Chapter 190 : Child

The white light was somewhat blinding.

Lu Mo’s eyelids twitched slightly at that moment.

Her throat was dry and parched. She let out a weak sound and struggled to open her eyes.

She found herself lying on the ground.

Blood had stained her clothes, pooling thickly beneath her, and had already begun to darken.

She tried to raise her hand to shield herself from the glaring sunlight, lifting it from the pool of blood. A great deal of it clung to her arm—sticky, clammy, unpleasant.

She spoke weakly at that moment.

“It’s already… morning.”

She still remembered what had happened during the night.

Her injuries had flared up violently, and she had lost all strength on the spot, collapsing to the ground.

The wound on her chest had split open, and blood had continued to flow out steadily.

This time, even the pale purple flame in her chest had leaked out a fair amount.

Under those circumstances, if no one had treated her in time, she would have died.

Lu Mo murmured, “But… I’m still alive…”

Could it be… that Old Man came back?

Thinking this, she mustered her strength and lifted her head, looking toward the sofa in the living room.

“Yo, little Lu Mo.”

She fantasized that the man had already returned home, sitting on the sofa, looking at her with an apologetic expression, apologizing to her.

And then, picking her up once more.

But that was just a fantasy, after all.

No one sat on the sofa.

There wasn’t even a trace that anyone had sat there.

“He didn’t come back…”

Lu Mo murmured.

Perhaps it was because the time before had been too happy, or because she was affected by her real body.

At this moment, she actually felt a deep sense of loss and sadness.

She had once depended on that man for survival, the two of them clinging to each other.

And now, he had left.

Never to return to this home again.

After a brief moment of sadness, she soon calmed down somewhat.

Old Man hadn’t come back.

Then… how had she survived?

Could it be that she had undergone nirvana?

Had the supreme bone grown back in her chest?

That was getting off track.

She reached for her chest again at that moment.

Then, suddenly, she touched something round and plump.

When she squeezed it, it was bouncy and springy.

Not because she had grown.

She lowered her head at that moment and saw…

A small bird-beast nestled tightly against her chest, curled up into a ball.

“Huh?”

She was stunned for a moment.

Though it was stained with blood, she could recognize that this bird-beast was the one that had hatched from the dusk-colored egg earlier.

But she quickly remembered something else, and her gaze swept back and forth across the pool of blood, spotting several pieces of eggshell fragments.

She could recognize that those shell fragments belonged to that dusk-colored egg.

“The egg… hatched?”

And what hatched was a…

Alright then.

She had no idea what species this bird-beast was.

The bird-beast was plump and chubby, leaning against her chest, almost curled into a perfect sphere.

Normally, a newborn hatchling shouldn’t even have fully grown feathers yet.

But this bird-beast had already grown pale golden feathers.

Combined with its round body and tiny wings, it looked even more like…

A little chick.

“Daughter, let me tell you, this egg is no ordinary thing. Its origins can be traced back to some ancient legend in the Demon Beast Domains.”

“They say that within this egg, there may be the ember and bloodline of a phoenix.”

The man’s confident words rang in her ears again at that moment.

Lu Mo shook her head hard, trying to dispel those thoughts.

Sure enough, the man was a liar.

“This is basically just a little yellow chick… right?”

Although it looked very much like a little yellow chick, it was so adorable and soothing to look at.

Lu Mo subconsciously squeezed it again.

And that action seemed to startle the little yellow chick.

Its tiny, balled-up body trembled gently at that moment.

At this time, a wave of life force stirred in Lu Mo’s chest again.

“Hm?”

She sensed that the flame in her chest was no longer purely pale purple.

Lu Mo was a bit surprised and quickly probed toward her chest.

Though the flame was much weaker than before, it had retained some of its original pale purple properties, yet it was considerably stronger than before.

At this moment, a hint of gold had been added to it.

“It’s not simply being replaced, but… a fusion!”

Lu Mo spoke, looking at the little yellow chick that was waking up with growing amazement.

As it woke, the pale golden flames on both of them began to resonate faintly with each other.

There was no doubt—this golden flame belonged to the little yellow chick.

And the little yellow chick, seemingly without even realizing it, had brought about the first fusion of strange fire!

It had kept her alive!

The little yellow chick woke up at that moment.

It stretched out its body, and because it was stained with blood, it began shaking itself vigorously.

Giving Lu Mo the impression of jiggling fat.

“This little yellow chick…”

That’s right.

It was very similar to the little fat bird she had picked up and brought home in reality.

This must be the little fat bird’s juvenile form.

“Chirp?!”

As if it had heard Lu Mo’s voice, the little yellow chick suddenly jerked its head up at that moment.

Those jewel-like little eyes stared straight at Lu Mo.

“Little one…”

Lu Mo was just about to reach out and touch the little yellow chick.

“Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp… chirp!”

The next second, the little yellow chick was so frightened it leapt straight into the air.

It desperately burrowed into Lu Mo’s chest, its two tiny wings gripping her clothes for dear life.

It seemed utterly terrified of Lu Mo’s face and hands, wanting to press against her chest at this moment, begging for comfort.

Lu Mo suddenly felt that the little yellow chick wasn’t very bright.

Her chest was just one part of her body!

Her head and her hands were all connected to her body!

One whole unit!

She wasn’t Shang Yang, right?

Lu Mo lay on the ground, waiting for the little yellow chick for quite a while.

The little yellow chick was still pressed tightly against her chest, trembling.

It showed no sign of leaving whatsoever.

But she couldn’t just lie in a pool of blood forever, could she?

That would be improper.

Lu Mo thought to herself, and ultimately managed to prop herself up at that moment.

“…”

The little yellow chick somehow had incredible strength in its wings, managing to stay attached to Lu Mo’s chest without falling off.

Strangely enough, because her strange fire contained a part of the little yellow chick, she could actually sense the golden flame burning inside the little bird, the powerful life force bursting from that flame, and its fear.

The world it saw was just that small.

It had only just been born.

Beyond its world were many unfamiliar things—the girl’s face and hands, this very, very tiny little house, and the vast scenery beyond the door.

All it had right now was nothing more than the girl’s chest, still radiating residual warmth.

It was still just a newborn baby.

So Lu Mo didn’t roughly yank it off her chest.

Instead, at that moment, she tried to use that pale golden flame to soothe the crying little one.

“Chirp?”

The little yellow chick felt the soothing of that flame.

Gradually, its body stopped trembling violently, and its movements became much smaller.

It saw that wisp of pale golden flame, at this moment, flow down from the girl’s chest, toward her small hands, toward her face.

That face, though smeared with blood and looking rather ridiculous, was smiling at it from the bottom of its heart at this moment.

And that hand slowly moved to a spot below her chest, settling beneath its feet.

As if waiting for it to take its very first step.

“Little one, don’t worry…”

Lu Mo said in a low voice.

She told the little yellow chick not to be afraid.

Because at this moment, someone was willing to be its safety net.

The little yellow chick stared at Lu Mo for a long time.

Feeling that trace of kindness, something seemed to flicker in its eyes.

And whether it was because it had exhausted its strength, or because it had come to trust the girl, it let go of its little wings at that moment.

It plopped down onto Lu Mo’s hand.