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

Bai Zhou didn't say much, just smiled gently, his eyes fixed only on Xi Yan.

■

"Ugh! I dreamt about that damned old man again!"

The red and white fairy jumped around and shouted in the house, attracting the attention of the magic pen that was writing nearby.

"Could you please be quiet? If you disturb me and I miswrite, I won't show you Ah Xi's personal incident record book."

Although the magic pen cannot be used, other things can be used to control this lively but unreliable fellow.

"Sigh, I'll be quieter."

For the sake of that little booklet that recorded all of her brother's dark history and little secrets, Nian willingly let the magic pen direct her, running errands for him and buying him trinkets.

"By the way, who did you say you dreamed about?"

Miaobi put down her pen and looked at Nian, who was sitting in a chair, propping her face up with her hand and lost in thought.

"Old man."

"Oh, old man... old man?"

Miaobi frowned and quickly found a piece of paper in the thick, messy pile of books.

It was a scroll made using ancient techniques, covered with writing that only the recorder could decipher.

"Ninth Brother... I'll talk..."

Miao Bi closed the paper, his gaze towards Nian flickering slightly.

"Or you could just die."

"what?"

The red and white fairy jumped three feet high, glaring angrily at Miaobi, her fist already raised. If the other party didn't apologize within three breaths, she would teach Miaobi a lesson about what it meant to be in deep trouble.

Who will awaken first from the dream of the 59th Great Dream?

"Sir, be careful of the wind. Be sure to tell me if you feel cold."

"Hmm, hmm, Ah Xi, don't say anymore, I've remembered everything."

This was the fourth time she had heard these instructions. Even though the artist hadn't consciously tried to memorize them, she couldn't forget them after hearing them four times. She couldn't recite them word for word, but she could at least give a fairly good summary of the meaning.

“Sir, please call me if you need anything. I will always be here.”

They helped the painter onto a cloud that people could ride on, and during the day they carried the bags and placed them on another cloud.

After doing all this, he himself climbed onto the first cloud and sat beside the painter.

"Then we must go, sir."

Seeing the painter nod slightly to show he understood, Bai Zhou flipped his hand and slightly raised it, causing the two clouds beneath him to rise with the wind and, in the blink of an eye, were more than ten meters off the ground.

A poem describes it thus: "White clouds serve as boats, riding the wind across ten thousand miles."

Sit upright in the cloud realm, enjoy the gentle breeze, and observe the human world.

Using the mist as ink, I pick up my brush to depict the lives of ordinary people.

The sword's edge paints a picture of a prosperous age; the exquisite brushstrokes bring joy to all.

■

"What did you mean by that, writer?"

The white and red immortal, holding a fan, glared menacingly at the rude fellow before him.

"Just as I just said."

Seeing her sisters angry, Miaobi was not afraid at all.

"Rather than wallowing in dreams and struggling to survive, it is better to be resolute in reality, commit suicide here, and fight against the old man's dominant consciousness."

"joke!"

That year, he felt no hope of winning with this method.

"How can a part of the body resist the body itself?"

"How will you know if it will work if you don't try?"

Miao Bi's face was incredibly serious, as if this was indeed a method worth trying.

"Whether this method is good or bad, I won't do it."

Nian opened her fan and created a gentle breeze, ruffling her pure white hair.

"If you want to do the experiment, find someone else."

"Can't bear to part with the beauty of this world?"

Miaobi put away the paper containing various information and looked at Nian with a hint of mockery in her eyes.

"There is still suffering."

Because they themselves originated from nothingness, immortals who understand themselves thoroughly, after staying in this world for a long time, like ordinary mortals, have developed a faint sense of fear and disgust for their inevitable end.

"What's the use of being reluctant to part with it?"

The brushstrokes, however, reveal a free and unrestrained spirit.

"Great dreams last forever, but they too must eventually come to an end."

"For me, it doesn't matter whether the old man is alive or dead. As long as the words I have recorded still exist, as long as this tradition is not destroyed, I will have no regrets in this world."

What was meant to be a grand statement only elicited laughter from the sisters.

"You fool who's on your deathbed and can't even take care of yourself, why don't you hurry up and find that glimmer of hope? What are you doing here laughing at me!"

Faced with the sisters' silly smiles, Miaobi responded in kind.

"I laugh at your arrogance, and at your complete lack of awareness of your own situation."

"Laugh at you and me, and Eleven and the other brothers, for being just as silly as us."

The immortal, bursting into laughter, loudly proclaimed the fact that the brilliant writing had deliberately overlooked.

"You piece of wood! You idiot!"

“My mind has remained steadfast from beginning to end. How can you say I am not clear-headed?”

"I shouldn't have talked to you about these things; it's like casting pearls before swine."

The masterful pen issued an order to leave, but the immortal ignored it as if it were nothing.

"Can your history book, which records all that has been seen and known, now record that one myth?"

"You think that by not seeing him, you can treat him like any other mortal being, and forget him in an instant, and from then on you will still be you."

"But now, how many years have you lived here in seclusion? Day and night, eating coarse food and drinking water, living like an ascetic. After such training, has that memory in your heart become blurred?"

"It's probably never been blurry for a moment, but rather it's become clearer and clearer. Only when you come to your senses at some point will you be shocked to find that no matter what you do, you can't erase that memory."

The immortal spoke incessantly, his words aggressive and intimidating.

The magic pen stared at her, remaining silent. The immortal stood waving his fan, awaiting a reply.

After a long pause, Miaobi finally spoke up in rebuttal.

"You've only known him for a short time. How could you possibly understand him better than I do?"

That's not the case.

The magic pen spoke, and the immortal seized the opportunity.

"Some people, a day together feels like a hundred years. Some people are inseparable for a hundred years, yet their relationship is like that of strangers who have only known each other for a day."

She proudly raised her head, her crimson horns gleaming faintly.

"Coincidentally, Ah Xi and I belong to the first category."

"No one understands Ah Xi better than me!"

"Ha, tui!"

Looking at the immortal whose face was thicker than the city wall of the capital, Miaobi spat at her in disgust.

"If that's the case, how come you don't know about his past with that guy?"

"If that's the case, why would he abandon you to curry favor with that guy after seeing him, disregarding all sentimentality?"

These were supposed to be words that pierced the heart, but the immortal's indifferent expression surprised the writer.

"Of course I'm different from you."

"As the saying goes, love is letting go, based on joy."

"Only by satisfying his preferences can I avoid tarnishing my image in his eyes."

The immortal's face showed tenderness, as if he were a devoted lover who yielded for love.

“Σ_(???」∠) Ugh!”

He turned his head away from his writing desk, then vomited repeatedly.

"You clearly ran away early because you couldn't win against that guy and didn't want to make yourself miserable, but now you're acting all noble... I can't take it anymore..."

The immortal's speech directly broke through the writer's defenses, instantly shattering the image of arrogance and unwavering integrity that had been painstakingly built up.

"nonsense!"

The immortal held a fan, his eyes gleaming.

"I was just letting her have her way because she's eleven years old. I'm her older sister, how could I possibly lose to her!"

"What's there to be afraid of when sisters show each other kindness and consideration!"

She sat down on the ground again, tapping her shoe with her fan, muttering things like, "I'm the sister who made oxen for him," and "Do you even know the O content of nine times a night?"—words that were incomprehensible but deeply shocking.

"I don't understand what you're saying... take this and get it to me right now."

Miaobi tossed a booklet to Nian, then coldly dismissed him once again.

"Hey, you should have just given it to me earlier. You only seem happy when you keep arguing with me."