Long Jiu’s fingertips gently patted the small figure trembling under the covers, her voice soft and filled with regret.
“Father, it’s my fault…”
The sobbing beneath the sheets paused for a moment, only to resume even more violently.
A muffled, aggrieved voice drifted out.
“Unfilial daughter, don’t touch me! I don’t have a daughter like you!”
“Father Lord…”
Long Jiu’s voice dropped, sounding helpless.
“Long Jiu… go out for a bit. Let me be alone for a while, alright?”
Bai Li’s voice was wrapped in the blankets, sounding both muffled and hoarse.
“………… Alright.”
Long Jiu understood the situation perfectly.
Since his daughter had committed such a rebellious act, Lü Erlu’s emotions were undoubtedly shattered.
He truly needed some space to recover.
She retreated quietly to the doorway.
Before closing the door, she glanced back at the lump at the corner of the bed one last time before gently pulling it shut.
With a soft click, the door closed.
Under the covers, Bai Li held his breath and peeked out from a corner of the sheet.
After confirming that Long Jiu had actually left, he finally exhaled and revealed his head.
‘It’s so embarrassing, I’m literally going to explode from shame!’
The thought of his three daughters tossing him around like this filled him with both heartache and rage.
He was even more frustrated by his own failure as a parent!
What kind of daughter would be so bold as to kiss her own father?
What kind of daughter was so ridiculous that she would turn her own father into a daughter, reversing their identities just to mess with him?
Bai Li knew exactly what was happening.
This was the consequence of him spoiling them to the high heavens in the past.
Now, he was truly riding a tiger and couldn’t get off; he had no idea how to end this.
He wiped his tears and stabilized his emotions, muttering to himself.
‘It must be this cursed body. Why am I so sensitive now? I cry at the drop of a hat, and my emotions explode over the smallest things. This is completely different from how I used to be.’
He shuffled to the bathroom and looked up into the mirror.
He froze on the spot…
The Succubus’s small horns and tail were perking up, alongside the pointed ears of the Vampire.
Two small fangs were hidden at the corners of his mouth, several glittering Dragon Scales were stuck to his arms, and his eyes had become crystal-clear Dragon Pupils…
“What am I? A Demon Race medley?!”
Bai Li pointed at himself in the mirror, wanting to cry but having no tears left.
‘It’s true that Long Jiu was entrusted to me by the Demon Dragon King, but when did those two little girls, the white-haired and purple-haired ones, get Imperial Blood?’
‘Wait!’
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Bai Li as he remembered the story Long Jiu had told before regaining her memories.
‘Crap! Long Jiu wasn’t some dragon cub that needed looking after at all; she’s the actual Demon Dragon King!’
Thinking about it this way, all the ridiculous things that had happened made sense!
‘It turns out it wasn’t that my teaching was bad, but that she was full of bad intentions from the start!’
Bai Li patted his chest, about to breathe a sigh of relief, but immediately stiffened again.
‘Great, my foot! It turns out I fell into the Demon Dragon King’s trap from the very beginning! She exploited my desire to raise a child, making me willingly take care of her new Dragon body, all for the sake of her rebirth and resurrection!’
“I’m done for! This is a total disaster! I’ve become a sinner of Humanity for all eternity!”
Bai Li slumped onto the floor, his head throbbing.
But then he had another thought…
When Long Jiu was telling the story, she said the Demon Dragon King had developed genuine feelings for her human father.
That must be true.
Otherwise, he would have already become a stepping stone for her rebirth and been left to rot in the ground.
He wouldn’t be standing here overthinking things.
‘Sigh, how did I end up in such a dilemma?’
‘Should I actually accept Long Jiu’s confession? Living my days with my own “daughter” while looking like this member of the Demon Race?…’
‘No, no! Absolutely not!’
‘If I agree to this, where will I hide my face?’
Besides, he had been crying his heart out just a moment ago.
If he nodded in agreement now, wouldn’t his earlier crying look like a joke?
It would be too embarrassing!
Bai Li shouted desperately in his heart.
‘Ziya, Bai Ning, if you really have Imperial Blood, hurry up and save your father! At least I raised you two with my own hands. That has to be better than staying with this scheming Dragon King…’
‘Even if you two were involved in this, compared to Long Jiu, at least you’re my “locally grown” children. It should be a bit better.’
Thinking of this, Bai Li’s nose prickled, and tears couldn’t help but fall again as he began to sob and wipe his face.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, Father Lord. Ziya will save you right now~”
A soft voice suddenly echoed in his mind, instantly startling Bai Li out of his grief.
“Zi… Ziya? You—where are you?!”
Bai Li was both shocked and overjoyed.
He quickly responded in his mind, fearing his voice would be too loud and overheard.
“Shh, don’t make a sound~”
“I’m talking to you through a magic Dreamscape. I’m hiding in a washroom used by the maids in the palace. I heard your conversation with Big Sister Long Jiu just now!”
“Then… how are you going to get me out?”
A flicker of hope ignited in Bai Li’s heart as he questioned her urgently.
“In a bit, I’ll send a signal to Big Sister Bai Ning. When the commotion starts outside, I’ll take advantage of the chaos to kidnap you! I guarantee it’ll be a clean getaway~”
Ziya’s tone was full of confidence, carrying a hint of smugness.
“Good!”
Bai Li responded quickly, then couldn’t help but ask one more thing.
“By the way, Ziya, you two little girls… you aren’t hiding things from Father like Long Jiu did, are you? You weren’t Demon Queens or something in the past, right?!”
“I swear I, Ziya, definitely am not!”
Ziya’s voice was firm and decisive.
“Father can rest a hundred times easier~”
“Phew, that’s good then.”
Bai Li let out a long sigh of relief, the weight on his heart mostly lifting.
“What should I do later?”
“Father just needs to wait for the good news in the room~”
Ziya’s voice gradually faded.
“I’m going to go prepare. See you in a bit!”
Indeed.
Ziya hadn’t lied to Bai Li—after all, she only said she wasn’t one.
She hadn’t mentioned a word about whether Big Sister Bai Ning was or not.
“Okay!”
Bai Li nodded heavily, finally feeling a bit grounded.
Afterward, Ziya quietly sent out a faint trace of Mana as a signal to notify Bai Ning in the distance.
A farce centered around “Saving Father from Captivity” was about to quietly unfold in this Dragon palace…
—
(Let’s have a vote. For the next plotline you want to see, just leave a message on the right.)
1. Longli Route (Rescue fails, Long Jiu changes her strategy to a more forceful approach.)
2. Ziya Route (More submissive to Bai Li, a sweeter father-daughter life.)
3. Bai Ning Route (The tsundere Vampire Queen disciplines her daughter.)