Seeing the truth exposed, Li Xiaohao gave up any thought of bluffing his way through.

He changed into his slippers and walked into the living room, settling next to the Golden Fur Big Monkey.

One hand gently stroked the sleeping creature, while the other rested on the arm of the sofa, his legs crossed in a casual, arrogant posture as he addressed Yingzi, "I was born without a heartbeat.

That's why Father didn't bring me home to be raised alongside Xiao Shu." Yingzi’s eyes widened as she stared at Xiaohao, the surprise akin to seeing an alien.

Born without a heartbeat? Wasn't that a stillborn infant? How could someone without a heart grow up like a normal person? This was the most incredible thing she had ever heard.

Yet, the man before her truly possessed no pulse.

She had pressed her ear firmly against his chest herself, and had not heard the slightest sound. "You..." Yingzi intended to crush his arrogance with a barrage of questions, as she had done before, but found herself at a loss for words.

What should she ask? How should she ask? If Xiaohao were some stranger, perhaps Yingzi would have become a gossiping busybody, eyes wide, with an expression of disbelief, chattering away with the other neighborhood busybodies about domestic trivialities.

But the one delivering this earth-shattering news was her own live-in boyfriend, the savior who had pulled her out of the grief of losing her closest kin.

Now, the savior said he wasn't normal, and Yingzi suddenly found it terrifyingly hard to face reality.

If he wasn't normal, then what about her? They had already forged a shared identity through shared experience and life; she felt inseparable, believing only when the two of them merged could they live completely.

However, the other half of her soul had just openly declared he wasn't ordinary.

The news was too shocking; she simply couldn't process it.

Her eyes instantly reddened, and tear after tear slid down her delicate, rosy cheeks.

Xiaohao had always been straightforward.

He had planned to make a confession and then let her react as she would—whether crying or raging, he would abide by it.

But before his confession was even fully delivered, the heroine was already dissolved in tears.

This genuinely surprised him, and a pang of self-reproach struck him; he regretted thinking too little before speaking, making it difficult for her to accept the reality. "Stop crying, alright?" Xiaohao stood up from the sofa, pulling Yingzi into a tight embrace.

While gently wiping her tears, he spoke softly, "Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Tai Zheng, and a woman named Ling Hua.

They knew each other since childhood, growing up together as sweethearts.

Their families were neighbors and always on excellent terms, almost like one family.

If the Tai Zheng family had any trouble, Ling Hua's parents would actively help, and if the Ling Hua family needed anything, Tai Zheng's parents never stood idly by.

As a result, when the two children grew up, their families became in-laws, and Tai Zheng and Ling Hua became a loving couple.

However, the couple couldn't conceive for many years, leaving them lonely, so they tried many methods.

One day, Ling Hua was introduced to a certain fortune-teller, Master Huang, in the suburbs to pray for a child.

Master Huang gave Ling Hua a packet of incense ash, telling her to mix it with water that has no source and drink it; whether she had a child would depend on her own destiny.

Ling Hua followed his instructions, and ten months later, she gave birth to twins.

The couple was overjoyed and initially wanted to return home with both babies, but they suddenly discovered that one of the twins was different from ordinary infants.

That bizarre baby had no heartbeat but cried loudly, refused milk, and would bite human skin to suck blood when seeing someone.

Tai Zheng feared the blood-sucking infant would bring disaster upon the world when he grew up and attempted to kill him several times, but Ling Hua stopped him each time.

Ling Hua couldn't bear to part with the flesh and blood she had carried for ten months; she took the child alone and hid away in the countryside.

When the child was hungry, she fed him her own blood; when thirsty, she still gave him her own blood to drink.

This continued until one day she discovered she had become frail and could no longer feed him.

She then found a small house and sat down to pass away.

By this time, the infant had grown into an adult, capable of discerning good from evil, and he found his father and began living with him." After finishing, Xiaohao let out a long sigh, gazing at Yingzi in his arms with boundless tenderness, as if telling her that he was the kind, blood-sucking infant from the story.

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