Master Yan

Just now, Yan Heqing hadn’t looked carefully as the light was against him. Now that he had thoroughly examined the person from head to toe, he noticed that this person had sharp brows and bright eyes, with a pair of eyes that shone with brilliance. Not to mention, his angular features made him a handsome guy who perfectly matched Yan Heqing’s aesthetic.

Even just considering his height, which was a few centimeters taller than Yan Heqing’s, he couldn’t help but inwardly sigh—does such a perfect person really exist in the world? Wealthy, good-looking, and with this unknown factor that made him so tall.

Wen Chu was wearing a black coat that covered most of his inner clothing, with a row of high-quality-looking buttons decorating the exposed part.

Without thinking, Yan Heqing unconsciously swallowed and silently estimated the price of those buttons in his mind.

Hmm, they should be about the same price as those iron plates.

Wen Chu’s gaze silently swept over the person in front of him, confirming that the other person was inspecting his clothing rather than anything else, and then he spoke nonsense: “I won’t hide it from you, Master. I’ve always been interested in metaphysics. When I returned today, I accidentally encountered you doing your work. Out of a desire to admire your skills, I didn’t follow your instructions. Please don’t blame me.”

After Wen Chu finished speaking, the person in front of him was stunned for a few seconds before reacting.

Perhaps it was because the other person’s expression was very sincere and there was nothing suspicious, Yan Heqing nodded, seemingly agreeing with Wen Chu’s reason.

It seems that the rumors online about rich people being superstitious are true.

Just as he was thinking this, the bright red bird on his shoulder suddenly jumped up, chirping twice in a way that sounded like a subtle warning to Yan Heqing.

“Be careful, there’s something behind you!”

With the bird’s call, a rustling sound became more and more apparent from behind.

Both of them turned around at the same time and saw a massive vine emerge from the meticulously cultivated flowerbed of the Wen family. It had a green hue tinged with red and was covered in thorns and giant spikes. As it rushed toward them, it tore through the air with a sharp, piercing noise.

The vine seemed almost human, highly aggressive, and didn’t target anyone else—it rushed straight at Yan Heqing. The spikes on it seemed to have been given life, with the thorns arriving before the vine itself.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Heqing didn’t have time to speak and quickly turned to run away from the others to avoid further harm.

However, he hadn’t expected the vine to be so cunning. After chasing him for a few meters, it quickly turned toward Wen Chu.

After running a few steps, Yan Heqing suddenly realized something was wrong. He immediately stopped, reached into his bag, pulled out a clove of garlic, and muttered a few words. The garlic in his hand glowed with a golden light and flew toward the vine.

Seeing the vine charging toward him, Wen Chu hesitated for a few seconds and then started running for his life. Fortunately, after running for a short while, he heard the vine crash to the ground.

Looking closer, he saw garlic paste, mixed with yellowish glow, scattered around the fallen vine.

“Hey, are you okay?” came the voice of the garlic’s owner.

The vine was briefly held back, and Yan Heqing breathed a sigh of relief and turned to ask Wen Chu.

Wen Chu gently shook his head. “I’m fine.”

The magical power he had just applied to the garlic wasn’t much, but it was enough to deal with the vine for now. After making sure it wouldn’t get up anytime soon, Yan Heqing confidently walked toward Wen Chu’s direction, casually pulling out the remaining garlic from his bag and proudly showing it to the only other person present, a Wen family member. “Look, this garlic is really powerful, right? I’ve been telling you, I’m not just here to scam people for money—I have real skills.”

However, his enthusiastic performance didn’t get the response he was hoping for.

Wen Chu’s gaze landed on the pale wrist of the person holding the garlic, which had unconsciously been exposed, and he softly replied, “Mm, Master Yan, you’re really amazing.”

Since he didn’t get the response he wanted, Yan Heqing wasn’t angry. He hadn’t actually expected any compliments from someone whose expression had been frozen since they first met.

He turned back to the fallen vine, took out an old gourd from his bag, and crouched next to it.

Before taking action, he purposely signaled Wen Chu to stand aside, then with one hand holding the gourd, he used the other to point at the vine under the cover of the gourd.

A few seconds later, the massive vine broke apart into a piece of starlight and voluntarily squeezed into the small gourd.

After securing the vine inside, Yan Heqing scanned the surroundings and didn’t notice anything unusual.

“Hey, Mr. Wen, I believe I’ve dealt with the problem in the backyard. Since the Wen family already paid the deposit earlier, where should I collect the remaining payment now?”

He asked, his eyes sparkling with intent as he looked at Wen Chu.

Under his eager gaze, Wen Chu walked over and stood next to him.

Then, Yan Heqing’s coat sleeve was tugged.

Yan Heqing: “…Is there a problem?”

As soon as he spoke, Wen Chu’s slightly stiff voice replied, “Master Yan, are you sure you don’t want to check the backyard again? I still feel like there’s some other kind of energy here.”

“Really?”

Although Yan Heqing didn’t sense anything unusual, since the homeowner had spoken, he didn’t argue.

So, he took the gourd he had just placed in his bag and grabbed some leftover garlic.

He carefully walked around the Wen family’s backyard, almost calling out to the Earth God to ask if anything was wrong.

As expected, he found nothing.

Returning to his original spot, he felt a slight sense of dissatisfaction, but he still maintained a good working attitude in front of Wen Chu.

He smiled faintly, silently pulled out his phone from his pocket, naturally brightened the screen, and held it up to Wen Chu’s face.

“Mr. Wen, it’s already 11:47 PM. I’ve walked around the yard, and I didn’t find any issues.”

Wen Chu: “Let’s stop here for now. I’ll stay here tonight. If anything unusual happens in the middle of the night, we can continue tomorrow. How about that?”

---

At some point, the red bird had flown back to Yan Heqing’s shoulder and chirped a few times in his ear.

The two of them, along with the bird, entered the Wen house from the back door.

As soon as Yan Heqing entered, the bright light in the living room made him squint for a moment. After adjusting, he saw Wen Ya sitting in the living room.

Yan Heqing: “Miss Wen, aren’t you going to rest?”

Wen Ya stood up. Her gaze first fell on Wen Chu, but only for a moment before quickly shifting to Yan Heqing. She looked at the small red bird and asked, “Master Yan, have you dealt with the monster in the backyard?”

Yan Heqing nodded. “I think it’s been dealt with, but this Mr. Wen,” he said, pointing his chin toward the side, “thinks there might still be something left, so I plan to stay here for the night to check if there are any remaining threats. Once I’m sure everything is clear, I can collect the remaining payment—this is my pet bird, and it doesn’t have any parasites or issues, so don’t worry.”

Wen Ya gently nodded. “Okay.”

After receiving Yan Heqing’s response, Wen Ya’s expression relaxed a lot. She exchanged a glance with Wen Chu and then went upstairs on her own.

Once Wen Ya went upstairs, the entire first floor was left with only Yan Heqing, the red bird, and Wen Chu.

The red bird was somewhat restless, hopping on Yan Heqing’s shoulder, occasionally poking him in the ear.

It didn’t take long before Wen Chu noticed: “Master Yan, it seems your bird has a problem.”

Yan Heqing gave him a sheepish smile.

Earlier, when the bird was hopping around on his shoulder, it had been loudly complaining about being hungry and needing food immediately.

But now, it was midnight—where was he supposed to find food for it?

So, Yan Heqing asked, with the determination of a parent embarrassed by their child’s antics, “Do you have any leftover food here?”

Wen Chu: “…We can’t order takeout here.”

A few moments later, Yan Heqing sat at the marble dining table while the red bird hopped around the surface, pretending not to notice the reproachful looks Yan Heqing was giving it.

From the kitchen nearby, the sound of a gas stove lighting up was heard, followed by the aroma of garlic being sautéed in hot oil.

As soon as he spoke, Yan Heqing regretted it. The little bird could survive a missed meal, but now, the poor owner had to cook for it.

Soon, the kitchen smelled of something else. Originally upset with the bird, Yan Heqing now silently swallowed and communicated with the bird in a hushed tone: “I’ll let you act up just this once tonight, but next time, don’t do this again. I have my pride.”

The little red bird stood on the table, as though pondering the logic of these words. A few seconds later, it shook its head forcefully to show it understood.

Finally, as the bird’s stomach growled louder, Yan Heqing saw Wen Chu walk over with two bowls.

“There’s not much to eat in the fridge, so I just made some noodles. It’ll have to do for now.”

In the bowl, there was a poached egg lying on top of some greens and luncheon meat. The hot steam from the noodles rose and brushed against Yan Heqing’s face.

“Thank you. Well, I won’t be polite then.”

“Mm.”

Yan Heqing picked up a noodle from the bowl and fed it to the red bird, which tilted its head back and ate it eagerly.

As the two of them enjoyed their meal, Wen Chu’s voice echoed softly: “Why are you feeding it? Can’t it eat on its own?”

As soon as those words were spoken, the bird, which had been eating happily, immediately stopped. It looked at the man with a calm expression and then lowered its head.

Yan Heqing, a bit puzzled, turned his head and then realized he was using chopsticks. He patiently explained: “It’s hungry too, so I’m feeding it. Don’t worry, boss, I won’t let it touch the chopsticks. It won’t get dirty.”

Wen Chu’s expression still didn’t change much. He stepped forward, picked up a few noodles from his own bowl, and placed them on the table in front of the bird. “It can eat by itself. Don’t feed it.”

Yan Heqing: “Why?”

Wen Chu: “No reason. Just don’t feed it.”

Yan Heqing: “Oh.”

Although he didn’t know what Wen Chu was thinking, since he was the one paying, Yan Heqing decided not to ask too many questions.

The red bird stared at the pile of noodles but didn’t dare raise its head. It silently finished the entire bowl.