novelraw Chapter 549 - 488: I Love You
Chapter 549 - 488: I Love You
...
The banquet ended.
The Demon Clan army stationed outside the palace had been waiting for a long time.
A burly Demon General stepped forward. He looked surprised to see Sang Luo beside Quan Jin but didn’t ask any questions. He unfasted the chains on the wings of the Demon Beasts pulling the carriage and let the two of them board.
A faint incense burned inside the carriage. Seeing that Sang Luo was a little drowsy, Quan Jin pulled her into his arms and chuckled. "We still have a ways to go. Get some sleep first."
"Mmm~" Sang Luo snuggled against Quan Jin’s chest and shoulder. It had been a long time since she’d had him all to herself like this. Inhaling the pleasant scent from him, her mood turned gentle and sweet. "Jin, hold me tight!"
Quan Jin lowered his head and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. He lifted her by the waist and sat her in his lap. The carriage’s interior was luxurious and spacious, more than enough room for a little something "extra"... A long, slender, and bewitchingly beautiful Bone-covered Snake Tail slowly emerged, gently coiling around Sang Luo’s thighs and waist, trapping her completely in his embrace.
Inseparable and airtight.
Sang Luo loved being so tightly enveloped by him, body and soul. It gave her an indescribable sense of satisfaction!
She raised a hand to wrap around his elegant neck and leaned in to press a kiss against his cool, beautiful lips.
"Jin, I love you!"
Quan Jin’s cool, narrow violet eyes curved, revealing a doting smile. He reached out and gently pinched her cheek. "What’s gotten into Sangsang today? Suddenly saying such sweet things?"
"What? You don’t like hearing it?" Sang Luo puffed up her cheeks.
He looked at her and smiled gently. "I do."
’It just gets me all worked up,’ he thought. ’Makes me want to get handsy... and tailsy... and do other intimate things. But we’re outside, so I have to endure it!’
Sang Luo took another deep breath of Quan Jin’s increasingly bewitching scent. "You and the children are all so important to me. You’re an inseparable part of my life, and I don’t want to lose any of you... Jin, being able to have you, Little Qi, and the others again is one of the luckiest and happiest things that has ever happened to me. So, this isn’t just sweet talk—it’s from the bottom of my heart!"
"I love you."
Sang Luo looked up at him and repeated those three precious words.
How could Quan Jin possibly hold back any longer! He wrapped his arms tightly around her and lowered his head for a lingering, passionate kiss.
Endless affection... a wet, silken entanglement...
An unknown amount of time passed before Quan Jin could bear to let her go. His eyes were filled with a drowning depth of emotion.
"The same is true for me."
Back then, the only reason he had a chance to come back from the dead was because of his bone-deep yearning for her and the children.
’If he were truly gone, what would happen to the children? How could a fragile, helpless woman like her survive?’
Fortunately, after all the hardships, his wish had been granted.
Being able to watch over her and the children for the rest of his life was the greatest happiness he could ask for.
Sang Luo had gone quiet in his arms. When Quan Jin looked down, he saw she had drowsily fallen asleep.
’Heh~ She really is carefree.’
Quan Jin took off his outer robe and draped it over her. He lifted the curtain and took one last look in the direction of the Ghost Domain as it grew ever more distant...
Eighteen winged Demon Beasts pulled the magnificent, ornate carriage across the sky, leaving long, brilliant trails of light like shooting stars. They plunged into the Gate that straddled heaven and earth, and then vanished from sight.
...
When Sang Luo woke up and opened her eyes, she found she was back in the Demon Palace in the Void Demon Realm.
Quan Jin was nowhere to be seen. She figured he must have left to attend to some matters.
A small, dark-haired boy who looked to be five or six years old was sitting at a small table by the bed, his head bowed as he wrote something. Hearing a sound from the bed, he looked up, put down his pen, and called out shyly, "Mother."
"Mother’s little Little Treasure, it’s been so long! Come here and let Mother give you a hug~"
Sang Luo smiled and beckoned to him.
Little Treasure blinked, a smile spreading across his small face. He rubbed his eyes and threw himself into her arms, saying affectionately, "Little Treasure! I missed Mother a lot too!"
Sang Luo stroked his soft hair. It was much shorter than before, barely reaching his shoulders. From a distance, he looked like a pretty little girl. "Didn’t you grow up before? How did you shrink again?"
"Little Treasure doesn’t have a fixed growth period. My body’s development changes based on the energy I absorb. Daddy extracted the impure energy from my body, so I changed back." Little Treasure snuggled in Sang Luo’s embrace, then looked up at her and said softly, "Mother, I’m sorry."
Seeing the child’s big, glistening eyes looking so wronged they were about to overflow with tears, Sang Luo was torn between laughter and tears herself. "Mother has never blamed you. There, there, don’t cry. You’ll only make me feel worse!"
Little Treasure rubbed his eyes and quickly held back his tears, promising, "I’ll never, ever do that again!"
"Mm, Mother believes you."
Sang Luo was only saying it casually. She believed Little Treasure could control his Demonic Qi, but even if it erupted again, she wouldn’t blame him. She knew it wasn’t what he wanted.
She just never expected that her son’s personality would be even more single-minded than his father’s. He had carved a Curse Seal into his own body; if he ever acted to harm his family, he would suffer a backlash from the Demonic Qi and essentially kill himself.
Of course, that was a story for another time. Sang Luo would later have Quan Jin help remove the Curse Seal from Little Treasure.
"Tonight, Little Treasure wants Mother to hold him while he sleeps!" he said coaxingly.
"Mother~"
Little Qi and Little Yuan came over. The two little ones had overheard the conversation and said unhappily, "We want Mother to hold us while we sleep, too! Mother can’t play favorites!"
"Mother’s love for all of you is the same. Come on. Your dad isn’t coming back tonight anyway, so it’s just right for Mother to sleep in one bed with her three little treasures."
Quan Jin, who had just reached the door of the hall and was about to push it open: "..."
’Alright, then. So I’m just an afterthought.’
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He happened to have some official business left to deal with anyway, and it had been a long time since the mother and her children had been reunited. So, he decided to return to his study for the night.
After staying in the Demon Palace for a few days, Sang Luo thought about making a trip back to Zhoufang City. She still hadn’t had a chance to tell Zhi Xin about the Rakshasa King. It was too complicated to explain in a letter; she had to tell her in person.
"My dears, do you want to go play with Sister Zhi Xin? She’s made lots of pretty little clothes for you," Sang Luo said with a smile.
Even the usually cool and aloof Little Yuan nodded happily. "Yeah, I like Sister Zhi Xin. The clothes she makes are very pretty!"
During the few hundred years their mother was away, aside from their father and uncles, Zhi Xin was the one who cared for them the most, often making them many beautiful little outfits.
After telling Quan Jin, Sang Luo took the three children to the North Continent to have some fun.
Lanxin still had a mountain of affairs to handle in Zhoufang City and had only just returned after a few days’ stay in Qingqiu. She was ecstatic to see Sang Luo arrive with Little Qi and the others, so much so that she completely ignored her work and ordered her people to prepare an extravagant feast.
After dinner, once the three children were asleep, Sang Luo called Zhi Xin into the study alone.
Zhi Xin had a good idea of what her mother wanted to tell her.
After Sang Luo told her the true identity of the man who had saved her back then, and explained the relationship between the Rakshasa King and Lan Cang, Lanxin found it both expected and unexpected.
After taking a moment to process it, Lanxin’s emotions were relatively calm. "No matter what, knowing that Dad’s soul is safe is enough."
"Your father’s early death was likely related to the Rakshasa King’s awakening. He forcibly recalled that soul fragment."
"Mmm..." Lanxin nodded, her voice subdued. "Dad was just a soul fragment of that Ghost King. He... was fated to go down this path. It wouldn’t have made a difference whether it happened sooner or later."
She understood perfectly well in her heart. Her father was gone for good. That other being had no connection to them, not even a biological one. She was quite clear-headed about it.