Feng Yuan let out a soft chirp of admission. The little claws that had been covering his bottom lifted to gently touch Feng Qi’s hand.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp.”
Dad, Yuan Yuan really missed you.
The chubby cub’s round black-bean eyes were wide open, his chirps soft and tender, doing his best to act spoiled.
Clearly, he was trying to awaken the temporarily missing fatherly love in his dad.
Unfortunately, Dad wasn’t buying it.
“Change back.”
Feng Qi ordered coolly: “It’s hard to spank you like this.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
The light in Feng Yuan’s eyes quickly dimmed.
Just as he was stalling, reluctant to transform, Li Heng walked over.
“Feng Qi, what are you doing?”
Li Heng couldn’t make sense of what Feng Qi was up to.
But Feng Qi didn’t immediately respond to the old man.
He only continued instructing Feng Yuan, urging him to change back quickly.
A few seconds later.
Li Heng witnessed an unbelievable scene.
The little chick he had always overlooked suddenly transformed into a small child.
The little one’s clothes were torn, and his face was smudged with dirt.
But what shocked Li Heng the most was that those tattered clothes were clearly the very ones he had dressed him in that morning.
“Yuan Yuan?”
Always calm and composed, Li Heng completely lost his composure upon seeing this.
He hurried forward, only stopping when he reached right in front of Feng Yuan.
When Feng Yuan saw Grandpa coming, it was as if he had seen a savior.
He opened his chubby little arms, pitifully.
“Grandpa, hug Yuan Yuan!”
Li Heng instinctively wanted to reach out and hold him.
But Feng Qi lifted Feng Yuan aside, dodging the hand Li Heng extended.
“Uncle, he hasn’t finished being disciplined yet. Don’t hold him.”
Li Heng: “…”
Li Heng’s mind was almost overwhelmed.
He had always had some understanding of supernatural matters over the years.
But such a direct, undeniable example so far, the only one he had ever seen, was his own grandson.
“Grandpa, save Yuan Yuan!”
Feng Yuan was still holding out his chubby little hands for help.
The little fellow treated Grandpa like a lifeline, his tearful eyes staring at him without even blinking.
Under that gaze, Li Heng once again reached out his hand.
This time, Feng Qi didn’t refuse outright but instead cast his eyes toward Li Sheng.
The couple’s philosophy on raising their child was perfectly aligned.
When the little one needed a spanking, he had to be spanked.
Otherwise, if they let him do as he pleased and one day he caused a true disaster, it would be far too late for regrets.
“Father.”
Li Sheng blocked Li Heng, redirecting his attention: “About Yuan Yuan… isn’t there something you’d like to talk to me about?”
Of course, Li Heng did.
He wanted to know just what was going on with this little rascal.
Just now… why had he turned from a chick into a child?
“Father, let’s talk in the study.”
“Mn.”
Li Heng and Li Sheng, father and son, went together into the study.
Li Si was still standing in punishment.
Feng Qi didn’t bother to find another spot. He simply set his son down right there.
Placed on the floor, Feng Yuan lifted his tear-streaked, dirty little face and looked at his grandfather walking away, his chubby hands drooping limply.
“Feng Yuan.”
Feng Qi’s reminder came.
Called by name, Feng Yuan sniffled, then silently walked over to the sofa.
His small body flopped down on the sofa, his chubby little butt sticking up.
“Uuu… Dad, hit lightly.”
“Lie properly. Don’t talk.”
Feng Qi showed no trace of mercy.
Before entering the house just now, he had already gone to inspect the explosion site.
That level of blast… Had there been the slightest misstep, it could very well have blown a little child to death.
Thinking of that explosion scene, then looking at Feng Yuan, who had clearly been caught in it, the fact that Feng Qi could keep his face calm at all was already no easy feat.
“Smack—”
The slap landed hard.
Feng Yuan’s chubby little bottom quivered from the smack.
Just from the very first strike, he burst out crying with a loud wah.
“Smack!”
Another one.
Feng Yuan’s tear-stained little face was a mess. He tried to shield his bottom with his tiny hands, sobbing in a milky, hiccupping voice.
“Dad, don’t hit anymore.”
“My butt hurts.”
“Uuu, Yuan Yuan was wrong.”
His cries were so pitiful that Li Si, who had been standing in punishment, couldn’t bear to listen after only a few moments.
She strode over and shielded Feng Yuan’s bottom.
“The explosives were made by me.”
“It has nothing to do with Yuan Yuan.”
Li Si took all the blame upon herself.
However, Feng Qi’s eyelids didn’t even twitch.
He removed Li Si’s hand and gave Feng Yuan’s bottom another firm smack.
Feng Yuan was sobbing so hard his whole body convulsed.
Feng Qi gave a total of ten smacks. This time, the number of spankings broke his previous record.
After the ten smacks were done, Feng Qi no longer stopped Li Si from picking Feng Yuan up into her arms.
Feng Yuan clung to Li Si with both little hands, his whole small body hanging onto her.
He buried his damp, tear-streaked face into the crook of Li Si’s neck.
Li Si held him, her own face heavy and grim.
“This is domestic abuse.”
Li Si tried to accuse Feng Qi.
But Feng Qi, sitting on the sofa, blocked her with just one sentence: “This is normal family discipline. If he isn’t spanked, he won’t remember this lesson.”
“Li Si, I know you. You’re a very gifted child.”
“But Yuan Yuan isn’t.”
“For dangerous things, he needs to remember the lesson, so that next time it can be avoided.”
Feng Qi was Feng Yuan’s biological father.
He had no hobby of spanking his child, nor any peculiar enjoyment of watching his son cry.
Every time he spanked Feng Yuan, it was never without reason.
Li Si pressed her lips together, clearly still unconvinced by Feng Qi’s explanation.
The grown-up and the child held their ground against each other like this.
Still sobbing in Li Si’s arms, after a while, Feng Yuan turned his face aside.
He looked toward his dad, stretched out his little hands, and actually still wanted Dad to hold him.
Li Si: “…”
Li Si didn’t hand him over.
In a low voice, she said, “He hit you. He’s not a good father.”
Feng Yuan shook his head, tearful, calling out for Dad.
After calling several times, Feng Qi took him over.
“Next time, when it’s something dangerous that could’ve been avoided, will you still do it?”
“N-no, I won’t.”
Feng Yuan, his milky voice choked with sobs, obediently shook his little head.
Feng Qi had already scolded him earlier, and didn’t want to lecture him again.
“Alright, stop crying now.”
Feng Qi raised his hand and wiped his little face.
There were wet wipes on the coffee table. After wiping a few times with his hand, Feng Qi simply grabbed a wipe and cleaned his whole little face thoroughly.
Once Feng Yuan’s face was clean, Feng Qi lowered his head and kissed that pitiful little face.
Though Feng Yuan’s crying had stopped, he had cried so hard earlier that his small body still twitched now and then.
“Dad.”
The little one, sensitive from crying, clung to Dad’s neck, his milky voice already a bit hoarse.
He knew that getting spanked was his own fault.
But even after the spanking, he still felt terribly wronged.
As usual, Feng Qi began coaxing him.
“Dad’s here. Dad will sleep with Yuan Yuan tonight, okay?”
“Okay.”
The father-and-son interaction left Li Si looking puzzled.
She couldn’t quite understand why Feng Yuan, after being spanked by Feng Qi, would still want Feng Qi to hold him.
Feng Qi didn’t explain it to her either.
Time passed bit by bit. Feng Qi carried his little one off the sofa, preparing to take him to the bathroom to wash up.
“Yuan Yuan, where are you sleeping?”
Feng Yuan pointed at his own room.
Grandpa had tidied up a room for him, but he had never slept in it.
He had always slept with Grandpa or Auntie.
Now that Dad was here, he wanted to sleep in his own room with Dad.
But before father and son could head over, Li Sheng had already come out of the study.
“Where are you two going?”
“To Yuan Yuan’s room. To wash him up.”
“No need. Go stay in my room.”
Li Sheng had grown up in the old residence since he was a child.
His room had everything. Even when he wasn’t around, the servants would regularly clean it.
He pointed Feng Qi toward his own room.
Feng Yuan, still lying in Dad’s arms, remained sad and wronged, not paying attention to Big Dad at all.
Li Sheng didn’t follow Feng Qi over. Instead, he went with the old man to fetch Feng Yuan’s clothes.
All of Feng Yuan’s clothes were kept in the old man’s wardrobe.
Feng Qi went ahead to bathe Feng Yuan.
Inside the bathroom, after cleaning the bathtub once over, he filled it with hot water and then placed his little one inside.
When Feng Yuan was lowered into the water, his two chubby legs kicked desperately, clearly reluctant to touch the water.
But Feng Qi pressed his small body fully down, leaving him no room to dodge.
“Don’t your training courses include swimming and diving?”
Feng Qi knew well about Feng Yuan’s training regimen.
He asked, “If you’re this scared of water, what will you do when it comes time for those?”
Sitting in the water, Feng Yuan’s little face showed no worry at all. “Right now, we haven’t started training those yet.”
“Let’s talk about training later.”
Feng Qi rubbed his chubby, segmented arms, sounding a little helpless. “You know, if you don’t prepare in advance, when it comes time for training, you’ll just end up crying.”
“Dad, let’s wash together!”
Feng Yuan still wasn’t taking his swimming training seriously.
He splashed the water, skipping the topic of training entirely, wanting his dad to wash with him.
Since they were in the old house, Feng Qi was consciously careful to maintain some boundaries.
He sat by the side of the bathtub, not getting in.
“It’s fine if Dad just washes you clean. Close your eyes. You need to wash your hair now.”
Feng Qi said this, helping Feng Yuan shift into a sitting position.
He had Feng Yuan tilt his head back, close his eyes, and lean backward.
Feng Yuan didn’t like washing his hair.
Sometimes, when washing his hair, shampoo would get into his eyes, or water would run down his face, making it hard for him to breathe.
“Yuan Yuan, be good. Dad will wash carefully.”
When Feng Qi came over, he didn’t have any of the kid-friendly shampoo tools.
He could only make do, telling Feng Yuan to close his eyes tightly.
Father and son were busy in the bathroom, washing, shampooing, and drying hair.
Outside.
Li Wei, who had been keeping watch at the explosion site, actually made a discovery.
Workers had found coins both in the deep soil near the tree and at the bottom of the pool.
The coins buried deep underground had endured countless years of erosion.
The surfaces of the coins were so worn that their original appearance was no longer discernible.
Li Wei collected all the coins and instructed the workers to continue searching for any other suspicious items underground.
The workers worked overtime, putting in extra effort.
They worked so diligently because the wages offered by the master were very tempting.
After completing this job, each of them would earn several thousand U.S. dollars.
Moreover, if they discovered anything during the work, they could receive additional cash rewards.
High wages from the master led to high efficiency from the workers.
Li Wei took the coins but did not immediately give them to the old master.
She first restored one of the coins.
The coin she restored had a strange reddish color. On its red surface, there was an engraving of some kind of monster, its nature unknown.
She then brought the restored coin to the old master.
When she brought it over, Li Sheng was also present.
“Dad, we found this at the explosion site. Look at what this is.”
Before Li Heng could take it, Li Sheng’s sharp eyes caught the pattern on the coin.
“Let me see.”
Li Sheng took the coin.
He carefully examined the monster engraved on it.
“It’s a Gu Diao.”
Li Sheng named the creature, his eyes darkening. “How many of these coins are there? Where exactly were they found?”
“Right by the tree, and also in the pool,” Li Wei replied. “Before I came over, over a dozen of these coins had already been found.”
“Dad, Yuan Yuan insisted on blowing up this area. Maybe… it wasn’t nonsense,” Li Wei said, offering her speculation.
The next moment, Li Sheng clenched the coin and strode back to his bedroom.
He could now recognize many of the fierce beasts and monsters described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The Gu Diao on the coin, however, left an especially deep impression on him.
The Gu Diao ate humans, with a particular taste for infants.
Feng Qi usually dealt with the most ferocious beasts through sealing methods.
But with the Gu Diao, he struck with lethal force.
The Gu Diao, which should have been long dead, appeared again in the form of a pattern.
Li Sheng instinctively knew this was not a good omen.
He returned to his bedroom with a calm but stern expression.
Inside the bedroom.
Feng Yuan had just put on his black-and-white cow-patterned pajamas.
He heard the door push open and looked up.
“Yuan Yuan, today you blew up the tree—”
Before Li Sheng could finish, Feng Yuan reflexively trembled.
He had been scared stiff from the beating earlier.
Seeing Big Dad with that expression and hearing that tone, the little guy puckered his lips and, without waiting for the sentence to finish, cried twice.
Li Sheng was a little stunned by his crying.
Next to Feng Yuan was a box of ointment for his bottom.
His skin was tender. Feng Qi had beaten him so hard that his little bottom was red.
While applying the ointment earlier, the little guy had even dropped a few golden beads.
Now, scared into tears by Big Bad’s expression, the little one sat on the bed, tilting his face upward, eyelids red, nose red too.
He really looked utterly heartbroken.
“Dad has already hit Yuan Yuan.”
“Is Big Dad still going to hit me?”
The more Feng Yuan thought about it, the sadder he became. “For just one thing… do I have to be hit twice?”
Li Sheng: “……”
Li Sheng, who hadn’t come to scold him, looked at the heartbroken little one. The corner of his mouth twitched.
