Chapter 830: with translation of chapter title

Xiao Jiu violently pulled his thoughts back, wiped away his tears, and began to cooperate with Li Qingying, exerting effort.

Before coming to Suedi, Xiao Jiu had gone to the hospital several times for prenatal checkups; of course, they were all backdoors opened by Bái Jīngmò.

Bái Jīngmò had indeed always told Xiao Jiu that this pregnancy was still oviparous.

But at that time, the Little Guy kept not growing.

After arriving in Suedi, Xiao Jiu's belly began to change.

So, it wasn't that the earlier prenatal checks were inaccurate; rather, the plans couldn't keep up with the changes, and Little Three shifted from oviparous to ovoviviparous.

Xiao Jiu had experience; the birthing process was far less dangerous than the situation outside right now.

Right now, the small courtyard was surrounded by a violent storm, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring.

On the western water surface, the net spread out by the Golden Copper Coins had already been torn apart, and the dragon-shaped water column attacked indiscriminately in a frenzy.

The Copper Coin Person and Shan Shan attacked from both sides, yet they still could not completely imprison it in the water.

The main reason is that they dare not deliver a killing blow.

Hui Moqiong led people to guard around the small courtyard, while Xingchen guarded the room's door, not leaving an inch.

Everyone was guarding Xiao Jiu.

No, more precisely, they were guarding Little Three's safe birth.

It lasted a full two hours.

Li Qingying held the Little Guy, whose whole body was covered in blue and purple bruises, in her arms, her hands trembling.

Little Three did not cry when born; his whole body was curled up, with blue and purple patches all over, looking like a… dead infant.

Li Qingying grabbed Little Three's two little feet with one hand and slapped the soles of those feet hard with her palm.

The slap-slap-slap sounds echoed in the room.

Little Three still did not cry.

But his eyes opened, and he looked at Li Qingying with his mouth pursed in a dark purple hue.

He looked very wronged.

Li Qingying panicked: "What are you looking at me for? Cry!"

Little Three pursed his lips again, as if he wanted to cry but didn't dare to.

His big eyes glanced timidly toward the window, as if he were wary of something.

Just then, Xingchen came in.

He took off the Buddhist beads hanging from his neck, coiled them into two loops, placed them around Little Three's neck, and then said to Xiao Jiu: "I will escort you away."

Xiao Jiu nodded.

Li Qingying was completely bewildered.

From last night until now, she has been completely dazed.

Why could we leave last night but not now?

Yet now, in this situation, we have to leave?

But she knew it wasn't the time to ask many questions; she simply helped Xiao Jiu pack up quickly, then went to start the car.

As the car pulled out of the small courtyard, Li Qingying felt it was difficult.

Under the wheels was a splashing water sound; just hearing the sound, the car wouldn't move forward.

Over on the western water's edge, mist filled the sky, and nothing could be seen clearly.

Tang Xun also went to help.

In the back seat, Little Three curled up in Xiao Jiu's arms, trembling nonstop, while Xingchen sat in the passenger seat and began chanting sutras.

As the sutra chanting rang out, a barrier seemed to appear instantly around the car, the water sounds vanished, and the car finally began to move.

From the small courtyard to exiting Suedi's border, Li Qingying drove until she was drenched in sweat.

If it weren't for Xingchen, she knew the car couldn't have moved at all.

Just after exiting Suedi's border, behind them, Little Three suddenly burst into loud wailing.

It was as if he had been holding in a bellyful of grievance and finally found an outlet, crying so hard he could barely catch his breath, hiccuping.

After driving a bit farther, Xingchen told Li Qingying to stop the car.

Xiao Jiu took the Buddhist beads off Little Three's neck and returned them to Xingchen: "Xingchen, thank you for coming to help me, to help your brother."

"I must come," Xingchen said. "I'll go back to help them; you all hurry back to Wufu Town. As for what comes next… don't force it; everything will unfold as fate decrees."

Xiao Jiu's eyes welled with tears; he nodded and agreed.

After Xingchen got out of the car, Li Qingying restarted the vehicle.

She drove forward all the way; several times she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Xiao Jiu staring out the window, not knowing what he was thinking.

Little Three was even stranger, always curled up in Xiao Jiu's arms, as if afraid something would come to snatch him away.

Fortunately, after leaving Suedi, the journey went smoothly all the way.

Only when they returned to Yin Dang Hang did Li Qingying's hanging heart finally settle.

She had Xiao Jiu take a hot shower and change clothes, while she herself cleaned Little Three and fed him formula.

After coaxing Little Three to sleep, Xiao Jiu also tidied himself up and came out.

Li Qingying returned to her own room, took a shower, and changed clothes.

When she returned, she saw Xiao Jiu cradling Little Three, his spirit still somewhat dazed.

She worried: "Xiao Jiu, what exactly happened? Can you tell me?"

"It was my mistake to blame Āyàn," Xiao Jiu said with red eyes. "I blamed him for scheming against me, for using my womb to repay his debt to the old turtle; in fact, I was wrong from the start—perhaps he didn't want to speak, but couldn't, or couldn't get the words out."

Li Qingying still couldn't figure it out: "Last night, during the fight, I could also feel that the dragon's head was restrained by another force. Xiao Jiu, do you mean that the dragon's head is causing trouble, harming Seventh Lord, right?"

Xiao Jiu shook his head: "It shouldn't be said that anyone harmed anyone; it can only be said to be fate."

"Heaven's will?" Li Qingying grew even more puzzled, "Seventh Lord hasn't done anything that harms heaven and reason, these ten years he's been continuously fulfilling the duties of his divine office, right? What else does Heaven want him to do?"

Xiao Jiu shook his head: "I don't know either, but it must be related to the earth veins themselves. Xingchen and the others could come, mostly because they understood this point. His intervention this time to help me and help Xiao Laosan is truly precious; continuing to interfere would be bad for everyone."

Li Qingying's brows furrowed even tighter.

The more she spoke, the more confused she became.

Xiao Jiu untied Xiao Laosan's clothes, revealing his back covered in bruises, then placed his palm on Xiao Laosan's back.

The next moment, Li Qingying stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Only to see on Xiao Laosan's back, golden lines covered his entire back, forming a brilliant golden tortoise-shell pattern.

This tortoise-shell pattern was exactly the same as the one on Seventh Lord's back back then, just reduced several times in size.

But the difference is, the tortoise-shell pattern on Xiao Laosan's back is moving.

Like a coiled dragon.

Xiao Jiu withdrew his hand, and the golden light vanished.

Xiao Jiu, while helping Xiao Laosan put on his clothes, said: "Āyàn received the divine office, fulfilled its duties; over these ten years he almost cleared the earth veins of the whole of China, and perhaps precisely because of this, it provoked the awakening of another or multiple forces, preventing him from withdrawing completely."

"The opposing side is gradually consuming his Dragon Qi, perhaps as a substitute, or perhaps suffering a backlash; someday, Āyàn will appear again, and by then, perhaps he will no longer be himself."

"Or perhaps it will be a stronger Āyàn returning."

"As Xingchen said, all of this must be fought for by himself; no one can intervene, we can only wait..."

Li Qingying seemed to understand, yet also seemed not to fully understand.

She turned to look at Xiao Laosan and asked: "What is Xiao Laosan then? Is it a keepsake Seventh Lord left for you, fearing he might not return?"

"No." Xiao Jiu said, "Xiao Laosan might actually be the medium that caused all this to happen..."