Chapter 148: Buddhist Disciple 8

After the rat-woman’s joyful shout, there was no sound of a baby crying. Instead, they soon heard her trembling, high-pitched voice:

“Oh no, this woman looks like she’s going to die!”

A strange, indescribable stench filled the room. Wuxin walked in and saw the Enchantress Demon, who had just given birth, her face pale and sunken, looking as if she had deflated like a balloon in a very short amount of time.

Then he looked at the child placed next to the Enchantress Demon by the rat-woman—this wasn’t a human-shaped baby but a four-legged creature, no larger than a palm. Its thin, red fur clung to its body, and it was breathing weakly.

Its tiny belly rose and fell faintly, and its eyes were tightly closed, unable to make even the faintest sound. It looked as though it was on the verge of death.

The Heavenly Demon bloodline of the Demonic Race was born with the instinct to devour. While still in the mother’s womb, this child instinctively consumed its mother’s life force, which was why, immediately after birth, his mother was on the brink of death.

However, even so, because the mother was too weak to provide enough energy for the fetus, the child’s life was just as fragile, like a thread, ready to snap at any moment.

A child who should never have been born but managed to struggle through the process of birth now carried the stability of both the Mortal and Demon Realms for the next few hundred years.

Wuxin, upon seeing this child for the first time, could already see its death in its birth.

This was why many who knew of Wuxin’s abilities kept their distance from him—no one wanted to see their own death reflected in his eyes.

Compared to the newborn with a part of the Heavenly Demon bloodline, who was struggling to survive, the Enchantress Demon was even weaker after giving birth.

Yet, she was still dominated by the love a mother feels for her child. Even in such a fragile state, despite this child having caused her great pain and drained her life force, she still showed a look of tender, maternal affection.

“Ah… my child,” she croaked.

Her now withered hand gently stroked the child’s body, combing through its damp, soft fur.

Knowing she wouldn’t survive for much longer, she finally suppressed her fear of Wuxin and carefully looked at him, asking with effort, “Could you please give him a name?”

She wanted to entrust her child to this powerful being.

Wuxin shook his head. “It should be you who names him.”

Rejected, Wen Chun’s disappointed expression quickly softened again. She gathered the little creature, resembling a little dog, and tenderly spoke to it:

“Great-grandmother was the strongest Enchantress Demon in our clan. She lived a long life and was very wise, so I will name you after her, hoping that you, too, can be as wise and long-lived as she was.”

Enchantress Demons were mostly female, and their naming customs followed the matriarchal line. It was traditional to name children after deceased elders, especially those who were outstanding. Children given the names of such elders were considered cherished and favored.

“Hua You Nong, you are named Hua You Nong.”

The almost inaudible words faded away, and the hand resting on the child’s body stopped moving.

Qian, who had been clutching Wuxin’s leg, was terrified by the atmosphere and unconsciously gripped his leg tighter, almost making it impossible for him to lift his leg and walk.

“Feed this to her.” Wuxin took out a green jade-like lotus seed and handed it to the shrinking rat-woman.

The rat-woman stared at the lotus seed, her eyes fixed on it. The abundant spiritual energy and sweet fragrance lured her in, and if Venerable Master wasn’t watching her, she would almost have lost her composure and eaten it herself.

Struggling to control her drooling expression, the rat-woman reluctantly placed the lotus seed in the Enchantress Demon’s mouth.

Her ashen face almost immediately regained some color. Though she still looked terrible, she was no longer on the verge of death.

She wouldn’t live long, but her time had not yet come.

The snow, which had stopped, began to fall again.

Wuxin sat in the corridor, brewing medicine in a clay pot. Qian stayed beside him, watching as he took out the herbs from a cloth bag one by one.

He skillfully placed the prepared herbs into the pot and added water.

It wasn’t long before Qian was driven away by the pungent smell emanating from the pot. She pinched her nose and ran back into the room.

The bedding from the delivery had already been cleaned by the rat-woman. Wen Chun was asleep, and beside her, in a small bundle, curled up a little creature.

Qian leaned over the bed to look at the “Little Dog.”

The amniotic fluid had been washed off, and the fetal fur had been dried. The fine red fur had fluffed up, and it seemed bigger than when it was first born. It was soft and looked incredibly cuddly.

Qian reached out and touched it, feeling its smooth fur again and again.

Since the little blanket covered most of its body, she could only touch its head. But soon, she became dissatisfied with just that and quietly lifted the blanket to touch its belly and tail.

Its tail, which had been thin like a mouse’s when it was born, had now fluffed up and looked like a fluffy duster.

The little red-haired “Little Dog,” disturbed by her, flicked its paw, unhappy with her touch, and made a faint sound.

But Qian persisted. As she touched it, she practically hugged it entirely, her face rubbing against its body with a bright smile.

Finally, under her relentless attention, the little red-haired “Little Dog” struggled to open its eyes.

Its golden eyes, unlike the dark golden ones it would have when it grew older, were brighter, like two small light bulbs glowing in the dim room.

“Dad!”

“Dad, look!”

“Little Dog opened its eyes!”

Wuxin was looking at the medicine furnace. He turned around to see Qian had secretly taken the newborn little creature out of the blanket, beaming with joy as she shared her excitement.

The tiny creature, held tightly in her arms, kicked its weak legs, shivering in the cold air, crying out miserably.

Wuxin: “…”

Qian, cause and effect must be repaid, stop bothering the child.

He gently placed the still-fragile little creature back into the blanket, instructing Qian to stand by the door, leaning against the wall, while he explained the child’s frailty. She couldn’t be playing with it like this yet.

Qian, her eyes glazed over, nearly leaned against the door and fell asleep, but as soon as her eyes closed, Wuxin shook her awake.

“Qian, do you understand?”

Qian nodded.

Wuxin: “Good, then I’ll explain it again.”

Since Wen Chun fainted, she hadn’t woken up, but the newborn child was hungry.

The responsibility of feeding fell solely on the only parent, Wuxin.

He had never raised a half-blooded Demonic Race child, so it took him some time to prepare food for the baby.

While Qian ate her own meal on a small stool, she saw Venerable Master Dad feeding Little Dog.

“Dad, what are you feeding Little Red?” Qian asked, biting her spoon.

Qian insisted on naming the “Little Dog” Little Red.

She held her bowl and leaned over, demanding to try Little Red’s food, so Wuxin had no choice but to feed her some of the same smelly milk.

This successfully pushed the nosy child away.

But the child, feeling sorry for Little Red, insisted on sharing her food with him.

Wuxin realized for the first time that when the number of children he was taking care of increased to two or more, the difficulty multiplied.

Before, when it was just Qian, he only had to worry about her safety. Now, he also had to worry about her posing a threat to the newborn’s safety.

Qian loved her Little Dog, and she insisted on sleeping with him every night.

Wuxin often stayed by her side as she slept, but unlike Aberrant’s mother, who held her every night, Qian, in the early days after arriving in this world, had trouble sleeping and always needed to be held. Now, she was able to sleep on her own.

Wuxin had prepared a bed for her on the other side, but she still climbed into the middle of Wen Chun and Little Red’s bed, wearing only her small clothes.

Whether it was Wen Chun or Little Red, she found them both endearing and liked being close to them while she slept.

Wuxin had just warned her not to disturb the baby’s sleep when he turned around and saw her sneaking over there.

When he heard her giggling quietly from under the humped blanket, he went over to uncover it and saw the child already holding Little Dog in her arms.

“Qian, you can’t play with him like this,” Wuxin said.

The little creature’s legs were struggling against Qian’s belly, clearly trying to escape her grasp, but the little chubby girl’s arms were strong, and he couldn’t break free.

Qian hugged him tightly and said, “Little Red is cold, so I’m holding him to sleep.”

As she spoke, she gently patted Little Dog, just like she had patted her younger siblings back in the Aberrant Realm.

Wuxin was helpless. Looking at the half-blood Heavenly Demon, who had already shown the strength of his bloodline and was visibly becoming more resilient, he said no more. He covered them with the blanket and said, “You can hold him to sleep, but don’t play around. Rest now.”

“Oh!” Qian loudly agreed and immediately closed her eyes.

For three days straight, Wen Chun didn’t wake up, so the future Demon Lord Hua You Nong, now the little puppy “Little Red,” spent the first three days of his life sleeping with Qian, being fed by Wuxin.

Wuxin would leave briefly every day, returning with food and medicine.

During the short periods without parental supervision, Qian played with Little Red and even ran outside to play in the snow.

The earlier snowfalls had been light, and there hadn’t been much accumulation on the ground. But now, after several days of snow, the snow was thick, soft, and white, inviting the young cub to frolic in it.

When Wuxin returned, he found footprints everywhere in the snow and several human-shaped depressions in the snow.

Qian had been playing in the yard, her hair and face covered in snow, her clothes wet, and she had even made some strange shapes. She pointed to one of them, a round ball, and said, “I made a snowman for Dad!”

“And Little Dog!”

Wuxin looked at her, her hands bright red from the cold, her shoes wet, and quickly picked her up, carrying her back to the fire to change her clothes.

After listening to her excitedly chattering about what she had done, Wuxin followed up on her words and kept talking non-stop, causing the child to gradually zone out.

“…Your hands are frostbitten now. You don’t feel it, but in a while, they’ll become red and swollen, bigger than they are now, and they’ll itch…”

Sure enough, by night, the child was crying, holding her swollen, red hands.

Wuxin made medicine for Wen Chun while also preparing ointment to rub on Qian’s hands and feet.

His medicine worked well. The next day, Qian felt much better, so she thought she was fine.

She was caught playing in the snow again.

Qian proved that reasoning with a three-year-old was futile.

Even when she nodded repeatedly at his words, she still made mistakes.

Since she couldn’t be left alone, Wuxin had no choice but to take her out with him.

He took Qian to the market to buy things.

The market, where people lived, was far from the rural house they were staying at. Wuxin could travel back and forth quickly when alone, but with a child, it took much longer.

Qian obediently lay on Wuxin’s shoulder, waiting for him to buy the items.

As they passed a stall, Qian suddenly became animated, tugging on Wuxin’s collar to make him look.

“Dad, I want to buy this!”

The stall was full of colorful toys that children loved.

Qian looked around, eagerly grabbing the most eye-catching colorful ball. The ball had a little bell on it, and whenever it rolled or shook, it jingled.