Due to that freaking summoning ritual, it was already two o’clock in the morning when Vivian finally finished analyzing the blood sample. Unable to fight her biological clock, Lily was already sleeping like a log on the sofa, sucking her mouth occasionally as if she was dreaming about something delicious. In fact, it was an achievement for Lily to stay up so late. Hao Ren could still remember the husky’s heroic skill back when she ran while asleep during a business trip abroad. She was following them around to different time zones, yet making no fuss about it. Lily had certainly come a long way.
“Let her sleep here tonight.” Hao Ren looked at Lily, curling up into a meatball on the sofa. “She’s in deep sleep. She’s prone to bite if you disturb her now.”
Nangong Sanba yawned and said, “I got to hit the sack too. If there’s anything else, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Nangong Wuyue and Ayesha nodded. “We’re tired too…”
Hao Ren looked at the two marine creatures bizarrely. During the battle earlier, the two of them had curled up in a ball and hid in a corner. On Mars, they even blended into the background. Now, they still had the nerve to complain.
After Y’zaks also brought his daughter back into the room, Hao Ren mumbled as he scratched his jaw. “Actually, I have a question of concern.”
Vivian did not sleep much at night. At this time, she was still there with Hao Ren. “What question?”
“The evil spirit kept repeating some puzzling words before she was killed; she said, ‘come back, come back’ and nothing else.” Hao Ren became even more curious. “I’m not sure if the evil spirit had a mind of its own, or just a magical summoned object.”
“Come back?” Vivian’s brows were knitted together as she also felt the same. “What does that mean?”
Hao Ren shrugged. “Judging from the phrase, it sounds like a ghost call. I’m not kidding, the evil spirit looks exactly like you, but a version of you on drugs in terms of her aura. You really don’t remember having another doppelganger other than Hessiana? Maybe aside from transcended bats, your blood transcended too?”
Goosebumps instantly popped up on Vivian’s skin. “Stop that. One Hessiana is already annoying enough; two would be the end of my world.”
“Well, I’ll stop here. I’ll wait until you find Hessiana to confirm the origins of the magic book.” Hao Ren exhaled, got to his feet, and did a stretch as he yawned. “I’m going to sleep now, you should too.”
Hao Ren lay in bed after he returned to his room. He suddenly heard water splashing on the side table. Lil Pea quietly poked her head out of the pot and said. “Daddyyy, you’re back!”
Hao Ren was surprised that the little one was still awake at this time. “Haven’t slept yet? Did I wake you?”
Lil Pea was in her growing stage, so she basically spent most of her time eating and sleeping. She would usually get sleepy after dinner. Before everyone went out to perform the freaking “summoning ritual”, the little one had already fallen asleep. However, she was now awake. The little one gently paddled in the water, and her voice sounded unusually serious, “I was dreaming! Dad-dy, do you think I’ll be just like all of you when I grow up?”
Hao Ren was startled for a moment. “The same?”
“Just like all of you,” said Lil Pea, gesturing with her little arms and fingers in the air, trying to express herself clearly. “Becoming as big as Daddy, fish sister, and also doggie sister to be able to run around!”
Only then did Hao Ren understand what the little one was thinking. His first reaction was surprise. He did not expect Lil Pea’s mental development to be so fast. She was only less than a year old and she already realized how different she was from others. He had to be extra careful about how he said things and explained to a fish something that was a bit above her understanding. “Well… you’ll surely grow up. You may grow as big as Daddy, but by then, you’ll still be a little different from others…”
“Different?” Lil Pea’s eyes glittered in the dark, “Why?”
Hao Ren thought for a moment and said, “Look, your doggie sister has a hairy big tail, battie sister can fly, fish sister can turn into a snake, big uncle can catch fire… Aren’t all of them different? Our family composition is unique. We’re all different, so you’re going to be very special… Well, I mean unique. That’s what it is.”
“Is unique good?” Lil Pea asked curiously.
Hao Ren nodded energetically. “It is good! Personality is the in thing now! You’re going to stick out if you have a unique personality. Just look at how awesome your big uncle is—that’s simply because he stands like a scenic tower…”
“Then, am I different from you, Daddy?” asked Lil Pea, in hot pursuit. “Shouldn’t Daddy and I be the same?”
Cold sweat immediately ran down Hao Ren’s forehead. He felt that he was not under such great mental pressure even when he fought the monster on Mars. Was the little one suddenly enlightened or something, that she suddenly came up with so many sharp questions? “Umm… You have to learn to understand this question. In theory, any father and daughter will certainly not look the same after growing up, but I guess you’re definitely not asking that…”
Lil Pea stared at Hao Ren with her bright little eyes. Her face looked the most innocent, and she was full of curiosity as well as anticipation. Hao Ren could not help but surrender. He spread out his hand and said, “Yes, when you grow up, you won’t be the same as Daddy. Daddy doesn’t know if you’ll grow a pair of legs next time, but Daddy does know that Daddy won’t grow a tail in his entire lifetime—however, that’s not important. The important thing is, I’m your Daddy and the goddess has our record. So, in case even if the universe is destroyed, I’m still your Daddy.”
Lil Peas blinked. Many things were still beyond her understanding. However, it seemed that she got the answer she wanted. So, the little one shook her body in satisfaction before splashing back into the water to sleep, leaving Hao Ren alone, who quietly breathed a sigh of relief. The sharp questions of the little one had finally ended.
He suddenly realized another thing: the accelerated developmental talent of Lil Pea’s race… seemed to be showing its power.
He had to begin considering the issue of the mermaid’s growing mental maturity.
Hao Ren still got up on time the next day despite sleeping pretty late the previous night. As his mental strength increased, he was able to recover his energy more quickly than before; sleep was gradually becoming a controllable and customizable thing. The first thing he saw in the morning was Lil Pea working out on the edge of a small table. The little one was stretching her arms and playing with her tail excitedly. When she saw that Hao Ren had woken up, she immediately jumped onto the bed and slapped her tail to greet Hao Ren. “Good morning, Daddy!”
Hao Ren was little startled before he found that Lil Pea looking like a happy bunny did not seem to have any confusion from those questions last night. He could not help but sigh of relief and gently knocked on the little one’s head. “Good morning—and when are you going to remember not to come onto my bed? You do know you’re wet, don’t you?”
Lil Pea clapped her tail happily. “Got it!”
Hao Ren looked at the watermarks on the mat; luckily, it was summer, he would not have to dry the mat and quilt outside—if neighbors spotted him doing that, he would have a hard time explaining the question of a big man’s quilt with a water stain on it all day long!
It was probably much easier to explain why his pants were wet every day…
As soon as Hao Ren stepped out of his room, he saw Vivian making a phone call in the living room; she seemed to be a bit emotionally agitated. “…This is no small trouble. You have to quickly find out exactly who wrote the book and passed it down… Okay, I get what you mean, I’m not complaining about anything else… It would be the best help if you could help me investigate it… Absolutely not, you stay home! Don’t bet on this… I’m fine. You take good care of yourself. Mr. Landlord? He’s fine. I followed him on a business trip a few days ago… You could have used your energy to help me investigate the magic book!”
“You spoke with Hessiana?” asked Hao Ren after Vivian hung up.
Vivian looked at her mobile phone, her heart aching. “…International roaming… This life is too extravagant…”
“I’ll take care of your phone bill.” Hao Ren rolled his eyes. “What about the magic book?”
“She said she’ll investigate, but she also didn’t know who wrote the magic book. It was a tribute to her from a member of her man’s family. It was an antique bought from a black-market auction. There’s no way to find out its origin.” Vivian sighed and suddenly said, “I have something else for you to see.”