects recognized him; otherwise, they might have mistaken him for a child trafficker trying to abduct children from their sect.
With a dark expression, Xie An brought the two little ones to Xie Shuci's senior brothers. He could no longer bear it and gritted his teeth, saying to the king, "Shut your mouths."
The king obediently shut its mouth. After howling for so long, not a single tear fell from its face. As soon as it landed, it found what it considered the safest place and nestled in it—in the arms of its little silver brother.
Xie Xiaoci was truly terrified; her face turned bright red from crying, and she even started hiccuping. "I want... hiccup... I want to go home... I want Auntie..."
Xie Xiaoci's face, which resembled a steamed bun, was covered in snot and tears, her eyes brimming with tears, clearly terrified.
Xie An lowered his head and stiffly pulled him into his arms. "Don't cry."
His voice didn't sound like he was comforting a child at all; instead, it had a threatening quality, as if he were saying, "If you dare keep crying, I'll eat you up!"
Xie Xiaoci was terrified and quickly covered her mouth with her little hands, tears welling up in her eyes.
At least he'd stopped crying. Xie An frowned and looked at his senior brothers, asking, "What happened? How did he turn into a child after suffering a backlash?"
The senior brother said, "We don't know either, but his health is fine and he will recover in a while."
Xie An looked at Xie Xiaoci, who was lying in his arms looking aggrieved and scared, and frowned even more. Fortunately, nothing serious happened.
After learning that Xie Xiaoci was alright, Xie An took the two little ones home.
Xie Xiaoci remained tense, clinging to his shoulder the whole way, her little hands too shy to touch him.
Xie An said helplessly, "Don't be afraid, I won't eat you."
Xie Xiaoci stiffened, choking back tears, and said, "I want to go home... I miss Auntie..."
"You can only come home with me."
Upon hearing this, Xie Xiaoci became even more frightened, her body trembling slightly in his arms. "Are you going to sell me...?"
Xie An showed absolutely no empathy in front of the child, saying indifferently, "If you cry again, I'll sell you."
Xie Xiaoci suddenly grabbed his clothes with her little hands, raised her pitiful little face from his arms, and looked at Xie An with her big, dark eyes. Xie An also looked down at her.
"Big brother, can you sell me into a family with mom and dad?"
Perhaps because he heard so many new things from Xie Shuci, Xie An could understand the meaning of almost everything.
He paused for a moment, then asked, "You don't have a mom and dad?"
Xie Xiaoci lowered her head without touching the ground and said, "I only have an aunt."
“Then you’ll have me from now on,” Xie An said.
Xie Xiaoci looked up in a daze, her bright eyes fixed on her older brother. Suddenly, a spark of excitement appeared in her eyes, and she asked with delight, "Would you like to be my dad?"
Xie An: "..."
Xie An straightened his face, shut his mouth, and didn't want to say anything more.
The king walked beside Xie Xiaoci and gently tugged at her clothes, saying, "Little Daddy, what is a father? The king is willing to be your father."
Xie Xiaoci's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Of course it's true, Father. You can do whatever Your Majesty asks."
"dad!"
"Hey!"
Xie An gave the king a half-smile.
After returning home with the two little ones, Xie Xiaoci played with them for a bit, but by nightfall he was crying and wanted to go home. Xie An used all his patience to coax him to sleep, but the little rascal finally said, "I don't want to sleep with you, I want to sleep with Daddy King."
Xie An's face darkened. "You can only sleep with me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Xiaoci's lips twitched, and tears welled up in his eyes again. However, looking at his older brother's terrifying expression, he dared not cry out loud. He looked as if he had suffered a great injustice, and his little face looked pitiful no matter how you looked at him.
Xie An took a deep breath. "Don't cry."
After saying that, he turned and walked to the door, shouting outside, almost through gritted teeth, "Get in here."
No sooner had I finished speaking than a little puppy happily squeezed through the crack in the door and jumped onto the bed without saying a word.
When Xie Xiaoci saw her newly adopted father arrive, she immediately stopped crying and smiled, hugging the king tightly in her arms.
After Xie An had gone through a mental struggle and decided to put the little darling to bed, the little darling saw him coming and immediately frowned, asking nervously, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"
Xie An: "..."
The king looked completely innocent and groaned.
Xie An gritted his teeth, almost laughing in anger, then turned around and slammed the door shut, startling Xie Xiaoci and the King.
For the next few days, Xie Xiaoci followed the king around, calling him "Dad" this and "Dad" that, while Xie An stood by and watched them with a half-smile.
Xie Xiaoci was very mischievous and often caused trouble with the king, picking flower petals from branches every day to eat as snacks.
But one day, half a month later, Xie Xiaoci woke up and became Xie Shuci.
He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and memories of the past two weeks kept churning in his mind.
"dad……"
"Father King..."
"I want to go with Daddy..."
"Aww!"
Just then, the king burst through the door, ready to call his eldest son to help dig soil for Zhizhi. He looked excitedly at the bed, only to be met with a pair of eyes filled with such hatred that they seemed ready to devour someone.
"Your Majesty."
Xie Shuci practically squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
The king shrank back, and the lackey who had stepped into the room quietly retreated two steps. Father has recovered...
"You're asking for it! How dare you make me call you Dad?" Xie Shuci pounced off the bed. The king shuddered, turned around, and ran away.
"Stop right there!" Xie Shuci chased after him barefoot out of the room, but before she could run two steps, she was met with Xie An's unpredictable face.
He looked Xie Shuci up and down, and said calmly, "Finally... you've recovered."
His tone was calm and unremarkable, but Xie Shuci inexplicably sensed danger. She stopped in her tracks, recalling all the trouble she had caused Xie An over the past two weeks. She swallowed nervously and took a few steps back imperceptibly. "Well... ignorance is no excuse, Xie An... it was Xie Xiaoci who did it, it has nothing to do with me!"
Xie An raised the corners of his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes.
His dark eyes stared intently at Xie Shuci. Although he was looking at Xie Shuci, he said to the king in the corner, "Your Majesty, I have something in Tianzhu City. Go and retrieve it."
The king was delighted and let out a roar as he tried to run outside.
"Don't……"
Xie Shuci's face paled slightly. From here to Tianzhu City, including the King...
He would need at least seven or eight days to freeload off others, and he was even a little afraid to think about what he would experience during those seven or eight days.
"Let's go get anything together. It's not safe for him to go alone," Xie Shuci said with a dry laugh.
Xie Anli ignored him and gave the king a look, "Go."
At a single command, the lackey abandoned his beloved father and fled the battlefield without hesitation.
Xie Shuci: "..."
Xie An slowly stepped towards him, while Xie Shuci took a half step back.
"No...no...I was wrong! I was wrong! I really know I was wrong..."
"Xie An, can't we talk this out? Violence... no... that kind of thing won't solve anything! No, no... please listen to me..."
"Wait! Wait... take it off first..."
Xie An circled around the back of his neck, forcing him to tilt his chin up.
He whispered in Xie Shuci's ear, his voice hoarse: "No need to wait."
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