I Cheated While Cultivating

“Heng’er, you’re here,” Yun Xiu greeted as she opened the door, smiling gently.

On the thirtieth night, she wore a red dress embroidered with golden trimmings, standing on the ground where snow hadn’t yet melted, against the dim glow of the twilight, radiant and peerless.

“I’ve come at your invitation,” Zhou Heng said with a smile, then walked in with Yun Xiu.

Yun Xiu’s family home was clearly refurbished.

It was different from when Zhou Heng had previously visited.

Compared to before, the courtyard now had a rockery and a small lake, and a pavilion had been built. Although the area wasn’t large, it was also quite elegant.

The overall style was delicate and soft.

It must have been Yun Xiu’s handiwork.

—She had returned to Huangtong Mansion City before, and it wouldn’t have been difficult for her to renovate her family home.

At this time, Yun Xiu’s parents were in the main hall preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner, with poultry, fish, and various meats, all very abundant, and the aroma was so tantalizing it was comparable to a high-end restaurant.

Extremely professional.

This was actually normal, as Zhou Heng had heard from Yun Xiu that her parents had run a restaurant in the County City in their early years, highly skilled and successful in their business.

This not-so-big but also not-too-small residence was the result of those years of earnings.

Only after encountering some misfortune, when the restaurant could no longer be operated, did they return to their hometown to make a living by running a breakfast stall.

Their cooking skills were naturally not inferior.

When the elderly couple saw their daughter bringing Zhou Heng over, they immediately greeted him with joyous expressions, their eyes filled with affection and contentment as they looked at Zhou Heng.

Before Zhou Heng could even greet them and wish them a happy new year, the couple each took out a small red silk-wrapped bundle, heavy, likely filled with many things.

“Zhou Heng, it’s the New Year and you’ve come to our home, we don’t have much to offer, just a few trinkets to add to the festivity,” Yun Xiu’s mother said with a smile as she placed the red packet in Zhou Heng’s hand.

“Child, it’s not easy for you to be on your own outside, take this red packet for the New Year to bring you some cheer,” Yun Xiu’s father also said with a cheerful tone.

“Haha, happy New Year to the both of you,” Zhou Heng laughed as he received the two red packets and pulled out two brocades from his sleeve, “I’ve also prepared red packets for you two.”

Inside were jade talismans he had personally carved, which possessed protective abilities and could ward off evil, making them treasures beyond price for ordinary people and even for Ninth Grade and Eighth Rank Martial Artists.

“This is really too courteous.”

“This child, why have you also prepared gifts?”

Yun Xiu’s parents didn’t decline, as according to the customs of Huangtong Mansion, rejecting New Year gifts was akin to turning away good fortune, which was considered inauspicious.

Afterward, Zhou Heng followed Yun Xiu and her parents into the main hall.

The four of them sat together talking about the interesting recent happenstances in the martial world, with many referring to Zhou Heng’s own deeds, which made the elderly couple laugh heartily, filled with delight.

Once the New Year’s Eve dinner was ready, Yun Xiu’s mother went to make dumplings with him and Zhou Heng began drinking with Yun Xiu’s father at the dinner table.

Yun Xiu’s father wasn’t very old at just forty-three, but years of running the stall and being exposed to the elements had given him a somewhat aged appearance.

Drinking with Zhou Heng, he reminisced about the glorious years of his youth, how dashing he had been when opening a restaurant in the County City and preparing to build a tavern.

After offending a Seventh Rank Warrior, he talked about how he had no choice but to give up everything he had managed and leave the scene despondently, returning to his hometown in disgrace.

This was also the reason he supported Yun Xiu wholeheartedly in practicing martial arts—a girl like her.

Now, the Seventh Rank Warrior who had once suppressed him had already bowed his head in acknowledgment of his wrongs, returned all the property he had taken from him, and even added much more to it.

His life-long regrets were thus somewhat remedied.

The only regret he now had was feeling uneasy about his daughter wandering the martial arts world without a place to settle down…

Zhou Heng just sat across from him, quietly listening. He didn’t find it tiresome, instead, he found it quite endearing.

Back when he was still on Earth, during holidays when he went home and drank with his dad, his dad would talk endlessly once drunk. Back then, he had found it nagging, but now he couldn’t even listen to it if he wanted to.

“Zhou Heng, you’re a good kid, a renowned and gallant young hero in the martial arts world, the true legacy of the Great Sect. If you could take care of Xiu’er…” Yun Xiu’s father murmured, shaking his head, clearly drunk.

At this moment, Yun Xiu and her mother came over carrying dumplings.

“Dad, you’re drunk,” Yun Xiu didn’t let her father continue, placing a large plate of dumplings on the table, “Dad, Zhou Heng, the dumplings are ready, let’s eat. Looking at the time, it will be the first day of the new year soon.”

“Right, right, the first day, time for dumplings,” Yun Xiu’s father nodded, and he also called Zhou Heng, “Brother, come eat dumplings, they have a generous filling and thin skins!”

“Silly man, are you hawking your wares? Just eat,” Yun Xiu’s mother rolled her eyes and said to Zhou Heng, “I apologize for him, he’s always like this when he drinks too much.”

“Haha, that’s genuine character,” Zhou Heng laughed.

After that, Zhou Heng and Yun Xiu’s family had their New Year’s Eve dinner and dumplings, and finally, they heard bursts of firecrackers from outside.

Looking through the doors and windows, one could see the sky outside sparkling with lights of various colors.

“Zhou Heng, shall we go out to watch the fireworks?” Yun Xiu’s eyes shone like they contained stars, exceptionally bright, and her cheeks were slightly flushed, “What do you say, shall we go?”

Zhou Heng looked at the night sky outside, where the fireworks were dazzling, with colorful flames dancing, resplendent and varied, like scattered stars or flowers strewn by celestial maidens.

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, a year’s time was about to pass.

“Let’s go, let’s go see,” Zhou Heng nodded lightly with a smile.

“Okay,” Yun Xiu’s smile was as lovely as a blooming flower as she nodded in agreement.

The two stepped out side by side from the house to the street, where they saw throngs of people and a bustling atmosphere. The laughter of adults and the playful noises of children mingled together, creating a lively scene that didn’t seem at all like the middle of the night.

The joy of the New Year dispelled the chill of winter days and seemed to make people forget the crisis Huangtong Mansion City had recently faced. Everyone was immersed in happiness, celebrating the arrival of the new year with all their might.

Quite a few vendors also didn’t miss this opportunity, pushing their carts through the streets, hawking their wares—food, toys, drinks, they had it all.

Yun Xiu and Zhou Heng stood shoulder to shoulder. She, dressed in a bright red outfit, looked like a fairy descended from heaven, pure and otherworldly. She looked at the crowd, at the fireworks above, and said with a smile, “Zhou Heng, the new year has come. Do you have any wishes?”

In the midst of the firecracker noise, ordinary people had to shout to be heard clearly, but her martial arts were already extraordinary, and even casual speech could be clearly understood.

Wishes?” Zhou Heng pondered upon hearing this, first watching the girl before him for a moment, then looking up at the fireworks above, recalling all that he had experienced in these days, he smiled and said:

“I hope the coming year will be just like this one, as splendid as these fireworks.”