Chapter 241: Back To That Key Moment ⑧

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Chapter 241: Back To That Key Moment ⑧

Shang Ke spent a month recuperating in the hospital before Yonis finally brought him home. On the day of his discharge, Monroe, Mitchell, Lucien, and many others came to congratulate him, and countless Dark Sentinels who had been following his condition sent armfuls of flowers and gifts. Although Shang Ke had been unconscious for three years, his status as the one Guide specifically compatible with Dark Sentinels meant that people across the country had never stopped paying attention to him. His awakening was unquestionably cause for celebration. For days, online media had been flooded with news and photographs related to him.

As public attention rose, the application for guardianship was also approved without difficulty. All that remained was for Shang Ke to recover fully and complete the Association’s testing.

The visits that had once been limited to once every three days became ten hours together every day after Shang Ke’s return, though another Guide still had to be present.

As a result, Leo had the good fortune—or misfortune, depending on the moment—to witness just how absurdly versatile his papa was. Cooking, carving, music, knitting, gaming, repairs, computers… There seemed to be almost nothing Shang Ke could not do. What Leo found most unbelievable was that his papa even knew how to sew! The cartoon outfit he was currently wearing—so cute it made him want to cry—had been made by Shang Ke himself!

“Keke, you gave my cake to Leo?” Yonis glared unhappily at his own son.

Leo took another huge bite of cake while silently complaining. With a father this petty, how had the man ever managed to win his papa over in the first place? What a failure of a human being.

“It’s one piece of cake. Why are you sulking? Here, compensation.” Shang Ke held a soft, fragrant fruit muffin to Yonis’s mouth.

Yonis accepted the feeding and immediately went from stormy to sunny. Then, for good measure, he leaned over and kissed Shang Ke on the lips.

Caught completely off guard, Leo was force-fed a mouthful of public affection, thoroughly contaminating his pure young soul. A slice of cake that should have taken seven or eight bites vanished in three.

One look at the frustrated desire on his father’s face and Leo was certain that, if he were not sitting right there, Yonis would immediately push his papa down on the sofa. Leo had certainly not missed the two deeply resentful glances his father kept sneaking in his direction.

Heh. Father, your son may look only two or three years old, but mentally he is already an adult. Every childish thing you do is going straight into your permanent record. Leo thought darkly.

His gaze shifted back to his papa, and Leo’s mood brightened again. Of all the things his second life had given him, the greatest blessing was probably that Shang Ke had survived.

Whatever unfamiliarity Leo had once felt toward his papa had disappeared without him noticing. Some people simply seemed born with an irresistible warmth. Shang Ke never treated him like an ignorant child who needed to be coaxed or deliberately won over. Instead, he treated Leo like a person capable of ordinary conversation, always asking for his opinions and feelings on matters that concerned him. When cooking, Shang Ke laid out the ingredients and let Leo choose what he wanted. When they played games, he let Leo take the lead while he assisted from the side. Even when Leo deliberately pretended to be clumsy or stupid, Shang Ke never showed the slightest impatience. He simply found different ways to make him laugh and let him finish without pressure.

Around his papa, Leo constantly forgot that he was actually a fully mature adult inside. Somehow, without anyone teaching him, he had learned to act willful and spoiled. Every time he finished behaving childishly, he secretly despised himself for it—but he still could not help thanking Heaven for letting his papa live.

Half a year later, Shang Ke successfully passed the Association’s testing and regained guardianship. On the day Leo officially came home, seeing both his father and papa standing at the villa entrance waiting for him filled his chest with an indescribable sense of completeness.

That night, Leo slept in the same bed as both of his fathers for the first time. He had expected a warm, happy family night. Instead, it was deeply aggravating.

Although the two men deliberately kept their voices down and tried to restrain their movements, the steady, unmistakably rhythmic rocking still dragged Leo out of a sweet dream and back into a brutal reality. He had originally fallen asleep between them. When he woke, he discovered that he had been shifted to the far right side of the bed, while the large space behind him had become the private playground of two vigorous, thoroughly aroused men tangled together in the sheets.

“Mm… enough…”

“Give me a little longer.”

“Then be gentler. Don’t wake Leo.”

“That brat is such a nuisance. Tomorrow he’s sleeping in his own room. He’s old enough already—why does he still need to sleep with his parents?”

Leo, pretending to be dead: “…” He suddenly had a powerful urge to commit patricide.

On his very first night back with the family, Leo discovered yet another black mark against a certain someone: shamelessly horny at all times!

“Ah…”

Along with a short, low gasp, the mattress beneath Leo suddenly rocked hard. A succession of sounds that he would rather not identify repeated themselves behind him.

Enough was enough!

Leo’s psychic power went into overload.

Yonis froze in the middle of his arousal, his pupils contracting. Psychic power surged out of him and gradually condensed in midair into the form of a lion.

The pressure hit Leo hard enough to make every hair on his body stand on end, but in the next instant it vanished completely, replaced by a warm, soothing current. Leo slowly opened his eyes and saw a pale-blue figure—his papa’s spirit animal, Wave.

The entire psychic clash lasted only a few seconds from beginning to end.

Leo silently marveled that his papa truly deserved his reputation as Ta’s unique Rank-S Dark Guide. His control over psychic power was astonishingly precise.

Leo instinctively turned around—and saw something that made him want to gouge out his own eyes. His father was pulling out of his papa’s body, while the blanket had slipped to their waists, barely covering the important parts.

Leo desperately wanted to pretend he had seen nothing, or at least act a little more innocent and ignorant, but the uncontrollable twitching at the corners of his mouth betrayed him.

“Brat, tomorrow I’m finding you a teacher to train your psychic control.” Yonis yanked the blanket over Shang Ke and scolded Leo sternly. “Talent is useless if you can’t control it.”

If you said that at literally any other time and in literally any other place, I might actually take your advice seriously.

Shang Ke pushed Yonis away, quickly pulled on his pants beneath the blanket, straightened his robe, then sat up. “Both of your psychic powers are unstable. To avoid another overload, we should sleep separately tonight. Leo, come here. I’ll take you to your room.”

Yonis nodded solemnly. “Exactly. We definitely should sleep separately.”

Seeing that Yonis agreed, Shang Ke picked Leo up and left the room. Just before the door closed, Leo flashed his father a brilliantly sweet smile.

Yonis paid it no mind. He assumed Shang Ke would come back after settling the brat in his room. But he waited and waited, and no one returned. Only then did he realize something was wrong—and finally understand why the little bastard had worn such an infuriating smile when he left!

“Damn brat! You dare steal my man from me? You’re asking for a beating!” Seething with indignation, Yonis spent the entire night alone and unable to sleep.

The next day, Yonis kept his word and found Leo a teacher: Monroe, Ta’s strongest fighter and the man Shang Ke had once saved.

Monroe readily agreed. He was personally quite interested in Leo, such a rare little prodigy.

Yonis was also a Rank-A powerhouse, but his duties left him little time to teach Leo himself. Monroe was different. He had already retired and had plenty of time on his hands. There was simply no one in all of Ta better suited to the job.

And so, before Leo had even enjoyed more than a few days of happy family life, Yonis ruthlessly shipped him off to Monroe. His lessons were short because of his young age, but Leo still took ten thousand points of emotional damage and added yet another grudge against a certain someone to the ledger.

From that day onward, he devoted himself to opposing his father whenever possible.

Children always grew quickly. Before anyone realized it, three years had passed, and six-year-old Leo officially entered school, becoming an honorable little elementary-school student.

He showed none of the fear or discomfort ordinary children often felt in an unfamiliar environment. He behaved well, acted with unusual composure, and quickly earned unanimous praise from his teachers and support from his classmates, much to Shang Ke’s relief.

Unfortunately, Shang Ke did not remain relieved for long before Leo revealed just how unique his personality truly was.

“Leo, is this your classmate?” Shang Ke asked with a smile when Leo brought a little girl home.

Leo tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa. “No. She’s my girlfriend. She’s two grades above me.”

Shang Ke thought he had misheard. “What did you just say?”

“I said she’s my girlfriend.” Leo sat on the sofa opposite Yonis and poured himself a drink, showing absolutely no intention of entertaining “his girlfriend.”

She really was his girlfriend—and she was two grades older than him! Shang Ke stared at his son, speechless.

Yonis sat off to the side without saying a word.

The little girl was not shy around strangers. She politely greeted the two adults, then sat beside Leo with the prim dignity of a little princess.

Shang Ke took a deep breath. “Sit for a while. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Oh, so he’s a servant in your house?” the little girl suddenly said. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I went out of my way to greet him so formally.”

Leo gave her a sidelong look. “What’s wrong with a junior greeting an elder?”

“Status comes before age. That’s what my mother taught me. Our bloodline is noble. We’re completely different from inferior people like them.” The little girl lifted her chin proudly.

Yonis gave his son a meaningful look.

Leo stood up, his expression flat. “It’s getting late. I’ll have the driver take you home.”

“Weren’t you inviting me to eat at your house?” the girl asked unhappily.

“Mm. I just remembered today’s ingredients aren’t very fresh. It would be rude to serve them to you. I’ll invite you another time.”

The little girl finally smiled. “All right. Then we’ll meet again next time.”

After Leo sent her away and returned to the living room, Yonis finally spoke. “That’s the ‘girlfriend’ you picked? Don’t you think her values are a little twisted?”

“Mm. That’s why I’m breaking up with her tomorrow.”

“Next time, make sure you know what you’re choosing before you make a move.”

“This is called screening candidates early,” Leo replied without concern. “If I build experience while I’m young, I won’t choose the wrong person later.”

“Finding a partner isn’t about experience. It takes charm, ability, and luck,” Yonis advised in the tone of a veteran.

Leo glanced at him. “Father’s luck really is excellent.” As for charm and ability… do you actually have either of those?

Yonis completely missed the implication and curled his lips smugly. “Exactly. When it comes to luck, no one can beat me. Your papa is the best proof. So, brat, if you’re planning to use him as your standard for choosing a partner, I suggest giving up now. Otherwise you’re destined to grow old alone.”

Leo: What exactly is the point of having a father like this?

“Yonis, don’t you think discussing partners with a six-year-old is a little premature?” Shang Ke’s ominously mild voice suddenly came from behind them.

Yonis jolted. For no clear reason, a very bad feeling came over him.

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