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

The artist raised his eyebrows slightly, glanced at Bai Zhou, whose face was full of questions, and then shook his head as Bai Zhou had wished.

"She is the granddaughter of the Mountain Lord. Mountain Lord, do you remember, sir? It was during that time in Boyun Prefecture."

"Well……"

Xi fell into deep thought.

That time in Boyun Prefecture... she still remembered it. It was there that Ben Axi was injured in front of her for the first time.

“I remember, you cried so funny back then… no, I mean… so sad.”

I forgot to mention it.

Xi picked up her teacup, wanting to take a sip of water to ease the awkwardness.

"Ah, yes."

As day turned to night, he poured tea and a nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

"At that time, all I could think of was to cry to Mr. Xiang."

"After all, for me at that time, as long as I was by Mr.'s side, all the hardships would disappear."

"Ugh...cough cough..."

Xi choked, choked by the sudden gentle words.

"Don't say these things while I'm drinking water."

She held the teacup, her words seemingly reproachful as she scolded him, but her bright rainbow-colored eyes, gazing at him, were as gentle as water.

Zhenlong simply put on a憨态可掬 smile and let her talk, while constantly saying nice things to her.

"Speaking of which..."

After playing around with him, Xi remembered the question Bai Zhou had asked her.

Mountain King...

"This 'mountain tiger' you're talking about... am I that familiar with?"

She couldn't remember who the mountain king Bai Zhou had mentioned was.

Unlike Bai Zhou, she doesn't remember everyone perfectly. If she did, she would have gone mad from obsessively remembering names all these years ago.

"Yes, he's one of my old ministers, now in his sixties or seventies. This time, his granddaughter, a young girl named Bai Yuehen, is here. She's quite energetic."

Granddaughter...

During the day, as he watched the tea leaves rise and fall in the teacup with his shaking, a hint of envy rose in his heart.

Those of his generation, or even a few years older, have all started families and have children. Some have even become grandfathers in their forties, enjoying the joys of family life ahead of time.

And look at him... he's still trying hard to win back his wife.

Moreover, it's unlikely that I'll have any more children.

If he were still before his ascension, there might have been a slight possibility that he would have descendants, but now the essence contained in his body is all spiritual energy, which only has a nourishing effect on living beings, and there is absolutely no possibility of combining yin and yang to create a new phenomenon.

He wanted children, but the traditional way of procreation was no longer feasible; he had to find another way.

Well, we've gotten a bit off-topic.

The man hadn't even married his wife yet, and he was already thinking about names for his children.

Daydreaming is too early.

"Oh, I see."

Since it was someone she didn't know, there was no need to ask any more questions.

Xi stared at his cloud-white hair, her fingertips gently tracing the patterns on the teacup.

But why did Ben Axi specifically mention the word "granddaughter"?

Could it be an implication for her?

Hmph, what's the use of hinting? If he wants to, why not just say it and let her see his determination?

Xi's anger, which had just begun to rise, suddenly subsided.

Ben Axi has already told her.

She hasn't given a formal response yet.

Oh, that's okay.

This matter is of great importance, and she... needs to consider it carefully for some more time before giving him a definite answer.

It wasn't that she was intentionally delaying, but she wouldn't put herself, this unstable bomb, into Ben Axi's arms before the old man calmed down.

If she got married one day and then died the next, how heartbroken that fool would be.

"Axi, grind the ink for me."

Suddenly inspired, she was seized by a burst of artistic enthusiasm.

She gave the order in the evening, and he did it for her during the day.

■

“You’ve been back for over half a month, and I haven’t seen you calm down at all. This is the capital, not the outside world. Can’t you behave yourself and avoid attracting the attention of those people?”

Seeing his younger sister not resting properly where she should be, the older brother frowned and gave her some instructions.

"Hey, what's the big deal? If they dare to cause trouble for no reason, I'll report them to Ah Xi and have him dock their pay. I've been annoyed with them for a long time. This dress was a gift from Ah Xi, and they actually said I was lawless and immoral! Hey, let's not talk about that. Tell me, did you already know about this?"

The red-and-white fairy didn't care about this. She stared at her brother, holding in her hand a record of the twelve hours that she had taken from his desk.

Of the twelve columns above, six are marked in red and one is covered in black.

"What... what's going on?"

She pointed to the blacked-out section and asked her brother.

The elder brother did not respond, but simply shook his head regretfully.

"It failed."

"Failure...tsk, no wonder I keep dreaming about that old man lately."

The immortal learned from his elder brother the reason for his recurring nightmares, but he couldn't feel happy at all.

"So, the eleventh is also..."

She looked at the eleven columns marked in red, her expression grave.

"Eleven's situation is relatively good. As long as she doesn't use too many permissions, like the last time she painted, and just keeps the amount in check, she doesn't need to worry too much."

"Is there a way to solve this?"

Since my brother has recorded it in such detail, he must have a solution, or at the very least a way to suppress it.

"There's no progress yet. I can only record your changes. To break free from the old man's influence, you can only endure a long slumber. Otherwise,..."

"It will be like this, becoming part of the old things again."

The immortal looked regretfully at the column that had been blacked out.

"Isn't there a way to turn it back?"

"It definitely exists. We just haven't found it yet."

The elder brother's words amused the immortal.

"What the hell are you doing standing here?"

Returning to the Bai family at age sixty-nine, a young woman has come of age.

"Ah Xi...why are you up so early again..."

The artist rubbed her eyes and sat up from under the covers. Then, she tilted her head back slightly and, after wiping away the dust with a warm, damp towel, she glanced at the clock in the room and realized that it was only 6:15 a.m. Her spirits, which had just been lifted after wiping her face, immediately became listless.

"Sir, have you forgotten our appointment today? We're going to Haikou to deal with some dirty stuff."

"……Ugh."

The artist gently patted the daylight, then stretched his legs out from under the covers and placed them on the edge of the bed, his tender toes slightly upturned.

"Please wait a moment, sir."

Bai Zhou understood immediately, draped a towel over the back of the chair, and then half-squatted down, grabbing one of the painter's feet to put on her boots.

What is breakfast?

She can go out, but if we don't prepare breakfast for her every day, she won't walk there by herself.

"The steamed buns and porridge have been prepared warm for you, sir."

This time, Bai Zhou deliberately cooled the porridge to a lukewarm temperature, so that it wouldn't feel too hot or too cold when you drank it. He thought Xi would be satisfied.

"Hmm...not bad."

Sitting in a chair, Xi slowly ate her breakfast, while Bai Zhou stood by the window looking outside.

"Hmm, he got up a little late. This child needs more practice."

"Who?"

Listening to what Bai Zhou said, Xi casually asked a question.

"She's the granddaughter of the mountain king I mentioned yesterday. The child whose nickname is Yuehen."

The phrase "白昼偏过头" is used interchangeably with "夕" (evening).

"Although I found her yesterday, we didn't talk much because I had to prepare a receipt for the customer next door."

"After asking her a few questions, I learned that she had been sent here to investigate on a mission to eliminate a threat. After I told her the truth yesterday, she asked me to wait for her when I went to handle the matter today."

"Oh."

Her bright rainbow-colored eyes stared into his, and Xi suddenly asked:

"You like her a lot?"

"Yes, that child is clever and intelligent, kind and righteous, and has the qualities of her ancestors. I quite like her."