Returning home stirred ambivalent emotions in Sakura. It was a lie to say she didn't miss her hometown—nostalgia for one's roots was universal among mortals. The true burden lay in fearing whether She Shu would still be there, and more importantly, how to explain her current predicament should their paths cross. She had probed Xiao Hao repeatedly only to discover he knew no more about his brother than she did. This mutual ignorance led her to assume the brothers must have turned against each other because of her.

To be precise, the relationship between Li Xiao Hao and Li Xiao Shu had always been strained from childhood. Yet at this moment, Xiao Shu was utterly unaware of everything: Nan Gong's deaths, his brother's marriage to Sakura in another world, or his sister-in-law's pregnancy. It wasn't until they reached the Sea of Souls that he began piecing things together through phantom figures appearing on cliffside. That revelation became his reason for vowing to protect Star at all costs—though how he ended up charging into a spider colony was something readers might have anticipated, driven by that same instinct to find Sakura.

Back in this world, Xiao Hao and Sakura followed Li Tai Zheng's instructions to the Shadow Manor. Old Uncle Ou opened the door with his usual grace, immediately recognizing the golden-furred monkey perched on his nephew's shoulders as a clear sign of their situation. He welcomed them warmly into the main bedroom that had been prepared.

Life at Shadow Manor was maddeningly static. The landscape remained unchanged day after day, only the weather offering glimpses of temporal passage. Sakura marked time through two things: her growing belly and her aging reflection in mirrors. It felt like conservation of matter—the more the fetus developed, the weaker she became. This physical exchange made her understand Li Tai Zheng's wife entirely, inspiring reverence that led to strange daydreams about bearing a stillborn child herself. She imagined giving her life for it as Li Tai Zheng did Xiao Hao—but no, it would be more than sacrifice; she'd have to rescue this child from the bloodthirsty legacy. Of course, these thoughts were all based on Xiao Hao's fabricated myths, since Sakura's understanding of "ghost babies" was purely speculative.

Time passed slowly until nearing the due date. One day, Xiao Hao returned with an elderly midwife he forbade Sakura to speak with directly. Sakura, ever amiable, found herself bonding easily with the woman despite his instructions.

The midwife loved reminiscing about her youth, and Sakura listened raptly whenever stories turned vivid—holding her breath at dramatic moments that earned her the old woman's affection in return. Their connection deepened daily through these shared hours.

On delivery day, Xiao Hao was absent from Shadow Manor. The midwife worked alone: boiling water, sharpening scissors, soothing Sakura's pain while monitoring cervical dilation. Progress was smooth—only three and a half hours passed from rupture of membranes to full dilation as Sakura screamed in agony.

"Push!" the midwife directed at each contraction cycle. "Breathe first, then push!"

When the infant's head emerged, she washed her hands before catching him gently, urging Sakura to summon one final effort.

A contented sigh escaped the midwife—"It's a boy!"—as the child slid free from his mother's body.

The newborn stared up with huge eyes but didn't cry. The midwife, decades into her career, had never encountered this. She tapped the baby's soles firmly according to tradition, but no wails followed. Instead, those unblinking eyes just continued regarding her like a ghost demanding unpaid debts from past lives.

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