A Promise

"M-master?"

A weak, shy, nervous whisper was clearly heard in Ling Tian's room.

Mu Shuiruo, who was happily being lovingly embraced by Ling Tian, suddenly became nervous as her face turned red.

Ling Tian gently ran his fingers through her long hair: "Little Shuiruo, you belong to me now and you can't regret it..." He smiled slyly, making Mu Shuiruo blush even more. He liked to watch this woman blush and become a bit shy.

"Mmm..." Still, Mu Shuiruo nodded happily; her face was a happy smile.

Ling Tian separated from her and went to open the door.

Mu Shuiruo made a small pout as Ling Tian stopped hugging her.

"Yinyin, what's wrong? Do you feel sick?" Ling Tian asked when he observed Lan Yin.

He had told Lan Yin that, although she could use her spiritual sense to see through everything, she should not observe other people's private lives, so she would have to respect people's personal space. She was a little girl after all, so some things should be avoided for now.

Lan Yin remembered very well everything her Master told her, so she knocked slowly, not knowing whether Ling Tian was awake or had already fallen asleep.

Lan Yin was nervous as she looked at Ling Tian; she was wearing a beautiful pyjamas to sleep that made her look tender and charming, like a pretty little princess.

"M-Master, c-can I sleep with you?" Lan Yin asked nervously.

Ling Tian nodded and carried her in his arms. Lan Yin did not resist and show a big, happy smile.

It seems that he could no longer cultivate tonight.

"Big sister, what are you doing here?" Lan Yin was surprised when she saw Mu Shuiruo inside. Her adorable little eyes saw Mu Shuiruo mysteriously.

Mu Shuiruo's face was completely red. Being discovered by someone still embarrassed her a little.

"Hehe, we were talking... little Shuiruo, do you want to sleep with us?" Ling Tian asked her as he walked to bed with Lan Yin in his arms.

Mu Shuiruo grew redder and could not bear it, so she ran out of the room, leaving a confused Lan Yin and a laughing Ling Tian.

"All right, little one, now go to sleep. You have to rest properly and not stay awake." Ling Tian arranged Lan Yin on one side of the bed, while he turned and settled himself on the other side.

"M-master..." Lan Yin whispered, clutching her own hands nervously.

Ling Tian opened his eyes and saw the face of Lan Yin. He smiled.

Ling Tian had seen this sort of face before when his little girl disciples were afraid and could not rest, when they were still very young. Even at the same age as Lan Yin, who is 10 years old, they still curled up next to him to sleep. Ling Tian could only let them do what they wanted until a few more years passed and he forced them to sleep in their respective rooms.

He knew what Lan Yin was feeling.

"Come, little one." Ling Tian raised his right arm along with the blanket, leaving a gap for Lan Yin to approach.

Lan Yin smiled and quickly curled up next to Ling Tian, trying to hug his chest as she dropped her head on his left arm, using it as a pillow.

Lan Yin smiled happily.

"Were you afraid?" Ling Tian asked her gently.

"Mmm..." Lan Yin nodded, holding her Master tighter. Her eyes blurred.

Ling Tian stroked her hair softly. Surely Lan Yin should have lived poorly and suffered greatly, so that trauma could not disappear overnight.

"If for some reason, I wasn't here, you can also sleep with your big sister." Ling Tian told her affectionately.

Mu Shuiruo would have no problem with Lan Yin sleeping with her: "She will be happy to sleep with you too. Don't be afraid."

Lan Yin nodded, "Big sister Shuiruo is very good. When she took me to my room, she took out many dresses that were hers when she was a child like me and gave them to me. She said they were her gift to me. She even showed me many things, like toys and other objects, and told me that if I liked some of them I could take them, that she would give them to me."

Ling Tian raised his eyebrow when he heard this. It seemed that Mu Shuiruo really liked Lan Yin.

"Do you remember your parents? Do you miss them?"

"Mmm... I don't remember them, but a very big person before he died told me that they loved me very much and that's why they gave their lives for me." Lan Yin responded after a while.

"I-I always slept alone outside in a small wooden house, while feeling cold and trying to cover myself with whatever I could find..." Lan Yin murmured weakly, remembering how she had lived her life for as long as she could remember: "But now, I feel warm and happy sleeping with my Master."

Ling Tian couldn't help but hold her tighter.

Such a poor, pitiful girl.

"Yinyin, you won't have to go through that anymore, understand? If anyone wants to hurt my Yinyin, they'll have to deal with me. I won't let anyone hurt you. We are a family now, so the family must take care and protect itself. I will take care of you and protect you forever. I promise you." Ling Tian gave her a soft, tender kiss on her forehead. He would take care of her from now on, giving her all the love and affection she did not have in her whole childhood, trying to fill that emptiness by compensating it with love and thus, disappearing the trauma and pain in her.

Lan Yin was happy when she heard Ling Tian. A tear rolled down her tender cheeks. She still believed this was a dream.

She had always lived alone, with no one to share her pain and suffering. Always working hard to be able to eat and have a space to sleep at night, as she understood from a very young age that if she did not work and do what people told her to do, they would not give her food and would not allow her to sleep in that wooden house.

Although Ling Tian was now her Master, he was like a big brother to her, like a father, whom she always wanted to have. Someone who would be with her and love her, protect her and care for her.

Ling Tian would spoil Lan Yin like a child of her age should be treated, with love and affection, making her happy like a child should feel in her childhood.

"Master, I will become stronger so that I can protect you too!" Lan Yin lifted her snow-white face and opened her bright eyes as she looked at Ling Tian.

Ling Tian was moved and smiled at the amusing action displayed by Lan Yin, but he knew that, without a doubt, one day she would become a surprisingly incredible woman: an Empress who would rule the nine heavens and stand above all things and no one could harm her.

Her special physique guaranteed her goal completely.

"Um, um! No doubt, my Yinyin will be very strong and become a very outstanding and powerful woman, but for now, I will be the one to take care and protect Yinyin." Ling Tian patted her head gently.

"En!" Lan Yin nodded happily, unable to suppress her happiness at having a family now.

"All right, little one! Now go to sleep!" Ling Tian said.

Lan Yin nodded and closed her eyes as a smile still formed on her small face.

It was not long before Ling Tian felt Lan Yin's breathing slowly stabilize at a normal, steady pace. She was already in the paradise of dreams.

Ling Tian looked at the small ruby in his hand, remembering Mu Shuiruo.

The words, gestures, and actions she made were no doubt from her heart, and she did not hesitate to leave him even though he told her he was a bad person.

Mu Shuiruo deserves the best in the world, so he would try to make her happy no matter what.

Ling Tian took a small jade box from inside his space ring and opened it. He carefully placed the ruby in that small jade box.

Inside the box, there was another small ruby similar in appearance to the one Mu Shuiruo gave her. It was the ruby Yun Mengxin had given him.

There were two rubies in the jade box.

After watching them for a while, he took the jade box and placed it in his space ring.

Now, he already had two women who loved him.