For a moment, Ji Yue seemed like he wanted to rebut, but Nan Shan didn’t give him the chance.
“Don’t think I don’t know. You’ve always been secretly watching me, ever since I first came to the island… Of course, back then I thought you were researching ways to harm me, until later when I realized.”
“You would wash my clothes, and you wouldn’t mind them getting dirty from Yue Xin. You taught me to read and understand things, cooked for me, stayed by my side when I was injured, and even put pastries outside my room when I was in closed-door cultivation.
Those pastries were only available at the market. Uncle Zhong didn’t dare send them, and Shou Xin didn’t dare buy them, so it must have been you.”
“The most important thing is, when you look into my eyes, I can clearly see myself in them. I look beautiful in your eyes, even more beautiful than in real life,” Nan Shan counted the proofs of her heart’s stirring, and then smirked slyly.
“Ji Yue, actually, sometimes I’m very smart and perceptive. Just admit it.”
Ji Yue fell silent for a moment and asked, “Has the temple been renovated?”
“Huh? It’s finished,” Nan Shan didn’t catch up with his thoughts immediately.
Ji Yue nodded.
“Well, let the people return. I’m going to start blessing them.”
After she said all that, Ji Yue didn’t respond a single word but instead politely asked her to leave.
When Nan Shan left through the back door, the temple was already full of kneeling citizens.
The annoying incense smoke had started to rise again, as if these people did nothing but come to beg for blessings from the gods.
Nan Shan glanced back at Ji Yue’s figure and suddenly teased, “Ji Yue, you can hide for a moment, but not for a lifetime!”
Although she knew that she had used an invisibility technique, the people below couldn’t hear or see her, but her loud voice still made Ji Yue’s back tense.
Nan Shan laughed so much that her waist bent, and the smile stayed on her face until she returned to the back courtyard.
“Did the Immortal Lord scold you?”
Shou Xin asked suspiciously.
Nan Shan glanced at him lightly.
“When has the Immortal Lord ever scolded anyone?”
“Don’t try to fool me. The Immortal Lord may be kind and gentle, but he’s not without temper. You caused a disaster by blowing up the temple; even if he doesn’t scold you, he wouldn’t treat you nicely, right? Why are you still so happy?”
Shou Xin furrowed his brow deeper.
“You didn’t use some kind of charm spell on him, did you?”
Nan Shan was surprised.
“You figured it out?”
“Wait… you really did?”
Shou Xin was shocked.
“Of course not,” Nan Shan clicked her tongue, then seemed to think of something and couldn’t help but smile.
“I wouldn’t even know how.”
Shou Xin was confused. “?”
Nan Shan didn’t want to explain too much to a seven-year-old, so she hummed a tune and returned to her room.
Shou Xin: ‘She is definitely acting strange.’
The seven-year-old couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, but he noticed that she was increasingly odd, especially since she would run to the front hall frequently.
Every time, she’d stay for a long while, and when she came back, she was always in high spirits.
Ah, right, when the Immortal Lord came to the back courtyard, she always followed him and was smiling every time, which made him feel inexplicably uneasy.
Nan Shan frequently visited the front hall, finally taking a break for two meals.
Shou Xin thought she had finally returned to normal, but to his surprise, after only two meals, she was back at the front hall again before the third meal.
Unable to hold back anymore, Shou Xin asked, “Hey, are you disturbing the Immortal Lord again?”
Nan Shan replied, “What do you mean by disturbing? I’m just taking care of him.”
“…His hand is almost healed. You don’t need to visit so often.”
Shou Xin reminded her softly.
Nan Shan stopped when she heard that.
“You’re not going?”
Shou Xin asked, surprised.
Nan Shan pointed behind him.
“The Immortal Lord is here.”
Shou Xin instinctively turned around, and upon seeing Ji Yue, he quickly greeted him, “Immortal Lord, how come you’re here?”
“I suddenly wanted to eat the food you make.”
Ji Yue said this while looking at Shou Xin.
Shou Xin was flattered and rushed to the kitchen.
Ji Yue smiled slightly, but when his eyes met Nan Shan’s composed gaze, his smile froze.
“I haven’t visited you in a while; you must have missed me.”
Nan Shan said with a grin.
Since the day she confirmed something at the temple, she had completely changed.
Every time she saw Ji Yue, she no longer pretended to casually exchange pleasantries but simply said whatever was on her mind.
She had always been this way—hesitant when uncertain, but once she made up her mind, she was courageous to the point of being frightening.
Ji Yue seemed to have learned this lesson, and upon hearing her words, he only slightly turned his face away.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the back courtyard. I should come and see.”
“Oh, I didn’t even notice. You really haven’t come in a long time,” Nan Shan slowly walked in front of him, hands behind her back, leaning slightly as she carefully observed his brows and eyes.
Only when his gaze wandered did she smile and say, “Is it because I go to the front hall often that you think it’s unnecessary to return to the back courtyard? If Shou Xin found out, he’d be heartbroken.”
“I didn’t mean it like that…”
Ji Yue began to refute, but couldn’t continue because Nan Shan kept smiling at him, and it made him lose all temper.
As the atmosphere became a little tense, Shou Xin suddenly came running with a plate of grapes.
He set it on the table and called to Ji Yue, “Immortal Lord, please sit and have some fruit. The meal will be ready soon.”
Ji Yue seemed to relax and immediately sat down at the table.
Shou Xin, not expecting Ji Yue to be so accommodating, felt flattered and ran back to the kitchen, determined to prepare a lavish feast.
Nan Shan noticed Ji Yue’s evasive behavior but didn’t immediately follow him.
When he had eaten the fifth grape, she suddenly spoke, “When are we getting married?”
“…”
The elegant and gentle Immortal Lord Ji Yue coughed so loudly it startled the room.
Nan Shan, however, remained calm, handing him a handkerchief and casually wiping his wrist.
A long-absent red light suddenly appeared, glowing faintly.
“Hide this. I almost forgot about the engagement,” Nan Shan sat across from him, resting her chin on her hand, staring at him.
“When do you plan on marrying me?”
“Nan Shan…”
Ji Yue coughed so hard his eyes were teary, and it was difficult for him to speak.
Unfortunately, before he could finish, a grape was shoved into his mouth.
Nan Shan smiled.
“Eat.”
Shou Xin came running again, and the two of them didn’t discuss the engagement further.
After eating, Ji Yue left directly.
“Did you do something to him?”
Shou Xin watched Ji Yue’s retreating figure.
“I feel like the Immortal Lord was running away in a panic.”
“You’re overthinking it. What could I have done to him?”
Nan Shan casually replied.
She said that, but in her heart, she was still worried that she had acted too hastily.
Since childhood, she had always worried about her own survival.
While other girls were growing romantic feelings, she was too busy worrying if she’d live long enough.
She had no experience with relationships, and the most she had was some vague feelings toward Ling Ye, but that seemed to belong to a past life.
No one had taught her how to deal with these things.
After realizing her feelings for Ji Yue, her first reaction was to hide them.
However, some things can’t be hidden, especially after discovering that Ji Yue was also different towards her.
She could only follow her heart, relentlessly advancing like conquering cities.
Would it scare Ji Yue?
Nan Shan, finally realizing this a bit too late, began to worry.
Shouxin didn’t know what she was troubled about every day, and after seeing her sigh once again, he simply handed her a kitchen knife:
“Cook today.”
“Why?”
Nan Shan was dissatisfied.
Shouxin said, “I usually cook, what’s wrong with you cooking just this once?”
“You’re the one who usually cooks, why should I cook now!”
Nan Shan argued, with no sense of guilt for making a seven-year-old work.
Shouxin sneered, “You think I want you to cook? If you cook, I wouldn’t dare eat it. What if it’s poisoned? I’m just giving you something to do, so you don’t keep overthinking things.”
Overthink?
Yes, she was overthinking things.
The culprit was simply having too much free time; when people had too much free time, they’d start thinking about useless things.
The more Nan Shan thought about it, the more it made sense, so she decisively took the knife.
Shouxin didn’t expect her to really cook and was pleased.
He went off to relax in the front yard corridor.
Nan Shan entered the kitchen but then became confused.
Although she came from a poor family, her parents had spoiled her, and she had rarely cooked.
Moreover, since Shouxin, a little adult, was always diligent, she hadn’t seen raw vegetables and meat for a long time.
Now standing in the kitchen, she suddenly didn’t know where to start.
As she was struggling, the room next door, not far from the kitchen, suddenly creaked.
Nan Shan looked up and saw Uncle Zhong, trembling, coming out of the room.
Although they lived in the same courtyard, for some reason, they rarely crossed paths.
The last time they had seen each other was at dawn, and now the sun had already been overtaken by dark spots, it was nearly evening.
Their eyes met, and Nan Shan waved politely, “Uncle Zhong.”
“Madam Xian Jun?”
Uncle Zhong was surprised and walked over, “Why are you cooking today?”
As he got closer, Nan Shan could clearly see him.
When she saw his face, she was momentarily stunned:
“Uncle Zhong, you’ve… become younger?”
Uncle Zhong smiled bitterly, “Madam Xian Jun, you really know how to joke. I’m old now, how could I become younger?”
Nan Shan smiled but said nothing.
He really had become younger, it wasn’t her imagination.
After experiencing several days and nights in the Eastern Yi, she had started noticing certain patterns.
For example, when the day broke, Ji Yue was at his best, but as the black spots overtook the sun, his condition gradually deteriorated.
This change was usually not very noticeable, but by evening, when the light faded, he would become thin and weak, as if he were collapsing from the wind.
But Uncle Zhong was the opposite.
He looked worn and aged in the morning, but as the day progressed, his condition improved.
By the afternoon, even his wrinkles seemed fewer.
Of course, since he was already very old in the morning, losing a few wrinkles didn’t make him appear much younger, but his vitality and slightly straightened posture were unmistakable.
“Madam?”
Nan Shan snapped back to reality.
“Hmm?”
“If you don’t mind, why don’t I cook for you?”
Uncle Zhong asked carefully.
Nan Shan thought for a moment and still refused:
“I’ll cook myself. You know Shouxin’s temper. If he finds out, I’m afraid he’ll be furious.”
Uncle Zhong smiled bitterly:
“I see.”
His disappointment was so obvious that Nan Shan was about to comfort him, but then she suddenly noticed his door was ajar.
Cultivators have sharp senses, but Nan Shan, being used to the five senses of a mortal, could still see very far when she concentrated.
She focused her energy, and her gaze easily passed through the open door, landing on the worn-out tea table inside, where she saw a few books.
She immediately recognized them; they looked like the books she had used when she was first learning to read.
Uncle Zhong, after being refused by Nan Shan, trembled as he turned and left, but Nan Shan suddenly called out to him:
“Uncle Zhong!”
He stopped, leaning against the kitchen door frame, and turned back:
“Madam Xian Jun, is there something else?”
“I’ve changed my mind,” Nan Shan said, a little awkwardly, “I really don’t know what to do with these ingredients. Could you help me cook?”
“Really?”
Uncle Zhong’s eyes brightened.
Nan Shan nodded and took a step aside.
Uncle Zhong, visibly moved, quickly washed his hands and started preparing the ingredients.
Nan Shan silently stepped back to the door, and as all his attention was focused on the cutting board, she quietly slipped into his room.
This was her first time entering his room.
Since the door and windows were always closed, the room carried a faint, elderly scent.
The furniture was much simpler compared to her and Shouxin’s room, but everything necessary was there.
Nan Shan walked straight to the table and began flipping through the books.
As expected, they were the books she had used when she first learned to read.
There were even some ink stains from when she and Shouxin had been playing around.
“Madam Xian Jun?”
A hoarse voice suddenly sounded, and Nan Shan was shocked.
She looked up, her heart almost leaping out of her chest.
She hadn’t noticed him!
He was just an ordinary mortal, so old that he couldn’t walk steadily, yet somehow, she hadn’t noticed him when he appeared here!
“What are you looking at?”
Uncle Zhong stood with his back to the light, his face hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see him clearly.
Nan Shan silently set the book down and smiled:
“When you were cooking, I got bored and just walked around. I noticed your door wasn’t closed, so I came in to close it, but then I saw my books, so I took a look.”
Then, she directly asked, “Uncle Zhong, why are my books here in your room?”
Uncle Zhong, trembling, walked in. Nan Shan immediately tensed up, her fingers subtly gathering spiritual energy.
But Uncle Zhong did nothing; he just walked to the table, picked up a book, and carefully examined it.
After a long while, he smiled and said, “This book is mine.”