"Xiubai..."
Hu Yufen murmured softly and nodded, saying, "The aning seems appropriate, so let’s call him Xiubai."
Seeing that Liu Yiran was still full of mistrust towards them, Hu Yufen thought for a mont and then said, "The girl is weak and needs to rest, so let’s not disturb her."
"You all, take good care of her, with all supplents and food according to the standards set by and the ladies."
"Do not neglect her at all."
The maids in the room quickly curtsied respectfully.
The servants and maids under the Shen Family’s household were not as snobby as those of other Noble Families, so Hu Yufen was not worried about any servant overturning the heaven and taking charge over the master.
"Girl, rest well."
Casting a gentle smile at Liu Yiran once more, she led Huang Lingxiu, Hu i’Er, and others out of the room.
In the courtyard, Shen Yuan, Shen Chongming, and others arrived one after another.
"Grandmother, Mother."
"Lady Hu."
Seeing them coming out from inside the house, Shen Chongming respectfully saluted and then asked, "Mother, how is the child?"
Huang Lingxiu first saluted Shen Yuan, then smiled and said, "The child is fine, it’s just that the girl is very wary and won’t let anyone touch her."
"Mother has arranged everything."
"After so ti, the girl’s wariness should ease a bit."
Hearing these words, a trace of coldness flashed in Shen Chongming’s eyes.
The child was of the Shen Family’s bloodline, and Liu Yiran and her brother had ill intentions from the start.
He was afraid that sothing might happen to the child in Liu Yiran’s hands.
"Grandmother has promised her that the child will be under her care before turning three."
"Chongming, whether secular humans or Immortal Dao Cultivators, they are still people at the end of the day."
"That girl’s nature isn’t bad. It’s just a montary lapse of judgnt, but ultimately, she’ll be a mother and shouldn’t have any ill intentions towards the child."
Noticing that Shen Chongming seed to have so thoughts, Hu Yufen pondered and then spoke.
Over the years, she had rarely intervened in the Shen Family’s matters.
But at this mont, she couldn’t bear to let her family target these two orphans.
Shen Chongming remained silent, his gaze turning to Shen Yuan, who stood with arms behind his back.
Hu Yufen’s gaze also shifted to her own husband.
"Enough, listen to your grandmother."
"However..."
eting the gaze of the two, Shen Yuan pondered and then spoke in a deep voice, "Arrange for two clever servants to attend them."
Shen Chongming was montarily taken aback, then imdiately understood his grandfather’s intention and promptly bowed, "I understand, Grandfather."
Shen Yuan nodded and then spoke:
"Let’s go."
"Don’t linger here."
The family slowly left the courtyard.
...
The tumultuous Laishui River gathered from deep within the Hidden Dragon Mountain, rushing westward, flowing towards the eastern sea.
In the burning heat of July, four or five children, around ten years old, were cutting through the waves on the rushing Laishui River.
"Brother Xu Zhan, is that turtle really as big as you say?"
In the chilly river water, a youngster with a bowl-cut head popped his head out from the bottomless river, wiped the water from his face, and shouted.
"You didn’t just want to take a bath in the river and trick us to co with you because you were too scared to do it alone, did you?"
"Ridiculous!" In the middle of the great river, amidst the turbulent waters, a handso youth glanced around them, his eyes filled with anger:
"A ten-day ago, Ah Die told to co to the riverside to collect the fishing nets."
"I forgot the ti because I was training, and rembered only after it got dark."
"The moon was very large at the ti, and I saw with my own eyes a strange little island appearing there."
Several youngsters splashed water, swam up in front of him, and looked towards the direction he was pointing with keen interest.
"What happened next?"
Youth Xu Zhan continued, "Later, when I was taking up the fishing nets to return, I heard the sound of water splashing around."
"When I turned back again, that little island was gone."
"Tell , what else could it be, sothing so big and living in the water, if not a turtle?"
The few youngsters couldn’t help nodding, but the bowl-cut-headed youth spoke again, "Such a big turtle must be a Demon Beast."
"You saw it yourself, the Immortals in the city have great Divine Power. How co they didn’t discover it?"
Xu Zhan stamred for quite a while before retorting, sticking out his neck, "H-How would I know why the Immortals didn’t discover it?"
"Maybe the Immortals just didn’t notice."
"Tch..." The bowl-cut-headed youth sneered, "I think you’re just making this up."
"Let’s go, let’s go. If the adults from the Clan Court catch us, we’ll definitely get scolded."
The few children quickly swam to the riverbank, leaving only the youth Xu Zhan still searching in the middle of the river.
Within monts, his companions had all reached the shore.
Two of them yelled at Xu Zhan, who was still in the river, "Brother Xu Zhan, hurry up and get out."
"We still have training this afternoon. If our masters find out we ca to take a bath in the river, our bottoms would get whipped raw."
With so reluctance, Xu Zhan glanced at the flowing water around him. A hint of resolve flashed across his boyish face. With a flip, he plunged into the bottomless river water.
The sound of the crashing current echoed in his ears, and sunlight penetrated the water surface, casting crisscrossing shadows all around.
Youthful pride couldn’t bear being misunderstood by others.
Once he dived into the water, he put all his strength into swimming towards the dark depths below.
He made a silent vow to himself, determined to find that big turtle today and show those on the shore that he was not lying.
As he descended deeper and deeper, the surrounding light grew dimr and dimr.
The formidable physique of a Body Cultivator provided him with lung capacity far beyond that of ordinary people.
He had already been holding his breath underwater for over a hundred counts, and Xu Zhan still maneuvered with ease.
But just as he was about to dive deeper, the water temperature around him dropped sharply. Before Xu Zhan could react, his body was suddenly gripped by an abrupt suction force, rapidly pulling him toward the icy, dark riverbed!
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