An hour later, Qiu Ling cradled the child in his arms and smiled with satisfaction, not intending to let go anytime soon. Mn, even as a mortal child his beloved was so unbelievably cute. He couldn’t help but want to hug him to his chest until he had grown up one day.

Jing He, my Jing He … Wherever your mortal life will lead you, I’ll stay at your side and guard you. I won’t let anyone harm you or any suspicious people get close to you …

He looked at the extraneous woman who didn’t have any reason to wait further at the Zhong’s house but still stood next to the bed and stole a glance at him every now and then. That definitely was one of those suspicious people he should take note of. Why was she still here? And why was she looking over all the time? She couldn’t be thinking of stealing his beloved from him, could she?

Qiu Ling narrowed his eyes which only made the woman blush. Mn. Very strange. He chose to ignore her for now and instead turned to Jing He’s mortal mother. She was also watching him but it rather seemed as if she was afraid he’d take her newborn son away if she didn’t look for even a second.

Actually … this fear wasn’t without reason. Looking at the small, mortal form of his beloved and taking the dirty village into consideration Qiu Ling was indeed tempted to bring the child somewhere else. In fact, he even started to imagine how it would be if he was the only person at his beloved’s side for the duration of his trial. Ah, wouldn’t that be great? It would only be the two of them with nobody disturbing them.

Mn, maybe he should indeed take him away. It was just … how was he supposed to raise a child? He had no idea how something like that was done!

With a heavy heart, Qiu Ling had to admit to himself that he still had to leave the child with its mother. He passed by the neighbor and silently put the child into Madam Zhong’s arms. His gaze lingered on the little face. He hesitated for a moment, then he touched the newborn’s forehead. Golden light spread from his fingertip and the image of a dragon appeared on the child’s brow.

Qiu Ling retracted his hand, smiled and looked into Madam Zhong’s eyes. The woman didn’t seem surprised as if she had had a premonition the moment he entered her hut that he wasn’t the person he pretended to be.

Madam Zhong was quite perceptive regarding this matter. Not many people would have been able to tell that something about this supposed Daoist was off. As the dragon race’s king Qiu Ling’s magic was strong. Nothing could be gleaned from his transformed appearance itself. It was rather his bearing that had given him away.

Qiu Ling didn’t care if she knew or not. Considering that he intended to guard Jing He for the length of his mortal life, there might be future instances when he had to appear in front of his mortal mother. Wasn’t it better if she knew from the beginning just how special her child was? "I have to go now. Take care of your son."

The woman nodded. She watched him turn around but then looked back at her child instead. The golden marking gradually faded. Nothing could be seen of it anymore when the door closed behind the Daoist and her neighbor who had followed him.

Madam Zhong smiled at her child and gently tapped his little nose. "My son, how lucky you are. You’re blessed by the gods. Your life will surely be free of worries."

Just then her husband rushed in with a physician from the next town. Mister Zhong stopped in his tracks when he saw his wife with the child in her arms. Both seemed healthy but nothing could be seen of the neighbor or any other help. Well, at least Qiu Ling had made sure to clean the blood with his magic or the poor man might have fainted right then and there. He still couldn’t explain to himself just how his wife had been able to give birth to the child without any help.

The physician looked just as astounded. Mister Zhong had called on him late that evening, completely hysterical. He couldn’t believe that everything had just been a bad joke. He silently went over and took the Madam Zhong’s pulse. Everything was alright. She wasn’t in any danger, just a little weak. He took the child’s pulse, too, but still couldn’t find any problems.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Mister Zhong waited agitatedly for the examination results.

"Everything is alright. Mother and child are both well." The physician stood up and let his gaze roam over the two of them again. It could even be said that they were too well. How had both survived without any help?

Mister Zhong sighed relieved. "Thank you. Thank you!"

The physician nodded and with a last glance at the mother and child, he went home. He could only suppose that the two of them must have had unbelievable luck.

Mister Zhong sat at the edge of the bed and grabbed his wife’s hand. "I can’t believe that everything went well even without the physician."

Madam Zhong smiled. "A Daoist came by and offered his help."

"A Daoist?" Mister Zhong raised his brows. There was no Daoist sect in the vicinity of their village.

"He said he was a Daoist." Madam Zhong’s smile intensified and she touched the place on her son’s forehead where the mark of the dragon had glowed before. "He also said, that he was on his way into town. The gods must have blessed our boy."

The next town was many li away. Nobody would be on their way there that late at night. One would halt at a village and continue on the next morning. Whoever the man was who had saved her and her child Madam Zhong knew he wasn’t a Daoist like he had pretended. She didn’t say any of that though and just focused on her son.

"Let us name him Jing Yi. Jing as in spirit and Yi as in righteousness because he was born through the help of a friendly spirit and he should repay this favor to the people of our empire one day."

Mister Zhong nodded. "Zhong Jing Yi. A good name. Our son shall be named thus." He extended his hand and caressed his child’s head. He was sure that his Jing Yi would have a good life and he would one day see to it that others could also lead a good life.