Yu An felt increasingly choked up. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He always carried a military knife with him. The knife was sharp, and it could easily cut through skin.
Yu An is not unafraid of pain.
He watched as his blood dripped onto the butterfly's wings, disappearing the instant it touched them.
This discovery put Yu An at ease.
He cut his wrist to get the blood, and he couldn't explain why. It was just that when he was holding the knife, it seemed like he habitually cut his wrist with the blade.
Yu Anquan didn't utter any cries of pain throughout the process; he only murmured softly, "Eat a little more, just a little more."
His blood and his flesh can be fed to the cubs.
The smell of blood grew stronger in the bedroom.
In the next room, Seven and Nine were frequently lost in thought.
Chiu Chiu was behind them, video chatting with the tiger cub.
Tiger Cub was tricked into telling a lie at noon, but the lie was cut off halfway through. He wasn't sure what his older brother was up to, so when Qiuqiu called him, he casually asked her about it.
"Big Brother is resting with Sixth Brother."
Caught off guard, Chiu Chiu revealed her eldest brother's whereabouts: "Sixth Brother secretly flew away, and Big Brother, Seventh Brother, and Ninth Brother went to look for him and found him."
"I didn't go."
Neither Bazai nor I are going.
Chuchu hadn't yet realized why the tiger cub was asking these questions; he simply answered each one.
The two had their video call playing out loud. As they finished talking, Qi Zai couldn't help but turn around and look at them.
"Tiger cubs."
Qi Zai suddenly spoke up. He leaned closer to the video, frowned, and asked, "Did you put me on Do Not Disturb mode?"
Tiger cub: "..."
The tiger cub remained silent.
Seven already knew the answer from his silence.
I sent you a message!
Seven Cub gritted his teeth, furious. He told Tiger Cub about what happened today, but still hadn't received a reply.
It wasn't until Tiger Cub and Chiu Chiu were video chatting that he belatedly remembered this matter.
"Look at the message I sent you."
Seven reminded him, but after that, he was too lazy to get any closer.
At his prompting, the tiger cub finally lowered his head and started searching through the list on his phone.
After searching for a while, he found the message at the very bottom.
Sure enough, at the very top of the chat window with Qi Zai, there were three small words: Do Not Disturb.
The tiger cub didn't change the "Do Not Disturb" status, but instead started looking at the messages he had ignored.
After reading the message, the tiger cub's expression changed.
Chiu Chiu is very sensitive to the tiger cub's emotions, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong with the tiger cub.
"Meow, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine."
As the tiger cub spoke, he sent an audio file. His voice was very calm and steady, without any hint of gentleness, but compared to his attitude towards others, he could indeed be considered gentle in front of Qiuqiu.
"I have something to do, so I probably won't be able to watch you sleep tonight."
"I recorded an audio file beforehand, which contains stories that you'll enjoy listening to."
After patiently giving Qiuqiu his instructions, Tiger Cub hung up the phone early.
The atmosphere among the children grew increasingly tense without them realizing it.
Chiu Chiu clutched her phone, glancing at Seven and then at Nine.
Seven and Nine still didn't intend to say anything to him. Chiu Chiu thought for a moment, then lay down, closed her eyes, and started listening to the audio.
Bazai is so engrossed in playing games that his little tentacles are practically flying.
There was no movement in either room.
Outside the door, the guards stood ramrod straight.
The rain that started in the afternoon hadn't stopped by nightfall. Yu An sat on the edge of the bed, his face pale. He glanced outside and was relieved that Xie Chiyuan hadn't returned so soon.
If Xie Chiyuan had returned earlier, he would definitely have been exposed.
It was late at night.
Yu An practically collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep. He was so exhausted that he didn't even have the strength to take a shower.
Before going to sleep, he checked Little Butterfly's temperature. The previously burning fever had subsided considerably, and Little Butterfly no longer seemed to be in as much pain as before.
Yu An was very satisfied with the result.
The kids who went next door have all come back. Seventh Kid led the way, and they all slept in the living room. The two sofas in the living room were big enough for them to sleep on.
Qi Zai didn't leave. Tan Zhan came, but he couldn't take him away.
Around two or three o'clock, Xie Chiyuan returned.
Xie Chiyuan didn't see Yu An in his room. After taking a shower, he used his key to open the door to the next room. They each had a key to the other's room.
Xie Chiyuan moved very gently, not wanting to wake Yu An and Zai Zai.
He was exhausted and wanted to hold Yu An and sleep for a while.
Upon smelling Xie Chiyuan's scent, the children on the sofa instantly lost their aggressive stance. They turned a blind eye and allowed Xie Chiyuan to enter.
The older brother feeds the baby.
Xie Chiyuan feeds his older brother.
Tonight, they are all willing to acknowledge each other as sisters-in-law.
Only Yu An and Little Butterfly were in the bedroom, and Yu An, afraid of crushing Little Butterfly, put her in an open box.
Xie Chiyuan walked in and called out softly as if to confirm, "Baby."
The baby didn't respond.
Xie Chiyuan's brain was a bit fuzzy. He didn't turn on the bright lights, but used the dim bedside lamp to place the box containing the little butterfly on the bedside table.
Then, he pulled Yu An into his arms and kissed his cheek.
Yu An's face is very soft and inviting. Last night, he almost kissed that soft face until it was swollen.
Not tonight.
I'm so tired tonight.
Xie Chiyuan lay on the familiar bed, holding the person who helped him relax, feeling a sense of drowsiness.
He twitched his nose, catching a whiff of blood.
But with the windows open for several hours, the indoor temperature had already dropped to almost zero. The blood energy was so weak that Xie Chiyuan didn't immediately get up to check on him.
"Baby, I'm so tired."
Xie Chiyuan murmured, then closed his eyes.
Few people slept well that night.
Xie Chiyuan went to bed late and woke up early. After waking up, he skipped his usual sweet talk with Yu An, since it was his father who had been in trouble this time, and he was simply too busy.
Thanks to Xie Chiyuan's busy schedule, Yu An was able to feed the cub with her own flesh and blood without Xie Chiyuan finding out.
Yu An's wrist was bandaged tightly, and he deliberately wore a pajama with long sleeves. Even when Xie Chiyuan held his hand, he didn't notice his wrist.
As Xie Chiyuan came out of the bedroom, he bumped into a baby with its eyes open.
It's a chirp.
He walked over in a few steps and picked up Qiuqiu: "Qiuqiu, why did you wake up so early? Aren't you going to sleep?"
Chirp shook its head.
Although he was awake, he was still a little dazed. After Xie Chiyuan finished asking him questions, he slowly replied, "I went to bed too early yesterday, so I'm not sleepy now."
Xie Chiyuan held him with one arm and used the other to take a bottle of milk down for him.
"Chirp chirp, tell me. What did your older brother do yesterday? How was he feeling?"
"Take your time, no rush. I still have some time."
Xie Chiyuan couldn't bear to wake Yu An, so he could only question Qiuqiu, who was awake at the time.
Chiu Chiu sucked on the straw from the milk bottle, taking a sip and then saying a sentence. He knew little, so naturally he could say little. At the end, Chiu Chiu tilted his head.
"My brother looks very busy, but I don't know what he's busy with. I'll tell you when I find out."
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Chuchu."
The other cubs were fast asleep. Xie Chiyuan lowered his voice slightly when speaking to Qiuqiu, but the cubs didn't even flinch.
The mutant cubs are naturally alert; the fact that Xie Chiyuan's presence in front of them couldn't wake them only proves one thing—
Subconsciously, they also regarded Xie Chiyuan as a safe person.
Therefore, even with Xie Chiyuan present, they could still sleep peacefully.
"Chirp chirp, I'm going out to do something. You need to keep your brother company. Call me immediately if anything happens. I remember you saved my number."
Chiu Chiu held the milk and nodded, "Mmm-hmm."
He's remembered it!
Miaomiao told him the same thing: if anything happens, he should call immediately.
For two days in a row.