"I turned the child Third Mother left behind after her death into a specimen, using a method a Jianghu Taoist told me. I placed it in a brocade box on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom. Every night, I had to look at it for a while before I could fall asleep."
Huai Rui continued in a hollow voice, "Perhaps the method from that Jianghu Taoist truly worked. Perhaps my love for Third Mother was too intense, or perhaps Haotian took pity on my Huai family.
"My child came back to life.
"I was ecstatic, caring for him meticulously, but he wouldn't eat anything except people.
"I had to find a way. If servants in the house disappeared, people would ask questions. If pedestrians on the road went missing, the garrison would investigate. So, I had no choice but to take him to the city's beggars—those who could disappear or die without anyone caring.
