(Chapter 2)

Three moons hung in the sky.

A sight absolutely impossible to witness in the Grand Azure World.

Pure and flawless moonlight cascaded down, blanketing the myriad mountains below as if draped in thick snow.

Yet amidst the endless mountain ranges, a rustling sound echoed, easily carrying for hundreds of miles.

Should an immortal be drifting through the clouds, gazing downwards, they would behold towering golden armored golems, each as high as a mountain peak, slowly trudging along while moving entire mountains.

There were also ancient, primordial beasts, each a thousand zhang in length, their bodies riddled with wounds. Without exception, they were driven by golden armored golems wielding long whips, serving as laborers, toiling tirelessly, dragging mountains along.

Occasionally, a few of these exhausted, primeval beasts, granted a moment of rest, would use a mountain peak as a pillow, falling into a deep slumber. The innate ferocity they once possessed had long been worn away by endless, arduous years.

This scene, in this world, could only be passed down through word of mouth, often distorted and far from the truth.

For no one dared to casually traverse the skies above these hundred thousand mountains.

Throughout history, there had indeed been a few upper five realm great demons who refused to believe the warnings. They were inevitably dragged down by countless golden armored golems, eventually joining the ranks of the laborious demons, becoming gigantic skeletons permanently slumbering within the mountains, even denied reincarnation.

Atop the peaks of those mountains stood a dilapidated thatched hut, with a vegetable garden behind it, a rare patch of green amidst the desolation. The hut was surrounded by a crooked wooden fence, and a gaunt watchdog lay panting faintly at the entrance.

A frail old man stood outside the door, facing the mountains, scratching his cheek, seemingly lost in thought.

Suddenly, the emaciated dog sprang up, darting forward and barking fiercely in one direction.

A torrent of gale-force winds, swirling like a dragon’s breath, swept forth, shattering a vast expanse of dark clouds obscuring one of the bright moons.

The old man remained unmoved.

As the cloud sea dispersed, golden armored golems, each wielding an exaggerated weapon befitting their size, some fashioned from the snow-white bones of ancient beasts as lances, rose from the earth surrounding the mountain.

One such golden armored golem hurled its bone spear towards the sky, a thunderous roar accompanying its flight, as if possessing the power to cleave the heavens and earth.

The spear hurtled towards two figures, mere specks in the distant sky.

The two visitors who had journeyed from afar both appeared in human form.

One was a tall, elderly man, clad in a crimson robe. The robe’s surface rippled, like a surging sea of blood, and fleetingly, contorted faces appeared, attempting to reach out from the crimson depths before being swallowed again.

The imposing elder wore a dark belt of unknown material, inlaid with shards of broken swords.

Beside him was a younger man with a youthful face, carrying a sword at each hip and a snow-white sword case slung across his back, revealing the hilts of three more swords.

As the spear hurtled towards them, the young man’s eyes burned with a fervent gaze, not directed at the weapon, but at the old man atop the mountain.

The red-robed elder merely glanced at the spear’s imposing force, and it disintegrated into dust, scattering in the wind.

The other weapons followed suit, shattering before they could even draw near.

The red-robed elder was somewhat annoyed, not because he was hindered by these attacks, but because he was angered by the old man’s poor hospitality. Sending only these golden armored golems was an insult. He should have at least released some of the old fellows from the underground prisons.

The red-robed elder sneered, “Old Blindman, have you been living on someone else’s land for too long? Have you forgotten who the master is? Are you just tickling me with these things?!”

With a single palm strike, he slammed a golden armored golem into the earth, causing a cloud of dust to erupt.

He continued his assault relentlessly, a series of explosive sounds echoing across the land as each towering golden armored golem was obliterated.

The small old man atop the mountain turned his head, “looking” at the two great demons standing at the pinnacle of this world.

His eye sockets were empty, like two bottomless abysses.

This small old man, known as the Old Blindman, was still scratching his cheek.

Logically speaking, if two cultivators of the same thirteenth realm, or even those few enigmatic fourteenth realm cultivators, were fighting on their own territory, unless an outsider brought an unreasonable weapon – and even those were few and far between, even counting all the worlds together, save for the Four Swords, perhaps a White Jade City, or a string of Buddhist beads, a single book – one would generally be invincible within their own domain, even capable of killing their opponent.

Especially after entering the first stage of the lost Second Realm, it would be “natural” to be suppressed by the rules of another world if one were to foolishly run amok there.

But the world was vast, and there were always exceptions. What was so strange about that?

For example, this Old Blindman, an outsider in the Primordial Wilderness, lived even more freely than the masters of the land.

Or, for another example, that stinky Daoist nose in the Grand Azure World.

The Old Blindman spoke in a raspy voice, “It would be better to talk to that fellow. As for you two, if you stand any taller, I won’t be so polite.”

The “young man” with five swords laughed.

As the youngest upper five realm sword cultivator great demon, he had participated in that earth-shattering battle, and even defeated a Sword Immortal of the Great Wall of Sword Qi, forcing the latter to become one of the gatekeepers of Upside Down Mountain.

He felt that the Old Blindman beneath his feet was indeed powerful, but not to the point of being lawless.

The red-robed elder’s expression shifted uncertainly, his ferocious aura almost causing the flow of time itself to stagnate.

But in the end, he merely snorted and turned to leave.

The young Sword Immortal great demon, renowned for his battlefield exploits, hesitated slightly, before a slightly anxious voice echoed in his mind, “Leave now!”

Suddenly, a tremendous pulling force enveloped the sword cultivator great demon.

The Sword Immortal great demon was about to seize this opportunity to draw his sword and test the Old Blindman, but he found the red-robed elder roaring, grabbing his shoulder, and throwing him into the sky.

Then, the red-robed elder waved his sleeve, unleashing a surging river of blood, attempting to sever the Qi dynamic that had already locked onto his junior sword cultivator.

Heaven and earth spun, Qi dynamics in complete disarray.
The crimson-robed elder, feeling the suffocating pressure of the Grand Dao upon his shoulders, his expression shifted. He waved his wide sleeves forcefully, causing streams of blood to coalesce into what nearly resembled a massive lake, and he spoke with a severe tone, “Old Blind Man, do you believe I wouldn’t obliterate your Ten Thousand Mountains right here and now?!”

The Old Blind Man ceased his cheek-scratching.

Just then, a voice of immense authority echoed throughout this vast “small world,” “Enough.”

The crimson-robed elder, filled with resentment, halted his actions, retracting his divine abilities, and the rivers of blood retreated into his sleeves.

The Old Blind Man reached out, seizing the Sword Immortal Great Demon and dragging him to his feet. Kneeling, the terrified young Great Demon found himself utterly immobilized. The diminutive elder reached into his eye socket, plucked out an eyeball, and popped it into his mouth, chewing. With a “ptui,” he spat it onto the ground. The emaciated old hound, drooling, darted forward and swallowed it whole.

The Old Blind Man stood, used his toe to kick the one-eyed Sword Immortal Great Demon into the air, and said, “This is for your sake.”

Silence returned to the world.

The Old Blind Man clasped his hands behind his back and headed towards the courtyard gate, gazing at the old hound, and sneered, “A dog cannot change its nature.”

Once again, he began to scratch his cheek, turning back towards the cliffside, feeling that certain areas of the painting needed some “ink” either removed or added.

He remained standing there.

The Old Blind Man suddenly frowned, hesitated for a moment, and subtly flicked his fingers, causing the golden-armored puppets, who had begun to stir, to resettle.

This time’s guests were an old man and a young woman, from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The Old Blind Man offered the weary young woman a smile that even he found awkward, likely appearing more sinister than pleasant to anyone who saw it.

Then, he turned to face the old man, and roared, “Chen Qingdu, don’t bother me! I’m not helping anyone this time!”

The Sword Qi Great Wall’s leader, the Sword Immortal, Chen Qingdu.

Chen Qingdu asked, “Are you even human anymore?”

The Old Blind Man replied, “Ask yourself, are *we* still human?”

Chen Qingdu nodded, “I am.”

The Old Blind Man was silent for a moment, then asked, “No matter how fierce the fighting between the two realms, can it compare to back then? At best, it’s just breaking that *one* even further. It was like this back then, and will anything change in a thousand or ten thousand years? Isn’t the world still messed up the same way? What’s the point? Perhaps it would be better to completely overturn and destroy it, returning it to a unified state.”

Chen Qingdu said, “It serves you right for being blind.”

The Old Blind Man suddenly chuckled, “At least I’m not a dog doing someone else’s bidding. Once the wily hare dies, the hunting dog is cooked. Not enough the first time? Want another taste? I think the reason you penal laborers ended up in this state today is because of you Chen Qingdu. I’ve been here for so long, do you know why I haven’t wanted to look north? I’m afraid that seeing the biggest joke in the world would make me laugh to death.”

The Old Blind Man pointed at the trembling old hound at the courtyard gate, “Look at you Chen Qingdu, how are you any better than it?”

The Old Blind Man shifted his gaze and said to the young woman with a hoarse chuckle, “Girl Ning, don’t be upset, this has nothing to do with you. You’re still very good.”

Ning Yao remained silent.

Chen Qingdu quickly left with Ning Yao.

The Old Blind Man sighed softly, losing all desire to admire the unfinished landscape painting. He walked to the courtyard gate, seeing the old hound flattering him with an upturned head and wagging tongue. The Old Blind Man suddenly extended his foot, heavily stomping on the old hound’s back. It immediately whimpered for mercy. The Old Blind Man directly crushed the spine of this incredibly resilient ancient Great Demon. Regardless, it would quickly recover with the young Great Demon’s eyeball.

The Old Blind Man muttered to himself, stepping into the courtyard.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall’s parapet.

The Great Sword Immortal sat cross-legged, while Ning Yao drank wine.

Chen Qingdu said calmly, “No need to defend me. Old Blind Man was the one most deeply hurt back then. So it’s not like the outside world says, that he lost his eyes in a battle with the desolate realm’s Ancestral Demons, but rather, he gouged them out himself a long time ago. One was thrown into the Radiant Land, and the other into the Azure Dusk Land. The reason I sought him out this time was to hear him say ‘I’m not helping anyone’ with my own ears. That’s good enough.”

Ning Yao nodded.

Ning Yao drank half a pot of wine, then turned to look at the Great Sword Immortal.

Chen Qingdu laughed and scolded, “Girl Ning, I’m not talking about you. Why don’t you go back to your own home? This is Old Chen’s territory; there’s no reason to be driven out by you, right?”

Though he said that, the old man still jumped off the wall and walked back to his own hut.

In truth, he knew the reason. That boy had practiced his fists on this parapet before.

Ning Yao took out a scroll from her sleeve, placed the wine pot aside, and then leaned against the parapet, unfurling that time-flowing picture. Was this the third or fourth time?

In the painting, the scene was in the Immortal Graveyard she had visited. A group of children were flying kites. A dark, gaunt child sat alone far away, appearing solitary. As some peers ran by, flying kites, they brushed against him, then squatted down, picked up a clod of mud, and threw it at him. Seeing the figure turn and run, the taller child with the kite laughed loudly.

Ning Yao extended a finger and tapped the painting, precisely hitting the taller child’s forehead. She muttered something.

Then, she withdrew her hand, simply watching the painting quietly.

There were many things within a foot’s reach, but she would only look at one picture each time.

She turned over, clasping her hands behind her head, gently swaying one leg.

Her affection for him had nothing to do with the paintings.

Having seen these paintings, her affection had simply grown stronger.

Her, Ning Yao, who she loved had nothing to do with heaven and earth.

Chen Ping An could foolishly practice a million punches for her sake.

But was that so impressive?

Ning Yao opened her eyes, feeling that even if she died a million times, she could continue to love him.
Xiao Dongmao told Chen Pingan that the undercurrents surging in the Great Sui capital would no longer affect Cliff Academy. The happiest was, of course, Li Baoping, who dragged Chen Pingan to wander around the capital. She took her Little Martial Uncle to her two favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants, visited famous historical sites all over the Great Sui, spending a full half a month. Li Baoping said there were still some interesting places she hadn’t gone, but after chatting with Cui Dongshan, she learned that Little Martial Uncle had just entered the second realm of Qi Refining and was at a crucial time when he needed to absorb the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth day and night. So, Li Baoping decided to set aside some things for later, according to the custom of her hometown.

Chen Pingan began to truly cultivate.

He used the pure Yang energy of specific times during the day to warm his internal organs and bones, resisting external evils and the intrusion of turbid air into his Qi Sea.

He used the pure Yin energy absorbed at certain times at night, focusing on nourishing the two acupoints that had already been opened and where his natal objects were housed.

Due to the refinement of the golden Literary Star, which was largely related to Confucian cultivation, Mao Xiaodong personally took out a collection of poetry and instructed Chen Pingan to read through the most famous hundred or so frontier poems in history.

Learning that Chen Pingan’s travels had been so far, yet he hadn’t even visited the ruins of an ancient battlefield on the two continents, and had only seen a group of monks chanting scriptures in a battlefield in the small Lotus Flower Blessed Land, she scolded Chen Pingan again.

The Night Wandering God True Form Talisman had been “locked up” by Mao Xiaodong. Otherwise, no matter how high the grade of the talisman or how slow the loss of spiritual energy, it would not be a good thing.

As for the method of unlocking it, it was Cui Dongshan who, after Chen Pingan told him in detail about the origin of the True Form Talisman, pondered and tinkered with it, and actually succeeded.

Cui Dongshan shamelessly said that he wanted to peruse that “True Traces of the Elixir Book” and was willing to pay the master one Lesser Heat Coin for each page he turned.

Chen Pingan did not agree.

Pei Qian accompanied Chen Pingan and Li Baoping on a few outings, but felt more comfortable at the academy. Walking around every day, leaving early and returning late, she was exhausted. It was much better to brag and play five-in-a-row with Li Huai in Cui Dongshan’s courtyard. Later, she found an excuse to stay at the academy. Chen Pingan felt that Pei Qian had walked such a long way, no less than them,

So, he let Pei Qian play and make noise at the academy. However, he would still check Pei Qian’s transcription every day, and have Zhu Lian watch over Pei Qian’s stance work and sword practice. Regarding martial arts, whether Pei Qian was attentive or not was not important. Chen Pingan didn’t particularly value it, but not even a single incense stick’s worth of time could be missed.

Mao Xiaodong often chatted with Chen Pingan, and one of the things she said was, “Laws and decrees are merely tools for governing a country, not the source of distinguishing between purity and turbidity.”

It was probably because Mao Xiaodong was worried that her Little Martial Uncle would inadvertently go further and further down the path of Legalism that she had to speak out to remind him.

Mao Xiaodong smiled at the time: “This sentence was not said by us Confucians, nor is it deliberately belittling Legalism to elevate Confucianism. It was said by a historically famous harsh official of the Central Earth Legalist School.”

Chen Pingan nodded in agreement.

In Cui Dongshan’s courtyard, Pei Qian and Li Huai often gathered together, flipping through those few novels of Jianghu knights, reading at different paces, so they often argued about whether or not to turn the page. Occasionally, Li Baoping would also watch for a while. However, Pei Qian and Li Huai liked to watch the flashes of swords, the flying of blood and flesh, and the soul-stirring life and death struggles.

Li Baoping also watched these, but preferred to look at those characters who might not even have names, pondering why this person would be in this place in the book, saying these words and doing these things.

One day, Zhu Lian took out a stack of his own manuscripts, which were excerpts of misfortunes happening to female knights, being abused by the famous and unknown martial artists in the Jianghu, and Yu Lu, who secretly read it, thought it was a masterpiece.

Zhu Lian felt that Yu Lu was indeed his confidant, and they were extremely compatible.

In Cui Dongshan’s study, it was piled with ancient paintings full of immortal Qi, with birds singing and flowers fragrant, empty mountains after new rain, and old men fishing in the cold river.

As a result, that night, Li Huai and Pei Qian “added legs to the snake,” arbitrarily doodling on these handed down masterpieces, greatly spoiling the scenery.

For example, Pei Qian drew birdcages on the birds, crooked and clumsy, inspired by the phoenix cage of Miss Liu of Qingluan Kingdom.

Li Huai drew a monster fish bigger than the boat next to the fisherman in a straw cloak on a lone boat.

Cui Dongshan was not angry after seeing it.

One day, Cui Dongshan took out a strange court painting, “Skeletons and Ghosts Enjoying the Cool,” leisurely, saying that he wanted to broaden Pei Qian’s horizons.

Pei Qian looked carefully, and as a result, a skeleton suddenly became larger, almost breaking through the painting, scaring Pei Qian almost out of her wits, and she could only sit there in a daze, crying silently.

Even when she saw Chen Pingan, she just pursed her lips.

As a result, Cui Dongshan was chased and beaten by Chen Pingan, with fists and feet, cursing loudly, with all sorts of swear words, even the local dialect of Longquan County came out of his mouth. Grabbing a broom, he smashed it on the back of Cui Dongshan’s head, Cui Dongshan flew out and pretended to be dead, barely escaping.

Cui Dongshan would occasionally say some serious things.

One day, a group of people somehow started talking about the lifespan of people. Cui Dongshan smiled and said, “You should know about snakes shedding their skin, right? You grew up in the countryside, you should have seen a lot.”

Chen Pingan nodded, and Li Baoping, Pei Qian, and Li Huai also nodded.

Cui Dongshan smiled and said, “If we say that the soul of a person is the foundation, and the rest of the skin, flesh, and bones are clothes, then guess how many ‘human skin clothes’ an ordinary person will change in his life until he is sixty years old?”

Pei Qian felt that this statement was a little creepy.

Cui Dongshan smiled and held out one finger.

Pei Qian widened her eyes, “Ten pieces?”

Li Baoping frowned, “One hundred?”

Li Huai was purely trying to find fault, he liked to argue with Li Baoping and Pei Qian, and said carelessly, “One thousand!”

Cui Dongshan nodded and said, “In his life, a person will unknowingly change one thousand human skin clothes.”

Cui Dongshan continued, “Plus those Qi Seas and acupoints that are infinitely in harmony with the heavens and the earth, so all sentient beings in the world, after becoming spirits, are willing to transform into human form.”

“The imperial porcelain of your hometown dragon kiln is so fragile and vulnerable, most afraid of bumps, why does His Majesty the Emperor still order people to burn it? Why not directly take the mud from the mountain, or a pottery pot with a more ‘robust’ body?”

Li Huai said with a smile, “It’s good-looking, and it’s worth money. Cui Dongshan, why would you ask such a brainless question?”
Cui Dongshan chided, “Right, right, you’re the only one with brains. You look like a tiger cub, acting all dimwitted.”

Li Huai stuck out his tongue, grinning mischievously. “Won’t listen, won’t listen, it’s just a tortoise chanting scriptures.”

Chen Ping’an smiled knowingly.

One day, Chen Ping’an sat in the corridor of Cui Dongshan’s courtyard, took out the Sword-Nourishing Gourd but didn’t drink. He pressed his palm against the gourd’s mouth, gently shaking the wine container.

The small courtyard was temporarily deserted, a rare moment of peace.

After refining the Water and Metal Natal Objects, refining the third Natal Object of the Five Elements had become an unavoidable hurdle.

However, according to Zhang Shanfeng, three Natal Objects were enough for ordinary Qi Refiners. One for offense, one for defense, and the last to help the Qi Refiner absorb spiritual energy faster was already a considerable achievement for cultivators below the Earth Immortal stage.

Regarding the flying swords Initial One and Fifteenth, whether they could be refined into Chen Ping’an’s own Natal Objects, Cui Dongshan spoke ambiguously, only saying that the Nascent Soul sword cultivator’s Fire-Departing Flying Sword, even if Xie Xie successfully refined it into a Natal Object after being gifted it, it would be vastly different from a sword cultivator’s Natal Flying Sword, seemingly similar but actually worlds apart, rather like chicken ribs. However, the so-called “chicken ribs” were in comparison to cultivators above the Fifth Realm. For ordinary Earth Immortals, having the opportunity to strip an Earth Immortal sword cultivator of their Natal Flying Sword and make it their own was still something to be grateful for.

Fire, Earth, Wood.

The remaining three Natal Objects.

Chen Ping’an had long abandoned the idea of using the Five-Colored Soil of the Great Li Dynasty as a Natal Object.

The old Daoist of the Daoist temple had once had the little Daoist boy carrying the giant gourd deliver a message, mentioning that Ruan Xiu’s Fire Dragon could be refined. But Chen Ping’an hadn’t lost his mind. Not to mention engaging in such a heinous act, Chen Ping’an already felt helpless just thinking about the way Ruan Qiong looked at him like a thief. He feared that if Ruan Qiong knew of such thoughts, the Martial Saint would directly use his sword-forging hammer to pound him into a pulp.

So, he would put aside the thought of the Five Elements Fire for now.

Therefore, what remained was Wood.

Chen Ping’an actually had some ideas, namely the old locust tree that had been chopped down, but it had been divided up by the common people at the time. The locust wood sword left in the Sword Qi Great Wall was one of the locust branches that he had asked Little Treasure Bottle to bring back back then.

Song Jixin had spoken of the changes in his hometown. Obviously, the people in the small town were now more astute than ever, and the Package Shop in Ox Horn Mountain had a keen eye. There might not be any opportunities for Chen Ping’an to find bargains.

Chen Ping’an scratched his head in worry.

He leaned back.

He was now a pure Martial Artist at the peak of the Fifth Realm.

A Qi Refiner of the Second Realm – the beginning was the hardest, and Chen Ping’an himself knew best how hard-won this Second Realm was.

A sword immortal carrying a semi-Immortal weapon found it difficult to draw his sword unless it was a desperate gamble.

The Sword-Nourishing Gourd contained two flying swords. Fifteenth of the Natal Underworld was fine, but Initial One was already close to rebelling. Being of the same mind with Chen Ping’an, it clamored almost every day to devour the last and largest piece of the Dragon Slaying Platform.

Wearing the Dharma Robe Jin Li, fortunately, it was fine to wear it before the Seventh Realm, and it could instead help quickly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. To a large extent, it made up for the fatal flaw in Chen Ping’an’s cultivation talent after the Long Life Bridge was broken. However, every time he inspected his Qi Palace with internal vision, the green-clothed children formed from the Water Vein still looked at him with resentment. Clearly, they were resentful of the fact that the spiritual energy of the Water Mansion was often insufficient to meet the demand, leaving them in an embarrassing situation where even a clever woman couldn’t cook without rice, so they were particularly aggrieved.

However, the Confucian scholar manifested by the Golden Literary Acumen gave Chen Ping’an some unexpected joy. Riding the Fire Dragon formed from pure true Qi, he strutted around every day, carefree and happy, helping Chen Ping’an patrol his own little world. This helped his soul, helping Chen Ping’an expand his meridians. Moreover, the chronic illnesses and impurities left over from the many great battles, the turbid and foul Qi hidden deep in his soul, were being cleared away by the little scholar riding the Fire Dragon, like a great general, single-handedly storming the walls and conquering the fortresses, diligently wiping out the remnant bandits hiding in the deep mountains and old forests.

However, it and the Fire Dragon were clearly not on good terms with the green-clothed children in the Water Mansion, who were also diligent in managing their homes, and the two sides had already adopted a posture of never interacting with each other.

After finally becoming a Qi Refiner with great difficulty, Chen Ping’an was actually a little lost for the first time.

He had to make choices.

For the sake of survival, Chen Ping’an would not hesitate to practice boxing stances and endure hardships.

But now that his life was not in danger, he could immediately enter the Sixth Realm today if he wanted to. Like those from wealthy families who worried about earning gold or silver, this made Chen Ping’an very uncomfortable.

At heart, he was used to being a pauper, always feeling that a bag of copper coins tightly held in his hand, or the thin layer of rice in the rice jar, was what truly belonged to him.

Even if he had a mountain of gold and silver beside him, he still felt that even if they were his today, they would belong to someone else tomorrow after he woke up.

Chen Ping’an knew that this was not right, but old habits die hard. In this matter, he couldn’t say that he was not making progress, but it was ultimately slow.

In fact, over the past few years, Chen Ping’an knew that many things had changed a lot. For example, he felt awkward not wearing straw sandals and changing into boots, and he almost couldn’t walk. For example, when he wore the Dharma Robe Jin Li and had a jade hairpin in his hair, he always felt like the monkey in a hat described in books. And for the dream he once told Lu Tai, he would buy many useless things that cost a lot of silver, wanting to have a grand new home in Dragon Spring County one day.

Chen Ping’an crossed his legs and gently swayed them.

The Lotus Little Man peeked out from under the ground, and then scurried up the steps before perching on Chen Ping’an’s foot.

Chen Ping’an put his finger to his lips, signaling it not to speak.

Since Cui Dongshan first appeared in the village in Qingluan Country, the Lotus Little Man had hardly shown its face. This was what Chen Ping’an had asked it to do, and although it didn’t understand, it did as it was told.

The one-armed Lotus Little Man covered its mouth and nodded vigorously with a smile.

Chen Ping’an swayed his legs, and the little guy seemed to be swinging on a swing. If it weren’t for the fact that it kept covering its mouth, it would have already giggled out loud.

Whenever Chen Ping’an saw the cheerful Lotus Little Man, his mood became much more peaceful, and those distracting thoughts and worries vanished.

Chen Ping’an closed his eyes, but after a while, he noticed that his foot felt lighter. He turned his head, opened his eyes, and saw that the little guy was lying down and crossing its legs like him.

When Chen Ping’an discovered it, it narrowed its eyes with a smile.
Chen Ping’an lay on his side, and the little thing mimicked him.

Chen Ping’an began to shake his head and sway, seemingly muttering something, but without uttering a sound.

The little fellow followed suit, imitating Chen Ping’an.

Both the big one and the small one, in truth, didn’t know what they were chanting.

Chen Ping’an remained oblivious.

Outside the courtyard wall, Cui Dongshan leaned his head against the wall, his body forming a… slope.

Cui Dongshan understood why Chen Ping’an deliberately kept the lotus doll away from him.

Because in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, the carefree lotus doll as it was now was already the best it could be.

He didn’t even want to know, or was unwilling to know, if the lotus doll was actually rare, valuable, or of great use.

Therefore, Cui Dongshan felt somewhat stifled.

Because he really wanted to tell Chen Ping’an that the little fellow was truly, exceptionally extraordinary.

However, Cui Dongshan, for some unknown reason, considered it over and over again. Although he knew that whether he told him or not, the final result would be the same for Chen Ping’an, Cui Dongshan pondered it, and suddenly felt that perhaps it was better not to say anything.

Once Cui Dongshan understood this, his face filled with smiles, and he returned to his usual demeanor. He lightly knocked his head back, straightened up, and floated silently forward.

If life holds unhappiness, it’s only because you haven’t met me, Master.

Cui Dongshan was exceedingly cheerful at that moment, because if he used that line to curry favor with Xiao Baoping, perhaps he could avoid one less stamp imprint in the future.

And so, Cui Dongshan rushed away, arriving at the classroom window, winking and making faces at the little girl in the red dress.

As a result, he was met with an angry shout from the teacher.