Invincible Dad-Chapter 617 - What’s happening in the mountains? _1

Chapter 617: Chapter 617 - What’s happening in the mountains? _1

"You heard wrong." Xu Lai wrapped his arms around Ruan Tang’s fragrant body and said, "It’s still early. Let’s sleep a bit more."

"Mhm." Ruan Tang lazily responded and fell back into her dreamland.

「Eight in the morning.」

Warm sunlight filtered through the window, casting its glow upon the embracing couple.

Ruan Tang suddenly woke from her sleep with a start. "Xu Lai!"

She sat up, her forehead beaded with sweat and her breathing rapid, her eyes still wide with panic. But when her gaze met Xu Lai’s concerned expression, Ruan Tang’s tension slowly eased.

"Had a nightmare?" Xu Lai gently wiped the sweat from his wife’s forehead. "It’s alright, I’m here."

"Yeah..." Ruan Tang let out a long breath, her mood slightly downcast as she said, "I dreamed we were kneeling before a Colorful Altar. Below it was a calm sea, its surface reflecting the white clouds in the sky."

"I felt so cold, so I used a... um." Ruan Tang searched for the right words. "A sword that looked like a jade ruyi scepter to stoke the flames in the brazier before me, trying to make the fire burn brighter."

"And then?" Xu Lai asked.

"Then I saw the sky crack, and blood-red rain began to fall."

"Red... rain?" Xu Lai’s pupils contracted. The Great Emperor Yin Yang had once said that a cycle lasts one hundred epochs, and the final one would be the Fallen Emperor Epoch. At that time, blood-red rain would fall from the sky, the countless star systems of the Immortal Domain would be destroyed, and less than one percent of all living beings would survive.

Ruan Tang tried hard to recall the scene from her dream. After a moment, she spoke with a hint of disappointment. "As the rain fell, you suddenly disappeared, and that’s when I woke up."

"Don’t be afraid." Xu Lai held Ruan Tang in his arms, his voice firm. "If the sky falls, I’ll be there to hold it up for you. If it rains, I’ll be there to hold an umbrella for you. I won’t leave you."

Ruan Tang reached out and gently caressed Xu Lai’s cheek, her eyes full of tenderness. "If you get tired of holding the umbrella, or if you can’t support the collapsing sky, please don’t push yourself. I don’t want to see you suffer."

"It’s no hardship." Xu Lai laughed heartily. "How could protecting my wife and daughter be a hardship?"

"Then you protect the world, and I’ll protect you."

"How will you protect me?" Xu Lai asked instinctively.

"MWAH." Ruan Tang lifted her head and lightly pecked Xu Lai’s lips, a blush rising on her cheeks. "Like this."

"..."

Xu Lai raised his hand, and the curtains drew shut.

Ruan Tang suddenly sensed something was amiss. "Xu Lai, you—"

She was too late.

...

...

「Ruan Tang didn’t get out of bed until noon.」

As she came downstairs, she chided Xu Lai playfully. "This is all your fault. I’m going to be late today."

"Honey, to be fair, I may have started it, but later on, it was definitely you who..."

WHUMP!

Before Xu Lai could finish, a pillow sailed through the air and hit him.

Ruan Tang’s face flushed. "Shut up."

"Alright, alright." Xu Lai suppressed his laughter, knowing his wife was easily embarrassed. "Since you’re already late, just take the day off. Besides, Yiyi and the others are still asleep."

"It’s already noon, and they’re still sleeping? I’ll go wake them up."

"We only just got up ourselves."

"..."

Ruan Tang paused, abandoning the idea of waking her daughter and sister.

"Oh, right. Call Luo Chu and tell her Qian Xiao is sleeping in our guest room. We don’t want them to worry that their son is missing."

"Mhm, will do." Ruan Tang went to make the call while Xu Lai busied himself in the kitchen.

A moment later, Ruan Tang wrapped her arms around him from behind, whispering, "Darling, let’s make wine together this afternoon. We can save it for when our daughter gets married."

Xu Lai’s hands stilled, and he pouted. "Yiyi is only six. There’s no rush for her to get married."

"Yiyi can’t stay with us forever. She has to live her own life."

"..."

Xu Lai fell silent and continued cooking.

Ruan Tang said helplessly, "Such a doting father."

"Tigress."

"???"

Over the next half-hour, Xu Lai learned a painful lesson about speaking out of turn.

「One hour later.」

After lunch, Ruan Tang suddenly asked, "Xu Lai, can Haitang flowers be used to make wine?"

"Haitang flowers are poisonous; you can’t make wine with them," Xu Lai said.

"Oh, I see." Ruan Tang sounded somewhat disappointed.

"However," Xu Lai said seriously, "since my lady wife has made a request, we can certainly remove the toxins before making the wine."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Then let’s go!" Her eyes lit up.

The weather was beautiful. Ruan Tang wore a blue, floral, knee-length dress that left her shoulders bare, revealing her fair skin. She had sandals on her feet. As the warm sunlight spilled over her, it created the illusion that summer had arrived.

"Stand still." Ruan Tang hid her hands behind her back, smiling at Xu Lai. "Don’t move until I say you can, okay?"

Acting as if he didn’t know about the flowers she was hiding, Xu Lai cooperatively stood up straight.

A second later, Ruan Tang placed two pink Xifu Haitang flowers behind Xu Lai’s ears. The effect was jarring, making it look as though he’d grown a second pair of ears.

Ruan Tang stifled a laugh. "Beautiful."

In response to her little prank, Xu Lai bent down, plucked a white Haitang flower, and gently tucked it into Ruan Tang’s hair. "This whole mountain of Haitang blooms in every color, yet none are more beautiful than you. Only this white one..."

"More beautiful than me?" Ruan Tang smiled, her hand already reaching out to pinch him.

"...can barely avoid paling in your presence."

"..."

Ruan Tang’s heart suddenly beat faster. She bit her lip lightly. Even though we’re an old married couple, how can his sweet words still get to me like this?

"My love, listen closely. The flowers, the wind... they’re all talking. They’re asking how such a gentle and radiant woman could exist in this world."

"..."

Ruan Tang’s hand, which had been ready to pinch him, slipped through his arm instead. Her smile bloomed. "Let’s go pick some flowers."

Xu Lai secretly breathed a sigh of relief. My arm is safe, for now...

Mount Haitang was covered in Haitang blossoms. Xu Lai and Ruan Tang picked them, laughing and talking, and the air was filled with peace and contentment.

This tranquil atmosphere would have lasted longer, if not for the sight of a certain round, black-and-white creature lying in a patch of flowers.

SQUEAK, SQUEAK...

Xiao Hei’s tiny eyes were filled with immense confusion. It didn’t understand why they were picking flowers. Are we supposed to eat them? It lowered its head and took a bite of a Haitang flower, but after a couple of chews, it spat the petals out, sticking out its tongue in a very human-like gesture.

"Scram." With a dark expression, Xu Lai kicked Xiao Hei away.

SQUEAK, SQUEAK...

The faint, aggrieved cries of Xiao Hei drifted down from the sky.

"Be careful, or Yiyi will get mad." Ruan Tang said helplessly. "She adores Xiao Hei."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lai sent another kick in its direction.

"..."

Ruan Tang put a hand to her forehead. "Are you even jealous of Xiao Hei?"

"Me, jealous? Impossible." Xu Lai scoffed. "Go ask Taotie or Baize. They’ll all tell you how magnanimous I am."

"Magnanimous Xu Qingfeng." Ruan Tang couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up. "I’m convinced."

As if he hadn’t heard the sarcasm in his wife’s remark, Xu Lai coughed. "We’ve picked enough flowers. Let’s go home."

What is there to do in the mountains?

Brew tea with spring water and make wine with Haitang flowers.