Wu Ye stands outside, listening to Qing Heng patiently soothing the little one inside the room. He closes his eyes and discreetly listens to the sounds from within. 

Qing Heng’s voice is clear, along with the gentle pats on the cub’s back as he reassures him. “Qiao Qiao, don’t cry. You’ll feel uncomfortable if you keep crying.” Qing Heng says softly.

Though Qing Heng speaks sparingly with others, he is gentle with his own child. Yet, at this moment, his gentleness does little to comfort the crying child.

“Come back…” The tearful little one says, his eyes still fixed on the door, pointing his chubby finger toward it, wanting Wu Ye to return. 

“I can’t sleep alone.”

Ming Qiao’s voice is mixed with sobs as he tells Qing Heng: “It’s scary here. I can’t sleep alone.”

Ming Qiao is terrified of ghosts. In the stories he’s heard, ghosts appear suddenly, and encountering a malicious spirit could even mean death. 

Ming Qiao doesn’t want his father sleeping alone in such a frightening place. He wants the three of them to sleep together as a family.

Wu Ye listens to the little one’s words outside and lets out a chuckle. “This little rascal is worried about me encountering ghosts.” he muses to himself. 

If he really met a ghost, it would probably be the ghost fleeing in terror, not him.

Hearing the little one still crying, Wu Ye finally gives in and turns back. He goes to push the door, thinking to knock, but it opens at the slightest touch.

Inside, the little one is lying in Qing Heng’s arms, his tear-streaked face turning toward Wu Ye. He pouts, his expression full of grievance and accusation.

“Why the tears, little crybaby?” Wu Ye says as he walks in, moving the table to make room and pointing to the empty spot beside the bed. “How about I sleep here?”

Though it seems like he’s asking Ming Qiao, he’s really waiting for Qing Heng’s response. Qing Heng frowns slightly. 

The floor is hard, and in the cabin earlier, Wu Ye had been sleeping on the floor the whole time. Now that they have a room in the city, making Wu Ye sleep on the floor again…

“I’m tough, I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.” Wu Ye says, almost reading Qing Heng’s thoughts. 

He smiles and pulls out a blanket from his storage pouch, spreading it on the floor before lying down and signaling to Ming Qiao.

“Come on, I’ll play with you for a bit.”

Seeing Wu Ye waving hand, Ming Qiao smiles through his tears and eagerly stands up. He doesn’t even wait for Qing Heng to help him down. He jumps off the bed happily.

“Wait!” Wu Ye hadn’t expected him to leap so boldly, his reflexes quick as he reaches out to catch him—but he’s too late.

With a thud, Ming Qiao lands directly on Wu Ye’s stomach, his chubby little foot even grazing Wu Ye’s face. At that moment, Wu Ye feels like he might die right there.

“Ow!” Ming Qiao rubs his sore bum, his delicate brows furrowing in pain.

“Okay, up you go.” Wu Ye says, lifting the little one off his stomach and setting him to the side, then casting a reproachful look at Qing Heng.

Qing Heng had seen the little one jump and knew the impact would be intense. He had tried to stop him, but he was just a second too slow. 

Now, as Wu Ye looks at him with such an aggrieved expression, he simply turns away, lies down and says: “I’m tired. You two go ahead and play.”

The little one, smiling again, crawls back onto Wu Ye, clinging to his clothes. “Play with Qiao Qiao!” He demands, his tone insistent.

“All right, what do you want to play?” Wu Ye asks, having regained his breath. 

He pinches the little one’s chubby cheeks with a grin. “How about a tickle game?”

“No, no!” Ming Qiao shakes his head frantically, his little head like a drum, refusing immediately. He’s way too ticklish for that!

Despite his protests, Wu Ye’s mischievous hand reaches out. “Mother, help Qiao Qiao!” Ming Qiao cries out, scrambling around on the floor as Wu Ye tickles him, his little voice almost cracking with laughter.

Seeing him crawling around, Wu Ye can’t resist giving his round little bottom a gentle nudge with his foot. With a thud sound, Ming Qiao flops down.

Wu Ye laughs, moving in closer to tickle the cub’s chubby feet. Ming Qiao wiggles, then continues his crawling, gliding around on the floor as if it’s his playground.

After a while, the two finally stop. Wu Ye lies flat, with the little one lying on his chest. Ming Qiao’s cheeks are flushed from playing, his small body warm, though his energy remains high.

“Is mom asleep?” The cub whispers.

“Don’t know.” Wu Ye replies.

“Hmm, Qiao Qiao wants to look.” Ming Qiao says.

“Let’s check together.”

The two of them sit up and lean over the bed, their eyes fixed on Qing Heng’s face. He sleeps so quietly, his face seeming to glow softly. 

They both instinctively hold their breath, afraid any sound might disturb him.

“Mother is so beautiful.” Ming Qiao says, cupping his little face, his expression dreamy.

Wu Ye, beside him, gazes intently at Qing Heng as well. “There’s no one on the entire Cang Xuan Realm who’s more outstanding than your mother.” He murmurs. No one is more beautiful than Qing Heng either.

Wu Ye, proud and self-assured, rarely regards anyone highly on the Realm. He isn’t the type to be easygoing. 

Sparring, building fires, cooking, and taking care of the little one… he does these things only because the person is Immortal General Qing Heng.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t even reveal his true face.

“I love mother!” Ming Qiao declares softly, cheeks flushed, still enchanted.

“Mother is so, so good.” He had never met his mother before, only imagined him. He had imagined his appearance, his voice, his personality, and the moments they might share together. 

Those visions, perhaps because of a lack of reference, had always felt unreal. Now, seeing his mother in real life, Ming Qiao feels deep in his heart that having a mother is the most wonderful thing ever!

He turns his head to look at Wu Ye and asks a question. “Do you like mommy?”

Wu Ye: “……”

Wu Ye is caught off guard by this question. His long fingers curl slightly, and after a moment, he ruffles Ming Qiao’s hair with a chuckle.

“Why are you asking that?”

In a casual tone, Wu Ye says: “Kids shouldn’t ask adults these questions.”

Love or not, he and Qing Heng are simply sparring partners. Qing Heng can barely stand his presence, and Wu Ye feels lucky to even be a friend.

Ming Qiao glances back and forth between his dad and mom, a bit troubled. If his parents don’t love each other, could he even exist someday?

“Don’t you want to like mommy?” Looking concerned, Ming Qiao remembers his dad saying that he couldn’t take his eyes off mommy when they first met.

Wu Ye, amused, says: “If I liked your mom, your real dad would probably be furious.”

Ming Qiao huffs. If he hadn’t promised his mother, he would have called Wu Ye “daddy” by now. Father is so clueless, he still hasn’t realized he’s Ming Qiao’s real father!

As he grumbles to himself, he thinks about how lucky he is to have inherited his cleverness from his mother. If he had inherited his father’s brains, he’d be a silly little dumpling.

“Huffing like a little piglet, have you seen a piglet before? Round, plump, and loves huffing.” Wu Ye teases the cub.

“You’re the pig!”

“I don’t huff like a pig, so it’s not me. It’s you.” Their childish bickering, though not loud, is enough to make Qing Heng’s eyelashes flutter as he lay on the bed, sleeping.

“All right, quiet down, go to sleep.” Wu Ye says, noticing Qing Heng’s eyelashes twitch. He reaches out and gently hushes the little one.

Wu Ye pinches Ming Qiao’s chubby cheeks as they banter, careful not to wake Qing Heng, who is now sound asleep. “All right, enough talking. Time to sleep.”

Wu Ye picks up Ming Qiao and settles him next to Qing Heng on the bed, then returns to his own spot on the floor. Ming Qiao, now nestled between his parents, extends his little hand to Wu Ye.

“You can hold Qiao Qiao’s hand to sleep.”

“Got it, little clingy one.”

Nestled between his mom and dad, with Wu Ye holding his hand, Ming Qiao quickly drifts off.

Later, Wu Ye notices him drooling, so he sits up, wipes it away, and closes the little one’s mouth — something about sleeping with an open mouth isn’t quite right.

“You can sleep beside Qiao Qiao.”

Wu Ye hears a cool voice, it’s Qing Heng. At some point, he’s woken up, moved closer to Ming Qiao, leaving space on the bed.

With Ming Qiao between them, Qing Heng only reminds him: “Just don’t touch me.”

Or he might just end up throwing him off the bed. Wu Ye freezes, surprised. “You’re letting me sleep on the bed?”

“Mm.” Qing Heng answers, closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.

Wu Ye climbs onto the bed, lying stiffly beside them. The faint scent of medicinal herbs and snow reaches his nose: The herbs from the little one, the snowy scent from Qing Heng. He closes his eyes, but sleep doesn’t come.

While Qing Heng and Ming Qiao have a restful night, Wu Ye lies awake, his eyes filled with exhaustion.

In the morning, Ming Qiao wakes up with one request. “Qiao Quao wants meat buns for breakfast.”

Wu Ye offers to go buy them, and Ming Qiao happily demands to tag along. But in the bright morning, they find no sign of the meat bun stalls that Ming Qiao had spotted the night before.

“Maybe they’re only open at night.”

Wu Ye tries to cheer him up, “Let’s go eat noodles.”

They find a shop that only serves noodles, but the taste leaves much to be desired. Ming Qiao’s eyes are even filled with tears.

Wu Ye almost storms out to confront the owner, but Qing Heng intervenes. “This food wasn’t made for us. Let’s go, we’ll cook something ourselves.”

As they leave, Wu Ye carries Ming Qiao out, promising him roasted meat. Later, after breakfast, Wu Ye is ready to continue his investigation, but both Qing Heng and Ming Qiao insist on coming along.

“Fine, let’s go together.” he says, carrying the half-asleep little one as they head out to investigate.

The entire Cang Xuan Realm hasn’t seen anyone ascend in years. Qing Heng, who cultivates at an extremely fast pace, is seen by everyone as the next potential person to ascend.

Wu Ye suddenly asks Qing Heng this question, as he’s clearly noticed something strange about Wu Xiang City.

“Yes, my cultivation level is currently suppressed to just the Nascent Soul stage.”

Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Great Ascension, Tribulation Crossing, Ascension.

As expected, even Qing Heng’s cultivation level here has been forcibly reduced by several levels.

“Wu Xiang City is a place without an owner. This place is eerie. Once we get the antidote pill, we’d better take Qiao Qiao and leave as soon as possible.”

Wu Ye doesn’t feel anything positive toward this place, Wu Xiang City. They continue walking, and soon they arrive at their destination.