CHAPTER 656: HOW WILL YOU TEACH ME A LESSON, DADDY.

AN: This work is about to finish soon. I will post pictures on Instagram of our happy couple. Happy reading. Love you all.

Han Xin leaned against the obsidian pillar, arms crossed, his eyes on Xiang Yu. "Yu Yu, do you know how many toys and clothes I have been dragged to buy since the twins found out they are getting a sibling?" he sighed, exasperated but fond.

"Every market stall, every boutique, every tailor who’s ever stitched a rabbit onto a baby robe, they have made me visit them all. Babe, when have I ever chose fabric ever? When I pick one they say it’s too rough or it’s too soft or are you insane and then they ask me why I am even there."

Xiang Yu chuckled, the sound warm and indulgent. "Who can blame them? It’s rare to have a baby in the family. They are just excited."

Han Xin nodded, then glanced at Xiang Yu with a softer expression. "You are right... but I want to spend more time with you."

Xiang Yu’s smile deepened. "Well, if I bring Little Bai here, we’ll have all the time in the world. The twins will be too preoccupied to bother us."

Han Xin’s eyes lit up, visibly pleased. "Any progress with the array?"

"I can try it now," Xiang Yu said, stretching his fingers.

"Okay," Han Xin replied, "just don’t overdo it."

Xiang Yu puckered his lips in a teasing kiss. Han Xin bit his lower lip, flustered. "You are tempting me on purpose, knowing I can’t disturb the array."

Xiang Yu feigned innocence. "No, no, I am not that heartless."

Then, with a wicked smirk, he tugged at his lapel, revealing his collarbone marked with a constellation of hickeys.

Han Xin: "..."

Xiang Yu tilted his head. "It kind of feels hot, doesn’t it?"

"Xiang Yu!" Han Xin yelled, face flushed. Xiang Yu burst into laughter, head thrown back, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.

Han Xin grumbled, "Wait until you are done. I will teach you a lesson."

Xiang Yu leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "I can’t wait to see how you will teach me a lesson, daddy."

Han Xin whispered, "Fuck," and turned to leave. Xiang Yu’s gaze lingered on his ass, burning with affection.

"Stop staring," Han Xin muttered, not even turning around. But he could feel that burning gaze. It was like a torch against his spine.

He didn’t go far. He sat just outside the great doors of the Hall of Crimson Resonance, knees drawn up, fingers clenched tightly around the fabric of his robes. His heart pounded with every tremor that rippled through the obsidian beneath him. The wind howled around the peak, but he barely noticed. All his attention was fixed on the sealed entrance, on the energy pulsing from within.

Inside, Xiang Yu knelt at the center of the Eye of the Realm, his breath slow and deliberate. The Qi in the air was thick, almost suffocating, drawn to him like moths to a flame. Crimson, silver, and black threads of energy spiraled into his body, weaving through his divine veins with a force that bordered on violence.

His skin glowed faintly, veins pulsing with a rhythm that felt foreign, ancient. Then the pain struck. His temples throbbed, his neck veins bulged, and blood trickled from his nose, staining the obsidian floor. But Xiang Yu did not falter.

With a cry that split the silence, he thrust his hands into the array. The runes ignited, blazing red, casting the hall into a blinding storm of light.

Outside, Han Xin flinched as the explosion shook the mountain. The doors groaned, and a wave of heat rolled out, brushing his face.

"Xiang Yu..." he whispered, eyes wide with fear and awe.

He wanted to rush in but he knew better. The array had to be completed. All he could do was wait, heart aching, praying that when the light faded, the man he loved would be okay.

A thunderous bang cracked the sky, splitting the silence of the northern demon realm. A surge of power shot upward, piercing the clouds like a divine spear. The heavens tore open, and from the wound bloomed a red array, vast, intricate, and pulsing with life. Mountains groaned beneath the weight of it. Rivers stilled mid-flow. The realm trembled.

At the center of it all, Xiang Yu knelt within the Eye of the Realm, bloodied but unbroken. His divine veins glowed faintly, echoing the power that had just surged through him. The Hall of Crimson Resonance had witnessed countless rituals, but none like this, none that made the very bones of the mountain quake.

Outside, Little Bai was tending to the spiritual herbs with quiet dedication. The Veyrasha bird perched lazily atop a tree, its feathers ruffling in the wind. Little Bai looked up, squinting. "Instead of helping, you’re just sitting there being lazy."

The bird tilted its head, talons raised as if to say, Excuse me, I have no arms.

"All you know is eat, eat, and sleep," Bai muttered.

Han Zhan internally sighed. He also didn’t want to be a stupid bird but what could he do? "..."

Little Bai grinned. "Go hunt a spiritual beast for me like before. We can make something delicious tonight."

The bird flapped its large wings and took off. Little Bai smiled, watching it vanish into the sky. Yet a chill crept down his spine. He always felt like the bird’s eyes where so piercing like he was its prey. He feared one day he would end up on its menu.

Little did he know... he would eaten clean in the near future but it would be a different kind of meal.

Meanwhile, above the Sect, the sky once serene and pale shattered. A blood-red array tore through the heavens like a jagged wound. The sect’s protective barrier cracked with a sound like thunder splitting bone.

Disciples spilled from their quarters in a frenzy, robes fluttering like frightened birds. Elders summoned their weapons with practiced urgency, blades and talismans gleaming in the fractured light. The air thickened, heavy with the scent of fear and the metallic tang of spiritual energy. A lone bird, mid-flight toward the distant mountains, shrieked and wheeled back, its wings slicing through the chaos like knives through silk.

Below, in the frost-dusted herb fields, Little Bai stood among rows of spiritual snowroot, his hands still stained with soil. He looked up, frozen, as the sky bled red. The light reflected in his eyes like twin flames, beautiful and terrifying. Then the array pulsed.

A column of crimson light descended like judgment, encasing Little Bai in a cocoon of symbols and soundless force. He gasped and his lips parted but no cry escaped his throat. The light swallowed him whole and in an instant, he was gone with no trace.

The Veyrasha bird dove, wings folded tight, piercing the array’s final flicker before it vanished as well. Soon, silence fell and the field stood empty. The snowroot swayed gently, untouched, as if nothing had happened. Above, the sky returned to its pale blue. The sect’s barrier reformed, shimmering faintly.

The elders stood frozen their weapons raised against an enemy that had already vanished. They wondered which ancestor that disciple had offended that they kidnapped him in such a grand gesture.