They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Tying the Hair

Based on the general location provided by Yun Ya, the first memory fragment of Yun Chuan was in the prosperous city of Jingcheng.

Yun Qingwu and Leng Lici landed directly in the city with their child. To avoid drawing attention, both of them changed into common mortal attire, and their hair and eye colors were changed to the most ordinary black. However, Leng Lici’s long, flowing hair still drew many curious glances.

Yun Qingwu stared at the long, black hair that was as smooth as silk, pondered for a moment, and called out: “A’Ci, let’s go look over there.”

Leng Lici stopped, looked suspiciously as Yun Qingwu led Xiao Dao toward a jewelry store, and then followed.

The store was filled with dazzling ornaments. The first floor mainly displayed women’s jewelry, while the second floor focused on men’s hair crowns. Leng Lici merely glanced around, losing interest quickly: “What’s so good about these?”

Yun Qingwu picked up a bamboo-green hair crown very similar to the one he was currently wearing, placed it on Leng Lici’s hair to compare, and said: “Most mortal men tie their hair up. You look too conspicuous like this.”

Leng Lici frowned slightly: “Why bother with such trouble?”

“Mm, this one doesn’t quite suit you.”

Yun Qingwu put down the bamboo-green hair crown and searched around again. His gaze soon stopped on a golden hair crown. It was made of interwoven gold threads, unique yet not overly flashy.

Meanwhile, Leng Lici’s eyes lingered on a bamboo-green forehead ribbon (mò’é). This ribbon was woven from colorful cotton, and besides the color, the style was very similar to the one Yun Qingwu wore in the Naze Kingdom.

He stared for a moment. As Yun Qingwu’s footsteps approached, he quickly took the ribbon down and hid it behind his back.

“Look, this suits you very well,” Yun Qingwu placed the hair crown on Leng Lici’s head and motioned for him to look in the bronze mirror.

Leng Lici awkwardly averted his gaze: “I—I don’t want to tie it.”

“Why not?”

Yun Qingwu looked puzzled, but he quickly realized something and laughed: “Don’t worry, I’ll help you tie it.”

“I don’t want to, I don’t not know how,” Leng Lici glared at Yun Qingwu, emphasizing the distinction.

Yun Qingwu gave an “Oh,” nodded: “I know you can, but I want to tie it for you. Will you let me?”

Xiao Dao reached out, wanting to touch the crown. Hearing the conversation, she immediately cheered: “Tie it!”

Leng Lici gave a faint grunt and headed downstairs: “Suit yourself.”

On the first floor, just as Yun Qingwu was about to pay the bill, Xiao Dao stopped, unable to move past a display of hair ties and various glittering golden hairpins. She touched a shiny hairpin, opened her big eyes, and looked at Yun Qingwu: “Daddy, shiny is pretty!”

Yun Qingwu walked over, realizing his oversight—he was raising a daughter. However, he looked at Xiao Dao’s hair, which could only be tied into tiny knots right now, and advised: “Xiao Dao, you can’t use these yet. When you grow a little older, Daddy will buy you hairpins even prettier than these.”

He picked up the hair ties from the other side, taking two of every color, and handed them to Xiao Dao: “Here, let’s use these for now.”

Xiao Dao reluctantly glanced at the hairpins, took the hair ties, examined them carefully, and smiled: “Pretty!”

Leng Lici took advantage of their distraction selecting hair ties to secretly pay for the forehead ribbon.

The family of three found an inn and settled down. Yun Qingwu forcefully sat Leng Lici down in front of the bronze mirror. Although his hair was mostly taken care of by Hong Yuan, he usually tied his hair himself when Hong Yuan was absent, so he was quite confident now.

First, he separated a few strands of hair and braided them into small pigtails—a small personal preference.

He vividly remembered and greatly loved the braided hairstyle his mother had done for Leng Lici in the Naze Kingdom.

Leng Lici frowned, staring at the mirror. He watched as Yun Qingwu quickly finished the small braids, then gathered them and the loose hair on both sides into a high ponytail, leaving only half the hair scattered down his back.

Aside from the small braids, the hairstyle was similar to Yun Qingwu’s.

With his hair tied up, Leng Lici’s features were fully revealed, making him look much tidier and more refined.

Yun Qingwu stared at the bronze mirror, but felt a little regretful. This tied-up style was still slightly inferior to the Naze Kingdom men’s attire. If only he could attach some small golden bells to the pigtails…

The more he thought about it, the more eager he became to try it.

If he ever got the chance, he definitely would.

“Are you done yet?” Leng Lici felt uncomfortable staring at the mirror for too long.

Yun Qingwu snapped back to reality and nodded: “Yes, I’m done. See? Doesn’t it look good?”

Leng Lici stood up and gave a simple “Mm.” Then, feigning nonchalance, he pulled out the forehead ribbon, held it out to Yun Qingwu, and said: “Put this on.”

Yun Qingwu was momentarily stunned, his gaze landing on the bamboo-green ribbon.

Since leaving the Dream Realm, he hadn’t worn a forehead ribbon. This gift warmed his heart. He teased him intentionally: “I thought the Demon Lord had no concept of beauty or ugliness. Now it seems the Demon Lord has quite good taste.”

Leng Lici lifted his chin slightly: “Naturally.”

“Then you put it on for me?”

Yun Qingwu handed the ribbon back. Leng Lici took it and, imitating the gesture, commanded: “Sit down.”

Yun Qingwu’s smile didn’t fade, and he sat down.

Ultimately, a forehead ribbon was just a piece of fabric. His A’Ci might be a bit clumsy with his hands, but surely he could tie a simple knot.

Leng Lici apparently thought so too. He threaded the ribbon through Yun Qingwu’s hair above his forehead, trying to tie the knot he remembered.

The first attempt didn’t result in a beautiful knot, just a loose, barely-connected tangle.

Leng Lici frowned, unsatisfied, untied the knot, and tried again.

Too ugly.

Too tight.

Too messy.

After an unknown amount of time, Yun Qingwu sat in front of the mirror, feeling his entire body growing stiff. The ribbon was tied and untied, untied and tied again, and he couldn’t see an end to it.

“Daddy, hungry!” Xiao Dao, waiting nearby, rubbed her stomach, her little mouth pouting.

Yun Qingwu beckoned and hugged Xiao Dao, soothing her: “Be good, Xiao Dao, it will be ready soon.”

After calming the little one, he looked at the big one behind him through the mirror. He carefully phrased his suggestion: “A’Ci, I think it looks very good now. You’re not entering a knot-tying competition, you don’t need to be so harsh on yourself.”

As soon as he said this, the ribbon, which had almost been right, immediately twisted to one side.

Yun Qingwu: “…”

He absolutely must keep A’Ci away from all manual crafts and housework in the future.

By the time the ribbon was finally securely tied across his forehead, and Leng Lici was satisfied enough to release it, Xiao Dao was almost asleep from eating snacks.

Yun Qingwu looked in the mirror, stood up before Leng Lici could change his mind, and praised: “It looks great! I really like it!”

Leng Lici looked elsewhere, nodded, and then picked up the half-asleep Xiao Dao: “Alright, let’s get down to business.”

The newly refreshed family of three stepped back into the bustling market. They saw a dense sea of people. Even knowing the person was somewhere here felt like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, they had a child experiencing the mortal world for the first time.

When Xiao Dao stopped in front of a small stall for the third time, Leng Lici’s patience finally ran out. He looked at Yun Qingwu, who was already conversing with the stall owner and clearly about to pay, and said coldly: “Did you specifically come here to babysit?”

Yun Qingwu handed the silver fragments to the owner and pulled Xiao Dao closer: “We won’t find the person in a single day anyway. Since Xiao Dao wants to play, let her play. A little time won’t hurt.”

“You are the one who needs to find the person, and you are the one who is not in a hurry now. If Xiao Dao wants to play all over Jingcheng, will you satisfy her too?”

Leng Lici moved to pick up the child: “Stop playing.”

Xiao Dao took a step back, hiding behind Yun Qingwu, her eyes welling up with tears: “Circle, want to play.”

Yun Qingwu patted Xiao Dao’s back comfortingly and looked at Leng Lici: “Just let her play this last one, okay, A’Ci?”

Leng Lici crossed his arms, his face stern: “If you really want to raise this child, don’t spoil her.”

Although he knew nothing about parenting, he understood why You Suqian had become a useless failure. He didn’t want a useless failure in his house.

Yun Qingwu had a different opinion: “Naturally, we can’t spoil her in big matters, but we should indulge her in small ones. The more she sees of the world, the better she’ll be at judging people later.”

Leng Lici’s eyes darkened. He stared intently at Yun Qingwu but remained silent.

Yun Qingwu knew that if he continued to press, Leng Lici would certainly throw a big temper, so he stopped arguing and promised: “Last time.”

Leng Lici snorted and turned his back, choosing to simply ignore the situation.

Until the sound of one wooden ring after another missing its target reached his ears. Both the adult and the child sighed in disappointment. His ears twitched, and his peripheral vision unconsciously glanced over.

It was another wooden ring that went wide.

Yun Qingwu noticed Leng Lici’s subtle movements and sensed that Leng Lici was somewhat wavering internally.

So he picked up a ring and offered it: “Want to try?”

Leng Lici glanced at the wooden ring: “I don’t play.”

“I’m not asking you to play, I’m asking you to help us recoup our losses.”

Yun Qingwu tapped Leng Lici’s arm with the ring: “Hmm?”

Leng Lici finally turned around and took the wooden ring: “Useless.”

He held the ring, walked a little closer, aimed at a small, colored wooden horse, and threw it. It landed squarely.

“Ah! Daddy, amazing!” Xiao Dao held the small wooden horse and clumsily gave Leng Lici a thumbs-up.

Yun Qingwu was also surprised: “A’Ci, your aim is actually so good.”

“Hmph, what else do you want?” Leng Lici’s lips curled up slightly, quite pleased with himself.

“That one,” Yun Qingwu pointed to a strangely shaped stone on the ground.

Leng Lici gave Yun Qingwu a strange look, but still took the wooden ring.

Yun Qingwu explained: “That’s not an ordinary stone, it’s jade.”

Leng Lici aimed and threw it, hitting the target again. As the number of successful throws grew, a crowd of onlookers gradually gathered. The cheers and praise made Leng Lici’s excitement spiral out of control.

Seeing Leng Lici in such high spirits, Yun Qingwu didn’t rush him, focusing only on handing him rings. When the two of them had nearly cleared the ground of prizes, they suddenly realized something was wrong.

Xiao Dao’s cheers hadn’t been heard for a long time.

“Xiao Dao is gone!” Yun Qingwu anxiously nudged Leng Lici, stopping his motion to grab another ring.

Leng Lici’s face went cold. He threw the ring in his hand and looked around, but there was no sign of Xiao Dao.

“She can’t have gone far.”

Yun Qingwu quickly reassured him, worried that Leng Lici might cause a bigger disturbance.

The two pushed through the crowd, found a relatively central location, and used their spiritual power and senses to search for Xiao Dao’s aura. In no time, they both looked at each other: “Southeast direction.”

Following the southeast direction, the target quickly came into view. A cold, murderous glint appeared in Leng Lici’s eyes. Yun Qingwu frowned, his gaze wary.

Xiao Dao was being held in the arms of a young man wearing peacock-blue robes. Xiao Dao had a sugar-coated hawthorn stick in her hand and was happily eating it.

The man walked along, buying things for Xiao Dao along the way. His doting manner had the false sincerity of a human trafficker.

Leng Lici formed a hand seal with his right hand, intending to strike immediately, but Yun Qingwu stopped him: “No need. You go to his left, and I’ll go to his right. We’ll surround him.”

Leng Lici reluctantly nodded and quickly moved forward.

Xiao Dao spotted her two fathers first, completely unaware of the danger she was in. She waved the hawthorn stick in her hand: “Daddy! Baba!”

The man turned his head and smiled: “What? Where are your daddies?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a voice immediately spoke from both his left and right: “Her daddy is here.”

The man jumped at the sudden coldness. Before he could make any further movement, he was held fast by the two people who had silently appeared on either side of him.

“Hey, hey, let go of me!”

The man struggled to twist his body. As he moved, Yun Qingwu got a clear look at his face. The strength in his hands slackened: “Father God?”

The man frowned, anger in his eyes: “What Father God? Who exactly are you people?”