Xu Lai hesitated, stopping himself mid-sentence.

By now, he had fully pieced it together. His sister-in-law had gotten into trouble, was planning to flee, and had called him out to take the blame.

"What? Are you hoping your sister-in-law will take you with her when she runs?" Ruan Tang's beautiful eyes swept over him.

"..." Xu Lai.

What kind of thing was that to say! He was an upstanding man who had done nothing wrong. Why would he need to run?

Xu Lai had already changed into his swimming trunks and was about to jump into the hot spring pool when he heard Ruan Tang say nonchalantly, "I heard you're quite popular at school. A lot of female students have been asking for your WeChat, haven't they?"

Xu Lai was speechless.

So much for my sweet, caring daughter. Yiyi, how could you betray your own father? Even if Ruan Tang only said she 'heard' about it…

"I turned them all down," Xu Lai explained helplessly, standing frozen on the spot. "It's just like you and all your admirers. You can't help it when you're just too outstanding."

Ruan Tang pursed her lips. "If you hadn't turned them down, do you really think you'd still be alive right now?"

Hearing no real anger in her voice, Xu Lai finally slipped into the water.

Mount Haitang had become a Dragon Vein, and the underground hot springs, now nourished by Spiritual Energy, were no longer ordinary. The water was almost like a liquid condensation of Spiritual Energy at its most concentrated.

Staring at Ruan Tang's graceful figure, Xu Lai said earnestly, "Honey, would you like me to put some sunscreen on you?"

Ruan Tang: ???

Sunscreen? At night?!

"Sunlight has ultraviolet rays, but moonlight also emits something called 'moon rays' that can harm your skin," Xu Lai said with a straight face. "It can also affect... um, your quality of sleep."

"Really? You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

Although Ruan Tang was highly skeptical, Xu Lai's dead-serious expression had her completely baffled.

"Pulling your leg?" Xu Lai thumped his chest emphatically and declared, word by word, "As heaven is my witness, if I'm lying to you, may Heavenly Thunder strike me down!"

Thankfully, the Heavenly Dao didn't hear him, or it would have burst into tears of grief. Who would possibly have the courage to strike down The Supreme Emperor, the number one being in the entire Universe? It wouldn't dare!

But to Ruan Tang's ears, his oath carried a different weight.

She stood up and said, "In that case, I'm done soaking. Let's go back to the room and sleep."

Xu Lai was utterly baffled.

Wait a second. This wasn't how the scene was supposed to go. Shouldn't Ruan Tang have believed him, then bashfully blushed as she lay down on the lounge chair, letting him rub sunscreen all over her body?

Ruan Tang shot him a look. "Heh, do you really think I'm as gullible as a three-year-old?"

"Fine, fine! No sunscreen, is that what you want?" Xu Lai pulled Ruan Tang down to sit beside him and said with a sigh, "Let's just watch the stars and talk for a while."

Ruan Tang said irritably, "Then you can start by moving your hand off my leg!"

The entire night view of East Sea City stretched out before them. In the distance was the boundless sea, shrouded in moonlight. Above, the night sky twinkled with stars. Even further away, the Milky Way was faintly visible as several shooting stars streaked across the firmament.

"It's so beautiful," Ruan Tang murmured, her eyes sparkling as she leaned on the edge of the pool and took in the scenery.

"Not as beautiful as you."

"You're such a sweet-talker!"

"Well, do you like hearing it or not? If you don't, I'll stop."

"..."

Ruan Tang fidgeted for a moment before saying coolly, "If you dare to speak the truth, why would I be afraid to listen?"

Xu Lai chuckled. "Then is there any truth you want to tell me?"

Ruan Tang tilted her head and studied Xu Lai carefully. As he watched her with an expectant gaze, she said, "Xu Lai, you need to shave."

Heh. Women.

Xu Lai let out a breath of turbid air. After chatting with Ruan Tang for a while longer, they returned to their room to rest. Curled up in Xu Lai's arms, Ruan Tang quickly fell into a deep sleep.

But Xu Lai remained awake.

He raised an eyebrow as he gazed toward the horizon. It seemed some filth had infiltrated Earth—and more than just one or two pieces of it.

The night passed. On Monday morning, dark clouds shrouded the sky as a fine, continuous rain fell. The ever-playful Xu Yiyi spent a good while getting soaked in the backyard, her laughter echoing without pause. The sea snail Beibei and the Gold Swallowing Beast, Xiao Hei, were right there with her, splashing in the puddles.

"Yiyi, come inside and take a shower! It's time to eat, then get ready for school!" Ruan Tang called out.

"Got it, Mommy," Yiyi replied.

Autumn had already settled over East Sea City. After this rain, the temperature dropped once again. Summer skirts and long legs were no longer a common sight on the streets. Everyone, men and women alike, had started wearing thicker clothes, with even the youth joining the ranks of those wearing thermal underwear.

Ruan Tang was even more extreme. She had dressed her daughter Yiyi in several layers, inside and out, and even prepared a hat for her.

"There's a special kind of cold known as 'Mom thinks I'm cold,'" Ruan Lan commented gleefully from the side.

"Take off your stockings and put on some thermal leggings," Ruan Tang said coolly, glancing at her sister.

Ruan Lan protested, "I'm not cold!"

Ruan Tang retorted, "I think you're cold."

"..."

Ruan Lan went back to her room to change. She returned and shot a resentful look at Xu Lai. "Brother-in-law, aren't you going to do something about your wife!"

Ruan Tang looked on with a smug smile.

Xu Lai raised an eyebrow. "Your sister is right. What if your knees get cold and you injure them? You need to take good care of yourself."

"Pfft," Ruan Lan scoffed. "You lecherous brother-in-law. You should be more concerned about my sister's knees."

Xu Lai: "..."

Ruan Tang: "..."

Blushing, Ruan Tang kicked her sister. "Shut up and eat! Then we're taking you to school!" she chided.

"Oh."

After breakfast, the four of them got into the car and left Haitang Court.

「Meanwhile.」

In the meeting hall of the Lin Family in Jiangbei, Lin Yong, the steward's son, sat across from an old man with white hair and a naturally commanding presence. The old man was Lin Tianxiong, the Family Head of the Lin Family.

Lin Tianxiong set down his teacup and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Next to the Lin Family Head sat a young girl in a green dress. She asked, "Out with it. What was so important that you had to wake Grandpa up this early? If you don't have a good reason... you'd better watch out, or you'll be expelled from the Lin Family!"

"Eldest Miss, it's like this," Lin Yong said, startled. He quickly explained, "Yesterday, I went to East Sea on behalf of the Lin Family to request that the Su Family, the Jiang Family, and Xu Lai come and pay their respects according to tradition. They refused."

"Then what about the profits from Sea Temple Island?" the impatient girl in the green dress couldn't help but ask. Sea Temple Island accounted for nearly a tenth of the Lin Family's annual income. Losing it would be a devastating blow!

"We didn't get to discuss it," Lin Yong shook his head. "Old Jiang Ba from the Jiang Family didn't even show up. Su Daiyi was too arrogant; she just brushed me off and... and left."

"How outrageous!" Lin Xueying clenched her small fists, furious. "They are completely shameless! How can a two-hundred-year-old tradition be broken just like that? Besides, for them to be invited to pay their respects is a tremendous blessing!"

"Xueying," Lin Tianxiong frowned slightly. "You may leave now."

Realizing her outburst was inappropriate, Lin Xueying quickly bowed. "Yes, Grandpa."

Muttering under her breath, the Lin Family's young mistress left the hall. Lin Tianxiong rubbed his temples and asked, "Did you tell them that countless Sea Demons lurk beneath Sea Temple Island, and that without our Lin Family's Martial Artists to suppress them... chaos is sure to follow?"

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