After Losing My Memory, I Became My Rival's Palm-Sized Chirper - Chapter 3

Chapter 03: Responsibility

If we think about it from a different perspective, these three strange occurrences actually have a cause and effect; they can be merged into a single matter.”

In the Hall of Nine Heavens, after the Celestial Emperor had departed, the Old Man under the Moon (Yue Lao)—who had been persistently questioned by the Prime Immortal Minister regarding His Majesty’s marriage prospects—stroked his beard as if he had discovered a monumental secret.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ahem, didn’t that bird spirit who barged in say it herself… Everyone, think about it. A spirit that catches His Majesty’s eye certainly wouldn’t be an ordinary bird. It’s only natural for them to have strong cultivation and a bit of a temper.”

You mean, His Majesty truly had… had…”

Hearing Yue Lao’s analysis, Immortal Jiyi, who had just been forcefully advising His Majesty to take a wife and concubines, suddenly had his eyes light up.

However, he was an elder statesman of high status after all; there were some things he was too embarrassed to say aloud in court. A younger immortal official next to him spoke up for him: “Had a fleeting affair (dew-drenched relationship).”

“Exactly.” Immortal Jiyi looked at the young official approvingly and added, “And is there truly His Majesty’s offspring inside that bird’s belly? …Is our Emperor’s ‘happy occasion’ finally approaching?!”

Feling that his superior wouldn’t be breathing down his neck about the Emperor’s marriage for a while, Yue Lao stroked his beard even more cheerfully and nodded. “You all saw His Majesty’s reaction… Ahem, Lord Si, when have you ever seen His Majesty look so unsettled?”

Yu Baixi was indeed far from “settled” at the moment.

After hurriedly dismissing the morning court, the Celestial Emperor traveled at high speed with the fat bird that had suddenly appeared.

The speed was too fast; they pierced through layers of clouds like a meteor streaking across the sunset-drenched sky.

Throughout the flight, Qi Jia stood firmly on the other’s shoulder, his bird claws death-gripping the man’s obviously expensive collar…

Though he vaguely felt that he would have been fine even if he let go.

Compared to the strength of his own claws, it was clearly an invisible force behind him that allowed him to remain upright on the Emperor’s shoulder during such high-speed flight.

Evidently, the man didn’t intend to shake him off. On the contrary, he was consciously carrying him along.

This at least confirmed that the man didn’t plan on using the “brainless escape method” of flying away at top speed to abandon the bird and child once again.

But… who knew.

Qi Jia didn’t care.

Aside from the intuition that confirmed the dragon breath on his body belonged to the Celestial Emperor, he hadn’t remembered anything about the man or their past.

And before clearing everything up, Qi Jia didn’t intend to trust any person or beast here.

The little fat bird only trusted himself.

Of course, Qi Jia couldn’t think too much right now.

During the rapid movement, although an invisible force kept him from being blown away, the head-on gale ruthlessly ruffled his feathers.

The beautiful feathers on his head, which he had worked so hard to grow, were blowing back wildly, and his belly feathers were split open by the wind into a fixed, little nest shape.

In the heavy wind, Qi Jia, who couldn’t open his eyes at all, thought with great confusion: The clouds in the Heaven Realm look so clean, how can there be so much dust!

Squinting, the round bird helplessly and ruthlessly spat out some grit: “Pah! Pah-pah!”

The germaphobic fat bird wiggled his small body uncomfortably, trying to spit out the “dust” he had swallowed, and then felt a sneeze coming on.

But before the sneeze could escape, something happened that made him want to “pah” even more.

High in the sky, he heard the Emperor who was spiriting him away suddenly speak in a cold, clear voice: “You shouldn’t have come here.”

The voice was deep and cool, but the tone was incredibly familiar.

Qi Jia: “?”

Having convinced himself he was in an “abandoned lover” relationship, the storybooks Qi Jia had been reading lately were mostly of that genre.

In those books, there was a common trope where a heartbreaker’s first step in dodging responsibility was to pretend they didn’t know the person they abandoned.

Beyond that, there were many tactics like panicked placating, fake compliance, or selling a “sob story” about their own struggles and helplessness to gain forgiveness—essentially a stalling tactic.

But Qi Jia never expected the first words from this Emperor to be that he shouldn’t have come here?!…

Not only did he openly admit he knew him.

But he also wanted to cut ties immediately…

Very good.

Can a Celestial Emperor really be this domineering?!!

“I spit on that!”

Never one to have a good temper, the little fat bird perched on the Emperor’s shoulder put his wings on his hips. Letting the biting wind blow his meticulously groomed head feathers into a wild mess, he shouted: “If I didn’t come here, wouldn’t that just be doing you a favor? You wish!”

Hearing the clear, non-shrill youthful voice coming from the bird, Yu Baixi: “…”

Yu Baixi had recognized this bird instantly. Although he was confused as to why he had come so suddenly—especially by forcing his way through the Heavenly Gates—he considered that the bird shouldn’t be here, particularly during this period.

To prevent the bird from being recognized, the Emperor hadn’t reacted much at first, choosing instead to dismiss court immediately and spirit the bird away.

But now, hearing the content of those words spoken in a vibrant, youthful tone, Yu Baixi finally realized something was wrong. Moreover, when the bird called him a “scumbag dragon” in the main hall earlier, it wasn’t a mishearing.

A deeper confusion arose in his heart.

Their speed dropped abruptly. In an instant, they arrived in a quiet, empty courtyard filled with swirling white mist.

His white boots sank into the mist as Yu Baixi stood straight in the yard and said, “Is there some misunderstanding between us?”

“Misunderstanding?”

After landing, the feathers on Qi Jia’s head still held their wild, swept-back shape, and the “nest” in his belly feathers remained.

The little fat bird shook his body and head feathers, but his claw never let go of the Emperor’s collar. He said, “What misunderstanding could there be? Do you dare say the dragon breath in my belly doesn’t belong to you?”

“The dragon breath does belong to this Seat, but…” As for the “but,” the Emperor didn’t say.

In that pause, Qi Jia already interrupted: “Then there’s no problem. Tell me, how do you plan to take responsibility for me?”

The Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly: “Why should this Seat take responsibility for you?”

Qi Jia: “Because I’m pregnant, obviously!”

Yu Baixi: …?

Yu Baixi finally turned his head to look at the fat bird on his shoulder.

From the moment they landed, the Emperor had stood perfectly straight, shoulders relaxed, hands naturally at his sides. He hadn’t tried to snatch the bird off or drive him away.

He hadn’t even turned his head to look at him until now.

He hadn’t made a single impolite gesture. Correspondingly, he hadn’t made any gesture of intimacy either.

He simply maintained a distance that was neither close nor far.

But now, the Emperor, whose neck hadn’t wobbled once, suddenly stared at Qi Jia.

Only then did Qi Jia notice that this Emperor had strangely colored eyes—smoke-blue irises, like a vast land covered in snow, bone-chillingly cold.

From Qi Jia’s angle, he could see the Emperor’s Adam’s apple bob. In those frost-soaked eyes, a flash of astonishment appeared. The Emperor even pointedly looked down at the bird’s belly: “You… when? With whom…”

“Pah, pah, pah!”

Qi Jia decisively cut off the man’s cold voice: “What kind of bird do you take me for? The child is yours!”

Silence.

In a silence akin to a desolate wilderness, after a long while, those smoke-blue eyes finally flickered again. The Emperor seemed to have finally realized something, his voice tinged with surprise: “Are you… missing your memories?”

Qi Jia: “…”

In the storybooks Qi Jia had read, the abandoned victims always suffered because they were clumsy with words when confronting the scumbags.

When reading, the little fat bird would get so angry he wanted to transmigrate into the book to speak for them.

Qi Jia felt that the “un-amnesiac” version of himself must have been someone who loathed evil.

Furthermore, he had always been sharp-tongued; he wouldn’t let himself be at a disadvantage in his own affairs.

Thus, the little fat bird—who looked like he was doing a split because one leg was standing and the other claw was death-gripping the scumbag—spoke rapidly: “I’m warning you, even though I’ve lost my memory and even though you’re the Celestial Emperor, you can probably see that I’m not someone who’s easy to talk to, easy to get along with, or especially easy to bully! I don’t want to waste words with you. I only have one thing to say: regarding this matter between us, you must take responsibility!”

You’ve truly lost your memory?” Yu Baixi asked.

The information revealed in those words was significant, but clearly, this was the point the Emperor found most important.

The habitually steady Celestial Emperor actually had a slight upward inflection in his tone: “You remember nothing at all?”

“Yeah, so what?”

Qi Jia didn’t think much of it and admitted it grandly.

Because he had no memory at all—not even a hazy impression—he would have slipped up if he tried to fake it, so he never intended to pretend.

Besides, Qi Jia didn’t think that just because he had amnesia, he would be looked down upon or deceived by this scumbag dragon.

The round bird continued to puff out his chest valiantly: “I advise you not to think about denying it. Just tell me first: is the dragon breath in my belly yours?”

“Yes.” After a moment of silence, Yu Baixi still didn’t deny this point.

Qi Jia: “Then that’s it. The child can only be yours.”

Yu Baixi: “…”

Even a Celestial Emperor capable of ruling the four realms of immortals and spirits had to pause for a breath and take some time to process the logic behind this bird’s words.

…Among beast tribes and spirits, if a male’s aura or spiritual power appeared in a female’s dantian, it usually only happened when the female was pregnant.

That extra male aura helped the female through the gestation period which required extra strength.

But Yu Baixi didn’t make that connection at first.

Firstly, because he had no personal experience in sired offspring. As the high-and-mighty Celestial Emperor, he might know if a major immortal family had a new child, but the specifics of prenatal care were not a topic people would gossip about in front of him.

That “common knowledge” was just a distant fact that hadn’t been mentioned in thousands of years.

Secondly, because…

“But you are not a female.”

Yu Baixi’s gaze swept over the bird who claimed to have amnesia. In his mind, an image surfaced of a brilliant, elegant, and exceptionally talented youth from ten thousand years ago. He asked quite heavily: “Do you not think such a situation is impossible for you?”

“Oh.”

Regarding this question, Qi Jia didn’t find it odd, nor did he think losing his memory made him stupid: “That’s a question for you. Like I said, I’ve lost my memory.”

The little fat bird spoke with total confidence: “So naturally, I don’t remember the details of when we mated!”

Yu Baixi turned his head again.

The round bird shook his feathers and gave the handsome, upright Emperor a reproachful look: “Who knows what kind of methods you used back then?”

Yu Baixi: “…?”