Chapter 12: The Baby is a Heavenly Saint
Feng Qizhou boarded the helicopter, lifted the baby out of the incubator again, and held it up to the cabin window.
“One last look at Mama, and then we’re leaving.” He took the baby’s tiny hand and gave it a little wave. “Say goodbye to Mama.”
The baby pressed both hands against the glass, driven by a primal, blood-bound instinct to get out and find its mother. Strange. She’s so close, I can see her, so why can’t I get out?
It bumped its head against the glass, its little mouth puckering as it began to wail.
Feng Qizhou was terrified. His face paled as he quickly covered the baby’s forehead, which was already turning red. “Silly girl, this is glass.” He cradled the baby in his arms, gently blowing on its forehead, his heart aching.
The baby cried even harder, its hands flailing as it grabbed at the sparse hair on its head, pulling on it, which only made it hurt and cry more. Feng Qizhou took its small hands and gently pried open its fingers one by one, finally freeing the soft, pitiful strands of hair.
“Don’t tell me she’s an idiot.” The man couldn’t help but frown, a genuine worry creasing his brow.
He remembered back at the military academy when Xue Yu’s physical fitness was absurdly poor. Zhou Siyan had taken her for a check-up, and at that time, he happened to be doing his internship at the hospital. He had inadvertently seen her report. It read: Genetic Defect.
Genetic defects could be hereditary.
Feng Qizhou’s head throbbed. What if this child really was born with an intellectual disability? He was screwed. If that goofball Xue Yu found out he’d given birth to a mentally challenged child for her, wouldn’t she just run for the hills?
After a moment of wild speculation, Feng Qizhou kissed the baby’s cheek, placed it back in the incubator, and started the engine with a heavy heart, slowly increasing the throttle…
…
Down below, Xue Yu saw the helicopter take off and waved. “Safe travels!”
Feng Qizhou looked down at her, a smile curving his lips.
Once the helicopter had flown north and disappeared, Xue Yu returned to the SUV. Zhou Siyan was sitting in the passenger seat, holding the little seahorse that had come from Blackbrow’s belly. The seahorse was tiny, only about the size of his palm. He stared at it, his expression hesitant and thoughtful.
Xue Yu started the SUV, turned the steering wheel, and continued driving south along their route. The vehicle drove smoothly for over ten minutes.
First, Xue Yu glanced at the seahorse and black panther snuggled together in the back seat. The seahorse clearly knew the panther was seriously injured; it had its tail wrapped around the panther’s and was quietly keeping it company.
Her gaze then shifted to Zhou Siyan in the passenger seat. Seeing that he was still staring at the little seahorse in his hands, she asked, “Zhou Siyan, what are you thinking about?”
Zhou Siyan looked up, his sharp, prominent brow furrowed slightly. “I’m thinking, this little seahorse that Blackbrow gave birth to… whose spirit body is it?”
“Huh?” Xue Yu didn’t quite follow.
“There has never been a case of a spirit body reproducing in the White Tower,” Zhou Siyan continued. “And theoretically, spirit bodies don’t have reproductive functions.”
Xue Yu thought about it carefully, and a bold idea sparked in her mind.
Zhou Siyan went on, “A spirit body is a projection of its master’s spiritual world, awakened by the master’s spiritual power. The master comes first, then the spirit body. Blackbrow is my spirit body, and Blueberry is yours. So, this strange little seahorse… whose spirit body is it?”
“That’s right. A spirit body is loyal to its master and is summoned by its master. So, after this little one came out, who is it supposed to be summoned by?” Xue Yu kept her hands on the wheel, her eyes darting toward Zhou Siyan. Her gaze slowly moved downward, finally settling on his abdomen.
Zhou Siyan’s thoughts were in perfect sync with hers. He lowered his gaze and also looked at his stomach.
The air in the car grew still. Two seconds later, Zhou Siyan looked up again, his eyes meeting Xue Yu’s. They both understood the other’s suspicion.
Xue Yu was the first to speak, her voice filled with astonishment. “This little seahorse… it couldn’t be our baby’s spirit body, could it?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Zhou Siyan said.
To test their theory, Zhou Siyan pulled aside his trench coat, undid the buttons of his linen shirt, and placed the little seahorse directly against his bare stomach. With this skin-to-skin contact, he felt a gentle, slow pulse of spiritual power—not strong, but abundant. He could clearly sense that the baby in his stomach had already established a spiritual link with the little seahorse.
He turned to Xue Yu and gave her a definitive answer. “It really is. This little seahorse is the baby’s spirit body. I can feel the spiritual link between them.”
Xue Yu was both shocked and delighted. She slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to get a closer look at the little seahorse. “So, you’re saying our baby has awakened a spirit body before it’s even born?”
A smile spread across Zhou Siyan’s dark eyes. “It seems so.” A strange warmth flooded his heart. Xue Yu wasn’t calling the child a “half-breed” anymore, but “baby.” Not just “baby,” but “our baby.”
Xue Yu couldn’t contain her excitement. In the White Tower, the earlier one awakened a spirit body, the stronger their spiritual power. And stronger spiritual power meant a significant increase in strength, speed, and reaction time, leading to a higher social status. According to the White Tower’s records, most people only began to awaken their spirit bodies after turning eighteen. The person in the White Tower’s history who had awakened their spirit body the earliest was the first ruler, Bai Ji. She had awakened hers at sixteen years and three months, a record no one had broken since. The White Tower Safe Zone was founded by her, and its name was derived from hers.
Xue Yu was thrilled. She reached out with both hands and placed them on Zhou Siyan’s stomach, trying to feel the baby move. Her bright eyes met his. “My god, it has a spirit body before it’s even born! What’s it going to be like after it’s born? It’ll be a heavenly saint, the best of the best!”
Zhou Siyan smiled along with her. “It seems so.”
Xue Yu threw her head back and laughed, a joy akin to that of an ancient scholar passing the imperial exams. To think that she, a good-for-nothing who was looked down upon by everyone, could have such an extraordinary child! She had only awakened her spirit body at twenty-three and had been called useless for years. And yet, her child had a spirit body before it was even born. The White Tower was a class-based society, divided by spiritual power. If this continued, when her baby was born, wouldn’t it be at the very top of the food chain? The elite of the elite?
Originally, Xue Yu hadn’t wanted this child to be born. It was mainly because she felt this world was too cruel. She herself was a waste, a despised member of the lower class, and she didn’t want her child to face the same predicament. But now, it seemed things were different. If this child was a heavenly saint, then she shouldn’t prevent its birth.
Zhou Siyan didn’t miss a single change in her expression. He could sense her joy and her shift in attitude. “What are you thinking?” he asked. “Should we keep this child or not?”
Xue Yu snapped out of her ecstatic state. She said seriously, “The baby is in your body. The decision is yours. You don’t need to consider my opinion.”
“I want to consider it. I want to know what you think.”
Xue Yu thought for a moment. “This child can talk before it’s born and has even awakened a spirit body. I think, after it’s born, it will be able to live with its head held high. It won’t be treated like a waste, it won’t be last in its class, and it won’t have to work in the mines.”
“So…” Zhou Siyan took her hand, his grip tightening slightly.
“So, since it’s suited for this world, it’s okay for it to be born.”
Zhou Siyan suddenly pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Xue Yu, thank you.”
Xue Yu patted his back. “What are you thanking me for?”
“Thank you for accepting our baby.”
Xue Yu never knew Zhou Siyan could be so sentimental. “What’s there to thank me for? It’s my child too. And besides, I’m the one who should be sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
Zhou Siyan quickly and discreetly kissed her on the cheek. His voice was hoarse. “It’s not trouble. It’s our baby. The baby isn’t trouble, and it’s not a half-breed.”
Xue Yu smiled again. “That’s not what I meant.”
He let her go. “You seem to have grown up.”
Xue Yu sat up straight. “So what’s the plan now? If we’re going to keep the baby, are we still going to the South Continent?”
“We are,” Zhou Siyan said. “I can’t find anyone I trust to perform the surgery in the White Tower. If I’m going to give birth, it has to be in the South Continent.”
“Okay.”
Xue Yu started the car and continued driving. The road ahead was much better; the desert was fading, and green plains were appearing again. The atmosphere between them was much more relaxed. Xue Yu started to chat with him. “Do I really seem that childish? Feng Qizhou said I was childish, and you just said I seem to have grown up.”
The setting sun streamed into the car. Zhou Siyan turned his head to look at her. “A little. It’s not that you’re childish. It’s just that your way of thinking is a bit different from everyone else’s.”
“Whatever,” Xue Yu said nonchalantly. “I’m just a pure yet foolish college student.” She had been a twenty-year-old in college when she transmigrated to this bizarre, godforsaken place, with no family or friends, and a status at the very bottom of the social ladder. It was a miracle she hadn’t gone insane.
“Pure, but not foolish,” Zhou Siyan said. He cleared his throat and then asked, “Were you with Feng Qizhou for a long time?”
Xue Yu kept her eyes on the road. “Not that long. About two months. He dumped me, just like you.”
Back at the military academy, Feng Qizhou had been in the same class as them. The class was huge, with over two hundred people. Zhou Siyan’s grades were always at the top, while Xue Yu’s were at the bottom. Everyone in the class knew they were together.
One day, Feng Qizhou had approached Xue Yu and said he liked her and wanted to join her and Zhou Siyan to become a throuple. This wasn’t strange in the White Tower. The relationships among the liberal faction were fluid, and it was normal for everyone to have four or five partners.
At the time, Xue Yu hadn’t wanted to seem so out of place. She didn’t give him a direct answer but told him to talk to Zhou Siyan himself. That night, Feng Qizhou went to find Zhou Siyan. Zhou Siyan actually considered it seriously for three days. Three days later, he arranged a dinner, brought Xue Yu along, and at the table, very politely, formally, and respectfully rejected Feng Qizhou’s offer.
Feng Qizhou was unwilling to give up. He argued his case, listing the benefits of a throuple. For example, Xue Yu’s grades were terrible, and with his help tutoring her, she would improve faster. Also, his dorm was much larger, and the three of them could live together. As he talked, he shamelessly brought up certain aspects of a harmonious physical life, which made Xue Yu, who was busy eating, blush and nearly choke.
Zhou Siyan listened to his analysis carefully and, in the end, still rejected him. Feng Qizhou was slightly disappointed but didn’t press the issue. He just said to Xue Yu, “Well, when you two break up, I’ll get together with you then.”
And so, later, as soon as Zhou Siyan joined the extreme sexual conservatives, Feng Qizhou came looking for Xue Yu.