Chapter Thirty-Two: The Old House
After leaving the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, crossing a small alley and walking down the familiar street, Lu Yibei walked briskly towards the Lu Family Manor.
He did not expect that Xing Yuan would be so efficient; he had only informed her yesterday about the news regarding the Xiezhi crown, and today Jiang Li had already received the notification email, soon to leave Huacheng for the Siye Association Headquarters to complete the Spirit Pattern advancement.
He also did not expect that Jiang Li would ask to eat the dishes he made himself.
Given this situation, the Jingyi Apartment was definitely not a suitable place for a date.
Caught off guard, Lu Yibei didn’t have time to arrange for Wang Ying. Even if he could temporarily hide it, the residual spirit energy fluctuations in the apartment would allow Jiang Li to discover its presence.
Although Jiang Li definitely would not report him, hiding a Cataclysm Grade urban legend and altering the Moonlight Plan contract would vary in severity, and Lu Yibei felt it would be better for her not to know at all. It was better than her discovering it and then sheltering him, tormenting his conscience.
However, this wasn’t the first time he had committed wrongdoing…
As long as he wasn’t caught, it didn’t count as a crime!
The Siye Association also needed evidence for their cases, right?
Thinking this, Lu Yibei steadied his mind, quickened his pace slightly, and headed towards the old house.
—
On Mudan Street in late spring, a damp and hot atmosphere lingered. Summer had not yet arrived, but under the lush willows, a few cicadas could hardly wait to emit their immature cries.
Crossing the winding streets of Mudan, Lu Yibei returned to his front door in less than three minutes.
Pausing in front of the white-walled, green-tiled building, he looked up at the sign that read “Luxi Chuancaiguan” and sighed silently.
The scene of his father holding the handwritten store name and having someone make the sign seemed like just yesterday.
“Still talking about opening chain stores all over the world! Can’t even get past Mudan Street…” Lu Yibei complained, took out his key, inserted it into the lock, and slowly turned it.
“Click—!”
With a light sound, the door opened, and the afternoon sunlight poured in.
The inside was very clean, the dining table and chairs in the hall neatly organized. The broken window on the east side had been repaired at some unknown time, and the long-overdue liquor in the counter had been cleaned out, leaving a faint scent of cleaning solution in the air.
The whole house completely did not look like it had been vacant for a long time.
“How strange, how could this be?” Lu Yibei asked in surprise.
Although Water Brother occasionally came by to clean after he moved out, he certainly wouldn’t do it this thoroughly.
“Could it be that a thief broke in?”
Lu Yibei thought, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked around, eventually fixing his gaze on the staircase leading to the second floor.
After contemplating for two seconds, he silently took out the Ling Tai Purification from the God Realm Prototype and held it in his hand, then stepped up the stairs to the attic.
The attic had a simple layout, with less than thirty square meters of space divided by walls into a narrow living room and two small bedrooms.
In fact, Lu Yibei had always slept with his father until he was in middle school. Later, his father saw him growing up and thought he should have his own privacy, which is when he brought in materials to separate one bedroom into two.
A television, a cheap double sofa, and a small fridge cluttered the living room that could not even fit a washing machine, which had to be moved to the small courtyard behind the old house.
In the past, when it rained, washing clothes would become a significant problem for the father and son.
However, taking a shower on rainy days became very convenient; no need to go to a bathhouse, they could do it at home.
It was fortunate that the back courtyard wall of the Lu Family Manor was relatively high; otherwise, every rainy day neighbors would see a big n*ked man with a small n*ked boy, both covered in foam, celebrating in the small yard, delving into the distinctions between woolly mammoths and little elephants.
And…
As he looked at these familiar things, memories that he wished to forget yet could not abandon surfaced in Lu Yibei’s mind, just as he heard the noise from the street outside.
At four-thirty, school was out, and a group of boys, ages unknown, kicked a soccer ball and ran past, their voices disappearing around the corner of the old street.
Lu Yibei snapped his attention back, walked over, and ran his fingers lightly across the cheap double sofa and the television.
His fingertips left no dust.
He opened the fridge and froze for a moment.
The fridge was filled with various snacks, all partially eaten, seemingly left for someone, but had been there too long, and most had begun to spoil.
Shutting the fridge, Lu Yibei frowned and silently turned around, pushing open the doors of the two bedrooms.
His father’s bedroom was just as it had been when he last visited, empty in the windowless room, the bed had been dismantled, leaning in a corner, and his father’s relics were packed into big cardboard boxes, stacked together and covered in thick dust.
When Lu Yibei opened the door to his former bedroom, the slightly fatigued sunlight spilled onto him, and he froze in place.
Inside the room was a single bed and a small writing desk. A simple white floral bedspread covered the bed, a thin quilt was neatly folded on the pillow, and the writing desk was tidied, with the textbooks he had used stacked neatly on the shelf in order by grade.
The window by the bed was slightly open, with a small flowerpot on the sill, containing an unknown wildflower, whose white blossoms had withered, gently swaying in the breeze.
A faint fragrance filled the air, one that was certainly not the smell of industrially synthesized air fresheners but a certain delicate scent belonging to nature’s flowers and plants.
This scene was completely different from when Lu Yibei had lived here; although he had a mild obsession with cleanliness, the room remained in a chaotic state for a long time.
After all, cleanliness and tidiness aren’t necessarily related.
“What the hell is going on?” Lu Yibei scratched the back of his head and murmured.
In fact, the moment he stepped into the attic, he had a keen sense that someone had been here before.
That feeling was an intuition, like many people feel inexplicably when someone is watching them from behind.
It was just that he never expected to see such a scene.
It was as if a little thief had snuck into his home, not only not stealing anything but had even completed a thorough cleaning, even making the bed and staying for a while.
Truly bizarre!
But what kind of person would do such a thing?
Lu Yibei pondered, quickly taking action and thoroughly searching through his room.
However, the result was nothing.
That person had tidied up all his belongings, placed them together in an orderly manner, but other than the faint fragrance in the air, not a single trace remained.
Lu Yibei vaguely felt that something was amiss, but couldn’t quite place it; after all, he didn’t even know that person’s name.
Just then, a breeze suddenly blew in from the half-open window, swirling around the room and startling something hidden in a corner, producing a pleasant tinkling sound.
“Dingling… dingling…”
The sound was very soft, very clear, akin to a sprite scampering across the roof.
Lu Yibei paused, pricked up his ears to listen for a few seconds, and found that the sound was coming from outside the bedroom window.
Standing up, he followed the sound.
Outside the window, he saw that a rather mature pomegranate tree bore a cluster of bronze bells. It appeared as though someone had climbed through the window and accidentally got caught on the branches, dropping down.
The pomegranate tree swayed gently in the breeze of late spring, and as it did, the bells rang softly, spilling a sound like a spring.
Lu Yibei approached, opened the window, and carefully picked the cluster of bells to closely examine for a moment. Suddenly, he felt as if he had been electrocuted, jolting slightly.
An image flashed through his mind.
The girl in white, sitting on the old stone tower on Mudan Street, swinging her legs outside the railing, the bronze bells on her ankles softly jingling as she turned her head in surprise and smiled, saying, “Hey! I haven’t seen you around lately!”
“It’s okay! I found something delicious, saved half for you. Next time you come, we’ll share it!”
And then…
That smile gradually intertwined with the face from the God Realm Prototype’s faculty compound that struggled to force a smile.
“The one who stayed at my house… was actually Xiao Hua? But… why did she come to live at my house? And has she… left now?”
Lu Yibei muttered to himself in confusion, just then, a sound of footsteps came from downstairs, sending his heart into a flurry, leaving him frozen in place, helpless.
He felt like a thief caught red-handed.
He quietly listened to the sounds from downstairs, hearing someone open the hall window, pull out a chair to sit down, and then there was silence again.
After waiting for a while and seeing that the person had no intention of coming upstairs, Lu Yibei tiptoed toward the staircase, peeking out to look downstairs, where he saw a familiar figure sitting at the window seat, staring blankly outside.
Water Brother? Why is he here? Did he come to clean? That doesn’t seem right! Who cleans and brings a sword? And that sword… Lu Yibei mused.
The long sword in Bai Kai’s hand was not the one he usually carried.
That sword had a silver sheath, its hilt styled oddly, resembling plant roots intertwined together, exuding a faint blue hue.
He had seen that sword once at Bai Kai’s house when he was a child; it was kept in a small room by itself.
He had wanted to take it down to have a look, but had gotten beaten by his father for it, and never saw that sword again since.
Why did Water Brother suddenly think to bring out this sword today?
Lu Yibei puzzled, shaking his head, and quickly walked downstairs, clearing his throat as he approached the distracted Bai Kai, “Ahem!”
Hearing the sound behind him, Bai Kai instinctively tightened his grip on the long sword, turning sharply to find Lu Yibei standing there, the sharpness in his eyes gradually fading into a smile.
“You scared me! It’s you, Xiao Bei? What made you think of coming here? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to come here to avoid being reminded of the past?”
“This…” Lu Yibei thought for a moment, then said seriously, “Because I’ve grown up and feel I can accept it now, so I came back to take a look.”
What he said was indeed the truth; after the brief encounter and then farewell with Mrs. Wang Meili, he found he could handle his father’s passing much better than before.
It was as if an infected wound had the scab ripped open violently, allowing the pus to drain out, and it could heal faster.
If it had been in the past, with the Jingyi Apartment unsuitable for hosting Jiang Li, Lu Yibei wouldn’t have brought her to the old house.
“But you, why are you here alone, mourning the spring and autumn?” Lu Yibei inquired, “Is it that you’re not getting along with your godmother?”
“Who told you that? Did she tell you that?” Bai Kai disputed, “I’m telling you, that’s slander! Anyone who runs all night from Huacheng to Jin Guan City wouldn’t have the energy, right?”
Lu Yibei, “…” I just said it casually, but you really aren’t getting along, huh?
“I came here because…”
“Don’t say it’s to reminisce about my dad!” Lu Yibei interrupted, pointing at the bottle of liquor in Bai Kai’s hand, “He doesn’t drink white liquor.”
“He…” Bai Kai opened his mouth to say something but suddenly noticed the bronze bell in Lu Yibei’s hand, his brows furrowing slightly.
After a few seconds of silence, he continued, “Alright, it’s just not very harmonious…”
Although he recognized that the bell in Lu Yibei’s hand belonged to Nanling Yaohua, he did not want to mention it to Lu Yibei.
Lu Yibei was Lu Ming’s child and should have inherited his father’s fate of guarding Yumen.
His father had gone through many ordeals to finally escape that fate; there was a good chance Lu Yibei would end up stuck there if he went to Yumen.
As an elder, Bai Kai naturally wished for both Nanling Yaohua and Lu Yibei to be happy.
So, Lu Yibei couldn’t go, and Nanling Yaohua would have to leave; as for how to do that…
Let the adults figure it out!
For that, even if his reputation suffered, it was fine.
Who told me I ended up with two troublesome senior brothers? Bai Kai thought.
After listening to Bai Kai, Lu Yibei nodded, “Yeah, you’re getting older. You’ve experienced the wealthy woman’s blissful series, I can understand today’s understanding.”
As he spoke, he smoothly tucked the bell into his pocket.
Noticing this action from Lu Yibei, Bai Kai frowned slightly, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he waved his hand at Lu Yibei impatiently, “Get lost, get lost! What do you know as a kid? When you become a real man, come talk to me again!”
“Water Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t you love me anymore?” Lu Yibei said expressionlessly, “So, after you have a wife, love just disappears, right?”
Bai Kai twitched his mouth, raising the liquor bottle threateningly, “Then stay and drink a few with me? Experience your godfather’s fatherly love?”
“Forget it!” Lu Yibei rolled his eyes, “Drinking harms the body; I don’t want to become like you, disharmonious.”
After saying that, he jogged away from the old house, only to return sneakily a few seconds later, mischievously asking Bai Kai, “Hey Water Brother, do you remember Liu Banxian? I’ve met him before. Didn’t he used to sell that something, Ten Whips Great Reinforcement Pill? Do you want me to ask him?”
Bai Kai, “…”
