Su Yuan carried the girl into the room, gently laid her on the bed, and carefully pulled up the quilt for her.
Su Yuan stood in front of the bed, gazing at Zhaozhao for a long time. After much thought, he couldn't figure out how things had turned out this way.
Originally, he had only come to track the whereabouts of the divine tree. Later, he had intended to draw out the Lady Bird through the Song sisters. He had no other plans, yet somehow he had become so entangled with this innocent girl in the bed.
Just like now, he had merely sensed through the Acacia Thread that Zhaozhao had stepped out of the room. Worried that something might happen to her, he had come to check, but how had it ended up with him carrying her in his arms? And he had been grabbed by his sleeve and couldn't leave.
Zhaozhao was completely unaware of the dragon's feelings. She was sleeping soundly in the bed, still clutching his sleeve with one hand.
No one knew what she was dreaming about. Her cheeks were flushed in sleep, and she smacked her lips from time to time, looking blissfully silly even in her dreams.
Su Yuan stared at that face and, before he knew it, a smile crept onto his own face.
She was truly defenseless.
Looking at Zhaozhao's sleeping face, Su Yuan suddenly felt an urge to keep her within his territory and protect her.
Su Yuan was stunned by this thought. Then he found an excuse for himself: it was the nature of every creature to want to protect beauty. Moreover, there were indeed many mysteries about Zhaozhao. It would be easier to probe into them if she was under his nose.
Su Yuan successfully convinced himself. He curled his lips, thinking that he would take her back to the Demon Administration Bureau after the matter in Posa Village was resolved.
He neatly arranged everything on his own, even thinking about what position to assign Zhaozhao in the Demon Administration Bureau. But he completely forgot to consider whether Zhaozhao would actually want to go with him.
Anyway, Lord Yinglong was quite pleased with his own vision.
Song Yao came to Zhaozhao's door under the night sky, wondering if she should go in and check on Zhaozhao.
After all, she had lost her composure today. She had previously said that she would be gentle with Zhaozhao, but look at what she had done today. That child seemed quite sad...
Miss Song, after suffering a great blow and showing her bad temper to her silly cousin, began to regret it.
After all, what did that silly child know? If she was not as skilled as others, she should practice harder. Why involve Zhaozhao? She really had no self - restraint!
After much inner struggle between face and morality, Miss Song, who had finally seen the light, mustered up the courage to push open her cousin's door. She almost flew into a rage on the spot when she saw the scene in front of her.
"Su Yuan! What are you doing?! Let her go!" Song Yao rushed over aggressively, pushed Su Yuan away, and shielded Zhaozhao like a mother hen protecting her chicks. She glared angrily at Su Yuan.
Su Yuan was caught off guard by the push and his face darkened. His gaze passed through Song Yao and landed on Zhaozhao, who had been woken up and was frowning, pulling the quilt over her head. He suppressed his anger a bit.
He withdrew his gaze, frowned at the angry Song Yao, and said softly, "Let's talk outside."
Song Yao looked back at the small lump on the bed, took a deep breath, and followed Su Yuan out.
As soon as they left the room, Song Yao couldn't hold back her anger and ranted at Su Yuan, "Su Yuan, Lord Yinglong, please let Zhaozhao go! She's just an overly innocent child. She can't get involved with a 'big shot' like you."
Song Yao emphasized the words "big shot" especially heavily, with a hint of sarcasm.
Su Yuan knew that Song Yao had obviously misunderstood him. He patiently explained, "You've misunderstood. She fell asleep in the yard. I was just sending her back to her room."
Song Yao recalled the gossip she had heard about Su Yuan and didn't believe him at all.
She sneered, "Oh... I hope so."
Then Song Yao put away her sarcastic smile and looked at Su Yuan seriously. "I'm not joking with you. There's no way for a human and a demon to be together. Your lifespan is who knows how many times longer than hers. How much space can she occupy in your long life? Maybe you're just acting on a whim, but this could cost her her whole life."
After saying that, Song Yao didn't care about Su Yuan's reaction and turned around to leave.
Su Yuan thought about Song Yao's words, and his heart gradually cooled. His gaze fell on the hidden Acacia Thread, and suddenly he reached out and cut it off.
Song Yao's words made sense, and he really had no other intentions towards Zhaozhao.
It was better to end these things that could easily lead to misunderstandings as soon as possible. Zhaozhao was innocent and didn't understand, but Su Yuan, a demon who had lived for tens of thousands of years, had no reason to deceive a little girl.
The next day, when Zhaozhao saw A Qing again, A Qing's hands were cuffed with special demon - power cuffs.
The children were chattering around A Qing, their eyes all red, looking like they had been crying.
A Qing squatted down and comforted the girls softly, "Don't cry. Sister will just go and stay for a while and then come back. You should all listen to this big brother's arrangements, okay?"
"Okay," the girls nodded one after another.
Su Yuan had returned to his cold - as - ever self. He asked A Qing to dispel the illusion.
After the illusion was dispelled, Su Yuan raised his hand and cast a spell. Immediately, a light circle appeared under everyone's feet. With a flash of the circle, they instantly appeared on the ground.
It turned out that all along, they had been under the Posa Village.
Posa Village was very different today. There were many people in the village.
All the villagers had gathered here, as well as people from the Mystic Sect and the Demon Administration Bureau. Because of the incident at the Abandoned Infant Tower, the assisting policemen from the Special Department had also come.
"Dad!" Song Yao immediately spotted her father in the crowd. All the fear and grievances of the past few days welled up in her heart instantly. She threw herself into her father's arms.
Song Changyang lovingly patted his daughter's back to comfort her. He looked very kind.
Zhaozhao stared at them for a long time, wondering if she should go over too. But looking at the warm scene, she felt that she didn't seem to fit in, so she hesitated in place.
Su Yuan deliberately ignored Zhaozhao and walked straight towards his subordinates.
A Qing followed behind Su Yuan. Su Yuan seemed to remember something and turned around to tell her, "I promised you before that I would send these children to the Demon Realm for care, but one of them can't go."
A Qing was stunned, and her face turned a bit paler. She asked urgently, "Why?"
"You should know very well. The child you took later hadn't been offering sacrifices to that tree for long enough and hadn't formed the Life - Bond. So as a human, she has to follow the human way of handling things."
A Qing wanted to say something more, but she knew it was in vain. Yet she was really unwilling and stared stubbornly at the girl.
Zhaozhao was standing in the crowd, feeling extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. Suddenly, a pair of small hands grabbed her.
The village head's little granddaughter secretly stuffed a piece of candy into her hand and gave her a sweet smile. "Sister, thank you for the fruit you gave me that day. This candy is for you!"
Zhaozhao felt warm in her heart. She squatted down to talk to the little girl. "Thank you, but you should eat the candy yourself." The little girl was so thin that Zhaozhao couldn't bear to take her things.
The little girl waved her hand and said, "No need to thank me. I'll soon be able to go to the good place Sister A Qing mentioned and live a good life. I'll have a lot more in the future!"
Their conversation clearly reached A Qing's and Su Yuan's ears. A Qing bit her lower lip tightly, and her eyes turned red.
On a distant hillside, a man slowly curled his lips. "A Qing, since things have come to this, I'll give you one more helping hand."