“…!”
The recording instantly emitted Longjiu’s heart-wrenching scream.
Her voice was trembling and pained, as if her heart was being ruthlessly gripped by obsession.
Seeing this, Ziya quickly paused the audio.
The living room suddenly became terrifyingly quiet.
The three of them looked at each other… and each other… all of them were stunned.
“…”
Baining was the first to snap back to her senses, her face filled with disbelief.
“This isn’t just being haunted by a Heart Demon. It’s as if her entire being is being devoured by obsession…”
“No wonder I heard rumors earlier that the Dragon Race has been in turmoil lately. It turns out this was the problem.”
Baining rubbed her chin, her expression gradually becoming serious.
Bai Li’s heart sank abruptly, and his chest felt stifled, as if something was blocking it.
‘Longjiu… she’s actually in this much pain because I’m not by her side…’
“Father, when I heard it for the first time, I was completely terrified…”
Ziya gently tugged at the hem of her clothes, her eyes full of heartache and unease.
A heavy silence continued for a few more seconds.
Ziya carefully looked up and asked in a small voice, “Um… should we continue playing it?”
Bai Li took a deep breath, nodding gently with a complex gaze.
“…Play it.”
Ziya gave an affirmative sound, and with a flick of her fingertip, she activated the Recording Stone again.
“Aaaah… (silence for a while)… Father…”
The voice that was roaring just now suddenly softened, turning into uncontrollable sobbing and weeping.
“Baining immediately had a face full of question marks: ???”
Bai Li’s pupils constricted in shock!
Ziya remained quiet, as if she had already heard it before.
Bai Li was completely stunned in his heart.
‘That Demon Dragon King, who was always proud and domineering, refused to even bow her head… actually… cried?’
This was too much of a subversion of his understanding of this world.
The recording continued.
“I regret it so much… Bai Li, my Father…”
After the words fell, there was the sound of gentle, forceful inhaling.
It sounded as if Longjiu was tightly clutching a piece of clothing that still held Bai Li’s scent, desperately craving that little bit of familiar warmth.
Just by listening, one could imagine that lonely and pathetic appearance.
Bai Li’s heart suddenly softened.
‘This child, just how much can she not let go…’
“Ziya, stop here for now,” Bai Li spoke softly, his voice carrying an undetectable trace of hoarseness.
Ziya stopped the recording immediately.
The living room fell into silence once again.
Bai Li sighed softly, his eyes full of helplessness and heartache.
That girl, Longjiu, her crying was heart-wrenching, but the things she did made it impossible to feel at ease.
“As a Father, what could he do?”
“It wasn’t that he didn’t want to accompany her or that he didn’t feel for her, but the things she did before… were really hard to justify.”
‘Forcibly seizing things, acting willfully, completely disregarding the feelings of the other two daughters, and even resorting to violence — it was more than a hundred times worse than Baining’s occasional small-scale trouble.’
He only hoped that this time’s pain and struggle would allow her to truly learn to reflect and slowly learn to change.
“Pops, you must not be fooled by the Demon Dragon King’s Self-harming Ruse,” Baining suddenly leaned forward, reminding him with a serious face.
“Sister Baining… don’t say that. Longjiu is really quite pitiable…”
Ziya immediately defended Longjiu in a small voice.
“Ziya, are you being too naive?”
Baining frowned, her tone carrying a bit of urgency.
“It’s true that she’s haunted by a Heart Demon, but don’t forget, she’s the dignified Demon Dragon King! Her mind is so deep; how could she possibly let herself be caught in this state by your Eavesdropping Magic? In my opinion, she calculated that you would be soft-hearted and deliberately put on this show just to make us pity her and forgive her!”
“But, but… what if Longjiu is really suffering…”
Ziya was still a bit reluctant.
“Even then, we can’t just forgive her so easily!”
Baining’s tone grew heavier.
“She hit so hard before and almost injured me. I haven’t forgotten that debt yet!”
“When you put it that way…”
Ziya was left speechless and could only turn to look at Bai Li.
“Father, what do you think?”
Bai Li remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.
“This time, my thoughts are similar to Baining’s.”
“Eh? Father thinks so too?”
Ziya was slightly taken aback.
“What I mean is, we can’t blindly accept her again just because she looks pitiable now. After all, she was reincarnated with the memories of the Demon Dragon King. Many things are far more complicated than they appear on the surface.”
“But… Longjiu took care of me for ten years…”
Ziya lowered her head, her voice soft.
“I can really feel that she considers me family…”
“I know.”
Bai Li gently stroked her head.
“But some things can’t be rushed. Let’s observe for a while first.
Time will prove if Longjiu is truly willing to turn over a new leaf.”
“Hmph~ Pops is still somewhat sharp. I thought your brain became stupid after you turned into a loli~”
Baining immediately took the opportunity to tease him with a wicked grin.
“I’m only playing dumb in front of you, you brat! You Dead Rebellious Daughter!”
Bai Li glared at her on the spot, feeling both annoyed and amused.
“Father, Sister Baining, stop arguing, stop arguing…”
At this moment, Ziya, who was the youngest and looked the softest and cutest, actually acted like a little adult, seriously trying to persuade the two people whose combined ages were unknown multiples of her own.
The scene was both ridiculous and funny.
It was truly a strange family that made one feel helpless, unable to let go, and both crying and laughing at the same time.
Only in this strange Other World could such a situation exist, right?