Chapter 43

Being watched by such a shrewd little cub with such a sharp gaze must have put a lot of pressure on the shopkeeper.

In short, after a moment of hesitation, the shopkeeper coughed twice and knocked one spirit stone off the price.

The little cub won a complete victory, raising her little head proudly with an invincible air.

She beamed as she counted out the spirit stones and handed them to the equally beaming shopkeeper.

Seeing that the price was reasonable and fair, and that the shopkeeper was willing to humor the child, Chu Xingyun smiled without a word, rarely seeing his junior sister in such high spirits.

The little cub chuckled to herself.

The shopkeeper turned around and chuckled to himself.

Both felt they had gotten the better end of the deal.

A win-win situation!

Since both parties were thoroughly pleased, Yu Youyou put all the jade carvings she had bought—whether made of spiritual jade or ordinary jade—into her own storage ring.

When the shopkeeper also brought over the coarsely carved incense burner, the little cub sniffed with her little nose, feeling that this incense burner smelled fragrant, quite unlike other jade wares.

Subconsciously, she put the incense burner into a storage ring she treasured even more.

However, now was not the time to dwell on these achievements; she more solemnly and earnestly pinned the peach blossom talisman onto Chu Xingyun's lapel.

The peach blossom talisman was carved from ordinary hibiscus jade found in the mortal realm, a tender pink jade with not even a shred of spiritual energy.

Chu Xingyun glanced at the talisman twice. It was completely useless, purely drawn just to look pretty.

Yet seeing the little one eagerly pinning this translucent pink jade onto his magnificent lapel, he felt that the match actually looked rather nice.

Squeezing the little one's busy little paws, Chu Xingyun fulfilled his promise, leading the little cub to eat their way from one end of the long street to the other.

Although he was born into the imperial family, he was not someone out of touch with the common folk who only cared for rare delicacies; he had tasted these ordinary snacks of the mortal realm before.

Besides, this was his own territory, and he knew the various delicious snacks hidden beneath every wall of his hometown like the back of his hand. Before long, the little cub went from eating meat buns and sugar sesame cakes to candied braised duck webs.

There were countless snacks scattered all over this long street. If it were anyone else, it would take ten days or half a month to eat their way back and forth, but the little cub was different—she could really eat!

After eating all the gourmet snacks, the ravenous little cub did not feel bloated at all, feeling immensely proud.

A heaven-chosen foodie.

For the person enthusiastically introducing the food, this was also a deeply fulfilling experience.

Having eaten half a piece of sesame candy fed to her lips, she watched as the little cub hugged the remaining small bag of sesame candy tightly to her chest, eating until her face was covered in sugar crumbs. Chu Xingyun couldn't help but laugh.

Feeling in high spirits, he asked the little cub, who had buried her entire little head into the paper bag and refused to look up, "...How does this compare to Second Junior Sister's milk cakes?"

He was hooked on a rivalry with the milk cakes, comparing them every now and then.

Zhu Changshu relied on her skill in making milk cakes to captivate the ignorant little junior sister, leaving the Daoist Lord Chu deeply depressed. Now that the little cub had seen so many delicacies, surely she wouldn't be so infatuated with the milk cakes anymore?

Hearing this question, Yu Youyou raised her head, thought for a moment, and still honestly told her eldest senior brother, "Milk cakes."

The milk cakes were specially made by Zhu Changshu using spiritual honey, imbued with a hint of spiritual energy.

Yet she loved them all, and hastily added, "I love them all!" She also loved the tasty treats of the mortal realm. Not only did she eat them herself, but she also put many kinds of gourmet snacks into her storage ring, waiting to share them with everyone after returning to the Taigu Sect.

This broad and inclusive love made Chu Xingyun nod slightly.

As long as he didn't lose to the second junior sister this time, it was fine.

However, seeing that Yu Youyou particularly loved small snacks like preserved fruits and candies, he felt he needed to prepare more for the little one.

It didn't matter if they didn't stave off hunger; as long as the taste was good, that was enough.

They ordered a large quantity from a century-old pastry shop.

Just as they stepped out of the pastry shop, Chu Xingyun reached for his handkerchief to wipe the mouth of the little one, who looked like a calico cat from her recent tastings, when he saw the little one suddenly turn her head and fix her gaze far down the long street.

A squad of imperial guards was rapidly approaching from the distance.

Chu Xingyun frowned slightly, assuming the child had sensed someone coming to ruin their mood. However, Yu Youyou tilted her little head, sniffed her little nose, and whispered, "...Staring."

"Someone is staring at us?"

"Bad... gloomy," the little cub squeezed out two words.

"Looking at us with sinister gazes... ill-intentioned people, then." Chu Xingyun did not consider himself universally beloved; even in his own empire, it was normal for some people to dislike him.

What wasn't normal was that only the sensitive little cub had perceived that gaze, while he himself had not sensed anyone spying on them.

Narrowing his eyes nonchalantly for a moment, Chu Xingyun saw that the imperial guards had already reached him. While casually wiping the child's multicolored face—covered entirely in sugar crumbs and pastry fragments—as her little brow furrowed, he asked, "What is the matter?"

"Evening is approaching. His Majesty invites Your Highness to return to the palace to rest and has ordered us to escort Your Highness."

Within this empire, Chu Xingyun had always been a legendary figure.

Whether for his nobility or his legend, people looked up to him with reverence.

Yet such a person was down-to-earth, wiping a child's face just like a loving mortal elder brother.

Looking again at the child being held in his arms, she was tilting her head up, accustomed to having her cheek wiped—at a glance, it was obvious she was often treated this way.

This intimate feeling of mortal siblings lacked the lofty aura of cultivators. Yet the guards did not dare to raise their heads to look.

Chu Xingyun glanced at the sky; it was indeed time for the little cub to sleep.

Although he had many disagreements with his elder brother today, he would not sever ties over it. Hearing this, he led the imperial guards back toward the imperial city.

Yu Youyou subconsciously glanced back down the long street once more.

The malice she had felt then—that gaze filled with sinister intent and hatred—felt inexplicably familiar, as if she had experienced it somewhere before.

It was an extremely unpleasant feeling of scheming, appraising, and plotting. It was not only directed at Chu Xingyun, but also seemed to have lingered on her for quite a long time, clearly weighing her worth as well.

This strange feeling made her forget about eating. She wrapped her arms around Chu Xingyun's neck and fell into deep thought.

This little posture of pondering the great mysteries of life caused Chu Xingyun to tighten his hold on her without interrupting. The two of them, along with the troop of guards, quietly entered the imperial palace and headed straight for a magnificent and luxurious palace within it.

Walking across the sprawling plaza paved with white jade, they happened to meet a group of low-tier cultivators of varying ages coming from the opposite direction.

Chu Xingyun spotted the cultivators from afar, and they looked over with curiosity as well.

Since Chu Xingyun's return to the empire had not been concealed, those cultivators naturally knew his identity. However, as it was already late, no one was tactless enough to step forward and disturb them, so they all offered distant greetings with cupped hands.

Chu Xingyun knew that many cultivators whose hopes of advancing in cultivation had faded were all too willing to be hired and maintained as honored guests in the mortal realm to enjoy stability and glory.

He had met several of these cultivators during his last homecoming and did not find them unfamiliar.

Never one to look down on others just because they were low-tier rogue cultivators with no notable background, he returned the greeting with cupped hands. Seeing that he remained amiable, the cultivators smiled and headed off to the other side.

"There are newcomers among my imperial brother's honored guests, and their cultivation is not weak," Chu Xingyun murmured. One of the unfamiliar elderly guests had already reached the Great Completion of Foundation Establishment.

This was no easy feat for a rogue cultivator.

He muttered to himself without expecting a response, but quickly frowned slightly, turning his head to look at Yu Youyou, who was clutching his neck and staring at the group of cultivators with a look of shock.

The little one's chubby, fair face was filled with shock and undisguised disgust. She was staring fixedly at one of the cultivators in the group with an exceptionally strange expression.

This abnormality caused Chu Xingyun to subconsciously follow her gaze, landing on a handsome young man walking in the middle of the group, chatting and laughing with others.

That young man was also a new face he had never seen before. He looked to be around twenty years old, handsome and refined, with a calm demeanor. Although he was only a low-tier cultivator in the Qi Condensation stage, his brow was relaxed, carrying a natural air of aloof ease, showing not a shred of servility in front of senior cultivators with higher realms than his own.

He was an exceptionally striking young man—handsome enough to be called outstanding even among cultivators.

Such an outstanding young man, despite his low cultivation, gave off a sense that he could not be underestimated.

Chu Xingyun was not surprised that the cultivation world could produce such an exceptional youth, but he was surprised by his junior sister's expression at that moment.

She looked as if she recognized the young man, detested him deeply, and utterly loathed him.

Could it be that she had suffered bullying from this young man back in the Jiuying Demon City under the Scarlet Flame Demon Lord?

Since there were still imperial guards present, Chu Xingyun did not rush to question her. He simply carried Yu Youyou back to his designated resting quarters.

This was his palace residence from his youth before he entered the Dao. After he joined the cultivation world, no one else had ever lived in this palace; it was merely repaired year after year and kept empty, waiting for each of his homecomings.

Though he had not returned for many years, the palace remained free of dust, and the furnishings were far from antiquated.

Chu Xingyun dismissed the imperial guards who had respectfully escorted him back, and without needing the service of graceful court maidines, he placed his chubby little junior sister onto the soft couch and asked gently, "Does junior sister have a grudge against that person?"

If he caught someone who had bullied his junior sister back in the demon city, Daoist Lord Chu decided he would settle the score and beat the person to death.

"Ah," Yu Youyou let out an involuntary gasp, still lost in shock.

It was far more than a mere grudge.

The moment she saw that young man, the entire cub had gone blank.

A myriad of emotions surged into her heart, leaving her at a loss for words to describe them.

That handsome and outstanding young man was a stranger right now, but in the book she had once lived through, he was a person who could not possibly be more unfamiliar.

In fact, she knew him far too well—so well that they had even been suppressed together.

Mentioning this made it clear: that young man was none other than the scumbag male lead of the book—the one Yu Youyou had desperately pursued, sacrificing the entire world for him, only to be discarded like a dirty rag the moment she lost her utility.

Yet it was precisely because of this that the little cub was even more shocked, because she had never known that this scumbag had once had such a connection with Chu Xingyun, actually serving as an honored guest in Chu Xingyun's household.

No one had ever mentioned it!

However... she vigorously scratched her little head.

She remembered that the scumbag was arrogant, considering himself a child of destiny favored by the heavens, possessing peerless talent since childhood.

At this age, the scumbag's cultivation should have been at the peak of Nascent Soul, making it quite unlikely for him to be a weak-looking low-tier cultivator.