The next morning, Tong Tian woke up to find his robe soaked with drool…
Tongtian Jiaozhu: …
Sometimes it really felt like he was dreaming, especially when he saw the little girl roll over and end up right in front of him. He fell into complete silence. Children’s faces are rounder, making it hard for them to keep their mouths closed while sleeping. As soon as her mouth opened, a stream of drool dripped down.
And as it dripped, she even blew bubbles.
Tongtian Jiaozhu: …
(Why didn’t I just enter meditation earlier?)
Thinking about how the Heavenly Dao had linked such a little thing to him, even creating a karmic connection, he really wanted to stand up and rage for three minutes. Barely calming himself down, Tong Tian extended a finger and pushed the child’s head away. But just as her head was about to hit the ground, he couldn’t help but reach out and catch it.
A child’s head is probably the heaviest part of their body. A child who hasn’t fully woken up still has a light sweat on them, their little face flushed from sleep, warm to the touch.
Half-asleep, the little girl opened her eyes and looked at Tong Tian, then yawned before staring at him intently.
Tong Tian: …She really isn’t worried at all.
She quietly stared at him for a long time, her gaze distant and clearly still half-asleep.
After a moment, the child tilted her head and fell back asleep.
Tong Tian: !?
He hadn’t cared at first, but something instinctively felt off to him. Do children really sleep this much?
Neither of them had any parenting manual, so he had no idea that a child’s normal sleep schedule could be this long. Usually, parents plan their child’s sleep carefully—otherwise, they’ll be bouncing off the walls at night, which is utterly exhausting. But Tong Tian didn’t understand any of this.
Since he had nothing else to do anyway, entering meditation was out of the question.
Oh well, it’s only a short time. He might as well figure out what was really going on. This whole situation felt bizarre from start to finish.
As he sat quietly in the same room with the child, the silence felt overwhelming, broken only by the sound of her breathing.
He couldn’t help but recall the time when the Founding Patriarch had confined him beyond the Ninety-Nine Heavens. Back then, he was filled with resentment, his thoughts consumed by how his own brothers had schemed against him for the sake of their doctrinal lineage. Every time the Founding Patriarch saw him, he would say, “As a Sage, why is your heart so narrow?”
After all, they were just disciples. Besides, the rise of the Western Paradise was an inevitable path, and they were merely following the natural course of events.
But he could never accept it…
It wasn’t the Intercepting Sect that prospered. It was his disciples who became mounts for the Western Paradise, his disciples who were whipped by the God-Slaying Whip. Even a Sage couldn’t swallow such humiliation.
He had always known that his temperament was more impulsive compared to Laozi and Yuanshi. If he had simply gone with the flow, he could have been like Yuanshi and Laozi—taking fewer disciples, or like Yuanshi, selecting only elite disciples from the Human Race.
But…
Though he was filled with bitterness, he never expected the Heavenly Dao to give him another chance to start over. This time, he didn’t even know how to face Laozi and Yuanshi.
Lost in thought, he suddenly sensed the little one beside him stirring awake. After another nap, the child blinked her eyes and looked at him.
Tong Tian: …
The child's eyes were round and bright. "Daddy!"
"I'm hungry."
Tong Tian: …
Wait, you just ate not long ago.
He no longer had the mood to think about future matters…
He was starting to suspect that "I'm hungry" was some kind of standard phrase. In this child's limited brain capacity, perhaps only these two sentences remained.)
Because the child was hungry again, Tong Tian, who knew nothing about raising children, fed her a bunch of Spiritual Water. The Heavenly Dao watching this felt it was child abuse. I'm bowing to you, please give her something to eat.
If you feed her water every day, of course she'll be hungry. Anyone would be hungry.
But this really couldn't be blamed on Tong Tian. After all, they had long since stopped eating ordinary food. From the moment they were born, they were not ordinary mortals. He simply didn't know that children needed to eat, especially human offspring. The disciples he had taken in were all demon beasts, most of whom he accepted only after they reached adulthood, by which time they had also stopped eating ordinary food.
So the little one was once again filled with water.
The half-full child patted her round belly and then quietly sat there playing by herself. It seemed like she had no intention of communicating with him today.
Tong Tian: …
He should have felt relieved that he wasn't being called hungry every day, but when the child stopped clinging to him, he felt something was off.
When the child played quietly, she didn't even glance at him.
Tong Tian stood up and walked over to the little one. The Sect Leader calmly looked down at her from above, only to realize that she was so engrossed in her play that she truly had no interest in him at all.
Not yet understanding this feeling of "my child ignoring me," the confused father hadn't grasped what this strange sensation was. The next moment, he saw the child playing in front of him tilt her head and collapse on the spot.
Without any warning, she fell straight down!
Tong Tian: !?
He reached out and suddenly noticed that the child's cheeks were flushed red, and her forehead felt a bit hot to the touch, different from her temperature earlier.
Not only had the child collapsed, but she was also whimpering softly when picked up. Even though Tong Tian knew nothing about raising children, he could tell something was wrong with her condition.
Holding the child felt like holding a small stove, but unfortunately, this little stove wasn't in the right state.
Heavenly Dao: It's because she's hungry, you jerk.
He was truly heartbroken watching this. You've starved her until she has a fever.
Damn, you beast.
Coincidentally, Tong Tian summoned a demon beast who had some experience raising offspring. After examining the child, the demon beast said decisively, "She's sick!"
Ah, offspring are indeed fragile. Although she still didn't know what species this child belonged to, the principle remained the same. When her own children fell ill, they would also develop high fevers. A few of them didn't make it…
After hearing this, Tong Tian's expression darkened.
"What's the cause?"
Demon beast: …How would I know??
This isn't my child. How would I know why she's sick?
"What should be done in such a situation?"
The demon beast said it depended on luck. The main approach was to endure—if she could endure, she would survive; if not, it was just her fate. That's how demon beasts raised their children.
Tong Tian: "…"
No way, Master, you're so powerful, you can deduce the heavenly secrets. Tong Tian felt that the demon beast was simply daydreaming. When had anyone ever said such words to him—to deduce the heavenly secrets and figure out why this child was sick.
Heavenly Dao: Oh, right, that's an option. He had already prepared himself.
Tong Tian thought for a moment, looking at the not-so-intelligent gaze of the demon beast before him and then at the quiet child. After a moment of silence, he began to deduce earnestly.
Heavenly Dao: …He actually did it.
And found nothing.
Because the child came from a later era and should not exist in this world, as soon as Tong Tian began to deduce, the heavenly secrets were once again obscured.
Heavenly Dao: Damn it!
I forgot about that…
Now the child was whimpering in discomfort, but Tong Tian and the others had no idea what was wrong. Once again, he felt a sense of irritation and helplessness, exactly like when he had been confined to the Ninety-Nine Heavens.
When a child gets a fever, they become quiet, their face flushed red, and their mental state visibly deteriorates. With great effort, the child opened their eyes to glance at Tong Tian before quickly closing them again.
They didn't even say "I'm hungry" anymore. One moment, the child was calling for their father, and the next, they fell completely silent.
Tong Tian felt somewhat agitated.
If possible, he would rather go out and fight. The Four Swords of Slaying Immortals were nearly invincible in the Primordial World, but he was utterly helpless when it came to a child's illness.
Perhaps most children's illnesses were like this. Maybe, as the demon beast had said, the child just had to endure it on their own.
"Daddy, I feel unwell."
Well, she had learned her third sentence. The content was fresh, but it only made Tong Tian's mood even more agitated.
A Great Power who once dominated the Primordial World, able to face four saints without flinching, yet struggling to deal with a sick child of the Human Race…
He now wanted to go ask Nüwa what was going on. As the Holy Mother of Humanity, she hadn't even created the Human Race yet.
"Perhaps we could ask the other Masters," the Dao Child suggested, referring to Laozi and Yuanshi. At the mention of these two, Tong Tian's expression grew even darker.
Since his return, he had only seen Yuanshi. At this time, the Three Pure Ones had not yet separated and still lived in the same place. Their feelings and relationships had not yet been torn apart over doctrinal lineage, but it was unrealistic to expect Tong Tian to take the initiative to see them.
Compared to Yuanshi, who had clashed with him over teachings and doctrinal lineage from the beginning of the Investiture of the Gods, Laozi's betrayal filled him with immense anger.
He would not go to Laozi or the others.
…
Meanwhile
"Tong Tian has returned." Laozi closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, feeling somewhat puzzled by the recent behavior of his youngest brother. It wasn't just Yuanshi he was at odds with.
Although he didn't openly contradict Yuanshi, his emotions and state were easily perceived by them. Yuanshi was also quite troubled by this.
One Qi transformed into the Three Pure Ones: Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tong Tian. They were originally one, merely taking on the forms of an old man, a middle-aged man, and a young man. Because of this, Tong Tian had the most fiery temperament and was the most troublesome for his two elder brothers.
Now, the great calamity was approaching.
They couldn't afford to be willful either. Yuanshi had confined Tong Tian, and judging by Tong Tian's usual temperament, there would likely be some complaints. It seemed he would have to personally go see what was going on with Tong Tian.
He indeed still had doubts about his younger brother being so quiet. Speaking of which, what was Tong Tian doing?
Author's note:
Tong Tian was raising a child, and it was tough.