Daughter of the Dao and Devil Venerables

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (PART I)

Chapter 28 Part 1 - Her Father and Her Daddy (I)

The ice and snow that had condensed for a whole winter finally melted with the arrival of the spring breeze. The water, carrying pieces of ice that had yet to melt completely, flowed into the low-basin area and converged into a small stream winding into the horizon.
Winter was still at its end, but spring already couldn't wait to arrive. Amidst the sparsely snowy ground, a touch of greens protruded here and there, stretching out their small, tender buds.

With the warming weather, Cangshan Mountain, which had been silent for most of the winter, regained its vitality. The demons had been nestling in their lair over the winter, and most families' food storage was almost depleted. Once the snow melted, they went out to familiar neighbors and formed small groups to hunt. The mutant beasts that had just woken up from their hibernation were thin and starving, and so they came out to hunt, making them perfect prey for the hunting demons.

The demons who stayed at home took advantage of the warm weather to clean up their houses. They took out beast skins used as blankets and bedding over the winter to be aired under the sun.

The cubs were finally allowed to play outside again. They immediately hopped around with their friends and get wild everywhere.

There were not many cubs in Cangshan, but their existence made the place very lively and bright.

Suddenly, there was loud clamoring from the depths of the mountains. Not long after, a group of sturdy demons came out carrying a very large spirit beast. Even during this season, the spirit beast still looked plump and fat, which showed that it had enough food during the winter.

Other demons also looked over happily. Everyone was beaming with a smile, for hunting a spirit beast on the first day of spring was said to be a very good omen.

There were very distinct differences between mutant beasts, spirit beasts, and demon beasts. Mutant beasts were unable to absorb spiritual aura on their own, and thus were no different from ordinary animals without wisdom. They could be hunted, but their meat was not beneficial to improve cultivation base and thus were only eaten to fill the stomach.

Spirit beasts could absorb spiritual aura by instinct, but because they had yet to awaken spiritual wisdom, they couldn't use the aura to cultivate. The absorbed aura stayed in their flesh, which made their meat very tasty. Most of the spirit beasts had a huge body, and cultivators could directly absorb the spiritual aura in the meat to aid in their cultivation, making spirit beasts the most popular food since immemorial.

Last, demon beasts were part of the demon race. They were spirit beasts that had awakened spiritual wisdom and embarked on the path of cultivation, consciously absorbing spiritual aura into their bones and blood to improve their power.

The same distinction also applied to ordinary plants, spirit plants, and demon plants. Regardless of whether they were animals, plants, or inanimate objects, once they became spiritual and given enough time, they all had the chance to become full demons.

The Demon Realm had a clear stipulation. Any beings that had awakened spiritual wisdom were regarded as fellow demons and thus were not allowed to be hunted and eaten. Therefore, those originally on the different parts of food chains no longer hunted each other once they became demons, because they were now of the same race.

Of course, not all demons obeyed this rule. However, this was another story.

Demons didn't regard spirit beasts and spirit plants without spiritual wisdom as their fellow demons, but as food and cultivation resources. Due to the lack of aura in the Duanping Mountains Range, it was hard for spirit beasts to live, so Cangshan demons seldom hunted one. Therefore, today's prey pretty much attracted everyone's attention.

...

The little cub living at the foot of the mountain also seemed to perceive the liveliness outside and now persuaded her two fathers to take her out.

"Father~ Daddy~ let's go out~" On the wide couch, a lovely white dumpling dressed in beautiful red clothes rolled from one end to the other, waving her short feet on the air from time to time.

Young children grew up every day. After one season passed, Lu Yaoyao, who was two months older, obviously had grown bigger. Not only that, but she had also become chubbier. She was not fat, but had just enough chubbiness to make her even cuter and softer to the touch.

After more than two months of great efforts, Lu Yaoyao was different from what she used to be. She could now speak short sentences fully, and was no longer stunted at single words. More importantly, emphasis should be given to the fact that she had successfully evolved from a four-legged cub to a two-legged cub!

Lu Yaoyao was now able to stand up and walked a few short unsteady steps. However, her two fathers were still the same as before, hugging her in their arms wherever they went, making her walking skill progressed very slowly.

Ever since her birth, Lu Yaoyao practically only left their wooden house twice, once when Father and Daddy wanted to cheer up her bald self, and once when Daddy took her to run away from home. After Lu Yaoyao was able to express herself through words, she had been waiting impatiently for the weather to warm up and the snow melted. She really wanted to go out!

Lu Qingyu folded his arms, asking: "It's wet outside. What's the fun?"

"Want to go! Want to go!" Every day from waking up to sleep, all Lu Yaoyao saw were this wooden house and the small surrounding area. She had long been familiar with every detail even in her sleep, and was yearning for the outside world.

Yao Jiuxiao stepped forward and picked up the girl.

Lu Yaoyao's smile instantly bloomed. She hugged Yao Jiuxiao affectionately. Feeling the two little buns on the top of her head was a bit loose, she quickly said: "Father, tie my hair!"

Because Lu Yaoyao had rolled back and forth on the couch, the two strands of hair that Father had tied up this morning had become loose and messy.

After taking a quick glance, Yao Jiuxiao sat on a stool, put his daughter on his knees, then began to redo the girl's hair buns.

Lu Yaoyao's hair had also grown a lot. At first, it could only be tied into two straight little balls, but now they could bend out in two small arcs.

Lu Qingyu leaned against the door. Watching the father and daughter pair, he sighed: "You are too indulgent to her. Now that she knows how to boss you around, just wait until she grows up!"

Lu Yaoyao touched the hairdo that her Father had skilfully tied up for her and then made a face at Daddy.

Yao Jiuxiao picked up Lu Yaoyao and walked out.

Lu Qingyu reluctantly followed.

Lu Yaoyao sat on Yao Jiuxiao's arm. She poked her head out of Yao Jiuxiao's shoulder and peeped at Lu Qingyu, her bright eyes slightly squinted.

Lu Qingyu laughed. He lightly flicked the girl's forehead, which made her laugh and quickly hide back into her father's arms.