Chapter 33: You look better with black hair. If you have white hair, your sons won’t look like you anymore

He was utterly unmoved.

Meng Baixu put the little saintly-father cub down too and patted his bottom. “Sit on the side and wait, oh.”

He secretly transmitted to the two little cubs, “From now on, behave obediently in front of the Immortal Venerable. Pretend to be good. Understand?”

Meng Nangnang nodded, then changed into new clothes together with Wowo. Appearance-wise, he looked much more obedient.

Very good acting.

Meng Wowo raised his head, standing between his two tall fathers like a chubby little bamboo shoot sprouting between two slender bamboo stalks.

“Carry Wowo on your back.”

His voice was small, almost drowned out by the crackling of the dry bamboo in the stove.

Wen Tingshu heard it and immediately took out the cloth baby carrier. In his heart, he felt even more indebted to Wowo. He said to Meng Baixu, “Help me lift him.”

Meng Wowo skillfully cooperated by stretching out his hands and feet, lying on the Immortal Venerable’s back.

Meng Baixu was a little slow to react. Had Wen Tingshu previously carried Meng Nangnang on his back like this while cooking? Was he afraid he would run away?

Before Meng Nangnang could speak, Meng Baixu picked him up too, placing him at the same height as Meng Wowo.

See? Carrying a son on your back only works for one at a time. This sect leader still has to clean up after you. You might as well carry me instead.

Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang, one on Daddy’s back and the other in Daddy’s arms, looked at each other and happily curved their eyes.

The buns were cooked. Each kind was placed on a plate, and the whole table was full of different kinds of wheat foods.

The three of them reached for different foods. Wen Tingshu filled a bowl of soup and felt that each one needed to be fed.

“Wowo… Nangnang, drink some soup.”

Wen Tingshu still could not naturally call out both sons’ names at the same time.

Every sentence reminded him of the cowardly thing he had done.

He admitted that, when it came to naming, Lanshe had more talent.

Wen Tingshu asked, “Do they have formal names?”

Meng Baixu was straightforward. “No.”

Since he had done wrong, he could only accept it. Wen Tingshu gave a soft “mn” and lowered his eyes to feed the two children soup.

Meng Baixu tapped his fingers on the table.

Keep asking. Why aren’t you asking anymore? If you ask again, I’ll reluctantly let you choose their formal names.

Eating was optional to Wen Tingshu. He had never eaten such a busy meal before, feeding the older one after feeding the younger ones.

Especially the two younger ones. Meng Nangnang naturally loved to eat, and Meng Wowo had not eaten for a long time. Once they started eating, they could not stop. The more they could eat, the more Wen Tingshu blamed himself.

“Why did you come here as one baby to eat?” Wen Tingshu asked.

“Cough.” Meng Baixu’s eyelid twitched. His real father had not been rescued yet, so he could not provoke the old thing. The little cubs must not expose this sect leader’s prodigal-son plan.

Wowo and Nangnang said in unison, “Shi Wumi-gege taught us, oh.”

Wen Tingshu frowned. “Shi Wumi?”

The former young madam of Qingyun Sword Sect, the Fuguang Sect spy who rolled away all the swords of the sword sect?

When the sword sect incident happened, Hengxue Sect had proactively asked whether they needed help. The young sect master held it in for a long time before saying, “This is a family matter.” They would compensate the other sects for the custom-made swords according to price.

Since the victim had said that, Hengxue Sect did not interfere.

Was it also Shi Wumi’s idea to make Wowo go without food?

Was this how Qingyun Sword Sect felt, suffering but unable to speak?

Wen Tingshu decided to notify Qingyun Sword Sect.

Meng Baixu handed half of his unfinished steamed bun to Shizun. “Stop feeding them all the time. You’re not even eating.”

The three-meal habit he had finally cultivated must have already been quit by Wen Tingshu.

Wen Tingshu accepted it obediently.

The two little cubs immediately copied him, pushing the half-steamed buns in their hands toward Immortal Daddy.

“Eat, oh.”

Wen Tingshu suddenly had three bitten steamed buns. His heart was moved. So this was the meaning of a family eating a reunion meal together.

Just as he was about to eat, Meng Baixu snatched them away.

Meng Baixu returned the drool-covered steamed buns to the little cubs. “Eat them yourselves.”

Wowo and Nangnang: “Oh.”

After eating, Meng Nangnang habitually opened his qiankun pouch to pack the leftovers. Meng Wowo helped him. Like two little ants, one carried and one packed. In the blink of an eye, the brothers swept the table clean. There was no need to wash the plates.

Wen Tingshu watched his sons busily working. He dared to think, but not say:

Daddy is already here. You still need to pack food?

Meng Baixu’s eyes showed approval. Little demons should know how to eat and take things away, planning ahead for rainy days.

Meng Nangnang said, “Baby will go down the mountain to play for a bit.”

Oh, no, no. Now there was no need to secretly run out so Wowo could eat.

At this moment, Wen Tingshu finally understood why Meng Nangnang ran to Dongyang’s place three times a day. It was all because of his own failure to notice. His son had to sneak around just to eat.

If only Dongyang had been willing to tell him he had two sons.

But that was even harder than him discovering it himself.

Meng Nangnang scratched his head. “Still play?”

Meng Wowo said, “Wowo promised Gege to go listen to stories.”

If he promised, he had to do it, oh.

Meng Nangnang echoed, “Yes, oh. Daddy, do you want to listen to stories?”

While still in the womb, Wowo and Nangnang had followed Daddy in listening to the storyteller. Daddy loved listening to stories the most.

Meng Baixu crossed his arms and shook his head, saying proudly, “I’m a big demon now. If I go down the mountain, everyone will shout and attack me. I can’t go.”

His famous scene of breaking with Hengxue Sect must be a shadow in the hearts of all his shidi. If he appeared, wouldn’t he scare them to death?

If it were in the past, when Wen Tingshu heard his disciple use “everyone will shout and attack me” to describe himself, he would certainly have taught him the proper use of idioms.

Now, he no longer dared to act as a teacher.

Since Daddy was not going, Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang could only go by themselves.

Once the little cubs left, Meng Baixu lightly coughed. “I came this time because I want to discuss an important matter with you.”

Wen Tingshu said, “All right.”

Meng Baixu asked, “Does that mean you agreed?”

Wen Tingshu said, “Anything I can agree to, I will agree to.”

Meng Baixu scratched his cheek. “I found my father. I need your help.”

Wen Tingshu immediately reacted. “Inside a secret realm? Is Xie Tongchen with him?”

Meng Baixu jumped. “You haven’t even asked whether my father is all right, and you’re already asking whether Xie Tongchen is there? Who exactly is your son’s grandfather? Do you still want Wowo or not?”

Wen Tingshu asked, “Is Sect Leader Meng all right?”

Meng Baixu said, “He’s been trapped in a secret realm for twenty years. Aside from boredom, he should be okay, I guess.”

Wen Tingshu was willing to live alone on Hengxue Mountain for over a hundred years, so Meng Fuguang should also be able to endure loneliness. After all, cultivators also had the option of deep sleep and seclusion, rather than counting days one by one with their eyes open.

Shi Wumi’s twenty years in seclusion had also only felt like waking from a long dream.

Wen Tingshu asked, “Did you bring the secret realm here?”

Meng Baixu said, “I can’t pull it.”

Wen Tingshu stopped at the right moment. “Last time, didn’t you… pull it over?”

Meng Baixu said, “This secret realm is much stronger than the Renxu Secret Realm. Its master had high cultivation and was extremely obsessive. The Renxu Secret Realm had countless living beings and countless patterns, so its spiritual power was scattered. But there is nothing in this place except two people. The entire secret realm’s spiritual energy is used to control my father.”

“I need you to go with me to the desert west of Xiling Mountain.”

“Lanshe, I…” Wen Tingshu had always been unwilling to tell Lanshe why he could not leave the mountain. The reason was too vast and ethereal. It was a responsibility he had to bear. Lanshe was at an age where he was full of curiosity toward cultivation and ready to accomplish great things. If he knew the blue sky above his head could “collapse,” it would only give the young man unnecessary worries.

Meng Baixu heard the hesitation in Wen Tingshu’s voice, and his face immediately felt a little strained.

Wen Tingshu was refusing him. Did he look down on demons?

Wen Tingshu said, “It is not that I do not want to save him. It is that I cannot leave Hengxue Mountain. Don’t rush. I’ll think of a way.”

Meng Baixu asked, “Why can’t you leave? Do you have some unavoidable reason?”

Wen Tingshu said, “Come with me.”

Meng Baixu followed Shizun to the library pavilion. He did not love reading much, except for the books Wen Tingshu specifically told him to read. Several bookshelves were extremely dry and dull, fit only to be used as firewood.

Wen Tingshu took down a book from the dullest shelf. “These are my observations on the heavenly pillars over the past hundred years. You can read them.”

Heavenly pillars?

Wen Tingshu also had an interest in observing the stars?

Meng Baixu took it and casually flipped through a few pages. His expression gradually became grave.

The three thousand secret realms that Fuguang Sect ran as a business—if there were no heavenly pillars, they would invade and possess the lower world.

No wonder Hengxue Sect was so firm about clearing secret realms. Was Wen Tingshu not also afraid that he could endure for a hundred years but not withstand a thousand years?

At that time, righteous and demonic paths would both be destroyed.

Did Meng Fuguang know about this?

After knowing, what decision had he made?

Take advantage of the situation to expand, or give up the secret realms and free the enemies?

Meng Baixu subconsciously asked, “If you replace the heavenly pillar, will your spiritual power be exhausted?”

He already had white hair now. Would his appearance age in the future?

Wen Tingshu said, “No. The luck of heaven and earth is balanced. I stand at the peak of Hengxue Mountain, and the entire Hengxue Mountain supplies me with spiritual energy.”

Meng Baixu tightened his fingers around the scroll.

The secret realms could develop freely because Wen Tingshu was bearing a heavy responsibility. He sheltered all cultivators under heaven, and Wowo and Nangnang were also under his protection.

They could not risk such a huge disaster just to save one person.

“Then… I’ll think of another way.”

Wen Tingshu reached out, wanting to touch Lanshe’s head. He knew that Lanshe had always been a reasonable person.

“All things grow and continue without end. Perhaps before long, there will be a second person under heaven who can replace me. When that time comes, I will go with you to Xiling Mountain.”

Meng Baixu pursed his lips. Even at a time like this, he was still comforting him.

After Wen Tingshu’s hair had turned white, he could no longer send puppets to wander in all directions. That meant his life trapped in this painted prison had only just begun. So what if he was the number one cultivator? He was nothing more than a clay Bodhisattva worshiped in a temple. When believers came, it was lively; when believers left, it was cold and lonely.

Wen Tingshu had only accepted one believer, plus two little ones.

Could this sect leader only accompany him on Hengxue Mountain from now on, living there for a thousand years, ten thousand years, until even sleeping together became boring?

Meng Baixu looked at Wen Tingshu with conflicted eyes.

His hair had already turned white. How could he still sleep with him like this? He had to think of a way to turn it back.

“Since you can’t help, I’ll leave. Fuguang Sect still has a pile of matters.”

Meng Baixu hugged Fengxing Sword and said it decisively.

Even if he planned to accompany Wen Tingshu in this prison, he still had to handle the sect’s affairs first, rescue his biological father, and return Fuguang Sect to him. Only after having no worries left could he talk about anything else.

“Lanshe!” Wen Tingshu could not help but grasp his wrist. “Can’t you stay for a few days?”

Meng Baixu raised a brow. “First, I’m not called Lanshe. Second, I’m no longer your disciple. What identity should I use to stay here?”

Wen Tingshu’s lips moved. It was unclear whether he was struggling between heaven and man, or whether the words were simply hard to say.

Meng Baixu asked, “Can’t think of one?”

The strength gripping his hand grew stronger and stronger. Meng Baixu turned his head and met Wen Tingshu’s cold, stubborn gaze. His heart softened, and he temporarily let this overly moral old thing off.

Wasn’t it just lover? What was so hard to say?

This sect leader dared to say it. It was in every storybook.

Meng Baixu reached up and flipped his hair, mercifully saying, “Fine. I’ll stay one night.”

Wen Tingshu immediately said, “Your room has been kept exactly the same.”

Meng Baixu said, “Do you expect me to squeeze into one bed alone with two children?”

Wen Tingshu said, “My room is also yours.”

Meng Baixu’s beautiful eyes turned. “Prepare bathwater. I want to bathe.”

Wen Tingshu said, “All right.”

Although cleansing spells were simple and quick, soaking in a bath was also a kind of enjoyment.

If cultivation did not include enjoyment, one might as well go sell tofu pudding in the mortal world.

Wen Tingshu said, “There is a hot spring beneath the cold pond. Do you want to try it?”

Meng Baixu said, “Yes!”

Meng Baixu went to his own room to pick clothes. When he returned, Wowo and Nangnang had also finished fooling around. In total, they had called him “Daddy” four times in soft baby voices.

The two little cubs had been wildly playing with sand and had become two dirty babies again.

Because Meng Nangnang still could not use cleansing spells, Meng Wowo did not use spells to make himself cleaner either, lest Immortal Daddy think his younger brother was too dirty.

Meng Baixu carried the two little cubs into the bottom of the cold pond too. First, he threw the two little cubs in to wash them clean and removed the granny-gray hair color, revealing their original black hair.

The original configuration made the little cubs look even more obedient.

After that, Meng Baixu bathed and changed himself back too.

When the father and sons reappeared, all three had black hair and refined brows. Their eyes were pure and untouched by worldly affairs. Where was there any trace of demons?

Wen Tingshu could not move his gaze away from Meng Baixu. Meng Baixu, holding the children, carried a flexible gentleness in his bones, as if he were covered in a layer of holy light.

Meng Baixu pointed at himself. “Black hair.”

Then he pointed at the cubs. “Black hair.”

See? You can’t look away, can you? He knew Wen Tingshu’s orthodox aesthetic was definitely black hair.

“If you have white hair, your sons won’t look like you anymore.”

Wen Tingshu: “…”

Meng Baixu leaned closer. “I saw a folk remedy that can turn white hair black.”

Wen Tingshu instinctively said, “I’m used to it.”

Meng Baixu said, “It’s very simple. Shave your hair off, then squeeze arborvitae leaves, he shou wu, and ginger into juice. Apply it to your scalp every day. The hair that grows out will definitely be black.”

Wen Tingshu: “…”

Meng Baixu asked, “You think being bald won’t look good?”

Wen Tingshu said, “Mn.”

Meng Baixu generously said, “Then shave these two little ones too, and they’ll accompany you.”

Wen Tingshu: “…”

Meng Baixu refused to give up. “Anyway, you don’t go out.”

“If you still don’t cooperate, I’ll take Wowo and Nangnang home, and you can wait until tomorrow to become a white-haired man sending off black-haired people—”

“Mind your words!” Wen Tingshu pressed his forehead with a bit of a headache.

How had Lanshe’s skill improved after leaving school for several years, while his language had regressed?

To avoid having his head shaved and dragging his sons into it too, Wen Tingshu truly had no other choice. In desperation, he sought any possible cure.

“I think I may have a way to go down the mountain.”

Meng Baixu asked, “What?”

Wen Tingshu looked at his two sons.

Sons inheriting the father’s duty.

Meng Baixu’s eyes lit up. “Oh, right. Wowo and Nangnang inherited your spiritual power. If the two of them help you guard it for a while, there shouldn’t be much difference, right?”