Chapter 252: Cheap Daughter

The little girl sat at the bow of the boat, sobbing uncontrollably.

She was wearing a padded jacket, but it was drenched with seawater. The jacket was now frozen stiff in the cold wind, clinging to her like a suit of ice shards. Her hair was tied in a ponytail that stuck straight up. Her small, fair, tender hands clutched the wooden wall of the boat's gunwale, and her face, red from the cold, still had a babyish plumpness.

Upon seeing Ning Changjiu, she reacted as if she had found a close relative, clutching his leg and looking up at him with tearful eyes, continuously calling out, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Ning Changjiu looked down at her, momentarily feeling a little lost.

Lu Jiajia walked over to him and crouched down, looking at the pitiful little girl. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the girl's face, then looked up at Ning Changjiu and said, "My disciple has really made something of himself. I didn't expect you to have a child already."

Ning Changjiu sighed. He also crouched down and gently stroked the little girl's head, saying softly, "Whose child are you? Have you lost your parents? Don't cry. I'll take you to find them."

But the little girl held tightly to his leg, refusing to let go, and rubbed her tear- and snot-streaked face against his pant leg, whimpering, "Daddy... woo woo woo, Daddy... you mustn't abandon me."

"I'm not your daddy," Ning Changjiu explained patiently, trying to gently pry open her small hands that were clinging to him.

"Woo woo... woo, you *are* my daddy!" The little girl absolutely refused to let go.

Lu Jiajia looked at the child, feeling pity, but doubt also rose in her heart. She looked at Ning Changjiu and demanded, "What exactly is going on?"

Ning Changjiu rubbed his forehead, saying helplessly, "What do you want me to explain?"

Lu Jiajia said sternly, "No matter what, it's best if you tell the truth. If there's a good reason, I... can understand."

Ning Changjiu looked at Lu Jiajia's earnest expression and sighed, "My previous assessment of you was indeed correct."

"What assessment?" Lu Jiajia was slightly taken aback.

Of course, Ning Changjiu wouldn't utter those words and invite trouble. He earnestly explained, "Look, this child must be at least six or seven years old. I've only been in Duanjie City of the Southern Wilderness for two years. How could I have a child this old?"

Lu Jiajia's eyes narrowed. She thought seriously for a moment, realizing it was true. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

But to save face, she was naturally unwilling to admit such a basic mistake.

"Then explain why your child is already so big," Lu Jiajia said.

Ning Changjiu looked at Lu Jiajia's unreasonable demeanor, speechless.

Ning Changjiu looked at the little girl and patiently said, "Look closely again, am I really your daddy?"

The little girl, still crying and wiping her tears by the boat, looked up and seriously studied Ning Changjiu for a moment, then said, "Yes, you are."

Lu Jiajia's expression grew even more distrustful.

Then, seeing no response from Ning Changjiu, the little girl turned to Lu Jiajia, crying, "Mommy, Mommy, is Daddy abandoning us?"

Ning Changjiu looked at Lu Jiajia.

The chaos on the multi-story boat had temporarily subsided. The bodies were cleared away, but cries of grief echoed throughout the vessel.

As this ship was under the protection of the vast Sea Kingdom, the investigation into this calamity was gradually undertaken by the Sea Kingdom's cultivators.

This incident did not seem accidental; it felt more like a long-planned scheme. It was as if something of immense value was hidden on this ship, enough to attract a large group of calamity dragons and a great demon.

Furthermore, after the fragments of the great algae-dragon demon's body were studied, they caused an even greater uproar.

This algae-dragon was like a living fossil. Centuries ago, great demons often stirred up trouble outside the Sea Kingdom. That particular great demon was a monster born from a dragon and a sea demon. Later, a great cultivator from Luoshu Tower personally sailed a solitary boat onto the sea on a stormy night, and on the dark, sunless Sea of No Fortune, he battled the algae-dragon fiercely for three days and three nights, finally gravely wounding it and driving it back into its underground dragon lair.

After being wounded, the algae-dragon had not appeared for decades. Why did it dare to disregard Luoshu Tower's prohibition and reappear in the human world now?

Judging from the three corpses slain by the algae-dragon, its killing intent was absolute, as if it wouldn't hesitate to slaughter everyone on the ship.

Ning Changjiu had also extended his spiritual sense, a net woven from his Asura mental power, to investigate. Other than the pervasive aura of death, he found no other abnormalities on the ship.

Of course, at that moment, he had no mind for such matters.

Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia sat on the bed, looking at the skinny girl, who had been changed into clean clothes. Their brows furrowed.

"Whose child are you, really? Why are you randomly calling people your mother and father?" Ning Changjiu asked.

Lu Jiajia also said gently, "Don't worry, tell us the truth. We... we are good people."

The little girl had stopped crying.

She seemed to have been hungry for a long time. She lowered her head, picked up the dry food from the table, and nibbled at it, chewing vigorously.

After eating about half a bowl, the little girl finally spoke softly, "I... I don't know who my parents are."

"Then who did you get on the ship with?" Ning Changjiu asked curiously.

The little girl explained, "The one who brought me onto the ship was a man in black clothes. I don't know him. He said he was taking me to a good place, where there would be good food..."

Ning Changjiu tentatively concluded, "It seems like a child trafficker."

"Yes, a liar..." the little girl complained, "He jumped into the sea first to look for food, and didn't take me with him..."

Ning Changjiu thought seriously for a moment and asked, "Where are you from then?"

The little girl extended a finger and pointed south.

Nanzhou...

Ning Changjiu then asked, "Do you remember where your home is?"

"I don't remember," the little girl said honestly.

"What about your parents?"

"My... my mother was buried."

"Buried?" Ning Changjiu felt a pang of pity and regret.

"Yes, when my mother was buried, she was still calling my name," the little girl said timidly, her nose twitching as if she was about to cry again.

Buried alive?! Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia exchanged a look, a chill seizing their hearts.

Ning Changjiu hesitated for a moment, but still asked softly, "What about your daddy?"

The little girl said, "They said Daddy... Daddy was locked up."

So, a criminal...

Her mother buried alive, her father a criminal, and she herself abducted and trafficked to the Central Plains, only to encounter such a disaster on the way...

Lu Jiajia couldn't help but recall her own childhood. She gently shook her head, a bitter smile on her face.

Ning Changjiu looked at her wide, tearful eyes. He quietly extended his spiritual consciousness to envelop the little girl, a faint golden light covering his pupils, silently probing to ensure there were no parasitic entities, like evil spirit marks, on her.

The little girl sat on the chair, perched on only a small part of the seat. Her shoulders were hunched, and her lowered head occasionally lifted for a quick, timid glance at them, incredibly restrained.

Lu Jiajia was quietly discussing with Ning Changjiu how to settle the child.

The little girl looked at Lu Jiajia and delivered a fatal blow.

"Mommy, you're so beautiful!"

Lu Jiajia's current appearance was slightly veiled, but she was still uncommonly exquisite, beyond what ordinary beauties could compare to.

Ning Changjiu often praised her beauty, but no matter how flowery his words, she always found them insincere. Now, however, these simple words from an innocent, adorable little girl had a completely different effect.

After all, there's a saying, "Neither children nor old folks deceive," meaning children and the elderly don't lie.

"Let's take her in," Lu Jiajia suggested.

Ning Changjiu felt that something about this situation was still peculiar. He looked out the window at the lingering snowfall and the whispering sea wind, and briefly ran some calculations in his mind.

The little girl whispered, "Daddy doesn't seem to like me."

Lu Jiajia reached out and stroked her head, saying, "Don't worry, Mommy runs the show at home."

The little girl exclaimed, "Mommy is amazing!"

Lu Jiajia's smile was as radiant as a flower.

Ning Changjiu retracted his gaze, calming the slight ripple of emotion within him.

"What's your name?" Ning Changjiu asked.

The little girl looked at him and said timidly, "Qiu Yue."

Neither Ning Changjiu nor Lu Jiajia had imagined that simply by taking a boat, they would acquire an adopted daughter.

This daughter was indeed undemanding. She wasn't picky about food or clothes. After the initial few days of shyness, she had become lively, bouncing around everywhere, asking endless questions, to their constant exasperation.

"Daddy, how did you and Mommy meet?"

"Your mother and I... are fellow disciples from the same master."

"Mommy, what were those scary things in the sea before?"

"Those were sea demons; they're nothing to worry about. Once you cultivate later, you won't need to fear them."

"Daddy, where are we going?"

"To find your, uh... Aunt Xiaoling?"

Ning Changjiu mused on the word 'aunt,' thinking that his seventeen-year-old junior sister,