The little ghosts feared the people of the Cloud Return Sect just as much as they feared Bai Yuhuai.
Seeing Jing Jiujiu talking and walking away, the little ghosts hurriedly crawled forward to chase after him. As they crawled, it seemed they found it too slow. Yuanyuan was the first to jump up, switching to two legs, awkwardly running and chasing while shouting, "Mom!!!"
The Old Lady was startled: "How do these little ghosts still have consciousness? They're not even crawling anymore, they're running..."
"There is a deity in the house."
"Oh, right... They say that even the serving boys under Guanyin Bodhisattva can attain immortality, and the oil lamps placed before them, after many years, their wicks might even take human form. Being nurtured by the aura of gods and Buddhas, it's not difficult for them to regain divine intelligence. To receive such blessings, they must have accumulated merit in their previous lives."
The Old Lady rambled on before suddenly realizing: "Why do these little ghosts call everyone 'mom'? Wait. The one they're calling 'mom' is a deity? Not a ghost? Bai Fu came back saying that you, Ancestor, were raising a ghost?"
"He is indeed a ghost," Bai Yuhuai said nonchalantly.
The Old Lady let out a huge sigh of relief: "So that's it!"
At least the sect wouldn't be destroyed because the Ancestor had found a lover!
But just as the Old Lady turned her face away, she whipped it back in shock: "You turned a ghost into a deity?! ... Isn't that something that would incur heavenly wrath?"
Bai Yuhuai had already slowly walked out, and without turning back, he said indifferently, "Where is there still a heaven?"
These words were arrogant and highly disrespectful, but falling on the Old Lady's ears, they silenced her.
If it were truly that deities didn't exist and the world was in chaos, the only one qualified to say such things would be the Ancestor.
The Old Lady let out a soft sigh, then turned her head to worry again about whether they could really wipe out all those meddling with evil things in one fell swoop.
When Jing Jiujiu walked outside the villa, both Hundun and Yu Ran were already gone.
Only the reporter remained, dazed on the spot. Finally seeing a normal-looking living person, the reporter's tense body immediately relaxed a bit.
"Young Master Jing? Did you see any strange phenomena just now? Was it an eclipse? Or some kind of monster? Is there something wrong with Mr. Bai's house?"
Jing Jiujiu was silent for a moment: "I think I saw aliens crashing into Earth."
Reporter: ???
Reporter: "Hahaha!"
That's impossible even with your toes!
Oh well... monsters are most likely impossible too.
It seems it was just the sun being briefly obscured by clouds or something similar. We'll just wait for an astronomer's professional explanation.
Seeing that the police cars had arrived again soon after, it was clear that the thieves had been caught as well.
The reporters finally dismissed the curious notions in their hearts, turning to plan which astronomer they should interview first.
Bai Yuhuai came out a bit later and was startled: "Where's Hundun?"
Jing Jiujiu let out a low "hmm" and said, "Probably at home."
"Home?"
"Mm."
Bai Yuhuai's gaze flickered, understanding his meaning.
Bai Yuhuai drove personally, taking him to the Jing family mansion. After Jing Tinghua's death, Jing Jiujiu had said he wanted to come back and take a look, but they had gone to Master Zhou's home first.
"Jing Long and his mother still live here," Jing Jiujiu said softly.
According to the will, this property now belonged to him as well.
He didn't want to drive them out, so of course he didn't want to come back either.
The car came to a stop.
The two slowly walked through the open gates of the villa.
In the living room, a woman in her forties was holding a boy. The boy looked at Jing Jiujiu with shame and tried to hide behind her. The woman, however, stared at a corner of the living room with terror on her face.
Jing Jiujiu turned to look.
He saw Yu Ran completely enveloped by Hundun. He reached out his hand, his fingertip lightly touching—
The portrait hanging on the wall suddenly burst into flames.
Hundun swallowed it in one gulp.
Not just the portrait.
Furniture, ornaments, one by one, these things that were almost no different from Jing Jiujiu's memories, were all set ablaze.
And then all devoured by Hundun.
Yu Ran heard footsteps and slowly turned around: "Oh. Jiujiu is really capable, handling things so quickly..."
"If arson weren't illegal," he surveyed the house, "it would be best to burn this place down entirely."
The woman trembled as she listened.
"Don't live here anymore. You won't be happy living here, and neither will I. You'll receive a sum of money, enough for you and your son to live comfortably for the rest of your lives," Yu Ran snorted lightly, "I'm not as heartless as Jing Tinghua."
The woman looked at Yu Ran, feeling only terror, and then turning to see Jing Jiujiu who should have been dead, she felt even more frightened.
She didn't dare to stay any longer and hurriedly ran away, carrying Jing Long.
Yu Ran watched them run into the distance, then slowly withdrew his gaze: "I still have to go back."
Jing Jiujiu looked at him pitifully and asked in a small voice, "Go back where?"
"Hundun."
Jing Jiujiu suddenly fell silent.
So when Dad said he would come back home with him, he really meant just "a trip" home.
Jing Jiujiu actually knew that Yu Ran couldn't always rely on Hundun to wrap around him and walk in this world.
This wasn't a normal life...
Bai Yuhuai's gaze lightly swept over Jing Jiujiu's head, and he spoke softly: "The people from the Cloud Return Sect have all arrived in the Capital City."
Yu Ran paused, then immediately changed his words: "I'll leave tomorrow then."
The elders from both sides should meet, after all.
Jing Jiujiu was a bit happy and nodded repeatedly: "...Shall we go over now?"
What kind of person was Yu Ran? He originally wanted to coldly say, let them come here themselves.
But as his gaze swept around, he saw the interior of the villa that he had burned bare, and he swallowed his words.
"Let's go," Yu Ran said.
Jing Jiujiu nodded and let him walk in front.
Yu Ran didn't really need to walk; it was almost entirely Hundun carrying him as he moved.
They hadn't taken two steps when there was a soft "pop" sound.
Yu Ran frowned and turned his head.
But Hundun was a fool, a large mass of ash squeezing here and there, blocking the view.
He hurriedly brushed Hundun aside, only to see Jing Jiujiu obediently walking by Bai Yuhuai's side, nothing particularly special about it.
Yu Ran turned his head back.
Only then did Jing Jiujiu hook Bai Yuhuai's neck, leaning close to his head and murmuring stickily: "You're so clever."
There were still so many things in this life that he had never experienced.
Like when others were in school, secretly dating behind their parents' and teachers' backs, secretly holding hands, sneaking a kiss behind a book, secretly reading some naughty books under the covers... he had never done any of that.
He was finding dating more and more interesting.
He could secretly plant a kiss on Bai Yuhuai.
When he was tired, he could ride on Bai Yuhuai, and when he encountered trouble, he could also find Bai Yuhuai.
Tonight he could also snuggle under the covers with Bai Yuhuai and secretly read naughty books. Maybe he was even better at it than others. He thought about it - two people reading together must be more awesome than reading alone!
"Does this count as meeting the parents?" Jing Jiujiu's mind was full of jumbled thoughts, but he wasn't feeling so sad anymore.
Bai Yuhuai responded with a low "Mm." He gently but firmly squeezed Jing Jiujiu's waist, embracing him as they descended the steps, then let go.
Yu Ran had no idea what mischief the two rascals behind him were up to.
When Yu Ran entered Bai Yuhuai's villa, what he saw was a clearly divided scene in the living room—
On the left was a row of children, with the one sitting at the front having a fair complexion, round eyes, slightly deep eye sockets, and an expression with a hint of liveliness. The children behind all had blank expressions, with two or three of them having reddish-blue bellies.
He had no idea that not long ago, they had been much uglier than they were now.
And on the right was a row of... old men and women?
"Which two are Mr. Bai's parents?" Yu Ran turned to ask.
Before Bai Yuhuai could speak, the people from the Cloud Return Sect opened their mouths first: "We wouldn't dare, how could we be worthy of being the Ancestor's parents?"
All the words Yu Ran had prepared were suddenly choked back.
No matter how arrogant his temperament, he wouldn't act recklessly in front of a group of elders.
The people from the Cloud Return Sect were actually feeling quite strange at this moment.
The person the Ancestor was fond of was both a ghost and a deity.
Even his father was a... well, an indescribable and unfathomable... person[?].
Yu Ran was silent for a moment, then asked, "Then Mr. Bai's parents..."
"They passed away long ago," the Old Lady said softly.
Jing Jiujiu was stunned for a moment.
When he saw Bai Fu, he thought Bai Yuhuai must have many relatives in the Cloud Return Sect.
"Why does Bai Fu have the surname Bai?" Jing Jiujiu interjected.
"All members of the sect take on the Bai surname."
"Oh." Jing Jiujiu couldn't help but glance sideways at Bai Yuhuai, then gently scratched the back of his hand.
Bai Yuhuai lowered his eyes, squeezing Jing Jiujiu's hand firmly before letting go.
Yu Ran felt it wasn't appropriate to speak up at that moment.
With no parents or relatives, and only devoted to Jiujiu, if he were to interfere now, it would seem like they were bullying the other party.
"I am Jiujiu's father..." Yu Ran said after a moment of silence. "Whatever Jiujiu likes, I will allow him to like."
After saying this, he stared intently at the faces of those opposite him.
As if he would strangle anyone who dared to say no.
The Cloud Return Sect members breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this was incredibly fortunate! The father had already agreed! In the past, they could have proposed marriage the very next day...
The Old Lady spoke up first: "Then we'll offer Mount Peizuo as a dowry! Whatever is on the mountain, it's all the Master's wife's."
Both sides were protective yet generous.
Yu Ran heard this and raised an eyebrow slightly: "I'll offer a four-courtyard house in Capital City."
The Old Lady thought they couldn't lose, so she quickly added: "Then I also have a large bronze cauldron!"
"A box of gemstones."
"A Soul-Summoning Banner..."
Their conversation gradually became more bizarre, as if whoever had the more impressive dowry would determine who topped and who bottomed.
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
He hadn't expected to bypass the hurdle of meeting the parents like this.
Jing Jiujiu was getting sleepy listening to all this. He slowly turned to organize the evil god statues that were almost stolen. After sorting out which ones to sell and which to destroy, he turned back to find Yu Ran had disappeared from the living room.
Jing Jiujiu raised his hand to press his eye sockets, feeling a slight ache there.
It was better being a ghost... As a ghost, he felt nothing at all.
Bai Yuhuai had just finished arranging accommodations for the Cloud Return Sect members.
He returned and grasped Jing Jiujiu's wrist, asking softly, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Jing Jiujiu shook his head.
Already familiar with his personality, Bai Yuhuai asked again in a low voice, "Are you sleepy?"
Jing Jiujiu nodded and climbed onto his back.
Bai Yuhuai carried him upstairs, but as he turned, he saw the old men and the Old Lady peeking through the door, watching curiously as if seeing something rare.
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
They were startled and quickly averted their gaze.
When Bai Yuhuai and Jing Jiujiu were out of sight, they patted their chests and sighed softly, "The Ancestral Master... knows how to comfort someone. How extraordinary!"
Bai Yuhuai carried Jing Jiujiu upstairs and tucked him into bed, just like before.
But this time, Jing Jiujiu patted the bed: "You sleep too."
Bai Yuhuai paused, then unbuttoned and removed his wool coat, lying down next to him in just his thin shirt.
Jing Jiujiu always had strange excuses, sometimes wanting to sleep, sometimes not. His sadness came quickly and left just as fast; he could heal himself rapidly.
But today, he rolled over and ended up in Bai Yuhuai's arms.
Bai Yuhuai froze for a moment, then held the young man tightly.
Half an hour later.
Jing Jiujiu was lying on the pillow.
Bai Yuhuai was holding up Jing Jiujiu's phone with one hand, showing him adult websites they had asked Meng Hexin about. Jing Jiujiu watched, exclaiming "Wow~" "Whoa~" "Huh?"
Half of Bai Yuhuai's arm was numb, and half of his ear was bright red.
...What earthly suffering was this.
Bai Yuhuai cursed inwardly, his face expressionless.
Jing Jiujiu was restless, flipping through comics one moment and videos the next.
It seemed he was making up for everything he had missed at eighteen.
When he flipped to another comic,
Bai Yuhuai put down the phone, pressed his hand against Jing Jiujiu's back, and used his other hand to gently turn Jing Jiujiu's face towards him, kissing him.
Jing Jiujiu bit Bai Yuhuai's lips, licking them: "...I can't taste anything. And I don't feel like anything's being sucked away. Would blood be different?"
Bai Yuhuai calmly replied, "Why don't we try and see?"
As he spoke, he took a small knife from the drawer and lightly cut the back of his hand. The blood that flowed out seemed to be mixed with gold, hot and scalding, seemingly containing infinite power.
Jing Jiujiu was stunned for a moment.
Still afraid of burning him, Bai Yuhuai only dipped his fingertip in the blood and pressed it to Jing Jiujiu's lips, then slipped it into his mouth, asking hoarsely, "...Can you taste it?"
Jing Jiujiu sucked on it: "...I can taste it, a little hot, but not painful."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and licked the blood from the back of Bai Yuhuai's hand.
Bai Yuhuai's eyes flickered, their color deepening.
"Let me taste too."
Bai Yuhuai flipped Jing Jiujiu over, leaning down to kiss his lips more forcefully.
His fingers fully supported the young man's neck, caressing his ear and that stretch of neck, extremely intimate.
Jing Jiujiu instinctively hugged Bai Yuhuai's back tightly, his hands pressing against his waist and abdomen, his whole body burning hot, as if drunk on blood, staring at Bai Yuhuai with slightly intoxicated eyes.
I think we're way more exciting than those adult websites!
After a while, Bai Yuhuai eased his grip a little.
He lowered his gaze, his face still impassive, like an untouchable and ascetic deity. But this deity lowered his head, slowly licking away a trace of blood from the corner of Jing Jiujiu's mouth, with a hint of tenderness.
He wanted to violate him.
But he was also afraid of frightening him.
Jing Jiujiu's whole body was hot and flushed.
He stared at Bai Yuhuai with bright eyes, a bit excited, and spoke first: "I've discovered something..."
"What is it?" Bai Yuhuai patiently followed his lead.
Jing Jiujiu: "We can kiss without breathing for at least three hours! Other people can't do that! We're so awesome!"
Bai Yuhuai: ?