When Xu Qingjia came out of the bedroom, he spotted Na'er at once-the little girl gripped a roast lamb leg bigger than her face in her left hand and held a bowl of meat soup steadily in her right. Shen Xi had just fed her a mouthful of vegetables with her chopsticks. Her cherry-red mouth bulged as she chewed, glistening flecks of oil clinging to its corners, and even her little cheeks quivered gently. She looked so utterly content that she had clearly forgotten home amid all this happiness, tossing everything else beyond the ninth heaven.
This was a God King's avatar?
Xu Qingjia started eating as well.
Running the Spirit Ascension Platform instance had taken quite a bit out of him.
The special spiritual fluctuations from the Mermaid's Tears passed through a specially made Soul Tool, easing the fatigue in his soul.
As he ate, he told his father about the day's gains.
Dinner ended in a warm, cozy atmosphere.
Shen Xi checked the response the Mingdu Enforcement Bureau had sent her.
"No identity records at all?"
Shen Xi looked at Na'er, who was happily enjoying a candied hawthorn skewer for dessert, and asked gently, "Na'er, can you remember anything else about your home?"
"Hm?" Na'er's cowlick swayed gently. Her little pink tongue instinctively licked the sugar clinging to the corner of her mouth. Blinking her big, dewy eyes, she tried earnestly to remember. "Na'er remembers a little wooden cabin at home, with all kinds of huge trees around it."
"Was there nobody nearby except your family?"
"There was a black-haired man who seemed to know Mommy. I haven't seen anyone else." Since separating from the Silver Dragon King's body, she had only met Di Tian besides Gu Yue.
"Did your mommy ever tell you where you lived?"
"No." She had known from birth, so Gu Yue had never needed to tell her.
Shen Xi gently asked all sorts of questions.
Na'er obediently answered them.
But Shen Xi gleaned no useful information.
What they knew: Na'er's home seemed to be somewhere out in the wilderness, perhaps even in an undeveloped forest, with nobody living anywhere near it. Her mother was lazy, but she was naturally clever and had taught herself plenty of everyday knowledge.
Shen Xi ventured a guess. "Maybe it's some remote place in the Star Luo Empire or the Dou Ling Empire."
It was also possible that Na'er was lying.
But Shen Xi did not think so. After all, she was such a little girl.
Xu Qingjia quietly munched on watermelon as he watched everything unfold.
In a certain sense, Na'er really had not lied.
She had been born from the Silver Dragon King, so she could indeed call the Silver Dragon King her mother.
The Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest really was in a forest, with not a single person around, only a group of Soul Beasts. The Silver Dragon King had never taught her anything either, because as her avatar, Na'er possessed her memories from birth and was born "clever."
As they talked, Shen Xi's heart had already softened enough for her to gather Na'er into her arms. Na'er obediently let the woman behind her hold her, focusing intently on licking the candied hawthorn skewer in her hand, her pretty eyes happily narrowing into crescents.
"Na'er, do you want to go home?" Shen Xi asked.
Na'er blinked. Go home?
She answered without hesitation, "No!"
If she had not finished her mission, that rotten Gu Yue would definitely refuse to feed her.
Besides, if she went back, she would most likely be merged back into her. But the human world had so many delicious things, and she had not tried them all yet.
Anyway, had Gu Yue not said the target was here? She had never specified how long Na'er had to complete the mission.
Shen Xi smiled at her answer and gently stroked her head. "Then you can stay at Auntie's house from now on, Na'er. There'll be all sorts of delicious food every day."
Delicious food?
"Yes, yes!" Na'er nodded eagerly.
Humans were hardly all bad people like Gu Yue claimed. There were wonderful people willing to offer her tasty food of their own accord.
Xu Ye had no objection. As long as his wife was happy, it was only one more person.
Though this little girl did eat quite a lot...
A thoughtful look surfaced in Xu Ye's eyes.
Roast lamb leg, roast suckling pig, bone-and-meat soup, cooked steak.
Could an ordinary little girl eat that much?
And all of it had come from Soul Beasts at least a hundred years old.
With such enormous energy needs, this little girl was probably no ordinary child-at least when it came to her aptitude and bloodline.
Husband and wife exchanged a glance.
But so what?
Even if she was a spy sent by someone, she would simply come here and never return.
Shen Xi looked at her precious son. "What do you think, Qingjia?"
Xu Qingjia considered it.
Seeing this, Na'er climbed down from Shen Xi's lap and hurried over to Xu Qingjia on her short little legs, holding her candied hawthorn skewer.
When Xu Qingjia raised his head, an exquisitely cute little face was already right in front of him. A faint milky scent drifted around his nose, mingling pleasantly with the sweet fragrance of candied hawthorn.
"Na'er..." As though she had made some earth-shattering decision, Na'er took a deep breath, her little chest rising and falling slightly. A trace of resolve flashed through her dewy eyes. She held out the candied hawthorn skewer in her small, fair hand, her voice soft and sweet, with a hint of caution. "Na'er can let you eat her candied hawthorn."
Then she hastily added, her curved brows knitting gently as though it hurt to part with her treasure, "O-only one bite! Just a tiny bite!"
This was for the sake of the tasty things called Potato Chips that this human cub had given the great Na'er earlier.
Xu Qingjia looked at the little face so close to his own, those dewy eyes shining as though filled with starlight. His fingers paused, and he did not take the skewer. He simply looked at the remaining candied hawthorns, then glanced at the girl with her lips pressed tightly together, looking as though she was painfully surrendering her greatest treasure. Suddenly, his mouth felt a little dry.
He was certain he was not a lolicon.
Besides, someone hundreds of thousands of years old could hardly count as a little girl.
"You eat it," Xu Qingjia said.
Na'er froze, her cowlick giving an almost imperceptible sway. How could anyone refuse such delicious candied hawthorn? Her hand hung stiffly in midair, confusion flashing through her dewy eyes before turning into firm determination. She pushed the skewer closer to Xu Qingjia's mouth. "You really can have a bite. It's really sweet!"
How could the great Na'er possibly be so stingy?
"All right." Seeing this, Xu Qingjia opened his mouth and bit a hawthorn off the skewer.
The crisp sweetness of the sugar melted on his tongue, mingling with the hawthorn's slight tartness, sweet without being cloying.
"Tasty, right?" Na'er's eyes lit up, a radiant smile spreading over her little face. With her brows and eyes curved like that, Xu Qingjia thought she must be even
sweeter than the candied hawthorn.
"Mm." Xu Qingjia quietly went back to eating watermelon.
Since she posed no threat, she could stay.
When he faced the Plane Master later, he might even be able to cooperate with the Silver Dragon King.
Putting aside the Silver Dragon King's dismal performance in the original story, she was a God King-level powerhouse. The knowledge she had received through the Dragon God's Legacy ought to be quite useful.
Watching this, a gentle smile rippled through Shen Xi's eyes. "Since Qingjia has no objections either, Na'er will be part of our family from now on."
"Qingjia's Bedchamber is quite spacious. The bedroom on the other side has always been empty, so Na'er can stay there."
"Speaking of which," Xu Ye said, "Na'er looks about Qingjia's age, doesn't she?"
"Na'er mentioned earlier that she hasn't undergone Martial Soul Awakening."
They might as well awaken her martial soul right now.
As for adoption registration and the like, a phone call would handle it.
Shen Xi performed the awakening ceremony for Na'er right there.
Xu Qingjia quietly ate his watermelon.
As expected, a silver spear over four meters long appeared in Na'er's hand. Fine, evenly arranged silver scales covered its shaft, and its conical tip gleamed coldly.
"Innate full soul power." Shen Xi was surprised.
It was not innate full soul power itself that surprised her, but the fact that a little girl she had picked up and brought home actually possessed such aptitude.
Furthermore, that silver spear, faintly exuding extraordinary draconic might as though a dragon's long cry echoed within it, felt no less impressive than top-tier weapon martial souls such as the Clear Sky Hammer and the Seven Kill Sword.
Something was off. Very, very off!
Was Na'er really a spy sent by someone?
But what kind of genius would bear to send a child with such talent out as a spy?
If they raised her properly themselves, would she not become at least a Super Douluo in the future?
Besides, this child's values and worldview probably had not even formed yet. They had only raised her for six years; how could that compare to the decade or more Shen Xi would spend raising her?
What sort of genius would send a remarkably gifted child out as a spy?
She would never come back!
If all their enemies and rivals were like this, Xu Ye and Shen Xi felt they would laugh themselves awake from their dreams.
Xu Ye and Shen Xi exchanged a glance, unable to hide the amusement in their eyes.
Whatever the case, this was an enormous windfall.
Shen Xi took Na'er to bathe and dressed her in an unworn outfit originally prepared for Xu Qingjia. Then she took Na'er out to buy several new outfits and pairs of shoes. As for bedding and sheets, Xu Qingjia's wardrobe held plenty of unused, high-quality ones, which would give the family tailor time to make some custom pieces.
Two hours later.
"Hmm-hmm~" A little white-haired ball of fluff skipped into the Bedchamber. Na'er's silver hair and two braids swayed gently with her movements. Her white short-sleeved shirt revealed her slender, fair little arms, while matching trousers faintly outlined her still-immature curves from behind.
Xu Qingjia opened his eyes from meditation, his gaze settling on the bedroom door as someone knocked.
He opened it.
The energetic little white-haired ball of fluff nearly barreled into his arms.
"Xu Qingjia." Na'er smiled, gently waving the skewers in her little hand. "Na'er brought you something tasty!"
"Thank you." Xu Qingjia took two skewers. Looking at the adorable little white-haired ball of fluff before him, he forcibly resisted the urge to pinch her soft pink cheeks and said, "But shouldn't you call me big brother?"
"Huh?" Na'er's eyes went blank.
"Mm."
"What do you mean?" Refusing to concede, the little white-haired ball of fluff puffed out her still-immature chest. "Maybe I'm older than you."
A mere human cub actually wanted to be the great Na'er's big brother.
"How about..." Na'er's lively eyes darted around, an innocent smile surfacing deep within them. A little note of haughty pride crept into her soft, adorable voice. "If you call me big sister, Big Sister Na'er can protect you from now on."