Chapter 26: Big and Little Babies Look for Daddy Together

The result of the demonic sect higher-ups gathering to discuss was that the Left Protector would accompany the Sect Leader to Xiling Mountain.

Meng Baixu had originally wanted to go by himself. After all, it was only a dream he had in the unseen world. He did not know where Meng Fuguang was, nor did he know how long he would have to search outside.

But the Left Protector’s sentence, “You haven’t seen your father before,” blocked all his words.

Oh.

He had never seen his father.

“Could this sect leader possibly find some other father and bring him back?” Meng Baixu stubbornly muttered under his breath.

Who would dare impersonate the demonic sect leader? His father’s old subordinates were all still alive and well.

He knew the Left Protector was right. If he encountered Meng Fuguang in an unconscious state, and there were no other distinctive traits, he truly would not recognize him.

The person accompanying him could only be the Left Protector. He Shangxian had to take care of the children, Shi Wumi had only just come out of seclusion and had not recovered his full cultivation, and Liu Xishi was even less reliable—he had gone undercover with the Sect Leader and helped the Sect Leader come back carrying a child.

The cautious and thorough Left Protector looked around and discovered that there was no one behind him. He immediately felt the burden on his shoulders become heavy.

Meng Baixu pushed open the door and saw the pair of little cubs obediently gathered around the flour basin, kneading dough with all the strength they used for drinking milk.

The little cubs’ faces, clothes, and hair were all covered in sticky dough paste. It had been left from when they were secretly eavesdropping earlier and pushing and pulling at each other’s cheeks.

Meng Baixu crouched down in amusement, reached out, and wiped their faces. He said gently, “Did you use too much force and fall into the basin?”

The basin was bigger than their bodies. It was normal to fall in.

Wowo and Nangnang said nothing and only nodded heavily.

Meng Baixu used a cleansing spell to restore the two little cubs to clean whiteness, then kissed their little cheeks one by one.

“I’ll make buns with you. We’ll fill them with red bean paste.”

Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang happily patted their faces, dirtying their freshly cleaned cheeks again.

Meng Baixu checked, “Have you learned the cleansing spell from the Great Elder yet?”

Meng Wowo nodded.

Meng Nangnang shook his head.

So Meng Wowo also shook his head.

Meng Baixu: “…”

Was the Great Elder’s teaching this unbalanced?

“I’m going on a long trip to buy food. You have to stay home and listen to Elder Grandpa.”

Meng Nangnang said, “Baby will listen!”

Meng Wowo said, “Wowo will listen!”

Meng Baixu looked at this pair of young cubs. He did not know whether Wowo and Nangnang would cry, but this was his first time leaving the children, and he was a little reluctant to part with them.

He propped up his chin and thought, Wowo and Nangnang were still too young. Otherwise, he could ask them what it felt like to have a father.

If he saw Meng Fuguang, how should he speak to him?

No one had taught him this kind of experience.

Immediately after, he thought that Wowo and Nangnang had also never seen “one father.” When they met by chance in the future, the father and sons would have the same confusion.

This sect leader would go explore the path first. When he returned, he would tell them how to recognize a “strange” father.

Meng Baixu reached out and rubbed the two little cubs’ cheeks like he was rolling tangyuan.

“So cute, babies.”

If Wen Tingshu saw them, would he not immediately abdicate and give way to the worthy, then sneak down the mountain in disgrace to build another Hengxue Sect from scratch?

Wowo and Nangnang obediently lifted their heads for Daddy to rub, tightly closing their eyes.

The next day, Meng Baixu took the two cubs out for a stroll, wanting to exhaust their energy until they only wanted to sleep. That way, when he left, they would not make a fuss about following.

Cultivators did not care about whether they traveled morning or night. In any case, riding a sword made going anywhere very fast.

He still brought the cubs to the same forest from last time, but this time, no unlucky cultivator ran into his hands.

Meng Baixu found a hundred-year-old banyan tree. Its trunk was as wide as both arms spread open, just right for blocking the wind. He dug a pit under the tree and roasted sweet potatoes.

Perhaps because Wen Tingshu was used to waiting for him under the viburnum tree, he had also grown to like being under trees.

“Babies can’t play with fire. Sit farther away.”

Meng Baixu puffed up his cheeks and blew at the flames. Wowo and Nangnang also puffed up their cheeks and blew randomly at the air.

After the charcoal took shape, Meng Baixu threw in three sweet potatoes of roughly the same size and covered them with coals.

Suddenly, from the banyan tree, a fledgling with undeveloped wings fell with a flutter. It might not have stood firmly, or it might have been pushed out of the nest.

Its landing spot happened to be right beside Meng Wowo. Meng Wowo’s attention was immediately drawn to it. Seeing the fledgling struggling on the ground, he clutched his clothes with both little hands.

“Little bird fell down.”

Was little bird hungry? Did it want to come down and eat sweet potato?

Meng Wowo’s saintly-father attribute exploded. “We’ll give little bird sweet potato and send little bird home.”

Meng Baixu side-eyed him.

Do I look like I understand birds?

Please. We are three demons, born to bring disaster to the cultivation world. Only Wen Tingshu does things like saving living creatures.

Seeing Daddy not move, Meng Wowo quietly crouched there, his black grape-like eyes pleading at him.

Meng Nangnang immediately remembered the taste of roasted chicken wings from Uncle Shi Wumi and said, “Baby wants to roast little bird and eat it!”

Hearing this, Meng Baixu looked at Meng Nangnang with approval. That was right. He was born material for a demon. Meng Nangnang was more suitable to go to the Hengxue Sect and torment Wen Tingshu.

The corner of his mouth had only just hooked up slightly when, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw reddening eyes.

Not good!

Meng Wowo’s nose was slightly red. “But little bird’s daddy is waiting for it at home.”

Meng Nangnang also realized something was wrong. He could not tell the difference between chicken wings and little birds, nor which one could not be eaten, but he listened to Wowo-gege. He quickly wiped away his drool and said seriously, “Little bird’s daddy is waiting for it at home. Can’t eat.”

Meng Wowo said, “Little bird is so pitiful.”

Meng Nangnang also said from the heart, “So pitiful.”

Meng Baixu: “…”

No, Meng Nangnang, you natural little demon, can’t you beat that little saintly father?

The Sect Leader was somewhat dissatisfied. This felt like he could not beat Wen Tingshu.

That was not the case. This sect leader had always had the righteous path leader firmly in his grasp.

Being stared at by two pleading gazes, Meng Baixu reluctantly said, “Fine. I’ll send the little bird home.”

Meng Wowo said, “Wowo’s sweet potato is for it.”

Meng Baixu asked, “You’re not eating?”

Meng Nangnang immediately followed, “Baby’s sweet potato is also for little bird.”

Meng Baixu: “…”

Understood. Those close to white become white.

By probability, at least one of the two should have been a demon, but Meng Wowo had led Meng Nangnang completely good.

The demonic sect leader was incompetently furious, because he could not separate the two cubs and raise them apart.

The sweet potatoes were cooked. The two little demons became obsessed with feeding the bird, wishing they could climb up the tree and feed the whole nest of chirping fledglings too.

Meng Baixu looked at this scene and changed his mind.

“This little bird is too fragile and can’t grab food. Let’s take it home and raise it.”

Raising a bird could distract Wowo and Nangnang from the fact that their biological father was not home.

Meng Wowo looked at Sect Leader Daddy with worship. His big eyes were round and bright, as if Daddy were the most powerful savior.

Meng Baixu felt slightly floaty from being looked at.

So this was why the righteous path sought fame and reputation. As long as you showed someone kindness, you could exchange it for tearful gratitude.

No wonder everyone liked doing good deeds… Pah.

After bringing the little bird home, Meng Baixu soaked an immortal pill in water and gave it to drink. Then he took the two cubs and built a little nest for the bird. By the time they finished bustling around, most of the day had passed. Wowo and Nangnang were also tired. They quietly ate naan while looking at the result of the day’s work.

Meng Baixu said, “Babies, I’m going somewhere far away to buy you the most delicious naan. It will be ten thousand times better than the one in your hands! You two stay obediently at home and raise the little bird.”

Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang stopped eating naan and looked at the naan, as if thinking about how delicious a naan even better than this could be.

“Okay, oh!”

The Left Protector had packed the luggage and placed it in a qiankun pouch. He stood at the door waiting for him.

Meng Baixu took Fengxing Sword and followed.

As soon as Daddy left, the two little cubs immediately leaned together and whispered.

“Daddy went to Hengxue Mountain.”

“Daddy went to find Wen Tingshu!”

They did not know who Wen Tingshu was, but they often heard his name from Elder Grandpa’s mouth. He must be someone who cooked very delicious food.

The two little cubs licked the corners of their mouths. A few white sesame seeds stuck to their baby-fat cheeks, teetering because the curves of their cheeks were too round.

He Shangxian came to take over caring for the children. He noticed there was an extra birdcage hanging overhead and stood under the cage to watch the children.

The Left Protector had told him to enlighten the saint children more, teach them to read and write, saying that there were truly too few people in the demonic sect who read books. That was why one after another, they delivered themselves as vegetables to the righteous path.

The saint children had to be trained into first-rate scholars so they would not be deceived by the so-called immortal bearing, heroic courage, gentle manners, and respectful restraint of righteous path heroes.

“Tsk. If you want me to pressure children into studying, just say that. What kind of words are those?”

He Shangxian opened a copy of the Three Character Classic. The first line was “At the beginning, human nature is good.” What was there to read in this book?

He switched to a copy of Mencius. The surname Meng was more pleasing to the eye.

Pat.

A drop of bird poop suddenly fell from above and happened to land on the back of his hand.

Meng Wowo said, “Wu, Wowo will help Grandpa wipe it!”

He picked up a piece of clothing and wiped Grandpa’s hand. It was clean at once.

What a thoughtful saint baby.

He Shangxian felt a peaceful comfort of raising children to care for him in old age.

Meng Nangnang put down his flatbread and crawled over, looking at him eagerly. “Baby also wants to help Grandpa wipe.”

He Shangxian said, “It’s already wiped clean.”

Meng Nangnang became anxious. “Gege wiped it. Baby hasn’t helped Grandpa wipe yet.”

He Shangxian: “…………”

Did wiping bird poop also have to be one turn per person?

The Sect Leader had only just left, and He Shangxian was afraid of upsetting these two little ancestors. If they cried and thought of Daddy, they would be even harder to coax.

“How about this, Nangnang, wait a bit. We’ll wait for the little bird to poop next time, and then you can wipe it.”

Meng Nangnang said, “Okay, oh.”

Thus, the grandparent and two grandchildren did not read. They waited for a little bird to drop something onto He Shangxian’s hand.

At night, He Shangxian moved a new bed into the Sect Leader’s room to guard the hope of the demonic sect.

On the first day Sect Leader Daddy was away, the two little cubs obediently climbed into bed, covered themselves with Daddy’s blanket, and hugged each other to sleep, their cheeks and breaths pressed tightly together.

“So obedient.”

He Shangxian meditated on the caregiver bed nearby. After a while, he felt the two cubs’ breathing was wrong. He walked over and lifted the blanket to look, meeting four tearful eyes.

Wowo and Nangnang were not asleep. In the blanket, they held their breath and silently cried, hugging each other into a ball. Their tears had flowed onto each other’s faces. Who had infected whom was unknown. In any case, they were extremely pitiful.

When He Shangxian was young and had not yet undergone bigu, he went up the mountain to hunt. That day, he chased a wolf until he was exhausted. The wolf ran terribly fast. On his way back, he saw a wolf den. Inside were two unweaned wolf cubs, nestled together timidly, looking outside with little probing heads, waiting for the mother wolf to return.

Even someone as wicked as He Shangxian thought of the line: “The children wait in the nest for their mother’s return.”

That was the moment when his heart had been most compassionate. After returning, he diligently cultivated and underwent bigu.

The compassion from that moment returned doubled.

He Shangxian could contact the Sect Leader at any time and ask him to come back, saying the children were crying.

But searching for the former Sect Leader was also a top priority.

Ah, their Sect Leader was only twenty-something, yet he already had an elder above and children below.

Thinking of the Sect Leader who had grown up beside him without a father, He Shangxian felt that he was especially fragile tonight.

At his age, he simply could not withstand this. Meng Baixu had not cried much when he was little. Facing two little cubs who silently shed tears and did not make a fuss demanding Daddy made it even more heartbreaking. Helpless, He Shangxian quickly shook Liu Xishi and Shi Wumi over.

Liu Xishi and Shi Wumi also treated it like facing a great enemy. This was only the first day, and the Sect Leader had not given an exact time for his return.

Shi Wumi only knew how to play with children. “I don’t know how to coax them.”

Liu Xishi started offering terrible ideas in a panic. “How about… how about sending them to Hengxue Mountain?”

They had been calling themselves uncles, gege, and grandpas. These were Wen Tingshu’s cubs. He must have a way to coax them.

Shi Wumi said disdainfully, “You’re defecting from darkness to light again.”

He Shangxian felt the most heartache for the cubs and actually started considering this possibility. “How about… one of you send them over?”

They could avoid saying these were little demons. The Fuguang Sect still had some undercover agents in the righteous path. They could completely fabricate a bright and honorable identity for Wowo and Nangnang and say their parents had gone out to uphold justice, so the cubs were placed on Hengxue Mountain to be fostered for a while.

One-and-a-half-year-old late Golden Core cubs like these, in the eyes of cultivation people who generally did not have children, would absolutely be fought over.

“Liu Xishi, you’re familiar with the road. You go…”

Liu Xishi shook his head. “I’m on Hengxue Mountain’s bounty notice. If I show my face, I die.”

He Shangxian said, “Then Shi Wumi…”

Shi Wumi was embarrassed. “The Hengxue Sect is holding another cultivation conference recently. I’m afraid of running into the Qingyun Sword Sect.”

At this moment, He Shangxian finally understood what the Left Protector meant by “one after another delivering themselves as vegetables.”

The whole sect was full of heroes, yet there was no one usable!

He Shangxian would not go either, because he felt he clashed with the eastern side of the cultivation continent. Every time he went, he got headaches and fevers.

Wait…

He Shangxian suddenly sobered.

If they sent the saint children to Hengxue Mountain just because they could not coax the children, what difference was that from “continuing to deliver them over”?

When the Left Protector returned, he would mock them for eight hundred years straight.

He Shangxian gritted his teeth and ruled out seeking help from the righteous path.

He picked up Wowo and Nangnang. “Babies, don’t cry. Grandpa will make steamed buns with you.”

Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang nodded. They would make steamed buns and wait for Daddy to come back and trade for delicious food.

The three demons who made the cultivation world tremble in fear accompanied the saint babies in kneading steamed buns all night, each one gentler and more virtuous than the last.

They could not finish them. They simply could not finish them. The whole sect had wheat foods for breakfast.

The next day, when they discovered Wowo and Nangnang sneaking around, trying to go out and find Daddy, the three demons all chose to turn a blind eye.

Forget it, forget it. They would just follow.

They could also go to Xiling Mountain to help the Sect Leader.

***

On the other side, Meng Baixu and the Left Protector Yu Qingfeng arrived near Xiling Mountain.

The spiritual power here was abundant, and cultivators often came here to cultivate and recuperate. Wherever there were people, there was business.

The proprietress had set up several low tea sheds, but the tea she brewed was good mortal tea. When it came to processing food, mortals were still better at it.

Meng Baixu ordered a pot of tea and sat across from the Left Protector.

“My father and Xie—”

“Shh.”

The Left Protector interrupted the Sect Leader and glanced at the two black-clothed cultivators at the neighboring table.

Meng Baixu glanced from the corner of his eye and saw the flame pattern on the cultivators’ belts. They were Xie family people.

The Xie family was an extremely prosperous clan, and internally, they had several branches of power. It was said that the branch deeply loyal to Xie Tongchen had never given up searching for him. Every year, they sent people to Xiling Mountain to search for Xie Tongchen.

The heavenly Dao was occasionally mysterious beyond words. What if?

Those two cultivators probably did not expect there to be people nearby with higher cultivation than their Golden Core stage. They lowered their voices as they spoke, but Meng Baixu still heard everything clearly.

“This year, the Hengxue Sect secretly sent many New Year gifts.”

“And they were sent in Sect Master Wen’s name, to the elders of the Xie family.”

“Sect Master Wen and our family head were close friends. Our family head’s life and death are unknown, so he is being filial to the elders on behalf of the family head.”

“Sect Master Wen never sent gifts before. Could it be that the family head gave him a dream?”

Meng Baixu tightly gripped the crudely fired teacup, furious to death.

This sect leader kindly sent him several steamed buns made by his sons for the New Year as a small show of filial respect, but he was wholeheartedly only thinking of being filial to his brother’s elders.

And he even secretly sent them?!

If Meng Baixu had not been sitting here drinking tea, he would not even have known about this.

Too much money and still missing a prodigal son.