"Then why are you angry? Isn't it because you think I had an affair with another demon woman and gave birth to this little beast, so you're angry and jealous?"
"Which ethnic group you have affairs with is none of my business, but please don't drag me into it!" Lu Pianpian pulled back her hem and handed the bottle of blood to Huan Juntian. "Junior brother, let's go."
Jun Tian nodded, and the two rode away on a cloud.
Huan Changming wanted to chase after him, but suddenly he collapsed to the ground with a thud. He was too badly injured, and he only managed to get back because Lu Pianpian was right in front of him. He was forced to stay upright by sheer willpower.
Now that Lu Pianpian was leaving him, he couldn't muster any strength and could only watch as Lu Pianpian's figure flew further and further away.
The demon child hugged him and wailed, "Father, don't want Si, don't want Si!"
Jun Tian heard the deafening cry and glanced at Lu Pianpian beside him without showing any emotion. He saw that she was frowning and deep in thought.
After they returned to the Heavenly Realm, Lu Pianpian did not descend from the clouds. Jun Tian asked, "Senior Brother, what's wrong?"
"Junior brother, you go find the physician to detoxify first. I have personal matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
Jun Tian gripped the porcelain bottle tightly in his hand. "Senior brother, are we going to find Huan Changming?"
"Yes." Lu Pianpian didn't intend to hide it. "He and I have to make a clean break."
Jun Tian grasped Lu Pianpian's hand, "I know that my senior brother is unwilling to convert him, but I am willing to relieve his worries and personally kill Huan Changming."
Lu Pianpian gently brushed his hand away and shook her head, saying, "This is ultimately a matter between him and me that needs to be resolved. I can't let you get involved."
"Junior brother, go back and take good care of your injuries. Don't worry about me."
After he finished speaking, he used magic to turn the clouds around.
Little did he know, Huan Changming was watching the direction he left in the all-time dark, his face obscured by the shadows of the night.
When Lu Pianpian returned to the Demon Palace, she saw the demon child sitting on the stone steps outside the hall, secretly wiping away tears.
The child was wearing undergarments and was barefoot. The night wind was chilly, but he didn't seem to feel the cold at all.
He heard footsteps, looked up and saw Lu Pianpian. He wanted to call out "Mother," but he held back.
Seeing his face covered in snot and tears, Lu Pianpian took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, half-squatted down and wiped his face. "How old are you?"
He paused for a moment, then counted on his fingers carefully, held up a "two," and said, "Her Majesty is a hundred years old..."
He's two hundred years old and still can't speak clearly. I don't know how Huan Changming is teaching him.
He suddenly jumped up, grabbed Lu Pianpian's hand, and ran into the palace. This child looked small, but he was quite strong. Lu Pianpian couldn't break free for a moment and was dragged along until they finally arrived at the bedside in the bedroom.
Huan Changming lay on the bed, covered in sweat. His bare upper body was wrapped in white cloth, leaving no part of him unharmed.
The child nestled close to Huan Changming's bedside and cautiously said, "Father... I've taken care of Mother..."
Huan Changming suddenly opened his eyes and saw that Lu Pianpian was indeed in front of him. His furrowed brows immediately relaxed. "You really came to find me? Am I dreaming...?"
He braced himself against the bed, trying to get up and confirm that Lu Pianpian in front of him was not an illusion, but the wound on his chest was torn open again because of his movement, and blood quickly soaked the cloth strips.
The child quickly helped Huan Changming lie down and covered him with a blanket. "Dad, don't move the mud anymore, it's all covered in cow blood."
Huan Changming seemed extremely impatient with him, and pushed him to the ground beside him, "Get out..."
The child sat on the ground for a long time without getting up, and tears of grievance began to fall again.
Lu Pianpian bent down and pulled the child up. "Huan Changming, is this how you treat your own flesh and blood?"
First they called him a little beast, and now they're shoving him around recklessly.
The child felt Lu Pianpian's kindness towards him, clung to Lu Pianpian's hand, buried his head in Lu Pianpian's arms, and sobbed softly, "Mother..."
Lu Pianpian pretended not to hear the word "mother" and said to Huan Changming, "If you don't like him, send him to his mother's side."
Let's not end up raising another heartless and wicked child like Huan Changming.
Huan Changming propped himself up on the bed, his body aching terribly, and he was panting as he spoke, "Pianpian, you are his mother..."
Lu Pianpian frowned and said, "Don't tarnish my reputation."
Huan Changming clutched his chest and chuckled softly, "Ever since you left me, I've thought about you day and night. With only Lu Pianpian in my eyes and heart, how could I possibly have an affair with anyone else?"
"If you want to say that you are clean and virtuous, then fine, but you don't need to use me as a shield."
"Do you still not believe that I love you?"
"If you said you loved Jingyi, I could believe you."
"I have never liked him!" Huan Changming repeatedly expressed his true feelings, but Lu Pianpian did not take his heart seriously at all. He felt resentful and aggrieved. "Yes, I admit that Jingyi did express his love to me, but it was all one-sided! I warned him a long time ago that we only have the relationship of a ruler and his subject, and there is no personal affection between us!"
Lu Pianpian's face was ashen. "You said you loved me, yet you forced my father to his death, injured my fellow disciples, and imprisoned me. You said you only had the relationship of ruler and subject with Jing Yi, yet with just a few words from him, you wanted to kill my junior brother, forcing me to commit suicide to protect him."
"Huan Changming, your love is truly ironic..."
“I can explain all of this…” Huan Changming lost his composure and his words became incoherent. “I didn’t force Lu Zhong to his death. It was Jing Yi who went to talk to him the night before your father committed suicide. Lu Zhong felt humiliated and that’s why he committed suicide… Jing Yi did this without my knowledge! If I had known, I would have stopped him.”
"And that day... that day I was angry because you wanted to run away with Huan Juntian. Plus, you were in heat at the time, and I was afraid that you and Huan Juntian would do something inappropriate. I was both angry and scared, so I thought I could use Huan Juntian's life to make you submit and stay by my side."
Huan Changming's emotional turmoil affected his internal organs, and a metallic taste rose in his throat, which he swallowed and continued, "I know what I did was unreasonable, but Pianpian, all you wanted to do back then was escape from me. I didn't know what to do, so I could only resort to that extreme method."
"You can hate me, resent me, or even kill me, it doesn't matter. But... please don't ignore how much I love you, okay?"
"I truly like you. Jingyi is incomparable to you in any way."
The child in his arms stopped sobbing. He seemed to know that the conversation between the two adults was extremely sensitive, and he became so quiet that even his breathing became much softer.
Lu Pianpian listened to Huan Changming's words in silence. He wondered if Huan Changming had told him these words in his previous life, would he have believed them?
He might believe it.
At that time, he was controlled by Huan Changming, like a puppet. Huan Changming never gave him a kind look or spoke kind words.
If Huan Changming could open his heart to him in such a humble manner as he is now, he would definitely believe him.
He might even regard Huan Changming as his only support, rely on Huan Changming, and even fall in love with Huan Changming again.
Because he had already lost everything, Huan Changming could perhaps replace all that he had lost and become his only one.
However, Huan Changming did not do that.
He had finally climbed out of the underground and become the high and mighty King Li, revered by thousands. Even if he truly had feelings for Lu Pianpian, he would not lower himself to try and win her favor.
Those who obey him prosper, those who oppose him perish.
Huan Changming took the behavior of a tyrant to its extreme.
"What's the point of telling me all this now?" Lu Pianpian said calmly. "Things from the past life are all just a thing of the past."
Huan Changming slowly shook his head, "You speak so casually, but deep down you care about those past events..."
He saw through Lu Pianpian's thoughts. Lu Pianpian clenched her fist, feeling somewhat embarrassed and angry. The words that were about to come out were swallowed back.
He pulled the child away from his arms and turned to leave, but Huan Changming quickly grabbed his wrist. "Pianpian, I misspoke. Don't go."
"Let go!"
Lu Pianpian shook off Huan Changming's hand and strode away.
Huan Changming endured the pain and got out of bed to chase after her. When Lu Pianpian reached the door and tried to open it, she found that the door could not be opened. Langxu's voice came from outside, "The restriction will be lifted automatically tomorrow. Please make do with the night in the palace, Divine Child."
Lu Pianpian drew his sword and slashed at the door. A force rebounded, and he was thrown backward. Huan Changming took the opportunity to hug him from behind, his hot breath falling on Lu Pianpian's ear. "Pianpian, don't leave me."
Huan Changming was only wearing a thin shirt, and the burning heat from his skin traveled through the fabric to Lu Pianpian's body. He gritted his teeth and said, "Don't touch me!"
Huan Changming tightened his grip on him, "If I don't touch you, you'll disappear again."
He pleaded behind Lu Pianpian, "God, have mercy on all living beings. Please, just take pity on me and stay by my side, even if it's just for this one night..."
Warm tears dripped onto Lu Pianpian's neck, flowing down his neck and into his clothes.
The hall was brightly lit by candles, and the shadows of two people entwined and embracing were projected onto the tightly closed doors, making them look like lovers kissing passionately.
Lu Pianpian gazed at the shadow, a hint of reverie in the candlelight in her eyes.
After a long while, he asked somewhat bewilderedly, "Huan Changming, what exactly do you want from me?"
Huan Changming pressed close to his back, holding him tightly in his arms, and said in a hoarse voice, "What I want from you, Pianpian, you know perfectly well..."
Another long silence followed.
If it weren't for Huan Changming's rapidly rising body temperature reminding Lu Pianpian, the two of them would have been frozen in time, as if under a spell.
A sneeze from inside the hall brought Lu Pianpian back to his senses. He glanced back and saw that the demon child was nowhere to be seen.
There was only a white-bodied dragon with golden scales, curled up and sleeping on a piece of undergarment.
“When a baby dragon hatches, it will regard the first person it sees as its parents.” Huan Changming smelled the scent emanating from Lu Pianpian, and a sickly longing welled up in his eyes. “I told you, no one but you can catch my eye. You are the only one in my heart, and I will never have any children with other women.”
"Even if I have to give birth, I'll only have it with you." Huan Changming buried his head in Lu Pianpian's shoulder, like a boneless wild beast, letting down his guard and wanting nothing more than to be entwined in her gentle embrace. "Pianpian, I've only ever had you..."
A note from the author:
Huan Changming: Yes, we had a child.
Chapter 60
The next day, the sky was clear and cloudless.
Mu Lingzi moved the orchid in the room to the window, half-closed the window to block the sunlight, and carefully poured water onto the orchid, her fingertips forming a stream of water.
This orchid was well cared for by Mu Lingzi; its leaves are thick and green, and it even has flower buds at the tips.
He gently touched the flower bud and sighed, "I wonder when you will be able to cultivate back to human form..."
Two hundred years have passed, and Huan Changming was able to reunite with Lu Pianpian, but Lan Jun has yet to return to his sight.
A young dragon with a white body and golden scales flew past his window, then retreated, staring at him with its two big eyes wide open. "Uncle Mulingzi, the mud is being watered again!"
“Yes.” Mu Lingzi tugged at the young dragon’s whiskers. “What happened so early in the morning that made you so happy?”
"My mom came back last night! She even slept in the same room as me! I'm so happy today!"
Just as Mu Lingzi was listening to him speak enthusiastically, Lu Pianpian walked over from not far away, followed by Huan Changming, who was rushing to catch up with him.
"elegant!"
Lu Pianpian immediately spotted the orchid on Mu Lingzi's windowsill, walked over, pointed at it, and asked, "Lan Jun?"
Mu Lingzi nodded and said, "That's right."
Why are you here?