He Yuzhu returns in Siheyuan

Chapter 850 Lingering in the Human World

The shouts of vendors rose and fell, "Sugar paintings—freshly made and sold!" "Candied hawthorns, so sweet they'll make your teeth ache!" The laughter of children and the drumming of acrobatic troupes mingled together, creating a lively scene that made Long Jiao's eyes widen in amazement. She pulled Long Tian along to sample the round sugar paintings and bright red candied hawthorns, and marveled at the Sun Wukong that the dough sculptor conjured in an instant. Soon, her hands were piled high with sugar figurines, windmills, and small clay whistles, her eyes crinkling with laughter, her clear laughter like silver bells scattering through the crowd. The two lingered in the world for a long time, from the bustling market during the day to the quiet and elegant garden at dusk, watching the sunset paint the river red and admiring the warmth of thousands of lights lighting up as night fell. Long Jiao couldn't get enough of looking at it. Even the usually composed Long Tian was touched by the warmth of human life, his face softening with a gentleness he didn't usually show, and his eyes seemed to sparkle with starlight.

Meanwhile, deep within the Huang family mansion, candlelight flickered in the ancestral hall, casting a dim yellow glow on the walls densely packed with ancestral tablets. The air was thick with the smell of incense ash and old wood, creating a solemn, almost stagnant atmosphere. The core members of the Huang family were gathered here, with the patriarch, Old Master Huang, sitting in the center of the hall in a grand chair. His face was ashen, like a block of ice, and he pounded his dragon-headed cane heavily on the blue brick floor, producing dull thuds that seemed to strike the hearts of everyone present.

"Tell me, what exactly happened this time?" His voice was hoarse, as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper, filled with barely suppressed anger. "Thirty-seven skilled fighters went out, each one handpicked by the clan, but less than ten returned, and half of them were injured! If word gets out about this unprecedented defeat, can we still protect the Huang family's century-old foundation and golden reputation in the Xuanmen?"

The people below all lowered their heads and looked away, no one dared to speak, and even their breathing became soft. This time, they had originally intended to use the opportunity of besieging that thousand-year-old evil spirit to establish their prestige and let other families see the strength of the Huang family. Unexpectedly, the other party had hidden a backup plan and set up a backlash formation, resulting in the loss of most of their elite troops. Even the elder in charge of leading the team did not return.

“Patriarch,” an elderly man with white hair and beard standing at the front spoke tremulously, his voice filled with fear, “This matter… this matter must not be made public. Right now, all the major families are watching our position. Once they find out that we have suffered heavy losses, they will definitely take the opportunity to suppress us. When we fall, everyone will kick us while we're down, and the consequences will be unimaginable. It would be better to announce to the outside world… that we encountered a sudden earthquake while suppressing evil spirits and accidentally lost a few people. We should conceal the casualty figures and stabilize our situation first.”

"Cover it up? How can I cover it up?" Old Master Huang suddenly stood up, slamming his cane down again, causing a crack to appear in the blue brick floor. "Those missing people have wives, children, and elderly parents at home. They're waiting for them to come back every day. How am I supposed to explain this to them? Tell them lies?"

"We can only appease them for now," a middle-aged man in a dark blue short jacket said through gritted teeth. "Give them the highest level of resettlement allowance, and give each family ten acres of fertile land to keep them quiet. As long as we can get through this period, once we select good kids from the collateral branches and train a new batch of skilled fighters, we can take revenge on that evil spirit and get back at them tenfold!"

A deathly silence fell over the ancestral hall, broken only by the flickering candlelight that cast distorted and menacing shadows on the walls. Everyone knew that this incident was like a poisoned thorn, deeply embedded in the Huang family's Achilles' heel. If the news leaked, not only would they lose their current status, but even the smaller families that had previously relied on them would immediately turn against them, perhaps even turning against them. Finally, Old Master Huang closed his eyes, took a deep breath, his voice filled with utter exhaustion, and waved his hand: "Do as you say. Keep it a secret. From today onward, triple the guards at the ancestral hall. Anyone who dares to utter a single word will be punished according to family law, stripped of their cultivation, and expelled from the family!"

The heavy wooden door slowly closed, its creaking sound particularly jarring in the silence, completely isolating the gloom inside the ancestral hall from the cold moonlight outside. No one knew that the Huang family's crisis had only just begun.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, like sand slipping through one's fingers, silently, even scattering petals from the pomegranate tree in the inn's courtyard. Long Tian stood by the window of a second-floor room, his fingertips lightly tapping the wooden window frame, his gaze fixed on the courtyard below—Long Jiao was chasing a butterfly with blue spots on its wings, her skirt sweeping across the bluestone path, stirring up fine dust. Her silvery laughter drifted up on the breeze, like a clear spring mixed with honey, carrying a touch of childlike joy that softened one's heart.

These days, Long Jiao has tried all sorts of novelties in the human world: she bit into candied hawthorns until her mouth was red, the sourness of the hawthorn mixed with the sweetness of the sugar coating made her squint and smack her lips; an old man sculpting dough figurines quickly made a Sun Wukong, and she stared at him with wide eyes, insisting on learning to sculpt, but ended up kneading the dough into a paste; even the street performers' somersaults and bowl-balancing acts made her clap her little hands and cheer, clapping until her palms were red and she didn't stop, having a great time, and even forgetting her airs as a dragon princess.

But Long Tian knew in his heart that the deadline given by his superiors was fast approaching. Like an hourglass hanging overhead, the sand was slowly running out, each grain falling resonating in his heart. He turned around, his gaze falling on Long Jiao, who was still fiddling with the glass bracelet—a bracelet he had found at the market, completely translucent, its intricate patterns visible in the light. Long Jiao treasured it dearly, wearing it everywhere she went. "Jiao Jiao, we should go."

Long Jiao's hand abruptly stopped, her fingertips still lingering on the intertwined floral patterns on the bracelet. The smile on her face faded like a candle flame blown by the wind, her lips involuntarily turning down, and even her eyes became misty. Her travels in the human world these past few days had already made her fond of this bustling land—here there were crisp sugar paintings, where the craftsmen could boil sugar until it looked like amber, and paint phoenixes that seemed ready to take flight; there were storytellers who could tell tales of war and romance with just a wave of their folding fans; and there were colorful silks in the market, red like the sunset, green like willow branches, all of which were more interesting than the rules and desolation of the Dragon Clan Palace.

She really didn't want to go back. A deep reluctance clouded her bright eyes, and her voice was soft and coquettish: "Brother, how about we play for two more days? Just two more days, okay? Look how interesting this world is! The osmanthus cake at that shop at the alley entrance is so sweet and fragrant. I'll never be able to taste it again once I go back... And the shadow puppet show in the west of the city, we didn't finish watching it yesterday..."