Yu Xiaogang: Damn it, Bibi Dong wants me to be the fall guy

"I don't know who my daddy is," Deng Tianxin blinked his large eyes, his voice soft and milky. "Mommy said Daddy passed away a long time ago and she needs to find me a stepfather."

Bibi Dong's pupils dilated sharply.

"Deng! Tian! Xin!"

Bibi Dong's roar exploded along the forest path, startling countless birds from the trees.

She grabbed Deng Tianxin by the back of his collar, yanked him off her thigh, and held him suspended in mid-air.

Her cheeks were flushed a deep red, and it was impossible to tell if it was from anger or shame, while her usually composed eyes burned with raging fury.

"You explain yourself right now! Who is your mommy! Who is looking for a stepfather for you!" Bibi Dong ground out each word through clenched teeth.

Deng Tianxin dangled in the air, yet he wasn't the least bit flustered. Instead, he blinked at her, flashing a sly smile that only Bibi Dong could see.

Bibi Dong froze.

This expression... was this little brat doing this on purpose?

"Dong'er," Yu Xiaogang's voice came from behind, trembling with suppressed emotion. "Is what this child said true? Are you looking for... for a stepfather for him?"

"Xiaogang! He's spouting nonsense!" Bibi Dong turned around in a panic, her voice cracking from the urgency. "I only just met him today! Less than an hour ago! He was trying to rob me earlier and called me 'Auntie'! How could I possibly be his mother!"

"Rob you?" Yu Xiaogang's gaze darted between the two, his brow furrowing deeper. "A six-year-old child tried to rob you?"

At this moment, Yu Xiaogang was starting to believe Deng Tianxin's words.

The Saintess of Spirit Hall being robbed by a six-year-old? Only a fool would believe such a thing.

"Yes! He used a wooden stick—" Bibi Dong looked down, intending to find the stick as evidence, only to discover that Deng Tianxin's hands were empty. The weapon had long since been tossed into some unknown patch of grass.

"Mommy, you said if I kept your secret, you wouldn't be mean to me," Deng Tianxin interjected at the perfect moment.

His voice was pitiful, and a mist of tears even welled up in his eyes.

Bibi Dong whipped her head around, glaring at Deng Tianxin as if he were a demon.

This little brat could actually fake crying?!

"Little one," Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice calm. "You said your mommy wants to find you a stepfather, then... who is that stepfather?"

Deng Tianxin tilted his head, looking at Yu Xiaogang with wide-eyed innocence, then extended his small hand to point at him.

"It seems like it's you."

"..."

Yu Xiaogang's complexion shifted from pale to green, from green to black, and finally settled into a complex, ashen gray within three seconds.

Damn it, Bibi Dong was trying to make him a cuckold.

Though he, Yu Xiaogang, might be considered a failure, he was no fool. How could he possibly accept such a role?

If he were to accept, his family would kill him without a second thought.

Yu Xiaogang made up his mind; he had to distance himself from Bibi Dong.

Yu Xiaogang took a step back.

The step was small, but it felt like a knife plunging straight into Bibi Dong's heart.

"Xiaogang," Bibi Dong's voice trembled, as did the hand holding Deng Tianxin's collar. "You don't actually believe what he said, do you?"

Yu Xiaogang didn't answer, but his silence was more hurtful than any reply.

Deng Tianxin dangled in the air, tilting his head to watch the scene, his small face still wearing that innocent expression while he was secretly overjoyed.

The fragment reaction within Bibi Dong was becoming increasingly intense; it wouldn't be long before he could obtain it.

With Bibi Dong's emotions in such turmoil, if Yu Xiaogang said a few more heartless words, the fragment might just pop out.

Once he had the fragment, he would slip away in the chaos, his work done and his name hidden.

"Yu Xiaogang," Bibi Dong called out his full name, her voice filled with a panic Deng Tianxin had never heard before. "I've been with you for so long—would you rather believe a child you've known for less than an hour than believe me?"

"I want to believe you," Yu Xiaogang finally spoke, his voice as raspy as sandpaper on wood. "But tell me, why would a six-year-old child make up such a complicated lie to slander you?"

"Because he's holding a grudge! Because I spanked him!" Bibi Dong practically screamed.

As soon as the words left her lips, she realized how absurd the explanation sounded.

"He called you 'Mommy'," Yu Xiaogang's gaze shifted from Bibi Dong's face to Deng Tianxin's, then back again. "He hugged your leg, he said you wanted to find him a stepfather, he said his father passed away—all of this is because you spanked him?"

"It's not like that..." Bibi Dong's eyes were red with desperation. "He really is doing this on purpose! Didn't you see him wink at me earlier? He's acting!"

Deng Tianxin sniffled at the right moment, his eyes brimming with tears, yet he stubbornly bit his lip to keep them from falling. He looked as pitiful as could be.

"Mommy," Deng Tianxin said, his voice choked with sobs, yet trying to act strong. "Don't be angry anymore. I know you don't like me, but as long as you're happy, you can say whatever you want..."

Bibi Dong whipped her head around, glaring at Deng Tianxin with the look of someone staring into the abyss of hell.

In this moment, she finally understood one truth: he was sent specifically to cure her lovesickness.

"Dong'er," Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, a smile appearing on his face that was uglier than crying. "I just remembered, I have something to take care of at home."

Bibi Dong froze.

Something to take care of at home?

Yu Xiaogang had long since been kicked out of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect; where would he even have a home?

"My research materials aren't finished yet, and my friend is urging me to return," Yu Xiaogang said while backing away, his pace quickening, giving her absolutely no chance to interject. "This child... take good care of him. After all, the child is innocent. As for us, let's talk about it another time."

"Xiaogang! Stop right there!" Bibi Dong's voice carried a panic he had never heard before.

However, Yu Xiaogang had already turned around, his footsteps rapid, almost breaking into a jog.

That retreating figure could not be called resolute, but every step took him further away from her, away from this scene that embarrassed him to the extreme.

"Yu Xiaogang!"

Bibi Dong's voice exploded through the woods, carrying a sharpness that bordered on a breakdown.

She had never lost her composure like this before.

The Saintess of Spirit Hall, the forever poised, forever elegant, forever in control Bibi Dong, was at this moment like an ordinary woman driven to a dead end, her eyes rimmed with red, her entire body trembling.

Yet, that retreating figure did not stop.

Not only did he not stop, he walked even faster.

Yu Xiaogang's pace shifted from a brisk walk to a jog, and from a jog to a sprint; he did not look like a man leaving a woman he had once deeply loved, but rather like someone fleeing from some monstrous flood or beast.

"Stop! I told you to stop!"