It was a perfect arrangement; every last penny of his was spent.

"Daddy, Yiyi still wants this one." Yiyi pointed at a Xiao Mai figure in a display case, her eyes pleading. "This is a winter-limited edition. It's very precious..."

"How about next month?" Xu Lai said earnestly. "Wait until I get my paycheck next month, then Daddy will buy it for you."

Out of money?

Ruan Tang glanced at Xu Lai and squatted down with a smile. "Yiyi, Mommy will buy it for you."

"Mommy is the best!"

Yiyi stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Ruan Tang's cheek, making Xu Lai quite envious. He was becoming more and more suspicious that this was all a setup.

He wasn't wrong.

On the way over, Ruan Tang had decided to make sure Xu Lai spent his entire monthly salary. That way, he wouldn't have the free time or spare cash to flirt with other girls.

As long as she, Ruan Tang, could still wield a knife, she would never let Xu Lai get arrogant!

The rest of the time was spent accompanying their daughter on a shopping spree, with all purchases charged to Ruan Tang's card.

Watching Yiyi excitedly browse one store after another, Xu Lai had a thought. Perhaps a love for shopping really is a woman's natural inclination.

It wasn't just Yiyi, either. Even Ruan Tang and Beibei were clearly enjoying themselves.

After dinner, it was nearly ten o'clock by the time they returned to the hotel.

Gazing at the merchandise that now filled nearly half the room, Xu Yiyi showed no signs of sleepiness. She excitedly told Beibei all about her favorite anime characters.

Xu Lai, however, lay on the bed with a vacant stare. An afternoon and evening of shopping had left him more exhausted than an actual battle.

"Why don't you go out and relax?" Ruan Tang sat on the edge of the bed, a teasing smirk on her lips. "The Sakura Country's red-light districts are quite famous. Since we're here, shouldn't you go experience it?"

Xu Lai was speechless.

Setting aside the fact that he wasn't that kind of person, his pockets were completely empty. He didn't have enough money for a bottle of water, let alone anything else. He'd probably just get kicked out.

"My heart only has room for you," Xu Lai declared with deep affection.

"And for the beauty you had tea with this morning!" Ruan Tang glared.

"I already explained this afternoon that it was a misunderstanding!" Xu Lai cried, on the verge of collapse.

"A man's words are nothing but lies," Ruan Tang scoffed. "I'd be a fool to believe you."

Though her words were dismissive, she reached out and began massaging Xu Lai's shoulders and back with just the right amount of pressure.

She had only been at it for a moment when Xu Lai suddenly rolled over, pulling her into his arms.

"Ah!"

Ruan Tang let out a cry of surprise as she was pulled into his embrace. Their eyes met, and her heart began to beat a little faster.

She didn't look away, instead gazing directly into his deep eyes. Her voice was soft and gentle.

"Xu Lai, what... what are you doing?"

"I want to kiss you."

"..."

Ruan Tang's face remained impassive.

Inwardly, though, she was cursing him for being an idiot. Why did he even have to ask? They were already a couple; she could accept him being a little more forward.

But of course, she couldn't say that out loud.

Ruan Tang turned over. "I'm sleepy. Time for bed."

Xu Lai sighed, got out of bed to turn off the light, and then lay down again. The wedding dress is only a tenth of the way finished. I'll take a break for a couple of days.

In the darkness, Ruan Tang's eyes gleamed. She waited for a while, but when Xu Lai made no move, she couldn't help but say, "Xu Lai, didn't you hear me? I said it's time to sleep!"

"I heard you. The light is off," Xu Lai replied, puzzled. What's wrong with her? It feels like she's trying to pick a fight. Could she still be jealous? I'd better be careful not to give her an excuse to kick me out to the couch!

"Then why aren't you holding me?"

Ruan Tang, her back still to him, spoke in a soft voice that struck Xu Lai's heart like a gentle fawn.

Xu Lai reached out to embrace her, whispering, "I was afraid you'd be annoyed with me."

"You are indeed very annoying."

Ruan Tang snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes.

The embrace was warm, so warm that it made her feel completely safe, and she soon drifted off to sleep.

"Meeting you is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me," Xu Lai murmured.

「Five in the morning.」

Xu Lai awoke from his sleep. Ruan Tang was still lost in dreamland beside him. He gently withdrew the arm she was holding.

In a flash, Xu Lai appeared in the backyard.

When he sent out his Divine Sense, a white light flickered a few steps away, and a three-year-old child walked out—it was Heavenly Dao.

Heavenly Dao rubbed his hands together in excitement.

Are we finally going to explore the cave? His curiosity about the sinister dagger and its enigmatic origins was certainly no less than Xu Lai's.

"Let's go," Xu Lai said.

The instant he spoke, the two of them vanished, reappearing moments later in a pitch-black cave.

This was where Ishihara Kai had obtained the sinister dagger.

"Oh, elements of light that drift in the sky, hear my call, converge at my fingertips, illuminate the earth, and dispel the darkness!"

Muttering the incantation, Heavenly Dao filled the cave with a soft, gentle white glow.

Xu Lai looked at Heavenly Dao as if he were a fool. Whose kid is this, suffering from eighth-grade syndrome? He could give my own dramatic little sister-in-law a run for her money.

"AHHH!"

Across the ocean in Haitang Court, Ruan Lan bolted upright, awakened by a nightmare. She had dreamed that her jerk of a brother-in-law was bad-mouthing her.

"Thank goodness it was just a dream…" Ruan Lan breathed a sigh of relief. After all, with a youthful, beautiful, and adorable sister-in-law like me, Xu Lai should feel honored. He's probably secretly thrilled, so why would he ever speak ill of me?

She fumbled for her phone, rubbing her eyes to check the time. Seeing that it wasn't yet dawn, she flopped back onto her bed and went back to sleep.

The second night without my niece at home. I miss her.

「...」

The cave was barren, containing nothing at all.

Xu Lai expended nearly a tenth of his Spiritual Power to use the Retrocognition Technique.

Time in this place began to rewind. Scenes flickered into existence in the void, playing out like a fast-forwarded movie.

Over the past few decades, no one had entered this place, apart from Ishihara Kai, who had stumbled into the cave by chance and found the sinister dagger lying quietly on the ground.

The trace went back three hundred years, five hundred years, a thousand years…

The trace rewound through the long years, all the way back to more than two thousand years ago.

At that moment, the image of a man in ancient clothing appeared. He was covered in blood and clearly severely wounded as he stumbled into the cave.

Heavenly Dao's eyes widened in recognition. "That's right! That's him! He's Jing Ke! That's the dagger he used to try and assassinate the King of Qin!"

Xu Lai said nothing, his gaze calm as he watched.

In the vision, the man in ancient clothing threw the sinister dagger to the ground, his expression icy as he spat, "You deceived me!"

The scene stopped there.

No matter how much further he tried to rewind time, nothing more could be seen.

Xu Lai narrowed his eyes. "Even I can only trace time back to this point. Everything before it… has been severed."

HISS!

Heavenly Dao sucked in a sharp breath. "Does that mean the owner of this sinister weapon is also an Emperor Realm expert? No, that can't be right. There can only be one living Emperor Realm expert in the Universe…"

"It might not have been severed by someone," Xu Lai said with a slight laugh. "It could just be that too much time has passed, or that time itself has become disordered. If you want to know who's behind the dagger, you just have to ask."

"Ask who?" Heavenly Dao was perplexed.

Xu Lai looked at the image in the void and asked it directly, "Who gave you the dagger?"

At his words, the man in ancient clothing looked around, startled and suspicious. "Who's there?! Who's speaking?!"

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