Soft, tender gums clamped around her index finger, biting down with all the strength he could muster, Xue Chenjing was practically using the force of a nursing baby to bite her. He also growled threateningly from his throat like a little beast.
Yu Yi looked at him helplessly, "Your teeth aren't even fully grown yet. Apart from smearing my hand with your saliva, what else can you do?"
It seemed her mocking tone had hit a nerve. Xue Chenjing lifted his face, glaring at her with a puffed-up expression, his jet-black eyes instantly misting over with tears. He wrinkled his nose, looking like he was holding back tears.
Yu Yi sucked in a breath, completely powerless against the child-like version of him in her arms. She relented, softening her voice to soothe him, "Alright, alright, I was wrong, don't cry."
Xue Chenjing wasn't buying her act. He grabbed her finger with his tiny hands, refusing to let her pull it back. He kept biting and gnawing on her finger, as if determined to show her some real pain.
Gradually, Yu Yi noticed a few hard things emerging from his soft gums. She touched them in surprise and felt several new teeth.
Xue Chenjing's teeth were growing at an alarming speed. Once his canines came out, they actually managed to hurt her.
Yu Yi couldn't help but let out a small sound of pain and scolded, "Let go, it hurts!"
The teeth biting her finger immediately released. Xue Chenjing lifted his wet eyes to glance at her expression cautiously, then realized how cowardly his reaction was. He frowned and put on a fierce expression again, baring his teeth.
Yu Yi pinched his mouth to inspect his new baby teeth. In just a short while, his teeth were almost fully grown. Moreover, the weight in her arms seemed to have increased. He had actually grown a whole circle in her arms.
How could he grow so fast?
Yu Yi curiously examined him from side to side, amused, "You really are like a dog, always biting and your teeth grow the fastest."
Back at Cloud Mountain, he had also tried to bite her hand like this, and she had knocked out all his front teeth. In the blink of an eye, they had grown back. Yu Yi even began to suspect if he had some shark genes, able to replace teeth so quickly.
Xue Chenjing was infuriated by her animal-handling actions. He kicked and struggled out of her arms, rolling onto the ground. After a few rolls, he crawled over to a low table on the mat, grabbing the corner to gnaw on, easing the itch of growing teeth.
Yu Yi followed behind and saw that the corner of the ebony table was already covered with deep and shallow bite marks.
"Chirp chirp chirp—" A series of bird calls suddenly came from the pouch at her waist.
Crane Senior Brother, now in a familiar environment, finally overcame his fear. His head poked out from the pouch, silently observing for a long time before finally unable to hold back, flapped out and started mocking him with loud bird calls.
The preoccupied child suddenly lifted his gaze, his eyes locking onto the flapping bird in midair like a hawk. Invisible tentacles shot out from the air, wrapping around the bird and slamming it to the ground with a loud slap.
Crane Senior Brother's mocking chirps abruptly stopped. He was dazed, feathers flying everywhere. At the same time, Xue Chenjing quickly turned and crawled over, his mouth watering in anticipation.
Crane Senior Brother frantically flapped his wings. The talismans on his body glowed and dissipated, his body suddenly expanding.
Facing a child much smaller than himself, Crane Senior Brother still felt a panic of being his next meal. The instinct of a red-crowned crane made him lift his sharp claws to scratch at Xue Chenjing's face.
Just as a bloodbath was about to unfold, Yu Yi arrived in an instant, quick as lightning, grabbing Crane Senior Brother's long leg with one hand and pressing down on Xue Chenjing with the other, forcing his face down.
The sharp claw of the red-crowned crane barely grazed his forehead, missing him by a hair's breadth.
Xue Chenjing's newly formed body was extremely delicate. Just a slight touch left a red mark on his forehead. He froze for a moment, then hugged his forehead and wailed heartbreakingly.
Such a thunderous cry pierced Yu Yi's ears, making her take a step back in shock. The entire treed island suddenly shook violently, with tables and chairs in the wooden building clattering and sliding around. The building itself groaned and creaked.
Yu Yi looked out the window and saw the suddenly darkening sky. The giant branches of the treed island, just formed, cracked and disintegrated, falling into the sea and splashing massive waves.
—It was truly earth-shaking.
This realm was born from Xue Chenjing's emotions, and his mood swings directly influenced the weather and environment within.
Yu Yi quickly rushed over to pick up the rolling child, covering his mouth and blowing on the red mark on his forehead, coaxing, "Be good, it doesn’t hurt anymore, I’ll scold this bad bird for you, don’t cry."
Crane Senior Brother: "???" Who's the bad one here? He was the one who wanted to eat him!
Yu Yi wasn't good at comforting kids, so to stop his crying, she resorted to both coaxing and threatening, getting angry, "Annoying, stop crying! If you cry again, I'll throw you into the sea."
Xue Chenjing looked at her with teary eyes, his face red, struggling to catch his breath. Before she suffocated him, he hold back his tears on his own, feeling wronged.
The tremor of the treed island finally stopped. The heavy clouds outside dissipated slightly, but the sky was still dark, with signs of impending rain and wind.
Xue Chenjing was finally saved from her death grip, kicking and struggling out of Yu Yi's arms, his form dispersing into a misty smoke.
"Xue Chenjing!" Yu Yi exclaimed in surprise, reaching out to grab at the air, only to hear a childish snort from the void.
A fierce sea breeze blew through the window, scattering the intangible wisps of smoke clean.
Yu Yi followed and chased out of the wooden building, standing on the balcony to look around the treed island. The wind had already vanished without a trace, making it impossible to find him. She pressed her forehead, plopped down on the balcony beam, and began to reconsider her relationship with Xue Chenjing.
If she really had to take care of him like this, raising him from childhood, she couldn't guarantee her feelings for him wouldn't turn into maternal love. Being together later would be too scandalous!
Just spending this short while with him had already made her feel extremely exhausted. Raising a child was indeed terrifying. Yu Yi really didn't want to face this version of Xue Chenjing, so she irritably rubbed her hair and decided to just ignore it, turning back to sleep in the building.
After all, this realm was created by Xue Chenjing himself, and he was definitely safe here.
Xue Chenjing hid in a hidden branch of the treed island and slept through the night. Woken up by the cold sea breeze, he drowsily crawled along the branch and into a bird's nest, curling up under a seabird's wing to sleep again.
The seabird, watching its egg almost being pushed out of the nest, tilted its head back and forth, wanting to peck him but not daring to.
To avoid the person who almost killed him, Xue Chenjing lived rough, sleeping in the open air, occupying bird nests, wandering for three or four days. His body grew rapidly, learning to walk upright, understanding a bit of propriety and shame, no longer crawling naked on branches. He spontaneously learned to use leaves to transform into clothes.
By the time he grew to about four or five years old, the bird nests on the treed island were too small for him. Moreover, he began to develop territorial awareness.
That wooden building was his territory, yet someone else had occupied it. She even refused to leave his home, which made Xue Chenjing so angry that he couldn't sleep at night. He got up and paced back and forth on the branch, raging impotently.
Because of his mood, the weather over this part of the sea was often overcast, with howling winds, making the seabirds on the island afraid to go out fishing.
Yu Yi stayed in such weather for a few days, almost feeling moldy. She tried to find Xue Chenjing, but he was obviously avoiding her, making it impossible for her to catch him.
Just as her patience was about to run out, Xue Chenjing finally appeared again.
But this time, he clearly didn't come with good intentions. Yu Yi lay in bed, asleep, with a thread of her consciousness floating in midair, quietly watching the figure that drifted in from the balcony and materialized.
Moonlight spilled through the window lattice, illuminating the floor with silver frost and revealing his appearance.
After a few days, Xue Chenjing had grown taller again. He was no longer a baby's appearance. He wore a dark green outfit, his black hair reaching his shoulders, his lips red, his teeth white, his eyes round and black, like a porcelain doll.
The porcelain doll's gaze was anything but friendly. Xue Chenjing tiptoed to the bedside, his pitch-black eyes fixed on her, scrutinizing her with the same predatory look he had used on Crane Senior Brother, as if she were just another prey he intended to hunt.
Yu Yi's spiritual awareness stirred, sensing the invisible tendrils emerging from the void. The tendrils crept along the bedframe, wormed their way under the blanket, and coiled around her body and limbs, searching for her vital acupoints.
A chilling sensation crept up her neck, settling over her vulnerable side.
Xue Chenjing's hostile killing intent made Yu Yi deeply uncomfortable. Even though he was just a little kid now, and even if he didn't remember her, she still felt annoyed. Her fingers twitched, ready to summon a wisp of sword flame to teach him a lesson.
But the tendrils spreading over her body suddenly paused. Xue Chenjing's dark eyes flickered, his lashes trembling like a butterfly's wings, and hesitation crept into his expression.
His intense killing intent gradually dissipated. Slowly, he leaned forward, resting his chin on the edge of the bed, and nuzzled closer to her temple, sniffing repeatedly.
She was too alluring, her scent too captivating. The more Xue Chenjing sniffed, the more addictive it became. After a moment's hesitation, he finally succumbed to his desires, retracting his tendrils, and lifting the blanket to burrow into her embrace.
Yu Yi watched as he wriggled under the blanket, pressing his fluffy head against her chin. She endured for a while, but eventually couldn't resist, flicking her finger to cast a cleansing spell on his forehead.
The cool spiritual energy coursed through his body, startling Xue Chenjing so much that he jumped up like a frightened cat, ready to bolt.
Yu Yi quickly grabbed him, her fingers still channeling energy to his forehead. "Don't move. It's just a cleansing spell. You reek of bird droppings."
Xue Chenjing realized she was disgusted by his smell and puffed her cheeks like a pufferfish, stammering her accusation: "You've taken over my nest! I had to sleep in a bird's nest!"
No wonder he smelled like a bird.
"You can talk now?" Yu Yi asked, pleasantly surprised. Seeing his pitiful expression, on the verge of tears, she quickly soothed him. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. This is your nest. You can come back anytime."
Xue Chenjing blinked in delight, hardly daring to believe. "Really?"
Yu Yi, hearing his cautious tone, felt momentarily like a villain who had usurped someone else's home. She couldn't help but laugh and nod emphatically. "Really."
Xue Chenjing clutched the blanket with both hands, his eyes fixed on her without blinking, and temporarily abandoned his thoughts of driving her away.
