Chapter 763

That eye shape, those long eyelashes— they look exactly like mine!

Hui Moqiong instantly felt his back straighten.

He swiftly took the eight children back, gave them a thorough makeover, then led them out, showing them off hall by hall.

Those with keen eyesight and high emotional intelligence would blurt out praise for the little guys' eyes: "Fifth Lord, the little guys' eyes inherited your excellent genes—they're really handsome."

Hui Moqiong burst out laughing at those words, his grin threatening to split his ears.

After making the rounds, he not only cleared his name regarding his ability to bear children, but also hauled in a pile of red envelopes.

That night, as Hui Moqiong held Li Qingying in bed counting the red envelopes, he felt utterly relaxed.

From that day on, Hui Moqiong never mentioned having a second child again, devoting himself entirely to managing the Gray Immortal Hall.

After all, he now had heirs, and he needed to carve out a vast estate for his children.

Who would have thought that, once Hui Moqiong stopped obsessing over a second child, a second pregnancy arrived silently.

This time, Li Qingying discovered she was pregnant very early.

So early—less than a month in—she already felt miserable all over.

She felt weak and drowsy, vomited whatever she ate, lost weight dramatically, yet her calves began to swell.

At first, Hui Moqiong thought Li Qingying was ill and dragged her to Bai Shulan for a pulse check.

Bai Shulan felt her pulse and said: "Qingying, you're pregnant—just conceived, and your reaction is this strong. You'd better rest more, watch your nutrition; I'll prescribe some fetal‑tonic medicine. Remember to take it on schedule and come back regularly for pulse checks…"

Bai Shulan gave many instructions, and Hui Moqiong noted them all down.

After returning, he discussed with Li Qingying that she should learn to let go of her workload—on one hand to cultivate her own confidants and backbone, and on the other to enable those below to grow quickly.

In the two years since Li Qingying took charge of the Jūnzhú Shān City God Temple, she has been working herself to the bone.

She wanted to handle everything personally.

That's fine at the start—new officials make a splash—but it's detrimental to long‑term development.

Li Qingying also realized this, and since her body truly couldn't endure this pregnancy, she had no choice but to let Hui Moqiong help manage the City God Temple, meanwhile delegating some authority.

Hui Moqiong is best at management; his Gray Immortal Hall is the largest and most populous of the Five Immortal Halls in the Nineflame District, and it has never encountered any trouble.

With Hui Moqiong's help, Li Qingying was able to rest completely.

The second pregnancy felt completely opposite to the first.

During the first pregnancy, aside from her belly swelling rapidly in the later stages, she felt hardly any discomfort.

But with the second, not only did she feel uncomfortable, the fetus grew unusually fast.

In just over two months she was visibly pregnant, her belly enlarging to the naked eye.

Li Qingying grew a bit worried and went to see Bai Shulan.

Bai Shulan advised her: "Qingying, you need to prepare yourself mentally—this pregnancy may yield more babies than the first, and the gestation period will be shorter."

From my experience, the reason you felt little with the first pregnancy is that all eight babies inherited your genes, making them highly compatible with your body; thus even if the term ran a bit longer, you felt no discomfort at all.

But the genes of this second litter may lean more toward Lord Hui Fifth, causing stronger rejection by your body, which is why you feel so ill; moreover, rodents have short gestation periods, so you need to get ready early.

Li Qingying found Bai Shulan's analysis convincing and began preparing.

Less than five months into the second pregnancy, Li Qingying went into labor.

This time, before labor, she didn't want to return to the water at all; she just wanted to stay in her room at the pawnshop, laying a soft blanket on the bed and curling up to endure the onslaught of contractions.

Bai Shulan and Xiao Jiu guarded the room the whole time, while Hui Moqiong clung to the windowsill; had it not been for Liu Junyan and Huang Fan restraining him, he would have rushed in to deliver the babies himself.

The delivery proceeded smoothly nonetheless.

This time, Li Qingying gave birth to thirteen fuzzy… chubby rats.

They were genuinely plump, each resembling a kitten newborn, squealing and scrambling everywhere in search of milk.

Fortunately, Xiao Jiu had anticipated this and had goat milk ready; the pawnshop staff, many hands pitching in, helped nurse the rat pups.

Li Qingying was exhausted and fell into a heavy sleep.

Hui Moqiong felt sorry for her and silently resolved never to let such an accident happen again.

Meanwhile, gazing at the row of chubby rat pups asleep in the baby bed, he was moved to tears.

This scene reminded him of his own childhood.

Back then, he and his siblings numbered thirteen altogether, huddled together just like this to make a living.

Unfortunately, later on… some died, some went bad, and in the end only he and his sister remained, now doing fairly well.

He silently resolved to protect his children well, to educate them properly—none may be missing, none may turn bad.

These thirteen chubby rat pups are not as easy to raise as the first litter's eight red carp.

First of all, feeding them is a major undertaking.

Xiao Jiu took charge of the goat milk, while Hui Moqiong personally tended to the rat pups, with everyone lending a hand when they had time.

Moreover, at the insistence of Xiao Jiu and Bai Shulan, Li Qingying observed a forty‑two‑day confinement period.

During those forty‑two days, she merely ate, drank, took leisurely walks, and spent the rest of the time meditating and cultivating.

By the time the confinement ended, the rat pups could already eat solid food on their own, Li Qingying had recovered remarkably, her vitality returned, and her cultivation level had leapt forward significantly.

Everyone was delighted.

Hui Moqiong kept his word—afterward he never let Li Qingying give birth again.

The prolific genes of the rats and carp are terrifying; while we can afford to raise them, the real ordeal is Li Qingying's suffering.

Hui Moqiong hates to part with them.

Two litters, twenty‑one offspring— they wore Hui Moqiong out, yet made Liu Junyan envy him to no end.

He tentatively pressed Xiao Jiu for a third litter, but Xiao Jiu instead brought back a little girl from outside and adopted her as his foster daughter.

Liu Junyan then realized a third litter was out of the question; Xiao Jiu had already secured a successor for himself, and his focus would shift to training that heir.

Originally, the Earth Mother Goddess gave Xiao Jiu a handful of yin soil, which greatly encouraged him.

That clump of yin earth was deeply buried beneath the front gate of Dang Pu.

After everything was arranged, the news spread out; Wufu Town Pawnshop was officially renamed Wufu Town Yin Dang Hang, facing all pawn customers of the three realms and six paths.

The first two clauses of the pawn rules remain unchanged.

One: Dang Pu may accept and redeem; the Pawn Ticket is made in two copies; once the pawned item leaves hand, no regrets.

Two: Dead-pawned items belong to Dang Pu; live-pawned items not redeemed by the deadline also belong to Dang Pu, which may dispose of them as it sees fit.

But the third clause has changed.

Three: Any yin-pawn customer who can cross Dang Pu's gate and enter to pawn, if they have a request, must not be refused.

Wufu Town Yin Dang Hang's pawn rules still have only three clauses, and beneath these three clauses there are detailed explanations, each clause explained very clearly.

These three rules appear unchanged, but when the first yin-pawn business came to the door, everyone saw the huge change in the third pawn rule.

This also lets yin-pawn customers understand a truth: Wufu Town Yin Dang Hang sets no threshold, but its threshold is actually very high...