The little girl was exquisitely beautiful, like an immortal child. She was wrapped in a piece of cloth, nestled comfortably in the long, soft fur of the snow wolf.
This was Ling Yao after her Nirvana.
After being struck by lightning, she had transformed into a toddler who had just learned to walk.
After a while, the Snow Wolf King twitched its ears.
"Hey, he's heading up the mountain again! Goddess, wake up quickly!"
"Huh?" Ling Yao opened her eyes, a brilliant radiance flowing within them.
"Goddess, why don't you go back with Lord Da Yao? Isn't it more comfortable at home than in the mountains?"
The Snow Wolf King was miserable. It didn't want to raise a wife for someone else. These days, it had been dodging Lord Da Yao, running around so much that it was becoming emaciated and losing its wolf form!
"Nonsense! Do you think I'm capable of that now? I am his wife! If he were to change my diapers, how could he still consider me his wife!"
But why couldn't he? The Snow Wolf King couldn't understand.
The wife he had now was someone he had watched being born. What was the harm in that? She would grow up, wouldn't she?
Ling Yao also wanted to go back. Who would want to stay in these mountains, freezing cold?
"I need to grow a bit bigger, to the point where I can control myself and not wet the bed!"
How much longer would that take! The Snow Wolf King drooped its head.
"With the current weather, you're so cold you huddle in my fur all day. If it's winter, with heavy snow falling, tsk tsk, can you endure it? It's much more comfortable on a heated kang, in Lord Da Yao's arms. Just imagine, how blissful!"
She didn't need to imagine; she knew it would be blissful!
"Fine, you're seeing that I have no spiritual power and can't help you with your cultivation, so you're indirectly trying to make me leave. You truly are an ungrateful wolf!"
She absolutely wouldn't leave!
She would rather endure the cold here than have Xiao Shan change her diapers!
What if he truly developed a psychological barrier and no longer saw her as his wife?
The Snow Wolf King guiltily tucked its neck, listening intently. As soon as Lord Da Yao was within two li, it would snatch the Goddess and continue their game of hide-and-seek.
It was exhausting!
Days passed, and soon winter arrived.
Xiao Shan stopped going up the mountain. For the past two months, he had practically turned the mountain upside down. Apart from finding hair of the white beast people spoke of, he found nothing unusual.
He couldn't think of any white ferocious beasts, only the half-spirit, half-monster Snow Wolf King.
However, the Snow Wolf King wouldn't eat people, and he hadn't encountered it anyway, so he let it be.
He listened to the howling cold wind, his calm gaze filled with deep fatigue.
"Xue Niang, if you don't reappear after this harsh winter, I won't wait any longer."
He couldn't wait anymore. He couldn't go back to being a stone. Every day was an agony.
Perhaps it was better to die!
Maybe Xue Niang had already reincarnated.
If she had successfully Nirvana, she wouldn't not return.
She hated the cold the most.
Wu Zhou Bai arrived again, making himself comfortable by the fire inside the house.
Speaking of which, the General feared the cold the least. This year, he had lit the stove early. Was it prepared for the Goddess?
Alas, where had the Goddess gone?
Look at how the General had worn himself out.
He looked like a beggar.
"What are you doing here again? Don't bother me with those trivial matters in the capital!"
Who became emperor, who rebelled, he didn't care! The mere mention of the capital annoyed him!
"No, Yuan Bu insists on being stationed in Jinjiang, and the Emperor has approved. I'm going with him. I just came to tell you. He didn't dare to come himself."
It wasn't that he didn't dare; it was that he couldn't bear to see the General in such a state.
The once majestic and imposing General had become such a dejected, beggar-like figure. How could any brother bear to see him like this?
Yet, they were utterly helpless.
The Goddess had vanished without a trace.
He had understood long ago that the General lived his life for the Goddess.
The capital was also becoming unstable. The King of Jiangbei and the Emperor's discord was already obvious. It was better for them to leave soon.
After Wu Zhou Bai left, Xiao Shan went to the market and bought some rice, flour, and winter supplies. Once everything was prepared, he decided not to leave the house for the winter.
As soon as he returned, he saw that the door had been tampered with again. Anger surged within him.
These daredevils, still daring to search his home! Today, he would draw blood and then throw their heads onto the imperial desk!
He pushed open the door and saw no one. He listened closely and heard movement from the bedroom.
Damn it, they were truly audacious!
Xiao Shan stomped open the bedroom door and saw a bulge under the quilt on the bed. With the sound of his stomping, the previously rolling bulge seemed to be startled and stopped moving.
"Get out!"
A dense killing intent emanated from him, his bloodthirsty gaze fixed on the quilt that began to stir again.
Just as Xiao Shan was losing patience, the quilt was finally pulled away, revealing a small head.
"A Shan, you scared me."
A sweet and crisp little voice, paired with a flawless, delicate face, she pouted and looked at Xiao Shan with a wronged expression.
Those eyes, those luminous, flowing eyes...
Xiao Shan's ferocity dissipated, his throat felt choked, and he couldn't utter a sound. His feet felt as heavy as lead, unable to move an inch.
Who was she?
"Xue..." he choked.
But she looked so small. How could she be his Xue Niang?
Ling Yao had finally managed to endure until her body was about eight years old, the same age as when she first arrived here from Hai Ling Tian. She couldn't wait and had rushed back.
However, it seemed she had still scared him.
"A Shan, it's so cold, and I have no clothes to wear. I'm also so hungry."
She wrinkled her little nose coquettishly, her entire body wrapped in the quilt.
She really wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she was naked. All her clothes had been thrown on the floor, and she felt a little shy.
That idiot Xiao Yu, asking him to steal some clothes, but he couldn't even do that properly. They were all so long, dragging on the ground. How could she wear them?
It would be better to have A Shan buy her new ones, and a new quilt, and roast chicken, and lotus cakes, and so many other things, all of them!
"Why are you so ugly?"
She looked disdainfully at the dumbfounded Xiao Shan. His face was covered in a beard, making him look over ten years older! And he was dirty.
"Hurry up and clean yourself, then go buy me clothes! And delicious food. Quickly, I'm going to sleep for a bit. When I wake up, I expect to see you. Go quickly!" she commanded as if it were natural.
Ling Yao had returned home. Finally, she could sleep soundly wrapped in a quilt. She felt at peace.
It was only now that Xiao Shan finally realized that this little child, who looked only eight or nine years old, might truly be Xue Niang.
He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and he left the room in a daze.
Then he turned back, once again confirming that this was real.
He had imagined countless scenarios for their reunion, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he had never envisioned this one.
His mind couldn't process anything. He just followed her instructions and ran to town, buying clothes, a quilt, and various food items. For some reason, he also picked up a rattle from a stall.
When he returned, he entered the room. Ling Yao was still asleep.
He looked at her innocent, fairy-like face and doubted himself again.
Was this truly Xue Niang?
He slowly lifted the quilt.
Inside was a naked little body, like a white lotus.
He was so startled that his hand trembled. He dropped the quilt, a sense of guilt surging within him.
What should he do?
Before, when he bought her and bathed her, applied medicine, he hadn't felt anything like this.
Now, how... how should he proceed?
She was truly a child, in every sense of the word!
Heavens!
Was fate trying to play him to death!