Chapter 149: Buddhist Disciple 9

The colorful ball with the little bell rolled across the bed, attracting the attention of “Little Dog Cub.”

His golden eyes followed the rolling ball, and Qian, sitting beside him with her feet propped up, pushed the ball towards him, causing it to bump into his sharp little nose.

His furry paws reached out to the ball, swiping at the small bell on it. The jingling sound clearly caught his interest, and gradually, both of his paws climbed onto it.

His body was about the same size as the ball, and when he couldn’t grip it, the ball rolled away, causing him to lose balance and fall over.

Qian played with the ball together with him. To be precise, she was playing with both the ball and Little Dog.

She picked up Little Dog Cub, who had been pawing at the ball, and placed him on top of the ball, watching him roll across the blanket and end up on his back with his four paws in the air.

Little Dog Cub barked loudly, and she giggled.

Playing with a ball wasn’t as easy for Little Dog, given his size. So, back and forth, the ball was always snatched away by Qian. Despite being only a few days old, the little guy showed a ferocious side. After Qian took the ball from him again, he suddenly lunged at her and bit her—on her clothes.

Qian reached out to grab his mouth and told him, “Little Dog can’t bite people.”

“Little Dog bites people, you’ll get a shot.”

Poor Little Dog Cub’s mouth was tightly gripped, and he couldn’t open it no matter how hard he tried. Qian leaned in close to his ear and spoke into it, using his ear as a microphone, her voice ringing loudly in his ear.

In such a “harsh” environment, Little Dog Cub, struggling desperately, went through his first transformation in his life.

He changed from a red-furred Little Dog to a baby.

He lay on Qian’s legs, pale and slender, with short hair on his head like seaweed, two golden beads for eyes embedded in his little face, and despite his young age, he had a lively, displeased expression.

Qian looked at Little Dog Cub’s drastic transformation and wasn’t surprised. After all, her life had been full of strange and bizarre scenes.

She just stared at the little face, looking at it over and over, feeling that it seemed familiar, and her expression gradually turned to one of surprise.

Wuxin was outside, still preparing medicine, but when he heard the sound of the child crawling off the bed and then running out, she came to him and said, “Dad, look!”

She came over, holding a red-haired baby just like she had been holding Little Dog Cub earlier, the naked child struggling in her arms.

Qian couldn’t hold him properly and almost dropped him onto the ground.

She had always held her younger siblings like this in the Aberrant world, and she was used to it, never thinking there was anything wrong.

Wuxin: “…”

Karma, karma.

When Little Red was still a puppy, Qian liked him a lot, holding him to play and sleep. But now that he had become a baby, Qian still often looked at his face, hugging and dragging him around—when she got tired of hugging, she simply dragged him.

For this, Wuxin had tried to reason with Qian several times, but she never changed her habit of treating Little Red as a toy.

It was then that Wuxin realized that children don’t always behave well, and not all bad habits could be corrected. Even though he was the renowned Buddhist Disciple Wuxin, he couldn’t change everything.

Fortunately, as a half-blooded Heavenly Demon, as long as Little Red survived, he was tough enough to survive.

At least, he wouldn’t be killed by a three-year-old child.

Moreover, the child’s mother, Wen Chun, had finally woken up, and with the mother around, it was much more reassuring.

Wuxin returned with the medicine bowl, but when he entered and saw the scene on the bed, he paused, realizing that he couldn’t let his guard down so easily.

Wen Chun, who had just woken up, was holding a dagger in her hand, cradling her child while shaving the baby’s hair. For some reason, she allowed Qian to stand by with a pair of scissors, haphazardly cutting the baby’s newborn hair.

If not for the struggling sounds and the child’s flushed face, the scene could almost be described as harmonious, with the older and younger working together.

It was customary for Enchantress Demons to shave the baby’s hair after birth.

After waking up, Wen Chun, in her joy at seeing her child, remembered the teachings of the elders and rushed to do the task with the dagger.

Though she loved her child dearly, the problem was that she was still very young and this was her first time being a mother.

No matter how much she loved the child, she was clumsy and inexperienced, and in her rush, the baby’s skin was scraped, and then (the future) troublemaker daughter began to tug at his hair with scissors, causing him pain. The child immediately let out his first loud cry since birth.

It was Wuxin who saved him in the end, wrapping him in a blanket and taking him to the side to tend to his small wounds.

Then, looking at the scattered baby hair on his head, Wuxin went ahead and shaved off the rest of his hair as well.

Wen Chun didn’t dare approach, standing by the door and watching, relieved after a while, and smiling in gratitude. “Venerable Master, you’re so good at shaving heads. Much better than me.”

Qian also held onto her leg and nodded, shouting, “Dad is so amazing!”

That night, Qian snuggled up beside Wen Chun, watching as she gently stroked the baby’s back.

Qian tugged at Wen Chun’s clothes and whispered, “Aren’t you really my dad?”

Wen Chun was puzzled. “Why do you think I’m your dad? I’m a woman.”

Qian replied, “But you look so much like my dad.”

Wen Chun was even more puzzled. “I don’t look like Venerable Master.”

Qian said, “Little Red looks like him too.”

Wuxin didn’t know what Qian had discussed that night when she insisted on squeezing into her bed. He only knew that the next morning, Wen Chun started calling her child “Little Red,” as if she had accepted the nickname Qian had casually given him.

The formal name “Hua You Nong” hadn’t been used since it was chosen.

Wen Chun was still very afraid of Wuxin, maintaining an attitude of reverence towards him, while she was very fond of Qian.

As an Enchantress Demon, who was born with a maternal instinct and loved children, and since Qian was very close to her, Wen Chun would often sleep with both Qian and her child in her arms.

Wen Chun was still weak after waking up, only able to rest in bed, relying on Wuxin’s medicine to keep her alive. Wuxin had not mentioned leaving, and Qian had forgotten what he said about going somewhere, so she was content to stay there.

Every day, she played with Little Red.

The half-blooded Heavenly Demon was different from an ordinary human child. He could open his eyes, grasp things, crawl, and roll over shortly after birth. Not only could he perform many actions, but he was also smarter and more prone to anger than regular children.

It was easy to foresee that when he grew up, his temper would likely be difficult to control.

Little Red’s fur grew quickly, and in just a few days, a patch of fluffy hair sprouted on his bald little head, which felt strangely soft to the touch.

Every day, Qian would pat Little Red’s head and then compare it to Venerable Master’s head, checking the difference in texture.

Before they knew it, winter was coming to an end. The early peach tree in the farmer’s yard had begun to bud, revealing a hint of red.

Wen Chun had fully recovered. She no longer fumbled with the baby like she did in the beginning, and under Master Wuxin’s guidance, she was learning how to be a mother with great success.

Over this time, she had grown less fearful of Master Wuxin and was finally able to speak to him occasionally.

One day, she came to bid farewell to Master Wuxin, holding the child in her arms.

She had fled to the Mortal Realm to give birth, but since her child was half Heavenly Demon, he was more suited to the Demon Realm. She couldn’t stay here forever and needed to figure out how to take him to a suitable place near the Demon Realm’s border to live.

Wuxin wasn’t surprised by her departure. He nodded, acknowledging her decision, neither engaging in small talk nor trying to keep her, remaining calm as ever.

However, when Qian found out that Wen Chun and Little Red were leaving, she had a big reaction.

At first, she told Wuxin that she wanted to go with them, but after being refused, she covered her ears and refused to listen to Venerable Master’s reasoning, running to her room and covering her head with a blanket, refusing to eat dinner.

The next day, Wen Chun discovered that Little Red was missing, and Qian was also gone.

Wuxin wasn’t surprised. He sighed in resignation. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring her back.”

Early in the morning, Qian had quietly taken the baby and hidden in an alley between two nearby farmhouses.

She crouched down at the base of the wall, holding the displeased Little Red in her arms.

“Don’t make a sound, or you’ll have to leave!” Qian had sneaked out, not forgetting to bring her favorite toy, the colorful ball.

Little Red shook the ball in his hands, and Qian grabbed his hand. “No shaking, or we’ll get caught!”

Little Red puffed up his cheeks and made a noise, spitting out some saliva.

Qian pinched his cheek. “No spitting.”

Little Red opened his mouth and bit her hand. The two of them were used to playing like this, but as Little Red grew, he became fiercer, and his little teeth were starting to hurt her hand.

Qian wasn’t going to back down either. She stared at Little Red’s face, which was becoming more familiar with each day, and bit his arm in return.

Little Red’s golden eyes stared at her, and then he suddenly started crying loudly, signaling their location to Wuxin.

Wuxin stood at the entrance of the alley, looking at the crying child who had been bitten and then at the guilty-looking child who had clearly been caught doing something bad.

Qian hadn’t expected to be found so quickly. She immediately hugged Little Red tighter and quickly ran to the other side of the alley.

She held the baby and dashed into the nearby reed bush, using the large leaves to cover her body.

The child in her arms didn’t understand what was happening. He held the colorful ball, intently watching the little bell on it.

Wuxin’s cloth shoes appeared in front of Qian.

“Qian, come out.” He said.

Qian pouted and shouted, “I don’t want to.”

Wuxin parted the reeds and crouched down in front of her. “Give the child back to Wen Chun. They have to leave.”

Qian’s tears flowed out at once. She clung to the baby as if he were her most beloved toy, refusing to let go, and kept saying, “We’ll take him with us. We’ll take him with us!”

“I know you don’t want to let go, Qian, but he has his own fate to follow, and so do you.”

If they stayed here, there would be no future.

Despite the child’s cries, despite Qian’s heart-wrenching sobs, Wuxin still managed to hold her and bring her out. The golden-eyed, red-haired child was returned to his mother’s arms.

Wen Chun was leaving, and Wuxin wasn’t planning to stay here any longer. He put on his conical hat, grabbed his staff, and left with Qian.

They walked in two different directions.

After walking for a long way, Wen Chun felt like she could still hear Qian’s cries fading away in the distance.

She held the child in her arms, walking toward the Demon Realm.

The child held the colorful ball, the toy Qian had left for him. But he was still too young to remember the companion who had been with him at birth. All he knew was that his favorite toy as a child was a colorful ball.

He lay on his mother’s shoulder and glanced at the direction where the cries were fading away.

He fell asleep in his mother’s arms.