I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

Watching Nian happily chewing on rabbit meat, showing no trace of his previous melancholy, Bai Zhou silently took a bite of the rabbit.

"Two more legs, please."

Year swallowed the meat in his mouth, threw away the bone, and reached out his hand to the daylight.

"You were enjoying your meal so much, why were you reminiscing about a rabbit just now?"

"(￣～￣) Chew!"

"Is there a conflict between remembering the rabbit's hard work for a living and me finding it delicious? Hurry up, forget about the rabbit, or I'll starve to death if you don't give me some meat soon."

What he said that year is irrefutable.

"Only one leg is left."

"One is fine too. I haven't eaten in so long, my mouth is so bland."

"You smell like a beard, where did you come from, bandit?"

During the day, Bai Zhou tore off the remaining rabbit leg and handed it to Nian. Watching her wolf it down, he silently left the rest of the meat for her.

"Hey, you're so sensible, Xiaobai. Don't worry, I'll definitely help you find Xi. If she doesn't come out, I'll tie her up and bring her out."

Nian took the meat and ate it with satisfaction.

"Mmm~, rabbit is so delicious."

"Having not eaten for so long, a rabbit feels like the ultimate delicacy."

Nian sat on the bed swinging her legs, her oily hands casually resting on the edge of the bed, making Bai Zhou look on with a dark expression.

"Raise your hand. You slovenly immortal."

"Oh, it's not messy at all. It's just that there's no water, so I can't wash it off."

Nian obediently raised his hands, then looked with slight surprise at Bai Zhou conjuring up a ball of water to wash away the oil.

“Casting spells out of thin air…I’ve been concerned about that for a while now.”

Year stared at the daylight, raised one hand to grab his collar, and with the other hand held his wrist, turning it over and over.

"what happened?"

Bai Zhou doesn't quite understand Nian's unconventional way of thinking.

How did things get from washing hands to thinking about how he was casting spells?

"That's strange. You have neither a staff nor that broken stone disease. How did you manage to cast a spell out of thin air?"

After searching around for a while, she found no spellcasting medium on Bai Zhou, nor did she see the annoying stone disease, which only intensified her curiosity.

"Casting spells out of thin air... is it that difficult? Besides, this isn't even a spell. It's an ability I was born with."

Bai Zhou casually straightened his clothes and looked at Nian with a calm expression, unable to comprehend her surprise.

"It's just how we are... How easy it is to say."

Nian stared at the daylight for a while, then lay down on the bed indifferently.

"Going to sleep now, goodnight, Xiaobai."

"Goodnight, Sister Nian."

What a strange immortal.

He no longer needs sleep to maintain a high level of energy during the day; now he only needs to calm his mind and rest to keep his spirits high at all times.

Looking back at the past year, I clearly slept for sixty years and just woke up, yet now I can still fall asleep as easily as I want...

"..."

"Ah! I can't sleep, I just can't sleep!"

Nian suddenly sat up, grabbing her hair in distress, making her originally smooth and neat hair into a mess.

"I slept for too long... I can't feel anything when I close my eyes now..."

"Little Bai, Little Bai... are you asleep? Chat with your sister for a bit..."

"Sister Nian..."

Bai Zhou reluctantly opened his eyes, looked at Nian rolling around on the bed, and sighed helplessly.

He now understands to some extent what his teacher felt back then.

It's only because he's a calm and even-tempered man that he's easy to get angry; someone with a slightly worse temper would have kicked him out immediately.

"Hey, Xiaobai, tell your sister the story of your ascension to heaven."

The child lay on the bed, gazing longingly at the daylight, like a little child who could only fall asleep peacefully after hearing a story.

Is that mess really that interesting...?

Bai Zhou organized his thoughts and told the story to Nian again.

■

"Next is Yutong County. Sister Nian, is there anything you want to buy?"

"Hmm...can we try some of the food here?"

Perhaps because she hadn't eaten for a long time, Nian was craving delicious food. Whether it was sweet, salty, sour, or spicy, she wanted to have a good, satisfying meal.

However, she was penniless at the moment, and her only hope of getting a decent meal was to rely on Bai Zhou.

"Naturally."

"Great!"

Upon entering the county town, Nian took Bai Zhou's hand and headed straight for the largest restaurant in the area.

"Please come in, esteemed guests!"

What would you two like to order?

"Hmm...then let's have steamed lamb, steamed bear's paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast goose, braised duck, braised chicken, cured pork, preserved pork belly, dried meat, sausage..."

"..."

Ignoring the waiter's stunned expression, Bai Zhou took a sip of tea and said:

"One serving of everything that can be served. And two bottles of Huangliang sake."

"Okay...please wait a moment, the food will be here shortly."

Although the waiter wanted to ask, "Can two people really eat so much food?" he then thought about his current position and realized that the more dishes he could sell, the better. So he stopped meddling and went to the kitchen to announce the names of the dishes.

The dishes arrived quickly, and Nian didn't stand on ceremony, picking up a pair of chopsticks and starting to eat heartily. As more and more dishes were served, she found the chopsticks troublesome and started eating with her hands.

"Eat slowly, we have plenty of time."

Seeing Nian wolfing down her food, Bai Zhou was afraid she might choke.

"Gurgle—! Water! Water!"

Sure enough... he choked.

Bai Zhou handed her a glass of sake and then gently patted her back to help her catch her breath.

"Phew—! I'm alive again."

The older man let out a long sigh of relief, then continued to devour his food.

"Well... I'm full, but I didn't enjoy it."

As he picked his teeth with a toothpick, he leaned back in his chair, looked at the table full of empty plates, and shared his thoughts on the meal.

"..."

"What's wrong, Xiaobai? Why are you staring at your sister's belly? That's not polite."

Noticing Bai Zhou's probing gaze, Nian smiled at him.

"I'm wondering where all this food went."

Even after eating so much food, Nian's stomach remained calm and undisturbed.

Compared to the previous year, Kal'tsit just eats a little more, so her belly becomes slightly rounder.

"Hmm... It's rather impolite to inquire about a young lady's appetite."

He said this, but then his expression changed.

"However, if it's a novice, this secret isn't something that can't be told."

Nian waved to him, and his mysterious appearance made Bai Zhou curiously lower his head.

Nian's voice rang out from beside Bai Zhou's ear: "Sister has a body temperature of 1,400, so anything that goes into her belly will be burned clean."

"Is that so?"

Bai Zhou nodded thoughtfully, then waved to Nian.

I leaned close to Nian's ear, and the warm breath of daylight fell on her ear.

"I like Sister Nian very much too."

Shy (* /ω＼*)

Returning to the six suns, honored guests from the south

"What a naughty child, Xiaobai."

Nian raised both hands and gently shook Bai Zhou's cheeks.

Do you think she'll be shy?

That's impossible.

"Those words might work on that idiot Eleven, but they won't touch me."

"Oh, is that so... I was being presumptuous. Please forgive me, Sister Nian, and spare my face."

As the daylight passed by Nian's slightly red ears, he softly begged for mercy while raising his hand to tuck the small braid hanging down her right cheek behind her ear. Then he took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the oil residue left at the corner of her mouth.

"Uh-huh……"