Brother, how come you're a witch?

Xu Qinglan stared intently at Su Yan with her beautiful eyes, then raised a finger and pointed it at the tip of his nose.

Su Yan was taken aback by the sudden bet, but then found it amusing—this Mad Wave Sword Immortal's competitiveness was a bit too much. It wasn't enough to just take back the surname; he had to make him taste what it was like to be without one.

However, this is also an opportunity to get closer to each other.

Su Yan was quite curious: his given name was a single character, so how would he be called without a surname?

He held the chubby cat in his arms, bowed again, and feigned hesitation, saying:

"Elder Qinglan, one's surname is bestowed by one's parents; this wager is far too heavy."

Are you scared?

Xu Qinglan raised an eyebrow, her fingertips still pointing.

"It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that I feel it's inappropriate. Wouldn't it be troublesome to never have a surname?"

Su Yan shook his head:

"If Elder Qinglan insists on betting, let's make the bet only between the two of us. When there are other people around, we can still address each other by our surnames."

Xu Qinglan's eyes flickered, she withdrew her finger, and gave a soft snort: "You've thought of everything."

Su Yan smiled wryly—how could he not be considerate? He was bound to lose tomorrow; he couldn't just stop using his surname altogether.

"I agree, we'll do it your way."

Xu Qinglan nodded slightly, turned to leave, then paused, turned her head and said:

"Come back at the end of Shen time tomorrow. If you dare to arrive early or late, you will bear the consequences."

Having said that, she flicked her light blue fairy dress and her figure drifted away, not giving Su Yan a chance to speak.

Su Yan breathed a sigh of relief, looked down at the chubby cat curled up in his arms, and said helplessly, "Don't be so eager tomorrow..."

"Old Wu~"

The glutinous cat tilted its head, clearly not understanding.

Su Yan shook his head, picked up the glutinous cat, and walked down the mountain.

He hadn't walked far, and had just stepped onto the main road leading to the market, when he saw Ye Jingqiu holding his sword, standing at the fork in the road ahead waiting for him.

This girl always manages to find him so accurately.

Ye Jingqiu's gaze was calm, as if she had been waiting for a long time. Suddenly, her delicate nose twitched, and she turned her eyes to look at Su Yan.

But she didn't make any further moves. Instead, she remained standing there, waiting for Su Yan to approach before moving closer to him, her gaze fixed intently on the chubby cat in his arms.

"What is it?"

"I borrowed it from Spirit Beast Peak to track the fish," Su Yan said.

"Do I need to return it later?"

"Would you like to raise one?"

Su Yan recalled that most girls seemed to like cats, and Ye Jingqiu could at least be considered a young girl physically.

"don't want."

Ye Jingqiu shook her head and pursed her lips slightly, saying:

"Recently, many small animals have appeared around you."

"Who can argue with that?"

Su Yan was also helpless. He looked up at the sky and said:

"Let's go to where you live."

"Um?"

Ye Jingqiu slightly widened her eyes.

"Didn't we agree to cook fish? Chef Ye, I didn't eat breakfast or lunch, I'm starving."

Su Yan looked worried, still thinking about the two big, fat fish from last night.

"it is good."

Ye Jingqiu's eyebrows curved slightly:

"I can grill fish very quickly."

"Roasted? No way, you roast one, and I'll make soup with the rest for you to try."

Su Yan nudged Ye Jingqiu with the head of the fat cat in his arms, urging her to walk faster. He had been starving all day, and just thinking about the taste of fish made his mouth water.

"By the way, is everything alright at the shop today?"

"No, although it's everyone's first day on the job, we've practiced for many days and are all very skilled."

Ye Jingqiu took a few steps forward, then naturally slowed down, following slightly behind Su Yan, and said:

"But there were some people lurking around the warehouse, so I put on a black robe to cover my face and chased them away."

"As expected of you, you're getting more and more reliable. I knew you could do it."

Su Yan didn't hold back his praise, giving the little sword ancestor a thumbs up.

"Um."

Ye Jingqiu nodded calmly:

"Actually, there are a few minor issues. I've compiled them together, and you can answer them for everyone tomorrow."

"We need to hurry, otherwise I still have to go to Spirit Beast Peak."

Why?

Ye Jingqiu suddenly stopped in his tracks:

"So you won't be going to the store as often anymore?"

"Just these past few days, Elder Chen Yixing of Spirit Beast Peak asked me to help with some research and promised me a Foundation Establishment Pill," Su Yan said.

"It's just a Foundation Establishment Pill... I can write to my master and ask him to send me one."

Ye Jingqiu blinked.

Although her master was severely suppressed by internal strife, he was still an Earth Immortal, with a higher cultivation level than Xu Qinglan, so obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill, which had little market value, was not a problem for him.

"There's no need for such trouble."

Su Yan smiled, holding the dumpling cat in one arm and patting Ye Jingqiu on the back of the head with the other, signaling her not to stand still:

"It must have been a long time since it was sent from Sword Ruins. If I get it directly from Elder Chen, I might even make it in time for the Ultimate Sword Cultivator Challenge."

"You're participating too?"

Ye Jingqiu's eyes lit up slightly, and his feet, clad in cloud-white ankle boots, began to move again.

"perhaps."

Su Yan gently shook his head.

The sun was gradually setting, and half of it had already sunk into the mountains.

Ye Jingqiu's small detached house was indeed remote, but it wasn't far from Spirit Beast Peak.

The two climbed a small hill and saw an old courtyard surrounded by green bamboo.

Ye Jingqiu pushed open the creaking wooden door, gestured to Su Yan to sit down, poured him a cup of cold tea, and then went straight to the kitchen.

Su Yan tossed the glutinous cat to the ground, stretched his slightly sore wrists, and prepared to have a sip of tea to fill his stomach before going inside to help.

"Old Wu~"

The tuan-zi cat, with its four paws touching the ground, felt it had arrived at its future home and began to survey the surroundings with its tail wagging.

Sniffing here, nuzzling there.

Su Yan was too lazy to pay attention to the lousy cat. He drank half a pot of tea, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to show off his culinary skills honed over thousands of years when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the tuanzi cat peeking into a place.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't go into that young girl's bedroom."

I don't even know if this cat is male or female, it's too presumptuous of me.

Su Yan followed and stood in front of the door, unsure whether to go in or not. After thinking for a moment, he decided he should ask Ye Jingqiu to catch the cat himself.

Just then—

"Old Wu!"

The glutinous cat emerged from the house, a piece of cloth dangling from its mouth.

"This is?"

Su Yan raised an eyebrow, recognizing the clothes as his own.

He then remembered that Ye Jingqiu had stripped him of his clothes on Xiaozhu Peak that night, saying she would return them the next day, but she never did.

"Why is it in her own bedroom?"

Su Yan frowned. The fact that the cat could pick up the clothes so quickly meant that they must have been placed in a very obvious and easily accessible place.

"Hmm!"

A muffled gasp suddenly came from the side.

Ye Jingqiu swiftly flashed between Su Yan and Tuanzi Cat, and snatched the clothes away.

Su Yan was startled; he had never seen Ye Jingqiu so excited before.

"I...I washed them for you. I brought them in with my own clothes today and just put them on the bed. I haven't had time to tidy them up yet."

Ye Jingqiu swallowed lightly, his tone flat but somewhat hesitant.

"Oh...I see."

Su Yan thought to himself that he hadn't asked either.