01

After Zhou Zixi returned to Bei Dou, his range of activity was limited to Ming Li’s courtyard, Dong Yeyun’s courtyard, and the former courtyard of Dong Yeshou—these three points forming a line. He hadn’t even ventured out to Yaoguang Hall.

In the past, it was Ming Li who stayed at Bei Dou rarely going out, while Zhou Zixi often went adventuring with Dong Yeyun and Qing Ying.

Now the situation had reversed—Ming Li occasionally went out to deal with Life-and-Death Realm cultivators causing trouble for Bei Dou, while Zhou Zixi confined himself to his senior sister’s courtyard, not taking a single step outside.

Bei Dou was actively working to resolve the coexistence issues between humans and earth ghosts. Even though the divine oracle’s lies had been dispelled, some people still refused to believe, thinking this was yet another deception. There were also merchant associations and other forces collaborating with the Youyou Tribe who wanted the earth ghosts as free, immortal laborers and refused to cooperate, creating obstacles.

Ming Li had asked Zhou Zixi if he wanted to join her on this trip to resolve these troubles.

Zhou Zixi declined.

Ming Li blinked at him, and Zhou Zixi frowned, asking, “Senior Sister, when will you return?”

“Probably in two or three days,” Ming Li said.

Zhou Zixi said, “Then let Senior Brother go with you. With two Pilgrims, you could finish in a day and return by evening.”

“Senior Brother has other matters to attend to,” Ming Li said. “I’ll return as quickly as possible.”

Zhou Zixi fell into deep thought.

Ming Li assumed Zhou Zixi couldn’t bear to leave Bei Dou, after all, he had been gone for many years, and Bei Dou held extraordinary significance for him. Having finally returned to live a peaceful life, he still wasn’t completely at ease.

Her journey was to eliminate problems at their root, nothing particularly dangerous.

After tying Ming Li’s braid, Zhou Zixi watched her leave. Then he sat alone under the eaves, hands pressed against the floor, body slightly lifted, lazily basking in the sunlight.

Birds flew overhead, dragonflies hovered in the courtyard, and a small green frog perched on a leaf in the water tank. Zhou Zixi casually surveyed everything above and below, counting in his heart. When the time came, he glanced toward the courtyard entrance from the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw Dong Yeyun and Qing Ying leisurely walking in.

Qing Ying’s eyes curved with a smile, looking quite pleased. She waved at Zhou Zixi under the eaves and said, “Why didn’t you go with Senior Sister?”

Zhou Zixi maintained his cool expression, watching the red dragonflies flitting about the courtyard. Knowing Qing Ying’s question held ill intentions, he simply didn’t respond.

Dong Yeyun said, “There’s a gathering at the seaside tonight. Are you coming?”

Zhou Zixi asked lazily, “What kind of gathering?”

Dong Yeyun said, “Chen Zhou is celebrating Wen Su finally mastering the Thunderous Roar spirit technique.”

“…” Zhou Zixi fell silent for a moment before asking, “That’s the business he’s busy with?”

“What else could it be?” Dong Yeyun stroked his chin, unable to think of anything.

Zhou Zixi said, “Not going.”

Dong Yeyun said, “You stay here all day, not going anywhere. My sister isn’t here today either. What are you guarding by yourself?”

Zhou Zixi remained silent.

Qing Ying pulled Dong Yeyun away, turning to leave. “Fine, fine. If he doesn’t want to go, then he doesn’t have to. With Senior Sister gone, he’ll be even more bored. He’ll find his way over later on his own.”

Shortly after those two left, Black Fox Mask arrived.

Black Fox Mask brought Wu Liangli with him. He entered first, while Wu Liangli stood at the courtyard entrance, waving at Zhou Zixi.

Zhou Zixi squinted at the pair.

Black Fox Mask turned back to look at Wu Liangli, standing motionless at the door. “Why aren’t you coming in?”

Wu Liangli shook her head and said, “His words are venomous now, and his actions are ruthless. I don’t want to play with him and make myself angry at this time.”

Black Fox Mask consoled her: “Although he’s become somewhat frightening, he doesn’t hurt people.”

Hearing this, Zhou Zixi’s eye twitched. Was this talk about a person or a dog?

Wu Liangli cautiously peeked in and asked, “Really?”

Black Fox Mask reached out his hand to her. “Really.”

Wu Liangli held his hand and entered, hiding behind the Black Fox Mask while blinking at Zhou Zixi. She had just opened her mouth: “Zixi—”

“Didn’t you open a shop in Seven Star City?” Zhou Zixi said with a cold smile. “Are you making enough money to be running over here day after day?”

Wu Liangli: “…”

Black Fox Mask: “…”

Wu Liangli walked out angrily, saying to Black Fox Mask as she left, “He’s still very fierce!”

Black Fox Mask patted her head to comfort her.

Near noon, Fu Yuan, having finished his duties at Tianji Hall, came to find Zhou Zixi.

Fu Yuan’s question was concise: “Seaside?”

Zhou Zixi: “Not going.”

Fu Yuan: “Fine.”

He turned and left immediately.

*

At the seaside to the southwest of Bei Dou mountain, quite a few people had gathered. The wooden cabin by the sea remained as before, with few traces of time, yet its very existence reminded everyone that it had been a long while since they had come.

Wen Su followed Chen Zhou closely, earnestly learning how to prepare various ingredients. During this past year, she had traveled far and wide with Chen Zhou, gaining much experience. Now she could even name these ingredients that she had never seen before.

Liang Junxia was washing vegetables by the water platform, stealing glances at Xiang An’ge, who sat on a huge rock holding a teacup and gazing at the sea. He turned back to Chen Zhou and said, “Even Xiang An’ge is here, but Zixi isn’t coming?”

Fu Yuan: “He said he’s not coming.”

“He definitely won’t come,” Chen Zhou said decisively as he twisted a chicken’s neck and slit its throat to drain the blood.

Wen Su, who stood at the side, carefully mimicking with her knife, froze at the sight.

Yin Luo couldn’t comprehend: “What is Zixi being stubborn about? We don’t care whether he has humanity or if he’s a person or a dog.”

“I know, I know!” Qing Ying came out of the cabin carrying an empty bamboo basket, raising her hand and looking around before raising an eyebrow to say, “It’s because Zixi has now become shorter.”

At these words, everyone suddenly understood, falling silent for a moment before breaking into unstoppable laughter.

At seventeen or eighteen, Zhou Zixi was indeed shorter compared to his senior brothers, sisters, and old friends.

The person who hadn’t come but had secretly sent a wind-theft bird to the seaside, Zhou Zixi, heard everyone’s laughter and expressionlessly crushed the wind-theft bird, then spread his arms and lay down on the ground.

A moment later, Zhou Zixi got up from the ground and disappeared from the courtyard.

After sunset, Chen Zhou returned to Yaoguang Hall to find Zhou Zixi, intending to drag him forcibly to the seaside for fun, but didn’t see him in Ming Li’s courtyard.

He also went to Master Dong Yeshou’s courtyard, but didn’t spot Zhou Zixi there either.

Chen Zhou searched the entire Yaoguang Hall but found no one. Frowning, he sent a message to Zhou Zixi asking where he was, but received no reply.

This was strange.

After Chen Zhou told the others about this, people from the seaside gradually returned to search for Zhou Zixi throughout Bei Dou’s seven halls.

Qing Ying searched from sunset until deep into the night, starting by calling out “Zixi” repeatedly, but now impatiently flipping up a large green leaf and saying irritably: “Come out! Shorty!”

Xiang An’ge, carrying a substitute spirit and following beside her, glanced at her and said coolly, “While you won’t find anyone this way, you’ll certainly get bitten by a dog.”

Qing Ying squatted beside a leaf, taking out a communication talisman and saying, “Has he gone to find Senior Sister?”

*

At this moment, Ming Li was battling several Life-and-Death Realm powerhouses from a southern merchant association. The elegant merchant association building collapsed under the pressure of various star powers and spirit techniques, bursting into towering flames.

The defeated merchant association elders were spewing vulgarities, which Ming Li ignored, but the Bei Dou disciples who came to take over the association fired back at them.

“Speaking so high and mighty, aren’t you just dissatisfied that you can’t exploit earth ghosts—no, life veins!—as free labor anymore?”

Dou Lanmin rescued a pile of seals and hidden storehouse keys from the burning building, kicking each elder as he passed by. He quickly ran to Ming Li’s side, lowering his voice but unable to contain the excitement in his eyes: “Money! They have so much money and divine weapons!”

Ming Li looked at him, puzzled: “You’ve already raided the eight major merchant associations in the west. How can you still get excited about this small inventory?”

Dou Lanmin said solemnly, “Because as humans, we cannot abandon or underestimate any amount of money.”

Ming Li was stunned momentarily, then nodded: “That makes sense.”

She waved toward the merchant association elders who had lost their fighting ability: “Take all the valuable items from them.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Dou Lanmin turned and said, “You were defeated by my senior sister in no time, so you must still have many divine weapons you didn’t get to use. Take them all off, not one left behind!”

The merchant association elders, hearing this, coughed blood and cursed even more viciously.

Ming Li paid no attention, looking up at the sky. Dou Lanmin was about to personally take action, but after a few steps turned back to ask: “By the way, isn’t Qian Li the leader of the southern sect? This merchant association has already sought help from the sect, so he might come over soon. What shall we do?”

“Let him come if he wants,” Ming Li said.

Dou Lanmin scratched his head: “He wouldn’t be foolish enough to fight us, would he?”

Ming Li replied calmly: “If he wants to fight, so be it.”

“Given Qian Li’s condition, he probably won’t fight us. If he comes, it’s most likely because…” Dou Lanmin stopped mid-sentence upon seeing someone approaching through the night.

Ming Li sensed something and turned to look.

The person who should have been at Bei Dou’s Yaoguang Hall was now slowly walking toward her in the moonlight.

The moonlight penetrated through the person’s body, proving he was merely a shadow.

Ming Li smiled at the sight, while Dou Lanmin called out “Senior Brother Zhou” before quickly slipping away—he couldn’t withstand Zhou Zixi’s venomous tongue.

Zhou Zixi merely cast a lazy glance at the merchant association elders and Bei Dou disciples behind before looking back at Ming Li. She stood beneath the firelight, surrounded by collapsed buildings, with occasional sparks bursting forth.

Ming Li smiled and said, “I thought you weren’t coming?”

Zhou Zixi raised an eyebrow and asked, “Am I not allowed to come?”

Ming Li shook her head: “I thought you didn’t want to leave Bei Dou.”

Indeed, only his shadow had come.

Zhou Zixi said, “By not coming, I let Senior Sister constantly think of me while away.”

Ming Li smiled with curved eyes and asked him, “Then why did you come after all?”

Zhou Zixi let out a measured cold snort: “Because I missed you first.”

In the past, he and Dong Yeyun had left Bei Dou to become stronger, to catch up with Ming Li’s pace. He never imagined that after abandoning his hatred, he would encounter such misfortune.

Now back at Bei Dou, Zhou Zixi subconsciously feared taking even half a step beyond Bei Dou’s gates.

Just as Ming Li took Zhou Zixi’s hand, she received a message from Qing Ying asking if Zhou Zixi had come to find her, as they couldn’t locate him anywhere at Bei Dou.

“You hid yourself?” Ming Li asked him.

“Consider the possibility,” Zhou Zixi lifted his eyelids slightly, expressionlessly looking at the content of the communication talisman, and said, “that I’m actually at the seaside.”

Ming Li: “…”

Her communication talisman kept ringing. Chen Zhou and Dong Yeyun sent consecutive messages asking: “Did Zixi go find you?”

“He’s disappeared from Bei Dou. Did he go to you?”

Zhou Zixi raised his hand and responded decisively with just two words: “He didn’t.”

There was no further reply.

After seeing this, Chen Zhou and Dong Yeyun gave cold laughs. He had indeed gone to her; otherwise, given their sister’s personality, how could she possibly reply with just two words? She would have either interrogated them about what happened or returned directly to Bei Dou.