But faced with his sister-in-law's suspicion, Xu Lai didn't bother to explain.

His silence only made Ruan Lan more uneasy.

She held the cup out to Xu Lai. "Brother-in-law, take a sip."

"I don't want to…"

"No, you have to drink it. Otherwise, I'll tell my sister you bullied me!"

Under Ruan Lan's threat, Xu Lai reluctantly took the cup and drank. She finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like nothing was added."

Xu Lai felt so weary.

What kind of ridiculous things does Ruan Lan think about every day? To even suspect a refined and amiable man like me...

"Hurry up and eat, then go to school. I'd rather not see you right now," Xu Lai said with a wave of his hand.

"Hee hee hee."

Ruan Lan leaned in, smiling. "Brother-in-law, last time you saved me, Yu Xiaoxiao, and Li Li. They want to treat you to a meal to thank you."

Back at the construction site, Ruan Lan and her two friends had gone exploring. They were frightened into unconsciousness by a No-Face and had hurried away as soon as they woke up. Now that she had calmed down, she wanted to express their gratitude.

"No need."

Xu Lai was frying an egg and didn't even turn his head as he replied.

"Oh, come on."

Ruan Lan pleaded coquettishly, "Brother-in-law, please go, for my sake. How about it?"

As she spoke, she hugged Xu Lai's right arm, shaking it back and forth as she blinked her big eyes, trying to be cute.

Xu Lai sighed. "Since you put it that way, I can only..."

A smile curved Ruan Lan's lips.

Hee hee hee, the honey trap always works!

But Xu Lai's next words struck her like a bolt of lightning. "...then I can only honestly tell you that your 'sake' isn't worth anything to me."

Ruan Lan's expression stiffened.

Huh??? This isn't how it was supposed to go.

"As for saving you last time, don't give it a second thought," Xu Lai said casually. "I would've saved anyone, be it a cat, a dog, a flower, or a blade of grass."

"...Wow, Xu Lai."

Ruan Lan was so angry she dropped the "brother-in-law." "How could you say something so horrible to your young, beautiful, and cute sister-in-law? Are you even human?!"

"I am a Devil."

"..."

Ruan Lan was left speechless.

She ground her teeth and glared at Xu Lai. "Fine. You win."

Ruan Lan turned and walked away, but she spun back around just as she reached the kitchen door. She pouted and said, "Then let me ask one last question. How did you defeat those No-Faces? Or did they just run away on their own?"

"Since you're asking, I'll tell you the truth."

Xu Lai calmly stated, "I am The Supreme Emperor, the foremost being in the Universe!"

"Heh."

Ruan Lan curled her lip and shouted upstairs, "Sister, come down here! Your husband has gone mad!"

Xu Lai shook his head with a wry smile and murmured to himself, "Ruan Lan, one day when you become a Cultivator and set foot into the Immortal Domain, you will understand that your fate is not your own to control… At that time, you will dearly miss these days that you find so plain, dull, and boring—this predictable life."

Being ordinary is not shameful. It is something worth cherishing.

...

Meanwhile, at the North Sea.

A bamboo raft drifted on the surface of the sea. Upon it stood a captivating woman in a red palace dress that fluttered in the sea breeze.

She was Ji Jing, a Martial Artist at the initial stage of the Ninth Grade. Her partner had been Ji Zhao, a middle-aged man who died at the hands of an Otherworlder outside Chang'an City.

His body was never found.

Ji Jing had only managed to find a few of his old belongings at his home. She was now heading for the Penglai Sword Pavilion in the North Sea.

She intended to set up a cenotaph on the summit of Mount Penglai for her deceased friend.

Because the woman Ji Zhao loved was the sword attendant, who could never leave the Sword Pavilion in her lifetime.

CREAK.

A faint sound brought the dazed Ji Jing back to her senses. She turned her head and looked behind her.

It was a plain-faced, middle-aged woman carrying a giant sword on her back.

"Aren't the sword attendants forbidden from ever leaving the Sword Pavilion?" Ji Jing clenched the old clothes belonging to Ji Zhao in her hand, her tone mocking. "And they can never marry! That's why Ji Zhao waited a full twenty years for you, and he died without ever receiving a response!"

"I am going to the Beyond," the woman said calmly.

Ji Jing's eyebrows shot up.

In Hua Country, the faction of Three Sects and Nine Pavilions stands above the Martial Dao Association. Penglai Sword Pavilion, head of the Nine Pavilions, dictated that its disciples dedicate their lives to refining a single sword. If the sword shatters, its master perishes. The title of sword attendant was only bestowed upon the most talented disciple of each century, who was then required to guard the Sword Pavilion for a hundred years. In Penglai's thirteen-hundred-year history, no one had ever left—not even when its elders and disciples were nearly wiped out in the Beyond.

Yet today, that rule was broken...

Ji Jing frowned. "Yan Shili, going to the Beyond is a suicide mission. Those Otherworlders won't let you return to Earth alive."

A sudden realization struck Ji Jing. "You want to die!"

Willingly seeking death was different from simply being unable to return alive.

"I owe Ji Zhao a sword," Yan Shili said, as laconic as ever.

"Then that's all the more reason not to throw your life away!" Ji Jing said coldly.

"In the twenty years you were partners, did he ever tell you that before I entered the Sword Pavilion, I was his fiancée?"

"..."

Ji Jing was taken aback. "No."

She only knew that Yan Shili was the woman Ji Zhao had pursued in vain, a fact she had always used to tease him.

In a soft voice, Yan Shili said, "So, don't erect this cenotaph on Penglai Island. Place it in Chang'an City, next to my grave."

After a long silence, Ji Jing finally nodded. "Alright."

"Chang'an City might not hold," Yan Shili said calmly, dropping a bombshell.

Ji Jing sucked in a sharp breath. "Not hold? How is that possible? We have the entire faction of Three Sects and Nine Pavilions, plus three Watchmen, ten Night Watchmen, and even people from the Martial Dao Association..."

"It won't hold," Yan Shili interrupted. "Settle your family's affairs as soon as you can. A large-scale war with the Otherworlders is coming. At the latest, two years. At the earliest, two months."

"Where will the battlefield be?" Ji Jing asked, her expression grim.

Yan Shili gazed at the crescent moon, its outline faint in the sky. "Everywhere."

With that, she tapped her toes lightly and vanished.

After a moment of hesitation, Ji Jing followed after her.

On the sea, only the bamboo raft remained, bobbing on the waves.

...

Today, Ruan Tang wasn't in a hurry to get to her company.

First, she dropped Xu Yiyi off at kindergarten, then she drove Xu Lai to the driving school—Xu Lai had his driving test today!

Ruan Tang was a bundle of nerves.

Xu Lai, on the other hand, was completely unconcerned. Du Li had pulled some strings, so he was even given priority for his tests. Not to mention, Xu Lai's performance was flawlessly perfect in every section. Even if he had scored a zero, Du Li could have used her connections to get him a pass, though it might have cost her quite a bit.

By evening, after passing his fourth and final test, Xu Lai had his driver's license in hand. Du Li was moved to tears.

She had finally sent this great god on his way!

Though they had only known each other for a few days, Du Li was genuinely traumatized by the "flying car" incident.

She was convinced Xu Lai wasn't human...

Ruan Tang opened her mouth but couldn't say a word. She felt that she wasn't nearly as happy as Du Li was.

Could there really be something going on between them?

She shot him a suspicious look.

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