One door separated the mortal world from the netherworld.

Perhaps because his brow center was touched with a drop of the old monk’s blood, Xie Zhifei entering the netherworld for the second time didn’t feel cold.

Haitang Courtyard was very quiet, without a wisp of wind.

A strand of his soul drifted down, landing in the courtyard. Through the shadowy gauze windows, he saw eight-year-old Zheng Huaizuo.

Little Huaizuo tiptoed and lifted the bed curtain, his body leaning against the bedside to look at the girl on the bed, shaking his head in disdain.

Only when sleeping was she most obedient.

“Zheng Huaiyou, time to get up! If you don’t get up, Father will leave!”

The girl didn’t move.

Huaizuo extended his hand to poke the girl’s cheek. After two pokes with no reaction, he pinched the little girl’s nose.

The little girl’s breathing was blocked. Her face slowly flushed red. Suddenly her eyes flew open. The next instant, she began coughing.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to tease you. You told me yesterday evening to wake you early… You sleep like a pig every day.”

“Father hasn’t left, has he?” Huaiyou asked tearfully while coughing.

“He’s about to leave. Hurry up. I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Brother!”

Huaizuo turned around: “What?”

“I’m thirsty.”

“So many demands.”

Though Huaizuo’s mouth complained, his body walked out, grabbed a kettle in the courtyard, and brought it inside.

The kettle was placed on the stove. The fire underneath had only been extinguished in the middle of the night. The water in the kettle was still warm.

He poured out a cup of clear water and brought it to his lazy sister’s lips. The lazy sister drank two mouthfuls from his hand, stopped coughing, and became clearheaded.

Huaizuo carried the kettle and pattered away. Waiting in the courtyard for a while, he grew impatient again.

“Zheng Huaiyou, can you hurry up?”

“Brother, between ‘can’ and ‘cannot,’ you choose one for me.”

Ahhhhhh—

The older brother punched left and right toward the side room, kicked left foot and right foot, muttering all the while.

Without looking at little Huaizuo’s lip movements, Xie Zhifei knew what he was muttering.

“Stupid pig, lazy pig, big stupid pig, big lazy pig. If I have to wake you tomorrow, I’ll turn into a big stupid pig, big lazy pig too.”

The eight-year-old boy hadn’t learned to curse yet. Over and over, only these few phrases. As if his own sister becoming a pig would make him very proud.

At this moment, Huaiyou walked out from the side room.

She looked as Xie Zhifei remembered.

Thin, slight, pale, with eyes holding a pool of water. That water would never fall before Father and Mother, only before him. So annoying.

“Brother, let’s go!”

“Hurry!”

The two walked side by side for a stretch. Little Huaizuo glanced to his side and saw no one. He stamped his foot and stopped walking, waiting until his sister walked beside him before moving his legs again.

His mouth started muttering again.

“Miss, can you walk faster? Even ants walk faster than you!”

“Then… shall I race an ant?”

“…”

The Miss was very smug about making her brother eat humble pie. She raised her eyebrows and suddenly sped up running.

“Run slower. Don’t choke on the wind and start coughing.”

Little Huaizuo chased after her, forgetting he’d just eaten humble pie, asking ingratiatingly: “When Father asks what you want, remember what to say?”

“Say Brother wants a double-six board game but is afraid Father won’t agree, so he’s having me ask.”

“Zheng Huaiyou!”

“Present!”

“All the kindness to you has been fed to dogs.” Little Huaizuo’s face puffed up in anger.

Xie Zhifei watched his eight-year-old self and laughed until his own face puffed up.

He’d seen the double-six board game in a book and liked it at first glance. Those game pieces were all carved as horses—how interesting to hold in your hand.

He’d mentioned it to Father several times, but Father wouldn’t buy it.

Only after becoming Third Master Xie did he learn that double-six was actually used for gambling. No wonder Father didn’t agree.

At this moment, the twins had reached the front courtyard.

Xie Zhifei followed them, walking beside Zheng Huantang. From his angle, he could see gray-white hairs had grown at Zheng Huantang’s temples.

Seeing the pair of children approach, Zheng Huantang asked with a smile: “Well? What should Father bring back?”

Zheng Huaizuo’s heart was set on the double-six board. He hadn’t thought of anything else. Just as he was racking his brain, he heard Huaiyou say quietly:

“Father, I’d like a double-six board game.”

Joy fell from heaven. Zheng Huaizuo’s eyes suddenly widened.

Zheng Huantang on the side frowned.

Huaiyou grasped Zheng Huantang’s arm with both hands and shook it gently: “Father, I want to study how double-six differs from chess and go.”

Zheng Huantang looked at his daughter: “Alright. Father will buy it for you. What about Huaizuo?”

“I, I…”

The surprise came too quickly. Little Huaizuo couldn’t hold it together and couldn’t even speak.

“Brother said yesterday he wants to practice martial arts well and study hard from now on. He won’t play with those little trinkets anymore.”

Huaiyou: “Father, help Brother buy a few books.”

“Right, right, right!”

Little Huaizuo nodded his head rapidly: “I only want books.”

Zheng Huantang didn’t expose the siblings’ little scheme, glancing coolly at his son: “My son is making progress.”

“Huaizuo is indeed making progress. Yesterday he recited an entire text in one breath.”

Lady Zhao gracefully arrived beside the three, her hand settling on her son’s shoulder, gently drawing him into her embrace.

Little Huaizuo looked up and grinned foolishly at Mother.

The love in Lady Zhao’s eyes couldn’t be hidden. She bent slightly, pressing her face against her son’s head.

Huaiyou’s gaze flicked over, then quickly lowered.

“Must make even more progress.”

Zheng Huantang’s face grew stern: “Go eat your longevity noodles with your sister. Father will return this afternoon.”

“Oh, time to eat longevity noodles!”

Little Huaizuo broke free from Lady Zhao’s embrace and nodded at Huaiyou: “Sister, let’s go!”

Huaiyou raised her head, looking at Zheng Huantang, then at Lady Zhao.

“The luxuriant artemisia, not artemisia but southernwood. Alas for our parents, who labored to give me birth. The luxuriant artemisia, not artemisia but wormwood. Alas for our parents, who labored to exhaust themselves for me. Your daughter thanks Father and Mother for the grace of birth and raising.”

Lady Zhao coolly hummed acknowledgment.

Zheng Huantang glanced at his wife and raised his hand to rub his daughter’s head: “Good child. Go on.”

“Father, ride slowly. Don’t choke on the wind.”

“Good!”

Zheng Huantang smiled broadly: “Go on. If the noodles get mushy, they won’t be chewy.”

The siblings left.

Xie Zhifei watched their small retreating backs without following, instead settling his gaze on Mother.

Just now when Father smiled broadly, Mother’s mouth corners sank slightly.

That sinking made Xie Zhifei’s heart constrict.

“Qingyun, in front of the children from now on, don’t be so obvious. The children are growing—they have eyes.”

“I want her to grow some eyes.”

“You…”

Zheng Huantang’s expression changed several times, but he still suppressed it, forcing a smile: “Today is a good day. Don’t be angry with me. It’s not worth it.”

The man’s yielding softened Lady Zhao’s expression: “Leave early and return early. Look at that child a few more times for me.”

“Rest assured. I will.”

The instant Zheng Huantang turned, deep fatigue showed on his face.

Behind him, the corners of Zhao Qingyun’s mouth collapsed. Her entire face appeared somewhat gloomy, with that gloom concealing unwillingness and reluctance.

Xie Zhifei stared, somewhat dazed.