Chapter 132: The Heritage Inscribed in the Bloodline

Even though my heart was itching as if tiny claws were scratching at it, I hurried all the way back to Forget River’s bedchamber.

He had excellent stamina, so at this hour he was usually either reading or watching a movie.

Sure enough, when I entered, I found him sitting on the bed beneath the covers, reading.

The book was strange. It looked like it was written in ancient carved script, and was actually a whole row of bamboo slips joined together!

Forget River occasionally liked to produce things with an antique, old-world flavor. After all, he had lived for so long and witnessed the rise and fall of countless eras. There was nothing strange about him knowing ancient writing.

Still, seeing him sitting quietly on the bed with something so steeped in antiquity made me feel as though I had fallen into an ancient film. He looked so handsome that I could hardly bear it. My heart pounded wildly, wave after wave.

When he saw me standing there without moving, Forget River raised his head, clearly puzzled by why I was lingering in the doorway.

I gave him an inwardly mischievous smile, then suddenly sprang forward and pounced on him, intending to catch him off guard!

Instead, he extended both hands and caught me with perfect accuracy. With a swift motion, he pulled me to the side and drew up the covers. Just like that, I was tucked into bed with only my head sticking out.

That wasn’t how this was supposed to go!

I stared at him in bewilderment. I had meant to make a little trouble, but things had taken a completely different turn!

I wriggled a few times and found the bed warm and cozy. Well, never mind. Lying down for a while wasn’t bad either. I had been tired all day...

After taking several breaths, I realized Forget River still hadn’t said anything, which made me curious.

“Master.” I called to him, reaching out to tug at his neck, meaning that he should pay attention to me already.

“Mm.”

He answered, set the thing in his hands aside, and turned to look at me.

“Why haven’t you asked me anything about the little fish babies?”

I was very curious. Normally, giving birth was a major event. Even if he was calm by nature, he shouldn’t be so composed that he didn’t ask a single question!

“What is there to ask?” Forget River chuckled, pulling me closer and finding a more comfortable position for us.

“For example... how many were there?”

“Three.” His answer came swiftly.

“Uh.” I paused. “How many males and how many females?”

“Two males and one female.”

“How many winged foxes?”

“Three.”

“Wrong!” I grinned slyly. “Only two have wings! The other one doesn’t!”

I had thought he really knew everything! So he could get things wrong after all! Ha! This felt fantastic!

Forget River narrowed his eyes at me. “If it has no wings, it isn’t a winged fox?”

“Um... yes. It can’t fly. And the other two obviously have slightly pointed faces, like foxes. This one has a round face. Anyone can tell it’s a cat!”

Forget River laughed again, and the glimpse of his two sharp fangs made his smile look especially wicked.

“Then if you give birth to a human child, does that make me, its father, a monster?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “You obviously wouldn’t change species just because of what your offspring happened to be!”

What kind of strange theory was that?

“So you mean that if my offspring grows to resemble the other parent, it has no monster bloodline? That it is one hundred percent not a monster?”

Confronted with Forget River’s question, I once again felt utterly defeated.

I smacked my lips for a long while before stammering, “But that one obviously looks like a cat... Could it really count as a winged fox?”

He looked at me, then suddenly smiled with an unreadable meaning and stroked my head.

“Even if it inherits no spiritual energy and merely has an ordinary appearance, that cannot erase the legacy its parents have engraved into its blood. Whatever it is, that is what it is. It cannot be changed.”

I felt a little frightened. Did he mean... my baby might be human?

A human with as little ability as I had?

No! Absolutely not!

“It can’t be like that!” I looked at Forget River. “The baby can’t be like me! You said it would be a monster!”

“Do you dislike yourself that much?”

I was rendered speechless. “At the very least, it shouldn’t give you any more trouble... One of me is already enough to worry about. If there were another...”

His lips sealed over mine.

After a long while, he reluctantly licked my lips before continuing with a smile.

“Another one would be fine too. I wouldn’t dislike it. Who would dare?”

“...”

For a moment, I didn’t know how to respond. I was genuinely happy and touched that Forget River could say something like that.

But... from the bottom of my heart, I still hoped my baby wouldn’t be human.

If it didn’t resemble Forget River, I wouldn’t even be able to see what he looked like, would I?

I hadn’t been able to see Forget River’s true form clearly the last time, and he refused to transform for me! All I had seen was an enormous expanse of lightning and arcs of light. Hmph...

What was fun about being human, anyway? And... just as weak as me.

I was unhappy.

Leaning against him, I didn’t feel like saying a word.

Now, I didn’t even want to ask whether the baby was male or female.

But Forget River truly knew everything that had happened to me outside today. He hooked his fingertips beneath my chin a few times, then asked,

“Didn’t you have something you wanted to ask me?”

I froze for a moment, then casually found an excuse. “Oh. I wanted to ask what Fish Baby and the others are having for dinner tonight.”

“Is that what you wanted to ask?”

“Yes.” I nodded listlessly. “Don’t you know everything? You can’t even answer what they’re having for dinner?”

“Mm.” He rubbed his cheek against mine. “Saberfish.”

“Did you smell it, or did you guess?” I burst out laughing when I heard that.

Fish Baby had searched everywhere outside but couldn’t find any fresh catfish. With Xiaomi on the verge of starving, Fish Baby had decided at the last minute to buy a few saberfish as a substitute.

So dinner had been changed to saberfish, and Forget River even knew that?

Forget River offered no comment. In any case, he knew that this was not what I had really wanted to ask, so he did not continue.

Time drifted into a quiet lull. I leaned against the side of the bed, gradually calming down as countless thoughts passed through my head.

Then I suddenly realized something was wrong.

Forget River seemed to have been misleading me.

He had once said that his genes were stronger than mine, so the baby would be a monster.

He never lied. That meant he had not actually confirmed that the baby was human just now! He hadn’t overturned his earlier theory at all!

If the baby were human, how could I suddenly have become like this? My thoughts were clearer, my sense of smell sharper, I had developed subtle animal traits, and my strength had increased beyond all recognition.

If the baby were human, I ought to be close to giving birth by now, shouldn’t I? Why was my belly still only slightly rounded?

And yesterday he had said that the baby took after him, that it became ravenous at the smell of blood!

I—how had I let myself be deceived?

With a slap, I rolled over and straddled him, clutching the front of his robes and looking down at him from above.

“You lied to me!”

“Mm.”

“You admit it awfully quickly!” I pouted unhappily. “I thought the baby was human!”

“If not, then we can make the next one human.”

“Huh?” The sudden turn in the conversation left me stunned again. “There’s going to be a next one?”

“There will be many more.” He pulled me down, pressing his lips to mine. “You don’t want to have children for me?”

“Um... pregnancy takes too long.” My reason sounded a little odd. “And besides...” Who knew whether I would still be his favorite after giving birth to this baby?

His kiss carried an even stronger sense of claiming me as his own. He left me gasping for a long while before finally releasing me.

“Once this one is born, we’ll have a human child.”

The sentence sounded like an order, and it made my scalp prickle with embarrassment.

“No, no, no. Not a human child. A little monster would be much better.”

A little monster would certainly be cuter than Fish Baby and Xiaomi’s child! I had been eagerly looking forward to seeing it.

I suddenly felt a little dreamy. There was something especially strange about being able to give birth to a child belonging to a different species from oneself.

It was exciting because the child would be completely unlike me.

Every aspect of it would be new! I didn’t even know what it looked like inside my belly!

If I hadn’t been afraid that people would really think I was a monster, I would have gone for an ultrasound long ago just to take a peek.

Forget River shook his head. “I think a human baby would be more delicate. It might be more fun, like you.”

I suddenly fell silent. Perhaps Forget River thought the same way I did. He was a monster, so he understood monsters and wanted one of them even more. A human baby, however, would be something unknown.

“Oh, honestly!” I waved my hand irritably. “Didn’t you say that no matter what it is, it’s still my child? So the baby counts as human too!”

After spending so much time with him, I had actually learned to turn his own methods against him.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten that when virtue rises a foot, vice rises ten.

He merely sighed. “Earlier, I was talking about bloodlines. Now I’m talking about appearance.”

“All right, then.” I immediately steered the subject away. “Answer one question for me, and I’ll agree to have another child for you.”

“How charitable of you.” He smiled. “Ask.”

I rubbed my hands together nervously, pressed my lips together, and asked,

“The one in my belly... is it male or female?”