Mu Qing thought for a moment and stepped aside, allowing the two of them to enter his courtyard. Once inside, they found a woman sitting there with a slightly protruding belly and a calm face.
Yong Shanling pondered silently in her heart. This must be the legendary Xiaoyu. She seemed to be a quite gentle girl. Who would have thought she'd elope?
"Welcome, esteemed guests. I'm Xiaoyu," Xiaoyu said as she slowly rose from her chair, holding onto it for support. She looked extremely weak but still greeted them with a generous smile.
Yong Shanling was suddenly reminded of what her master once told her: when a human and a demon have a child, the mother's life will ultimately be endangered. This was because the child born from a human - demon union defied the natural order. For such a child to be born safely, a greater price had to be paid. If the human was a cultivator, at most they would drop a cultivation level. But if it was an ordinary human, that person would be in great danger.
Thinking of this, she cast a worried glance at Xiaoyu.
"You let her get pregnant like this. Have you ever considered her life?" Yong Shanling said angrily, glaring at Mu Qing with condemnation in her eyes.
A flicker of pain crossed Mu Qing's eyes. He squatted on the ground, holding his head, and said in a dull voice, "What could I do? She insisted on giving birth to this child."
"Esteemed cultivators, please don't blame him. I'm the one who insisted on having this child. I love him, so I want to give birth to our child. Even if it means sacrificing my life for his arrival," Xiaoyu said gently but firmly.
Yong Shanling was stunned. All the demons she had encountered before were blood - thirsty and she just fought them directly. She had never been in such a situation before. She was deeply touched. After a moment of thought, she said to Mu Qing and Xiaoyu,
"I once heard my master talk about this situation. Generally, when a human woman is pregnant like this, if she wants to give birth to the child safely, the father has to put in more effort."
Mu Qing's eyes lit up at Yong Shanling's words. He suddenly stood up and said excitedly, "Do you really have a solution? As long as you can help Xiaoyu give birth to the child safely, I'll do anything you ask!"
Yong Shanling thought to herself that she wouldn't ask him to do anything. She was just curious about their story. Moreover, it was the nature of heaven to cherish life. If Mu Qing was a demon who had taken lives, even if they were deeply in love, she wouldn't help them easily. Instead, she might even kill Mu Qing. After all, it was a basic principle for spiritual beasts not to kill humans.
Yong Shanling told Mu Qing the method she knew. It was actually quite simple. The father could either use his blood with spiritual energy or directly input his spiritual energy into the child's body to help it grow and thus prevent the mother's death.
Of course, the second method was better than the first. Using blood might be faster, but it could also make the baby blood - thirsty when it grew up.
Hearing her method, Mu Qing didn't hesitate and chose the second one.
He carefully sent his spiritual energy into Xiaoyu's body. The pale cyan spiritual energy slowly approached the unformed child in her belly. As soon as it got close, the child quickly devoured all his spiritual energy and kept struggling in the direction where the spiritual energy was coming from.
"It works! Great! Xiaoyu, you're going to be okay," Mu Qing said excitedly as he tightly hugged Xiaoyu, his eyes glistening with tears.
Xiaoyu covered her mouth tightly and silently sobbed.
Since she got pregnant, she knew her days were numbered. She could feel the child crazily absorbing her vitality every day.
But this was her child. No matter what it needed, as long as it could live, she was willing to give everything.
This was motherly love.
After they calmed down, they started telling Yong Shanling their story. It turned out that Mu Qing was a tree planted by the villagers at the foot of the mountain many years ago. The family took good care of it day and night. At first, they planned to use its wood to make money, but gradually they developed feelings for it and decided to keep it.
Generation after generation passed, and this tree demon gradually gained its own consciousness.
Later, with the meticulous care of someone, it transformed into a human form. That person was Xiaoyu.
The two gradually fell in love during their daily interactions. However, their love was not accepted by the world, for one was a demon and the other was a human.
As the girl grew up, it was time for her to get married. Her parents arranged a marriage for her, but she told them she had someone she loved. Her parents asked who that person was, but Xiaoyu refused to say. They thought she had a secret lover and rushed to marry her off. To protect their love, Xiaoyu threw herself into the river.
Mu Qing thought that Xiaoyu had betrayed their love and married someone else. So he moved his original form to the deep mountains.
It was not until a long time later that he accidentally learned the truth. He had been looking for her ever since. One year, he met a girl in the deep mountains. She had the same face as Xiaoyu back then. Her little gestures, personality, and every detail made him certain that this was the same Xiaoyu, but she had no memory of their love.
Later, Mu Qing appeared in front of Xiaoyu again, and they fell in love once more. This time, he swore that he would never let anyone separate them again, even if it meant breaking his own rules.
Saying this, a fierce light flashed in Mu Qing's eyes. He couldn't bear to lose his beloved one again.
"I never knew you've been through so much. I really hope all love will be free from misunderstandings and life - and - death situations," Yong Shanling said absent - mindedly as she stared at the two of them.
Suddenly, she felt a big, warm hand holding hers. She looked up and saw Mu Yijie looking at her tenderly. He whispered in her ear, "Ling'er, there will be no misunderstandings or life - and - death situations between us. We'll always be happy together."
After a moment's thought, he added, "Even if there are, I'll clear up the misunderstandings. Even if there's life and death, I'll find you again and we'll be together forever."
Yong Shanling felt as if her heart was soaked in a honey jar. She was so happy that she wanted to spin around on the spot. But thinking that she wasn't at home, she resisted the urge and just gave her "uncle" a kiss.
"Your love has been so tough. I won't be the obstacle in your way. I can help you deal with Xiaoyu's parents, but I have two options. It's up to you to choose," Mu Yijie said in a deep voice.
Mu Qing and Xiaoyu exchanged a look. Finally, Xiaoyu said, "Please tell us, sir."
"The first option is that I'll modify the memories of everyone who comes here, making them think that Mu Qing is just an ordinary person. Even if they see something strange, they'll gradually ignore it. In this way, you can live here forever."
Xiaoyu didn't say a word. She just softly asked, "What's the other option?"
"The other option is to completely erase the memories of all the people who have ever contacted you about you. From then on, no one who has ever known you in the world will have any memory of you. You can find a peaceful place and start a new life. So, what's your choice?" Mu Yijie squinted at Xiaoyu.