Chapter 831: and translation of chapter title

Li Qingying also only fully understood what Xiao Jiu said after a long period of time.

Can't blame her for reacting half a beat late.

The tacit understanding between Xiao Jiu and Seventh Lord cannot be matched by anyone else.

The misunderstanding is only temporary.

When the clues linked together, Xiao Jiu immediately understood the predicament Seventh Lord might have faced.

And this kind of intuitive understanding is hard to describe in detail in words.

It needs time to depict and verify, to push the bloody truth from the shadows into everyone's view.

The battle in Suedi exhausted everyone.

We had to suppress that arrogant dragon head, yet could not actually kill it.

Everyone was restrained, afraid to unleash big moves; not using them, the opponent kept courting death, wearing people out.

Fortunately, after Xiao Jiu took Little Three out of Suedi's territory, the dragon head seemed to instantly lose its spirit, losing all fighting will.

Xingchen took the opportunity to cast a Buddhist seal, suppressing that dragon head underwater.

He said nothing, taking the Copper Coin Person and the Mystic Cat back to the Zang Qu.

Old Fang stayed behind to clean up.

Hui Moqiong drove, carrying Shan Shan, Tang Xun, and A Cheng back to Jiang City, chattering nonstop, constantly muttering to himself as he reviewed things.

Shan Shan couldn't help saying: "Uncle, can you stop being distracted? I'm starting to feel unsafe in your car."

If not for being tired from fighting and not wanting to fly back, she would want to get out of the car now.

"Sorry sorry." Hui Moqiong gripped the steering wheel with both hands and said, "I just have many questions I can't sort out; I always feel like I'm blinded by a single leaf, feeling awful."

"One leaf obscuring the eye?" Shan Shan nodded thoughtfully: "Indeed, that dragon formed from watery mist, its front half clearly has substance; in both appearance and demeanor it is exactly like my father, but obviously it is not my father; some key information we missed has caused this feeling of being stifled by a single leaf."

Hui Moqiong slapped the steering wheel: "Shan Shan, you described it too aptly—it's just stifling."

A Cheng said: "Actually, after today's close-quarters combat, we all more or less know: Seventh Lord is beneath that water area in Suedi, and that dragon head was formed by absorbing and merging Seventh Lord's dragon qi, and Little Three also carries Seventh Lord's dragon qi."

Tang Xun suddenly looked at A Cheng: "You also saw that?"

Hui Moqiong looked at them from the rearview mirror, puzzled: "What did you see?"

"The Mystic Cat." Tang Xun said: "After the Mystic Cat ran back from the water's edge, a phantom drifted from its body; that phantom should be the manifestation of part of Seventh Lord's dragon qi, and after it entered Xiao Jiu's belly, Xiao Jiu was about to give birth immediately."

Shan Shan said: "The dragon qi the Mystic Cat brought back was formed after the Copper Coin Person used a copper coin net to suppress the dragon head's water waves; afterward, the dragon head went berserk, as lacking that qi it could hardly condense into form, hence its madness."

Hui Moqiong felt his temples throbbing.

He needed a little time to digest what everyone had just said.

After a long while, Hui Moqiong said: "So as long as we protect Little Three well, Seventh Lord will be safer—is that what you mean?"

No one answered Hui Moqiong's question.

Because no one knew the correct answer.

After returning to Yin Dang Hang, everyone's first move was to go see Xiao Jiu and Little Three.

Xiao Jiu's condition had clearly recovered, but Li Qingying said she still had injured qi and blood and needed to properly observe the postpartum month.

Tang Xun and Shan Shan saw Little Three covered in bruises, sighed incessantly, and felt sorry for him.

A Cheng took one look and then left.

One person sat on the lounge sofa, face stern, unknown what they were thinking.

Li Qingying poured tea for A Cheng, sat opposite him, and tentatively asked: "A Cheng, do you not like Little Three?"

Actually Li Qingying originally wanted to directly ask A Cheng whether he had noticed anything wrong about Little Three.

But when the words reached her lips, she felt being too blunt was not good.

A Cheng shook his head: "I like all of my sister's children."

He paused, seeming to struggle, then after a while looked at Li Qingying and earnestly said: "Raising Little Three might require a lot of effort, Sister Qingying, my sister relies on you the most—please help her more."

Li Qingying stared: "I will certainly treat Xiao Jiu's child as my own; A Cheng, what's wrong with you?"

A Cheng still shook his head.

Although he didn't speak, Li Qingying could see from his eyes full of sorrow and pity.

Was A Cheng feeling sorry for Xiao Jiu or for Little Three?

Later, Li Qingying also told Xiao Jiu about this.

She hoped Xiao Jiu could talk alone with A Cheng, to clarify as much as possible.

Xiao Jiu said: "Sister Qingying, I won't go ask."

Li Qingying didn't understand: "Why?"

"Ah Yan doesn't speak, Xingchen doesn't speak, A Cheng doesn't speak," Xiao Jiu said: "What does that indicate?"

Li Qingying frowned.

Xiao Jiu sighed deeply and said: "This shows they have fathomed the heavenly secret but must not reveal it recklessly; for us to dig to the root would be bad for everyone."

Heavenly secret...

Little Three?

In the middle of the night, Li Qingying and Hui Moqiong lay in bed, the couple repeatedly pondering this matter, yet still unable to fathom the heavenly secret Xiao Jiu spoke of.

Later, the couple both gave up.

Li Qingying said: "No matter what, Little Three is very important; raising and protecting him well is definitely correct."

Hui Moqiong deeply agreed.

But this Little Three child... is really hard to raise.

On the day he was born, he was like a timid little kitten, curled up in Xiao Jiu's arms all day, not crying, occasionally shivering and trembling, looking pitiable.

This time Xiao Jiu might really have injured her qi and blood; without breast milk, Little Three was fed directly from a bottle.

On the first day, the milk powder Li Qingying prepared, Little Third also opened his mouth and ate.

He just couldn't eat much before tilting his little head to one side.

At first, Xiao Jiu and Li Qingying both thought Little Third had a small appetite and ate little.

Until the third feeding, Little Guy didn't open his mouth, pursing his little mouth as if wanting to cry but not daring to.

Then, in the middle of the night, Xiao Jiu felt beside him and found it icy cold.

Turning on the light, they saw Little Third was on his last breath, hardly able to detect any breath.

Xiao Jiu was terrified, thinking, 'This child couldn't have starved himself to death, could he?'

They prepared milk and forcibly stuffed it into Little Third's mouth, but he still wouldn't eat.

Li Qingying and Hui Moqiong also got up.

Hui Moqiong, with plenty of experience raising children, instructed, saying: 'Some infants are intolerant of milk powder; we can try changing brands, or switch to buffalo or goat milk. If he won't take milk powder, we'll try to get fresh milk, or even find a wet nurse for him.'

Then that night, they tried several brands of milk powder, but none worked.

Buffalo milk, goat milk—also didn't work.

Coincidentally, there was a woman who had just given birth not long ago at the Jiǔyàn qū hall; Hui Moqiong went over and brought her back to nurse him personally, but that also didn't work.

After struggling until just before dawn, Xiao Jiu discovered that the bluish-purple patches Little Third had been born with on his skin had not eased; instead, the area had grown larger and the color deeper.

Xiao Jiu even saw a hint of... killing intent... on Little Third's body.