Yin Changli was walking toward her but stopped in his tracks at her scolding: “It’s not because I fear the cold.”

Xiang Haikui thought sarcastically: Then it must be because you’re despicable.

Though she didn’t speak aloud, the exposed whites of her eyes and twisted lips made it easy for Yin Changli to guess her thoughts.

No matter. Take it slow.

During these days of her recovery, Yin Changli had felt regret and remorse. The past couldn’t be changed, but fortunately, there was still an opportunity to make amends.

He continued walking forward as a folding fan slid out from his sleeve.

He opened the fan, its surface covered with fluffy fur. As he fanned, the fluff floated like dandelion seeds off their stems.

When it floated near Xiang Haikui, she waved it away with her hand.

Yet as Yin Changli passed by her, he deliberately fanned harder, all while staring into her eyes with a hint of hope.

However, he didn’t get the response he wanted from Xiang Haikui’s expression and could only continue walking with furrowed brows, circling the desk to sit cross-legged behind it.

The plump hamster, clutching its brush, prepared to jump down from the cleaned desk.

Yin Changli grabbed its bare tail and transmitted: “Xiao Bai, do you smell anything?”

Bai Xingxian turned his head, answering without hesitation: “Uncle has a fragrance about him, the fresh scent of plants and trees.”

Not incense, but a natural fragrance. “Uncle must have gone to meditate in a place rich with plant energy and absorbed their spiritual essence, right?”

“It seems there’s no problem,” Yin Changli said without answering, releasing his little tail and wondering inwardly. Even Xiao Bai could smell it, so why did she not react at all?

Bai Xingxian was confused: “What problem?”

Yin Changli shook his head: “Nothing.”

“Oh.” Bai Xingxian jumped down from the desk. Knowing Xiang Haikui had come for food, and not wanting to regurgitate it from his mouth, he transformed into human form and took food from his pouch, which had become a storage bracelet.

When he transformed, Xiang Haikui held her breath, fearing she would see a bald head.

Fortunately, his flowing white hair remained. Thinking about it, a demon’s hair probably wasn’t transformed from fur; otherwise, hairless demons would all be bald.

Xiang Haikui accepted a bag of dried venison from his hand and sat on this side of the desk to eat.

Afraid she might choke, Yin Changli poured a cup of tea. Initially planning to push it toward her, he remembered she didn’t like tea and extended his hand to Bai Xingxian: “Orange.”

Bai Xingxian took out a cloth bag filled with large, bright yellow oranges.

Yin Changli selected one with a good appearance and skillfully made a small incision with a knife. Then he gripped the orange and squeezed hard. The orange instantly collapsed, its juice flowing into the cup through the opening. He then pushed the cup before her.

This was something he had often done during his ten years of amnesia. Yin Changli wanted to reestablish her sense of familiarity and close the distance between them, naturally by first aligning with those ten years.

Xiang Haikui was heartily chewing on a venison leg, glancing at the hand-squeezed orange juice before her. This was something she had once taught her puppy boss to do, and it was the same.

But after squeezing, the puppy boss would lick the fingers that had touched the orange juice, while the person before her took out a handkerchief to clean his hands.

Yin Changli noticed her glance at his fingers, and his expression froze as he also remembered.

But licking his fingers was something he truly couldn’t bring himself to do now.

“Xiao Bai,” he changed the subject, also drawing away Xiang Haikui’s attention, “don’t you have any questions for me?”

Bai Xingxian had been watching to see if he would lick his fingers while squeezing the orange juice, but being suddenly addressed, he returned to awareness with a start: “What is it, Uncle?”

Yin Changli: “About your true origins. I previously told Di Jun you were Shu Luoye’s son…”

Bai Xingxian remembered: “No rush. When Uncle thinks it’s appropriate to tell me, I’m sure you will.”

Xiang Haikui’s attention had indeed shifted from his fingers. Yin Changli asked: “Aren’t you curious at all?”

Bai Xingxian shook his head: “What Di Jun recognized was the golden fire, which Uncle gave me. It’s not mine…”

Yin Changli interrupted: “That fire seed originally belonged to you.”

Only then did Bai Xingxian show some surprise: “Ah?”

Yin Changli wasn’t just changing the subject; it truly was time for him to know the truth: “I didn’t deceive Di Jun. Your father is indeed Shu Luoye, which is why in your childhood you called me Master, and I ordered you to change it to Uncle.”

Xiang Haikui’s chewing speed slowed considerably as she pricked up her ears to listen attentively. She wasn’t particularly curious about these matters, but since it concerned Xiao Bai, she naturally wanted to understand more.

Bai Xingxian tilted his head, not quite understanding: “So, the former Netherworld Lord…”

Yin Changli glanced at him: “He is your father.”

Bai Xingxian hastily corrected himself: “My father always helped the Mountain Sea Clan because he fell in love with a woman from there, willing to destroy his race for it.” He sighed with feeling, “Such deep love!”

Yin Changli’s fingers trembled slightly as he sternly admonished: “Where did you learn such logic? How can you reduce such a significant matter to romance?”

Bai Xingxian didn’t lower his head to accept the criticism; he simply glanced silently at the cup of orange juice on the desk.

Xiang Haikui picked it up and took a sip.

Yin Changli’s expression remained unchanged, but he didn’t continue reprimanding Bai Xingxian, returning to the original topic: “Your father never intended to destroy the Heavenly Race. His goal was always to save it.”

As the royal clan member with the strongest spiritual perception in the Heavenly Race’s history, Shu Luoye had always been perplexed by his existence.

Stabbing himself with a knife, he felt no pain.

His brother, with slightly weaker spiritual perception, would only begin to frown gradually after about fifteen minutes.

Faced with delicious food, beautiful scenery, or attractive people, his heart remained unmoved—he was essentially a walking stone man.

He shared his confusion with his father, the King, but his father merely looked proud, saying he was already infinitely close to godhood.

“Shu Luoye didn’t think so.” Yin Changli looked at Bai Xingxian. “He felt he was becoming less and less like a living being, so he began to research what exactly the Heavenly Race’s spiritual perception was.”

Xiang Haikui glanced at Bai Xingxian. He had spiritual perception power within him and often appeared quite dull, not very intelligent, but he did have emotions and rich feelings, frequently reddening his eyes and shedding tears.

She suddenly understood: “Shu Luoye separated the spiritual perception?”

Yin Changli nodded: “He expended great effort to separate the spiritual perception from himself, and immediately could feel pain. Since his body and soul showed signs of collapse, he could only sustain it for fifteen minutes before having to reabsorb the spiritual perception. He realized that spiritual perception was the life fire of the Heavenly Race.”

Even someone as powerful as Shu Luoye could only separate it for fifteen minutes. Xiang Haikui frowned slightly.

Bai Xingxian finally grasped the key point: “Uncle, why can I remain separated for so long?”

Yin Changli lowered his eyelashes: “First, your father researched for thousands more years and improved the method. Second, you were separated right after leaving the womb, so the fusion between spiritual perception and soul wasn’t high, causing little damage to your soul. As for your physical body, it was damaged after separation, so you were given a demon body since a human body couldn’t contain your soul.”

“But the separated spiritual perception still couldn’t be too far from you, so it was transformed into a fire seed nurtured within you; otherwise, your soul would wither. And separation could only last five hundred years at most, which is why a demon body that matured at exactly five hundred years was chosen…”

Xiang Haikui’s frown deepened. In front of Bai Xingxian, she didn’t want to speak openly, so she transmitted: “So Xiao Bai is an experiment?”

Truly a little white mouse after all.

“Not an experiment.” Yin Changli didn’t use transmission, allowing Bai Xingxian to hear as well. “Xiao Bai, your father only did this because he was confident of success. He hoped that before you came of age, you would remain carefree and experience the joy of living like a normal person.”

Seeing Bai Xingxian’s confused expression, Yin Changli pointed to the venison leg in Xiang Haikui’s hand. “Does that taste good?”

Bai Xingxian understood and nodded eagerly.

“Now that fire seed—no, your spiritual perception-has—has reintegrated with your soul.” Yin Changli remained silent for a long while. “I don’t know what you’ll become. Your father intended that if you could use your experiences and insights from these five hundred years to have your human nature overcome the ‘divine nature’ brought by spiritual perception, then I would use all my power to place you on the throne as Di Jun.”

Bai Xingxian was stunned, his calm expression slowly cracking as he pointed at himself in surprise: “Me? Di Jun?”

Yin Changli: “After the spiritual perception returns, you’ll become increasingly wise.”

Xiang Haikui looked at Bai Xingxian with concern. This meant he would soon experience a struggle between “human nature” and “divine nature.”

“This is the best outcome, Xiao Bai.” Yin Changli took a sip of tea and said calmly, “Achieving the rarest peace with minimal casualties.”

“Is this the ultimate weapon?” Xiang Haikui asked quietly.

“No, this is just the first contingency.” Yin Changli shook his head. “If this path fails, there’s a second contingency.” He gave her a look. “A divine artifact does indeed exist.”

Bai Xingxian suddenly felt pressure like a mountain bearing down on him, his face filled with misery: “Uncle, hearing you say this makes Xiao Bai very anxious…”

“I’m also very anxious.” Yin Changli interrupted him with a long sigh. “If we fail, I bear some responsibility. When your father entrusted you to me on his deathbed, he repeatedly emphasized that my education of you would play a crucial role. You don’t know how much I’ve poured my heart and soul into raising you well these five hundred years…”

Xiang Haikui nearly spat out a mouthful of orange juice: “By teaching him to pull carriages?”

Yin Changli replied calmly: “That was to let him appreciate the world’s scenery, which can’t be seen sitting in a palace.”

Xiang Haikui narrowed her eyes: “Serving tea and pouring water?”

Yin Changli explained: “This was to let him experience the ‘hardships’ of those in lower positions, to understand that survival isn’t easy.”

Xiang Haikui made an “Oh” sound: “Embroidery, cooking, flower-raising, and gardening?”

Yin Changli sighed with emotion: “This was to let him experience life’s many aspects and understand people from all walks of life.”

Hearing this, Bai Xingxian’s eyes reddened, and he suddenly knelt, prostrating himself at his uncle’s knees: “Uncle, you’ve been so painstaking in your efforts. Xiao Bai will remember this for a lifetime.”

Yin Changli patted his back, his expression solemn: “I only hope not to let your father down…”

Bai Xingxian wept profusely.

Xiang Haikui watched their display of “father’s kindness, son’s filial piety” from the side, her lips twitching. She finally understood how Xiao Bai had been tricked out of his fur.

She had to admit, Yin Changli’s education had been quite effective.

She wasn’t worried at all that Xiao Bai would later be defeated by his divine nature. After all, besides human nature, his servile nature had permeated to his very marrow.