Nuonuo watched as a ghost dressed in black and white led the baby ghost's soul away. A hint of worry flickered across her face, but Chuyi explained that those two spirits were specially assigned to escort baby ghosts, which finally allowed Nuonuo to relax.
Li Lingxiao walked over to Nuonuo, crouched down, and looked at her small hands. Moonlight spilled over Nuonuo's pale knuckles, and when Li Lingxiao noticed the greenish-black fingerprint bruises still lingering on her palm, his heart clenched tightly in anguish—so a ghost's touch really could leave marks.
Gently stroking his daughter's palm with his fingers, he asked softly, "Nuonuo, where did that baby ghost you mentioned go?"
Li Lingxiao had initially not believed in the existence of ghosts, right up until today, when his own daughter caught a little ghost with her own hands, forcing him to accept that ghosts truly existed in this world.
"Daddy, Brother Chuyi said the baby ghost is going to stay at the Reincarnation Inn and wait to be reborn."
Nuonuo's little face was full of smiles, her sweet, milky voice tinged with the triumphant excitement of having accomplished a major task.
Li Lingxiao used his thumb to gently rub the bruises on her palm, and to his astonishment, the bruises gradually faded away under his touch.
Cheng Nan and Lian Qianqian were eventually taken away by Li Lingxiao's subordinates and handed over to the police. With the influence of the Li family, the two of them would never have to worry about getting out of prison for the rest of their lives.
Once everything was settled, Li Lingxiao took Nuonuo and Li Xiran home.
Remembering how Lian Qianqian had said that the Spirit Child inside her would die if it ever left her belly, Li Xiran felt a lingering sense of fear. She turned to her niece and asked, "Nuonuo, is what that Lian Qianqian said true?"
Nuonuo was holding a bottle of milk in her hands, drinking happily. Hearing her aunt's question, she looked a little blank.
Seeing Nuonuo's bewildered expression, Li Xiran explained, "She said she would die if the child inside her belly was taken out. Is that true?"
Li Lingxiao also looked down at the little dumpling in his arms, wanting to know the truth as well.
Nuonuo hugged her milk bottle, dangling her little feet, and tilted her head. She didn't know about this either, but whenever she didn't know something, asking Chuyi was always the right move. "Daddy, Auntie, Nuonuo doesn't know either! Wait a second, let Nuonuo ask Brother Chuyi."
Chuyi was currently lying beneath the windshield on the center console, crossing one leg over the other, propping his head up with one hand, and lying sideways.
Hearing Nuonuo, his fingers twitched slightly, and an ethereal voice rang out inside the car: "Indeed, that Spirit Child's soul has already bound itself to her through what is called a Soul Contract. If that Spirit Child leaves Lian Qianqian's belly, she will drop dead within a week."
Silence fell inside the car. Everyone looked toward the direction the voice came from.
Nuonuo looked at Li Lingxiao with a strange expression. *Eh? Didn't Brother Chuyi say Daddy and the others couldn't see him? How come it seems like Daddy and Auntie can hear Brother Chuyi talking now?*
Chuyi looked at Nuonuo's confused little face and the corners of his mouth hooked up slightly. Nuonuo looked so adorable like this. "I used a little bit of magic so your dad and the others can hear me speak."
Nuonuo nodded in sudden realization. *So that's how it is!*
Not only did Li Lingxiao and Li Xiran hear it, but the driver in the front seat and the bodyguard in the passenger seat heard it crystal clear as well. The Brother Chuyi the little miss kept talking about seemed to be right in front of them!
The two of them turned pale with fright. The usually imposing bodyguards instinctively clutched their seatbelts tightly across their chests. It was another one of those days when they wanted to resign!
Realizing she didn't need to explain again, Nuonuo turned and took two White Rabbit milk candies out of her pocket—these were the ones her aunt had given her before they left the house.
When Chuyi saw what Nuonuo was doing, his eyes locked onto the candies in her hand and refused to budge.
Nuonuo looked at her candies, then looked at Chuyi, and very generously handed one over to him.
All of Chuyi's aloof demeanor vanished the moment Nuonuo's little hand reached out. He took the milk candy and popped it into his mouth. *Mmm, indeed much tastier than the stuff in the Underworld.*
The driver and bodyguard simply sat in their seats, unmoving, staring at the candy that floated past them and then suddenly vanished into thin air, plunging into extreme terror.
Lying on the center console, Chuyi watched their expressions and found it quite amusing.
The car drove into the Li Family Villa. Li Lingxiao got out holding Nuonuo, his face still bearing a trace of shock. This whole affair had completely upended his worldview, and he needed a little time to recover.
Before he could pull himself together, Li Lingxiao saw his mom and dad standing at the entryway glaring at him. Weren't these two elders supposed to be traveling in Austria? How come they were back now?
Before he could even speak, he felt his arms grow much lighter. He looked down and saw his daughter was gone!
He raised his head to see Yun Jinxiu holding his daughter in her arms. How could his mom do this? He hadn't even had enough time to cuddle his daughter properly before she got snatched away!
"My precious baby, Grandma has finally waited for you to come back! Come here, let Grandma take a look at you."
Yun Jinxiu carried Nuonuo straight toward the living room, leaving even Nuonuo a little dazed.
An old grandfather wearing a Zhongshan suit walked over. This person was none other than Li Jingcheng, Li Lingxiao's father.
Seeing his father approach, Li Lingxiao called out "Dad," only to receive an eye-roll from Elder Li.
"You brat, why didn't you bring my precious granddaughter back sooner? Making her suffer so much outside—just you wait and see how I deal with you!"
As Elder Li spoke, he raised his dragon-headed cane, ready to strike Li Lingxiao.
When Nuonuo saw that her dad was about to get hit, she panicked and cried out hastily, "Grandpa, please don't hit Daddy, okay?"
Hearing that word "Grandpa" from Nuonuo, Li Jingcheng's heart melted completely. He tossed his cane aside and strode over quickly.
His legs didn't look at all like those of a man who needed a cane to walk, leaving Li Lingxiao and Li Xiran staring in stunned amazement.
"Alright, alright, alright, Grandpa won't hit him. My precious, will you let Grandpa hold you for a bit too?"
Li Jingcheng looked at his wife with a face full of envy. That old woman was too quick with her hands; he hadn't even gotten a proper look at his granddaughter before she was carried off. It was driving him crazy with craving, so he could only vent his frustration on his youngest son.
Yun Jinxiu glared at the old man and snapped, "Go stay wherever it's cool! I haven't held her enough yet!"
Li Jingcheng wore a deeply aggrieved expression. Watching their father like this, Li Lingxiao and Li Xiran widened their eyes—they had never seen Elder Li act this way before.
Yun Jinxiu sat on the sofa holding Nuonuo, looking affectionately at the little girl's face. The more she looked at that round little face, the more she loved it.
"Nuonuo, you know, I'm your grandma."
Yun Jinxiu had just heard Nuonuo call Li Jingcheng "Grandpa," but after holding the little dumpling for so long, she hadn't heard the little one call her "Grandma" even once, and she was feeling quite jealous.
Nuonuo quickly and sweetly called out, "Grandma, you're so pretty and young! Nuonuo likes you so much!"
Hearing Nuonuo's words, Yun Jinxiu beamed with delight.
Now it was Li Lingxiao's turn to be jealous; his own daughter hadn't even said she liked him yet.
He strode over on his long legs in front of his mom, reached out, and scooped Nuonuo right out of Yun Jinxiu's arms, making up an excuse: "Mom, Nuonuo just got back and isn't used to things yet. I'm going to take her upstairs to rest first."
Without giving the two elders another chance to see their granddaughter, he clutched Nuonuo and bolted back upstairs, followed immediately by a loud *bang* of a door closing.
The three people left in the living room looked at one another. Yun Jinxiu walked over to Li Xiran, pulled her by the hand, patted it gently, and asked, "Ranran, is this really my granddaughter?"
Of course Li Xiran knew what was going on in her mother's head. She held Yun Jinxiu's hand and patted it reassuringly. "Yes, Mom, don't worry. She's Lingxiao's daughter, and your biological granddaughter too."
Hearing Li Xiran's confirmation, hot tears almost spilled from Yun Jinxiu's eyes. *Thank the heavens, we finally have a little granddaughter!*
Don't let Li Xiran's status as their daughter fool you; ever since she was little, this daughter had acted more like she was wearing a leather jacket than a soft, sweet cotton-padded vest.
Thinking that Li Xiran was taking after a boy's temperament more and more, the couple had wanted to have another child, but ended up producing Li Lingxiao instead, prompting the two of them to give up on their dream of having a sweet, tender daughter.
Now look—they finally had a milky-soft little granddaughter, and they simply *had* to announce it to the entire Imperial Capital!