“Brother Yun Mu, how long do we still have to wait?”
“I’m not sure either—but it should be soon.”
“But we’ve already waited for Uncle Hudelu for a whole hour. If we keep waiting like this, Huaizhi will… mm… can’t we just come again next time?”
“Well… that’s not impossible, but I have a feeling—if we don’t talk to him now, we’ll have to wait much longer later. So… let’s wait a little more.”
“Alright then.”
The girl pouted helplessly, leaned back, and suddenly noticed how simply he had tied his hair.
Instinctively touching her own, her eyes lit up as a little scheme formed in her mind.
The first thing Tushan Huaizhi and Yun Mu did when they returned to Hundred Demons was not report to Tushan Yunxi, nor look for Eleven—but to come to Hudelu’s little bamboo hut and explain the clothing matter to him.
After all, the clothes and the stone tablet were connected.
And according to Yun Mu, separating the robe from the stone tablet would take a lot of time, so it was better to notify him in advance.
Yet even after circling the door for half the day, no one came.
So the girl, who had been standing around since earlier, was now bored enough to braid the boy’s hair.
Yun Mu didn’t comment—he didn’t mind.
Appearance was far less important to him than inner character.
Besides, he felt it was better for her to have something to do.
Otherwise, who knows what trouble she’d cause.
“By the way, Huaizhi, who told you that knocking long enough means someone will definitely open the door?”
He recalled how she’d been pounding on the door moments earlier, nearly breaking the bamboo.
“Oh, that? I realized it myself.”
She answered casually, staring at the last loose lock of hair in her hand.
“Hmm… how should I style this part to look nice…”
“You figured it out yourself?”
“Yep. Every time Mother and I came here before, as long as we kept knocking, Uncle Hudelu always showed up.”
She twirled the strand of hair between her fingers, her delicate brows furrowing.
“Ah—Yun Mu, what do you think of a little side curl that sticks up?”
“I see… so experience creates truth. I’ve learned something new.”
He smiled helplessly, but still answered, “You can do what you like. I don’t care about hairstyles.”
With that, Yun Mu casually touched the slightly worn Qiankun pouch on his hip, a complex expression in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the moment she heard his approval, the girl grew excited—her “grand undertaking” had begun.
“A fifth-tier high-grade robe that can exhibit sixth-tier power under certain conditions—but it’s for women…”
Words Ying’er had spoken earlier flashed through his mind, filling him with confusion.
Logically, if the robe wasn’t paired with the secret realm stone tablet, it was worth at most fifty supreme spirit stones—not even enough for its starting bid.
Yet Senior Hu spent nearly a thousand supreme stones to acquire it.
He treated it so seriously… so… could it be…”
Thinking, Yun Mu took the robe out from his ring, placed it across his lap, and lifted his hand.
He released star power to sense its aura—only for the stone tablet to repel him.
Helplessly, he pulled back.
“Huaizhi, why do you think Senior Hu paid such a huge price for a robe?”
“No idea. Maybe he wants to give it to someone? Maybe that person specifically asked for it?”
“Hmm… that… sort of makes sense…”
“He probably wanted to bring it back and hide it somewhere for himself.”
“Huh?”
A familiar voice sounded.
Huaizhi let go of the half-braided hair and spun around in surprise.
“Mother? Why are you here?”
She immediately threw an arm out protectively, blocking Yun Mu behind her.
“What? You’re not happy to see me?”
Tushan Yunxi raised her brows slightly.
Noticing the defensive stance, she deliberately stepped aside—and instantly spotted the boy’s now-elaborately braided hair.
“No, I just thought—you usually don’t come here unless something happened, so suddenly—ah—Mother, don’t—!”
Before she finished, her entire body rose into the air.
Without warning she was lifted clean off the ground, revealing the boy she’d been shielding.
“Hm… from behind, with his hair braided like that, Xiao Mu really does look like a young lady.”
Yunxi glanced at her daughter hiding her face, then strolled to Yun Mu’s side.
She gently lifted one of the loose strands, chuckling.
“And you, child—you just let her mess with you like this?”
“Mm, it’s fine. I don’t really care about looks.”
“That’s not what I meant. You are handsome to begin with, so it actually suits you. I mean—don’t indulge this girl too much, or she’ll climb all over your head later. Even though, a little wife-discip—”
“Mother!”
Flustered, Huaizhi interrupted before she finished.
“Heh, see? That’s what spoiling her too much does.”
Yunxi flicked her daughter’s forehead and looked toward the robe.
Her eyes rippled slightly.
“This robe still has the secret realm stone tablet attached?”
“Yes. It was like that at the auction.”
“I see. A bit troublesome, but never mind. So—how was your first auction? Did you enjoy it?”
“It was pretty good.”
“That’s good. Well then, did anything interesting happen?”
“Yes—a lot, actually.”
“Oh? Tell me. I’ve waited two days for you two little brats and was bored to death.”
“Mm, so basically…”
Without hiding anything, Yun Mu vividly retold everything from start to finish—complete with gestures.
From being blocked at the entrance, to Lianyi’s apology gift, to Qin Luoyi and Xia Qingyao’s behavior—even meeting Shangguan Qiuyue later—he told it all.
He didn’t know why, but even though she hadn’t officially adopted him yet, ever since she’d asked him to privately start calling her “mother,” he’d unconsciously drawn close to this Fox-Queen.
Was it because she gave him hope to pursue his goals?
Was it because she offered him care without ulterior motives?
Or… simply because he longed for the feeling of family?
And now that he finally felt genuine affection, his heart unlocked itself?
Yun Mu couldn’t say.
He only knew that he felt peaceful being here—peace he hadn’t felt since he was six.
And Tushan Yunxi truly cared for him.
If nothing else, the way she listened intently to his story, worried when he mentioned being blocked, teased him gently about girls fighting over him—it all wrapped him unknowingly in warmth.
“Mm… lighting sky lanterns, huh? Saved quite a lot of spirit stones. Since that’s the case, the remaining stones will go to you as pocket money.”
“Pocket money?! Mother, what about mine? I want some too!”
“Yours? You had some. But since you’ve been misbehaving, all of it goes to your brother.”
“What?! All I did was braid his hair!”
“Talking back counts too.”
“I…”
She was about to protest again—then realized she had been arguing nonstop.
For once, she was speechless.
“…Fine. Whatever. I don’t need that much anyway. I’ll just take some from brother later…”
She blatantly provoked, but Yunxi ignored her.
Instead, she looked at the robe again, lifted her hand, and suspended it midair.
She separated the stone tablet with her power and sighed softly.
“So it really is her robe.”
“Her? Mother, I was curious just now—you said Senior Hu wanted to hide it, and that it belonged to ‘her’… Is there some connection?”
“In simple terms—an old-fashioned story of unrequited love.”
“Unrequited love?”
He subconsciously echoed the words.
“Hudelu Uncle… love… love story?”
Huaizhi was stunned too.
Her gloom vanished instantly, replaced by full curiosity—ears perked fully upright so she wouldn’t miss a single word.
“It’s been many years. And speaking of such things behind someone’s back is rude. If you want to know, ask him yourselves someday.”
Unfortunately, she did not grant the girl’s wish.
She restored the robe and stone tablet, put them into her own pouch, and glanced at the nearby forest with a knowing smile.
“Xiao Mu, I’m taking Huaizhi away. At her age, she needs proper cultivation.”
“Alright, then Mother, next I—”
“What?! Cultivation?! Nooo, I don’t want to, Mother!”
Already upset about missing the gossip, Huaizhi was crushed again.
Flailing in midair, she tried to escape.
“Huaizhi—if you don’t cultivate well, your brother will surpass you. And when something important happens… do you want to stand behind him? Or beside him?”
“Huh?! I…”
That one question froze her completely.
She imagined all the things she didn’t want to imagine—another girl standing next to Yun Mu while she trailed behind— and her expression turned deadly serious.
“Mother, I must cultivate. This kind of thing absolutely cannot happen.”
“Good girl. As for Xiao Mu—your Eleventh Master will soon send your final sparring partner.
Wait here. And don’t worry about the robe or the stone tablet for now, understood?”
“Yes.”
With that, space distorted.
Mother and daughter vanished like mist—leaving silence behind.
“Final sparring partner? I almost forgot. There was something like that, wasn’t there? But… who was it?”
He frowned.
No matter how he searched his memories, everyone seemed to be deliberately keeping that detail hidden.
“Forget it—I’ll know once they arrive. Hopefully they’re easy to get along with.”
He stretched lazily.
His senses spread out unconsciously.
Just as he was about to lie down, something stirred— and he sat back up.
“This aura… So familiar…”
Instinctively, he stood and turned toward the forest.
“And… kind of intimate. Could it be… someone I know?”
Muttering to himself, he walked toward the source of the aura.
“Let’s go greet them— since a guest has arrived.”