A Loving Father

Six hundred years ago, in the Divine Realm.

"Xiaoqi—Xiaoqi—?" A woman in a pink gown ran through the Divine Realm, calling out loudly.

Tang Xiaoqi from the Sea God's family had probably run off somewhere to play again.

The passing gods all shook their heads with amused smiles. In the vast Divine Realm, who did not know the reputation of Tang Wutong, the Sea God's daughter and little princess?

"That little brat couldn't have run off to the Forbidden Forest, could she?" A trace of worry appeared on Xiao Wu's beautiful face. She had searched everywhere she could think of, yet Xiaoqi was nowhere to be found.

Xiao Wu hurried back to the Sea God's Mansion.

"Huh, Third Brother, you're back? I was just about to look for you!" Xiao Wu anxiously grabbed the blue-haired man's arm. "Third Brother, have you seen Xiaoqi? She's missing!"

"No, I just got home too." Tang San shook his head. An inscrutable glint flashed through his eyes as he gently comforted his wife. "Could Xiaoqi have gone to the Goddess of Life?"

"No, I already looked there." Xiao Wu shook her head.

"Then what about Mubai's and Oscar's homes?"

"Not there either." Xiao Wu shook her head anxiously. "I don't know where that child ran off to."

"Don't panic. Who in the Divine Realm would dare harm our daughter? Xiaoqi won't be in any danger."

"Oh, whenever she went out to play before, she always told me first. But a few days ago, she told me she was curious about the Divine Beasts in the Forbidden Forest, so I scolded her a little." Xiao Wu rarely looked regretful. "What if she went to the Forbidden Forest alone?"

"Have you searched the house?" Tang San asked softly.

"Of course I did. The house was the first place I searched."

"Perhaps Xiaoqi came home while you were out looking for her, and the two of you just missed each other. Let's check her room." Tang San gently stroked Xiao Wu's smooth scorpion braid.

After all... he had just returned their daughter to her bedroom.

After the three old God Kings departed one after another, Tang San had spent quite some time fighting for power. In the end, he had relied on the words the two old God Kings left behind before their departure to successfully suppress the newly appointed God of Goodness and God of Evil, giving himself a greater voice in the Divine Realm Committee.

The Divine Realm had been very peaceful lately, leaving Tang San with time to study the records left behind by the old God Kings. Among them, an old case judged by the old Asura God caught his interest.

Someone had once plotted against the heir chosen by a god, merging his own soul into the heir's spirit. He had seized the magpie's nest, stolen the heir's fortune, and replaced him in claiming the godhood.

Yet the old Asura God had seen the abnormality in his soul at a glance and slain that challenger of the Divine Realm's authority beneath the Asura Blood Sword.

This case gave Tang San tremendous inspiration. At once, he recalled the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, whom he had left in the lower realm and who possessed extraordinarily powerful fortune.

Was this not the best way to seize the Imperial Auspicious Beast's fortune?

Tang San had always believed that one should not be constrained by methods when doing things. Yet if he split off a portion of his own soul, his strength would inevitably decline, while the God of Destruction still eyed the position of head of the Divine Realm Committee covetously.

So Tang San turned his attention to his daughter. A daughter ought to obey her father's arrangements. If his little phoenix obtained the Auspicious Beast's fortune, it was no different from Tang San himself obtaining that fortune.

He had just taken his daughter away and split her soul, yet he had not expected his wife to be alerted after only half a day.

He had never intended to discuss this matter with Xiao Wu, nor did he think there was any need to explain it to her. After all, securing a good future for one's child was a man's responsibility and had nothing to do with women. Xiao Wu only needed to play with the child.

Besides, it was only a small fragment of her soul. It was not a big deal. Yet for some reason, Xiaoqi had cried terribly just now. If Xiao Wu found out, she would definitely throw a little tantrum, so this matter could not be mentioned all the more.

Xiao Wu carefully pushed open her daughter's bedroom door. Sure enough, Xiaoqi was sleeping quietly in her little bed, with a soft carrot pillow set beside her.

"This child." Xiao Wu sighed in relief, sat down by the bed, and smoothed her daughter's messy bangs. Then she frowned and touched her daughter's smooth little face.

"Where has this child been running wild? Why is her face so cold? And so pale?" Xiao Wu faintly sensed that something was wrong.

Xiaoqi had drunk the Goddess of Life's Water of Life when she was young. She had always been extremely healthy and would never fall ill. So why was her face now deathly pale, her hands and feet ice-cold, even her perpetually pink lips drained of color?

She gently patted her daughter's cheek. "Xiaoqi, Xiaoqi, wake up."

The girl on the bed opened a pair of hazy pink-blue eyes and rubbed them with her tiny fists. The moment she saw Xiao Wu clearly, she threw herself into her mother's arms.

"Waaah, Mom! Mom!!" Xiaoqi wailed as though her heart were breaking.

Xiao Wu caught her daughter in a fluster. This little troublemaker had not been this clingy in years. What was going on?

"Mom, my head hurts so much. It really, really hurts, like it's about to split apart." The little girl lay in her mother's arms, crying bitterly in grievance.

"What happened?" Xiao Wu was suddenly alarmed. She held her daughter tightly and patted her back. "Don't cry, don't cry. Mommy's here. Tell Mommy what happened."

"Mom, I had a nightmare. I dreamed—" Her voice abruptly stopped.

"What happened? What did you dream about?" Xiao Wu pressed urgently.

But Xiaoqi said nothing. She only buried her face in Xiao Wu's arms and trembled in terror.

Xiao Wu did not see her husband's expression suddenly darken behind her, nor the icy warning in his eyes.

But Xiaoqi in her arms clearly did.

"Sigh, perhaps one of those Sin Gods under Destruction God told Xiaoqi another scary story, giving her nightmares." Tang San smiled and shook his head. "It's possible for a bad dream to cause a headache."

He reached over Xiao Wu's shoulder and patted Xiaoqi's head.

Xiaoqi shrank beneath his hand.

Her father had touched her head like this earlier, and then a searing pain, as if her entire body were being cleaved apart, had swept through her.

Xiaoqi wanted to dodge, but a tremendous force came from Tang San's hand. She could not escape at all.

"How about I comfort her? Go make the child something she likes to eat and let her settle down." Tang San said gently to Xiao Wu. "If she doesn't get better, we'll go see the Goddess of Life."

"Sigh, Third Brother is still the most thoughtful." Xiao Wu, completely unaware of anything unusual about her daughter, smiled. She planted a kiss on Tang San's cheek, stroked her daughter's hair again, and rose to leave the room.

Xiaoqi watched in despair as her mother's back vanished beyond the door. She let out a sob, only to forcibly choke it back under her father's warning gaze.

She was truly afraid.

The girl sat trembling amid the blankets and pillows, trying her best to curl herself into a tiny ball.

Tang San moved a chair over and sat beside Xiaoqi's bed.

The moment his wife left the room, his expression turned cold.

"Xiaoqi, what did Daddy tell you? This is all for your own good." Tang San felt a wave of irritation as he looked at the fear in his daughter's eyes.

Yet even though his daughter was so ungrateful, he still patiently tried to be a good father. "And what did you promise Daddy? Didn't you say that brave little girls weren't afraid of anything?"

"But it hurts. It really hurts..." Xiaoqi murmured.

"But only this way can you have a better future." Tang San rubbed his brow, displeasure rising in his heart.

When he himself had been Xiaoqi's age, had he not endured agonizing pain to leap into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, forging a body immune to ice and fire? Why was his own child so fragile, inheriting none of his resilience?

Little girls really could not accomplish anything important. She was so delicate, so terrified of such a little pain—what could she ever achieve?

He wondered when Xiao Wu would finally give him a son. It seemed only a boy could become his support. A daughter like this would probably be of no use at all.

And this child was not obedient or filial in the slightest. He was clearly doing this for her own good, yet she dared to be ungrateful. Looking at those eyes, she was probably already harboring resentment, wasn't she? Xiaoqi had truly been spoiled rotten by her mother.

The more Tang San thought about it, the more irritated he became.

He recalled himself in his teens. Back then, he had already fully understood his father's difficulties. But what about Xiaoqi?

Did she not understand even the principles that three-year-olds knew—that when parents teach, one must listen respectfully, and when parents reprimand, one must obey? He was clearly doing it for her own good. So what if it hurt a little?

How could Tang San, pure and noble as he was, have given birth to such an ungrateful little wretch?

Forget it. He would spoil her. She was only a little girl; at home, she only needed to obey his arrangements, and after marrying, she could obey her husband. There would always be someone to take care of her for the rest of her life.

However, since Xiaoqi was so unappreciative, he could only remove this memory for now. After a while, he would send Xiaoqi to Douluo Continent to gain some experience. When she returned, she should be more sensible and capable of being a qualified daughter.

Xiao Wu returned carrying her favorite sweet carrot porridge. Tang San was gently stroking their daughter's hair.

Xiaoqi obediently nestled in her father's arms. Color had returned to her little face, and there was no longer any fear on it.

"Third Brother really knows how to comfort children." Xiao Wu praised him, then pouted. "Hmph, why don't you comfort me like that too, Third Brother?"

Tang San liked seeing Xiao Wu compete with their daughter for his affection. He shook his head indulgently. "What day have I ever not comforted you?"

"Hmph, you still like your daughter more, don't you?" Xiao Wu said sourly. "Xiaoqi, get up and have some porridge."

Though her words complained that her daughter had stolen her husband's attention, her hands gently lifted Xiaoqi into her arms.

"Does your head still hurt?" Xiao Wu asked softly.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, Mommy," Xiaoqi said sweetly.

For a moment, Xiao Wu's heart melted at her daughter's cuteness.

Children recovered quickly. She had been crying so hard just moments ago, yet she was better now. Xiao Wu sighed to herself.

What she did not know was that the wound on Xiaoqi's soul was causing intense pain every moment. A trace of blue-gold Sea God power had merely temporarily blocked her sensation of pain.

But it was all right. Children were highly adaptable. Before long, Xiaoqi would become accustomed to this pain in her soul.

"Mommy, I don't like carrot porridge." Xiaoqi coquettishly complained to Xiao Wu.

Tang San raised his brows and swept his daughter with an indifferent glance.

Xiaoqi shuddered and quietly began drinking the sweet carrot porridge with her little spoon.

Even she herself did not understand why she had shuddered. It was as though her body had simply acted on its own.

"Hehe, Mommy's Xiaoqi has become sensible." Xiao Wu noticed nothing and smiled as she kissed her daughter's cheek.

The Sea God's family lived in tranquil bliss.

That's right, I didn't vilify Tang San. I didn't uglify him either. Look how much Tang San loves his daughter!

(Clutches a trash can and vomits three liters.)

Personally, I actually sympathize with Tang Wutong very much. I do not like her, but I sympathize with her.

Her status appears lofty, and she was born with a golden spoon in her mouth, but in truth she is merely a dog on a leash. She has no will of her own, no different from Truman living in a false world. What is even sadder is that she does not even have a chance to discover the manipulation. Her father can casually erase her memories and toy with her feelings—physically.

She does not even know she is a puppet on strings.

Xiaoqi is the little tyrant of the Divine Realm, a willful little troublemaker. Wang Dong'er, who lost her memories of the Divine Realm, is a proud and dazzling star. But Tang Wutong? In the Divine Realm, she is a little woman behind her husband; at home, she obeys her father's arrangements, and outside, she obeys her husband's arrangements—as Tang San said in the original work...

I do not like this stitched-together monstrosity, but I sympathize with her.

Though sympathizing with someone born a second-class god, with parents who paved every road for her, is admittedly a little strange...

So I have decided to treat Wang Dong better. After all, the loving father and filial daughter arrangement has been made.