Chapter 205: Raising a Little Zombie (Arc End)

When Xie Yun heard his father’s voice, he initially thought his father was complaining about how slowly he was brewing the tea.

Turning his head to explain, he noticed something was off with his father.

“Dad?”

Xie Hui waved him over, and Xie Yun instinctively put down what he was holding and walked over.

“Dad, are you feeling unwell? Let’s go see a doctor now.”

As he spoke, Xie Yun attempted to lift his father.

Since his father had grown older, Xie Yun insisted on moving to this place, which was just a few steps from the hospital.

“Yunyun, there’s no need to go to the hospital.”

Xie Hui firmly grasped his son’s hand, wiping away his tears with his other hand as he saw his son’s eyes turn red.

“I’m thinking of giving up the title of the nation’s longest-living elder next year to that old man who’s always been second.”

Xie Yun was too upset to form a complete sentence, only shaking his head repeatedly.

“Yunyun, I remember you love stargazing. After I’m gone, I’ll become a star in the sky, watching over you quietly when you feel lonely or bored.”

Finally calming down, Xie Yun choked out a response to this:

“Dad, that’s such a cliché. Even kids don’t believe that anymore.”

Hearing his son’s complaint, Xie Hui smiled helplessly.

“Then, does Little Zombie believe it?”

Kneeling beside the rocking chair, Xie Yun looked up at his father, nodding with teary eyes.

“I believe.”

“Good, Dad will always be watching over you.”

Xie Hui gently ruffled his son’s hair, just as he did when Yunyun was small. Then his hand fell, and he closed his eyes.

Xie Yun, who had been holding back his tears, finally let them flow freely.

…

Later, Xie Yun became the nation’s guardian. His unique identity and constitution allowed him to perform tasks more smoothly than others.

Before leaving, Xiao Li entrusted Ping An, a Mutated Beast with a long lifespan, to Yunyun, asking him to care for the companion who had been with him for so many years.

Xie Yun bid farewell to many comrades and never considered falling in love, perhaps because he didn’t want to experience losing someone he cared about again.

To him, the country was his love, and he was willing to dedicate his life to it.

Accompanying him were the lazy Fu Gui’er and the fierce Ping An.

When he missed his father, he would look up at the stars at night or visit the grave, bringing tools to brew a pot of tea and chat with his father.

With the last words of Professor Yu and Elder Li, combined with Xie Yun being the son of Dean Xie and his contributions to the country over the years, no one ever thought of experimenting on him.

As he aged, Xie Yun became increasingly silent, losing interest in many things, except for his unwavering love for the country.

Xie Yun was grateful to have something he could devote his entire life to without ever growing tired of it.

…

Back in the System Space, as Xie Hui sat down, the System approached, now slowly taking on a physical form. Holding two task cards, it smiled broadly and said:

“Host, which of these tasks would you like to tackle first? Both involve adults~”

The System had learned the Host’s habits, knowing he wouldn’t want to raise another child immediately after finishing one, needing time to process his feelings for the previous world.

“About the rewards from the last world…”

Before Xie Hui could finish, the System proudly lifted its chin.

“Host, I’ve already taken care of it for you when you returned!”

Seeing the System’s expectant look, Xie Hui was momentarily taken aback, then reached out to ruffle its hair, finding the texture pleasing.

“Have I given you a name yet?”

“No, Host.”

Initially, Xie Hui wasn’t fond of this artificial intelligence, but now he felt a bit of affection for it.

“Let’s call you Xiao Ze.”

“Alright, Host~ Which task shall we do next?”

As long as it didn’t involve something Xie Hui particularly disliked, he wasn’t picky about tasks, treating himself as an employee who just needed to complete the job and earn his reward.

“This one.”

Xie Hui casually picked the task card closest to him, and Xiao Ze brought in the Client.

As usual, Xie Hui pushed a cup of tea in front of him and listened to his story.

“I was once the Crown Prince, but I was falsely accused of treason. After a lifetime of striving, I only ended up paving the way for others. In the end, it was the child of the concubine I despised most who saved food for me every day while I was imprisoned.”

“Father Emperor said I shouldn’t have brought a courtesan into the palace, but if he hadn’t decreed it, I wouldn’t have done so!”

“Since Father Emperor never intended to pass the Imperial Throne to me and even falsely accused me of treason…”

After listening, Xie Hui felt this world was more complex than previous ones, with the power struggles of imperial authority being particularly taxing.

However, compared to tasks involving emotions, Xie Hui preferred these, as they were at least straightforward.

“If I could do it all over again, I want you to help raise that child so he can ascend the Imperial Throne when he grows up.”

“Father Emperor accused me of treason, so I’ll show him what real treason looks like.”

Xie Hui took a sip of tea and said:

“If that’s all, you could achieve it yourself by being reborn.”

Many things, if the person involved could return to the world to resolve, wouldn’t require taskers like them.

“Although I know Father Emperor’s affection was all an act, to truly harden my heart for treason…”

Hearing this, Xie Hui nodded and agreed to take on the task.

Yet another person ensnared by emotions, unable to complete the task themselves.

When burdened by emotions, most people, after thinking things through, make decisions completely opposite to their initial intentions.

“I hope you can imprison Father Emperor after the rebellion and let his favorite child accompany him. I want to see if their father-son bond remains unchanged in such circumstances!”

“Alright.”

Upon entering the task world, Xie Hui’s first sensation was a stinging in his eyes. As he gently rubbed them, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a servant entered, carrying a lamp.

“Your Highness, even if you must review these memorials, you should take care of your eyes.”

A brighter lamp was brought in, and the previous discomfort was instantly alleviated.

Xie Hui set down the writing brush in his hand, stood up, and walked over to the soft couch on the other side to sit down. Leaning his elbow on the tea table, the guard, understanding his mood, stepped forward and began massaging his eyes.

The Client’s resentment toward his father was not at all unjustified.

In this era, the country was somewhat unstable, and powerful families could even hold sway above imperial authority. The Client’s mother was the eldest daughter of the direct lineage of the Xie Family, a prominent noble house in the capital.

The current emperor, having married a woman from the Xie Family, ascended the throne with the support of such influential families. Yet, once he became emperor, his foremost thought was to eliminate these very families.

He held little affection for the Empress, a woman he was forced to marry. However, out of deference to her family’s influence, he dared not show her disrespect and even named her son as the Crown Prince.

On the surface, the Client’s position as Crown Prince seemed secure, but in reality, it was not. The Emperor favored the Sixth Prince, born of Consort Xian, far more.

In the Client’s memory, after he was falsely accused of treason and the Emperor, in a rage, placed him under house arrest, his maternal family showed no intention of helping him. Only a child he had never paid much attention to tried every day to think of ways to coax him into eating something.

At that time, everyone around him had been executed by the Emperor, and the eunuchs assigned to guard him were negligent in their care.

This kindness in a time of need left a deep impression on the Client. Now, his foremost wish was to take good care of that child, Xie Yan.

From Xie Hui’s perspective, the Client’s previous fear of arousing the Emperor’s suspicion, leading him to act with excessive caution, was entirely unnecessary.

Given the Client’s status, even if he were to eat plain congee with pickles every day, the Emperor would still suspect him of ulterior motives.

“A few days ago, when I visited my brother, I noticed his son seemed to have grown quite a bit…”

Guard Lu had been the Crown Prince’s study companion since childhood, sharing an unusual bond with him. After his own family fell into decline, he became the Crown Prince’s personal attendant, skilled at discerning his master’s thoughts.

“Your Highness, shall we enter the palace tomorrow to seek an audience with Her Majesty and ask her to select a Crown Princess for you?”

Xie Hui raised his hand, and Guard Lu stopped massaging and stepped aside.

“No need. I seem to recall, is there not also a child in the rear courtyard?”

That concubine had come into the picture when the Client was invited by the Sixth Prince to his residence to admire flowers. After drinking too much, he woke up to find a woman lying beside him. She was said to be a woman the Sixth Prince had brought back from a brothel.

Ordinarily, such an incident would have been trivial, but that time, the Emperor made a great show of bestowing that courtesan upon the Crown Prince as a concubine.

Feeling humiliated, the Client never went to see her, even after she was discovered to be pregnant shortly after entering the residence. When he heard she had died due to complications during childbirth, he found it inauspicious and, as a result, disliked the child she left behind even more.

Even when naming the child, he made his feelings clear by choosing only the character “Yan” (厌, meaning “dislike” or “aversion”).

“Your Highness, are you referring to… that one?”

Previously, Guard Lu and the others dared not mention the young lord, fearing it would upset His Highness. Today was indeed a rarity.