In the courtyard, Xiao Se sat beside a clear spring, looking utterly dejected.
Only when a pebble flew into the pool before him did he react. It did not sink directly into the water, instead skipping across the surface and stirring a string of ripples.
Xiao Se raised his head and saw the smiling young man toss a pebble in his hand. "Xiao Se, want to play?"
"...Father?"
"This was something I loved playing with when I was little. I haven't done it in a long time, but it seems my hand hasn't gotten rusty."
Xiao Se then took the pebble from his father and copied his movements. However, the pebble he threw could not stay on the water's surface and dropped into the pool, leaving behind only a single ripple.
"Does it still hurt? When your mother loses her temper, she's like that. She doesn't know her own strength when she hits someone."
Xiao Yan tossed another pebble and could not help asking.
"I'm fine. Mother never intended to do anything serious to me anyway."
Xiao Se shook his head. Compared with the pain from that slap, what he felt more was disappointment.
"...Let's talk about the past instead."
"The Ruins of Forgetfulness was a small world created by the Eight Emperors because they could not completely destroy the Spirit Devouring Saint King."
"Over tens of thousands of years, that small world went through three cycles of reincarnation, each weaker than the last, until it gradually perished."
"And when that small world vanished, the Spirit Devouring Saint King's Demon Fetus would be completely destroyed as well, never again posing any threat to the Dou Qi Continent."
"...It was only because your mother and I entered that place back then that we accidentally allowed the Demon Fetus to escape, bringing