Ruan Qiuping didn't know exactly when he had fallen asleep.
He only knew that when he woke up in the middle of the night, his entire body was burning hot.
When he opened his eyes, everything he saw seemed blurry and out of focus. His head was spinning, and there was a dull pain in his lower abdomen.
He staggered to his feet and took a couple of steps before suddenly realizing that a piece of broken wood had pierced his body. Ruan Qiuping used his hand to forcefully pull out the fist-sized piece of wood.
The moment the wood was removed, fresh blood gushed out from the wound.
Ruan Qiuping felt uncomfortable all over his body, except for the bleeding wound which felt refreshingly cool.
He could almost sense that the flowing blood had somewhat straightened out the meridians throughout his body, and the enormous spiritual power that had been chaotically surging within him became slightly more docile.
While the spiritual power in his body had eased, the blood flowing from his back was causing him to lose too much blood. Shortly after standing up, he felt dizzy and faint, and passed out.
Before losing consciousness, Ruan Qiuping thought he saw a bird with blue feathers and a white tail flying towards him.
Was it an Azure Plowing Bird?
The Azure Plowing Bird that represents good fortune, prevents diseases, and dispels pain.
...
How could that be possible? He must have seen wrong. How could a bird representing good fortune fly towards him, the God of Misfortune?
Ruan Qiuping mockingly thought to himself in the last moment before passing out.
When Ruan Qiuping woke up, the first thing he saw was Ruan Shengfeng's face, beaming with joy.
"Qiuping, you're awake!" Ruan Shengfeng exclaimed happily.
Ruan Qiuping touched his head and asked with a frown, "... How long have I been unconscious?"
"Four days. To be precise, three and a half days."
Four days!
Ruan Qiuping suddenly sat up in bed, grabbed his coat beside him, and was about to run outside.
— Four days! Little Yu Huan must be close to graduating from university by now!
But as soon as Ruan Qiuping's feet touched the ground, the memories from before he fainted came flooding back.
His body gradually stiffened, and the excitement he had just felt slowly cooled down.
Ruan Qiuping put the coat back down and asked, "What... what did the academy say?"
"Oh, about your practical course at the Fate Academy? I talked to your teacher and got you a week off. The Recorder of Fate said not to worry, just rest. They said something about... what was it... oh right! Your record target, they said someone else would temporarily take over for you."
Ruan Qiuping lowered his eyes and said, "That's good."
It should have been this way from the start.
He shouldn't have any more contact with Little Yu Huan, even if he hadn't fainted this time, he couldn't have just returned to Yu Huan's side as if nothing had happened.
Even if he did nothing, said nothing, and just invisibly followed Yu Huan silently, the fortune around him would still affect Yu Huan.
The best course of action was to never descend to the mortal realm again, to never come into contact with Yu Huan again.
"By the way," Ruan Qiuping asked, "Why was I unconscious for so long? I remember only having minor injuries."
"How can you call that a minor injury? Do you know how big a hole was in your back! But your fainting wasn't because of that wound. I asked the Medicine Immortal, and he said you were actually fine, just that your body suddenly gained a lot of spiritual power and couldn't handle it, so you passed out first." Every wrinkle on Ruan Shengfeng's face was filled with joy, "Son, quickly try it out, see what level your cultivation is at now!"
Ruan Qiuping was stunned for a moment. He reached out his hand and gently struck a nearby stone bench with his spiritual power.
With a loud crash, the stone bench instantly shattered into fist-sized pieces scattered on the ground.
Ruan Shengfeng immediately burst into laughter: "Hahaha, looks like once my son broke through his bottleneck, his power increased dramatically! It seems my son is not far from becoming a deity!"
Ruan Qiuping's face turned pale. His power had suddenly increased two or three times!
Ruan Qiuping looked up at Ruan Shengfeng and asked, "What... what happened... was it all because of that pill?"
"It's mainly because of that pill, but even that pill doesn't have such miraculous powers! The Medicine Immortal said that over the past 100 years, it's not that you haven't grown in cultivation at all, it's just that the cultivation you should have gained was all accumulated deep in your dantian without showing itself. This time, it was all brought out by the stimulation of the pill."
Ruan Qiuping felt increasingly uneasy: In the past hundred years, he had never practiced cultivation, never eaten any food that would increase spiritual power, how could he have accumulated so much cultivation?
Ruan Shengfeng's face was flushed, unable to hide the pride and joy on his face.
Ruan Qiuping, however, clenched his fists tightly.
He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself down, repeatedly telling himself in his heart:
It's okay, don't worry, don't worry.
Although his cultivation had increased significantly, he was still far from becoming a deity. It was unlikely to happen for at least a thousand years.
In these thousand years, he would surely find a way to force back the cultivation and spiritual power he possessed.
Although Ruan Qiuping felt no discomfort after waking up, and instead felt very energetic, he still didn't go to the academy.
He was afraid that if he went to the academy, he wouldn't be able to resist asking about Yu Huan's news, and he was also afraid that he wouldn't be able to resist secretly descending to the mortal realm to see Yu Huan.
Staying at home wasn't so bad actually.
But when Xia Fushui returned home after her 15-day detention, she frowned as soon as she saw Ruan Qiuping: "Ruan Qiuping, why aren't you going to school?"
Ruan Qiuping touched his nose and said quietly, "I'm not feeling well, just resting a bit."
Xia Fushui glanced at him: "You look fine to me."
After Ruan Qiuping stayed at home for another four or five days, Xia Fushui couldn't stand it anymore: "Ruan Qiuping, when are you going to school?"
Ruan Qiuping mumbled softly, "Mom, since when did you care so much about my studies?"
You never cared before.
Xia Fushui looked at Ruan Dongdong who was swinging on a swing not far away, and said, "How can it be the same as before? Now our family has a marriage agreement with the God of Fortune's family. Our family's conditions are already not as good as the Yu family, if word gets out that you've been advised to drop out of school, won't people suspect that everyone in our family has intellectual problems? Then when Dongdong marries into their family, who knows how they'll look down on her!"
Just then, Ruan Dongdong suddenly ran over on her little legs. She tilted her head and looked at Ruan Qiuping, asking in a sweet voice, "Brother, why aren't you going to school? Is school not fun?"
After saying this, Ruan Dongdong turned to look at Xia Fushui. She swayed Xia Fushui's arm, coaxing, "Mommy, can I not go to school in the future too? I want to be like brother and play at home every day!"
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Xia Fushui glared at Ruan Qiuping: "Ruan Qiuping! Look at what kind of example you're setting for your sister!"
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Ruan Qiuping immediately went off to school.
When Ruan Qiuping arrived at the academy, his classmates had just returned from their descent to the mortal realm, and the Recorder of Fate was standing on the podium as usual, reading out the list of disciplinary violations.
Just as Ruan Qiuping knocked on the door and entered, the Recorder of Fate had finished reading the list.
He looked at Ruan Qiuping and asked, "You're back?"
Ruan Qiuping nodded.
"Since Ruan Qiuping has returned to school, um... Chen Hai and Jing Yang, you can go back to your original group. The task of recording Yu Huan will be given back to Ruan Qiuping."
Chen Hai and Jing Yang were the ones who were originally drawn to be in the same group as Ruan Qiuping. After Ruan Qiuping took leave this time, the Recorder of Fate had them take over the task of recording Yu Huan.
"Ah..."
Chen Hai let out a wail, seemingly very reluctant to hand the recording rights for Yu Huan back to Ruan Qiuping.
"Teacher," Ruan Qiuping said, "Since they have already started recording Yu Huan, let them continue."
Recorder of Fate: "Then what will you do?"
Ruan Qiuping was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can I be assigned to another group?"
The Recorder of Fate scanned the seated students and asked, "...Ahem... Which group feels they're short-handed and needs help?"
The students all quickly lowered their heads, afraid that Ruan Qiuping, the God of Misfortune, would be assigned to their group.
"Ruan Qiuping, you see..." the Recorder of Fate seemed somewhat conflicted.
"Um... Teacher, why don't we let Ruan Qiuping record Yu Huan with us? We're originally in the same group," Jing Yang suddenly raised his hand and said timidly.
"Jing Yang, what are you doing?" Chen Hai asked in shock.
"...But Yu Huan was originally drawn by Ruan Qiuping," Jing Yang said softly.
Chen Hai opened his mouth, at a loss for words.
Ruan Qiuping, however, furrowed his brow.
The Recorder of Fate seemed to understand Ruan Qiuping's inner conflict. He looked at Ruan Qiuping, sighed, and said, "...If you really don't want to descend to the mortal realm, that's fine. Just attend classes normally and complete the record book with Jing Yang and the others. When they go to the Gate of Vanity, you can stay in the classroom."
Ruan Qiuping lowered his eyes and said, "...Alright."
.
The seats were arranged in groups. As soon as Ruan Qiuping walked down, Jing Yang waved at him to come over.
Ruan Qiuping walked over but chose to sit two seats away from Jing Yang.
Chen Hai asked Jing Yang, "Didn't your misfortune-dispelling talisman break? How dare you..."
"It did break. I originally wanted to buy another one, but I couldn't find a genuine one anywhere. So I took a chance and went to the Yu family mansion again... As soon as the Yu family's celestial servant heard that I was from Fate Academy, they immediately gave me another one. They said the God of Fortune had left a few misfortune-dispelling talismans before descending, specifically for Fate Academy students."
After speaking, Jing Yang took out a notebook from his bag and handed it to Ruan Qiuping. "Each group only needs one of these record books. This is what Chen Hai and I have recorded during this time. Do you want to take a look?"
Ruan Qiuping's fingertips trembled slightly, but he eventually took the notebook.
He opened the notebook, and the records about Yu Huan came into view.
Yu Huan's right leg was amputated, but he was soon fitted with the world's most advanced metal prosthetic.
Yu Huan repeated his senior year and took the college entrance exam, scoring as the top student in the province and getting admitted to A University.
Yu Huan completed his university credits early and was then admitted to an Ivy League school.
Yu Huan declined the prestigious school and started his own business. In the fifth year after the company went public, it became a unicorn in the industry, almost rivaling the Yu family enterprise.
Yu Huan's relationship with his family improved. There was filial piety between father and son, and brotherly affection. His father took him to various banquets, boasting to everyone: "This is my son."
Yu Huan is now twenty-seven years old.
He is living a brilliant and splendid life.
.
Ruan Qiuping closed the record book and handed it back to Jing Yang. "Thank you, I've read it."
"Is there anything that needs to be changed? After all, you watched the subject grow up, so you must know him better than we do."
"There's nothing that needs to be changed," Ruan Qiuping paused, then said, "You know him better than I do."
After a while, Ruan Qiuping added, "From now on, I won't go down to the mortal realm with you. There's no need to show me the record book either. I'm just a nominal member of this group."
Now that he knew Yu Huan was doing well, that was enough for him.
He didn't need to know more, because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist going down to see him.
"Tch!" Chen Hai raised an eyebrow and sneered, "So you're just blatantly pawning off the group task to others, blatantly coasting through for credits..."
"Chen Hai!" Jing Yang lightly tapped Chen Hai's arm.
Chen Hai pouted but didn't say anything more.
"I'm sorry about that, Ruan Qiuping. He's just like that, with a sharp tongue," Jing Yang said apologetically.
.
After school, Ruan Qiuping went straight to the woods where he usually practiced.
Ever since Ruan Shengfeng learned about his "breakthrough," he had been urging him to practice every day. Previously, practicing for two hours a day wasn't enough. Now Ruan Shengfeng said they should strike while the iron was hot, making him practice for at least three hours a day.
But for Ruan Qiuping, lying down for two hours or three hours didn't make much difference.
Ruan Qiuping found a nice flat spot in the woods, put a blade of grass between his teeth, and lay down.
Now that he had calmed down, his mind kept replaying the contents he had just seen in the record book.
Yu Huan was now twenty-seven years old.
What did Yu Huan look like at twenty-seven? How different was he from when he was seventeen? Had he grown even taller?
They said he had the best prosthetic limb installed. Was it comfortable to use? Could he walk like a normal person?
Yu Huan was already twenty-seven, so he must have been in a relationship, right? What kind of girl was she?
He hoped the girl was cheerful and kind.
As his thoughts drifted further, Ruan Qiuping suddenly remembered that his primary purpose for descending to the mortal realm was to find a partner for Yu Huan.
The corners of Ruan Qiuping's lips gradually curved upward.
He suddenly felt that his past self was truly childish and ridiculous.
He only appeared once a year, how could he find a perfect soulmate for Yu Huan? Moreover, his motives were far from pure.
Yu Huan was such an excellent person, naturally, there would be many people who liked him. Yu Huan was also a very warm person, and when the time came, he would naturally meet a girl he liked.
It was only natural for Yu Huan to fall in love with a girl and get married. Why did he need to interfere?
Even if Yu Huan hadn't found his so-called true love, Ruan Qiuping believed that given Yu Huan's character, he definitely wouldn't force the innocent Ruan Dongdong to marry him.
Taking it a step further, the Marriage Stone only showed destined marriages. Throughout history, those few immortals who suffered heavenly lightning to defy their destined marriages all ended up regretting their decisions without exception.
What if Dongdong and Yu Huan were truly destined to be together?
If he really interfered and broke off Dongdong's engagement to Yu Huan, what if Dongdong grew up and came to like Yu Huan, then blamed him for ruining her destined marriage?
After all, Yu Huan was such an excellent and warm person, Ruan Qiuping couldn't imagine anyone not liking him.
Suddenly, a yellowing leaf fluttered down and landed on Ruan Qiuping's face, breaking his train of thought.
Ruan Qiuping picked up the leaf and took the opportunity to slap his own head: Think about something else, Ruan Qiuping.
He had been so strange lately, always daydreaming.
And whenever he daydreamed, his mind was full of Yu Huan.
Just then, Ruan Qiuping suddenly heard a strange bird call.
He sat up and looked towards the sound. He saw a bird perched on a branch behind him. This bird had white eyes, a white beak, and a white tail, while the rest of it was azure in color.
Ruan Qiuping was stunned for a moment.
So he hadn't been mistaken before he fainted that time. There really was an Azure Plowing Bird in this forest.
The Azure Plowing Bird was a rare auspicious bird that lived on Violet Reason Mountain. How did it end up in this dilapidated forest on the back mountain?
The Azure Plowing Bird suddenly met Ruan Qiuping's eyes, called out twice more, then flapped its wings and flew forward.
The Azure Plowing Bird flew so slowly that Ruan Qiuping felt he would be remiss if he didn't follow.
Having nothing better to do anyway, Ruan Qiuping stood up and followed the Azure Plowing Bird further west.
The Azure Plowing Bird flew about a thousand meters before stopping in front of a waterfall.
Then, Ruan Qiuping saw the bird plunge into the rock beside the waterfall and never come out again.
Ruan Qiuping rubbed his eyes.
He had seen with his own eyes this bird dive into the rock of the mountain, how could it just disappear?
Ruan Qiuping cautiously walked over and slowly extended his hand where the Azure Plowing Bird had vanished.
To his surprise, he saw half of his hand sink into the rock.
An illusion?
Ruan Qiuping frowned and took a big step forward.
After entering, Ruan Qiuping was so shocked that he froze in place.
Since Ruan Qiuping's birth, the immortals in the west had been decreasing, until only his family was left. As a result, this back mountain had almost become their family's private backyard. Ruan Qiuping had been "practicing" here for two hundred years, yet he had never discovered that someone had quietly made a home here.
The cave hidden by the illusion was very spacious. Inside, there was a desk, a guqin, a bed, and everything one might need. The entire cave was lit by a perpetual daylight spell that consumed a great deal of magical power. There wasn't a single lamp, yet it was as bright as day.
The Azure Plowing Bird that had just led Ruan Qiuping here was now eating bird food from a wooden feeding stand. It seemed the owner of this cave was also the owner of this bird.
However, a thin layer of dust had settled on the table surface, suggesting that the cave's owner hadn't been here for several dozen days.
Who could be so bold as to settle on the back mountain of the God of Misfortune's home?
Just then, Ruan Qiuping noticed a portrait hanging on the wall.
Could it be the owner of this cave? Ruan Qiuping stepped forward to look.
The portrait depicted a man.
The man in the painting was tall and slender, wearing simple short sleeves and pants, with a blade of grass between his teeth, lying on his side asleep on a rock.
The lines of the figure in the painting were very simple. The side profile with the grass in his mouth was outlined with just two or three strokes. The hair and clothing had no distinguishing features - the clothes the person wore were a common style found everywhere in the trading forest. Even Ruan Qiuping and his father each owned three sets like it.
Therefore, Ruan Qiuping really had no way of recognizing who the person in the painting was.
But Ruan Qiuping recognized the signature in the bottom right corner of the painting.
— Yu Huan.
The moment he saw those two characters clearly, Ruan Qiuping was truly startled.
So this cave was actually the God of Fortune's dwelling!
But thinking about it again, in the entire celestial realm, besides the God of Fortune Yu Huan, there probably wouldn't be a second person who would dare to settle on the back mountain near the God of Misfortune's home.
Ruan Qiuping recalled that people all said the God of Fortune enjoyed peace and quiet. After learning the art of invisibility, he rarely appeared before people. Presumably he chose to settle here because the western area was sufficiently tranquil.
Ruan Qiuping felt a bit strange.
To be honest, he couldn't connect this God of Fortune who lived in a cave, painted portraits, played the zither, and raised birds, with the Little Yu Huan from the mortal world.
As Ruan Qiuping was leaving, he turned his head to look at the room once more.
All of the God of Fortune's belongings were imbued with good fortune. Even a handful of dirt touched by the God of Fortune would be fought over by people wanting to buy it. If this room were discovered by others, it would likely be emptied in an instant...
Suddenly thinking of something, Ruan Qiuping's footsteps faltered.
His heart suddenly began to beat rapidly.
If... if he took an object imbued with good fortune to see Little Yu Huan, would he no longer bring misfortune to Little Yu Huan?
After realizing what he was thinking, Ruan Qiuping pinched himself hard.
What are you still thinking about? Haven't you harmed Yu Huan enough already?
Although they were all the God of Fortune's belongings, the good fortune imbued in these objects would gradually dissipate.
What if the good fortune dissipated quickly? What if he harmed Yu Huan again?
Ruan Qiuping's throat bobbed as he turned and walked out.
.
Ruan Qiuping's days of coasting by at Fate Academy continued one after another.
Although Chen Hai always sarcastically mocked him for slacking off severely and criticized him for reaping without sowing, Ruan Qiuping acted as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Chen Hai, stop talking," Jing Yang came over to mediate again.
"I just can't stand some people who are group members but don't do anything!"
Ruan Qiuping looked up at Chen Hai: "Then are you willing to let me descend to the mortal world with you? We'd be together for 30 hours. Are you confident you won't be infected with even a bit of my misfortune?"
Chen Hai opened and closed his mouth, but finally deflated and said, "Fine, just stay here then!"
Chen Hai turned to Jing Yang and said: "Jing Yang, let's go. It's time to go to the Gate of Vanity."
After all the classmates had left, Ruan Qiuping yawned, preparing to lay his head on the desk to sleep.
Just then, the Recorder of Fate suddenly came running over in a flurry, anxiously saying to Ruan Qiuping: "Quick! Quick! Hurry to the Gate of Vanity!"
Seeing how flustered the Recorder of Fate looked, Ruan Qiuping also felt a bit panicked. He grabbed his bag and quickly ran to the classroom door: "What happened? Is it Yu Huan..."
"The leaders from the Celestial Education Department are coming for an inspection today! If they discover I'm missing one person from my practical course, I'm finished!" The Recorder of Fate kept wiping the sweat from his brow.
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
"What are you blanking out for? Hurry up and go!"
Ruan Qiuping seemed to suddenly think of something and hurriedly said: "I... give me three... no, two, two minutes. I'll be at the Gate of Vanity right away."
As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared using instant teleportation.
Fortunately, his powers had increased quite a bit. Almost in the next moment, he arrived at the God of Fortune's dwelling on the back mountain.
Although Ruan Qiuping felt that after descending to the mortal world, he would definitely have to avoid Yu Huan. But the future was unpredictable, and his luck was always bad. Accidents were bound to happen, so he still decided to take one of the God of Fortune's objects as insurance, to prevent harming Yu Huan again.
But looking around in a panic, he didn't know what to take.
This was, after all, someone else's home.
Even though this was the God of Fortune Yu Huan - Ruan Qiuping still felt it was different from the mortal Yu Huan.
Suddenly his eyes lit up, his gaze stopping on the trash can beside the desk.
Although taking other people's things wasn't good, taking something from someone's trash can should be okay, right?
Ruan Qiuping strode over to the trash can, squatted down, and began rummaging through the garbage with a serious and solemn expression.
Before long, he found some broken pieces of a water cup.
Ruan Qiuping happily clutched a piece from the rim of the cup in his palm.
It was perfect!
This shard was both convenient to carry and had been held by the God of Fortune every day to drink water. It must be the object with the strongest spiritual power!
Ruan Qiuping stuffed the ceramic shard into his pocket, then quickly used instant teleportation to go to the Gate of Vanity.
.
When Ruan Qiuping descended to the mortal world, Chen Hai and the others had already been down for some time.
The group activity was mainly to test the students' teamwork abilities, so each descending group member was tightly bound by a bracelet.
Originally, Ruan Qiuping was in a group by himself. After descending, the bracelet would automatically bring him within a hundred meters of Yu Huan. But now the bracelet would first bring him within a hundred meters of his group members.
Ruan Qiuping didn't know where his group members would be. He just hoped they wouldn't appear near Yu Huan.
As soon as Ruan Qiuping opened his eyes, he found himself in what looked like a luxurious hotel. It seemed a banquet was being held here, with exquisite pastries and food laid out everywhere.
Chen Hai had somehow obtained a proper-looking suit to wear and was sitting in the corner, eating and drinking voraciously. Jing Yang also stood beside him, expertly holding a wine glass and sipping from it.
Seeing Ruan Qiuping, Jing Yang waved him over.
"I'm sorry," Jing Yang glanced at Chen Hai who was still eating, and said to Yu Huan with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "Chen Hai ascended from the ancient beast Taotie. He gets uncomfortable as soon as his stomach is a little hungry."
The immortals in the celestial realm were divided into different types. Those like Ruan Qiuping, whose entire family were gods and had inherited surnames, were called "natural immortals" and were regular families in the immortal realm. Those like Chen Hai who had ascended from ancient beasts were called "transformed immortals."
It was said that one of the necessary conditions for the ancient divine beast Taotie to become an immortal was to starve for an entire year. Ruan Qiuping now truly doubted how this guy had managed to persevere back then.
"If you wanted to eat, why didn't you just buy food yourselves?"
"We only have a hundred yuan budget each time we descend. As soon as we came down... Chen Hai ate up all the money."
"Then why deliberately make yourselves visible? Wouldn't it be better to stay invisible?"
"We tried being invisible before, but when invisible, people would always notice food mysteriously disappearing, and it was easy to be exposed. On the contrary, eating openly doesn't arouse suspicion. At this kind of high-end banquet, as long as we get in, no one will doubt our identities."
Ruan Qiuping was quiet for a moment, then looked at Jing Yang and Chen Hai: "...Don't you need to record information about Yu Huan?"
Chen Hai waved his hand, continuing to feast while saying: "It's fine, we'll go record after eating. Besides, the God of Fortune is so famous now, we can just search online and copy it into our record books."
"...You can do that?"
"Everyone does it!"
"...Although when I descend, the bracelet defaults to following within a hundred meters of you, when you descend, it should be around Yu Huan, right?" Ruan Qiuping paused, feeling his throat go dry. "What is Yu Huan doing? Is he close by?"
"When we arrived, Yu Huan was preparing to go on a business trip. He's probably on the plane by now. We also didn't want to follow him running around, so we acted on our own." Jing Yang said.
...So he's not nearby.
Ruan Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief.
He gripped the ceramic shard in his hand tightly, not knowing why, but feeling empty inside again.
"Um, Ruan Qiuping, do you want to go to the restroom and remove the invisibility charm first? Otherwise, if people notice us talking to thin air, they'll think it's strange," Jing Yang said quietly, looking at the shimmering golden long-sleeved outfit Ruan Qiuping was wearing. He handed him a white qiankun bag and added, "There are clothes in here you can change into."
Ruan Qiuping took the qiankun bag and went to the bathroom with the clothes.
Ruan Qiuping originally had no intention of sneaking food, but the aroma of the food here was so sweet and enticing that it suddenly made his stomach growl with hunger.
Moreover, Chen Hai had been eating there for half an hour, and surprisingly, no one had chased him out.
Ruan Qiuping rubbed his stomach, feeling a bit restless.
He reached out and tried taking a small cake, then started eating it.
Ruan Qiuping was already starving, so he quickly finished it clean, then reached for a second cookie.
Just then, the main doors to the banquet hall suddenly opened, and everyone fell silent.
This made the crunching sounds of Ruan Qiuping and Chen Hai eating seem particularly out of place.
The silence was so intense that even Chen Hai, who had become a gluttonous immortal, involuntarily stopped eating and looked up to see what was happening.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of a cane striking the marble floor echoed, one after another.
Although Ruan Qiuping couldn't clearly see who had arrived, he suddenly felt his heart pounding heavily with each tap of the cane.
Ruan Qiuping raised his head, looking towards the center of everyone's attention.
It was a man in his thirties.
The man wore a black suit, thin gold-rimmed glasses, and white gloves, leaning on an expensive cane. His expression was calm yet authoritative, as if a single gesture from him could make everyone in the room hold their breath.
The sound of the cane stopped in front of Ruan Qiuping.
The man removed his glove, and his cool fingertip gently wiped away the crumbs at the corner of Ruan Qiuping's lips.
He said in a low voice, "Ruan Ruan, you said you were going to buy me some candy."