The overlord of the gods is interrogating the alien female spy.

　"besides……"

　"Stop, stop, stop. Now that you've discovered so much, what do you think is the reason?"

　Interrupting this increasingly outrageous observation report, she looked at Ji, who was still only focusing on Shu's appearance, and suddenly remembered Shu's actions yesterday.

　Looking up at his sister who was talking to the Qilin who had just returned from its walk, Nian's gaze fell on the area under her tail, wondering if the handprint on it had disappeared.

　"Nian. Are you even listening to me?"

　"Huh? You spoke? I didn't hear you."

　Seeing his sister, who was lost in thought and acted as if it were perfectly reasonable and even unreasonable, Ji refrained from picking a fight with her and simply repeated his speculation.

　“We are not truly human after all. This body is merely a ‘proxy’ of our essence, and should not undergo natural aging. However, my sister has been aging gradually due to the corruption of evil spirits. Now that the pollution and corruption have been cleansed, my sister’s body is naturally recovering. In addition, there is also… the help of that brother-in-law. In the words of the Yan Kingdom’s doctor, my sister’s depleted vital energy is being replenished.”

　"Oh oh."

　Even from the perspective of a giant beast, Shu's recovery speed was a bit too fast. Listening to Ji's account of the help from the Qilin Celestial Venerable, Nian couldn't help but smack his lips.

　This gluttonous girl! He's here talking about serious business, and she's just staring at the rice pot, drooling.

　Ji secretly turned away from his good-for-nothing sister with disdain and went to prepare for his own business.

　"You're leaving so soon after you get back? Aren't you in a bit of a hurry?"

　After dinner, upon hearing Ji's news that he was leaving today, Shu, though already prepared, still...

　It's inevitable to feel a little sad.

　“Sister doesn’t know. People like you who have a fixed place to live are easy to find. But people like Fourth Brother who have been missing for the entire Great Yan Dynasty are really hard to find. We are about to make a decision with Sui, so we must get everyone together now. Eldest Brother and Second Brother have already gone to look for people, and I will go to help them too.”

　Ji looked at the Qilin Celestial Venerable and thanked him again.

　"Sister, you, Brother Chen, and Nian can go to Baizhao together and wait for us."

　"Alright then. See you at Baizhao."

　Shu nodded in agreement and then saw Ji out the door.

　"Sister Shu, have you and your brother-in-law gone through that naming ceremony?"

　After Shu returned, Nian, who was biting into an apple, came over and asked her about these things.

　What is a naming ceremony?

　Upon hearing the name "Year," the millet happily wagged its tail.

　"That's the one who wrote his name on his brother-in-law's scales with a pen."

　"Oh, that? It's already been done."

　When Nian brought this up, Shu initially thought Chen Lingxu was just playing around with her, wanting to see who lost more rounds. At that time, she hesitated whether to write it on her thigh, where it wouldn't be easily noticed, or on the drum, or let him fool around and write it on his tail or arm. But when she realized it was for serious business, and with her mind full of mischief, she was naturally severely punished by Qilin, having to write five positive characters before he would let her go.

　"Did you make it for the Little New Year too?"

　"Yeah. Me, Xiao Yuzi, and Xi, we got it all sorted out in Baizao. Big brother should have found Big Sister too. Now our family is almost missing my fourth brother. I really don't know how he can be so patient and hide himself so well."

　"Yes."

　They chatted about everyday things, and in the afternoon, Shu prepared to go check on the fields.

　She didn't plan to leave the Great Wilderness now. Firstly, the fields there were almost ripe, and she thought it wouldn't be too late to leave after the autumn harvest. Secondly, her body hadn't recovered to its peak condition yet. If she went to Baizhao and then failed at the crucial moment, that would be terrible.

　She thought that since Chen Lingxu was free, she could stay in the Great Wilderness with him and help him recover his health.

　"Sister Shu, are you sure you don't need me to go with you?"

　"It's okay. I can go by myself. You go and take a nap."

　"OK then."

　Lying on the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, basking in the sun through the window, I was about to drift off to sleep.

　"Good, bad. If Nian hears this here..."

　"She won't hear you. Didn't you just see? She's fast asleep."

　Yes, yes.

　Hmm? What noise can't she hear?

　She immediately perked up, but once she did, she wished she hadn't heard anything at all.

　Oh, these two, it's still daytime. Why are they in such a hurry?

　Is it because Ji isn't here today, and there's no one at home to bother them, so they can't wait to start a game?

　And what about her? Is she even part of this family?

　Besides, Sister Shu, you know it's not good to wake her up like this, so why did you agree to it?

　Is doing this kind of thing really that addictive?

　I can't understand it.

　She could only close her eyes and continue pretending to be asleep.

　But now that she's awake and her hearing is working again, she has to think about other things to distract herself and not count how many times the drum is struck during the incense stick's burning.

　Sister Shu did all these things, so what about her younger sister?

　The year reminded me of the evening.

　This little melon girl is much prettier than Shu, and her body is as soft as cotton; it must be very comfortable to hold her. Knowing Chen Lingxu's personality, he'd probably do it willingly.

　The image of the New Year combined with that of millet makes one wonder if that giant evening melon might be even worse than millet.

　After thinking about his younger sister, Nian then thought of the Qilin.

　He's beautiful, talented, and we share common interests.

　This man is such a treasure! He's so popular everywhere he goes. Her whole family is only alive because of him. She should thank him and his ancestors for eighteen generations.

　Sigh, thinking about this, she's starting to like him a little.

　Unfortunately, one should not deceive one's sister's husband or younger sister's husband.

　"I...I'm out of strength. Please carry me back to the house."

　"Alright, alright. I can't do anything with you being so greedy."

　The two people outside finally finished.

　Nian also breathed a sigh of relief.

　But she calculated the time and realized that Sister Shu was already exhausted in such a short while. Even if she hadn't fully recovered, she shouldn't be this weak.

　Nian thought of Xi again. That younger sister's stamina was not as good as Shu Jie's. If it were her, she would probably be exhausted by now.

　If it were me...

　No, no, Nian, you shouldn't think like that.

　But Sister Shu immediately went back to her room to rest. Shouldn't she turn over or something right away?

　"Phew... I'm so tired. I'm going to take a nap."

　"Sleep, sleep."

　"Could you get me a pillow? Don't step on it."

　"Where should I put it if I can't step on it?"

　"Yes, right next to her."

　Beside her? No, Sister Shu, she doesn't want to stay in that position motionless; it would make her feel like she's dying.

　"I'm going to sleep now. If you're tired, you should rest for a while too."

　"uh-huh."

　The sound of clothes rustling came from beside her, but the scent she smelled was not the fragrance of rice blossoms from the millet, but the aura of a Qilin.

　Lying next to her was Chen Lingxu

　.

　Phew... That's alright.

　She can pretend to wake up soon and then flee this place of trouble as quickly as possible.

　"..."

　Nian was making plans perfectly, but the tail that was lagging behind him was accidentally caught by the swaying tail of the Qilin.

　His tail is so big! It wrapped around her tail so easily.

　And that skillful way of curling the tail, did you develop that habit from Sister Shu and Xi?

　Hmm, the feeling of the scales rubbing together is also quite comfortable.

　No, that's not right, Nian, wake up.

　How could you be captivated by something as trivial as tugging at someone's tail?

　"Can't sleep?"

　The Qilin's voice was very soft, but Nian felt as if the voice was right next to his ear, very loud.

　Yes, did they discover she was pretending to be asleep again?

　Before Nian could figure out why she had said "again," a strong and powerful arm hooked around her waist. As the two tails intertwined, the embrace became tighter and stronger, and Nian felt that solid, wall-like chest press against her back.

　What is he going to do?

　Are you not satisfied with having Xi and Sister Shu? Do you want to make a move on her too?

　Were the design drafts I gave her and the events I invited her to participate in all attempts to curry favor with her?

　Nian thought for a long time, but the person behind him seemed to just want to hug something because he was sleeping soundly and didn't want to disturb her, so he hugged the other dragon girl next to him.

　"It's warm. It feels so nice to hug."

　The power of the year is casting, which is naturally inseparable from fire and heat. She has been proud of the temperature inside her body more than once.

　Now, this characteristic of hers has been discovered and exploited by people outside of her family.

　But after holding her in his arms, Chen Lingxu didn't make any other moves, which made Nian feel somewhat 'dissatisfied'.

　This mix of worrying about him doing something and complaining that he did nothing kept Nian from recovering until Shu woke her up for dinner.

　"He doesn't seem to have much energy today, Little New Year's Eve."

　"She was probably bored because there was too little entertainment in the Great Wilderness."

　"Really? Maybe... Then why don't you take her fishing tomorrow?"

　"Hmm. If she's willing to go."

　Nian didn't know why she was staying up all night, waiting for her sister to come to her, but tonight was another visual feast. Her big head told her that this was wrong, but her little head told her that it was great to secretly learn her sister's little secret.

　"Why aren't you covered with a blanket again?"

　Nian closed her eyes the moment before he left, and this time, she saw the whole thing clearly. She could clearly see the steepness and ruggedness of the mountains, as well as the traces left by the melting snow and ice on the ridges.

　Incidentally, the taste she experienced this time was very hot, a kind of spicy 'pain' that suited her taste perfectly.

　"Nian, want to go fishing?"

　"Fishing... alright."

　The next day, when he was called to go fishing, Nian didn't know what his mindset was when he went along.

　The riverbank was deserted, and looking at the crooked tree, she felt it was a perfect place to do something.

　But it really was fishing! Damn it, that feeling of wanting him to do something but not wanting him to do anything is back!

　"You're back! How was the catch today?"

　"very bad."

　Even though the demonic pollution had been removed, the Qilin in the Air Force still had black faces.

　And Nian knew that tonight the agricultural officials would be overwhelmed by the massive tax investigation and wouldn't be able to collect any more taxes.

　"Really are……"

　This match was far too rough, too violent, and too wild.