Ineffective Evasion and Ineffective Motherly Love

Time froze.

The air solidified.

The colossal eyes that slowly opened from the spatial rift, condensed from pure ice and eternal night, were like two mirrors reflecting eternity. They clearly mirrored Ling Ye's contorted face of terror, and the dazzling, eye-catching infant's bib with golden fortune characters on a red background clutched in his arms.

There were no angry roars, no terrifying pressure.

Only a... profound silence that could make the soul tremble...

And from the depths of those eyes, slowly spreading like a collapsing glacier... unbelievable... overwhelming sorrow... and... a world-destroying... icy, deathly... rage!

Ling Ye's blood seemed to drain instantly, his face turning as pale as transparent glass. He felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown onto an ice field at absolute zero, his very thoughts frozen.

It's over.

The worst-case scenario... has happened.

She... really... found me...

He could even clearly "see" the pupils of those eyes frantically replaying the previous scenes—him fumbling to hide the bib, him begging for mercy in sheer panic, him almost throwing the bib away...

Every frame was like a cold file, brutally scraping against her nerves.

The spatial rift twisted slightly.

A slender, pale hand, yet one that seemed to contain the power to crush stars, slowly emerged from the rift.

Its fingers were long and slender, its nails a cold, deep blue. It didn't attack, but very slowly, with a heart-shattering tremor, it pointed towards the bib in Ling Ye's arms.

A voice, as if gathering billions of years of wind, snow, and silence, resonated directly from the deepest part of all living beings' souls. It had no tone, no emotion, yet it was more terrifying than any roar:

"...Explain."

Just two words.

Ling Ye's mind raced. The survival instinct honed by billions of years of sign-ins (and his innate tendency to shift blame) reached its peak at this moment!

Explain? How could he explain?

Say he accidentally forgot? Forgot for billions of years? Say he stuffed his son's bib with trash?

He'd probably be turned into an ice sculpture in the next second!

He had to divert the disaster! He had to find a scapegoat!

In a flash, Ling Ye suddenly raised his hand, not pointing at the Greedy Wolf outside the window, nor at Su Wanqing on the ground, but... towards the direction the Chaos Green Lotus pot had flown away! Towards the city center!

His face instantly contorted into expressions of "grief," "anger," and "helplessness." Using all the acting skills he possessed, he shouted in a hoarse, rapid voice:

"Madam, please see reason! It is not that Ling Ye's custody was negligent! It is truly... truly that Primordial Greedy Wolf! Yes! That scoundrel! It somehow learned that the young master's... this... sacred item was here! It pursued me all the way here! Attempting to snatch it! Ling Ye fought bravely but was no match for it and was severely injured! To protect the sacred item from being lost, I had no choice but to hide it on my person and flee here in disarray! Just now... just now that Greedy Wolf returned! To lure it away, I had no choice but to throw another treasure elsewhere, and only then did I narrowly escape..."

He spoke with such emotion that he almost convinced himself. He tried his best to twist "forgetfulness" into "protecting a treasure with my life" and "fleeing in disarray" into "strategic withdrawal."

However--

Before he could finish speaking.

The pale, cold hand extending from the rift, moved very casually... with a slight wave.

As if brushing away a speck of dust.

An intangible yet seemingly space-time-freezing, everything-annihilating absolute chill instantly enveloped Ling Ye!

Ling Ye's voice cut off abruptly! He felt all his thoughts, all his words, even all his expressions, completely frozen and solidified at that moment! Not even the subtlest ripple in his soul could be hidden!

The icy eyes continued to gaze at him without a ripple, as if they had already seen through all the truths.

After a brief, suffocating silence.

The cold, deathly voice spoke again, still without emotion, but with a hint of... imperceptible... disappointment?

"Lies."

Two words, like the final judgment.

Ling Ye's heart sank into a bottomless abyss!

Immediately after, the voice spoke again, this time carrying an... ultimate rage that could freeze the galaxy...

"You... lost... my child?"

"You lost him... for billions of years?!"

The last few words were almost a soul-tearing shriek!

BOOM--!!!

An indescribable, terrifying cold instantly erupted! The entire hotel room, along with everything in it, was completely frozen in a fraction of a second! Not just frozen, but all molecular motion ceased instantly, turning into eternal, deathly crystals at absolute zero! Even light was frozen within!

Su Wanqing didn't even have time to feel fear before she was frozen into a crystalline ice sculpture in a seated position, her thoughts completely halted.

Ling Ye was also instantly frozen, but his powerful Origin allowed him to retain a sliver of his last consciousness and perception. Like an insect trapped in amber, he endured the boundless, icy killing intent emanating from a furious mother!

He felt as if he would be utterly annihilated in the next moment!

However, at this moment of despair--

The red bib with golden 福 characters that he was clutching tightly in his arms, stimulated by the extreme cold, seemed to trigger its most fundamental protective mechanism, and suddenly erupted with a ball of warm, gentle, yet incredibly resilient golden-red light!

The light was like a warm swaddling cloth, forcibly prying open a small space untouched by ice, protecting Ling Ye's heart!

The embroidered character "Ye" lit up as if burning, emitting a faint but incredibly familiar fluctuation with a milky scent and a sense of dependence, gently rippling outwards, like a baby's unconscious murmuring and... a call to its mother.

This wisp of fluctuation, like the gentlest fingertip, lightly touched the pervasive, all-destructive icy rage.

Behind the rift, those enormous icy eyes trembled violently!

The overwhelming rage and killing intent, as if a pause button had been pressed, suddenly halted.

Those cold, dead eyes instantly focused entirely on the bellyband emitting warm light and familiar fluctuations.

The fury and killing intent in its gaze, like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun, began to slowly melt away, replaced by something... more complex, filled with endless sorrow, longing, and... a hint of helpless bewilderment... softness?

"...Son?"

For the first time, that cold voice carried a trembling, uncertain tone.

That pale hand, as if wanting to touch but afraid of disturbing something, trembled slightly and stopped in mid-air.

Ling Ye seized this rare chance for survival, using the last shred of his frozen will to frantically transmit information: "He's not lost! Not lost! The young master is fine! He's in... in a very, very safe place! It's just... he's temporarily unable to come and see Madam! Ling Ye guarantees with his life! There is no falsehood!"

He didn't dare say the child was lost, nor did he dare say he'd forgotten, so he could only grit his teeth and continue the lie, aiming to stabilize the enraged mother first!

The entity behind the rift fell silent.

Endless cold still enveloped the room, but the destructive killing intent had indeed receded considerably. Those icy eyes stared fixedly at the bellyband, as if trying to see the child's appearance through it.

After a long while.

The cold voice spoke again, still carrying a chill but no longer filled with killing intent, instead transforming into an unquestionable command:

"Take... me... to... see... him."

Each word fell like an ice bead, carrying endless longing and irresistible will.

Ling Ye cried inwardly, "This is impossible!" Where was he supposed to find a child for her to see?! He couldn't even conceive one in time!

But could he dare say "no" at this moment? No!

He could only grit his teeth and continue the fabrication: "Madam, please calm your anger! It's not that Ling Ye is unwilling! It's just... it's just that the place where the young master is located is extremely special, protected by supreme restrictions, and outsiders simply cannot enter! Especially... especially a powerful being like Madam, approaching it might trigger a backlash from the restrictions and harm the young master!"

While spouting nonsense, he frantically thought of a solution.

The entity behind the rift fell silent again, seemingly weighing the truthfulness of his words.

The coldness in those icy eyes swirled, and finally, slowly receded. That pale hand also retracted back into the rift.

"Okay," the cold voice sounded, "I... won't go."

Ling Ye had only breathed half a sigh of relief.

The voice immediately continued, with a soul-chilling coldness:

"You... go."

"Bring... him... out... to see me."

"I'll give you... three days."

"If I don't see him..."

The voice didn't finish, but the killing intent that once again permeated the air, even colder than before, said it all.

Without waiting for Ling Ye's response, the spatial rift began to slowly close.

Those enormous icy eyes cast one last deep look at the bellyband emitting warm light, a flash of indescribable complex emotion crossing their depths, and then... slowly closed, disappearing along with the rift.

The absolute zero freeze in the room instantly dissipated.

Ling Ye collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if he had just been pulled out of an icy sea, his entire body cold, teeth chattering, only the violent gasps of surviving the ordeal remaining.

Su Wanqing also regained consciousness, shuddered violently, and looked around in terror, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Ling Ye struggled to sit up, looking at the bellyband in his arms still emitting a faint warm glow. There was no joy on his face, only boundless despair and... a suicidal urge.

Three days...

Where was he supposed to find a child?!

And one who would be "qualified" to withstand that mother's scrutiny?!

This was ten thousand times more difficult than dealing with the Primordial Greedy Wolf and that broken stone!

And at that very moment--

"Waa--!!! Waa--!!!"

A loud, robust infant's cry, without any warning... from the next room... piercing through the not-so-soundproof wall... clearly reached them!

Ling Ye: "!!!"

Su Wanqing: "???"

Both froze.

Ling Ye's eyes suddenly lit up with a... nearly insane brilliance!

As if grasping at the last straw of salvation, he abruptly turned his head, staring intently at the wall from which the crying originated!

A ridiculous, audacious, yet at this moment, the only feasible plan, instantly took shape in his mind!

No child?

Then... "create" one!

Or... "borrow" one!

His gaze slowly, dangerously... turned towards Su Wanqing, who had just woken up and still looked utterly bewildered.

The corner of his mouth curled into a smile... that sent shivers down Su Wanqing's spine, an extremely "kind and amiable" smile.

"Miss Su..." Ling Ye's voice became unusually "gentle," with a coaxing tone, "Do you... like... children?"