Courtyard House: Starting in 1938, kill enemies and loot equipment.

In the late autumn of 1945, the smoke of war had cleared from the base areas surrounding Beiping, and the national treasures at the temporary cultural relic receiving points remained safe and sound under the protection of Zhou Ye and his comrades. The Nationalist government's inventory of cultural relics was slow but orderly. Zhou Ye declined several invitations to take up positions, only occasionally assisting in the restoration of cultural relics as a "civilian protector of treasures." The rest of the time, he stayed at the base, chatting with Xiaocao through their connection, listening to her talk about daily life in Yan'an, and also listening to her rambling about the trivialities of the farm—the chicks had hatched again, the herbs by the spring had sprouted new shoots, and the wheat bins needed to be turned over and dried.

"Brother Zhou, we've got you covered in Beiping, so you can go to Yan'an to pick up Xiaocao without worry!" Zhao Hu patted him on the shoulder and handed him the pass. "The blockade has been coordinated, this pass will ensure a smooth journey for you, so you can go and come back as soon as possible."

Zhou Ye accepted the pass, his heart filled with warmth. He carefully instructed Zhao Hu on the details of protecting cultural relics, temporarily granting him access to resources in the system space. He then packed a few simple belongings and set off for Yan'an. Although the War of Resistance against Japan had ended in North China, remnants of the Japanese army and opportunists were still roaming around looting treasures. Zhou Ye traveled westward, taking only remote mountain paths. His Golden Core stage spiritual sense was constantly active, and whenever he encountered scattered bandits stealing things, he would quickly clear them away, protecting many ancestral items belonging to the local people.

Reaching a valley on the border of Shanxi and Shaanxi, he sensed a faint aura of cultural relic mixed with malevolence. Three remnants of the Japanese army were snatching a Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowl from a villager's arms. Zhou Ye appeared in a flash, deflecting incoming bullets with his fingertips, disarming the attackers with three light strikes, binding them, and handing them over to a nearby base liaison point. He then returned the cracked porcelain bowl to the villager, instructing him to keep it safe, before continuing his journey.

After several days of travel, Zhou Ye finally arrived in Yan'an. On the crisp autumn slopes of the loess hills, the grains were golden, the jujubes laden with fruit, and the sound of children reading aloud drifted from the orphanage courtyard—a scene of peace and tranquility. Standing at the gate, Zhou Ye softly called out, using his telepathic connection, "Little Grass, your brother has arrived."

"Brother!" The joy in his heart had barely subsided when a small figure rushed out of the classroom door and threw herself into his arms. Little Grass looked up, her eyes crinkling with laughter, "I was just thinking of going to the farm to dry the wheat seeds, and here you are!"

Zhou Ye bent down and picked her up, his fingertips brushing against the wisps of hair on her forehead, the touch warm and familiar—though separated by thousands of miles, the jade pendant and the farm meant they never felt apart. Their daily chats, connected by a shared heart, and the traces of her daily care on the farm, ensured their mutual concern never wavered. "Teacher Wang, thank you for taking care of Xiaocao all these years," Zhou Ye said, bowing deeply to Teacher Wang who came to greet him.

"Comrade Zhou Ye, you're too kind," Teacher Wang said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "Xiao Cao is a very sensible child. She studies hard and is also very careful. Last time, the pottery jar in the exhibition hall almost fell, but she caught it quickly and without any damage."

Zhou Ye looked at the little grass, and the little girl stuck out her tongue and whispered in her mind, "I used my spiritual energy to gently support her, and no one noticed~"

That evening, Zhou Ye took Xiao Cao into the system's farm. As soon as they stepped into this spiritually rich world, Xiao Cao broke free from his hand and ran familiarly to the chicken coop. She scattered some grain, checked the herbs by the spiritual spring, and even touched the plump piglets in the pigpen. Turning back to Zhou Ye, she called out, "Brother, I come to tend to it every morning and evening. The chicks have hatched ten chicks, and I've collected a basket of hemostatic herbs by the spiritual spring and are drying them next to the wooden house. Look!"

Zhou Ye watched her busy figure, his heart filled with satisfaction. This farm had long been their shared little home across thousands of miles. Although Xiao Cao was in Yan'an, she took care of it every day with the help of the jade token, keeping it in perfect order. The circulation of spiritual energy had also become increasingly refined and restrained due to her daily cultivation on the farm. He walked to the wooden house, looked at the dried herbs, and patted Xiao Cao's head: "As expected of my sister, you take better care of it than your brother."

"Of course!" Little Grass raised her little face and pulled Zhou Ye to the temporary storage area for cultural relics in the system space. "Brother, I noticed that the batch of bamboo slips you collected last time was a bit damp, so I put some dry pine branches from the farm next to them to absorb the moisture. I didn't touch the bamboo slips themselves, so don't worry!"

Zhou Ye felt a warmth in his heart. He knew Xiao Cao was always cautious, keeping their secret and protecting these national treasures. Using the farm's rich spiritual energy, he began to guide Xiao Cao in advanced spiritual energy application techniques. Previously, Xiao Cao only knew basic spiritual energy circulation and self-protection; now Zhou Ye taught her to condense spiritual energy at her fingertips, gently wiping the surfaces of the artifacts for simple dust removal and moisture control. He also taught her to use trace amounts of spiritual energy to sense the damaged areas of the artifacts, laying the foundation for subsequent restoration. Xiao Cao was already in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and having cultivated on the farm daily, she grasped the concepts quickly. Soon, she could skillfully use spiritual energy to gently wipe a Song Dynasty porcelain vase, her movements gentle and precise.

During their few days in Yan'an, Zhou Ye accompanied Xiao Cao in her studies and also helped out at the temporary artifact exhibition hall in the base area with Teacher Wang. Taking advantage of the opportunity to help organize the artifacts, Xiao Cao secretly used the methods Zhou Ye had taught her to perform simple spiritual moisture-proofing on several damp ancient books. No one noticed anything unusual; they simply thought she was quick-witted and meticulous. Zhou Ye, on the other hand, occasionally performed in-depth restorations on the artifacts in the exhibition hall, using the power of his inner energy to dispel any remaining negative energy, simply stating that it was a "family-inherited drying and incense-burning technique," which drew repeated praise from the staff.

Teacher Wang also specially invited Zhou Ye to give a lesson on cultural relic protection to the children, and Zhou Ye readily agreed. He didn't talk about complicated theories, but only told his own stories of retrieving cultural relics behind enemy lines. He concealed the cultivation of immortality and the system, and only talked about the difficulty and importance of protecting treasures, telling the children: "These treasures are the roots left by our ancestors. Protecting them is protecting our Chinese civilization." The children listened with great interest. Xiao Cao sat in the crowd, watching her brother's calm and composed manner, her little face full of pride.

The day of parting arrived quickly, and Zhou Ye was to take Xiaocao back to Beiping. Before leaving, Xiaocao said goodbye to her classmates one by one, and then ran to the nursery's vegetable garden, picked a full basket of vegetables she had grown herself, and stuffed them into her bag: "These are what I grew, I'll let Uncle Zhao and the others try them when I get back." Teacher Wang stroked her head, her eyes full of reluctance: "When you get to Beiping, study hard, continue your studies in cultural relic protection, and write to Yan'an often."

"Goodbye, Teacher Wang! Goodbye, classmates!" Xiaocao waved and boarded the carriage bound for Beiping.

The carriage traveled eastward, its wheels churning the dirt road towards Beiping. Little Grass leaned on Zhou Ye's shoulder, gazing at the mountains and rivers outside the window, and began to plan: "Brother, when we get back, we'll first harvest the hemostatic herbs from the farm and send them to our comrades in the base area; they'll need them in the battle. Then we'll distribute some of the newly harvested wheat seeds to the villagers around Beiping so they can plant some winter wheat. And that copy of the 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River' you collected—I want to use spiritual energy to add a layer of moisture protection to it..."

Zhou Ye held her hand, listening to her chattering plans, his eyes filled with tenderness. The setting sun cast long shadows of the carriage across the land, and the valley breeze carried the fragrance of grass and trees along the way. He looked down at his younger sister beside him. Though young, she had already learned to protect—to guard their secret, to protect their little world on the farm, and to cherish the cultural relics.

"I'll do whatever you say," Zhou Ye nodded with a smile. "When we get back, we'll guard Beiping together, protect these national treasures together, and wait together for the day when this land is truly at peace."

Xiaocao nodded vigorously, leaning on his shoulder, gazing at the gradually brightening horizon in the distance, her heart filled with longing. She knew that Beiping held the national treasures she and her brother protected together, the farm they tended daily, and the uncles and elders who fought alongside them; it was her second home.

The carriage traveled eastward, carrying the brother and sister, and their hopes for the future, towards Beiping. The winds of the Yan River gradually faded, the outline of the ancient capital drew ever closer, and their story of protection would begin a new chapter on the land of Beiping.