Chapter 54

After picking Qingyao up from school and meeting her parents, Hu Yuanfei was immediately asked by Qingyao about the whereabouts of the fetal ghost. She hadn't seen the fetal ghost return later, wondering if Hu Yuanfei had dealt with it.

Hu Yuanfei nodded and simply replied, "I had her mother meet her. After they talked things through, she left with no regrets in her heart."

Qingyao pursued, "Where did she go? Will I ever see her again?" Although the fetal ghost was very annoying and a bad child, she believed that with more guidance, she could still become a good one.

"She no longer has the chance to be reincarnated. Once a wandering ghost is free of attachments, she dissolves into the air between heaven and earth. Perhaps the breath of air we inhale is her, perhaps the raindrops we encounter are her, or perhaps the blowing wind is her."

Qingyao stared at him with wide eyes. "She's so amazing now, then is she happy?"

She could still recall the fetal ghost crying bitterly in her mind. She had cried so sorrowfully; she must have felt deeply aggrieved and heartbroken to cry like that.

Hu Yuanfei nodded firmly this time. "She is happy."

Wind and rain are unfeeling and unconscious, but they are free; perhaps she was happy.

Qingyao blinked. As long as she was happy, she quickly cast the matter to the back of her mind and began telling them about what she had encountered at school today. After she finished, Qinglai added a few simple sentences, and then Qingli spoke.

Ever since Qingli started school last year while she was left behind, Qingyao had made a habit of waiting by the gate at the exact time to pick her up, loving to pester her to hear what had happened at school.

Qingli was not a particularly talkative little demon. Because her mental age was much older than her appearance, the kindergarten curriculum seemed somewhat childish to her aside from being novel, and the loudly crying children around her were also unappealing—none of them compared to her own Qingyao, so she didn't care much to interact with them. She would only repeat a few phrases when the teacher led the class, but once she memorized them, she refused to follow along any further. Compared to other children, she appeared very silent. After a whole semester, she hadn't made any friends; she didn't need anyone's help to use the restroom, and she ate meals proactively. If she hadn't responded when spoken to, the teachers might have suspected her of having autistic tendencies.

Because of this, the teachers had found Lang Xiao and Hu Yuanfei for two chats last semester. Knowing she had attracted attention, Qingli tried hard to integrate into the collective. Yet, apart from cats, dogs, and Qingyao, she truly could only manage companionship with strange children outside, not communication.

However, Qingyao loved listening to her talk about her middle-class life and things she didn't know, so Qingli had no choice but to pick out a few things and speak of them dryly.

No matter what she said, Qingyao was forever an enthralled little listener. As long as she began to speak, Qingyao would listen with wide eyes, as if listening to some fascinating heavenly scripture.

Trained for a year, Qingli was finally shaped up, and her expressive abilities were much better than before.

"Today the teacher taught us a new song, it's very pretty, I'll sing it for you. The curved moon is a little boat, the little boat has pointy ends..." Qingli's pitch wasn't exceptionally crisp when it rose, but she sang very well. The group listened to her singing all the way home.

There was little homework in kindergarten, but Qingyao had her own study tasks. Every day after coming home from school, she had to practice writing large calligraphy characters.

These study tasks were assigned by Taoist Priest Wenyuan. During the summer vacation before the semester started, Taoist Priest Wenyuan had come to live in Xinghuan City for nearly a month. The Special Management Bureau, established in cooperation with official organizations, had finally been founded, and Taoist Priest Wenyuan held a high-ranking position within it. Back when Taoist Priest Lingyun was still around, he had already been the sect leader of Qingyang Temple. His status was not low, and though his reputation had been somewhat overshadowed by Taoist Priest Lingyun, his actual strength in today's Taoist community was quite formidable.

This made him even busier, however, as he had to rush off to handle matters all over the country. To come and teach Qingyao, there was no telling how many appointments he had pushed aside; every day he worked until late at night before sleeping, and from time to time he still had to catch a flight.

During that month, he taught Qingyao the most basic *Tao Te Ching*, and every night before bed, she listened to the *Qingjing Jing* (Classic of Purity and Tranquility) alongside the four demons. The two great demons initially felt his chanting was noisy and annoying, buzzing like mosquitoes by their ears, making them want to frown in irritation. But after listening a few times more, they felt the restlessness dissipate completely, and especially when listening to the *Qingjing Jing*, they entered a meditative practice state much faster.

Qingyao couldn't understand a word of what he was chanting at all, but she simply followed along whenever he told her to recite the *Tao Te Ching*. Finding it interesting, as if Taoist Priest Wenyuan were singing, she learned it with great enthusiasm and managed to pick it up rather decently. However, she had never heard the complete version of the *Qingjing Jing* because she would always fall asleep swiftly just a few sentences in.

Aside from chanting, Taoist Priest Wenyuan also taught Qingyao how to read and write characters. Her grip was strong, and she could hold a brush well. Learning one character every few days, she had already mastered over a dozen commonly used characters by now.

Ever since drawing talismans as a master ghost a few years ago, Hu Yuanfei had deeply felt that being illiterate might affect his ability to make money, so he had studied fiercely for two years. Now he could read and write smoothly; while his handwriting wasn't particularly pretty, it was certainly enough to fool people, and absolutely no one would ever discover he was actually an illiterate.

Before the semester started, Taoist Priest Wenyuan had already left, but before departing, he assigned Qingyao homework tailored to her learning pace that would last until the winter break. Since winter break coincided with the New Year, Taoist Priest Wenyuan would be even busier, and there was no telling if he could spare another month to stay. He very much hoped the great demons would bring Qingyao to live on the mountain for a few days, but the two great demons had never relented.

By now they no longer suspected the old Taoist priest of harboring malicious intentions; it was simply that winter was too cold, and the mountain where Qingyang Temple was located was even colder in winter. The two great demons simply couldn't bear to let their precious Qingyao go and suffer from the cold.

Once Qingyao finished writing her ten calligraphy sheets and played for a little while longer, it was almost dinner time.

Today's dinner featured some extra shiitake mushrooms and honey, which Hu Yuanfei had brought back from Ren Pingxiao's house in the morning. Having offered his help for free, Li Jianfeng had felt bad about it and forced the items upon him, claiming they were grown on his own mountain and that his parents constantly raised bees in the hills. The honey smelled so sweet and fragrant that Hu Yuanfei had been somewhat tempted and hadn't refused.

Having finished dinner, he couldn't help hiding in the kitchen, scooping out a spoonful of honey with a spoon and frantically licking it.

Qingyao was wandering around the room to aid digestion when she spotted him sneaking into the kitchen and refusing to come out. She crept over quietly and pounced onto his back.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Qingyao hugged his leg, turning her head forward to look at him.

Hu Yuanfei hurriedly covered the jar and put it away. "I'm cleaning up the kitchen."

"It smells so good. What is that smell? Wait, is dad secretly eating something?" Qingyao stood on tiptoe to look at the countertop. Hu Yuanfei shoved the honey jar into the cabinet with lightning speed and stowed the licked-clean spoon into the chopstick holder.

"No, no, I was just checking if anything had gone bad. If it's spoiled, I have to throw it out, otherwise your tummy will hurt if you eat it."

Qingyao blinked at him. Hu Yuanfei picked her up with a guilty conscience and walked outward. Qingyao leaned in close to his mouth and sniffed carefully. "So sweet." Then she rubbed her finger against the corner of his mouth and popped it into her mouth, tasting it—it was very sweet indeed.

"Dad is secretly eating candy! You hid candy in the kitchen!"

Hu Yuanfei: "..." As expected, you really can't fool a child; once their curiosity is stirred, you truly can't cover it up.

"If you don't tell mom, I'll let you have a taste too."

Qingyao was torn. "Eating candy ruins your teeth, I'm not allowed to eat any today. Sneaking candy makes you a bad child. Dad can't be a bad child, and hiding things from mom makes you a bad child too—mom will be sad!"

Hu Yuanfei deeply felt he had set a bad example and humbly asked for advice, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Qingyao thought for a moment, then took his hand. "Let's go apologize to mom."

Not long after, Hu Yuanfei was dragging Qingyao along to sit solemnly before Lang Xiao, admitting his wrongdoing and swearing never to sneak food again, vowing to be a good father and a role model.

Qingyao nodded with a face full of satisfaction. That's more like it.

Lang Xiao watched Hu Yuanfei—completely wrapped around Qingyao's finger to the point where he even needed to be supervised just to eat some honey. In the past, she would surely have lost her temper, but looking at his willing and sweet expression, she couldn't help feeling a mix of speechlessness and amusement.

"From now on, we'll keep an eye on him together."

Qingyao gave a heavy nod. "Mm."

Hu Yuanfei felt his status in the household was dropping. Yet since it was his precious Qingyao, what could he do? He could only dote on her, of course.

In September, the weather was still fiercely hot, and Qingyao refused to sleep obediently inside her room. The whole family moved up to the rooftop to enjoy the cool evening breeze.

Over the past two years, they had remodeled the rooftop, placing four comfortable nests and a small bed. By now, the plants on the terrace were lush and green, forming a natural canopy overhead that sheltered them from wind and rain.

Yet this seemingly perfect terrace was not entirely free of troubles. Even with demonic energy present, it could not ward off the rampaging, mindless mosquitoes. Moreover, with so many plants around, the small puddles accumulated during watering were their festive grounds.

Hu Yuanfei lost count of how many times he flicked his tail overnight, rolling back and forth in his nest feeling uncomfortable.

Back on the mountain, he had never noticed so many mosquitoes coming to harass them.

He opened his eyes abruptly, feeling the demonic energy within his body slowly circulate toward his nose and paws. It turned out that the places bitten by mosquitoes carried a faint toxicity, which was automatically cleared away by his body's automatic defense.

This didn't affect him much, but it was annoying.

Hu Yuanfei stood up, shook his body vigorously, and finding it hard to fall back asleep, paced over to Qingyao's side to check if any mosquitoes had bitten her. The moment he looked, however, he was struck with utter dismay.

"Ah!"

Hu Yuanfei's roar startled Lang Xiao, Qingli, and Qinglai awake. "What is it? What's wrong?!"

Thinking something had happened to Qingyao, the three of them hurried over in a panic. When they clearly saw Qingyao still fast asleep, they too revealed expressions of alarm.

The night air was slightly chilly. Qingyao had a blanket draped over her belly, but her exposed limbs and face were already covered in dense, red mosquito bumps—evidently bitten countless times without her knowing.

Even bitten like this, Qingyao still hadn't woken up, but Lang Xiao couldn't just stay asleep. She scooped Qingyao up directly and carried her back into the bedroom.

Following that, the four demons gathered in the bedroom, staring at Qingyao and trying to figure out how to make the welts disappear quickly.

Hu Yuanfei volunteered his hand, intending to channel his demonic energy into Qingyao to help her expel the poison, but before his hand could even touch her, Lang Xiao stopped him.

"Infusing demonic energy into a human will cause trouble."

Hu Yuanfei let out an "ah." "Then what should we do? With so many bites, she'll definitely be itchy and sore when she wakes up." He stroked Qingyao's head with a pang of heartache, imagining those detestable mosquitoes and wanting nothing more than to wipe them all out.

It was Qingli who remained more rational. "Buy some medicine. There are ointments specifically made for topical application. Apply it and she'll be fine in a few days."

Pharmacies were generally open twenty-four hours. Unable to wait until morning, Hu Yuanfei leaped through the window onto the roof and sprinted toward the pharmacy outside the residential complex.

Because there were simply too many bites on her body, Qingyao drifted half-awake while the ointment was being applied, but Lang Xiao quickly soothed her back to sleep.