Mother, Can I Sleep with You? Together with Little Brother Fang Mo.

She wore plain casual clothes, her golden hair hanging loose over her shoulders in scattered strands, unbound.

Her brilliant golden eyes glimmered faintly beneath the corridor lights, carrying a rare hint of nervousness.

"Little Brother Fang Mo."

Qian Renxue kept her voice low and glanced furtively from side to side as though she were sneaking around.

"Can I come in?"

Fang Mo stepped aside to make room.

"Come in."

Qian Renxue slipped inside in a flash, shut the door, and locked it in one smooth motion. Clearly, she was already quite practiced at this.

Qian Renxue walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, twisting her hands together uneasily.

Fang Mo pulled over a chair and sat directly across from Qian Renxue, watching her with some confusion.

"Sister Xue'er, what is it this late at night?"

Qian Renxue did not answer immediately.

She lowered her head, her golden lashes trembling lightly a few times, as though she were gathering herself for something important.

Fang Mo did not urge her on.

The silence lasted around ten breaths.

Then Qian Renxue slowly raised her head.

Her brilliant golden eyes were filled with a longing Fang Mo had never seen before.

Not a longing for power, nor a longing for authority, but a child's longing for warmth.

"Little Brother Fang Mo."

Qian Renxue's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, like a breeze brushing past one's ear.

"Mm."

"I want to see Mother."

Fang Mo froze for a moment when he heard the request. He had thought she was about to say something else.

"Alright."

He nodded readily.

Just as Fang Mo was about to sink into the Spirit Sea, Qian Renxue suddenly lunged forward and tightly pressed down on his wrist.

"Wait, Little Brother Fang Mo."

A faint floral fragrance wafted toward him, and Qian Renxue's fingers were slightly cool.

"There's something else I want to say..."

"Mm."

Fang Mo waited quietly.

For some reason, Qian Renxue's ears suddenly reddened, and she began to stammer.

Under the dim yellow light, the blush spread from her ears all the way down her neck, as though she had been scalded by hot water.

"I... I want to sleep with Mother tonight."

Fang Mo's movements paused.

Qian Renxue bit her lower lip. Her gaze instinctively darted away, but she quickly met Fang Mo's eyes again with determination.

"I mean... after Mother manifests, I want to... sleep beside her for a while."

"Ever since I was little, I've never slept with Mother."

Her voice suddenly dropped. "Even just once would be enough."

Fang Mo looked at her silently.

Qian Renxue was nine years old now, the inheritor of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and the treasured jewel of the Consecrated Hall.

Yet at this moment, she sat beside his bed like an ordinary child.

Using an exceedingly humble tone to ask for a very simple wish.

Fang Mo's heart softened at once.

"Alright. I'll go talk to her."

Qian Renxue's eyes lit up for an instant, only to dim again soon after.

"But..."

"But what?"

Qian Renxue's ears turned even redder.

"But I'm scared by myself..."

Her voice grew softer and softer.

"Last time, beneath the Wutong Tree, I did see Mother, but after I went back, I had a very, very long dream."

Fang Mo listened quietly.

"In the dream, I slept while hugging Mother's arm. But when I woke up, there was nothing in my hands."

Qian Renxue's eyes reddened slightly.

"So... I want this time to be real. Not a dream, not an illusion. I want to truly feel Mother."

Suddenly, Qian Renxue lifted her head sharply. Her brilliant golden eyes held a trace of cautious expectation.

"Little Brother Fang Mo."

"Mm?"

"Would you be willing to stay with me?"

"???"

Before Fang Mo could react, Qian Renxue gathered her courage and spoke.

"Mother, can I sleep with you? Together with Little Brother Fang Mo."

The instant those words left her mouth, the entire room fell silent.

Fang Mo's breathing stopped for a moment.

Within the Spirit Sea, Dong'er's phantom trembled violently.

Dark red eyes abruptly flew open, cold and proud, carrying a vigilance carved into her bones.

Of course she had heard it.

Every single word.

Fang Mo could clearly feel Dong'er's emotions surging violently, filled with anger and something even more complicated.

Resistance.

Instinctive resistance.

Not resistance toward Qian Renxue.

But resistance toward the other person in this scene—Fang Mo.

Because Spirit Dong'er knew all too well.

Though Fang Mo's body was only six years old, his soul belonged to an adult in his twenties.

To let the soul of an adult man sleep in the same bed as her daughter?

Just imagining that scene made Dong'er feel uncomfortable all over.

"No!"

Dong'er's voice rang through the Spirit Sea, cold and resolute, making Fang Mo's ears ring for a moment.

Fang Mo was so startled that he did not dare say a word.

He knew perfectly well that Dong'er had not rejected Qian Renxue so decisively out of distance.

On the contrary.

It was precisely because she cared too much that she refused so firmly.

Qian Renxue did not know what had happened in the Spirit Sea, but she saw the expression on Fang Mo's face.

"If... if it's inconvenient, then forget it."

Qian Renxue lowered her head, her golden hair falling along both sides of her cheeks and concealing her expression.

"I know this request is a little strange..."

Her voice grew softer and softer.

"I just..."

She did not finish.

Because she did not dare to say any more.

She was afraid that the more she said, the greater her disappointment would be.

Seeing her lower her head, Fang Mo felt a wave of bitterness rise in his heart.

Within the Spirit Sea, Dong'er's phantom was trembling violently.

The sight of Qian Renxue lowering her head overlapped with a scene from her memories.

The night before the great battle at Jialing Pass.

That grown-up Qian Renxue had said those very same words to her in almost exactly the same tone.

"Mother, can I sleep with you?"

That night, her Xue'er had curled into a ball, clutching her arm and refusing to let go.

She had been afraid that when she woke the next day, her mother would become cold and distant again.

Dong'er's phantom trembled even more violently.

That thin mist of tears welled up again in her dark red eyes.

In her previous life, she had agreed.

Only before she died had she agreed.

Only after Xue'er had waited for more than a decade did she finally receive one embrace from her.

And in this life...

How much longer would she make Xue'er wait?

"Alright."

Dong'er's voice echoed through the Spirit Sea, hoarse and weary, though the resistance in it had clearly diminished.

Fang Mo was slightly stunned when he heard that.

"Since Xue'er has agreed, then you can come up too."

Dong'er's tone returned to its coldness, but Fang Mo could hear the awkwardness within it.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."

I've been wronged! I wasn't thinking anything at all, Fang Mo retorted inwardly.

"You'd better not have been thinking anything."

Dong'er lowered her voice, with a trace of threat still in her tone.

"If you dare make any improper moves..."

"Don't worry."

Fang Mo said earnestly, "What can a six-year-old little brat like me possibly do?"

Dong'er fell silent for a moment.

Then she gave an extremely soft snort.

The Spirit Sea returned to calm.