Chapter 422: 422: What’s mine is mine, not even my own daughter should think about taking it away.

Fang Yuan forcefully tore himself free from the endless sea of fate.

The moment his consciousness returned to his body, his eyes snapped open.

"Cough—!"

A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips as violent spiritual qi fluctuations erupted around him before rapidly calming down.

The pressure weighing down the hall vanished instantly.

"Husband!"

Lin Zhaoyue appeared beside him almost immediately.

All traces of her previous calm vanished completely as she grabbed his shoulders and quickly checked his condition.

Her fingers trembled slightly when she saw the blood on his lips.

"What happened?" she asked sharply, worry leaking into her voice despite her attempt to suppress it. "was the refinement a failure that it injured your soul?"

At the same time, one of her hands immediately moved to his back, gently circulating spiritual qi into his body to stabilize him.

"Father!" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

A small voice called out anxiously.

Fang Yuan immediately looked forward and noticed Fang Qingyue was kneeling in front of him.

But compared to before, she looked noticeably paler.

Even her figure seemed slightly transparent around the edges.

Yet the little girl only stared at him in confusion.

"Father," she asked softly, "I was helping you. What happened? Why did you forcefully stop the refinement?"

Fang Yuan’s expression darkened instantly.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhaoyue’s hand paused slightly against his back.

She was still right beside him, supporting him yet the very first thing Fang Yuan did after opening his eyes was look toward Fang Qingyue?

A tiny crack silently appeared in Lin Zhaoyue’s expression before disappearing just as quickly.

She said nothing and only lowered her eyes slightly while continuing to stabilize his spiritual qi in silence.

Without another word, Fang Yuan suddenly pulled Fang Qingyue tightly into his arms.

The little girl let out a tiny surprised sound.

"Listen to me carefully," Fang Yuan said in a low voice. "You are never allowed to do something like that again."

Lin Zhaoyue’s hand slowly lowered from Fang Yuan’s back.

Fang Qingyue blinked inside his embrace. "Why?"

"Because I said so."

His answer came instantly.

The little girl stared at him for several seconds.

Then, while still seated obediently in his arms, she nodded seriously.

"I understand."

Fang Yuan’s tense expression finally softened slightly.

He raised a hand and gently patted her head.

"...Good."

After a brief pause, he quietly added,

"You should always put yourself first before anymore else. Thank you for helping though."

Fang Qingyue’s face immediately brightened.

"Hehe... you’re welcome, Father."

Her small smile looked absurdly pleased just from receiving praise.

And in that moment, Fang Yuan felt the exhaustion in his soul ease greatly. Her smile was soothing and gentle to watch.

Then a terrifying chill suddenly crawled up his spine and Fang Yuan froze.

An intense wave of hostility and jealousy radiated from directly behind him.

Slowly he turned his head to see Lin Zhaoyue standing there silently watching the scene smiling.

She was once again smiling very gently.

The surrounding temperature did not drop.

Yet somehow the atmosphere felt colder than before.

Fang Yuan’s eyelid twitched violently as he realised what he had done but he couldn’t help but complaint inside his own head.

Wait what...

Seriously?

She’s supposed to be our daughter, what the hell?!

The worst part was that Fang Yuan could already tell what Lin Zhaoyue was thinking and she had every right to be mad.

He knew the type of woman she was, yet when he woke up injured and coughing blood, he had focused on Fang Qingxue.

Zhaoyue had been the first to rush to him, the first to touch him and the first to worry.

Yet before she could even finish checking his condition, his attention had already shifted entirely toward another girl.

Even if that "girl" was technically their adopted daughter.

Fang Yuan instantly felt a headache coming as he realised he had no words for the mistake he had committed.

"...Zhaoyue," he called out cautiously.

This time, he genuinely was not sure whether she would even listen to him.

"...Mother?"

Fang Qingyue also called out softly from Fang Yuan’s arms.

Normally, that single word alone would have been enough to instantly melt Lin Zhaoyue into happiness.

But this time it seemed it was no longer enough.

Lin Zhaoyue continued smiling gently while staring directly at the scene before her.

Her smile remained beautiful.

Which only made Fang Yuan feel even more alarmed.

Fang Yuan gently put Fang Qingyue down and with a deep breath he began calmly, "Zhaoyue, this is obviously different fro—"

But before he could finish his sentence, Lin Zhaoyue suddenly appeared directly beside him.

Fang Yuan stiffened instantly as dhe wrapped her arms around one of his and leaned lightly against his shoulder while looking up at him with a soft expression.

"Husband," she said gently, "why are you explaining yourself?"

Fang Yuan’s danger instincts screamed at full power.

Because when Lin Zhaoyue acted reasonable, that was usually the moment things became unreasonable.

"I’m not jealous," she continued softly.

Fang Yuan did not believe her for even half a second.

Meanwhile, Fang Qingyue tilted her head innocently while watching the two of them.

Completely unaware that the atmosphere had become more dangerous than most life-and-death battles.

Lin Zhaoyue then turned toward the little girl and smiled warmly.

"Qingyue."

"Yes, Mother?"

"You did well helping your Father earlier."

Fang Qingyue immediately brightened. "Mhm!"

"But," Lin Zhaoyue added gently, "you touched Father despite Mother warning you not to."

Fang Qingyue blinked several times.

Then realization suddenly appeared on her little face.

"Ah!"

She immediately lowered her head obediently.

"I’m sorry! I made a mistake!"

Her apology was so sincere and panicked that it sounded like any normal kid.

Lin Zhaoyue’s expression softened slightly, only slightly.

"As it was Father who hugged you first," she said in a calm, forgiving tone, "Mother will forgive you this time."

Then her smile deepened faintly.

"But there will not be a next time."

The atmosphere instantly became strange again.

Meanwhile, Fang Qingyue simply brightened up happily after hearing she was forgiven.

"Mhm!"

She nodded her head excitedly without sensing anything wrong at all.

"I’ll remember it!"

Lin Zhaoyue finally looked satisfied.

She even gently patted the little girl’s head afterward, looking every bit like a loving and caring mother.

Which somehow made the entire thing even more terrifying.

Fang Yuan stared blankly at the two of them.

For a long moment, he genuinely did not know how he was supposed to react anymore.

Part of him was relieved that Lin Zhaoyue had not overreacted.

The other part of him was deeply concerned that she apparently saw absolutely nothing strange about warning a child, their own daughter not to touch her father.