Invincible Dad-Chapter 491: Quasi-Emperor’s Tomb?_1

Xu Lai asked, "What did you call me?"

Ruan Tang parted her cherry lips, her voice soft. "Hubby, can we wait until tonight?"

"Playing coy won’t work." Xu Lai nodded. "Let’s begin."

Biting her lip, Ruan Tang resignedly lay down in bed and closed her eyes.

But two minutes passed, and Xu Lai hadn’t made a move. Just as she was wondering what was going on, she opened her eyes. She saw Xu Lai holding a black marker, thoughtfully contemplating her face.

Ruan Tang was completely bewildered. "Xu Lai, what are you doing with a marker?"

"Drawing a little turtle, of course."

Xu Lai suggested, "Honey, do you want the tail drawn down to your chin or up to your forehead? I’m planning to take a picture to use as my WeChat profile photo, so I have to make it look good."

"Xu Lai!!!"

Ruan Tang felt an inexplicable surge of shame and anger. He wants to take a picture for his profile photo? I’ll beat you into a turtle, see if I don’t!

"Now, now," Xu Lai said seriously. "Wifey, you’re thinking too small. A bet’s a bet, right? You can’t go back on your word."

There was no way Ruan Tang would let Xu Lai draw on her face. She had mentally prepared herself to be bullied by him, but she never expected he was just teasing her. This is too much!

Ruan Tang lunged at Xu Lai like an angry kitten, and the two dissolved into a playful tussle.

***

「That evening.」

After finishing her Cultivation, Yiyi said goodbye to Qian Xiao and returned home. She found Xu Lai on the sofa with a pained expression, spreading out bedding.

The little girl asked sweetly, "Daddy, what are you doing?"

"My daughter’s back! Hmm... not bad, your cultivation level has improved again." Xu Lai was very pleased with his daughter’s progress; one could say she was improving by leaps and bounds. He began to lament dramatically, "My dear child, your mommy and I had the tiniest little disagreement, and now I’ve been kicked out to sleep on the sofa."

"Mommy, you can’t bully Daddy," Yiyi pouted.

Ruan Tang, who was watching TV, was stunned. "Me? Bully him?" She was furious. It was clearly Xu Lai who was bullying her!

"It’s alright, my daughter," Xu Lai sighed. "Even though it’s quite cold, the floor heating isn’t very warm, the blankets are thin, and Daddy’s heart feels chilled... but with your concern, I can sleep anywhere."

Ruan Tang kicked Xu Lai in frustration. "You, Xu! Playing the victim after you started it?"

"Don’t hit Daddy." Yiyi shielded Xu Lai and said warmly, "Daddy, the sofa isn’t comfortable. You can sleep with Yiyi tonight. If Mommy doesn’t want you, Yiyi does."

Ruan Tang was speechless.

Wonderful. A daughter was supposed to be a sweet comfort, a ’little padded jacket’ as they say, but it seemed this one wasn’t for her mother’s warmth. Ruan Tang felt a pang of jealousy as she recalled how, just a few days ago, Yiyi had flatly refused when she’d asked to sleep with her.

She forced a smile and said gently, "Mr. Xu, where will you be sleeping tonight?"

"With my daughter."

Although every time Ruan Tang called him Mr. Xu it meant there was a knife hidden behind her smile, Xu Lai still chose his daughter without hesitation.

"Mwah," the little girl chirped, giving Xu Lai a peck on the cheek. "Daddy, Yiyi will tell you a story tonight."

"Really? That’s fantastic," Xu Lai said joyfully, hugging his daughter.

Ruan Tang felt even more sour.

After dinner, Xu Lai lay in bed cuddling Yiyi, listening to her tell a story in her soft, sweet voice.

Meanwhile, Ruan Tang, alone in the master bedroom, pounded her pillow. "Jerk! Stay out for all I care!"

She turned off the light and closed her eyes. But unlike most nights, she couldn’t fall asleep quickly. Without that warm embrace, she tossed and turned, realizing she had insomnia.

It was past eleven at night. Ruan Tang still didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy. Just as she was about to take another bath to calm down, a pair of hands wrapped around her from behind.

Ruan Tang jumped, startled. Just as she was about to cry out, she realized the embrace was very warm and very familiar.

It was Xu Lai.

Ruan Tang turned her head to look at his playful, smiling face and said sternly, "What are you doing back here?"

"I tucked our daughter in. Now it’s my wife’s turn."

"..." Ruan Tang fell silent, trying and failing several times to push him away.

Xu Lai chuckled. "Look at you, still angry? I didn’t even get mad when you told me to sleep on the sofa."

"I was just saying it! When have I ever actually made you sleep on the sofa?" Ruan Tang said, aggrieved. "You were the one teasing me this afternoon, insisting on drawing a little turtle on my face."

Xu Lai held her tighter, smiling. "But I didn’t end up drawing it, did I? Speaking of which, are you jealous of our daughter?"

"No!"

"You’re still denying it? You only ate one bowl of rice for dinner, when you usually have two or three. Let me go make you a late-night snack."

"...Shut up! When have I ever eaten two or three bowls of rice? I’ve always had a small appetite." Ruan Tang snuggled into Xu Lai’s arms. "Let’s sleep!"

A wide grin spread across Xu Lai’s face. "Alright, let’s sleep."

***

「Early the next morning.」

Xu Lai opened his eyes and glanced toward the foot of Mount Haitang, where an unexpected visitor had arrived.

His figure flickered. When he reappeared, he was at the base of the mountain, where a stunningly beautiful woman in a red palace dress stood waiting.

It was Ji Jie, the Crown Princess of the Moon Clan.

Ji Jie spoke first. "Is our agreement still valid?"

Xu Lai nodded. Ji Jie had previously provided him with Jing Ke’s whereabouts. Although he hadn’t found the man, the trip had yielded some results. Xu Lai had promised that when he found the Quasi-Emperor’s Tomb, he would give her a sword from within.

"I may have found that Quasi-Emperor’s Tomb," Ji Jie said, her smile radiant.

"May have?" Xu Lai frowned.

"I had hundreds of my subordinates die outside that tomb. Two of them were in the Divine Gate Realm." Ji Jie spoke indifferently, as if her fallen subordinates were insignificant.

And in truth, they were. Ji Jie couldn’t care less about the deaths of those Zhu Lang. In her eyes, only powerful experts like Xu Lai were worthy of being treated as equals. To her, anyone weaker than herself or the Moon Clan was just a Zhu Lang waiting for slaughter.

"As you know, the peak of Earth’s Divine Gate Realm is comparable to the early stage of the Golden Core Realm," Ji Jie continued, her eyes glinting. "Though those few were not at the peak of the Divine Gate, they were close. For beings at the half-step Golden Core level to die instantly... could this be the place we’re looking for?"

Xu Lai frowned slightly. A Quasi-Emperor’s Tomb wouldn’t be found so easily. Even his Divine Sense couldn’t detect it.

"Location," he said.

"Beneath the abyss of Mount Suiyue in Sakura Country," Ji Jie answered. "It’s about one hundred and fifty kilometers from the capital. There’s a sky-blue temple on Mount Suiyue, and the locals say an immortal once lived there."

A thread of Xu Lai’s vast, ocean-like Divine Sense shot out, crossing a distance of nearly two thousand kilometers to instantly find the location Ji Jie described.

The mountain wasn’t very high. The temple on its peak wasn’t lavishly decorated, but it held a great deal of the Power of Incense Fire. Inside, a Cultivator was using that power for his Cultivation.

His Divine Sense coalesced into an avatar, and Xu Lai strolled into the temple.

TAP.

TAP.

TAP.

In the main hall, an elderly monk striking a wooden fish opened his eyes. They were sharp and clear as he looked up at Xu Lai. "Benefactor, the temple is closed today. Please come back another time."