After the Venerable of the evil cultivation world died, all the evil cultivators disappeared without a trace, not daring to show themselves again.

Storytellers compiled the battle between the ten sects and the Evil Venerable into tales full of danger and wonder, earning quite a bit of storytelling money in teahouses and wine shops. Zhong Xi Zhenren and Kong Hou Xianzi became reincarnated immortals who saved people from suffering. Many common people firmly believed that once the two achieved complete merit and virtue, they would return to the Heavenly Palace and become an enviable immortal couple.

Uncle Xianyu used a tattered palm-leaf fan to swat flies in his shop, glanced at the scorching sun in the sky, and simply closed the shop door and returned to his small courtyard. Walking to the courtyard entrance and seeing two young people waiting there, he turned around in disgust to leave.

“Uncle, Uncle.” Kong Hou smiled and blocked the uncle’s path. “The weather is so hot today. I brought fresh spirit fruits. Add some sugar and ice, and they’ll be perfect to eat.”

“Out with it. What do you want this time?” Uncle Xianyu looked at his robe being pulled and had already lost his temper. He extracted his sleeve from Kong Hou’s hand and pushed open the courtyard gate to let the two enter.

Outside, the sun blazed brightly, but inside the courtyard it was refreshingly cool. The place where flowers and plants had originally been planted in the courtyard had been dug into a large pool filled with water. The pool didn’t contain any aquatic plants and looked empty.

The three walked to the stone table and sat down. Kong Hou concocted three bowls of fruit ice and gave Uncle Xianyu one.

“Do you two have nowhere else to go?” The uncle held his bowl, crunching the ice loudly. “Every year you have to come running to my place.”

Kong Hou smiled without refuting, taking out delicacies from her storage ring one by one. For people like Uncle Xianyu, the body was more honest than the mouth.

“This pool is so empty. Why not raise a few fish?” Kong Hou saw the water was crystal clear, giving her the urge to jump in and swim a few laps.

“Not raising any.” The uncle ate the delicacies Kong Hou brought. “I’m someone who sells dried fish. I don’t raise live fish.” This was his professional dignity.

“Oh.” Kong Hou withdrew her gaze with some regret. “Tonight there’s a food festival. Let’s go taste delicacies together.”

The uncle looked at Kong Hou without speaking.

“My treat.” Kong Hou hastily added.

“Let’s go.” Uncle Xianyu was very satisfied with Kong Hou’s tact.

As food companions, Kong Hou and Uncle Xianyu were highly accomplished in food tasting. At times like these, Huan Zong’s greatest use was often to help Kong Hou and Uncle Xianyu pay the bill.

To attract tourists from all over the cultivation world, Yong City held a food festival every year. At this time, Yong City became especially lively, the entire city packed with people from everywhere.

Some flying sword messengers, to earn extra money, would carry one or two ordinary people who couldn’t cultivate on their swords when delivering packages. As long as ordinary people could pay the price, they would even make special trips to transport people without delivering packages.

Where there were people, there were ways to make money. These past few days in Yong City, not only were there many people and many flying magical treasures, there were especially many flying sword messengers. The inns, guesthouses, and other lodging places in the city were packed with people. Some sects on good terms with Yunhua Sect even ran to Yunhua Sect to borrow lodging under the pretext of discussing the Dao.

Kong Hou and the other two wandered the streets until dark, finally finding a teahouse to sit down. To avoid causing a commotion, Kong Hou and Huan Zong specially wore matching couple’s masks covering the upper half of their faces. Fortunately, there were quite a few men and women wearing masks on the food street, so the two of them didn’t stand out.

The teahouse was very lively. A storytelling master was on stage talking about strange events and oddities of the cultivation world. When he said the most formidable cultivator in the cultivation world was Zhong Xi Zhenren, someone stood up to refute.

“You old man are clearly talking nonsense. The most formidable cultivator in the cultivation world isn’t Zhong Xi Zhenren, but Kuiying Zhenren.” The middle-aged man speaking was physically strong and sturdy, with a crescent moon blade at his waist, looking very fierce. Kong Hou glanced at this person. His bone age should already exceed sixty or seventy. His aura fluctuated powerfully—he was a fifth-tier artifact refining cultivator.

“Who is Kuiying Zhenren?” The one asking was a female cultivator wearing a lotus-pink waist-cinched dress. The female cultivator looked bright and lovely, only in her twenties, though her cultivation was comparable to the man’s.

Seeing the questioner was a pretty girl, the man immediately became energetic: “According to legend, Kuiying Zhenren is an Earth Immortal who failed tribulation. Years ago, he separated from his Dao companion due to incompatible feelings. Later, his Dao companion perished, so he was left with a heart knot and couldn’t ascend to become an immortal. He hasn’t appeared in the cultivation world for many years. Young cultivators who’ve never heard his great name—that’s normal.”

“If Kuiying Zhenren is so formidable, why didn’t he stand forward fifty years ago when the evil cultivator Jiu Su attacked the cultivation world?” The young woman said disdainfully. “Having an empty reputation, he’s not as righteous and loyal as Zhong Xi Zhenren, Kong Hou Xianzi, and the ten sect cultivators.”

Hearing the young woman’s words, the man smiled broadly without refuting this statement: “Miss speaks correctly. This one was only talking about cultivation level. In other respects, Kuiying Zhenren naturally cannot compare to Zhong Xi Zhenren.”

“Zhong Xi Zhenren and Kong Hou Xianzi have harmonious feelings and respect each other. They’re an immortal couple everyone admires. Kuiying Zhenren was together with his Dao companion for only a short time before holding a separation ceremony due to incompatible feelings, dissolving their contract before the Heavenly Dao.” A woman in black robes in a corner said coldly. “A heartless and faithless man—how can he be mentioned in the same breath as Zhong Xi Zhenren?”

Kong Hou looked toward the black-robed woman speaking. It was actually the black-robed woman she’d encountered years ago when first going out to gain experience. After so many years, the black-robed woman still wore black clothing. The resentful expression on her face had diminished quite a bit. At least when facing men and women she found displeasing, she didn’t move to hit people.

Sensing someone watching her, the black-robed woman turned her head to glance in Kong Hou’s direction. Her gaze was cold and indifferent, like a lake in early winter—though not frozen, still bitterly cold and piercing.

Kong Hou curved her lips and smiled at her.

The black-robed woman was startled. She had a bad reputation. Not only did male cultivators dislike her, female cultivators weren’t very friendly to her either. Now suddenly having a masked female cultivator smile at her, she became uncomfortable all over. After sitting on the stool for a while, she got up and hastily left.

When walking out of the teahouse, she couldn’t help but turn her head to look back. She just happened to see the male cultivator beside the female cultivator peeling pine nuts and feeding them to her mouth. Not knowing what the female cultivator said, it caused gentle laughter to surface at the male cultivator’s lips.

Once upon a time, she extremely hated seeing such intimate gestures between lovers. It would make her think of that heartless man from years ago, think of that foolish and laughable self from years ago.

However, as time passed, the hate and unwillingness from years ago gradually faded. She began to understand that not only was she wrong back then, but the self full of hate and unwillingness afterward was also wrong.

“Who said Kuiying Zhenren was unfaithful in his feelings?” Uncle Xianyu drank down half a cup of tea in one gulp, making Kong Hou stare in amazement. “U-Uncle, this tea is still scalding hot…”

“It’s fine. My constitution is good. I’m not afraid of this temperature.” Uncle Xianyu turned to Kong Hou. “Young people in the cultivation world nowadays really love listening to rumors. The events from years ago passed so long ago. Besides those involved, who knows the truth? Without getting the facts straight, they come out spouting nonsense. They’re not even afraid that after Kuiying Zhenren hears, he’ll beat them until their Nascent Soul turns to ash.”

“Kuiying Zhenren already has Earth Immortal cultivation. How could he possibly quarrel with juniors over such small matters?” Kong Hou waved her hand, saying with certainty, “Definitely impossible.”

“Tsk.” Uncle Xianyu drank the remaining half cup of scalding tea. “The only thing these juniors can rely on is this bit.”

“That uncle, ah…” Kong Hou tugged at Uncle Xianyu’s coarse cloth sleeve. “Do you know about the events from back then?”

Meeting Kong Hou’s pair of bright eyes full of curiosity, Uncle Xianyu: “…”

Huan Zong picked up the water pitcher on the table and refilled his water, looking at Uncle Xianyu with a half-smile: “Uncle has traveled far and wide. You must know quite a few things.”

“Tell us, tell us.” Kong Hou dragged her stool toward Uncle Xianyu’s direction, her face full of desire for knowledge. “Uncle, for the sake of our decades of friendship, tell me about the events from back then.”

“Fine, I’ll tell.” Uncle Xianyu drank the water Huan Zong poured, standing up. “Let’s go. I’ll go back and tell you two slowly. It’s too noisy here.”

“Great, great.” Kong Hou hastily stood up. On the path of pursuing excitement, Yunhua Sect disciples never stopped.

“Kuiying Zhenren’s Dao companion was called Yun Mei.”

On a summer day in the small courtyard, there should have been insect chirping sounds, but at this moment, Uncle Xianyu’s courtyard was exceptionally quiet.

“The two knew each other for over a hundred years and became Dao companions because of mutual affection.” Uncle Xianyu and Kong Hou each held a large watermelon, sitting cross-legged on cool mats, eating while telling stories from the past.

“Unfortunately, good times didn’t last long. Yun Mei discovered Kuiying Zhenren had another identity.”

Kong Hou’s eyes widened. She stopped eating melon. She felt there must be a life-and-death conspiracy in the middle.

“Yun Mei discovered Kuiying Zhenren wasn’t human, but a dragon. She couldn’t accept the fact that her man wasn’t actually human, and separated from him…”

Kong Hou: “…”

Wasn’t it supposed to be because of various misunderstandings and various hurts, finally forgetting each other in the cultivation world, never interacting until death?

“Back then, cultivators weren’t as tolerant of demon cultivators as they are now. That Fairy Yun Mei didn’t want to be with Kuiying—it’s not particularly hard to understand.” Kuiying Zhenren picked up another half watermelon, using a spoon to dig out the sweetest flesh in the middle and rapidly stuff it into his own mouth.

Seeing this, Kong Hou hastily stuffed the other untouched half watermelon into Huan Zong’s hands: “Uncle, you made up this story just to steal the sweetest flesh in the middle?”

“Hey.” Kuiying glanced at Huan Zong. Huan Zong silently hid the watermelon behind his back. He gritted his teeth. “You’re the one who asked me. I told you, and you don’t believe it. You youngsters nowadays—why are you so hard to please?”

“Since it was Fairy Yun Mei who proposed the separation, why did Kuiying Zhenren ultimately fail to ascend?” Kong Hou huffed. “You’re also deceiving me that Kuiying Zhenren is a dragon. Why doesn’t the entire cultivation world know about this?”

“Are you asking this question with any brains? If the cultivation world people knew, could Kuiying Zhenren have lived until the time of tribulation and ascension?” Uncle Xianyu rolled his eyes. “Maybe Kuiying Zhenren fundamentally didn’t want to ascend at all? Everyone says the Immortal Realm is good, but in tens of thousands of years of records in the cultivation world, there’s never been a true record of the Immortal Realm. Up there, there are no relatives, no friends, and maybe no delicacies either. What’s the point of ascending?”

Kong Hou: “…”

He said it as if it were real. She almost believed it.

Huan Zong used a wooden spoon to dig out the watermelon’s middle flesh and fed it to Kong Hou’s mouth. Kong Hou ate it in one bite, shaking her head and sighing: “Uncle, your level of making up stories is too poor. You can’t even compare to half of Miaobi Ke.”

Uncle Xianyu: “…”

“Still eating?” Huan Zong asked with a gentle smile.

Kong Hou shook her head: “It’s late. We should go back.”

“Scram, scram, scram.” Uncle Xianyu waved his hand in disgust. “Don’t ask me to make up stories for you next time.”

“See, even you yourself admit it’s made up.” Kong Hou said with a grin. “Then I’ll come find you again next time.”

Uncle Xianyu: “Don’t come. Even if you come, I won’t open the door.”

Kong Hou: “You said the same thing last time.”

Uncle Xianyu: “…”

Huan Zong used a handkerchief to wipe Kong Hou’s hands clean, as well as the corners of her mouth, pulling her up from the cool mat: “Uncle, you rest early. Kong Hou and I will come visit you again in a month.”

Uncle Xianyu glanced at Huan Zong: “Hmph.” However, he ultimately didn’t say again to tell them not to come.

The two walked out of Uncle Xianyu’s small courtyard. After walking forward for a stretch, Kong Hou turned her head to look back. A person stood at the courtyard entrance, the shadowy figure somewhat resembling Uncle Xianyu. She jumped up and waved: “Uncle, next time I’ll bring you more delicious food.”

The shadow rapidly disappeared behind the gate, then with a bang, the courtyard door was also ruthlessly closed.

“Uncle is always like this, tough-mouthed but soft-hearted.” Kong Hou held Huan Zong’s hand, smelling the aroma of roasted meat from the street. “But Uncle’s level of making up stories is really too poor. He definitely couldn’t even fool a five-year-old child.”

“Mm.” Huan Zong smiled and nodded.

“Such a magnificent and vigorous story, when Uncle tells it, has no interest at all.” Kong Hou stopped walking and turned to look at Huan Zong.

“What is it?” Huan Zong also stopped to look at her.

“I’m tired.” Kong Hou looked at him pitifully.

Huan Zong chuckled, releasing Kong Hou’s hand and walking forward a step. He squatted down: “Come up.”

“Huan Zong, you’re really good.” Having said this, she jumped onto Huan Zong’s back at once, reaching her arms around his neck.

The early summer night, the lively crowd, and the two of them nestled together.

“Huan Zong, do you think Kuiying Zhenren is still alive?”

Huan Zong’s footsteps didn’t stop: “Alive.”

“Then he’s alone, without a sect, without a clan, without even anyone knowing where he is. Will he be lonely?”

“Perhaps he has friends. He won’t be lonely.”

“That’s good.” Kong Hou hugged Huan Zong’s neck tightly. “Anyway, I want to be together with you. Wherever we go, we have to be together.”

“Mm.” Huan Zong smiled slightly. “Forever.”

“Even if you’re not human, I won’t despise you.”

Huan Zong: “…”

“Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.”