Chapter 74

At breakfast, Ruan’s father seemed absent-minded, frequently sneaking glances at the young man across from him.

Ruan’s mother found it absurd, concluding that her husband must be so obsessed with passing down the family name that he’d lost his grip on reality. She thought to herself how ridiculous and incorrigible men could be, clinging to their deep-rooted instincts to carry on their lineage.

Ruan Qing also noticed her father’s odd behavior. Chewing on a freshly made dumpling from her aunt, she leaned closer to Nian Qi and asked in a low voice, “What’s up with my dad?”

Earlier, her father-in-law had asked Nian Qi to perform a few moves. He had obliged, throwing himself into the demonstration with full effort. However, Nian Qi couldn’t help but feel that Uncle Qi, who hailed from the countryside, and Ruan’s father, a successful urban businessman, were fundamentally different. In theory, they shouldn’t share the same obsession.

But Nian Qi didn’t understand the “second adolescent syndrome.” It isn’t born of life experiences; rather, it’s etched into one’s bloodline. Uncle Qi, Ruan’s father, Ruan Qing—they were all cut from the same cloth.

Ruan Qing nibbled on her dumpling, narrowing her eyes. “What exactly were you two doing?”

“Not much,” Nian Qi replied. “Your father showed me some tai chi moves and asked me to perform a sword technique for him.”

“…”

“You actually did it?” Ruan Qing asked incredulously.

“How could I refuse?” Nian Qi replied earnestly. “I put on my best performance.”

What happens when a top-tier assassin from a martial arts world demonstrates his skills with full sincerity?

Ruan Qing slowly shifted her gaze to Ruan Aihua.

In this household, if anyone could be called Ruan’s father’s kindred spirit in such matters, it certainly wasn’t Ruan’s mother, who found such things childish. It could only be Ruan Qing, who had inherited the “second adolescent syndrome” of the Ruan family bloodline from Lao Mei Village.

As she chewed on her dumpling, a faint smile crept up on her lips.

Ruan’s father sat in a daze, replaying yesterday’s phone call with his distant cousin, Ruan Xiangyun.

“He’s skilled in martial arts!”

“Can scale walls and leap rooftops!”

Yes, those were the exact words Ruan Xiangyun had said. But at the time, Ruan’s father hadn’t taken them seriously. He assumed it was just an exaggeration. After all, to Ruan Xiangyun, throwing a few punches could qualify as being “skilled,” and climbing a tree might count as “scaling walls and leaping rooftops.”

His focus back then had been entirely on his daughter.

But now… now, Ruan Aihua was completely shaken.

The sword that Nian Qi had brandished still flashed vividly in his mind. No—it wasn’t just any sword; it was his sword. He’d played with it for years and knew it like the back of his hand.

How, then, had it seemed so foreign when wielded by Nian Qi?

It wasn’t even sharpened! The blade wasn’t sharp!

So how had it sliced clean through his prized gold-inlaid jade bamboo staff?

How had Nian Qi kicked a piece of bamboo, sending it flying like an arrow?

And how—how had he leapt into the air after that fragment, severing it mid-flight?

How had he flown?

Yes, he flew! He had really flown!

Ruan’s father stared blankly, his eyes wide and unfocused.

Yesterday, this young man had said, “I trained in the mountains and mastered these skills, now called ancient martial arts. Few practice it anymore.” He had even modestly added, “I dare say it’s still presentable.”

Ancient martial arts! This was the real deal! A lost art, revived!

Ruan’s mother, baffled by his trance-like state, waved her hand in front of him. “Hey! Hey! What’s gotten into you? You’re spaced out—are you okay?”

“I’m fine… fine…” Ruan’s father mumbled, biting into his dumpling and lifting his gaze.

Across the table, his eyes met his daughter’s.

His daughter had never been a fool. Her brain had never been compromised by any mishap.

She hadn’t just been infatuated, though infatuation had undoubtedly played a role. No, she clearly knew much more about Nian Qi.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

Why had Ruan Qing picked up a man from the mountains, brought him into the city, worked tirelessly for him, and even decided to stay with him? Why had Uncle Qi abandoned his family to live alone in an ancient temple? Why did Ruan Xiangyun always sound so wistful when mentioning Nian Qi and Ruan Qing?

All the things that had once seemed so unreasonable suddenly made sense.

Nian Qi, however, felt a bit uneasy. He lowered his voice and asked, “I accidentally cut down a bamboo stalk in the yard. Is that going to be a problem?”

In his time, many scholars cherished bamboo dearly, holding it in the same regard as their own lives. They’d say, “Better to live without meat than without bamboo.” Nian Qi initially thought Ruan’s father, being a businessman, wouldn’t care. But then he remembered that in this era, there was no longer a rigid division between scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

Now, he was worried that cutting down the bamboo might have upset him.

Ruan Qing blinked in surprise. “You mean my dad’s golden-inlaid jade bamboo? Why’d you go after that one? He worked so hard to grow it—went through multiple failed attempts before this batch survived. He treasures it.”

A slight sweat appeared on Nian Qi’s forehead. “Well… I ‘accidentally’ swung my sword at it.”

He normally wasn’t so showy. As an assassin who had lived on the edge of life and death, he’d developed a professional habit of staying low-profile and avoiding unnecessary attention.

But there were exceptions to everything. And he couldn’t exactly stay low-profile when his father-in-law wanted to test his martial arts.

To be fair, it was clear that Ruan’s father didn’t really understand martial arts. Nian Qi realized that his father-in-law wouldn’t appreciate the lethal efficiency of true combat techniques, with no wasted movements or flashy embellishments. Instead, he’d be drawn to the kind of flashy, ostentatious moves that Ruan Qing herself enjoyed.

So Nian Qi gave his best performance—full of flair and extravagance, making sure it would captivate his father-in-law.

But judging by the man’s shifting expressions and increasingly bewildered gaze, Nian Qi couldn’t help but feel he might have overdone it. He started second-guessing himself, worried he had tried too hard and made things awkward.

Ruan Qing stifled a laugh and looked up, only to meet her father’s direct gaze. Their eyes locked across the breakfast table, and sparks seemed to fly.

Breaking eye contact, Ruan Qing raised her glass of soy milk and hid her growing smile behind it.

Ruan’s mother, completely oblivious to the tension and disdainful of her husband’s traditionalist obsession with lineage, changed the subject. “You’ve been busy with all the paperwork for his household registration, haven’t you? Take Nian Qi out today and show him around the city. Get him set up with daily necessities—clothes, shoes, a phone, that sort of thing.”

Ruan Qing agreed.

Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, Ruan’s mother asked, “By the way, where’s his household registered? In Yan City? How did you manage that?”

Household registration usually required either property ownership or family connections. Without relatives or a job, where could Nian Qi have registered his household?

“It’s registered under the Daoist Association,” Ruan Qing explained. “He’s not a Daoist priest, but he was raised in a Daoist tradition. Plus, the temple was transferred to the Daoist Association, so…”

Before she could finish, Ruan’s father’s voice shot up, as abrupt as Nian Qi’s earlier sword strike.

“Transferred to the Daoist Association?!”

Both Ruan Qing and Ruan’s mother were startled by his sudden outburst, turning to look at him in unison.

“What happened? Tell me everything!” Ruan’s father demanded urgently.

“…?”

Ruan Qing and Nian Qi exchanged confused glances before explaining how the temple had been handed over to the Daoist Association.

Ruan’s father was both furious and anxious.

“That temple was where Nian Qi grew up! It’s where he mastered his miraculous ancient martial arts! Do you realize what that place is? It’s a sacred ground for ancient martial arts! How could you just transfer it to someone else?!”

“Nian Qi doesn’t want to be a Daoist priest,” Ruan Qing explained. “He came down the mountain with me, and if no one looks after the temple, it’ll quickly fall into ruin. We didn’t want the graves of our masters and traces of their lives to simply disappear. So, it made perfect sense for the Daoist Association to take over. After all, Daoist sects across the country are like one big family.”

Ruan Aihua slammed the table in frustration. What nonsense! He knew all too well what these so-called associations were like. The factory at home had several shiny plaques from various associations, all of which had been essentially bought with money. While he’d never dealt with the Daoist Association, he figured it couldn’t be much different.

“You kids!” he fumed, glaring at them. “You really—”

He was about to scold them for being so naïve and lacking worldly experience.

Ruan Qing and Nian Qi: “?”

Ruan’s mother was displeased. “What’s wrong with you? Speak properly. Is that how you treat guests?”

Ruan Aihua took a deep breath, suppressing his anxiety. He turned to Nian Qi and asked, “Did you keep all the important things safe?”

Ruan Qing and Nian Qi exchanged puzzled looks. “What things?”

Frustrated, Ruan Aihua gestured wildly with his hands, unable to directly say martial arts manuals. Instead, he vaguely hinted, “You know… the… the important texts? The ones from your temple? Do you understand what I mean by texts?”

“Oh, those!” they replied in unison.

“Yes, those!” Ruan Aihua pressed eagerly. “Are they safe?”

“They’re fine,” Ruan Qing reassured him. “When the team came down from the mountain, they brought everything with them.”

Only then did Ruan Aihua let out a huge sigh of relief.

“And then,” Ruan Qing added casually, “the Daoist Association took it all away in a truck.”

Ruan Aihua froze. “…What?”

“They said they needed to verify the texts and check for rare editions. So they packed them into several crates and took them away,” Ruan Qing explained matter-of-factly.

Ruan Aihua felt like his heart was about to give out.

Looking at the two younger ones’ indifferent expressions, a deep sense of grief washed over him. For the first time, he truly understood Uncle Qi’s despair. He even entertained the thought of rolling up his sleeves and joining him in the mountains.

Without another word, he shot up from his seat, his face dark and stormy, and left the room.

Ruan Qing: “?”

“What’s wrong with him? Wasn’t he just awestruck by Nian Qi’s skills a moment ago? Why’s he suddenly upset again?”

“Is he going through menopause?” she muttered.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Ruan’s mother chided. “Men don’t get menopause.”

But as someone who used to work in the healthcare system, Ruan’s mother suddenly remembered something. “By the way, Nian Qi has been living in the mountains all this time, hasn’t he? Has he ever been vaccinated?”

“Vaccinated?” Nian Qi had no idea what she was talking about.

Ruan Qing froze, her face turning pale.

Her mind raced. She’d read so many time-travel novels, whether it was modern to ancient or ancient to modern. In most cases, the characters either swapped souls or were reborn. On the rare occasions when they physically crossed over, the issue of vaccinations was often glossed over or outright ignored because it was too complicated and didn’t contribute to the plot.

After leaving school, vaccinations rarely crossed her mind—unless someone became a parent. But since Ruan Qing was unmarried, it had completely slipped her attention. Now, Ruan’s mother’s question brought the realization crashing down on her.

A thousand years later, with all the bacteria and viruses in this world, what if some of them were deadly to Nian Qi?

Her voice trembled. “I-Is it dangerous to run around unvaccinated?”

“It shouldn’t be too big of a problem,” Ruan’s mother replied. “But it’s better to be safe. Take him to the hospital and check. If there’s anything he should get, have him vaccinated.”

Ruan Qing was so alarmed that she abandoned her breakfast, grabbed Nian Qi, and dragged him upstairs. “Let’s go, change your clothes. We’re getting you vaccinated!”

As they hurried out of the dining room, they passed Ruan Aihua in the hallway, who was on the phone.

“How wide is the trench? Seven or eight meters? And there’s a two-meter one too? Then build a bridge!”

“A steep incline that’s hard to climb? Build stairs!”

“Wait for the government project to be approved? Who knows when that’ll happen with their efficiency. Let’s just do it ourselves first.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Start with a temporary structure to make it easier for us to get in and out of the mountains. We can take it down later if needed.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it!”

Ruan Aihua’s voice was firm and resolute.

“I, Ruan Aihua, must contribute to the development of our Lao Mei Village and its Wild Hermits’ Temple!”