The next morning, the sun rose over the horizon.
Lou Yue was still half-asleep when her ears were assaulted by a clamorous burst of gongs and drums.
Boom boom clang—
Clatter clatter—
Her brows drew together slightly.
Which family was holding a wedding? Why make such a grand spectacle? Judging by the noise, there had to be at least dozens of people beating gongs and drums.
It was someone else’s happy occasion, so she would just have to put up with the disturbance.
But instead of fading into the distance, the din grew louder and louder, as though it had stopped right outside the inn.
The deafening gongs and drums robbed Lou Yue of the last of her drowsiness. She had just sat up when someone knocked on the door.
Assuming it was Liufeng Xin or Hong Chou, she walked over and opened it.
A familiar, monkey-like face stood outside.
“Young Master!” Little Qiu broke into the same clever, ingratiating smile Lou Yue had seen the first time they met.
Lou Yue couldn’t help curving her lips. “What brings you here?”
“Master knew you were in Heyu City, so he specifically sent me to bring you home!”
Lou Yue paused. How had Lou Chengfeng found out she was in Heyu City? She turned to look at Xuanba, who was perched by the edge of the bed.
Xuanba leisurely climbed down. “He’s been chasing me around reciting scriptures all day. If you didn’t come back soon, he was going to flip my shell off.”
“Master even went and caught two flying beasts to pull the carriage. We’ll be home in a little over an hour. He really does miss you. And in a few days, it will be Madam’s memorial day as well.”
In the end, Lou Yue agreed. “I still have two friends.”
By the time the three of them and Little Qiu went downstairs and reached the inn’s entrance, Lou Yue immediately wanted to turn around and go back inside.
Two perfectly ordered lines of people stood outside the inn. Every one of them wore bright red wedding robes. Some beat gongs, others beat drums, and the air was overflowing with festive cheer.
At the very center stood two snow-white spirit beasts. They resembled horses, except that a pair of wings grew from each of their backs. Upon closer inspection, one had a huge swelling around its eye and nose, while the other’s foreleg was wrapped in thick bandages made from bright red cloth.
They pulled a carriage with a raised seat, its four sides draped in hazy red gauze that swayed gently in the breeze.
With that procession, those vivid red outfits, and the thunderous gongs and drums, anyone passing by would have to marvel at the grandeur of the welcoming party.
“If I refuse now, is it still too late?” Lou Yue gritted her teeth as she stared at the procession, whose members began beating their instruments even more enthusiastically upon seeing her.
Liufeng Xin and Hong Chou had already walked past her.
Liufeng Xin dashed over, lifted the red gauze, and ducked inside. She touched this and examined that. “Wow, how impressive! Uncle is way too thoughtful!”
Hong Chou still moved with her usual swaying, alluring grace, but her footsteps were clearly half a beat faster than usual.
Little Qiu smiled at Lou Yue.
Left with no choice, Lou Yue followed them.
Fortunately, the gong and drum players had only been hired for the occasion. If they had really played all the way home, she might have shut herself away on the spot.
Little Qiu even offered an explanation. Master had specifically instructed them to put on a grand ceremony, make it festive and lively, and ensure that she felt as sweet and happy as if she had drunk honeyed water.
Lou Yue: No sweetness whatsoever. Only a mask of agony.
A little over an hour later, the flying carriage descended onto a lush, spirit-energy-rich hillside.
The original novel had never mentioned the original host’s home, and Lou Yue had none of the original host’s memories, so this place was just as unfamiliar to her as it was to Liufeng Xin and Hong Chou, who were visiting for the first time.
Little Qiu, however, took on the role of tour guide.
“This mountain contains a spirit-stone mine, so the spirit energy is denser than elsewhere. ‘Good Things Brewing’ is at the summit. Oh, ‘Good Things Brewing’ is the name of the residence. Madam came up with it herself.”
Lou Yue’s footsteps came to an abrupt stop.
The others failed to notice anything unusual. Liufeng Xin smiled. “That’s such a distinctive name.”
Little Qiu nodded. “Yes, everyone says so.”
Good Things Brewing was not a proper aristocratic estate with carved beams and painted rafters, nor was it a neat, orderly compound. Instead, it had been built freely along the contours of the sheer cliffs at the mountain’s summit.
Wooden walkways wound around the mountaintop, linking the various buildings perched along the cliffs and carrying a carefree, untamed charm unique to the wilderness.
The mountain wind swept through the corridors, setting the copper bells beneath the eaves chiming in harmony.
“Yueyue—!!!!”
A sonorous, booming cry rang out from in front of one of the buildings.
The voice echoed across the entire mountaintop before rippling into the distance.
Lou Yue: “…”
The next moment, a man dressed in a gorgeous, brilliant-gold Daoist robe appeared before them.
Lou Yue had only just gotten a clear look at his face when, during the moment she stood dazed, a powerful force lifted her straight into the air.
Yes, lifted her up—with both feet off the ground.
Lou Chengfeng held her beneath the arms and laughed as he spun her around several times before setting her down. He raised a hand to dab at the corners of his eyes. “Your father has finally waited for you to come home.”
Lou Yue stared at the face that bore a seven- or eight-tenths resemblance to her modern-world father’s. For a moment, she was dazed and unable to react.
Lou Chengfeng, meanwhile, was secretly delighted. His son had actually shown him enough consideration today not to punch him into the air while he was spinning her around.
Liufeng Xin and Hong Chou obediently greeted him. “Hello, Uncle.”
Only then did Lou Chengfeng notice them. A smile immediately spread across his face. “Good, good, good. You must be Shenshen and Chouchou, the girls Little Qiu told me about. Come, come. This is for you, and this is for you.”
He stuffed a storage ring into each of their hands. “Just a little something to celebrate our first meeting.”
Liufeng Xin curiously extended her spiritual sense into hers. The next second, she was so excited that she couldn’t speak.
“Th-thank you, Father.”
She only realized after the words left her mouth that she had addressed him incorrectly, and hurriedly corrected herself. “Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Uncle!”
Hong Chou, meanwhile, opened her mouth so wide it could have swallowed an egg. After standing there in a daze for a long while, she followed suit and mumbled, “Thank you, Father… Uncle…”
It was hard to blame them. Anyone who was suddenly handed a storage ring packed to the brim with spirit stones piled as high as mountains would be knocked senseless.
“Hahaha, what good children! Come, come, let’s go inside. Aiai is still waiting for you.” Lou Chengfeng took the lead onto the wooden walkway.
Lou Yue lifted her feet to follow. As she passed by Liufeng Xin, she heard her murmur, “I feel like… this is my first time meeting my parents-in-law and getting a gigantic red envelope as a new bride…”
Lou Yue: “…”
At first, Liufeng Xin and Hong Chou were fairly reserved and polite. But after only one day, they had already begun treating this place as if it were their own home.
Meanwhile, Lou Yue had become the guest.
For instance, at that very moment, she was lying alone on a bamboo couch covered with soft fox fur, while at a stone table not far away, Lou Chengfeng, Liufeng Xin, Hong Chou, and Xiao Aiai were playing a game of leaf cards.
Lou Yue had learned the rules after watching them for a few moments, but she had been pondering something these past two days and had no interest in playing.
Her gaze passed over Lou Chengfeng’s face and settled on the small platform ahead.
There was a rattan swing chair for two, a flower trellis covered in climbing vines, and a stone stele engraved with the words “Good Things Brewing.”
This place was clearly completely different from her home in the modern world, yet in certain minute details, she kept sensing an unsettling familiarity.
The name Good Things Brewing, identical to the name of her modern home.
The copper bells beneath the corridor eaves—exactly eight strings of them, no more and no fewer.
And the two-person swing chair, whose design did not seem to belong in this world.
She had tested the waters. Lou Chengfeng was not a transmigrator. He was a genuine inhabitant of the world inside the book.
Could it be… nothing more than a coincidence?
Lou Yue’s fingers turned the exquisite glazed box in her hand. Inside was a box of colorful marbles. She had found it at the head of her bed—or, more precisely, at the head of the bed in the room where the original host had lived ever since childhood.
She had always loved anything ornate and brilliantly colored, and she had fallen for this box of glass marbles at first sight.
She picked out a deep-blue marble and held it up to the sunlight.
The glass was clear and translucent. It seemed to contain an entire surging deep sea within it. When the light shone through, layers of fragmented blue rippled outward, as though the whole starry sky and ocean had been sealed inside the tiny sphere.
For some inexplicable reason, it reminded her of someone.
“Every time Young Master comes back, he plays with these glass marbles. No wonder Master says they were your most treasured things when you were little.” Little Qiu placed a plate of freshly picked fruit on the table before her and smiled.
At that, Lou Chengfeng glanced over and joined in the teasing. “I was the one who bought them, but he wouldn’t even let me touch them.”
“Ah, just thinking about it breaks my heart. I can’t go on, I can’t go on.” He dramatically clutched his chest and looked toward the other three. “Girls, aren’t you going to seek justice for your father?”
Xiao Aiai exposed him with a laugh. “Godfather, you clearly just lost all your stakes.”
Back then, after she and Lou Yue had said they were willing to come, Lou Yue had sent Little Qiu and a group of people to escort and protect her. Perhaps because Lou Yue had given him special instructions, Lou Chengfeng treated her like his own daughter.
After discovering her interest in commerce, he had even asked a friend to teach her. If Lou Yue had not returned this time, she would still have been in the city at the foot of the mountain.
Lou Chengfeng rose to his feet and deliberately drew out his words. “You’ve all learned bad habits from Lou Yue. I’m heartbroken. I’m going down the mountain to recover.”
With that, he vanished in a few swift movements into “Good Things Brewing” before they had a chance to react.
Xiao Aiai smiled helplessly. “Godfather must be having another craving for liquor. He’s gone somewhere to drink.”
Lou Yue placed the glass marble back in the box and sat up. Just then, Xiao Aiai came over and sat down beside her.
Two years had passed, and Xiao Aiai’s features had matured considerably. When she was silent, she possessed an air of nobility; only when she spoke did the lively charm of a young girl occasionally show through.
“Want to ask about your brother?”
Lou Yue saw right through her thoughts and raised the corners of her eyes. “You managed to hold it in until now. Don’t worry—he’s doing well. His cultivation has already reached the middle stage of the Void Refinement Realm. Once he reaches the Deity Transformation Realm, I’ll have him come find you.”
Before Xiao Aiai could say anything, Hong Chou interrupted with a laugh. “Aiai, did you hear that? She said, ‘I’ll have him come.’”
Lou Yue: “…”
Hong Chou was not satisfied yet. She fanned the flames further. “Your brother really likes Yueyue. The question is, what does our Yueyue think of him? Aiai, why don’t you help your brother out?”
Hong Chou thought Lou Yue simply enjoyed dressing as a man, and that her father called her “son” because of her current appearance. But Xiao Aiai genuinely believed Lou Yue was male. When she suddenly heard that Xiao Rangchen liked Lou Yue, her eyes widened in astonishment.
Lou Yue pondered for a moment before deciding to tell her the truth. “Aiai, I’m not actually a man.”
“For certain reasons involving my life, I have to appear as I do now.” She looked at Hong Chou as well, her gaze calm. “I hope you can keep this a secret for me.”
“I know, I know. I’ve heard about the Lou clan’s daughter.” Hong Chou had guessed that Lou Yue had disguised herself as a man because of her status as a cauldron talent as soon as she learned her real name. Even so, hearing Lou Yue admit it herself softened her heart.
She immediately raised her hand and swore, “I, Hong Chou, swear upon my soul that I will never reveal—”
“No need.” Lou Yue pulled her hand down. “I chose to tell you because I trust you.”
Hong Chou froze for a moment before reaching out and pressing Lou Yue’s head into her bosom. Her voice was sultry. “Yueyue, you’ve moved me so much~”
Lou Yue tried to push her away, but Hong Chou only held on tighter. Liufeng Xin hurried over and tugged at her, trying to pull Lou Yue into her own arms. “Let go! Who said you could hug her?”
As the two of them wrestled, they knocked into Xiao Aiai. Lou Yue finally managed to scramble to her feet, only to be pulled back again.
She was at her wits’ end. But her own mischievous streak had been stirred up as well, so she simply joined them in the mayhem, tickling them wherever they were most sensitive. Before long, the three of them had tumbled into a heap, their laughter ringing without pause.
At first glance, the scene looked almost scandalously intimate.
And that was precisely the scene Xiao Rangchen happened to witness when he arrived, weary and travel-stained.
Some time later, Lou Yue returned to her room.
Their horseplay had left her sweating all over. She went into the adjoining side room, intending to take a bath.
After closing the door, she removed her outer robe. Suddenly, she sensed something unusual.
Her heart tightened. She struck backward with her palm, but before the blow could land, a hand seized her wrist. At the same time, a powerful arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her forcefully into a broad chest behind her.
The familiar, crisp scent of frost and snow enveloped her.
Lou Yue froze.
Xiao Rangchen tightened his hold, his chest pressed firmly against her back.
He bent slightly and buried his face deep in the crook of her neck.
He had known beforehand that she was with three women, but seeing them laughing and playing together with his own eyes still left him deeply unsettled.
Only now, with her held tightly in his arms and her scent filling his senses, did the mad urge to possess her completely—to hide her away where no one else could see her—finally begin to retreat into the deepest recesses of his heart.
Lou Yue pried his arm away and turned around.
The man before her wore a hooded cloak, while a black veil covered the lower half of his face.
Beneath his right eye was a blood-red slash left by a sword.
Without thinking, Lou Yue raised her hand and gently touched the wound.
The moment her fingertip made contact, it was enclosed by a warm palm.
The veil obscured the contours of his face, but made his eyes and brows stand out all the more.
His brows were sharp as swords, the corners of his eyes keen, and his deep-set gaze cold and hard.
The emotions churning in those eyes were too heavy, too intense, as though they concealed a bottomless abyss.
“How did you get here?” she asked.
Xiao Rangchen pressed his lips together without speaking.
Lou Yue frowned. “You shouldn’t have come. If your movements are exposed, then—”
“Lou Yue.”
He cut her off, his voice hoarse as he spoke each word distinctly. “I missed you.”
Lou Yue’s breathing faltered.
Xiao Rangchen gazed at the person before him.
Originally, he had not intended to reveal himself. But after seeing her laughing and playing with three women, he could not bear to come in silence and leave in silence.
In the end, he had overestimated his ability to control himself around her.
He lifted a hand and caressed the face he had yearned for day and night, his fingertip moving slowly and gently over her skin.
Then his finger slid down her cheek, coming to rest on her soft, rosy lips, rubbing back and forth over them.
Lou Yue’s gaze was drawn helplessly into the dark eyes that held her captive.
He lowered his head little by little.
The crisp scent of frost and snow drew closer.
His veil slipped down as he lowered his lashes halfway.
The shadow of his lashes fell beneath his eyes, lending him a cold beauty that seemed to seize the soul.
The distance between them narrowed.
Just as their lips were about to meet—
A deep, frantic voice suddenly rang out from beyond the door.
“Son! A brazen thief has broken into our home! Get out here right now!!”
The two of them froze at the same time.
The charged atmosphere vanished in an instant.
“Thief?” Lou Yue mouthed, her eyes gleaming with teasing amusement.
Xiao Rangchen’s lips drew into a taut line.
“Son!! Are you in there or not?!” The voice outside nearly crashed through the door.
Xiao Rangchen straightened. His fingers caught the edge of his veil and pulled it back over his face, the motion carrying a hint of sullen reluctance.
“I’m here. I’ll be out in a moment.” Lou Yue casually called toward the door.
“Then hurry up! Dad’s going to check somewhere else. You little thief—just wait till I drag you out!” Lou Chengfeng’s curses gradually faded into the distance.
Lou Yue turned back to Xiao Rangchen. “He isn’t that easy to fool. Leave, quickly.”
The moment she finished speaking, she exclaimed in surprise, “You’ve reached the peak of the Dongxu realm?”
Xiao Rangchen gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
There was no time for more words. Lou Yue glanced at the darkening sky outside the window and gently pushed him. “Go.”
Xiao Rangchen merely stood there, his gaze stubborn and profound.
Lou Yue pushed him all the way to the window. She leaned out and swiftly scanned the area outside before lowering her voice. “Go down the slope to the north. There’s a gap in the formation there.”
With that, she shoved him out of the window.
Xiao Rangchen’s throat bobbed. A thousand words were trapped in his chest, leaving him unable to say a single one.
He stood beneath the window and did not leave immediately. Instead, he tilted his head up and gazed deeply at Lou Yue.
Only after a moment did he conceal the emotions in his eyes, turn around, and leap into the night.
But when he reached the northern slope, he encountered someone who had been waiting there all along.
“You little thief! You actually dared to sneak in here. So what if you avoided my protective formation? Aren’t you still caught by me now?”
Lou Chengfeng pointed at him and cursed. “I knew that if you could sneak in without making a sound, you’d also notice the gap in the formation to the north!”
“Let me tell you, I set that up specifically to catch clever little thieves like you! Fell right into the trap, didn’t you?”
Xiao Rangchen: “…”
Lou Chengfeng rolled up his sleeves, murder radiating from him. “Today, I’m going to make sure you never leave this place alive!”
A quarter of an hour later.
Lou Chengfeng watched the man stroll away with effortless ease, so furious that he raised his voice and cursed, his roar echoing through the mountains and forests:
“You little thief—don’t let me see you again!”
“Or I’ll tear you limb from limb!”
