Because he misspelled a word, Qi Mu was locked in a dark room in the abandoned house by his mother. He was released after one night, but his mother had already left and returned to the royal palace. The only person taking care of him in the abandoned house was an old man. Qi Mu knew that this only kind old man would soon disappear, because in the rainy night, he heard his cough getting more and more violent.
Qi Mu was familiar with the darkness. He wasn't afraid of the dark itself, but he was afraid of the silence in a dark room. There wasn't a sound in it, and he would have the illusion that he was a person abandoned by the world. So he decided to create a world for himself. He ran to the other side of the desolate mountain and had been in the darkness for seven years. He had long since learned how to walk without using his eyes. His mother didn't know that he could be so intelligent, even more so than the young master in the royal palace.
He wanted to build a house here, a house that his mother wouldn't find out about. He would come here every day, completing a little bit each day. He carefully persisted for three years. When all the wounds on his hands had healed and turned into scars, he had built a small wooden house. This small wooden house was his world. Neither the old man who took care of him nor his mother noticed. Perhaps the old man had some suspicions about him disappearing for a short time every day, but he never said anything, only sighed and looked down on his head.
In the fourth year, the old man passed away. On that day, Qi Mu was punished and locked in a small dark room. He did not see the old man off on his final journey. After he was released, he disappeared for a day and a night. No one knew that he had gone to his little wooden house. That was also the first time his mother showed anxiety. From then on, Qi Mu became a person who could only smile.
He woke up with a start, somewhat disoriented. He put his arm over his forehead and realized he was covered in a cold sweat. It had been many years since he had dreamed about his past...
Qi Mu turned to his side, and the woman lying next to him unconsciously snuggled closer to him. He put one arm around her waist and the other on her large belly, gently rubbing it, but there was no joy in his eyes.
He only thought of the cabin when he had thoughts of escaping. The reason he thought of it again now was because he often heard people say that childbirth is like stepping into the gates of hell for a woman. When he heard that Fengguang was pregnant, he was indeed very happy that he would have a blood relative. But as the date drew closer, he began to feel uneasy. Even though the manor had prepared the best midwives and the best doctors, it could not eliminate his worries. He could not bear the possibility of losing Fengguang, even if it was just a little risk.
"Fengguang, let's not have any more children, okay?"
This was the thirty-fifth time Feng Guang had heard Qi Mu say this at the dinner table. She smiled and said, "Ah Mu, what are you joking about? If our child hears this, he will be very sad."
Qi Mu pulled her onto his lap and said jokingly, "Wouldn't it be better if we didn't have children and just lived together as a couple?"
“Amu…” Feng Guang knew he wasn’t just saying it casually. She understood him and could tell he was serious at this moment. However, she still had to disappoint him. “If the child hadn’t come, I could have spent my whole life with you. But since he’s here, we have no reason not to let him come into this world. Amu, you will be a good father.”
But he didn't want to be a father at all.
Qi Mu had been trying to sway Feng Guang's mind, but failed repeatedly. Finally, the day arrived when Feng Guang was going to give birth, and everyone got busy.
Princess Xiao stood at the door chanting Amitabha, her prayer beads spinning incessantly. The cries from inside grew louder and louder. Qi Mu tried to go in, but was stopped by Granny Guo.
"Your Highness, men are not allowed to enter a woman's birthing room." Birthrooms were considered unclean places, and therefore, men rarely went inside.
Qi Mu pushed Guo Mama aside with just one hand and sneered, "My wife is giving birth to my child, what reason do I have not to go in?"
After saying that, he pushed open the door and entered.
"Your Highness, this..."
Princess Xiao closed her eyes. "Let him have his way."
Feng Guang lay on the bed, gripping the sheets tightly, drenched in sweat. Childbirth was already painful enough, but when she saw Qi Mu enter, she nearly fainted and yelled, "Get out!"
She must look awful right now. Even though he can't see her, she's covered in sweat, so she must smell terrible.
Qi Mu sat down on the edge of the bed. It was the first time he'd heard her speak so loudly, and he was somewhat intrigued. But now was not the time for him to be curious. He took her hand, which she immediately gripped tightly. "I'm here with you. Don't be afraid." He then turned to the midwives who had stopped because of his arrival and snapped, "What are you all standing there for? Don't you want to live?"
Everyone in the room immediately got busy, doing whatever they needed to do.
"I'm not scared!" Feng Guang grabbed his hand tightly and cried out, "I don't want to give birth! It hurts so much!"
He took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her face. "Okay, okay, we won't have any more children."
For some reason, hearing this made her want to laugh again. At this point, how could she just say she didn't want to have children? He used to say he didn't want to have children, but she disagreed. Now that he was in so much pain, he could say anything.
"Qi Mu, it's all your fault!"
"Yes, it's all my fault."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be pregnant, and I wouldn't be in so much pain now... Ah!" She screamed again from the contractions.
"It's all my fault. We'll never have another child after this one." His temper was incredibly good now. He would agree with whatever Feng Guang said. He whispered in her ear, "I've already drunk the infertility-preventing soup."
Then she won't have to suffer like this anymore.
"You..." Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. The pain hadn't made her cry, but now tears streamed down her face. "You idiot..."
"I have you, that's enough." His love was too little; he could only give it all to one person.
Feng Guang cried and screamed, knowing she must look ridiculous. Finally, after pushing again, she felt something fall from her lower abdomen, followed by the midwife's shout: "Congratulations, madam, it's a girl!"
It was a daughter. Upon hearing this, she immediately collapsed from exhaustion and remained unconscious for two days.
In the nursery, the wet nurse had gone out, leaving only a baby who hadn't opened her eyes yet sleeping in the cradle. She was too small to tell who she resembled, but her quiet demeanor did have that of her mother.
A white fox stood there for a long time, as if it had made up its mind. Suddenly, it leaped up from the ground toward the cradle, but a flash of sword light forced it back to the ground, and it also lost a fluffy tail.
"Interesting." Qi Mu appeared in front of the cradle with his sword drawn. Although he smiled and said it was interesting, his icy eyes betrayed no true meaning. "Why are you here looking for my daughter instead of playing the human-demon love game with Qi Duan?"
The white fox, having lost too much blood, lay on the ground and whimpered.
Qi Mu said slowly, "My wife has a Buddhist necklace given to her by Jianyuan, which you cannot get close to. So, you changed your target and tried to take my daughter's body."
Anlu's cultivation level is not high enough to take human form. To become human, she can only take over other people's bodies. Of course, not just any body will do; there is a need for compatibility. Fengguang's daughter has inherited this physique very well. Entering Fengguang's body in the past was an accident, but now she wants to create another accident.
"Heh, you two, why do you both love taking other people's things? I've already spared Qi Duan's life, it seems you're still not satisfied." Qi Mu's fingers lightly traced the blade of the sword. "Tell me, if I cut off your leg, would you still be able to come and find my daughter?"
A mournful fox cry rang out, and the guards outside the door received an order to take the fox that the prince had thrown out—or more accurately, the fox with a broken hind leg but strangely still alive—to the abandoned house. The guards dared not delay and went immediately.
Qi Mu sheathed his sword and took the baby, who smelled of milk, out of the cradle. The little infant woke up and reached out to grab his thumb as if she had caught something fun, letting out a soft laugh.
"Your laughter really does sound like your mother's."
As if she thought it was a compliment, she laughed even harder.
Qi Mu chuckled softly, pinching her soft cheek. Hmm... the feel was just like her mother's. His expression softened. "Since you love to laugh, I'll call you Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao, this is your lucky charm."
He placed a brocade pouch in the baby's swaddling clothes. The so-called amulet inside was actually the peach wood plaque that Feng Guang had given him that day. He had asked for the plaque, and the words on it were written by Feng Guang. He retrieved it after Feng Guang left Linggan Temple that day. He knew that it must have his and her names on it, after all, she had stared at him for a long time that day. Qi Mu had Master Jianyuan consecrate it, and now, this peach wood plaque was like an amulet. Feng Guang knew nothing of this.
Why let her know? If she knew that she had already fallen for him, she would be smug.
"Eeya..." The little baby grabbed his finger and put it in his mouth.
Qi Mu took his hand out. He couldn't see her, but he could feel how tiny she was, right there in his hand, in his arms. She was the continuation of his and Feng Guang's lives, and she was his only child. The feeling of being a father didn't seem so bad after all.
"Xiaoxiao, Daddy will take you to find your mother."
So when Feng Guang first saw her child, she was surprised to find that Qi Mu, who had initially been quite resistant to the child, now liked to pinch the child's face frequently, and the child also liked to grab her father's hand and giggle.
This father and daughter... seem to treat each other like toys.
………………………………
Author's note: The Bai Zhi chapter's side story has been completed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com