Having made their decisions, the group set to work on the arrangements. Li Jingcheng had not originally intended to make a grand affair of it this time.
However, since his granddaughter had been found, the situation was entirely different; it had to be a magnificent celebration.
As a result, Li Lingxiao did not get back to his bedroom to sleep until the middle of the night.
Upon returning to the room and seeing Nuonuo looking utterly distressed on the bed, his heart clutched with pain.
Could it be that her time at the Cheng Family had left her with lingering trauma, causing her to have nightmares in her sleep?
At this thought, Li Lingxiao's heart ached even more. He walked over to the bedside, lay down on his side next to Nuonuo, and gently patted her chest.
"Darling, don't be afraid. Daddy is here."
Li Lingxiao's voice was deep and magnetic, the kind of voice that instantly brought a sense of peace.
Yet the little dumpling in his arms did not calm down at his comfort; her face remained a mask of distress.
Li Lingxiao had never raised a child before—he had never even held his three young nephews—and faced with this situation, he had no idea what to do.
With no other choice, he took out his phone and searched online:What should you do when a three-year-old has nightmares in her sleep?
In her dreams, Nuonuo wasn't actually experiencing a nightmare—she was being "tormented" by Chuyi.
"When you chant this incantation, your mind must be completely free of distracting thoughts. That goes for any incantation."
Chuyi stood beside Nuonuo with his arms crossed, looking at her with a stern expression, though he was secretly laughing inside.
He was teaching Nuonuo an incantation to move objects with the mind. Nuonuo's little face was flushed red from straining, but the egg in front of her refused to budge an inch.
Chuyi watched as Nuonuo puffed out her cheeks. Her normally baby-fat face was now puffed up like an angry pufferfish, and her little face was so red from holding her breath that she looked utterly adorable.
This was why Nuonuo looked so distressed in the real world—the little girl was practically holding her breath until she ran out of air.Seeing that Nuonuo had not learned a thing and was already exhausted, Chuyi dared not push her any further. If this little girl went to the Underworld and complained to her incredibly powerful mother, he would be done for.
"Alright, Nuonuo, let’s stop practicing here for today. We can try again after we wake up tomorrow."
Chuyi reached out and patted Nuonuo gently on the shoulder, his eyes filled with pity. Such a tiny little body, yet she had to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
Nuonuo shook her little head like a rattle. "No! Nuonuo hasn't learned it yet! Nuonuo needs to keep working hard!"
As she spoke, her little face turned even redder from the effort.
Watching the little girl’s stubborn display, Chuyi sighed helplessly. That stubborn temper was exactly like her mother's.
"Nuonuo, you’re still in a dream right now. Maybe it’s not as effective while you’re dreaming. Who knows? You might be able to master it once you wake up tomorrow."
Chuyi lied once again. There was no helping it; sometimes a ghost had to be allowed to tell a little fib. Seeing how hard the little dumpling was trying, he simply couldn't bear to disappoint her.
Hearing Chuyi’s words, Nuonuo stopped what she was doing. She looked at Chuyi with her bright, intelligent eyes and asked, "Really? Brother Chuyi?"
"Mhm, really. I never lie."
Chuyi was becoming increasingly proficient at lying.
After hearing this, Nuonuo nodded. Seeing that flushed, reddened face now softening into a delicate pink, Chuyi finally couldn't resist reaching out with his "wicked" hands to pinch those chubby cheeks.
"Alright, go to sleep now."
With a wave of his hand, Chuyi returned to Li Lingxiao’s bedroom.
He hovered in the air, watching Li Lingxiao as he softly coaxed Nuonuo to sleep, a glowing mobile phone resting beside him.
Li Lingxiao wasn't sleeping in the middle of the night—was he secretly playing on his phone? Could he be looking for a stepmother for the little dumpling?At this thought, Chuyi hurried over, floating closer to take a look at what was on the screen.
Several words were displayed on the phone screen:
[How to relieve nightmares in children sleeping at night?]
The corners of Chuyi's mouth curved slightly. He hadn't expected the notoriously formidable Third Master Li to be so attentive when it came to caring for a child.
On the bed, Nuonuo smacked her lips. Her distressed expression slowly relaxed, her small mouth parted slightly, and her eyelashes fluttertered gently as she instinctively burrowed further into Li Lingxiao's embrace.
Seeing that Nuonuo was no longer having nightmares, Li Lingxiao let out a slight breath. It seemed he would need to study more about children in the future.
Watching the interaction between father and daughter, Chuyi felt a strange mix of emotions in his heart, an inexplicable sensation.
Before he could explore this feeling further, his brows suddenly furrowed.
No, something had been here in this house!
Chuyi hurriedly followed the trace of the scent to investigate.
When Nuonuo had first come home, he had gone down to the Underworld to report on her current situation, so he had no idea who might have visited the house. Now that he detected this scent, it had already grown very faint.
Chuyi circled the entire Li Family Villa, but whatever it was had not come in from the outside itself.
Finding no abnormalities on the perimeter, Chuyi returned inside the villa once more.
That was right, the scent was coming directly from the living room.
From the entryway all the way to the living room, that lingering scent permeated the entire area.
Chuyi's brows furrowed slightly. Judging from the scent, it hadn't broken in on its own; rather, someone had lived with it for a long time—or even year-round—so that the scent had gradually rubbed off on them.
Who on earth could it be?
Floating in mid-air above the living room, Chuyi activated his Yin-Yang Eyes and scanned the room carefully.
On the sofa, the coffee table, and the armrests, there were traces of green shadows. These shadows represented the person who had sat there—the person carrying that scent.
After pondering for a moment, Chuyi turned and flew back to the master bedroom where the father and daughter were sleeping.
Looking at Nuonuo sleeping on the bed, he activated his Yin-Yang Eyes once again.
"Strange? Who on earth is it?"
Chuyi inspected Nuonuo's body. There were no green handprints on her skin, nor could he smell that scent on her.
It was no surprise to Chuyi that Li Lingxiao didn't carry the scent; after all, Li Lingxiao's past life was no ordinary matter—if he could actually be contaminated by such a scent, things would be serious indeed.
And as for Nuonuo, needless to say, both of her parents were ruthless figures; how could the child they produced be an ordinary person? It was just that the little one's abilities hadn't awakened yet.
Aside from Li Xiran, who else had visited the villa today?
Chuyi sat suspended in mid-air thinking for a long time, but he couldn't come up with any answers. So far, the only members of the Li family he had met were Li Lingxiao and Li Xiran. If he wanted to find out, he would just have to ask Nuonuo herself tomorrow morning after she woke up.
To prevent this scent from attracting stray ghosts from the surrounding area, Chuyi flew up above the roof of the villa. A yellow Talisman flew out from his sleeve, held between his slender fingers while his other hand moved quickly to form hand seals as he chanted an incantation.
As the incantation ended, he flicked the Talisman away, and a golden light descended from the sky, enveloping the entire Li Family Villa.
This light would temporarily protect the villa from being invaded or harmed by other ghosts.
After checking to make sure everything was in order, Chuyi descended slowly and vanished directly into the front courtyard of the villa. He was going to head to the Underworld to inquire whether any such entities had been active recently.
Just as Chuyi left, a wisp of dark vapor began to circle around the roof of the Li Family Villa...