The little girl’s voice wasn’t loud, but her tone was very serious, causing Chen Yan to feel a stir in his heart. He looked at Lu Sisi with much softer eyes.
After the little girl finished paying her respects, she gave up her spot and glanced at Gu Qingyi beside her.
Offering incense to a living person? There’s no such custom in the Domain Realm—Lord Venerable is still alive, what’s the point of burning incense?
However, the Consort Mother hesitated slightly before also lighting three sticks and bowing.
"Lord Venerable, may you enjoy eternal longevity. May auspicious qi come to you, attain the Dao, and enjoy immortality. May Heaven favor you and eternal harmony with the Heavenly Dao!" — muttered the twenty-one-year-old Consort Mother.
Lu Sisi listened in shock, while Chen Yan next to her rolled his eyes at Gu Qingyi and quickly pulled Lu Sisi away: "Don’t mind her, she’s been reading too many cultivation novels lately!"
The three young folks paid their respects to the old lady, then tidied up and set up the table, getting ready for dinner.
Dinner was plain white rice paired with steamed sausages and a plate of pickled vegetables.
"Tonight’s meal is simple. We just got back, and the house is missing a lot of things. Tomorrow I’ll go buy some groceries and make a proper meal." Chen Yan said with a smile to the two girls as he sat at the table.
Gu Qingyi didn’t say anything, just nodded and bent her head to eat, miamiamiamiamia... Is it just me, or does this woman really enjoy homemade pickles? Chen Yan wondered.
Lu Sisi, with a hint of shyness on her face, quietly said: "It’s not simple at all. We have rice and meat, that’s pretty good. If you’re going grocery shopping tomorrow, I’ll go with you. Are we going to the market?"
Chen Yan smiled and said: "Yeah, we need to get quite a few things. I’ll take you to see the hustle and bustle."
Looking at the two girls sitting at the table, Chen Yan felt a bit dazed.
The setup of this little family trio was a bit weird!
Okay, he and Lu Sisi could barely count as a couple, right?
Gu Xiaoniang’s relationship with him, ethically speaking, was that of a Consort Mother and a stepson?
So, in this situation, it was like...
He was bringing his girlfriend home to have dinner with his own mom? Meeting the parents?
Gee, this family of three sitting at the table...
The relationships here were quite amusing.
A mother and son, a couple, and a soon-to-be mother-in-law...
I’m the oldest one here!
The first night back home passed peacefully.
In the evening, Chen Yan slept in his own room, leaving the old lady’s room to Gu Qingyi, and his own bedroom to Lu Sisi—both rooms had air conditioning.
There was an extra room in the house with a small bed, so Chen Yan made do in that room. After all, he already had Primordial Qi entering the body, making his physical body strong, so he wasn’t afraid of the cold.
Lu Sisi was just an ordinary girl, and her constitution was even weaker than most—after all, she had been plagued by bad luck for her whole 18 years, always either injured or sick. After spending a few hours in the car today, she was really exhausted, and soon fell asleep once she got back to her room.
Chen Yan lay on the small bed in his room, circulating his Primordial Qi, but his thoughts were complex. Suddenly, he heard some movement outside in the yard. He got up, put on his shoes, and went out, seeing Gu Qingyi standing outside in the yard.
"Not sleeping in the middle of the night, are you pretending to be Wang Zuxian?"
Gu Qingyi turned around and glanced at Chen Yan, saying indifferently: "You didn’t sleep either. Also... don’t think I don’t know you’re mocking me. I’ve seen ’A Chinese Ghost Story.’ Are you saying I’m pretending to be a female ghost in the middle of the night?"
Chen Yan laughed awkwardly and walked over: "What are you looking at?"
"That mountain." Gu Qingyi pointed.
There was indeed a mountain in the distance from the village, but in the dark night, one could barely make out the outline.
"What’s so interesting about a mountain?"
"Seeing if there are any spirit monsters or demonic qi." Gu Qingyi sighed: "It’s been quite boring since we left the Domain Realm, aside from slaying that Mountain Demon in Jinling Prefecture. If there’s a spirit monster, it would be nice to use it for some practice."
Chen Yan gave Gu Xiaoniang a sidelong glance: "Do you use your brain? My grandma has been living here for decades!"
"What about it?" Gu Qingyi tilted her head and looked at Chen Yan.
"Which spirit monster would dare stay here? Do they have a death wish?"
Gu Qingyi lowered her head and thought seriously, then shook her head: "Not necessarily. The Venerable can’t cross the World Wall. She can’t use magic here. Even if she encounters a spirit monster, she might not necessarily kill it. She might’ve let one or two interesting ones stay."
Seeing Gu Qingyi talk so earnestly, Chen Yan raised an eyebrow: "Are you so itching to practice your skills that you must find something to fight?"
Gu Qingyi stared at Chen Yan and said slowly: "I practice combat techniques! I cultivate through the Prison Suppression Platform, nourishing the spirit with Slaughter Qi. Periodically, I get overwhelmed by a desire to kill..."
Chen Yan stood frozen, shrinking his neck, and instinctively lowered his voice: "You don’t... have to kill something, right?"
"It’s not necessarily about killing." Gu Qingyi glanced at Chen Yan, seriously: "If I resist, my temper worsens, I get easily angered, and I may want to hit people."
Chen Yan took a deep breath and quickly said: "Tomorrow! I’ll definitely ask around the village to see who’s slaughtering a pig! I’ll let you enjoy it! If that doesn’t work, I’ll buy a chicken for you to kill? Anyway, we need one for the New Year feast."
Gu Qingyi gave Chen Yan a deep look, said nothing more, and turned to go back into the house.
In the second half of the night, as Chen Yan lay in bed, he heard the wind start to howl outside, and the temperature began to drop.
When Chen Yan got up in the morning, dressed, and walked out, he saw a world covered in white.
Heavy snow was falling from the sky, and it had been snowing all night.