Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  “This won’t do. Give An’an to me. I’ll feed her a bit more milk,” Bai Qingqing said.

  Parker stroked An’an’s back gently and said, “You just fed her. If An’an eats too much, she might puke.”


  “That’s true.” Bai Qingqing sat down once again.

  The bedroom door was pushed open and Harvey brought in a basin of green medicine.

  “This medicine has the effect of inducing sleep. Female children over one month old can’t take it, so just leave it in the room to let her smell it. It’ll have some effect,” he said.

  Bai Qingqing said gratefully, “Thank you. Leave it on the bed-stove. It’ll keep it warm.”


  Harvey was about to put it on the table. Hearing that, he stopped and took a look around the room, asking while feeling confused, “Put where?”


  Winston took the stone basin from Harvey and placed it on the hot stone slab.

  Harvey hesitated for a moment before walking over. When his bare feet stepped onto the warm stone slab, he was so surprised that he jumped up and backed off a few meters.

  Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh. “I forgot to introduce you to it. There’s a stove below this and fire is used to heat it.”


  Harvey was struck by understanding and stepped on it again. “It’s like the iron-smelting underground furnace, right? ”


  “En, they’re similar.”


  The small joke dissipated some of the depression, but An’an suddenly cried.

  “Wah! Wah!”


  An’an howled with all her might. Winston said that the poison would get weaker over time, but An’an’s cry was louder than previously. It could be that she had grown bigger and had more strength.

  Bai Qingqing quickly said to Parker, “Give An’an to me. I’m her Mommy, she’ll definitely be closer to me.”


  Parker handed her to Bai Qingqing and said, “If you can’t carry her anymore, pass her to me.”


  “I’m done with my confinement, it’s fine.” Bai Qingqing carried An’an and cradled her gently. Seeing that the child was crying so badly that her face was flushed, she felt so bad as if something was tugging at her heart.

  “An’an, what can we do?” Bai Qingqing was prepared for this, but when she heard An’an crying, she still panicked.

  She carried her, and Winston hugged her from the back. “Don’t be sad. It’ll all pass. An’an will be fine.”


  “What if she can’t get better?”


  Bai Qingqing looked up at him, her small face pale. Her helpless expression pierced Winston’s eyes.

  He hugged Bai Qingqing even tighter and said, as if making an oath, “She’ll definitely get better! Trust me!”


  This was why he had to do whatever he could to make the village stronger, becoming the strongest influence in this land. If An’an wasn’t able to get better, he’d use the lives of all the scorpion beastmen for An’an’s health!

  “En,” Bai Qingqing replied and leaned in Winston’s embrace.

  No matter how she coaxed An’an, she just continued to cry loudly.

  Bai Qingqing gave up on coaxing her and just carefully carried her.

  The medicine on the bed-stove kept on vaporizing. The white steam shrouded the bedroom with a thin layer of fog. The medicine didn’t have any effect on An’an, but it caused Bai Qingqing’s eyes to gradually close. Her head tilted and lay at Winston’s arm.

  Feeling a weight in his arm, Winston called out softly, “Qingqing?”


  Parker walked over and said, “She fell asleep.”


  He picked up the crying An’an from Bai Qingqing’s arms, and Winston carried Qingqing, placing her in the nest.

  Bai Qingqing didn’t feel too deeply asleep. The moment she lay down on the nest, she opened her eyes and immediately wanted to get up.

  “Lay down. We’ll keep an eye on An’an.” Winston pressed down on her shoulders with a forceful attitude.

  Bai Qingqing turned her head and looked toward Parker, who was carrying An’an. She replied with an “En” and then closed her eyes.

  Amidst the baby’s sharp cries, Bai Qingqing was half-asleep and half-awake. She seemed to have been hacked into two parts, with one part keeping a lookout for An’an’s condition while the other part sinking into her dreams.