Liu Yumei said she was very curious how Li Zhuiyuan would handle this matter.

This was the answer Li Zhuiyuan gave.

He asked directly.

All evidence pointed to Chen Xiyuan’s grandfather.

If it were true, and someone had come to kill him, why would he still need to hide his identity?

If it were false, exposing his identity to the Qiongya Chen family in exchange for clarity would be a worthwhile trade.

Of course, among all possible answers, a denial would be the most meaningless.

Because a denial equals no answer.

And the most cost-effective answer was the one Grandfather Chen gave at that moment: “Yes.”

Li Zhuiyuan was very satisfied with this answer.

Complicated problems, made transparent and simple, brought comfort to both parties.

Chen Xiyuan’s hand, holding the cell phone, trembled.

A moment ago, she was lying in bed enjoying snacks; now, she began to question her past.

She did not hysterically keep asking into the microphone, “Grandpa, did you hear me clearly?” or “Grandpa, don’t make such jokes.”

She knew that her little brother’s groundwork would not be without purpose, and although her grandfather was old, he was certainly not hard of hearing.

This question and answer, for all intents and purposes, sealed a fact.

The other end of the phone hung up.

A “beep beep beep” sound came from her ear.

After answering “yes,” Grandfather Chen said nothing more.

Chen Xiyuan’s arm dropped, her fingers loosened, and the cell phone stood on the ground.

She instinctively looked up at her little brother, then her gaze was burned away.

The calm surface of the water rippled with tiny bubbles, and this was only the prelude to the volcanic eruption below.

Chen Xiyuan took a deep breath, trying to numb her mind, to avoid thinking and getting caught up in emotions.

She lowered her head and murmured:

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chen Xiyuan said no more.

Li Zhuiyuan took two Xiting Cuibing from the packaging bag and handed one to Chen Xiyuan.

The young man didn’t like crispy biscuits.

More precisely, he disliked all foods that easily soiled his hands.

After eating the first one, Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand and scooped the fallen crumbs into his mouth.

Sister Chen had already finished her first one, eaten a second, and was now taking a third. She ate quickly, expressionlessly.

She dared not stop her mouth, fearing her eyes would not be able to stop.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and left the room.

He felt a bit tired and wanted to go back to sleep.

Many things in this world could be pursued with urgency and efficiency, but rest was not one of them.

Leaving the Bearded Man’s house, he returned to his own courtyard.

Grandma Liu was still sitting there, gazing at the scenery.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over, didn’t sit down, but said:

“I asked.”

Liu Yumei looked at the young man with some surprise:

“What did he say?”

“He admitted it.”

“Didn’t you ask him why he did it?”

“I wanted to, but I didn’t. I felt it wasn’t necessary. It should be his place to explain to me, not for me to chase him asking ‘why’ repeatedly.”

“That’s the privilege of the strong.” Liu Yumei picked up a tea pastry, brought it to her mouth, and took a bite. “We’re not strong, at least not yet.”

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t rush to respond; he knew Grandma Liu wasn’t finished, because Grandma never showed weakness in conversation.

Liu Yumei smiled, “But we can be crazy, though only once.”

With that, Grandma Liu pulled a set of keys from her pocket.

It looked like many, but upon closer inspection, there were only two, two ancient-looking keys, embedded with complex structures that even Li Zhuiyuan, a master of mechanisms, found astonishing.

Though they couldn’t be used for combat or defending against enemies, in terms of quality, they completely dwarfed the Julei Whip and Jiuhua Seal treasured in his Daoist temple.

Liu Yumei: “If everyone in the family is gone, there will be no one to regularly manage the things locked up in the house. Instead of leaving them there to find loopholes and escape, it’s better to invite fellow Jianghu members to help out, and have a ‘broken family’ feast.”

Li Zhuiyuan had personally witnessed the calamity of evil spirits that once erupted in the Yu family.

The Qin and Liu Dragon Kings, historically, had produced many more Dragon Kings than the Yu family.

Different lengths and qualities of history often lead to different outcomes for similar events.

Li Zhuiyuan had long suspected that the evil spirits sealed in the ancestral homes of the Qin and Liu families might be different from those of other Dragon King families.

Because when Li Zhuiyuan performed a “soul walk” in the university faculty dormitory building back then, he had detected something that Uncle Qin had temporarily moved from the ancestral home into the room on the third floor.

That was just the tip of the iceberg.

Thinking back, the most important and terrifying point was… that the fierce evil spirits suppressed in the family could actually be moved out.

Liu Yumei placed the two keys on the tea table.

Although no ceremony was performed, with only a few people in the family, the position of family head had in fact been transferred, so the house keys naturally had to be handed over.

Liu Yumei looked at the young man with anticipation.

When she was in charge of the two families, she had to consider their reputations.

Now that she was an elder, she could offer advice without reservation.

Since they wouldn’t let them live, they might as well die together.

With the keys in Liu Yumei’s hands, she wouldn’t dare to actually use them unless absolutely necessary, but she very much hoped the young man would nod.

Then, she would unhesitatingly “accept the order” and lead A-Li and A-Ting to carry out the family head’s command.

No refusal, no appeal to righteousness, no moral persuasion.

Li Zhuiyuan directly reached out and took the two keys.

Immediately after, the young man exclaimed:

“That’s great.”

Liu Yumei pursed her lips, the smile in her eyes growing more evident.

Previously, she was captivated by the boy’s astonishing talent; now, she increasingly admired the young man’s straightforward way of handling things.

Li Zhuiyuan fiddled with the two keys; one required activation using the “Liu Shi Wangqi Jue,” and the other needed the “Qin Shi Guan Jiao Fa” to be driven.

If the cultivation of the respective techniques was not up to par, even with the keys in hand, some areas within the ancestral home could not be opened or entered.

From this, one could also see the confidence of the Dragon King families.

The ancestors of both families truly did not worry about future generations being inferior.

Or, rather, in the eyes of the ancestors, if future generations truly decayed to such an extent, some areas within the family should not be touched by them.

Otherwise, like the Yin family, who could degrade the “Fengdu Shi’er Fazi” into the “Yin Jia Shi’er Famen,” the descendants of former Dragon King families might not even be able to enter their own homes.

Li Zhuiyuan: “I’ll decide when to use them.”

Liu Yumei: “That’s only right.”

The family’s mountains of gold and silver, Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t take or use right now, but the family’s evil spirits… by no means could they be considered an aid to inheritance.

So, theoretically, Li Zhuiyuan could indeed move the family’s evil spirits out, transport them to the enemy’s ancestral land, and release them.

Although, the consequences of doing so could easily lead to loss of control, creating an irreversible situation, essentially a mutual destruction.

But having a sword in hand means you don’t have to use it, but you absolutely cannot be without one.

The old lady was handing over the final foundation of the two Dragon King families to him.

Liu Yumei: “Get some rest; for now, your body shouldn’t be overtaxed.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: “En, don’t worry, Grandma, I’ll go to sleep now.”

Despite saying that, the young man didn’t go upstairs immediately. Instead, he went behind the house and placed the two keys into the Daoist temple.

When he returned, passing through the living room, he squatted in front of the straw mat and pressed it.

The little black inside responded, indicating it wasn’t dead yet.

“Hold on for two more days. When I recover, I’ll let you out.”

Upstairs, back in his room, A-Li was standing at the desk, drawing.

She was drawing a piece of land and the sea, with dark clouds over the sea; other details had not yet been put to paper.

Under the bed, Benben sat there, pouting and counting on her fingers, solving problems.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a basin and took a shower.

While showering, the young man heard the girl come and stand outside the shower room door.

She was afraid that he, in his weakened state, might suddenly faint or slip while showering.

After showering and dressing, Li Zhuiyuan felt another layer of cold sweat from exhaustion.

That copper coin indeed accelerated his recovery, and to some extent, it could be said that without its presence, whether he would have fully awakened was uncertain; there was a significant chance he would have become a vegetable.

But relying on it for healing, besides rendering his martial arts useless, the recovered body’s physical quality was genuinely poor.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that if he were to use this characteristic for healing once more, he might end up in a wheelchair after recovering from his injuries.

After returning to the room side-by-side with the girl, Li Zhuiyuan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

The sun outside was bright, but he was preparing to sleep.

Sleep came quickly; almost as soon as his eyelids touched, before he could even form a thought, his consciousness plunged into a soft chaos.

Before dinner, Li Zhuiyuan woke up, having slept well, yet still wanting more.

Holding hands with the girl, he went downstairs for dinner.

Benben, from under the bed, reached out, watching their departing backs without turning, her eyes misty.

After making dinner, Lihua forgot her son was still upstairs and went back to eat by herself.

After dinner, while sitting with her husband to cool off, Lihua glanced at the empty crib, immediately stood up, and, before the family’s dead spirits could come for the baby, quickly ran back to fetch her son.

Because of her carelessness, Benben, who should have “finished school” normally, was forced to attend two extra evening self-study sessions, and not for homework, but the kind where the teacher takes up class time.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan and A-Li sat on the rattan chairs on the terrace, playing chess under the starry sky.

As they played, the young man’s hand slowly became unable to lift, he closed his eyes, and fell asleep again.

A-Li went inside, fetched the young man’s light blanket, and gently covered him.

Then, she sat beside him and watched.

Actually, when the young man fell asleep in the afternoon, she had smelled a faint, soft fragrance in the room, lingering only near the bed, not even covering the entire room.

When the young man woke up, the fragrance immediately disappeared.

Now, Li Zhuiyuan had fallen asleep again, and the fragrance reappeared, clearer than before.

This was actually the “gift” left by the giant tortoise deep within the young man’s spiritual consciousness, gradually beginning to take effect, and not intentionally guided by Li Zhuiyuan, but rather its “natural volatilization.”

After all, both in terms of quantity and quality, it was truly astonishing.

Zhao Yi had noticed this detail back then; even though he knew this wave would bring him unimaginable merit, he was still consumed by twisted jealousy.

Compared to physical recovery, the repair of mental exhaustion was more difficult, and it also involved mending at the soul level. That battlefield had almost shattered Li Zhuiyuan’s spiritual consciousness, making it difficult for him to even ignite yellow paper recently.

However, now it seemed this would no longer be a problem; his mental aspect would recover faster than his body, and besides, he never relied on his physical body for sustenance.

On the distant village road, a car was parked.

Zhao Yi leaned against the car door, watching Li Juxiang bid farewell to Li Lan, who was by his side.

Li Lan’s visit was over; she hadn’t had time to sleep at home, and her son wasn’t with her.

But it wasn’t a regret; Li Weihan and Cui Guiying were satisfied and expressed understanding and support for their daughter’s busy work.

Zhao Yi accompanied Li Lan for a day, bored, he played a game of spotting inconsistencies all day.

As a result, he found not a single inconsistency.

Li Lan gave Cui Cui a ring, placing it on her finger.

Li Juxiang hurriedly urged Cui Cui to refuse, saying it was a valuable item and she shouldn’t accept it.

Li Lan twisted the ring’s groove, adjusting it to fit Cui Cui’s finger.

“See, it can be adjusted like this; it’s not valuable, just a craft item someone gave me.”

Cui Cui looked at the ring on her hand, smiling very happily.

Li Juxiang: “I really wish you could stay at home a few more days, like before, sleeping at my house.”

In Li Juxiang’s eyes, Li Lan was almost the salvation of her childhood.

Such a beautiful and intelligent person, who surprisingly didn’t despise her, was willing to be her friend and spend time with her.

Li Lan: “Don’t believe in those superstitious things. While you’re young, find another partner.”

Li Juxiang stroked Cui Cui’s head: “I don’t want to bother with all that anymore; I have Cui Cui, and I’m already content. By the way, you only talk about me, what about you, Lan Hou? You’re younger than me, you know.”

Li Lan: “It’s enough for me to have a son too.”

Li Juxiang nodded: “Yes, as parents, what more could one ask for than a child like Xiao Yuan Hou? It’s just a pity that he has a fever today and can’t come. I remember before, Xiao Yuan Hou missed his mother so much; when he took your call at Aunt Zhang’s convenience store, he was smiling so happily.”

Li Lan: “Yes, he used to be so clingy to me.”

Li Juxiang: “Lan Hou, when will you be back next time?”

Li Lan: “I don’t know.”

Cui Cui: “Mom, when I get into a university in the capital, you take me to college, and we’ll go find Aunt Lan Hou together!”

Li Lan bent down, caressed Cui Cui’s face, and smiled:

“Okay, Cui Cui, when you grow up, you must come find Auntie.”

Li Juxiang took Cui Cui home, walking quickly without looking back, fearing that if she walked slowly, her crying would be heard, and if she looked back, her tears would be seen.

After Li Lan turned around, Zhao Yi witnessed a standard “face-changing” transformation.

In an instant, she seemed to have shed her human skin and become another person.

This situation had appeared more than once on the person named Li.

Zhao Yi pointed to the second floor of Elder Li’s house in the distance and said, “Look, Xiao Yuan is seeing you off, hehe.”

Li Lan: “He’s overstuffed.”

Zhao Yi: “Auntie, get in the car. I’ll take you back to the hotel.”

Li Lan got into the car, and Zhao Yi turned the key, starting the engine.

The car had just driven out of the village road intersection and onto the main road.

Li Lan: “You want Xiao Yuan to die, don’t you?”

Zhao Yi: “Yes.”

Li Lan: “Then why did you come back?”

Zhao Yi: “I hope he chokes to death, drowns, or falls while walking and dies from hitting his head, but I don’t want him to be killed by someone else.”

Li Lan: “Why?”

Zhao Yi: “I don’t like Nantong. It’s all plains. Anyway, I think it’s boring without mountains here.”

Late at night.

Uncle Qin stood on the dam, his gaze asking if he should go up and carry Xiao Yuan back into the house.

It was autumn, and it was quite cold outside at night.

A-Li’s gaze fell on the figure approaching from the path in the moonlight, and she shook her head.

Li Zhuiyuan had slept very comfortably this time, even feeling a sense of mental fullness.

He knew he had slept outside, but even though the evening breeze was still blowing on his face, there was no chill at all; instead, he felt gentle and warm.

Opening his eyes, Li Zhuiyuan knew why.

Because a domain had unfolded around him, sheltering him, carefully stripping away the chill from the evening breeze.

Chen Xiyuan stood beside him.

In front of her, a lamp was placed.

Within her domain, even the slightest movement of tiny insects was under her control. Sensing that the young man had woken, she looked back at Li Zhuiyuan, who was still lying on the rattan chair.

An invisible pressure fell upon the young man, confining him.

It wasn’t overly forceful or harmful, but it was more than enough to suppress a young man who didn’t practice martial arts.

Chen Xiyuan extended one hand and placed it above the lamp.

Li Zhuiyuan knew what she was going to do; she was going to light the lamp a second time.

She had once told Li Zhuiyuan that if, in any future wave, she had to stand against him, she would inevitably light the lamp a second time in concession.

Now, she was fulfilling her promise.

What ordinary people valued and pursued most seemed so cheap to her.

Right here, she had not only tried to give away the Cui Di but now was even willing to proactively yield the opportunity to become a Dragon King.

Chen Xiyuan closed her eyes and spoke:

“Heaven above, Earth below as witness, mountains and rivers as covenant, four seas as oath, today I…”

As these words continuously came from Chen Xiyuan’s mouth, a faint blue-white flame flickered on the lamp.

Li Zhuiyuan’s gaze narrowed, and wisps of Fengshui Qi rippled around him.

The domain of the Chen Dragon King family was not the creation of an independent world, but rather the self-control over a certain area; its foundation was still this reality.

This meant that Fengshui still existed here, but it needed to be re-adapted to this unique environment.

Li Zhuiyuan hadn’t studied these, but his main body had researched methods specifically to break open the Chen family’s domain.

However, this method could only be used once, a single surprise attack to secure victory; otherwise, once the opponent had suffered a loss and was prepared next time, it would be useless.

Li Zhuiyuan used it.

Chen Xiyuan suddenly noticed a significant distortion and fluctuation in her domain, and pressure fell upon her, making her unable to speak her next words for a moment.

Li Zhuiyuan, momentarily freed, didn’t even get up from the rattan chair; his voice was solemn as he interjected:

“I, Li Zhuiyuan, light the lamp a second time here!”

The flame on the lamp immediately flared up, and then,

“Snap.”

It went out again.

Don’t panic, there’s another chapter tomorrow morning to make up the word count for this chapter.

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