The sudden scream, like a basin of ice-cold water, instantly extinguished the heat and desire within Ye Ming and Bai Qiushui.
"What's going on?"
Ye Ming released the woman in his arms and immediately activated his senses. After a few seconds, he wore a wry smile.
At the same time, Bai Qiushui also knew what was happening and, like Ye Ming, could only offer a bitter smile.
Ye Ming shook his head, cupped Bai Qiushui's delicate face, and gazed at her red lips, his voice filled with lingering desire, "Let's... continue!"
"Ah! No!"
Bai Qiushui, blushing, broke free. She glanced at the kitchen door, clearly afraid of someone barging in. "I... I'll go out first."
Ye Ming's hand froze in mid-air. He watched her shyly depart, filled with regret.
However, as soon as Bai Qiushui left the kitchen, her small head peeked back. Her eyes, filled with a gentle tenderness, sparkled with captivating light.
"La... later tonight, we'll continue."
As her voice faded, the sound of hurried footsteps retreating could be heard from outside.
At this moment, Ye Ming's mind was a complete blank.
...
In the main hall.
"Uh... um, can anyone explain this to me?"
Dolores looked at Bu Qingyu, who was hiding behind Nangong Qianyu and staring at her fearfully, and asked in confusion.
She was also holding the household's only little princess by the hand.
Little Ai Yin's large, expressive eyes were also fixed on Bu Qingyu. She was probably thinking, "Ah Ming brought back another beautiful older sister."
At this time, Fang Junxue and the others never expected that Dolores's actions after the auction would leave such a deep shadow on Bu Qingyu.
Dolores looked at Bu Qingyu for a moment, seeming to find her familiar. She then asked, "My dear sister, have we met somewhere before?"
"I... I..."
As soon as Bu Qingyu saw Dolores, the bloody scene of a disciple of the Qi Sect being crushed flashed in her mind. Thus, she instinctively felt fear towards Dolores.
"This... Sister Dolores, you... have indeed met."
Nangong Qianyu held Bu Qingyu's hand and carefully explained the entire situation.
"So that's how it was!"
After listening, Dolores also offered a wry smile.
She never would have imagined that the disgusting ant she had crushed back then would leave such a deep shadow on Bu Qingyu, and inadvertently scare Bu Qingyu back to Tianjian Mountain.
It was truly fate playing tricks on people.
"Sister Qingyu, I'm sorry. The situation at the time..." Dolores felt somewhat awkward and could only express her apologies.
"No... no! That disciple of the Qi Sect deserved to die. Sister... you did the right thing." Bu Qingyu tried her best to overcome the fear in her heart and finally managed a weak smile.
Just then, Little Ai Yin, who had finished her donut, seemed to notice that the new elder sister was a bit afraid of Dolores. She ran up, took Bu Qingyu's hand, and said crisply, "Sister Dolores is very good. She always buys Ai Yin donuts. Sister, will Ai Yin buy one for you next time? Then you won't be scared."
"Uh!"
Looking at the lively and adorable little one, Bu Qingyu was instantly melted by her cute appearance. The fear in her heart was instantly diluted.
"Little sister, is your name Little Ai Yin?" She crouched down and ruffled Little Ai Yin's hair, saying.
"No! My name is Ai Yin, and I'm already seven years old, so I'm not little!" Little Ai Yin put her hands on her hips and retorted unconvincingly.
"Hahaha!"
Her pouting expression instantly injected vitality into the atmosphere, making everything cheerful.
Thus, a game of playful teasing centered around Little Ai Yin spread.
Until the aroma of food wafted in.
"Ah Ming, why is there so much delicious food today?" Little Ai Yin sat on Ye Ming's lap, looking at the table full of delicacies, her eyes shining, her mouth watering.
"Of course, it's because our family has welcomed a new member. Don't you think we should celebrate properly?" Ye Ming dotingly picked up a piece of rib for Little Ai Yin and asked with a smile.
"Family!"
Little Ai Yin looked at Bu Qingyu and suddenly understood. "Ai Yin knows. Sister Qingyu, like Sister Junxue and the others, is someone Ah Ming likes, right?"
"Cough cough cough!"
Hearing this, Ye Ming, who was about to take a sip of soup, almost dropped his spoon and coughed continuously.
Bu Qingyu herself, under the gaze of Nangong Qianyu and the others, wished she could burrow under the table. It was too embarrassing.
"Qingyu, children say foolish things. Don't mind her!" Ye Ming quickly stuffed a piece of stewed potato into Little Ai Yin's mouth, saying apologetically.
"It's... it's fine!"
Bu Qingyu kept her head down, looking at the food in her bowl, her pretty face even redder.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became somewhat thick.
"Ye Ming, what are your plans next?"
At this moment, Fang Junxue, as the acknowledged first lady of the household, stepped forward and broke the silence.
Getting down to business, Bai Qiushui also had a question and directly asked, "By the way, Ye Ming, why did you let Senior Fu and the others leak your true strength to those people in the outer realm? What was the purpose?"
She had pondered this question for a long time and could not understand it.
Logically speaking, Ye Ming's true strength should have been used as a trump card, and the later it was exposed, the better.
However, Ye Ming deliberately exposed it, which, from any perspective, did not seem like a wise choice.
"Junxue, what do you think?"
Ye Ming did not answer immediately but instead posed the question to Fang Junxue. Her wisdom was by no means inferior to his.
"Qiushui, you can try to think from another perspective." Fang Junxue smiled lightly and said, "If you were the force behind Senior Fu and the others now, and someone told you that Ye Ming's strength had reached the Heavenly Human realm, what would you think?"
"Me?"
Bai Qiushui frowned slightly and pointed at herself.
At this moment, Ji Hongying, who was beside her, answered for her, "I wouldn't believe it!"
Ji Hongying said in a deep voice, "If I were them, I would think this intelligence was too preposterous. A young man who had already possessed Heavenly Human realm strength at such a young age, is that possible?"
With this rhetorical question, Bai Qiushui instantly snapped out of her self-absorption.
The reason she hadn't reacted immediately was that Ye Ming was by their side, and she already knew his strength.
But she had overlooked that Ye Ming himself was an anomaly.
Now, changing her perspective, she understood immediately.
"That's not right! Since they know the other party won't believe it, why do it?" Nangong Qianyu seemed to want to exercise her brain as well, not using her special connection with Ye Ming.
"Uh... um, could it be just to act as a deterrent?"
At this moment, Bu Qingyu, who was beside Nangong Qianyu, said weakly.
"Hmm?"
Her words drew everyone's gaze. Seeing this, she habitually lowered her head, a little nervous.
"Qingyu, you will be our strongest support in the future, how can you be timid? Speak boldly." Fang Junxue looked at the easily nervous girl and said warmly.
"Qingyu, you'll be our strongest support in the future, how can you be timid?"
Nangong Qianyu patted Bu Qingyu's back. The latter was startled and suddenly raised her head.
"Hehehe! That's more like it!" Nangong Qianyu smiled triumphantly.
The others also nodded with smiles, looking at her expectantly.
"I..."
Bu Qingyu took a deep breath and gradually stopped being nervous. Her tone relaxed, and she continued, "After all, I am the daughter of a sect leader. My father taught me some strategies for dealing with enemies."
Then she looked at Ye Ming and boldly speculated, "Brother Ye, you are not afraid of your strength being exposed because you guessed that the people in the outer realm would very likely not believe it. But even if they don't believe it, they will increase their vigilance."
"Making them more vigilant is what you wanted to see, right?"
Bu Qingyu's words flowed like a clear spring through everyone's hearts, as if much of the mist had suddenly dispersed.
It seemed that after Bu Qingyu let go of all her worries and no longer constantly worried about her abilities being exposed, she could indeed bring a sense of security as the strongest support.
Perhaps this was her true self.
"When people are vigilant, they act more cautiously." Bu Qingyu seemed to exude a glow of wisdom, and she continued, "This way, Brother Ye doesn't have to worry about them making a move in the short term, and we will have more time."
Hearing Bu Qingyu's words, the entire room fell silent.
After nearly ten seconds.
Clap, clap, clap!
Ye Ming couldn't help but applaud, nodding happily. "As expected of Zhi Ling, your sensitivity to things is truly extraordinary."
"Amazing, my dear!"
Nangong Qianyu even hugged Bu Qingyu's arm, her eyes full of admiration.
The others also smiled at her.
"No... no!"
Hearing the exaggerated praise, Miss Qingyu became shy again.
"Qingyu is right. I did want to prevent them from coming out to cause trouble for now. I don't have that much time to play with them." Ye Ming's smile slowly faded, and he said in a deep voice, "On the other hand, facing the eight great super forces, I don't want to fall out with them now. After all, they have been passed down for so long, and Heavenly Human realm experts must also exist. Therefore, I can only advance by retreating."
From Ye Ming's words, one could not help but detect a trace of helplessness in his tone.
"Ye Ming, why do those people investigate you? Is it related to your inheritance?" Bai Qiushui asked doubtfully.
This question, even Fang Junxue was not entirely clear about.
"Alas!"
In this regard, Ye Ming also sighed and revealed a guess.
Yes, it was just a guess.
Because he couldn't be completely sure.
"From the information I've gathered so far, it's likely related to the teacher in my inheritance."
"Your teacher?"
Fang Junxue's eyebrows furrowed, and her expression gradually became solemn.
She had not heard much from Ye Ming about his teacher. Therefore, she could not judge whether this matter was related to him.
"My teacher's name is Ye Zhisheng. It is said that he lived ten thousand years ago..."
Ten thousand years ago, after the third Great War of Origin ended, all surviving cultivators were ordered to enter a special space (the present outer realm) and left behind an ancestral instruction: no one was allowed to leave this place at will.
Moreover, guardians were set up at the interface between the special space and reality to prevent anyone from breaking the ancestral instruction.
These guardians were given the name "Inheritance," meaning... Inheritance Guardian.
Doesn't this name sound familiar?
That's right, it was established by Ye Ming's teacher, Ye Zhisheng.
At that time, although Ye Zhisheng's strength was not top-tier, he had extremely high prestige among the people.
He was a sage admired by all.
However, one day, a hundred years later, Ye Zhisheng suddenly disappeared mysteriously.
No one knew where he went, no one knew what happened, and after that, no one ever saw him again.
It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
And he reappeared a hundred years later.
However, at that time, when Ye Zhisheng returned to the location of the Inheritance Guardians, he was on his last breath, with white hair all over his head.
His life force seemed to have been drained, and he had reached the end of his life.
His appearance naturally drew the attention of everyone in the outer realm at that time. They all came, hoping to understand the truth of his disappearance.
At the same time, they wanted to know where he had gone and what he had done during the hundred years he was gone.
However, by the time the people from the eight great super sects arrived, Ye Zhisheng had already passed away, his physical body and soul scattered into heaven and earth.
His demise concealed all mysteries and obstructed all truth.
Finally, according to the Inheritance Guardian at the time, at the moment of Ye Zhisheng's death, he had said:
"The cage of confinement, the swelling human nature."
"One day, the ancestral instruction will be broken, and where shall we go?"
...
"Ye... Ye Ming, could this be some kind of prophecy?"
After hearing Ye Ming's story, Nangong Qianyu felt a chill run down her spine. "Your teacher foresaw ten thousand years ago that the ancestral instruction would be broken. Looking at it now, hasn't it already come true?"
"Yes! It has already come true!"
Ye Ming shook his head, feeling a sense of helplessness, and from his teacher's last words, he felt a trace of sorrow.
"Where shall we go?"
Fang Junxue, however, was still pondering this sentence, her brows furrowed. She felt that this sentence conveyed a very bad message. "Ye Ming, it seems now that your teacher disappeared for a hundred years and left the outer realm to return to the real world, right?"
"Mmm."
Ye Ming nodded. This was obviously a fact.
After all, his inheritance was obtained from the real world.
"Then the question arises, why did your teacher, at the cost of violating the ancestral instruction himself, return to reality? What was the purpose?" Fang Junxue was extremely confused about this. "Was it just to leave his inheritance?"
Is that possible?
Also, why was his life force extinguished when he returned?
This was not caused by serious injury.
"Ye Ming, is it possible that your teacher..." At this moment, Fang Junxue suddenly had a bold guess:
"Suffered heavenly retribution?"