Jing Yang glanced at Ruan Qiuping, his expression a bit strange: "...Ruan Qiuping, your jacket is on backwards."
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Ruan Qiuping cursed Yu Huan at least 108 times in his heart before slowly speaking: "...I did it on purpose. Wearing jackets backwards is trendy now."
After the bracelet on his hand was removed, Ruan Qiuping hurriedly walked towards a tree nearby.
"Where are you going?" Jing Yang actually followed him.
Just as Ruan Qiuping was thinking about how to get rid of Jing Yang, Chen Hai suddenly came over and engaged Jing Yang in conversation.
Ruan Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief, hid behind the tree and used magic to clean up the marks Yu Huan had left on his body, and also took the opportunity to change his clothes back.
When Ruan Qiuping walked out from behind the tree, although he was still exhausted inside, at least on the surface he looked refreshed and energetic.
The moment he lowered his head to adjust his sleeve, he suddenly saw the ring on the ring finger of his right hand again.
Ruan Qiuping gently turned the ring, hesitated for a moment, but didn't take it off.
.
"Qiuping, why do you look so unwell today?" Ruan Shengfeng frowned, taking out a Spirit Fruit and tossing it to him, "Quickly eat this Spirit Fruit to replenish your energy."
Ruan Qiuping caught the Spirit Fruit and smiled, "Okay, thank you, Dad."
Xia Fushui was sitting nearby knitting a sweater for Ruan Dongdong. She glanced at Ruan Qiuping, but her hands paused: "Why are you wearing a ring?"
Ruan Qiuping looked at the ring on his hand and said, "It's nothing, just wearing it for fun."
Xia Fushui lowered her head and continued knitting, her tone indifferent: "You're engaged now. You shouldn't wear rings carelessly. Take it off."
Ruan Qiuping thought to himself, not only had he carelessly worn a ring, he had also carelessly gotten married.
But despite his thoughts, he lowered his head obediently and said "Okay," taking off the ring and putting it into his Universe Bag.
"Dad, Mom, I'm going to practice cultivation. I might come back late today, so don't wait up for me."
"Good, good, good! Go quickly, practice well. At my son's current progress, he's not far from becoming a god!" Ruan Shengfeng said cheerfully.
Ruan Qiuping's eyes curved into a smile: "I hope your words come true."
.
As Ruan Qiuping walked out of the courtyard, he immediately saw Ruan Dongdong crouching under the big tree at the entrance, picking up fallen leaves.
Ruan Qiuping called out with a smile: "Dongdong!"
Ruan Dongdong suddenly turned around. Seeing Ruan Qiuping, she immediately smiled happily, hugging the pile of fallen leaves in her arms and running over excitedly.
Ruan Dongdong ran up to him, lowered her head seriously to select the most beautiful red leaf from her arms, handed it to Ruan Qiuping, and said in a sweet, childish voice: "Brother! For you!"
Ruan Qiuping's heart nearly melted. He happily took the red leaf and then handed the Spirit Fruit that Ruan Shengfeng had just given him to Ruan Dongdong: "Dongdong, eat this fruit."
Ruan Dongdong reached out to grab it, but Ruan Qiuping tensed up and stepped back a few steps, using magic to pass the Spirit Fruit to Ruan Dongdong.
Watching Ruan Dongdong happily munching on the Spirit Fruit, Ruan Qiuping felt a wave of fear.
He pressed his lips together, clenching his fist in frustration.
He had spent so much time with Yu Huan, had so much contact, that he had become a bit careless when interacting with others... he had almost forgotten that he absolutely could not touch anyone.
Even when taking that leaf just now, he hadn't used magic and had taken it directly. If he had accidentally touched Dongdong while passing things back and forth... the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"Where is brother going?" Ruan Dongdong tilted her head and asked him.
"Brother is going to practice cultivation in the back mountain."
.
Practicing cultivation was impossible, and he didn't even go to the back mountain, but instead ran to Sunset Lake.
The Memory-Restoring Potion required ten ingredients in total, but seven of them were relatively common and could even be bought directly in the trading forest. The remaining three rare ones needed to be found personally.
These three were the Thousand-Year Lotus from Mangyi Snow Mountain, the Bitter Thought Pearl from the bottom of Sunset Lake, and the Lover's Fruit from Broken Peak Mountain.
Once picked, the Thousand-Year Lotus could only survive for a day and a night, so Ruan Qiuping planned to find the Bitter Thought Pearl and Lover's Fruit first.
Sunset Lake was very close to Ruan Qiuping's home, but a bit more to the west.
Sunset Lake, Sunset Lake, emerges at sunset.
The surface of Sunset Lake was always covered with a plant called blue entangling vine. When this plant floated on the water's surface, it would tightly trap the entire Sunset Lake. If people went in, they couldn't get out, and if people were outside, they couldn't get in.
But this troublesome blue entangling vine would slowly disperse every afternoon when the sun set in the west. When the sun had completely set, they would entwine again.
Ruan Qiuping's timing today was just right. The sun was tilting westward, and the blue entangling vine had already dispersed by more than half. Ruan Qiuping took off his jacket and directly plunged into the water.
Actually, the best spell to use in water was the Water Repelling Spell, but this spell was particularly draining on spiritual energy. Ruan Qiuping wasn't very good at it, so he made do with the Breath Holding Spell for now.
Although the Breath Holding Spell wouldn't make one feel short of breath, the icy lake water still pressed against the body.
Ruan Qiuping was already physically weak from Yu Huan's torment today, and after searching in the water for an hour, he became quite tired.
Seeing that the blue entangling vine on the lake surface was about to start gathering again, Ruan Qiuping hadn't even found a fragment of the Bitter Thought clam.
He sighed, having no choice but to come out of the lake first.
Sunset Lake could only be entered and exited for a short period of just over an hour each day, and time was indeed quite tight.
Although Ruan Qiuping hadn't expected to find the Bitter Thought Pearl right away, he couldn't help feeling a bit discouraged after being in the water for over an hour with no results.
Ruan Qiuping crawled out of the lake, used magic to shake off the water on his body, and put his jacket back on. He patted his face to cheer himself up, deciding to quickly go to Broken Peak Mountain to pick Lover's Fruit while it wasn't completely dark yet.
By the end of the day, Ruan Qiuping had fallen down Broken Peak Mountain twice and achieved nothing.
Ruan Qiuping returned home feeling a bit dejected, immediately flopping onto his bed.
He had just lain down for a short while when he smelled something burning. Following the scent, he realized that the blood on his leg had accidentally smeared onto the bed, burning a black scorch mark on the sheet.
Ruan Qiuping looked at the scorched bed sheet and sighed repeatedly.
He wanted to use magic to treat the wound on his leg, but he had really used up too much magical power today, and the healing effect wasn't very good, barely managing to stop the bleeding.
Ruan Qiuping was both exhausted and sleepy. He originally wanted to just lie down and sleep, but his homework wasn't finished yet.
Since he had rejoined the practical class, the recording task for their small group had basically fallen on him again.
After finishing his homework, Ruan Qiuping began to write today's record of good things.
As he wrote, he took out that ring from his Universe Bag again and put it on his hand.
Just thinking about how Yu Huan in the mortal realm was wearing a matching ring identical to his, he felt that this ring was quietly emanating a warmth.
Without realizing it, today's record of good things had filled a whole page.
Except for the last item, which was about his sister giving him a beautiful fallen leaf, everything else was related to Yu Huan.
Ruan Qiuping closed his good things record book, hesitated for a moment, then opened it again.
He added one more item on the last line.
The ninth good thing: Today I went to Sunset Lake and Broken Peak Mountain. Although the Bitter Thought Pearl was a bit hard to find, I feel like I'm about to find the Lover's Fruit!
.
Reality proved that the premonitions of the God of Misfortune were always inaccurate.
For example, now, after searching for the Bitter Thought Pearl and Lover's Fruit for eight consecutive days, he hadn't even seen a leaf of the Lover's Fruit tree on Broken Peak Mountain, but the Bitter Thought clams at the bottom of Sunset Lake were shining so brightly they nearly blinded him.
He looked at the Bitter Thought clams suddenly popping up one by one at the bottom of the water, rubbing his eyes in shock.
Ruan Qiuping didn't even know what had happened. He had originally just estimated the time, thinking he should leave, so he floated up to prepare to depart. But just as he touched the water's surface, he accidentally touched the blue entangling vine, and his finger was immediately pricked by the thorns on the vine.
He originally didn't care about this small injury at all, but then, a white light emanated from the bottom of the lake.
He instinctively looked towards the light source, and suddenly discovered that the Bitter Thought clams he had been unable to find even after digging three feet into the ground were now emerging one after another, glowing with a soft, moist light.
Ruan Qiuping immediately swam back down excitedly, reaching out to pry open the clams and take the pearls, but these Bitter Thought clams were tightly closed, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pry them open.
Ruan Qiuping looked up at the lake surface. The blue vines were gathering faster and faster, and the last exit was about to be blocked. Ruan Qiuping's heart tightened, and he hurriedly tried to swim to the surface while holding the Bitter Thought Clam. However, the clam was too large, with a diameter of over half a meter, and as heavy as a stone when lifted. Ruan Qiuping tried twice before he could barely lift the clam. But once he did, the clam seemed to come alive like a creature with legs, pulling Ruan Qiuping down into the water with its weight. By the time Ruan Qiuping finally managed to surface with the clam, the lake had turned pitch black—the blue vines had completely sealed off the water's surface.
Ruan Qiuping's heart gradually sank.
He tried to use magic to break through the blue vines, but after attempt after attempt, nothing happened except for his magic slowly draining away. The vines remained completely undamaged and unmoved.
The spells he had just used had depleted too much of Ruan Qiuping's energy, making it difficult for him to even use the Breath Holding Spell now. Ruan Qiuping, holding the Bitter Thought Clam in his arms, slowly sank to the bottom of the water, feeling all the strength leave his body.
As Ruan Qiuping settled on the muddy lake bottom, the Bitter Thought Clam in his arms quietly opened a narrow gap, its soft flesh touching Ruan Qiuping's fingertips.
Suddenly, Ruan Qiuping felt a haze come over his vision, and a cacophony of sounds seemed to approach from afar, getting closer inch by inch.
There were women's cries, children's wails, men's roars, and animals' mournful cries.
These chaotic sounds crowded into his ears, invading his mind, making his expression increasingly unfocused.
Then, the scenery before his eyes darkened inch by inch. In the endless, pitch-black darkness, insults and sighs echoed.
He saw himself reaching out, wanting his mother to hold him, but his mother turned away crying.
He saw his father smiling, teasing him with toys, but as he smiled, he sighed and his expression changed to one of worry.
He saw children his age pushing him down with wooden sticks, cursing at him: "It's because of you, you jinx, that our families had to move away."
One, two, three, four children surrounded him, calling him a jinx and a bringer of bad luck over and over again.
He saw his mother chasing away the children who bullied him, angrily splashing water at them, telling them to get lost, then silently cleaning the mud-covered front door.
He saw his mother on her sickbed, crying and throwing herself into his father's arms, shaking all over and saying: "Let's give him up, I can't take it anymore, I'm in so much pain, I'm going crazy..."
He saw his mother turn her head and notice him, her face suddenly becoming panicked: "Qiuping, Qiuping, don't listen to mommy's nonsense, mommy's not thinking straight, mommy won't abandon you, mommy is sorry... sorry... sorry..."
He saw himself say: "Mom, just throw me away."
He saw his mother suddenly cover her face and break into hysterical sobs.
"Sleep," a soft voice suddenly came, as gentle as water, as soft as clouds. "Just sleep... and you won't feel sad anymore."
His whole body was surrounded by water, but the bone-chilling cold suddenly turned warm, like a soft bed gently cradling his body.
As if bewitched, his eyes slowly closed.
It was indeed a beautiful dream.
Ruan Qiuping couldn't remember the details, but he felt it was filled with azure skies and pristine clouds. The clouds surrounded him like a warm embrace.
The night wasn't long. The sun rose, and a ray of sunlight seemed to penetrate through a gap in the blue vines, illuminating Ruan Qiuping's slightly curved lips as he slept.
The soft dream continued, as if it would never end.
The clouds embracing him turned into his family holding him.
Dongdong hugged his legs, sweetly calling him brother.
His father laughed heartily, putting an arm around his shoulders, saying he would teach him magic hands-on.
His mother walked over step by step, her face wearing a gentle smile, softly calling his name and holding him tightly in her arms.
In the clouds, all his family members were smiling.
The sun shone brightly, and wildflowers bloomed brilliantly.
Ruan Qiuping, nestled in his mother's warm embrace, looked up and noticed a man standing in the corner. This man didn't hug him or smile.
The man wore a dark gray suit and held a black cane. He was very tall and stood very straight, but his back carried an indescribable loneliness and solitude.
The cane in the man's hand moved slightly as he slowly turned around.
He stared into Ruan Qiuping's eyes and asked:
"Ruan Ruan, I've been waiting for you for so long. Why haven't you come yet?"
...
"—Yu Huan!"
Ruan Qiuping's eyes snapped open.
Sunlight, fragmented by the blue vines, fell into the lake water, almost painfully bright to his eyes.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly realized that the Bitter Thought Clam, which he couldn't open before, was now wide open, with a deep blue pearl lying inside, softly glowing.
The Bitter Thought Pearl?!
Ruan Qiuping suddenly understood. So the dream he had earlier was all the doing of this pearl and clam!
The clam seemed to sense danger and was about to close itself. Ruan Qiuping, quick as lightning, snatched the pearl and held it tightly.
The Bitter Thought Pearl was icy cold to the touch. Holding it in his palm inexplicably produced a sense of sorrow and grief, with unpleasant memories flooding his mind.
Ruan Qiuping hurriedly opened his Universe Bag and threw the pearl inside, feeling slightly better.
But...
Ruan Qiuping looked at the sky through the gaps in the blue vines, his brow furrowing.
Actually, if he waited here until the afternoon, the blue vines would naturally disperse.
But he couldn't afford to wait.
Ruan Qiuping usually went to school at 8 AM. Sometimes, when the Gate of Vanity was undergoing routine maintenance, the teachers would inform them in advance and slightly delay the start of classes.
Moreover, the Fate Master would occasionally speak to them before they descended, sometimes talking for so long that they wouldn't go down until after 9 AM. But when the Fate Master didn't speak, they could enter the Gate of Vanity in sequence by 8:30 AM.
But judging by the sky outside, it seemed to be past 8 AM already.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly panicked. What if he missed the descent?
Wouldn't Yu Huan be waiting in vain for a year?
But these blue vines were difficult to open. He had tried using magic yesterday, but it was completely ineffective.
Taking advantage of the good light, Ruan Qiuping examined the blue vines section by section, looking for any larger gaps.
He didn't find any gaps, but he did find a charred spot.
Ruan Qiuping frowned and looked down at his injured hand.
He had touched this spot last night and gotten hurt. His blood had fallen into the lake, attracting those Bitter Thought Clams.
But he hadn't expected that these seemingly invincible blue vines could also be corroded by his blood.
Ruan Qiuping thought for a moment, then directly grasped the blue vines in front of him.
The thorns on the blue vines pierced his palm, and blood quickly spread.
The pain made his palm tremble, but Ruan Qiuping seemed to feel nothing. He gripped the thorny vine, gritted his teeth hard, and quickly ran his hand along the entire length of the vine!
His palm burned with pain, blood gushing out like a spring. The part of the blue vine touched by his blood turned black and charred.
Soon, it broke.
Ruan Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief. He repeated this process to break several more vines, finally creating an opening large enough to jump through to the surface.
Ruan Qiuping glanced at the burned vines, but his mind was elsewhere:
If he had had 100% bad luck that day in the mortal realm, he could have used his blood to burn through the bracelet restraining his power. That way, Yu Huan's leg wouldn't have been broken.
The excessive blood loss had made Ruan Qiuping's face turn pale. But he had no time or energy to heal himself. He was only worried that his blood might harm others, so he hastily used magic to stop the bleeding, then used his remaining magic power to perform one last teleportation.
In an instant, he appeared in front of the Gate of Vanity.
His classmates were walking out of the Gate of Vanity, chatting and laughing.
"Ruan Qiuping, why didn't you come today? Wait... why are you injured?!" Jing Yang asked with a concerned face.
Ruan Qiuping, his face pale, asked: "...Is it over?"
"It's over, all the students have returned, and the Gate of Dust Observation is closing..."
Before Jing Yang could finish speaking, Ruan Qiuping was seen rushing through the Gate of Vanity.
The staff at the Gate of Dust Observation were about to close the door when they saw Ruan Qiuping and hesitated for a moment before saying, "You need to leave, we're closing now."
"I'm... I'm a student here. I'm late. Can I still go down?"
"No, it's closing time."
Ruan Qiuping took two steps forward, but the staff member retreated ten steps in fear: "You... you... what are you trying to do? You're the God of Misfortune, how dare you come so close to me? Are you planning to take revenge on me?"
Ruan Qiuping stopped in his tracks: "I just want to go down."
"But it's the designated time..."
"Rules are dead, but people are alive," a familiar voice interjected.
Ruan Qiuping was surprised to see it was Chen Hai.
Chen Hai continued, "You know this annoying person is the God of Misfortune, how dare you treat him like this?"
The staff member asked confusedly, "What do you mean by that?"
Chen Hai leaned closer to the staff member and spoke in a voice that seemed like a whisper but was actually loud enough for everyone to hear: "This is the God of Misfortune, you know. If you give him a hard time and he decides to take revenge, you won't even know how you died. Besides, if you don't let him go down, he'll just keep hanging around here. The longer he stays, the more unlucky you'll be. It's better to just send him down quickly."
The staff member took another step back, his face contorted with indecision. After a moment of hesitation, he finally took out a bracelet and said to Ruan Qiuping, "Well... why don't you go down then? I can stay a few minutes late."
Ruan Qiuping looked at Chen Hai suspiciously, not understanding why he had suddenly changed his attitude and was helping him.
Chen Hai scratched his head, his tone somewhat reluctant: "...Just go down quickly, the sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back. When you return... I have something I want to ask you."
Ruan Qiuping nodded, put on the bracelet, and walked through the Gate of Dust Observation.
After eight consecutive days of diving, he finally found the Bitter Thought Pearl. Despite being trapped by the notoriously clingy Blue Entangling Vine, he escaped with only minor injuries. Even though he was late, he still managed to descend to the mortal world with Chen Hai's help.
Today seemed full of twists and turns, but each situation had resolved itself favorably.
Ruan Qiuping felt that today would be an excellent day.
Although he was currently wet and covered in dust, looking like a vagrant, his mood was incredibly cheerful.
While quietly humming a tune in his heart, Ruan Qiuping looked around, searching for traces of Yu Huan.
The place where he had appeared wasn't ideal - it was right in Yu Huan's company.
Having just emerged from that pond, Ruan Qiuping hadn't had time to tidy himself up. He was dripping wet, and if he appeared directly, he would inevitably attract attention. So, Ruan Qiuping decided to remain invisible for the time being.
Just then, the doors of the conference room suddenly opened.
Spotting the man at the center of the crowd, Ruan Qiuping's eyes immediately curved into a smile.
— Found him.
A group of men in suits walked out of the conference room. Some were young, some were old, some were tall, and some were short. But to Ruan Qiuping, Yu Huan was undoubtedly the most handsome.
Yu Huan was now forty-two years old. His complexion was somewhat pale, but he was still very handsome. Time had been kind to him, leaving no traces of aging on his face. Instead, it had deepened his mature charm, making him appear even more steady and elegant.
He walked slowly, but the rhythmic tapping of his cane on the floor gave off an indescribable sense of pressure.
A lively new employee passing through the corridor initially wanted to cheerfully greet him, but was intimidated by his calm and authoritative aura. The smile on the employee's face involuntarily faded, and they lowered their head, softly saying "Hello, Mr. Yu," before turning and running away.
Ruan Qiuping's steps towards Yu Huan became lighter and quicker.
But as he approached Yu Huan, he began to step backward in sync with Yu Huan's pace. For every step Yu Huan took forward, Ruan Qiuping took one back, as if finding this game quite amusing.
However, he was a bit slow in retreating for two steps, and his toes bumped into Yu Huan's. Yu Huan seemed to sense something amiss and paused for a moment.
His subordinates behind him also stopped, wondering what Mr. Yu was doing.
Ruan Qiuping quietly reached out and took Yu Huan's hand.
The next moment, Yu Huan lowered his head and smiled.
Many people were stunned by his sudden smile, frozen in place.
Yu Huan slowly tightened his grip on Ruan Qiuping's hand and turned to his assistant, his tone unconsciously softening: "Cancel all appointments for the next two days."
The assistant was almost shocked by his smile and tone, and it took a while before he nervously nodded: "Y-yes, Mr. Yu. I understand."
Yu Huan, holding the invisible Ruan Qiuping's hand, unconsciously quickened his pace. Even the sound of his cane hitting the floor became more rapid.
He walked quickly to his office at the end of the corridor and shut the door with a bang.
Once in Yu Huan's office, Ruan Qiuping pressed the button on his bracelet to deactivate the invisibility mode: "Yu—"
But before he could finish speaking, his words were silenced by a gentle yet forceful kiss.