The smell of the Flesh Spirit Mushroom is not pleasant, Ming Qiao wrinkles his small face at the strong smell.

“Puh, puh, puh.”

He also tastes the smell in his mouth and lowers his head to spit a few times. The storage ring is still on him, and it contains the water his senior brother brought. Ming Qiao gulps down a bowl of water, then climbs up from the ground.

Once he stands up, he does not call out to anyone, not even Huang Gui, who is not by his side at the moment. He secretly hopes that something has happened, which causes Huang Gui to be absent. Unfortunately, just as he stands up and has not taken a few steps, Huang Gui appears right in front of him.

“Little guy, where are you going?”

Huang Gui does not look appealing, but compared to Gongsun E, Ming Qiao can barely tolerate his appearance.

“I—I’m hungry.”

Ming Qiao looks up at Huang Gui, his pretty little face still pale from illness. His voice is weak, sounding as if he has not eaten enough. Huang Gui furrows his brow.

In the past, he wouldn’t have bothered to care for the children he caught. But the child resembling Qing Heng in front of him is clearly someone Gongsun E does not want to die just yet.

“Tsk, what a hassle.”

While complaining about the trouble, Huang Gui picks up the child, preparing to take him to find something to eat. He does not go into the city, it is full of cultivators wanting to catch him. He does not want to take that risk.

The big and the small walk together in the Xisha Forest. Ming Qiao overcomes his fear of the bad person, clinging tightly to him to avoid falling. He carefully observes the grass and trees around him.

“There’s a cat in the grass.”

As Ming Qiao passes by a patch of grass, he sees a white cat appearing on the leaves. Its mouth open, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Huang Gui hears his words, glances at the grass, and then dismisses it saying, “The leaves in this little world have no spiritual energy, it breeds nothing but low-level beasts.”

He has no appetite for that

Ming Qiao catches the phrase “little world” and his ears perk up. In the following moments, he observes even more closely: Leaves, flowers, a mirror, an unmoving stone—each of these may hold a little world within.

Aside from paying attention to these, Ming Qiao also notices the occasional cultivators appearing in the Xisha Forest, as well as the native beasts. Huang Gui also sees the same people that Ming Qiao notices.

Before Ming Qiao can ask for help, Huang Gui covers his mouth and quickly takes him away from the area. Huang Gui finally finds some fruit and a few low-level magical beasts. They are casually roasted over the fire, good enough to eat.

“So tough.”

Sitting on the ground, Ming Qiao holds a beast leg with both chubby little hands, struggling to bite down for a long time before finally managing to chew a bit of meat. He has never eaten such tough meat before.

“You children are too spoiled. Back when I was young, the meat I ate was not cooked, I even had to fight others for raw meat.”

Huang Gui snorts, clearly disapproving of Ming Qiao’s spoiled nature. He maliciously tears off a piece of meat that is still slightly bloody and shoves it into Ming Qiao’s mouth, forcing him to eat it.

The poorly prepared meat carries a strong bloody smell, making it hard to swallow. Ming Qiao does not want to eat. But he is too small, he cannot resist Huang Gui continuously stuffing the undercooked meat into his mouth.

“Wah.”

Ming Qiao’s nose turns red as he cries out, “Qiao Qiao doesn’t want to eat.”

“This meat is good, why don’t you eat it? I want to see if you can die from eating this meat or what else”. Huang Gui watches the child who is crying, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

Ming Qiao doesn’t die from eating it. He spits it out. He vomits the meat and fruit all over the ground. In the end, what he spits up is a pool of blood.

He has been taking medicine since he was young, and although his father pays close attention to his nourishment. But his stomach is still much more fragile than that of an average child. Seeing the child in pain, squatting on the ground and spitting blood, Huang Gui’s expression finally changes.

He curses under his breath. With a darkened face, he lifts the child up, continue feeding him the Flesh Spirit Mushroom. The Mushroom has healing properties, but consuming too much can lead to side effects. Huang Gui only wants to temporarily prolong the child’s life, he does not care about any side effects. 

After Huang Gui carries the child away, about two hours later, a tall and slender figure appears in front of the pool of blood. The newcomer wears a blue robe, has a handsome face, and has a string of Buddhist beads wrapped around his wrist. 

He sees the pool of blood. He squats down and examines it carefully for a moment. After examining closely, he dips his fingertip in the bloodstains and draws a talisman in the air.

Once the talisman is complete, he silently recites a spell and closes his eyes without moving. After a few breaths, he opens his eyes and looks in one direction.

At the same time, the child who has just been fed more Flesh Spirit Mushrooms, is taken to the secret realm where Gongsun E is located. The child who has been carried over looks visibly weak. He drops his little head, softly leaning against the tree, his pale face showing no color.

Gongsun E sees his condition and turns his head, asking Huang Gui unhappily, “Is he going to die?”

Huang Gui feels a tightness in his chest and shakes his head, saying, “No, with the Flesh Spirit Mushroom prolonging his life, he won’t die for now.”

Hearing that he won’t die for now, Gongsun E finally feels reassured. He does not want to waste any more time. If he delays and the child dies right in front of him, it won’t be worth it.

“Let’s go.”

Gongsun E is short himself, so he does not want to carry the child. He instructs Huang Gui to pick the child up instead. “Test his spiritual roots and his relationship with Qing Heng.”

Gongsun E only uses children with spiritual roots. Only those with spiritual roots can be of use to him. Gongsun E is very efficient, in no time, he and Huang Gui arrive at another secret realm. This secret realm is rarely visited by people and looks much more hidden than the previous one.

However, Gongsun E once died here. He hates this place and refuses to stay here. Returning to the secret realm where he once met his death, Gongsun E’s eyes reveal unmasked hatred. Clearly, he thinks of Qing Heng again.

The scene of his past death seems to replay, and Gongsun E can’t help but touch his neck. The pain of beheading is unforgettable. If he hadn’t secretly learned the Resurrection Technique, he probably would have completely perished here during his first beheading.

“Child, you better be Qing Heng’s kid.”

That way, he can vent some of his overwhelming hatred. Ming Qiao, being held by Huang Gui, looks tired and ignores Gongsun E. Gongsun E stares intently at him, after a few seconds, he reaches out his hand toward him.

Huang Gui timely loosens his grip. With no one holding him, Ming Qiao’s small body floats in mid-air. He lies on his back in the air, fearfully kicking his legs.

Gongsun E ignores his movements and places a piece of amber-colored stone in front of his face. There is a drop of blood within the stone.

Gongsun E’s skeletal right hand manipulates the stone, his distorted face twisting as his eyes turn red. He is using secret techniques to detect whether this child is related by blood to Qing Heng.

In the whole world, he is the only one who knows this secret technique! The wind swirls, the grass and trees sway wildly. Suddenly, Gongsun E’s bony hands tremble, followed by his facial skin shaking as well.

“Hahaha hahaha, you really are!”

Gongsun E laughs loudly, “The coldest and most unyielding Immortal General Qing Heng in the entire Cangxuan Realm actually concealed having a child from everyone!”

“Too exciting, this is just too exciting!”

Gongsun E’s laughter is ear-piercing. He casually tosses aside the used, now useless amber stone.

Then, he asks Ming Qiao, “Tell me, who is your mother?”

Although Cangxuan Realm is a place where cultivation flourishes, it is unheard of for a man to give birth. So, Gongsun E assumes that there is a woman who bore this child for Qing Heng.

Gongsun E presses hard for answers, but Ming Qiao tightens his lips, not saying a word. He feels a mix of happiness, grievance, and sadness. He is happy because he finally knows who his mother is. But he is also sad because he afraid he will never see his mother again and that the bad guy will kill him.

Ming Qiao’s eyes are already red, and at this moment, they become even redder. He tries hard to hold back his tears, but his small body shakes from the effort. Seeing that he can’t get any answers, Gongsun E strikes him away with a palm.

“In my hands, no one can keep their mouth shut.”

He will find out who Qing Heng’s lover really is! He wants to see what secrets Qing Heng’s lover and child, who are kept hidden from everyone, are concealing. Ming Qiao is knocked away by the strike, rolling on the ground a few times before lying still.

Gongsun E: “……”

Gongsun E’s face distorts even more. This child is just too fragile, so fragile that he has to stop before he can vent his hatred. Otherwise, this child might die on the spot!

“Leave this place first.”

Gongsun E feels a mix of anger and unwillingness, his hands clenching into fists as he tells Huang Gui to pick the child up. The two of them turn to leave the secret realm. As soon as they exit the secret realm, Gongsun E suddenly feels a chill down his back.

Almost instinctively, he pulls Huang Gui in front of him to shield himself. The next second…

With a loud bang, the deafening sound seems to shatter the sky. Huang Gui, who blocks in front of Gongsun E, has his arm broken off. Blood sprays from the severed arm, shooting out like a fountain.

Ming Qiao, held by Huang Gui, is clearly frightened and trembling. Yet he uses this opportunity to wriggle free from Huang Gui’s grasp. He falls to the ground.

Seeing Ming Qiao about to run, Gongsun E reaches out to pull him back. Ming Qiao senses danger approaching, he gets up and runs away quickly.

“Gongsun E, die!”

The blue-clothed man, who cut off Huang Gui’s hand, looks at Gongsun E with disdain, as if killing him would dirty his hands. Hearing his voice, Gongsun E goes even more berserk in his attempt to catch Ming Qiao. 

The blue-clothed man attacks. Gongsun E doesn’t dodge at all. At the cost of taking a blow from the man, he manages to grab Ming Qiao back into his arms.

“Xie Qingyun, see clearly, this is your brother’s son!”

“I want you to kneel and apologize, or I will tear his skin alive in front of you!”

Gongsun E holds the struggling child, arrogantly threatening the man.

Xie Qingyun, being threatened: ?

Xie Qingyun inspects the child being held up, narrowing his eyes as a cold smile appears at the corners of his lips.

“Trying to frame me?”

“Too bad, I don’t fall for that.”