novelraw Chapter 587 - 526: Help Me Raise My Child
Chapter 587 - 526: Help Me Raise My Child
In the magnificent and opulent palace, the floor was covered with precious jewels, gold, Crystal Stones, and silks... all plundered from various realms. The Young Master loved these shiny things, and her favorite pastime was sleeping and crawling around in the piles of treasure.
Sha would usually just lie on the ground himself, using the precious silks as a makeshift bed.
He pillowed his head on one hand, one long leg bent. With his eyes closed, he appeared to be asleep.
After a short while, the little baby girl lying beside him opened her large, jewel-like eyes. She glanced at her daddy, then began to scramble toward the door.
She accidentally rolled into a corner and got stuck. A slender black tail coiled around her chubby little body and pulled her back into his embrace.
A deep, magnetic voice, as smooth as a cello, murmured,
"Go to sleep."
Little Tong pouted. ’Being with Daddy is so boring! He never lets me go anywhere! I’ve never even left the Royal Palace!’
Resigned to her fate, she snuggled back into Sha’s arms, closed her eyes, and obediently went to sleep.
But suddenly, her daddy sat up.
Little Tong opened her eyes in a daze, her voice small and sweet. "Daddy~"
Sha scooped her into his arms and walked toward the door. "Do you want to go see your mother?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yes!"
...
「North Continent.」
Ice-breaking City had been under Lanxuan’s management for many years. Lan Cang trusted his eldest son, and under his care, the city had become even more prosperous than it was a century ago.
Having toiled for half his life, he had finally earned his leisure and no longer concerned himself with such troublesome matters.
Lan Cang had originally planned to move elsewhere, but he couldn’t refuse his eldest son’s desperate pleas for him to stay. He had also grown attached to the City Lord Mansion after living there for so many years, so he remained. In his spare time, he would occasionally help his son with more difficult official business, leading a peaceful and carefree life.
One day, Lan Cang had just returned from running an errand when he saw a tall figure in black standing by the window. He stopped in his tracks, instantly on guard.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was the one who granted you a new life, after all. There’s no need to be such a stranger," Sha said, turning to smile at him while holding a sleeping child.
Lan Cang’s gaze swept over the small child before he said calmly, "It was Luoluo who gave me this new life, and she paid the price for that bargain. She is the only one I will ever thank. Rakshasa King, state your purpose. Don’t beat around the bush."
"Do me a favor." Sha was in no mood for pleasantries.
Lan Cang frowned, his gaze turning cold. "I won’t help you."
"Do you know the consequences of defying me? I can just as easily control you by force!"
As Sha’s voice faded, Lan Cang’s eyes went vacant for a moment before returning to normal. His face, however, had turned pale.
He raised a hand, which sharpened into claws, and held it to his chest. His voice was bone-chillingly cold.
"If you want to take this life of mine, you won’t have to lift a finger. But if you intend to use me to threaten Luoluo, I will not help you, even in death!"
"Babysit for me."
"?"
Now it was Lan Cang’s turn to be speechless. He stared at Sha in astonishment, wondering if he had misheard.
Sha pushed away the hand Lan Cang was about to use to kill himself. "I’m keeping that life of yours," he said unhurriedly. "Heh. She is my child’s mother, after all. Why would I harm her? I simply have matters to attend to and wanted to ask you to look after my child for a few days. Why get so worked up?"
Lan Cang hesitated for a few seconds before taking the child from Sha’s arms.
Looking at the baby’s adorable, pretty face, still chubby with baby fat, the corners of his own lips softened.
"Alright."
Sha tossed Lan Cang a Qiankun Bag containing the child’s food, clothing, and other necessities, then departed.
...
Sang Luo had been living in the Phoenix Palace for the past few months. It was currently the hour of the morning court assembly. She had just woken up, freshened up, and eaten breakfast when she saw Lan Cang arrive.
She greeted him with a smile. "Cangcang~"
When she caught sight of the small baby in his arms, she looked surprised. "This is..."
"Sha’s child," Lan Cang explained. "A very cute little girl. You haven’t met her yet, have you?"
Sang Luo snapped out of her daze and concealed the sorrow in her eyes. She hummed softly in acknowledgment. "Why did he send the child here?"
"Mommy~"
Sensing a familiar, comforting presence, the little baby girl in Lan Cang’s arms awoke.
The instant she opened her mismatched blue and red eyes, they radiated an overwhelming, oppressive power—the pressure a supreme bloodline exerts upon all creation as if they were mere ants!
But in the next blink, her eyes became clear and innocent. Her round pupils were like the purest gems in the world, breathtakingly beautiful.
Sang Luo hadn’t missed the wave of pressure the child had just emitted. It had been enough to make her knees go weak; a suppressive force she had only ever felt when facing an enraged Sha.
Sha was normally able to conceal his aura perfectly, but this child, having been born so recently, had not yet learned how to rein it in.
"It’s her true body!" This was what truly shocked her.
This child possessed the bloodline of a World Soul, born with the responsibility of being the Guardian of the Ghost Domain. Her true body should not have been able to leave the Ghost Domain.
Unless... Sha stayed behind to take his daughter’s place as Guardian of the Ghost Domain.
That way, the child would not suffer the same fate and would be free.
Lan Cang had clearly reached the same conclusion. He nodded grimly. "The Sha who came today was a clone."
’I thought he so desperately wanted an heir to use as a tool—a way to escape his predicament. The child could both extend his life and take his place as Guardian of the Ghost Domain. If he, with all his power, were to gain his freedom, with this final restraint gone, no one in the world would be his match. He could do whatever he wanted without any scruples.’ Sang Luo did not say these words in front of the child, instead communicating with Lan Cang through their Divine Souls.
Lan Cang fell silent. He couldn’t fathom the real Sha’s thoughts. But given Sha’s vile nature of exploiting everything to its fullest potential, he probably did intend to do that at first. ’But... why didn’t he?’ Lan Cang looked at the bewildered Sang Luo. ’Sometimes, the answer is right in front of your eyes.’
"When is he coming to get the child?" Sang Luo asked.
Lan Cang shook his head. "He didn’t say. He only said that he has things to attend to and asked me to look after the child for a while."
Sang Luo was inwardly speechless. She had a pretty good idea what scheme Sha was hatching.
’How shameless! Using their child to play the emotional card!’
Just then, Fei Yuan returned from the morning court assembly and overheard their conversation. His eyes lit up as he looked at the fair, soft, beautiful little girl in Lan Cang’s arms. He was absolutely smitten!
He reached out a long, elegant finger and gently tickled her little cheek, cooing, "She’s so cute~ Let her stay! I can help raise her too!"
"The two of you are more eager than I am," Sang Luo said with resigned helplessness. She turned to Lan Cang. "Has Sha given her a name?"
"He didn’t tell me her full name, only that she’s called Little Tong."
Little Tong, with a small finger in her mouth, blinked her big eyes. Her long, thick lashes fluttered like a butterfly’s wings as she said in her small, sweet voice, "Mommy~ I’m hungry."
Sang Luo took the child into her arms and asked gently, "What would you like to eat?"
Lan Cang produced the Qiankun Bag. "This is from Sha. Everything the child needs to eat and use is in here."
Sang Luo opened it and saw it was stuffed full. Her expression darkened further. ’It looks like he’s planning to dump the child on me for good!’