Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

Yuan An picked up the document, flipped through a few pages, and became increasingly alarmed. The total value of the industries and shares listed inside was probably tens of billions of dollars. Was his father... going to divide all the family property among them?

"Dad, these... add up to several hundred billion dollars..." Yuan An's voice trembled slightly.

"So you guys have to take good care of it and not squander it all," He Damin said half-jokingly, but his eyes held a hint of expectation and seriousness.

Yuan An forced a smile, a smile more painful than a grimace. "Dad, please...please don't go?" His voice held a hint of pleading. He had always thought he would take over his father's business and carry it forward, but now his father wanted to hand everything over to him and then leave Earth? This was too sudden.

He Damin looked at him, his eyes filled with complex emotions. He knew the children would miss him, and he would miss them too. But the path of cultivation was inherently against the will of Heaven; pursuing higher realms and a wider world was his destiny. He shook his head, his tone firm: "No."

Yuan An lowered his head and stopped speaking, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he was trying to suppress his emotions.

Chen Xueru stood up, walked to the children, and hugged them one by one. "Okay, don't cry," she said, her voice choked with emotion, but she still tried to comfort them, "It's not like we're not coming back."

"Then...when are you coming back?" Yuan Jing asked, crying, and hugged her mother tightly.

Chen Xueru looked at He Damin. He Damin thought for a moment and said, "Maybe a few years, maybe decades. But as long as we are alive, we will definitely come back."

"Then we'll go with you!" Yuanqing suddenly stood up and shouted. He was the most impulsive and adventurous person.

"No," He Damin immediately rejected the idea. "Your cultivation level is insufficient. Space is not Earth; it's full of dangers. Perhaps we can consider it when you reach the Golden Core stage."

"How long will it take to reach the Golden Core stage?" Yuan Qing pressed.

"Decades. Maybe longer," He Damin said. The path of spiritual practice becomes increasingly difficult as one progresses. His own achievements today are a result of both fortuitous circumstances and countless years of arduous cultivation. He doesn't expect his children to follow this path.

The children fell silent again. They knew their father's temperament; once he made a decision, he wouldn't easily change it. The atmosphere in the living room grew even heavier.

As night deepened, the children left one by one. They needed time to process this shocking news, time to discuss the division of the family fortune, and even more time to accept the fact that their parents were about to leave this world.

Silence returned to the villa. He Damin stood on the balcony again, gazing at Victoria Harbour in the distance. The harbor was even more beautiful at night than during the day; the lights on the water shimmered, reflecting in the sparkling waves like stars fallen from the sky. A cool evening breeze caressed his cheeks.

"Brother Damin." Chen Xueru walked over and gently leaned on his arm.

"Um?"

"When are we leaving?"

"Let's do it in the next few days," He Damin said, holding her hand. "Once the children have divided the family property and have nothing left to worry about, we'll leave."

"First stop...really to the moon?" Chen Xueru asked softly. She remembered many years ago, when He Damin pointed to the moon in the courtyard and told her that he would take her there someday. At the time, she thought it was a joke, but she never expected that decades later, that joke would actually come true.

He Damin turned to look at her and smiled, "Of course I remember. How could I forget something I promised you?"

Chen Xueru leaned on his shoulder, saying nothing more. He Damin gently embraced her, looking up at the stars in the sky. Those distant stars twinkled faintly in the night sky. Soon, they would no longer be just unreachable points of light. They would be his destination, his journey, the new world he was about to explore.

Over the next three days, the children gathered several more times to discuss the division of their inheritance. Although they were all filled with sadness at parting, they didn't argue much about the division of the estate. Yuan Ping, who wasn't very interested in business, chose the relatively stable Global Bank; Yuan An, who was already managing Xinghuo Technology, naturally opted for the technology company; the sisters Yuan Ning and Yuan Jing, who had worked with He Yushui at Asia TV and had an affinity for the station, jointly managed Asia TV; the brothers Yuan Qing and Yuan Kang, who enjoyed challenges, chose shares in ocean shipping and some manufacturing companies.

All six children found their place.

He Damin looked at the signed family division agreement and nodded in satisfaction. "It's good that it's divided. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourselves to manage these businesses. Remember, no matter what happens in the future, you're all brothers and sisters. Support each other and don't fight amongst yourselves."

"Yes, Dad," the six children answered in unison, their voices trembling with emotion.

"Also," He Damin looked at Yuan An, "there's a special laboratory in Xinghuo Technology that I left behind years ago. There are some things inside that you can only access once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage. For now, just pretend it doesn't exist and focus on developing the company's business."

Yuan An nodded solemnly: "I understand, Dad."

He Damin gave some more instructions about spiritual practice and daily life. The children listened attentively, afraid of missing a single word. They knew that this might be the last thing their father would say to them for a long time.

As evening fell, the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the entire courtyard. He Damin and Chen Xueru stood beneath the pomegranate tree, gazing at the old tree that had been with them for thirty years. The fiery red pomegranate blossoms appeared exceptionally vibrant in the sunset's glow.

"Time flies," Chen Xueru said, gently stroking the rough tree trunk. "I remember when we first moved here, Yuanqing fell down from the tree, and you even beat him up."

"That kid's too naughty, he has to be disciplined," He Damin said with a smile, but there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes. This place holds so many memories for them, laughter, tears, and every little detail of their children's growth.

"Let's go." He Damin took a deep breath and grasped Chen Xueru's hand.

"Where to?" Chen Xueru looked up at him.

"Let's go see the moon," He Damin said with a slight smile.

Chen Xueru smiled too, her eyes glistening with tears, yet also filled with anticipation. She leaned on He Damin's shoulder and whispered, "Okay."

Without further hesitation, He Damin sent a thought into his newly created miniature world. Inside, a silver-gray flying saucer sat silently, radiating a faint metallic sheen. This was an alien technological artifact he had acquired by chance many years ago, which he had carefully treasured. He never imagined it would finally come in handy today.

"come out."

With his will, a silver light emerged from the void and silently landed in the courtyard. It was a flying saucer about ten meters in diameter, shaped like a disc, with a silver-gray outer shell that shimmered softly in the setting sun. Its lines were smooth and beautiful, full of a futuristic feel.

Chen Xueru stared wide-eyed at the suddenly appearing UFO, covering her mouth in astonishment. "This...this is the UFO you were talking about?"

"Yes." He Damin took her hand. "Let's go upstairs and take a look."

A gangway extended from the bottom of the flying saucer and slowly landed on the ground. He Damin led Chen Xueru up the gangway step by step and entered the flying saucer.

The interior of the flying saucer was more spacious than I had imagined, with a simple yet comfortable layout. In the center was a circular control panel covered with various illuminated buttons and screens. Several comfortable seats and a small rest area were arranged around it. Several large viewing windows on the bulkhead offered clear views of the outside world.

He Damin helped Chen Xueru sit down and walked to the control panel to familiarize himself with the interface. Although it was alien technology, with his Nascent Soul stage cultivation, he quickly understood its principles. He pressed the start button.

"Buzz—"

The flying saucer trembled slightly, then slowly rose. The pomegranate tree in the yard grew smaller and smaller, and the view from Victoria Peak gradually came into view. Chen Xueru leaned against the viewing window, watching her familiar home recede into the distance, and tears streamed down her face.

"Brother Damin, look, this is our home." She pointed to the villa below that was getting smaller and smaller, her voice choked with emotion.

He Damin walked to her side and gently hugged her from behind. "Don't be sad, we'll come back."

The flying saucer continued to ascend, piercing through the clouds and soaring higher into the sky. The view outside the window gradually changed; the sky transformed from blue to deep blue, and then to profound black. Countless stars appeared outside the window, no longer twinkling as they do on Earth, but like diamonds, quietly set in black velvet, radiating eternal light.

Chen Xueru stared at the magnificent sight before her, speechless with shock. In all her years, she had never imagined that one day she would witness such a starry sky.

"Brother Damin, we...we're really in space." Her voice trembled slightly, a mixture of fear and excitement.

"Yes," He Damin whispered in her ear, "we're in space."

"So beautiful..." Chen Xueru murmured, her eyes fixed on the starry sky outside the window.

He Damin smiled and hugged her even tighter. "This is just the beginning. In the future, we will see many more beautiful sights."

The UFO continued to accelerate, heading towards the moon. As it drew closer, the moon's outline became increasingly clear. The grayish-white planet appeared exceptionally lonely and mysterious in the blackness of space.

Looking at the moon, Chen Xueru suddenly remembered many years ago when He Damin told her stories about the stars in the yard. At that time, she thought they were just myths and legends. Now she realized that those stories might actually be true.

"Brother Da Min".

"Um?"

"Thank you," Chen Xueru said earnestly, turning around and looking into He Damin's eyes.

He Damin looked down at her and smiled, "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for bringing me to see the moon." Chen Xueru's eyes glistened with tears, yet she wore a happy smile.

He Damin lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead. "Silly girl, we're family."

The UFO landed smoothly on the lunar surface. Grayish-white lunar dust was kicked up by the impact of the lander and then slowly settled. He Damin took out a spacesuit that he had prepared beforehand and helped Chen Xueru put it on. Although he was fully capable of surviving in space with his cultivation level, Chen Xueru's cultivation level was not high enough, and she needed the protection of the spacesuit.

The two put on spacesuits and stepped out of the flying saucer.

The moment Chen Xueru stepped onto the lunar surface, she felt light as a feather, as if she might take flight at any moment. She couldn't help but jump lightly, and surprisingly, she jumped several times higher than usual.

"Brother Damin, I feel so light!" she exclaimed excitedly, her voice transmitted to He Damin's ears through the communicator in her spacesuit.

"Because the moon's gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth's," He Damin said with a smile. "You can try jumping a few more times."

Chen Xueru jumped and skipped around on the moon like a child, her laughter, filled with boundless joy, coming through the communicator. He Damin stood beside her, watching her happy expression, a smile also appearing on his face.

After jumping for a while, Chen Xueru stopped, pointed to the distant sky, and excitedly shouted, "Brother Damin, look! Earth!"

He Damin looked up, following the direction she pointed. There, a blue planet floated silently in the blackness of space, covered by white clouds, with blue oceans and green land clearly visible. That was their home, where they had lived most of their lives. From the moon, it was so beautiful, so fragile, so unique.

Chen Xueru walked to He Damin's side and took his hand, which was covered by a spacesuit glove. "Brother Damin, we'll go back, right?"

He Damin held her hand tightly, looked at the blue planet, and nodded solemnly: "Yes. We will definitely go back."

They stayed on the moon for a long time, watching the Earth slowly rise from the lunar horizon and then slowly set again. That kind of spectacle can never be seen from Earth.

Then, they returned to the flying saucer and took off their spacesuits.

"Where to next?" Chen Xueru asked curiously.

He Damin walked to the control panel, set the flight path, turned around and smiled at her: "Let's go check out Mars. Then, we'll go to the edge of the solar system."

Chen Xueru leaned on his shoulder, looking at the starry sky outside the window, her eyes filled with anticipation.

The flying saucer restarted and silently flew into the depths of space. The stars outside the window receded, like a flowing galaxy.

"Brother Damin," Chen Xueru asked softly, "Do you think there might be aliens on those stars?"

He Damin thought for a moment and said, "Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. But regardless, we'll go and see."

Chen Xueru smiled, closed her eyes, leaned on He Damin's shoulder, and had a satisfied smile on her lips.

The flying saucer soared through the vast expanse of space, carrying them towards the unknown distance. Their journey had only just begun. And the starry sky outside the window was boundless, full of infinite possibilities.