Chapter 7: I Want to Sleep Cuddling My Daughter!

Lin Luo blinked her big, glistening eyes and flashed a sweet, charming smile.

Her tiny hands tugged gently at Claire’s sleeve, and she tilted her head just slightly to the side.

In a voice as soft and sugary as cotton candy, she cooed, “Mommy dearest~”

Claire froze on the spot.

Her eyes widened, gaze fixed on Lin Luo, her mind going completely blank, as if someone had hit a pause button on her brain.

She stood there like a statue, mouth opening slightly—but no words came out.

It was clear she hadn’t recovered from hearing Lin Luo call her that.

Seeing Claire unresponsive, Lin Luo figured she hadn’t said it sweetly enough.

She gritted her teeth and tried again, dragging out the words, “Mommy dearest~ pleaaaase?”

As a legendary mage, a flexible bottom line was to be expected.

And Lin Luo firmly believed that no one in the universe had a more adaptable moral compass than she did.

A long moment passed before Claire finally came to.

She stared blankly at Lin Luo.

Amazing… Is this what it feels like to have a daughter?

No, no!

Claire shook her head, trying to pull herself together.

This little devil must be up to something.

If she didn’t bring her back, her sister would snatch Lin Luo herself.

“Nope.”

Claire shook her head decisively.

Lin Luo immediately dropped the act and pulled a complete about-face.

“You—you better pay me for saying that!”

It took her a while, but she finally managed to squeeze out a line full of menace… or at least, that’s what she thought.

To Claire, it sounded more like sulky whining.

That delicate, chubby face of hers was glowing with a soft flush.

Her usually bright eyes now burned with tiny sparks of indignation.

Her cheeks puffed up in protest—begging to be pinched—and her pink lips stuck out in a full pout.

Then Claire smiled, and Lin Luo suddenly realized… that what she thought was an “angry face” had zero effect.

She gave up and quietly stiffened her expression, staring at Claire in defeat.

So, it really was inevitable—she had to go to the Blood Domain.

Still, how had this woman found her so easily?

“How about a compromise?”

Lin Luo said at last, after a long silence.

“We leave for the Blood Domain… in a few days.”

She still had unfinished business in Cangwu City.

Lin Cheng had allowed time for that in his original plan.

After that, she’d head off to magic academy, play out a little student-teacher drama, catch the eye of a senior or junior, get a romantic rival, have a showdown and humiliate them… yes, that would’ve been the perfect script.

But no—Claire had to pop up like a wrench in her fantasy.

“I suppose that works,” Claire nodded, clearly curious about what her little daughter was planning.

“You’re going to that apartment in Hidden Dragon Alley, right? Second unit on the right, off Akashi Street?” she asked, piecing it together from the direction Lin Luo had run off in.

Lin Luo stared at her, jaw slightly agape.

“You’re not stalking me, are you—”

Then she frowned and said, “Was it that old undead Lin Cheng who told you?!”

“Ehehe~”

Claire chuckled but didn’t answer.

Lin Luo looked like she was about to go back and have a heartfelt talk with Lin Cheng, but Claire grabbed her by the arm.

“Senior Lin told me not to let you go back.”

“Hahaha…” Lin Luo laughed bitterly.

All those years she spent yanking his beard as a kid weren’t wasted after all.

***

The moment they stepped into Cangwu City, the evidence of human civilization became abundantly clear.

The streets were immaculately clean, each stone slab polished to a soft, weathered luster—like works of art refined by time.

Upright patrol guards lined the roads like rows of sturdy pines, eyes sharp and vigilant, silently guarding the city’s peace.

The streets bustled with people, shoulder to shoulder.

Merchants shouted their wares, their voices overlapping into a vibrant melody of city life.

Nestled in a slightly older part of town stood a modest courtyard.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it radiated a sense of lived-in warmth.

Overgrown plants tangled their way through the yard, untamed and lively.

A swing creaked in one corner, and spiderwebs clung to the walls.

The mottled window glass had clearly been treated for privacy, hiding the interior from view.

A few mossy steps led up to the front door.

This was Lin Luo’s hideout—a quiet base for her “sneaky growth phase.”

But alas, plans never kept up with change.

All the bounty money she’d painstakingly earned was now… a sunk cost.

All thanks to Claire!

“So, this is our home now?”

Claire looked around the small courtyard, nodding in satisfaction.

“Mind your wording… lady, this is my home!”

Lin Luo corrected her sternly.

“Pfft,” Claire scoffed, “That’s rich, coming from the one who just—mmf!”

The black-haired loli turned crimson and smacked her hand over Claire’s mouth.

“Shut it!”

Claire nodded obediently, and only then did Lin Luo release her—though not without wiping her palm clean in visible disgust.

“There’s only one properly furnished room here,” Lin Luo announced.

“So you sleep on the sofa, I get the bed. Got it?”

But Claire shook her head.

“I want to sleep cuddling my daughter!”

“Then I’ll sleep on the sofa!”

“Then I’ll cuddle you on the sofa!”

“Watch your wording, woman! I am NOT your daughter!”

“Wow… drank my blood and now you pretend not to know me?” Claire sighed dramatically.

“How heartless.”

She had discovered Lin Luo’s emotional switch: the moment she claimed Lin Luo as her daughter, the girl would explode—and in her eyes, a trace of regret always flickered.

Hehe… her blood didn’t come that cheap.