Ling Ye's "amiable" smile, paired with his deathly pale complexion and the golden blood still wet at the corners of his mouth, looked even more terrifying to Su Wanqing than a hell demon's savage grin!
"Miss Su... do you... like... children?"
That gentle, honeyed tone wrapped around Su Wanqing's heart like a cold venomous snake, making every hair on her body stand on end! Like children? At a time like this? Asked with that expression?!
The baby's loud wailing from the room next door continued, pounding against Ling Ye's nerves like background noise—and pounding against Su Wanqing's fear as well.
"I... I..." Su Wanqing was so frightened that her tongue tangled. Her body instinctively shrank backward until her back pressed tightly against the cold wall, leaving her nowhere else to retreat. That look in his eyes... he clearly wants to eat someone! No, it's even scarier than eating someone!
The "amiable" smile on Ling Ye's face remained unchanged, even becoming a few shades "gentler," but the unquestionable madness and urgency in his eyes could not be concealed no matter what.
"Look," he coaxed patiently, as if discussing how nice the weather was today. "There's a perfectly suitable one right next door... He sounds healthy and full of energy. We'll only borrow him for three days... no, perhaps one day will be enough! Once we're done, we'll return him. I guarantee he'll be unharmed, and perhaps... he might even receive a fortuitous opportunity?"
His tone was as casual as if he were discussing borrowing a bottle of soy sauce.
Su Wanqing's eyes instantly went round, filled with utter horror!
Borrow?!
Steal someone else's child?! A baby?!
Just to deal with that terrifying "Madam" who had appeared from who knew where and was powerful enough to freeze everything?!
This wasn't merely outrageous anymore. It was utterly deranged! It was the demonic act of trampling every boundary of human morality!
"No! No, you can't! Absolutely not!" Su Wanqing practically screamed her refusal, her voice warped by fear. "That's someone else's child! We can't..."
"Can't?" The "gentle" smile on Ling Ye's face vanished instantly, replaced by cold, impatient viciousness. "Do you think I'm asking for your opinion?"
He slowly rose to his feet. Though he was still weak, the condescending gaze he cast down at her, as if she were an ant, left Su Wanqing instantly breathless.
"I'm merely informing you." Ling Ye's voice was cold enough to pierce bone. "You have two choices now."
He raised one finger. "First, cooperate obediently and go over to 'carry' the child here. Once it's done, I might consider... truly helping you establish your foundation, setting you on the path of cultivation, and freeing you from your mortal body."
He raised a second finger, his tone growing even more chilling. "Second, I'll go myself. But I can't guarantee the process won't be a little... rough. Nor can I guarantee that those mortal parents won't see something they shouldn't, after which... they may need their memories erased, or... to be dealt with."
It was a naked threat! Completely undisguised!
Su Wanqing's face instantly went white as paper, and her body began to tremble violently. She had no doubt that Ling Ye could absolutely do it! To achieve his goal, crushing a few "ants" meant nothing to him!
On one side was the bottom line of her conscience and the enormous guilt she would bear. On the other was the terrifying consequence that she and even innocent people might face...
The immense pressure and fear nearly shattered her. Tears welled uncontrollably in her eyes, and her voice carried a sob. "Why... why me... I can't do this..."
"Because you're my person now." Ling Ye impatiently cut her off, his tone carrying an overbearing certainty. "I saved your life, and I reshaped your body with source qi. It's your honor to do a small task for me. Don't test my patience. I... don't have much time left."
He practically ground out the last few words through clenched teeth, his gaze once again flicking toward the baby's undershirt in his arms, which still emitted a faint glow, as if it were a time bomb ready to explode at any moment.
The baby's cries from next door seemed to grow even louder, as though urging him on.
Su Wanqing collapsed onto the floor, tears blurring her vision. Looking at Ling Ye's cold yet anxious eyes, she knew she had no choice. Refusing meant immediate death, and she might even implicate innocent people. Agreeing... meant falling into the hell of her own conscience.
In the end, her fear of death, along with her dread of Ling Ye's unfathomable power, overwhelmed her crumbling sense of morality.
Extremely slowly, like a marionette, she nodded. Her voice was barely audible, filled with humiliation and trembling. "I... I'll go..."
Only then did a trace of satisfaction appear on Ling Ye's face, though it remained cold. "Good. Remember, act naturally, as if... as if you're the child's mother and simply came over to see what was wrong after hearing him cry."
Mother? Su Wanqing's heart felt as though it had been pricked by a needle. She had never even properly been in a relationship, yet now she had to steal someone else's child and play the mother?
But she didn't dare object. She could only struggle to get up from the floor, her legs still weak.
Ling Ye watched her dazed, dispirited appearance and frowned, seemingly unconvinced that this was safe enough. After hesitating for a moment, he reached into the ragged cloth bundle with extreme reluctance and pulled out a small fragment... It was dry and curled, resembling the leaf of some kind of plant. The leaf was a strange grayish green and emitted an extremely faint aura of serenity.
"Take this." He stuffed the leaf into Su Wanqing's hand. "A remnant leaf of Forget Worry Grass. Crush it, and it can send a mortal into a brief sleep and muddled memory. If necessary... use it on the mother."
Su Wanqing held the cold, withered leaf, feeling as though it weighed a thousand pounds. Her hand trembled violently.
"Go on." Ling Ye urged her, his gaze turning sharp again. "I'll be watching from here. Don't try anything clever. You know the consequences."
Su Wanqing took a deep breath and, like someone heading to the execution grounds, moved toward the door step by arduous step. Her hand closed around the cold doorknob, and she looked back at Ling Ye.
Ling Ye was watching her with a cold, expectant gaze, as if supervising a tool sent to complete its mission.
Su Wanqing's heart sank completely. She turned the doorknob and walked out.
The hotel corridor was empty, its lights dim. The baby's cries from the room next door were clearer now, mixed with the gentle, weary voice of a young woman soothing him to sleep. "There, there, don't cry, baby. Mommy's here..."
Those words filled with maternal love stabbed into Su Wanqing's heart like a knife. Her feet felt as heavy as lead, and every step was incredibly difficult.
She reached the door of the room next door. Listening to the crying and soothing within, she raised her hand, but it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and she simply could not knock.
What should I do? Do I really have to do this?
What do I say after going in? Do I just snatch the baby?
What happens after using Forget Worry Grass? How desperate will that mother be when she wakes up and finds her child gone?
Countless thoughts battled furiously in her mind, the condemnation of her conscience nearly tearing her apart.
Just as she wavered in indecision and struggled in agony—
Inside the room, the baby's cries suddenly... stopped strangely?
Immediately afterward, the woman's delighted voice came through. "Oh my, finally asleep? This little rascal... what a handful..."
Then came a rustling sound, as though the mother was gently setting the baby down and covering him with a blanket.
An opportunity!
Su Wanqing's heart pounded wildly! The baby was asleep! The mother might have temporarily left the bedside! Perhaps... perhaps she had a chance to quietly go in... and only "borrow" him for a little while...
The thought whispered to her like a demon, tempting her.
Trembling, she extended her hand and tentatively, as lightly as possible... pushed against the door.
The door... wasn't locked! It was only ajar!
A crack appeared. Inside, only a dim night-light was on, making it difficult to see clearly. But she could hear faint running water coming from the bathroom. It seemed the mother was washing up.
The crib was not far from the door!
Su Wanqing's heart leaped into her throat! Guilt and urgency drove her forward. As if pulled by invisible strings, she inexplicably... pushed the door open softly and slipped inside!
The room was filled with the scent of milk and the distinctive smell of a baby. In the tiny crib, a baby wrapped in a soft swaddle slept soundly, his little face rosy and his breathing even.
What an adorable child... Su Wanqing's heart clenched instantly. Did she really have to take him away?
Just as she stood beside the crib, locked in her final internal struggle—
The water in the bathroom stopped.
The sound of the doorknob turning followed!
The mother was coming out!
Su Wanqing was scared out of her wits, her mind going completely blank! Almost instinctively, she suddenly reached out—not to pick up the baby, but to hide in panic! She caught sight of a huge wardrobe beside the bed and, without thinking, pulled open the door and squeezed inside!
The wardrobe door had only just closed when the bathroom door opened.
A young mother in pajamas stepped out. Her face looked weary, but she wore a gentle smile. She first walked to the crib, bent down, and affectionately kissed the baby's forehead, then tucked in the edge of his blanket.
"Sleep well, my darling... Mommy's precious baby..." she hummed softly, her voice overflowing with love.
Hidden inside the wardrobe, Su Wanqing watched through the crack. Listening to the low murmur filled with maternal love, she was submerged in shame and guilt like a rising tide, and tears silently slid down her face. She bit her lip hard to keep herself from crying out.
The mother noticed nothing unusual. She yawned, seemingly ready to rest as well. She turned off the night-light, and the room fell into darkness, with only a faint glow filtering in through the window.
Su Wanqing held her breath inside the cramped, dark wardrobe, not daring to move. Her heart was filled with torment. What should she do? Go out now? Apologize? Or...
Time passed second by second.
Only the even breathing of mother and child remained in the room.
Just as Su Wanqing was nearly driven mad by the conflict in her heart—
Suddenly!
She felt the fragment of "Forget Worry Grass" she had been clutching tightly in her palm...
Without warning... begin to grow slightly warm?!
And... it began to tremble... ever so faintly?!
As if... something had activated it?!
Su Wanqing jolted and instinctively opened her palm.
The gray-green leaf, which had originally been dry and curled, had actually... unfurled! Extremely fine silver patterns, resembling nerve pathways, surfaced across it. A strange fluctuation of power radiated from within!
What... what was happening?!
Ling Ye never said this leaf could move on its own!
Before she could figure it out—
The "Forget Worry Grass" leaf suddenly burst into a gentle silver radiance carrying an intense hypnotic effect!
The light instantly filled the cramped wardrobe!
Su Wanqing only felt an irresistible drowsiness surge over her like a tsunami. Her vision went black, her consciousness sank instantly, and her body slumped softly against the wardrobe wall as she fell into a deep sleep.
The glowing leaf in her hand quickly dimmed after releasing its hypnotic power, once again returning to its dry, curled state, as if it had exhausted all its strength.
At the same time.
In the room next door.
Ling Ye, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing as he anxiously awaited the result, suddenly opened his eyes!
The baby's undershirt in his arms once again... grew hot and began to tremble without warning!
The character "Ye" erupted with a light even more dazzling than before!
An overwhelmingly powerful fluctuation of infantile thoughts, filled with grievance and dependence, burst through the wall from the room next door like a frightened child finally finding his parent, then... precisely... projected itself onto him!
Immediately afterward, a cold, furious female voice carrying a trace of indescribable anxiety and concern exploded directly in the depths of his soul. It was no longer as silent as before, but filled with emotional turbulence:
"Little Ye?! What's wrong?! Who scared you?! Was that bastard bullying you?! Tell Mommy! Mommy's coming right now to tear him apart!!!"
Before you continue