Han Yu lay in the girl's arms, its eyes filled with complex emotions.
The girl, however, nodded in satisfaction. She generously took out a spirit stone and placed it on the table. "For the tea."
The waiter scrambled up from the floor, staring at the large spirit stone, and said in a panic, "Little fairy, you've given too much!"
The little girl in the white dress turned around with the little fish in her arms and waved her hand, saying cheerfully, "Keep the change as compensation for the shock!"
The waiter and the storyteller were left looking completely bewildered.
Inside the teahouse, two cultivators exchanged a greedy look and quietly slipped out the door.
This town was not far from Mount Chongyang. While countless other towns outside were suffering terribly due to the scheming and infighting among cultivators, this area had always remained exceptionally peaceful. Everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment, and it was quite prosperous.
The streets were bustling with people, and the cries of street vendors echoed endlessly.
Han Yu watched as the little girl went to a pastry shop and bought another bag of freshly baked pastries, forcing it to raise its head to remind her.
"Jiaojiao, you've already eaten two bags of pastries today!"
Cangshu Jiao bit into a still-warm mung bean cake, looking innocent. "Have I? I don't think so. This is my first time eating pastries today."
Han Yu propped itself up.
"Last time you ate too many sweets, you complained of a toothache. Your mother doesn't even allow you to eat sweets every day!"
Cangshu Jiao snorted. "Mother says I can only eat sweets once every three days, but Father gets to eat them every day. I knew it, Mother's favorite person is Father. She's biased!"
Han Yu shook its head.
"No, no, your father clearly promised you that he would quit eating sweets with you."
Cangshu Jiao's clear black and white eyes held the wisdom of one who saw through everything. "My father acts one way in front of me and another behind my back. When I got up to use the bathroom last night, I heard noises coming from their bedroom. My mother told him to stop eating, but Father wouldn't listen and kept saying it tasted very sweet."
Han Yu: "..."
Cangshu Jiao cupped Han Yu in her hands, looking it in the eye. "Little fish baby, they must be eating something delicious behind my back. Otherwise, what do you think they were hiding in their room eating?"
Yeah, what else could they be hiding in their room eating?
Han Yu's eyes also shone with a wise light.
Cangshu Jiao said with deep resentment, "Adults have such wicked hearts."
Han Yu quickly nodded.
"Indeed, very wicked!"
Cangshu Jiao leaned closer to the little fish. "So tell me, shouldn't I eat more good things to comfort myself?"
Han Yu, without thinking, nodded again.
Cangshu Jiao broke into a wide smile and planted a loud kiss on Han Yu's head. "I knew you were on my side!"
Han Yu suddenly felt dizzy. Its translucent ice-blue body seemed to burn, slowly flushing with a faint layer of crimson from its fins down to the tip of its tail.
In the shadows, the two cultivators had followed the innocent and naive little girl the whole way. Watching her dart around buying numerous things, they became increasingly unable to suppress their urge to murder her and steal her treasures.
Finally, the little girl walked into a sparsely populated alley.
Their eyes lit up, and they quickly followed her.
Han Yu, seemingly intoxicated, opened its eyes. It merely glanced backwards once before closing its eyes again, pretending not to have noticed anything unusual.
At this moment, there was no one else around. It was the perfect opportunity to kill and loot.
"Do it!"
One of them shouted in a low voice, and two fierce streams of spiritual energy lunged straight at the center of Cangshu Jiao's back, intending to kill her in a single strike.
Completely unaware, Cangshu Jiao continued to skip along, clutching her sweet pastries.
Just as the cultivators' fingertips were about to touch her—
The eastern pearl hairpin in her hair suddenly glowed with a clear radiance, the longevity lock on her chest frosted over, the warm jade safety pendant at her waist erupted with spiritual light, the pearls on her embroidered shoes shimmered with flowing light, and even the silver bell on her red string let out a soft chime.
These items, which others only took to be exquisite jewelry, were every single one of them high-grade magical artifacts.
In an instant, freezing cold, golden light, defensive barriers, and killing arrays appeared simultaneously.
The two cultivators did not even have time to scream before they were instantly reduced to ashes, dissipating into the wind.
Cangshu Jiao blinked blankly, turned her head to look at the empty alley, and tilted her head.
"Huh, it seemed like there was a gust of wind just now."
Han Yu in her arms lazily flicked its tail. Its little eyes swept coldly over the spot, seemingly letting out a scoff.
"With such meager abilities, they actually dared to target its little master."
Inside the Hu Family Clinic, there were rarely many patients, and business was never very good. Yet, this clinic had managed to be passed down for over a thousand years, which was something of a miracle.
The sunlight was perfect this day. Doctor Hu dragged a lounge chair to the doorway and lay on it leisurely to bask in the sun. Fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan in one hand and holding a teacup in the other, he sipped the premium tea and let out a comfortable sigh.
"Safe and sound, another peaceful and relaxing day."
He had just uttered this sentiment when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a little girl skipping her way over. His expression changed drastically. He hurriedly scrambled up, abandoning his chair, and rushed into the clinic to shut the front door.
"Sworn Brother!"
He pretended not to hear.
"Brother!"
He pretended he was hallucinating.
"Hu Shuobadao!"
Hearing the little girl call out his name, Doctor Hu was ultimately a step too slow. In an instant, a pair of chubby little hands hugged his leg.
Cangshu Jiao looked up with her innocent face, a look of dissatisfaction appearing on her baby-fat cheeks. "I called you so many times, didn't you hear me!"
Han Yu, perched on top of her head, also raised its head and bared its teeth at Doctor Hu.
Doctor Hu's eyelids twitched, and he forced a smile onto his face. "How could that be? I'm just getting old, so my hearing is bad. If I had known Jiaojiao was coming today, I definitely would have rushed out early to welcome you!"
Cangshu Jiao stared at Doctor Hu for a long moment. Finding no flaws in his excuse for the time being, she let go. Like she was returning to her own home, she clasped her hands behind her back, held her head high, puffed out her chest, and swaggered into the clinic.
"Hu Shuobadao, I'm thirsty. Bring me a cup of tea."
The arrogant posture she displayed right now truly bore a seventy or eighty percent resemblance to her fiendish father.
Doctor Hu smacked his forehead in frustration. He shouldn't have opened for business today!
After sitting on a chair and drinking a cup of tea to moisten her throat, Cangshu Jiao pushed the teacup in front of Han Yu. Han Yu didn't mind and drank the rest of the water she had left behind.
After listening to the whole story, Doctor Hu's temple twitched. "So, you've run away from home again?"
Cangshu Jiao kept a straight face. "I'm serious this time!"
"The time before last, it was because your father confiscated the storybooks you hid in your quilt. Last time, it was because your father ate the snacks you hid. What is it for this time?"
Cangshu Jiao said furiously, "Father clearly promised me he would quit sweets with me, but he went back on his word. While I was asleep, he hid in the room with Mother and secretly ate—"
"Enough, enough!" Doctor Hu quickly covered the outspoken girl's mouth. He was afraid that if he kept listening, he would lose both his ears. Han Yu narrowed its eyes, staring at Doctor Hu's hand.
Doctor Hu's heart ran cold, and he quickly pulled back the hand covering the girl's mouth. "Alright, alright, I get it. In short, you ran away from home this time because you suffered a massive grievance."
Cangshu Jiao nodded cheerfully. "Exactly."
Doctor Hu added, "I am guessing Godmother definitely is not home right now."
Cangshu Jiao said, "My great-aunt is about to break through her cultivation realm and it might be dangerous, so my mother went over to visit her."
Doctor Hu thought to himself that it was just as he expected.
Although Cangshu Jiao was young, she was full of schemes. In front of Mu Ran, she was an absolute angel—considerate, sensible, and lovable.
But out of Mu Ran's sight, she could give people terrible headaches.
She had run away from home quite a few times, always picking the moments when Mu Ran was away. Her sole purpose was to torment her father.
In a sense, she truly lived up to being Cangshu Bai's bloodline.
Cangshu Jiao patted her stomach. "Godbrother, I am hungry."
Hearing her call him Godbrother, Doctor Hu's heart instantly softened. He sighed, "Sit here and play for a while. I will go to the back room to cook."
Expectant light sparked in Cangshu Jiao's eyes. She reached out and gave Doctor Hu a hug, saying cheerfully, "Godbrother, I knew you were the best to me!"
She was just like this; she never minded showing affection to those she needed in order to better achieve her goals.
Doctor Hu knew her little tricks perfectly well, yet he always fell for them anyway.
After all, who could bear to put on a cold face toward such an adorable little girl?
Doctor Hu soon came out carrying a bowl of chicken soup and handed it to Cangshu Jiao. "Drink some soup first to tide you over."
Cangshu Jiao picked up the spoon, took a sip of the soup, smacked her lips, and said, "It is delicious, but the taste seems a bit familiar."
Doctor Hu asked, "How is it familiar?"
"It tastes like something my dad made..." Before she could finish speaking, her vision went black.
Doctor Hu hurriedly took the bowl from her.
Immediately after, Cangshu Jiao's head slumped toward the table. Han Yu quickly scrambled onto the table, and before her head could hit the hard surface, it landed on its soft body.
Han Yu glared at Doctor Hu. Its aura violently surged, and just as it was about to transform into a flood dragon, the curtain to the back room was lifted by a hand. A man with green robes and white hair walked out. He had a cold, handsome face, and he cast a faint glance over.
Han Yu instantly shrank its body, becoming incredibly well-behaved.
It turned out that Cangshu Bai had anticipated every single step Cangshu Jiao would take. He had been waiting in the clinic all along for her to walk right into his trap.
Doctor Hu said in a low voice, "Godfather, Jiaojiao is still young after all... Isn't drugging her unconscious a bit..."
Cangshu Bai lowered his eyes. Looking at the sleeping little girl, the corners of his lips twitched upward almost imperceptibly.
"She has too much energy. She needs to be taught a lesson so she remembers."
Although his words were cold and hard, that faint, almost imperceptible curve of his lips was caught right in Doctor Hu's eyes.
The old doctor's heart was instantly filled with mixed feelings.
This was the great demon lord who terrified the three realms, capable of overturning seas and rivers with a single hand. Yet now, he was secretly feeling smug about winning a battle of wits against his six-year-old daughter?
Doctor Hu's expression was momentarily complex and hard to describe.
Cangshu Bai seemed completely unaware. He leaned forward slightly, reached out steadily with one hand, and with a gentle scoop and embrace of his palm, he securely gathered Cangshu Jiao's soft little body into his arms.
His green robes draped down, and his white hair was like snow.
His shoulder dipped slightly, the crook of his arm flexing with steady, powerful lines as he firmly protected his daughter against his chest.
Perhaps sensing the familiar aura in her sleep, Cangshu Jiao unconsciously rubbed her head against her father's shoulder. Her brow relaxed, and she slept soundly.
Doctor Hu thought to himself that, in this moment, they were as heartwarming as any ordinary father and daughter.
Seeing that Cangshu Bai was about to leave, Doctor Hu asked, "Where is Godfather planning to go?"
"Jiaojiao misses her mother."
So he was going to find his wife.
After Cangshu Bai's figure disappeared from sight, Doctor Hu clicked his tongue.
First, he imitated Cangshu Bai's tone, saying, "Jiaojiao misses her mother."
Then, his expression turned into one of pure disdain.
"What do you mean the child misses her mother? It is clearly you who misses your wife, yet you use the child as an excuse. You are really regressing as you age!"
