socalfunplaces Chapter 85 The Young Stepmother?
Chapter 85 The Young Stepmother?
Chapter 85 The Young Stepmother?
As the last rays of sunlight faded over Poseidon Island, silvery moonlight filtered through the dense forest, casting dappled shadows on the wooden houses in Shrek's inner courtyard.
One of the log cabins was particularly elegant, with pale purple sea vines twining around the window frame. The interior was simply yet cozy, and it was the place where Lu Xingchen was temporarily staying.
"Go away, I'm not used to sleeping with other people."
The childish voice carried an undeniable resistance. Lu Xingchen tilted her head back, her brows furrowed into a small "川" shape.
At this moment, his clear eyes were full of vigilance, and his small hands were pressed on the plump and soft thighs of the woman in front of him, pushing outward with all his might.
The fabric that his palm touched was smooth and delicate, with a faint scent of grass and trees, but this did not shake his resolve in the slightest.
"?"
Yali was slightly taken aback, and a look of astonishment instantly appeared on her beautiful face.
She looked down at the child behind her, who was pushing her hard, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and said with a hint of grievance, "I came here to keep you company because I was worried that Little Star might not be able to sleep in the new place."
By the time Lu Xingchen successfully bid for the item he needed at the Shrek City auction house during the day, the sun had already begun to set.
After strolling around the city and experiencing the lively atmosphere of this academy city, he easily entered the gates of Shrek Academy by simply showing his face with the Yunming couple's access pass.
This little wooden house is the exclusive residence of Yunming and his wife on Poseidon Island, the core area of the academy. It is a quiet and secluded place with abundant energy.
Ya Li appeared here tonight because she saw that Lu Xingchen was still young and was afraid that he would be lonely and uneasy at night, so she specially brought a pillow to keep him company.
I wanted to soothe the child's emotions and also use this opportunity to get closer to him and increase his favorability.
But the situation before her was clearly different from what she had expected. The child seemed somewhat resistant to her.
Faced with Lu Xingchen's shoving, Ya Li did not resist forcefully. Her soft body moved slowly towards the door with his force, her tone coaxing: "It's just sleeping together, I'm not going to eat you."
At this moment, she was wearing a long, turquoise dress, the soft and smooth material of which clung to her body, outlining her beautiful curves. She was holding a large, fluffy cushion, embroidered with cute star patterns and emitting a faint, calming fragrance.
With such a charming and lively appearance, no one would guess that this woman, who looks like she's in her prime, is actually over a hundred years old.
"don't want!"
Lu Xingchen increased the pressure, her face turning slightly red. "I don't like sleeping with strangers."
Before he finished speaking, he used a clever move to push Yali all the way to the doorway.
Yali stopped, blinked sadly, and looked at Xiaoxingchen with disappointment in her clear eyes: "Am I still a stranger in Xiaoxingchen's eyes?"
"Yes!" Lu Xingchen's answer was decisive and without the slightest hesitation.
Before Yali could process this shock, he reached out his small hand and slammed the wooden door shut with a "bang," giving her a firm refusal to open the door.
"Wait? Something's not right?" Yali stood frozen outside the door, her delicate face filled with confusion.
She gently knocked on the wooden door, but received no response. She then pulled a yellowed booklet from her pocket, stroking the cover with her fingertips, and muttered to herself, "Strange. Doesn't this book say that to get closer to a child, the best thing to do is spend more time with them, or sleep together, to quickly increase intimacy? How come the actual practice is completely different from what the book says?"
This booklet is a book about parenting education.
Its origin can be traced back to a few years ago when Yali was treating a male student's hidden injury in the inner courtyard, and the book accidentally fell from his body.
She still remembers that when the student saw the book fall to the ground, his face instantly turned extremely terrified, as if he had been frightened by something terrible.
Yali wanted to return the book to the other person, but the male student waved his hand in a panic, saying that the book was not his, and then ran out of the treatment room without looking back.
By the time she realized what was happening, the other person had already vanished without a trace.
Yali originally planned to find another opportunity to return it, but not long after, she heard that the male student had been attacked by an evil soul master while carrying out an inner court mission and had unfortunately died on the battlefield.
The unclaimed booklet remained in her possession.
In her spare time, Ya-li also browsed through the book and found that it mainly contained techniques for mothers to get closer to their children.
Perhaps because she harbored a longing for the bonds of family, she secretly kept the book, thinking that it might come in handy someday.
"The contents of this book should be correct, so where exactly is the problem?"
As Yali walked slowly along the pebble path outside the wooden house, she looked down and flipped through the booklet. Moonlight shone through the gaps in the leaves and onto the pages, illuminating the five striking words on the cover: "The Young Stepmother".
A gentle evening breeze blew by, turning the pages of the book and stirring the doubt between her brows.
[Adorable appearance, orphan status, a martial soul of the same type, pure energy emanating from the body after absorbing the branch of life, and mental suggestion exerted by a virtual personality]
These factors, layered upon each other, acted like a catalyst, completely igniting the maternal love that had long been overflowing within Yali.
At this moment, in her eyes, Lu Xingchen was a treasure bestowed by heaven. Her heart and eyes were filled with the desire to take him under her wing and protect him with all her heart. She wished she could immediately recognize him as her child.
[If the Creator were to grant my request now, I would undoubtedly gain her highest level of favor, becoming second only to Yun Ming in Ya Li's heart. Even if she asked to taste her milk glutinous rice balls, there would be more than a 50% chance of success.]
"This thing seems to be getting more and more intelligent."
As Lu Xingchen sensed the mental information transmitted by "0-01", a black line appeared on his forehead. What the hell is milk glutinous rice ball?
"Buzz" 6
Suddenly, Lu Xingchen's spirituality was stirred. Through his keen mental perception, he clearly sensed in that instant that a subtle yet powerful spiritual force was sweeping across his body.
He felt a slight stirring in his heart, but showed no sign of it. He simply allowed the spiritual energy to linger on him for a moment before slowly withdrawing, as if it had never existed.
[The unique aura emanating from the life-giving branches within the main body of creation has attracted the attention of the ancient golden tree, A-Yin.]
[Investigation Results: Ah Yin determined that the main body of the creation only contained an unusually dense amount of life energy, presumably absorbed by chance in its early years from the remnants of divine power that had spilled over into the Douluo Continent when the Goddess of Life fell. There were no other unusual characteristics. Ah Yin has now withdrawn her divine sense and is no longer paying attention.]
"Ah Yin's consciousness?"
Lu Xingchen lowered his eyes, concealing the fleeting understanding that crossed them. Since he dared to follow Yun Ming and his wife into Shrek Academy, he had naturally already made preparations to deal with all sorts of unexpected situations.
Ah Yin's spiritual probe, though unexpected, was not entirely unexpected. With his current strength and the assistance of "0-01", this level of probe was not enough to pose any threat to him.
"However, the audience's performance is progressing much faster than expected," he thought to himself. "The Sequence Four 'Manipulator' potion should be completely digested soon."
The core of the fourth role-playing segment in the audience approach is not complicated: by meticulously observing others' facial micro-expressions, subconscious changes in body movements, and even the ripples of soul power caused by emotional fluctuations, one can accurately interpret their true thoughts and potential demands deep within their hearts.
Based on this, one can subtly guide the situation in a direction favorable to oneself—this is a successful performance.
However, there are also taboos: if, during the role-playing process, one becomes greedy and excessively pries into the privacy of others, obsessively digging up those hidden dark thoughts and unbearable pasts, one will ultimately suffer the consequences.
This is a simple yet profound truth: the human heart is like an abyss; everyone harbors some darkness within.
Selfish thoughts are mostly restrained by reason and morality and never outwardly revealed.
However, if a demigod in the realm of the mind insists on tearing off that mask of hypocrisy and facing the ugliest side of humanity, over time, he is very likely to become utterly disappointed in humanity, be corrupted by endless negative emotions and dark consciousness, and ultimately lose himself in madness, never to recover.
Of course, this rule only applies to ordinary viewers who are not strong-willed enough.
For Lu Xingchen, the ugliness and complexity of human nature were already familiar to him in his first life.
The shocking stories of "sisters" and "handsome boys" on the internet, coupled with a series of jaw-dropping and explosive events, have already "cleaned" his soul, making him as tough as steel.
The significance of "everyone practicing heresy" is not something to be taken lightly; expecting him to be disillusioned with humanity is simply unrealistic.
Moreover, with the help of high-sequence artifacts like "0-01", he doesn't need to expend any effort to over-interpret other people's thoughts.
By simply using the ability of "0-01" to rewrite reality, capturing key information, and then supplementing it with a little insignificant guidance, things will naturally develop in the direction he desires.
It can only be said that with high-sequence items protecting you, this role-playing path is indeed much easier.
"Get some rest."
Lu Xingchen stretched and then climbed into bed to sleep.
However, while he spoke calmly, some people couldn't sleep all night.
"What's wrong? You look so gloomy."
After Yun Ming finished dealing with some matters and returned to his residence, he immediately saw his wife's depressed expression. He then went over and hugged her tightly.
"That's how it is—"
Ya Li rested her head on his shoulder and slowly recounted what had happened. Looking up at her husband, her voice tinged with barely perceptible unease, she asked, "Brother Ming, do you think that child hates me?"
Seeing the anxiety and uncertainty in his wife's eyes, Yun Ming's heart softened. He tightened his arms, pulling her closer, and gently stroked her long hair with his other hand, his fingertips carrying a soothing force: "You're overthinking it. I think that child is willing to accept you. If he really disliked you, why would he agree to live at the academy? He's just—used to keeping himself hidden."
"Really?" Ya Li's eyes brightened, but there was still some uncertainty in them, and her fingertips unconsciously tightened their grip on Yun Ming's robe.
"Of course." Yun Ming sighed helplessly, gently tapping her forehead with his fingertip. "You're just too concerned about that child, that's why you're blinded by your own feelings."
-
As he spoke, he raised his hand and swiped it across his storage soul tool. A faint light flashed, and a neatly bound stack of documents appeared in his palm: "Actually, this afternoon at the coffee shop, I noticed you were quite interested in him, so I had someone retrieve his information. His resistance is probably related to his past experiences."
"Information about that child?" A hint of surprise flashed in Yali's eyes. She quickly took the information, her fingertips touching the cool paper, and eagerly flipped through it.
The handwriting on the paper was clear and neat, yet it recorded a heavy past that far exceeded what a seven-year-old child could bear:
Abandoned at birth, he awakened his martial soul at the age of five and a half, possessing innate soul power of level seven;
When I was six years old, the orphanage was attacked by evil spirit masters.
In a critical moment, the young Lu Xingchen single-handedly lured away the vicious evil spirit master and fought back on his own. Although he eventually succeeded in defeating the opponent, he was seriously injured and almost lost his life.
(P.S.: The Tianhai City Guard Bureau has classified this matter as confidential; specific details of the battle are still under investigation.)
Although the evil spirit master is dead, the curse he left behind caused the deaths and injuries of most of the people in the orphanage, and the remaining people were even more severely affected by the curse. In Tianhai Hospital, Lu Xingchen ignored the doctor's advice and donated blood to the other children.
That blood transfusion nearly drained him of half his life, but it saved his companion's life, leaving the orphanage with an exorbitant medical bill.
(PS: After investigation, the target's blood appears to possess a strong power of light, which can dispel curses.)
To pay off his medical bills, he became an apprentice of the master craftsman Duan Xuan. (PS: He seems to have exceptional forging talent, but his forging level is unknown.)
The champion of the Tianhai Alliance Junior Group's 1v1 Soul Master competition. (PS: The target appears to have participated in a blacksmith competition, but the result is unknown.)
She once treated the people of Witch Douluo Li Mengjie's clan and gained their friendship, suggesting she possesses superb medical skills.
(PS: This point remains to be seen; how could a child possess such advanced medical skills?)
The above is the intelligence gathered by Shrek Academy's intelligence network; what follows are the intelligence personnel's own insights.
It can only be said that Shrek Academy truly lives up to its reputation; in just half a day, they were able to gather almost all of a person's information across the continent.
As Yali looked at the intelligence report in her hand, Lu Xingchen's indifferent face couldn't help but appear in her mind.
She was just a seven-year-old child, an age when she should still be nestled in her parents' arms, yet she had experienced such a devastating event.
When attacked by an evil spirit master, he lured him away alone, risking his life.
To save other children, he risked his own safety to donate blood.
The fear between life and death is immense. Just from these two points, one can see Lu Xingchen's character. He is a brave, resourceful, and loving child.
As for the blood seemingly containing the power of light, while this is rare, there are quite a few people with powerful bloodlines in the Douluo Continent, so it is not surprising.
The healing of the Witch Douluo's clan members was probably done through that special healing soul skill.
The further Ya Li read, the more intense her heartache became, and her eyes reddened slightly. At the same time, the desire to adopt Lu Xingchen as her child grew stronger.
Although this child's personality is different from hers, he is full of love and has a talent that seems to draw on the power of faith.
Needless to say, this is definitely a son sent to her by heaven. Otherwise, why would she have met that child in such a vast city as Shrek? This is definitely a destiny bestowed upon her by heaven.
Ya Li gently placed the documents aside, leaned back against Yun Ming's shoulder, her voice slightly choked, yet incredibly firm: "Brother Ming, I want to adopt that child. What do you think?"
Yun Ming looked down at his wife's reddened eyes, feeling the expectation and heartache in her voice, and slowly nodded, gently patting her back with his palm: "I have no objection to that."
Whether it was the brief encounter in the afternoon or what this information shows, although the child's innate soul power is somewhat lacking, his character is impeccable.
Yun Ming continued, "However, that child seems to be a bit sensitive. It won't be easy for him to accept us, so we need to think about this matter carefully."
"Um."
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