The villain, Xiao Nanliang, caused the female lead excruciating pain.

The first rays of dawn broke through the darkest hour before sunrise.

Su Qi snapped out of his meditative state and saw Mu Xinglan still sitting there blankly, still with an expression of existential doubt.

I didn't disturb her. I went to a nearby stream to wash my face and saw some fish in the water, so I caught a few.

Su Qi agreed with Ye Yue's words.

Eating, drinking, and whoring... oh wait, no, it's more like eating, drinking, and having fun are great pleasures in life, so how can we give up eating because of a minor setback?

After cleaning and skewering the fish, Su Qi returned to the campfire, took out a bunch of seasonings, and started grilling without a care in the world.

He glanced at Mu Xinglan, who was still in a daze, thought for a moment, and then suddenly spoke.

"When I think back, the first time I met Number 18, she was being beaten up for stealing someone else's grilled fish."

"The funny thing is, the two people who hit her were ordinary people, and they couldn't break through her defenses at all."

"While the other person was fighting so hard they were almost out of breath, she was still busy devouring grilled fish in front of them, finishing off all of their fish in no time."

Ning'er?!

Upon hearing Su Qi mention someone he cared about, Mu Xinglan's lifeless eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion.

"However, those people were not good people either. They saw that Number 18 was naive and silly, but had some good looks, so they wanted to take advantage of her."

"The key is that this silly girl doesn't know how to resist. She just stupidly cooperated after hearing what people said."

At this point, Su Qi paused deliberately, and Mu Xinglan became visibly nervous.

"Fortunately... I arrived in time! Those scumbags were dealt with before they could even succeed."

“My meeting with her was not a coincidence. When she escaped from the laboratory, I sensed a connection between us.”

"I was terrified! I'd never even touched a girl's hand before, and now I had a child!"

“Following this scent, I found and rescued her.”

"When I first met her, she was like an infant, full of innocent curiosity about the world."

"Looking back now, it all seems absurd. How did she manage to escape from the lab?"

"I later learned that she was originally supposed to be disposed of as scrap. Those people subjected her to a series of inhumane experiments, and she couldn't withstand it and died."

Hearing that her beloved daughter was in such a terrible state, Mu Xinglan was clearly heartbroken, and she bit her lip, her face showing pain.

"It can't be said that she died. It's just that those people thought she was dead, so they threw her body into the wilderness to feed the monsters."

"However, what those people didn't know was that the reason Number 18 was in a state of suspended animation was because her bloodline was about to awaken."

"And so, by some twist of fate, she escaped. Then, in the wild, she relied on instinct and a sense of bewilderment to survive."

“This silly girl once told me about this experience. She boasted that she fought with the Iron-Eating Beast for bamboo shoots, occupied the Iron-Eating Beast’s nest, and even used the Iron-Eating Beast’s children as pillows to keep warm. The Iron-Eating Beast’s mother was beaten by her and dared not speak out.”

Mu Xinglan unconsciously thought of that comical scene, and her originally sad mood gradually faded away; she even... felt a little like laughing.

Silly and adorable Ning'er must be very cute, right?

"If I hadn't found her and brought her home, she probably would have lived as a wild woman in the wild for the rest of her life."

"You have no idea how tiring it is to teach her common sense. This silly girl looks like an adult, but she acts like a little kid, wanting to bite everything she sees."

"During that period, almost all the furniture in my house had her teeth marks. Even my cat was chewed bald by her."

Imagining that scene, Mu Xinglan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Su Qi suddenly gained a new understanding of this woman's lack of common sense.

I just found out my life was full of deception, and I can already laugh out loud so quickly.

Although Su Qi himself contributed to this, it was still quite outrageous.

No wonder he hasn't gone crazy after being locked up and exploited for over a decade; even a simpleton can be quite open-minded.

Noticing Su Qi looking at her strangely, Mu Xinglan blushed and turned her head to look in another direction.

"What angers me the most is that she won't call me father when I ask her to; she won't call me brother when I ask her to; and she calls me sister when I, a grown man, am called sister... and she can't seem to change it."

Su Qi pretended to grit his teeth, glancing at Mu Xinglan's profile. He noticed that Mu Xinglan's lips were twitching, clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

Laugh now, laugh as hard as you can, or you'll be crying later!

“I originally wanted to give her a name, but she heard somewhere that only biological parents can name people, and no one else can.”

“I told her that she has half my blood, that I am her father, and that it is only natural for me to name her, but she just wouldn’t accept it, saying that she couldn’t feel the sense of family from me.”

This reminded Mu Xinglan that Ning'er had once said that a jerk wanted to name her, but she refused.

It was obvious that the bastard was the person in front of him.

"At first I was very confused. Logically speaking, if I can sense the bloodline in her body, she should be able to sense me too, but she can't."

"Later I discovered that it was because another bloodline in her body was too powerful, suppressing my bloodline."

Su Qi spoke through gritted teeth, glaring fiercely at Mu Xinglan.

Mu Xinglan felt guilty but secretly pleased.

Ning'er can only be my daughter!

"Later, when I met Ye Feng by chance in Tianfu Ancient City, she felt the presence of family in someone for the first time. She wanted to approach Ye Feng to reunite with him, but I discovered that there were many people from that organization around Ye Feng."

At this point, Su Qi's voice lowered.

The dim-witted Mu Xinglan then thought of her life, which might be manipulated, and her fists clenched involuntarily.

“I was once captured by that organization. Even from 800 miles away, I could smell their stench.”

"The people in this organization didn't know that Number 18 was still alive, nor did they know that Number 18 had awakened her bloodline. Considering this, I didn't dare let Number 18 appear in their sight, and I left in a hurry with her."

"However, their presence around Ye Feng aroused my suspicion, so I followed Ye Feng's clues and eventually traced them to the Ye family in Pingnan City, and then to you, the Holy Maiden of the Tree Demon Clan..."

Mu Xinglan's mood, which had eased slightly, immediately became heavy again. After a long while, she finally spoke her first words.

"Is my life really being manipulated by them behind the scenes?"

Su Qi looked at her as she fell into grief again and pursed his lips.

"I... I only found a few suspicious traces. What I told you before was just speculation. There was no evidence to prove it, so it's hard to say."

Mu Xinglan realized that this was her way of comforting herself.

She smiled bitterly and wept.

"Pingnan City has been destroyed by them, not a single person was left alive, so what evidence is there?"

Seeing her sorrowful and resigned expression, Su Qi opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After a long silence, he finally managed to utter a sentence.

"You're so beautiful, anyone who sees you would fall in love with you. I believe Ye Heng might have been acting at first, but in the end he must have truly fallen in love with you."

These words, seemingly meant to comfort, were actually a direct attack on Mu Xinglan's sensitive spot.

Unsurprisingly, she exploded the next second.

He suddenly stood up and loudly questioned her.

"How can there be love in a relationship that's all deception?"