Chapter 15

Zhan Xi saw that the young prince didn’t answer and was about to speak when the other suddenly spoke up: “The Phoenix Feather Stone is here on the Original Stone Star. If we have it, can it really wake Ningning up?”

His father valued this tomb, and if it was dug up this time, his father would definitely be angry.

Zhan Xi’s eyes lit up when he heard that the Phoenix Feather Stone was not in the Emperor’s private vault but here on the Original Stone Star. His voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement: “Yes, with it, Ningning can be saved!”

It wasn’t yet light outside, and everything was covered in a hazy gray.

But Huo Lin didn’t plan on waiting any longer. He looked at the little baby receiving a nutrient solution and noticed that the baby’s face wasn’t as plump as before.

Just giving nutrient solutions wouldn’t work. He needed to wake the baby up and then feed him milk.

“Tell me what to do once we have the Phoenix Feather Stone.” Huo Lin didn’t plan on bringing outsiders to dig up the tomb. He held the baby’s hand and asked the baby’s father in front of him.

“Put the baby on the Phoenix Feather Stone.”

Zhan Xi repeated the method that Zhan Rao had told him: “After putting him on it, just wait. We need to wait two days before we can bring him down from the stone.”

“Alright.”

Huo Lin remembered his words and then began to pack: “All I have here are blankets, food, and drink. Do you have his necessities? I need to bring them with me.”

Zhan Xi felt that something was off about what the kid said: “You’re not bringing me with you?”

Huo Lin shook his head: “No.”

Zhan Xi: “?”

Zhan Xi’s eyelids twitched: “You want to bring Ningning and not me? I’m telling you, that’s impossible. I have to be with Ningning--“

He didn’t finish his sentence before Huo Lin, with a straight face, said, “The Phoenix Feather Stone is in my parents’ tomb, and outsiders are not allowed to enter that place.”

Logically speaking, Ningning shouldn’t be able to go in, but if the little prince could dig a grave for the baby, then breaking the rules for the baby wouldn’t be a big deal.

Zhan Xi stopped midway through his sentence, his words getting stuck in his throat.

He cleared his throat and began again, “Um, I put all the things I brought for Ningning in one room. I need to go get them.”

Since it concerned whether his own baby could wake up earlier, Zhan Xi didn’t hesitate. He found Jian Ning’s belongings in the fastest time possible.

Huo Lin watched as the other put everything he needed into a bag and reminded him as he packed, “This is a thermos. You can use the hot water inside to mix the formula. Come on, I’ll show you how to do it.”

“And then, it might be cold in the grave, so take the thick blanket with you. This is the baby’s cotton coat. Do you know how to wear it? Also, this is a wet wipe. Soak it in warm water and use it to wipe his face.”

“And this is a diaper. You need to change it for him promptly.”

As Zhan Xi packed, he accumulated a large pile of things. He looked at the bag, which was bigger than the little prince himself, and fell into deep thought.

“Don’t worry, I can carry it over,” Huo Lin said, pointing to a corner of the room. “Put everything in the car. This is a car specially designed for children. It’s very safe.”

Zhan Xi asked, unable to resist, “How much did this cost? Where did you buy it? I want to buy one for Ningning too, so he can drive it when he grows up.”

Huo Lin glanced at Zhan Xi’s clothes but didn’t say the price.

He picked up the baby on the bed and whispered, “When he grows up a little more, I’ll let him drive this car.”

Zhan Xi narrowed his eyes at the words. “Are you looking down on me? If we need a car in the future, we’ll use a new one. Come on, how much does this car cost? I can save up and buy it.”

He spoke very confidently.

A few seconds later, Huo Lin replied as he had hoped: “Forty million star coins. The car uses a type of energy stone with relatively low production as a fuel supplement. Only five have been released in the whole galaxy, and they have all been sold.”

Zhan Xi listened and immediately stopped talking.

He put all his packed luggage into the car and, seeing that there was still space in the car, he squeezed in a few more water bottles. “Little prince, remember to give Ningning a drink of water.”

“Okay.”

After everything was packed, Huo Lin went out and found General Mans. “I’ll be spending the next few days with my mother, so don’t look for me.”

General Mans looked at him with a complicated expression, and asked, “Do you need me to accompany you?”

“No, I don’t.”

Huo Lin declined General Mans’ offer to accompany him, and after arranging for General Mans to wait for him outside, he turned back to his room and drove the car out.

Zhan Xi watched the two young children leave together and stared at them for a long time before turning his gaze away and heading to the place where the others were being held.

This little prince had not yet lifted his detention order.

***

In the hazy gray sky.

A cool black car broke through the morning fog and headed straight for the designated destination. The car could have been set to open-top mode, but to avoid the young baby from getting blown by the wind, Huo Lin kept all the windows tightly shut.

It was unclear how long they had been driving.

After various turns and detours, the car arrived at what looked like a dead end.

Huo Lin jumped off and groped at the wall at the end of the dead end.

A few minutes later...

A new road appeared in the alley, and Huo Lin sat back in the car and continued driving. This time, he used the underground driving system, and as he pressed the button, the front of the car automatically changed shape.

The road was long and winding.

Huo Lin spent nearly three hours before driving the car inside. He found a spot to park and began to move things out.

It was impossible to move everything at once.

Huo Lin first carried the most important double shoulder backpack, then bent down and picked up Jian Ning. The weight of one in front and one behind would be too much for someone of the same age.

But for the Empire’s strongest little prince, dealing with this weight was nothing.

He made several trips to move everything inside.

The underground tomb built by his father was not very large, but fortunately, there were many things inside that could be used as burial objects.

Huo Lin held the child in one hand and studied the locked password box in the other.

He wanted to open the box and see if there were any night pearls that his father had mentioned. With the night pearl, he wouldn’t have to worry about not having enough light.

“What could the password be?”

Huo Lin frowned and tentatively entered his own birthday numbers.

Nope.

He then tried his parents’ wedding anniversary.

Still wrong.

On his last chance, he entered his mother’s birthday.

Correct.

The box was successfully opened, and Huo Lin found the fist-sized white night pearl that his father had talked about. As soon as the night pearl was taken out, the entire tomb was illuminated.

Having solved the problem of lighting, Huo Lin put Jian Ning on the prepared bed, and whispered, “Ningning, wait for me here for a while. I’ll go pry open the coffin.”

The Phoenix Feather Stone was very large, and his father had placed it in the coffin.

But what was underneath his mother was not Phoenix Feather Stone, but another type of cold stone. With that kind of cold stone, his mother’s appearance remained the same as when she was alive, without any changes.

The iron rod used to pry open the coffin was also brought by Zhan Xi.

Huo Lin rubbed his palms, then clenched the iron rod and began to pry open the coffin. The coffin was difficult to pry open, and soon his palms were rubbed raw.

But even though his palms were raw, Huo Lin did not stop.

An hour later.

The coffin lid fell with a bang, and the coffin itself had several cracks.

Huo Lin also accidentally fell on his butt, but quickly got up without dusting himself off, and instead crawled into the coffin to see his mother.

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

Huo Lin apologized softly to his mother. He didn’t mean to make such a big fuss. He lifted his hand and wiped the ash that had just splashed onto his mother’s cheek.

His mother’s cheeks were soft, different from the softness of the baby, but another kind of softness.

Not only were her cheeks soft, but his mother’s body was also very soft. Her eyes were closed and looked like she was asleep, but her sleep was different from Jian Ning’s.

Jian Ning still had a heartbeat and breathing, but his mother had lost these.

My father said that my mother died from mental exhaustion, which was even more terrifying than physical death. No one could supplement or restore another person’s mental energy, and no one could prevent death caused by mental exhaustion.

For nearly a century, countless people had died from it.

My mother was just one of them.

Huo Lin leaned over to his mother and whispered his purpose for coming.

After speaking, he crawled out and brought Jian Ning in. “Ningning, this is my mother. Say hello to her.”

Jian Ning leaned against him with his eyes closed, and his small hand shook passively.

The Phoenix Feather stone, which no one was lying on, was placed beside his mother. This stone was rare and was said to be related to mental energy. However, the stone itself did not contain any mental energy, just like his mother.

Huo Lin carefully placed Jian Ning on the stone.

After placing him on the stone, he found a place next to the other to wait quietly for time to pass with the little baby on the stone.

The space in the coffin was enough to accommodate two adults, but now there was one less adult, which could fit two more children without any crowding.

Huo Lin brought in blankets and milk bottles.

He had to feed the baby from time to time, but unfortunately, the other didn’t drink much.

In addition to feeding him, Huo Lin also had to pay attention to the baby’s body temperature, afraid he would freeze: “Are your little hands cold? Can this stone keep you warm?”

Huo Lin looked at the stone and couldn’t see its uniqueness.

But Jian Ning, lying on the stone, felt warm all over at this moment. The small seedling he had protected for a long time finally stopped fading in and out, and its wilted leaves suddenly stretched out small leaflets, which brought scattered mental energy that merged into the stone and rested on it.

Little tender sprouts were growing hard.

Huo Lin had been enduring for a long time. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he grabbed Jian Ning’s small hand and fell asleep as drowsiness crept in.

After he fell asleep, the stone under Jian Ning began to glow. The entire stone was emitting a warm light, and its body was like a container containing his mental power.

The repaired mental power in the stone was retrieved by Jian Ning.

This process lasted a long time, but when Huo Lin woke up, he saw nothing. It was strange; the stone seemed to be hiding its light from him.

Huo Lin didn’t see the stone’s light, but he did see Jian Ning’s plump and rosy little face.

The next day, Huo Lin was pleasantly surprised to find that the little baby, who had been closing his eyes, was no longer resisting the milk he fed him, but was drinking it vigorously.

Zhan Xi did not expect that the baby would drink all the milk powder he gave him at once when he instructed Huo Lin to feed it.

Since the baby could only drink a little at a time, he also let Huo Lin feed him more times, so that he wouldn’t starve to death.

After feeding him a bottle of milk, Huo Lin found that the baby was still sucking and didn’t want to let go.

He frowned, pulled out the bottle, and comforted the young baby who wanted milk. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I brought a lot of milk powder, and I’ll go make some for you.”

Jian Ning drank half of the second bottle of milk but could not drink any more.

In the quiet coffin, Huo Lin curled up with Jian Ning’s small hand and fell asleep again as his drowsiness overtook him.

In the small space, Jian Ning, who had been fed one and a half bottles of milk, had a round and bulging belly, and his little face looked like he was about to cry.

Waaah.

His stomach was uncomfortable.

While the tender sprout, whose mental power had been nurtured, was freely swaying its leaves, the owner of the tender sprout was crying out loud after spitting up a few mouthfuls of milk.

This time, he was crying with his eyes open.

***

The author has something to say:

The little prince and the baby encounter Waterloo!

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