Chapter 174

Two days later, Qiao Suisui was lifted from her bed by Ka'er while she was still asleep. She smelled his scent and, without even opening her eyes, tugged at his earlobe and complained, "What are you doing?"

Hearing her soft, muffled complaint, Ka'er kissed her eyelid, lifted her higher, and adjusted her into a more comfortable position in his arms.

"Sweetheart, just keep sleeping."

Qiao Suisui was truly sleepy, and her consciousness soon slipped into darkness; when she opened her eyes again, she was awakened by the sunlight.

She squinted and turned over, and Ka'er immediately raised his hand to block her face, helping her shield the sunlight.

"Sleep a bit more, I'll block it for you."

Qiao Suisui climbed out of his arms, looked around, and asked with wide eyes, "Where is this?"

How did the place change after one sleep? Ka'er scratched his head and shouted toward the door, "I said we should have installed the curtains first; she isn't used to this at all."

Zongfang walked in from outside, saw Qiao Suisui kneeling on the bed with a bewildered expression, and walked over to smooth out her long hair, which was messy from sleep.

"This is Kanbukun. There are Fragrance flowers here, so you won't feel too uncomfortable. Once your morning sickness symptoms have completely faded, we will return to the Huangting."

Qiao Suisui looked at the vase on the bedside table and the pink liquid in Zongfang's hand, suddenly remembering that the feeling of being carried by Ka'er last night was not a dream.

"But Anubis..."

"We're looking for him," Ka'er knew what she wanted to say and quickly added, "Xikesaisi and Laiboli stayed in Ausilan to handle this, so don't worry."

Qiao Suisui opened her mouth, feeling a faint sense of unease in her heart, but after Zongfang and Ka'er took turns persuading her, she finally just sighed, "Well, since we're already here."

Besides, she could investigate the true cause of the Archbishop's death while she was here.

Staying in a place with Fragrance flowers, Qiao Suisui indeed felt that her previous symptoms of fatigue, nausea, and drowsiness had disappeared. Sang Yan used the Fragrance flowers to make her hairpins, brooches, and bracelets so she could wear them and not be restricted if she wanted to go out for a stroll. However, the picked Fragrance flowers withered quickly; within a day, they would fade, turn yellow, and lose their Fragrance. And as the flowers withered, she would return to that uncomfortable state, even fainting once while walking down the stairs.

Fortunately, Zongfang was by her side at the time and caught her limp body in time.

Night.

Zongfang placed fresh Fragrance flowers into the vase, then took off his clothes and lay down beside her.

He carefully placed his arm under her neck and pulled her close.

The man's hand gently massaged her lower back; her belly was growing larger by the day, but her weight remained the same, and she even suffered from a loss of appetite due to morning sickness, unable to keep food down. Zongfang looked at her thin, gaunt face and kissed her with a heart full of pain. No one knew how anxious he was, because he never showed it.

But as the day of the birth drew closer, he was incredibly terrified.

Zongfang stroked her pregnant belly and kissed her lips gently.

Qiao Suisui was kissed awake by him and hummed softly as she pushed his shoulder.

"Qiaoqiao, take my talent, okay?" He had been repeating this recently, and Qiao Suisui had always brushed it off.

She turned over, wanting to pretend to be asleep, but was entangled by the man from behind. Zongfang kept kissing her, his large hands igniting fires all over her body.

"Be good, okay?"

He coaxed her, picked her up, and had her straddle his waist and abdomen.

Zongfang remembered clearly that the last time, the talent had transferred to her after they had made love. His only worry now was that the previous time had been a coincidence, and Qiao Suisui did not know how to control the transfer of the talent.

"Sweetheart, let's try one more time, okay? Or should we recreate the scene exactly? Or should the position be the same?"

Qiao Suisui blushed and punched his chest, saying, "Can't I just not want your talent?"

"No."

He rarely refused her so categorically. Qiao Suisui's waist was locked by his hand; she touched her belly and thought of an excuse: "But I'm pregnant now, I can't do it."

Zongfang was silent for a moment, then asked her, "Does it have to be done for the talent to transfer?"

She recalled the system's rules; it seemed that was indeed the case, and it also required him to be emotionally aroused.

Qiao Suisui nodded and said, "It's fine if I don't have Self-healing."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zongfang pressed his arm over his eyes.

He lay on the bed, and Qiao Suisui could not see his expression, so she leaned over and asked, "Zongfang, what's wrong?"

Zongfang did not answer; only his slightly trembling chin and choked throat betrayed his inner state at that moment.

Qiao Suisui was startled. She reached out to pull his arm down and saw that Zongfang's tear tracks had already soaked the pillow. The man turned his head away and wiped his face messily with his hand, unwilling to let her see him like this.

"Zongfang..."

Qiao Suisui hooked her arms around his neck, kissed him, and asked in a low voice, "Are you worried about me?"

Zongfang composed himself, turned his head to smile at her, looked at her with moist, gentle eyes, tucked the stray hair behind her ear, and comforted her, "Don't overthink it. I just lost control for a moment; nothing will happen."

He very, very rarely lost control like this, Qiao Suisui thought to herself.

She gazed into his eyes, seeing his worried pupils and the anxiety he was trying hard to restrain and hide. Qiao Suisui asked, "Are you afraid I'll have a hard..."

Zongfang kissed her mouth, not letting her say the word. He was already so afraid that he felt it was a taboo to even say it.

Qiao Suisui finally understood why he had been pestering her to take his talent these past few days.

"Silly snake," she kissed him lightly and laughed.

Zongfang responded to her kiss, his hands supporting her waist so she wouldn't be too tired.

Qiao Suisui whispered in his ear, "Then let's do it."

"But..." Zongfang hesitantly touched her pregnant belly, his brow furrowed, "Qiaoqiao, don't mess around."

"I'm not messing around." She whispered something in his ear, and the man's eyes instantly darkened, his arms tightening around her.

The moonlight cast on the floor elongated the shadow of the window, and the room was filled with Fragrance.

The man's strength was extremely restrained, and every movement was as gentle as possible. His hands gripped her snow-white knees, pressing into the flesh of her thighs until they indented.

Zongfang lay on the bed, watching her above him with obsession, constantly pulling his reason back from the edge of desire, restraining himself so as not to hurt her.

Several times in the middle, she became a bit impatient, her slender, snow-white neck arching backward, leaving several bloody marks on his chest from her nails.

Fearing she would fall backward, Zongfang reached out to grip her arms, his other hand supporting her belly, restraining his strength to satisfy her.

Qiao Suisui lay on the man's shoulder, panting, and heard the system's notification sound—

【Talent Bodu successful. Talent: Self-healing. Talent Column has been lit up.】

Zongfang wrapped her in a blanket, fearing she would catch a chill from the sweat, while not forgetting to ask her, "Did it succeed?"

Qiao Suisui rested her pointed chin on his shoulder and gave a sly smile.

"No, perhaps we need to do it one more time."

(End of chapter)