Across the Longyuan Continent, friend and foe alike were searching for Ziqing — but deep in the world of poison beasts, Ziqing’s thoughts dwelled on only one man.

From the initial fury and disappointment, to the calm that followed, and now, to longing.

Faced with all of it, Ziqing had grown considerably more at peace.

But Ziqing was no goddess — to say she felt no sorrow, no disappointment, would be a lie.

Watching the man she loved hold another woman in his arms, watching him choose to save someone else over her — even a god would have broken under that.

She’d always told herself: ask him, face him and demand an answer. That was the very least she owed herself.

Time slipped by, unstoppable as flowing water. Ziqing had now been in the world of poison beasts for nearly four months, and the child in her belly was already seven months along.

Seven months — what did that mean?

At that moment, Ziqing sat upon a massive boulder, gazing out over the jungle, her hands resting gently on her clearly rounded belly.

Seven months meant that in three more months, the child would be born!

Behind her, shielding her from the wind, was the great foolish bear, its once bare skin now grown over with a thin layer of white fur — not as thick as before, but still warm.

The great foolish bear was so massive that half its body alone was enough to block the cold wind for Ziqing. It leaned its head close beside her, resting on its own paws.

Unlike the other four top-tier poison beasts, the great foolish bear stayed by Ziqing’s side almost every single day, listening to her play the zither, keeping her company as she gazed out at the distance.

One woman and one beast, often sitting together on the cliffside for an entire day.

Ziqing seemed a little weary today, leaning back lazily against the great foolish bear’s warm belly, one hand gently stroking its head.

“Big Bear, what do you think the baby’s father is doing right now?”

Was he entangled with that woman?

Or still searching for her?

Or perhaps still searching for the lost island’s location?

Or had he already concluded the peace conference and returned to Da Zhou, taking personal control of the court there?

Compared to her earlier grief and despair, Ziqing had grown considerably more at peace now — she could even smile, a faint, gentle curve tugging at her lips. “Big Bear, once we get out of here, you and the baby can come with me to ask him — just in case… just in case…”

She didn’t finish, her voice catching, her eyes reddening. After a long, long while, she calmed herself, continuing with that same faint smile, “Big Bear, we should still ask him, shouldn’t we… just in case it was all a misunderstanding?”

The great foolish bear had no idea what Ziqing was saying. Seeing her serene smile, and then the tears welling in her eyes that never quite fell, it was thoroughly confused.

Master — was she crying, or laughing? What on earth was wrong with her?

Lately, this happened often — she’d look happy one moment, then suddenly slip into sorrow; sorrowful one moment, then look down at her round belly and smile so sweetly.

The great foolish bear’s little black eyes stared at Ziqing unblinking for a long, long while, before it finally gave up and shook its head helplessly.

Because it realized she wasn’t really talking to it at all — she was only talking to herself.

Sigh…

Watching Ziqing turn her head away again, the great foolish bear whimpered a few pitiful sounds and lay back down, sulking.

Not long after, Henggong Fish and Howling Hare arrived, bringing food!

These days, Ziqing’s meals were delivered by these two top-tier poison beasts — always richly nutritious things, including plenty of thousand-year-old caterpillar fungus and other treasures.

Whether it was Ziqing benefiting from the baby’s good fortune, or the baby benefiting from hers, either way, both mother and child were being nourished remarkably well!

Looking at the pile of food before her, Ziqing had no real appetite of her own — but she knew she wasn’t eating for herself anymore. She was eating for the baby.

The wait had grown so long that, aside from studying Lishang, there was hardly anything else to occupy her time.

She often found herself wondering who the baby would resemble more, whose temperament it might take after.

Henggong Fish delivered the food, hesitated a good while, then spoke up timidly, “Master, do you think the person we’re waiting for will actually come?”

The fastest it could take was a hundred days, the slowest, a year.

It had already been four months now, and there was still no movement in the world of poison beasts. After all, Zizhu had mobilized no small number of poison beasts — practically placing the whole world under lockdown, simply waiting for the Gu-cultivator to arrive!

If this kept up much longer, would they really have to wait a full year?

“I hope she comes soon too,” Ziqing replied flatly, though the killing intent in her eyes was impossible to hide. Once she left the world of poison beasts, she had so much left to do — killing that old nanny was the very first item on the list.

Henggong Fish was quick-tempered, but Howling Hare wasn’t worried at all, grinning as it looked at Ziqing’s belly. “Master, once the baby’s born, why don’t you give me to the little young master? I promise I’ll serve him with everything I’ve got!”

Seeing Howling Hare’s sly expression, the great foolish bear, though it couldn’t understand what was being said, immediately spun around and roared at it — clearly telling Howling Hare to stay away from the child, the child was its own!

Howling Hare scoffed — a mere first-tier poison beast, daring to throw a fit at a top-tier one like itself? This bear only got away with it because its master doted on it — otherwise, who did it think it was?

But Henggong Fish spoke up coldly, “Howling Hare, and pray tell, do you even know how to raise a child?”

“I… I… well, worst case, once the young master’s grown, I’ll just serve him then — at the very least, I can still protect him!” Howling Hare argued back at once.

The moment the words left its mouth, a strange, sly cackle rang out. “Rabbit, are you saying the young master, once grown, won’t surpass you in strength? That he’ll still need your protection?”

The Nine-Tailed White Fox swept in gracefully, its nine great tails swaying, its manner just as disdainful toward Howling Hare.

“Pledge loyalty, then! I’ll just pledge loyalty, is that acceptable?” Howling Hare had no choice but to correct itself.

But the Nine-Tailed White Fox only sneered further. “With me around, will there even be room left for your loyalty, little master?”

That shut Howling Hare up instantly — after all, whose fault was it that it simply wasn’t as skilled?

But when the great foolish bear noticed the Nine-Tailed White Fox eyeing Ziqing’s belly too, it didn’t care whether the fox was a top-tier poison beast or whatever else — it shot to its feet at once, planting itself in front of Ziqing, growling low, the message unmistakable: the child is mine, none of you can take it!

“And what exactly do you have to back that up?” the Nine-Tailed White Fox scoffed. The great foolish bear simply sat back down — after all, the fox wouldn’t dare actually attack. It was banking entirely on its master’s favor, and why not!

The Nine-Tailed White Fox sat down too, baring its fangs at the great foolish bear in warning.

The great foolish bear paid it no mind, opening its own huge jaws wide as if to compete over whose mouth was bigger!

The Nine-Tailed White Fox was genuinely defeated. “We’ll see — once the young master’s born, we’ll see who he takes a liking to!”

Seeing the Nine-Tailed White Fox squaring off against the great foolish bear, Henggong Fish and Howling Hare quickly sided with the fox, all three roaring at the bear together!

Ziqing had already retreated to eat her honey off to the side. These top-tier poison beasts, honestly — was this really the mood befitting her child?

She patted her belly gently. Baby, baby — three more months to go. In these three months, would the Gu-cultivator finally come?

Baby, baby — who do you most want to protect you?