Chapter 391: If: Percy Returns 7

Chapter 391 if: After Percy Returns 7

Before Percy could react, the God pressed him down, and he fell backward onto the bed.

The bedding was as soft as clouds, made of silk and downy feathers. Percy sank into it, his pale cyan eyes widening in bewilderment.

The God said sternly, "You are my creation, my beloved child. Without my permission, you are not allowed to harm yourself."

Percy: "I—"

He lowered his gaze guiltily, offering a somewhat stubborn defense, "I didn’t harm myself."

The waist injury came from a stag's antler.

He wanted to say it was just an accident, to defend himself further, but the God had already yawned sleepily and lay down beside him—unceremoniously resting his head on Percy’s arm.

The Elven King stiffened, unsure where to place his hands. The God's silver hair spilled over the back of his hand as he lay on his side, quietly watching Percy. His nose was barely eight inches away, his gaze as cool as moonlight.

The God said, "Sleeping on a tree trunk is harming yourself."

Percy pursed his lips, not daring to meet his eyes. Then he heard the God added, "Getting hit by a deer’s antler and not healing first, instead racing here and reopening the wound—that’s also harming yourself."

"..."

As he spoke, Elu reached out, sweeping aside the Elven King's fallen golden locks, tucking them behind his ear. "Percy, I labored intensely when crafting you back then. You should treat yourself better."

The God had poured boundless care into crafting this body with meticulous thought. Elu truly didn’t want to see it injured.

Especially since the spirit dwelling within was so precious.

The God’s fingertips brushed against his cheek, ticklish. Percy finally dared to glance at him, hesitating for a long moment before venturing softly, "Mother Goddess, did you skip the Full Moon Festival due to slumber?"

Elu: "Yes."

Percy: "From the moment I assumed the throne, you stopped appearing. Was that… an accident?"

Elu: "Yes."

Percy inhaled softly. "So… you’ve never, from the very beginning, held me in contempt?"

This question had weighed on him for far too long, nearly buckling him. Only now did Percy dare to confirm with the Mother Goddess—that the God had never loathed him.

Elu: "Of course."

Percy let out a long exhale, while Elu queried, baffled, "We’re already sharing a bed, and you’re only realizing this now? Do elves bed down with those they scorn?"

"..."

Percy spluttered. "No, Mother Goddess. Elves never share sleeping quarters."

Elu: "Is that so..."

They drifted through more idle talk before Elu's voice grew faint, his eyelids drooping shut.

Percy couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. Afraid of disturbing the Mother Goddess with sudden movements, he remained still, turning his gaze toward the barrier outside.

There, the leaves of the Mother Tree swayed gently, rustling softly, their veins coursing with golden luminescence that flickered with the wind.

Then suddenly, a leaf unexpectedly drooped right in the center.

Percy stiffened, only to see the leaf brimming with dew, the droplets converging toward the middle to form letters.

He went rigid.

The Mother Goddess of another world was contacting him?!

But the God was sleeping in his arms!

Nothing had actually happened—he was merely being used as a pillow—yet the mere thought of how he and Elu looked right now made Percy turn red as if his blood had rushed to his face. His skin turned pink, and the tips of his ears turned bright red, as if boiled.

As the water mirror neared completion, Percy could no longer worry about disturbing the Mother Goddess. He pulled his arm out from under her, dashed forward, and positioned himself directly in front of the forming mirror, blocking Elu behind him.

Almost at the same moment, Elu's face appeared in the water mirror.

The God's eyes crinkled as the words shifted quietly: "Good evening, Fairy King. How's it going?"

Percy pressed his lips together and moved closer, blocking more completely. He lowered his voice, "Thank you for your concern. I'm doing fine."

Elu: "Are you still sleeping on tree trunks? Pine Mountain's heading into winter, and the forest will see heavy snowfall. Even for an elf, you could catch a cold. My Percy worked himself too hard recently and fell ill, coughing nonstop—I had to drag him back to rest. You should be careful too."

"Mm... mm."

Percy was terrible at lying. He looked away guiltily.

—He wasn’t sleeping on tree trunks. He lived in the Mother Goddess’ home, slept in her bed.

But of course, he couldn’t say that to the Elu in the water mirror. He quickly changed the subject: "Was there anything else you needed?"

Before he could finish, Elu narrowed his eyes slightly.

His gaze drifted behind Percy, and he raised an eyebrow.

Having resided within the Mother Tree for centuries, the God knew every detail of its interior. There was no way Elu wouldn’t recognize where Percy was standing.

Thus, the God's look at the Elven King grew more knowing. He glanced at the little Percy in the mirror, then at the real Percy beside him, and suddenly sighed. "I was worried you might be too reserved, too dense to catch on. But appearances can be deceiving—your progress is even faster than my Percy’s. How many days has it been? And you’re already living here."

As he spoke, he poked his own Percy. "Look at his progress. Learn from him!"

"......"

"......"

The Percy in the mirror sighed helplessly, while the Percy outside it was rendered speechless.

Though the real Percy was still innocent, he had been on the God’s bed and confiscated "illicit" books from the clan. He knew exactly what Elu meant by "progress." His face flushed faintly, and he instinctively took a step back, protecting the Mother Goddess’ honor. "That’s not the case, Mother Goddess. You’ve misunderstood. It’s simply that I had nowhere else to go, and the Mother Goddess took pity and sheltered me. Nothing else happened."

Elu: "Oh~, I see. So it was sheltering you."

That "Oh" was drawn out, loaded with meaning—no one would believe it for a second.

Elu: "Have you tried it? It’s very pleasant. My Percy liked it after just one try. Right, Percy?"

The Percy in the mirror: "......"

He let out a long sigh and went back to his work, opting to ignore the situation.

When it came to the Mother Goddess’ reputation, even the Mother Goddess herself couldn’t slander what hadn’t happened. The Percy outside the mirror was about to argue further when he heard rustling behind him.

On the bed, the sleeping Elu turned slightly, one hand reaching out as if dissatisfied that the "body pillow" had run away on its own, his brows furrowing in his sleep.

Percy stiffened.

He stared unblinkingly at the god, watching as his eyelids fluttered slightly, as if he were about to wake from deep slumber.

Elu in the water mirror: "Just right. You're shy, but I'm not. I can ask myself..."

Before the words could fully form, seeing that the god was about to awaken, Percy suddenly grabbed a nearby blanket and threw it over the water mirror, covering it completely.

Elu in the water mirror: "?"

???

Though he wasn't the Mother Goddess Percy mentioned, he was still a mother goddess himself!

The blanket was heavy and thick, weighing down the branches supporting the water mirror until they tilted precariously. Elu stabilized it with mana, only to discover the blanket was completely opaque—he couldn’t see anything happening inside.

"..."

With no show left to watch, Elu had no choice but to leave.

Meanwhile, the half-awakened god on the bed finally managed to grab hold of his "body pillow." Elu lifted his eyelids: "Percy, where did you go? Who were you talking to just now?"

Percy choked again, tucking himself back into the god’s embrace before replying, "I went to the barrier to get some air... I wasn’t talking to anyone. It was just a bird singing."

"Oh." The sleepy Elu quickly accepted this explanation. Hugging his retrieved body pillow tightly, he soon drifted back into deep sleep.

Percy, however, felt far from at ease.

The Mother Goddess held him tightly, her body pressing and squirming against him, her breath tickling and warm against his neck. Unable to think clearly and too alert to fall asleep, he lay there for a long time before finally drifting off at dawn.

It was not a peaceful rest.

His dreams were chaotic—glimpses of Elu’s smirking words in the water mirror: "It feels good," "You’ll like it once you try," memories of being bound with hands raised overhead during transport, the Mother Goddess's persistent claims of "affection," the touch of skin, the breath against his neck...

He woke up startled.

The images from his dream lingered stubbornly in his mind. Percy tried desperately not to dwell on them, yet as soon as he opened his eyes, he found the Mother Goddess still wrapped around him, having never let go all night.

As Percy stirred, Elu woke as well, pulling him closer again: "It's not even afternoon yet. Sleep a little longer."

Percy: "..."

Desperate to escape the awkward situation, the Elven King respectfully moved the Mother Goddess’s arm aside: "The Withering still needs investigating, Mother Goddess. Please allow me to take my leave."

The Elven King always maintained strict decorum, and Elu was used to it. He buried his face in the pillow and relented.

"Remember to come back tonight. If I find you sleeping on a tree branch again, I'll spank you."

—A lie. Elu never hit children. He simply learned from folklore that this was an effective threat.

"..."

Who would have thought he'd still be scolded by the Mother Goddess at his age—like a child throwing a tantrum over medicine being lectured by their parents. Percy clenched his jaw and hurried away: "Understood."

Bow in hand, he vanished into the depths of the Withering.

Unbeknownst to Percy, the moment he left, a single leaf drifted down from the barrier, dangling directly in front of his Mother Goddess.

The leaf held a pool of dew, condensed overnight, now forming shimmering words in the air. Elu paused his movements, first furrowing his brow, then easing.

He gave a slight nod. "Hello, the other me."

The ripple of Mana was so familiar, identical to his own, yet it seemed to come from an infinite distance, bridging time and space.

The water mirror completed its outline. "No surprise, you’re still in bed."

Elu: "Why 'no surprise'?"

Water Mirror replied honestly, "Because I am too."

At midday, neither God had gotten up, both stubbornly staying put.

Elu in the water mirror: "."

Elu outside the water mirror: "."

Silence stretched between them. Elu gazed at the water mirror. "You bothered to cross time and space to speak with me. What do you want to say?"

Even for him, that took effort.

Water Mirror: "Your progress is too slow. Percy’s too timid, while you—well, I mean, you and I—are too lazy to move. At this rate, it’ll take forever before you two actually get together."

Elu blinked in surprise. "What?"

Water Mirror: "Do you remember the reproduction in inherited memories?"

Elu: "Of course."

Songshan’s Gods knew everything from birth—he certainly knew how living beings reproduced, though he had never considered trying it himself.

Water Mirror: "You could take Percy and give it a try. Hmm, it’s... nice."