Invincible Dad

Taotie thought for a long time before he finally remembered his promise to see a movie tomorrow with that female employee from his wife's company. He hesitated for a good while but ultimately decided against saying anything.

Xu Lai patted the First Divine General's shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Yiyi is quite fond of Yun Jin. Let her stay here for a few more days."

"Of course." Taotie immediately cupped his fists.

Xu Lai continued, "As her guardian, you should stay for a few more days, too."

"...Your Majesty, this humble general is concerned with official business in the Heavenly Court. I implore you to let me return to the Immortal Domain tomorrow night," Taotie said solemnly.

Xu Lai was speechless. Taotie is the one who most hates dealing with all that messy paperwork in the Heavenly Court. Is he really that afraid of some girl that he'd use this excuse? It's not like the young lady is some kind of monster. Besides, he's the real ferocious beast here... a Taotie!

"You can sleep in the guest room," Xu Lai waved his hand dismissively.

Taotie scratched his head, knowing he probably couldn't escape this time.

He suddenly said, "Your Majesty, there is a little monster lurking at the foot of the mountain. Shall I go take care of it?"

Xu Lai had sensed it as well. It was Yuan Man, the Demon King of Sea City whom he had met once before.

He ignored it, instead asking, "How was that Little Glutton sealed inside the Crystal Ball? That was a seal at the Immortal Artifact level."

Speaking of this, Taotie's expression grew serious. "She doesn't remember it clearly. She only recalls devouring stars in the Dead Realm when a coffin flew toward her from the distance."

"A coffin?" Xu Lai frowned.

"Yes." Taotie nodded and continued, "And she said she vaguely saw that the coffin was being pulled by the skeletons of ninety-nine Quasi-Emperor Realm Divine Dragons, all of them Golden Holy Bones."

Even as The Supreme Emperor, Xu Lai was momentarily stunned by such a grand display.

Taotie hesitated. "But Yun Jin's Boundary is low. I suspect she saw it wrong..."

"Only those at the Quasi-Emperor Realm possess Golden Holy Bones. She's at the Peak of Golden Core, so she shouldn't have been mistaken," Xu Lai replied, rubbing his brow. "Who in the world is in that coffin to warrant such a grand procession?"

Even if I were to pass away now, my funeral wouldn't be this extravagant, Xu Lai thought.

"No, perhaps the one inside the coffin... isn't dead!" Xu Lai narrowed his eyes.

This sentence made Divine General Taotie's scalp crawl. If the being wasn't dead, yet could command ninety-nine Quasi-Emperor Realm Divine Dragon corpses to pull its coffin... its identity was definitely not as simple as an ordinary Emperor Realm expert!

Taotie took a deep breath and said gravely, "Your Majesty, under the same starry sky, it's impossible for another Emperor Realm expert to exist. Could you be overthinking this? Perhaps it's just the corpse of some Great Emperor from an unrecorded era."

After a long moment of thought, Xu Lai came to agree with Taotie. "The Nine Kings' Palace, the Samsara Sea... there are many forbidden lands for Emperor Realm experts. If one could explore their secrets, perhaps one could see through this illusion."

He rubbed his brow again. He suddenly began to understand why countless Emperor Realm powerhouses from past eras chose to enter the Samsara Sea or other forbidden lands after reaching their peak, right before their deaths. Perhaps it wasn't about achieving a second life. It was for the mysteries that had perplexed them for so long! It's like an ancient emperor; though he was the supreme ruler and all the land under heaven was his, he couldn't possibly know every inch of it or understand every danger as if it were the back of his hand. Wasn't the Emperor Realm the same? After all, the Universe is vast, so immense that no one has ever been able to explore all of it. There are known places like the Samsara Sea and the Nine Kings' Palace... but what about the undiscovered ones?

"Time for bed." Xu Lai stood up, planning to return to his room and cuddle with Ruan Tang to sleep off the day's fatigue.

Just then, a sneaky figure appeared. It was the sea snail girl, Beibei. Carrying her shell on her back, the little sea snail looked at Xu Lai hesitantly. "Xu Lai, Demon King Yuan Man wishes for an audience. She says she has something important to discuss."

"Let her wait," Xu Lai said flatly. "I'm going to rest."

Beibei was stunned. "That's... not a good idea, is it? She's a Demon King Realm expert. If we slight her..."

Taotie snorted coldly. Hmph. In the Immortal Domain, Holy Masters queue for a century just for a chance to see His Majesty, and that's considered fast. As if he's someone you can see just by asking.

Beibei didn't try to persuade him further and instead went down the mountain to inform Yuan Man of the outcome.

"Very well, I understand," the charming woman said with a smile.

Having once been a Demon General under Yuan Man, Beibei advised, "Demon King, you should head back. Xu Lai doesn't want to see you. Perhaps try again another day."

"He asked me to wait, so I'll wait," Yuan Man replied with a smile.

Beibei didn't press the issue. Whatever small bond they had in the past had just been spent.

After Beibei left, Yuan Man's smile slowly faded. Her mind raced. Why is he leaving me out here to dry? Is it because I let that man in the black robe go? Or something else? But no matter how she thought about it, Yuan Man couldn't recall offending Xu Lai in any other way.

What Yuan Man didn't know was that the reason was actually very simple: it was late.

And Xu Lai was thinking, If my dear wife finds out tomorrow that at midnight, instead of cuddling with her, I was meeting with a beautiful woman at home... she would absolutely fly into a jealous rage!

* * *

「The next morning.」

Ruan Tang woke up to find Xu Lai holding her, a blissful smile on her face. A moment later, however, she sensed something, and the smile stiffened. With a dark expression, she pulled Xu Lai's wandering hand out from inside her nightgown.

As if startled awake, Xu Lai opened his eyes. "Ah, honey, you're awake! Is your head spinning from the hangover? I'll go downstairs and make you some soup for it."

"..." Ruan Tang didn't mention what had just happened. Instead, she asked, "Where are they?"

Xu Lai knew she was asking about the employees from Above the White Clouds and chuckled. "I sent them all home. They're probably all still asleep by now."

Ruan Tang was stunned. That was over fifty people. How did he manage to get them all home by himself in the middle of the night?

"They flew home on a cloud," Xu Lai said, sitting up and throwing off the covers. He stretched lazily. "Your husband is omnipotent!"

"Pah," Ruan Tang huffed.

Xu Lai's gaze drifted over to her. He had changed her into her usual black nightgown the night before. Now, the hem was bunched up, revealing her long, fair legs. They looked dazzlingly white under the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Let's sleep a little longer." Without waiting for an answer, Xu Lai lay back down, pulling Ruan Tang into his arms and starting to drift off again.

"...Let go," Ruan Tang said, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "I need to use the bathroom."

"Not without a morning kiss."

"..."

Ruan Tang was exasperated. A morning kiss? Since when is that a thing? She pushed him a couple of times, but when he showed no sign of letting go, she gave in with a sigh and pecked him on the lips.

"I want one of these every day from now on."

"Alright, alright, just let go now."

Ruan Tang sighed, a headache already forming. "You're acting like a child."

"Oh, speaking of children..." Xu Lai's voice became grave. "There's something I need to tell you. We're going to have a child staying with us for a couple of days."

"An illegitimate child you've been raising on the side?" Ruan Tang had just slipped on her slippers. She froze, her gaze turning icy.