Settling In

During the brief moment Jiang Ci was turning into a blushing mess, Hua Er pushed the door open and walked in with food.

“Yo, is our Holy Son awake?” Hua Er said as she entered, carrying a steaming bowl of freshly made porridge. Seeing Jiang Ci blushing like a cooked shrimp, she felt a bit annoyed. Didn't they say they weren't cultivation companions?

She stared at Jiang Ci's face for a few seconds, then looked down at Lu Yan's hand still gripping Jiang Ci's wrist, her lips twitching downward. She set the porridge on the nightstand, the bottom of the bowl hitting the wood with a dull thud.

Lu Yan scratched his head. Having just woken up, his mind was still a bit sluggish. He had probably guessed that they had been staying in Hua Er's tavern all these days without paying a single copper, essentially freeloading on food and lodging. He pulled open his storage bag and peered inside—there were barely any spirit stones, most of his elixirs were gone, and only a few worthless scraps of herbs remained. He counted them up... Uh, he was still dirt poor.

Seeing him reach for his storage bag, Hua Er scoffed. “Heh, look at this kid. He's not stupid; at least he knows he needs to pay me back. Too bad he barely has a cent.” She casually pulled over a chair, sat down, crossed her legs, rested her elbows on her knees, and propped up her chin. With a half-smile, she looked at Lu Yan. “How about this? You give me little Jiang Ci to settle the debt, and I'll even throw in an extra two hundred spirit stones for you. What do you say?”

Jiang Ci took Hua Er's words as a joke. Her ears turned slightly red, but she didn't take it seriously. However, the look in Lu Yan's eyes changed instantly, his post-waking sluggishness vanishing into sharp alertness, like a cat that had its tail stepped on. He recalled what Hong Jiu had said back at Black Mountain Fort—“Second Aunt Hua likes women.” He didn't know if Hong Jiu was joking or telling the truth, but he didn't dare to gamble.

He grabbed Jiang Ci's wrist and pulled her toward him, using so much force that she stumbled and nearly fell right onto him. “Absolutely not! If you want money, Second Aunt, please give me a few days' grace. I just woke up, but I guarantee I'll have the money within a week.” His voice was incredibly urgent, his words rushing out as if he were trying to protect his belongings from being stolen.

Jiang Ci, who had just managed to calm her blushing face, was nearly pulled onto him. She turned to look at Hua Er, completely bewildered. Wasn't this just a joke? Why was Lu Yan so incredibly tense?

Hua Er's lips twitched. She actually did have a slight passing thought of keeping Jiang Ci to settle the debt, but shouldn't any normal person assume she was just joking? Why was he being so defensive? It made her feel like some scumbag landlord demanding a tenant's wife to pay the rent. She stared at Lu Yan with a bizarre expression, scanning him up and down before tossing out, “You'd better,” picking up the untouched bowl of porridge, and turning to leave. The door shut behind her, and her footsteps went thud-thud-thud down the stairs.

Jiang Ci was full of questions as she looked at Lu Yan. “Second Aunt doesn't seem like a bad person. Why are you so tense?” Lu Yan swallowed hard. Looking at Jiang Ci's innocent face, he had no idea how to explain Hua Er's sexual orientation to her. This girl absolutely had no concept of such things, and he felt like explaining it to her would be a literal crime. He opened his mouth, trying to find the right words for a long moment, and was just about to speak when—

The recently closed door was violently kicked open, slamming against the wall and bouncing back, nearly hitting someone's head. Lu Yan and Jiang Ci were both startled. Lu Yan instinctively shielded Jiang Ci behind him. Before Jiang Ci could even try to stop him, Yao Wu performed a god-of-war leap coupled with a thunderous flying elbow strike, slamming right into Lu Yan's stomach.

Taking the blow, Lu Yan's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. The breath caught in his throat, and he curled up like a shrimp, letting out a muffled groan. It took him several long moments to catch his breath before he immediately burst out cursing, “You absolute bastard, Yao Wu! Screw you! You almost knocked the crap out of me!”

Before Lu Yan could finish cursing, Yao Wu wrapped him in a tight hug. His arms clamped around Lu Yan's shoulders with enough force to snap his bones. He buried his face in the crook of Lu Yan's shoulder, his voice muffled and thick with emotion. “Brother, I knew you wouldn't die.”

The curses died in Lu Yan's throat. He felt the fabric on his shoulder grow wet and warm. He raised his hand and patted Yao Wu's back hard a couple of times. “Alright, alright, you're going to gross me out. How old are you, acting like this? Get off me, go on.”

Yao Wu sniffled, let go of him, and stood up straight. His eyes were red, with wet tear tracks still visible at the corners. His lips curved high into a grin, and seeing Lu Yan's disgusted expression, he silently called him a massive tsundere. Looking at him like this, Lu Yan suddenly felt a prickle of warmth in his own nose. But...

Thud. Lu Yan threw a swift, hard punch right into Yao Wu's stomach, folding him into a shrimp. Yao Wu collapsed to the floor, clutching his stomach and dry-heaving. “You damn monster! How dare you try to touch my heart with brotherly love? You completely overestimate yourself!”

He shouted this with full vigor. Yao Wu lay on the floor, grumbling and cursing, going from “you heartless bastard” to “you must have been a gas canister in your past life,” and from “gas canister” to cursing his eighteen generations of ancestors. Lu Yan didn't argue back. He simply said in a breezy tone, “Your daughter is here. Watch your mouth.” Yao Wu's mouth shut instantly. He glared at Lu Yan resentfully. Lu Yan met his gaze, his eyes full of smugness.

Hong Jiu walked into the room, holding Nannan's hand. Nannan had her hair in two little buns and wore a light pink dress with a few crookedly embroidered flowers on the hem. She looked at Yao Wu lying on the floor in confusion, tilting her head. “Daddy, why are you lying on the floor?”

Yao Wu clutched his stomach, but before he could speak, Hong Jiu answered for him. “Your daddy thought it was too hot, so he's lying on the floor to cool down.” Nannan had no cultivation, so she had no idea what had actually happened. But Hong Jiu knew exactly what was going on. She cast a disgusted glance at Yao Wu on the floor and Lu Yan sitting on the bed like a victor, rolling her eyes. “How old are you two? Still acting like children.”

Nannan ran to the bedside, standing on her tiptoes. She gripped the edge of the bed with her tiny hands, revealing only half of her face and her two little buns. She looked at Lu Yan, her eyes shining bright. “Uncle, you're awake!” Lu Yan looked at her, staring into those sparkling eyes. He suddenly felt a bit of moisture in his own eyes and blinked. “Yeah, I'm awake.” Nannan turned back happily and shouted to Yao Wu, “Daddy, Uncle says he's awake!”

Yao Wu had already climbed up from the floor. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms as he watched everyone in the room. Hong Jiu stood beside him, watching as well. Hua Er had also come back up at some point, leaning against the wall in the hallway. She didn't come in, but she didn't leave either.

“Since Shiyi is awake, tomorrow is the Hot Spring Festival. Want to go out and have some fun together?” Hong Jiu asked everyone in the room. Jiang Ci looked at Lu Yan, then at Hong Jiu, and then at Hua Er standing by the door. She didn't know what the Hot Spring Festival was, so she waited for Lu Yan to decide for her. Lu Yan felt her gaze on his face, though he didn't turn to look at her. He fell silent for a moment. “...Sure, let's go.”

Hearing this from the hallway, Hua Er's lips curved upward. She turned and headed downstairs, her footsteps echoing thud-thud-thud on the wooden staircase.

Nannan jumped with joy, pulling Yao Wu's hand toward the door. “Daddy! Daddy! Uncle said yes! We're going! We're going!” Yao Wu stumbled along as she dragged him, grumbling, “Slow down, slow down,” but his hand held Nannan's tiny hand tightly, very tightly.

Hong Jiu glanced at Lu Yan. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words, turning to follow Yao Wu and Nannan downstairs.

Life will get better and better, right?