As Xue Chenjing's spiritual fire had just returned, various desires that had been suppressed within his body were boiling over. He tried to control these desires beneath Xue Mingyuan's gentle facade, but it was incredibly difficult.
He was never good at pretending, so it was natural that he would inadvertently reveal flaws in his disguise.
Xue Chenjing watched her with both anxiety and anticipation. She must have noticed by now that he wasn't Xue Mingyuan, right?
He both hoped she would recognize him and feared that recognition. He rarely experienced such contradictory feelings - the first time was at the Unmasked Tower, and now here was the second time. Both instances involved her.
Yu Yi blinked at him and opened her mouth: "You..."
Just then, a voice called out from nearby, "Yi, why are you standing there? Come help me carry these things!"
Yu Yi's words halted. She turned her gaze away from him and ran toward the voice, quickly catching up to a young woman dressed similarly to herself. She linked arms with her and said, "It's nothing, I just saw a strange person. Very good-looking, but kind of creepy..."
The woman whose arm she held immediately turned her head to look, but Yu Yi quickly turned it back, saying irritably, "Sister, can't you be a little more subtle? If you whip your head around like that, they'll notice. Let's go!"
Her sister still tried to turn around awkwardly, "What's the big deal? I haven't seen anything yet! Tell me, how good-looking was he?"
"Stop trying to look! No matter how handsome he is, he's still creepy. Let's go!" Yu Yi glanced back and saw that strange person had taken a few steps toward them, so she quickly pulled her sister into the crowd to hide.
At that moment, a procession with gongs and drums came around the street corner. The street suddenly filled with a surge of people, like a crossing Milky Way, separating the two parties.
Xue Chenjing stood on one side of the street, looking over the bobbing heads of the crowd, pursuing the figure on the other side. Amid the bustling noise, his gaze traced her features inch by inch, trying to find some clue in her expression. He wondered, "She doesn't recognize me?"
And she even called him a strange person.
The system exclaimed, "That girl looks so much like Yu Yi, is she really her sister?"
The protagonist's family should be in another world, and the book barely mentioned her family members, just touching on them briefly. However, in the setting, she did indeed have an older sister.
Xue Chenjing shifted his gaze from Yu Yi to examine the girl in her arms, then turned to survey the street scene.
The layout of this street was identical to Fengsheng County, and he even occasionally spotted faces in the crowd that he had seen earlier that morning when buying breakfast in Fengsheng County.
When they fell into the osmanthus grove, they were pulled in by the golden ink into a place similar to Fengsheng County. But this wasn't the real Fengsheng County - it was a virtual realm formed by the power of hundreds or thousands of wish slips hanging in the osmanthus grove.
The people and events in this virtual realm were all manifestations of the wishes and desires of those who had hung their wish slips.
"A realm formed by human thoughts," Xue Chenjing's brows furrowed as he glanced again at the person in Yu Yi's arms, shaking his head. "It's not real, just an illusion formed from her yearnings."
The system sighed, "It seems the protagonist really misses her family."
Xue Chenjing remained silent. With her heart sword and clear mind, she shouldn't have been so easily deceived by illusions, unless she willingly immersed herself in them.
The street that had been empty and quiet moments ago was now packed with people, all lining up to welcome the procession with gongs and drums. At the front of the procession was a man wearing ceremonial red robes with a large red silk flower on his chest, mounted on a white horse, looking vigorous and impressive.
The herald at the front called out, "The new Imperial Scholar Yuan Zeng has returned to Fengsheng County to visit his family—"
The crowd buzzed with discussion, "Is that really the Yuan boy? My, he's really made something of himself!"
"Yuan's eldest son never worked and never married, just buried his head in books all these years. He's finally achieved something, now his father won't dare scold him anymore."
"It's not that he didn't want to marry! Nobody would have him before. He was already in his thirties, still chanting from books all day, and couldn't even pass the provincial exam. Who would have thought he'd actually become the Imperial Scholar? Now matchmakers will wear down their doorstep!"
As the Imperial Scholar on his tall horse approached, the crowd fell silent out of respect, all bowing and paying their respects to the honored scholar.
Xue Chenjing watched over the procession as Yu Yi pulled her sister along to watch the excitement of the Imperial Scholar's parade, and he quietly followed behind them.
The Imperial Scholar sat atop his white horse, head held high but eyes downcast, looking down at the villagers on both sides with an expression of triumphant satisfaction. The celebratory procession continued with its music and drums until they reached the Yuan family home on East Street, where Yuan's father stumbled out to greet them, so excited he nearly fell to his knees before his son.
Yuan Zeng finally jumped down from his horse and caught his father, saying, "Have I finally made you proud, Father?"
Yuan's father wiped his tears while saying, "How could I not be proud? My son has never brought me shame. You're the first Imperial Scholar our Yuan family has produced in generations..."
After the father and son embraced and cried at the gate for a while, the entourage that had accompanied the Imperial Scholar began arranging tables and inviting the watching neighbors and villagers to join the celebration.
Yu Yi and her sister received some reward money, which they used to buy two candied hawthorn skewers, eating as they walked.
Xue Chenjing withdrew from the crowd, rubbing his ears that were ringing from the gongs and drums, and continued following behind them. He had never seen Yu Yi like this before - as if she had retracted all her thorns, becoming soft, even wrapping her arms around her sister's waist to act coquettish.
Though her sister tried to push her away in disgust, saying, "Why are you suddenly being so clingy? You're giving me goosebumps. Come on, what did you do wrong this time? Are you trying to get me to help cover for you with Mom and Dad?"
Yu Yi's lips turned down, "Is it wrong that I want to be closer to you? Would you rather I argued with you?"
"No, no, no," her sister quickly waved her hands, "I can never win arguments with you anyway."
Yu Yi raised her eyebrows proudly, but moments later, she lowered them again and leaned against her sister's shoulder, saying softly, "I'll never argue with you again."
Her sister snorted with laughter, "Yeah right, like I'd believe that."
Xue Chenjing remained hidden in the crowd, silently watching her. The system had once said that coming from another world to this strange book world, she must feel very lonely, lost, and helpless.
He hadn't thought much of it before, but now, watching her act coquettish with an illusion, he felt an inexplicable heaviness in his heart that made him suddenly uncomfortable.
Yu Yi walked arm in arm with her sister from the Yuan family on East Street toward West Street. As they passed one household, she paused briefly, turning her head to look at it with confusion.
Her sister asked, "What's wrong?"
Yu Yi looked at her sister's face, and the confusion disappeared. She smiled and said, "Nothing, let's go. Let's hurry home, I want to see Mom and Dad."
After the two walked away, Xue Chenjing stood before that household's gate and looked inside.
He remembered this family was in mourning. This morning when he followed Du's Mother out of town to the Moon Goddess Temple, passing by this house, there had still been white mourning banners hanging on the door.
The deceased was the man of the house, who had died in his prime after falling from a cliff while away on business, leaving behind a widow and orphaned children. The neighboring brother and his wife had their eyes on the family property and would come to make trouble every few days.
Their situation was widely discussed among the neighbors, impossible to ignore.
But in this virtual realm, the white mourning banners were gone. Through the half-open gate came the sound of children's laughter, and in the courtyard, the supposedly deceased man was bent over, teaching a child in his arms how to spin a top.
A woman emerged from the kitchen, her face full of smiles, calling out, "Stop playing now, wash your hands, it's time to eat!"
The man put away the top and hoisted up his still-playful son, carrying him to wash hands at the water vat by the kitchen.
Not far from this household was the Du family home. Their courtyard gate was open, with the sound of sawing wood coming from inside as Du's Father and son were busy making a set of furniture. Du's Mother was in the kitchen cooking soup, the aroma of chicken broth wafting out.
Zhao Zhi sat outside the main hall wrapped in a soft blanket, nursing a baby in her arms.
The male child in her womb was born, and the side chamber was converted into a storage room for small wooden items. All traces of Du Ruo had been erased from the Du household.
The family of five lived in perfect harmony. Du's Father, who was working in the courtyard, straightened his back, massaged his waist, and said with a wrinkled smile, "When my grandson grows up a bit, I'll have him help you with the work. These old bones of mine should get some rest."
Du Qian hurriedly helped him to sit down and said, "No need to wait until he grows up. Father, if you want to rest, take a break now. I can handle the work."
In this realm of human desires, there were those who achieved top honors in the imperial examinations, those who came back from death, those who rejoiced at bearing sons, those celebrating marriages, those receiving promotions and fortune. From the east came the sound of gongs and drums, from the west the crackling of firecrackers – everywhere were such false scenes of happiness.
Xue Chenjing followed Yu Yi all the way to what she called home, an ordinary residential house. Her sister entered through the door with a basket, while Yu Yi stood at the entrance, hesitating for some unknown reason.
The system, seeing him trailing along without taking action, couldn't help but urge, "Master, aren't you going to wake up the female protagonist?"
Xue Chenjing hesitated, knowing that if he broke Yu Yi's beautiful dream, she would surely despise him again.
While he was hesitating, the person at the door finally lifted her foot and stepped inside. Xue Chenjing glanced around and swiftly leaped onto a nearby camphor tree, settling himself among the sturdy branches, peering inside through the leaves.
Inside the house was a scene of harmony – parents deeply in love, sisters occasionally quarreling, even their arguments exuding happiness.
Xue Chenjing remained perched in the camphor tree watching until nightfall when the lights in the house went out. He silently scaled the courtyard wall and entered Yu Yi's room.
The occupant was already asleep, her steady breathing coming from behind the bed curtains.
Xue Chenjing quietly approached the bed in the darkness. He lifted the curtain, gazing down at the sleeping figure. She had smiled many times today, constantly beaming, and even in sleep, her expression remained gentle.
What expression would she wear if he tore away her beautiful dream and she saw him?
Xue Chenjing frowned deeply, gently rubbing his fingertips, and after a long while, seemingly having made up his mind, he extended his fingers toward her brow.
However, the fingers reaching for her brow were suddenly caught in a soft palm. Xue Chenjing was startled, and before he could react, a foot hooked around his waist, and with a twist, he was pulled to the inner side of the bed.
Yu Yi pinned him down beneath her, leaning close to his neck, and sighed softly, pleading gently, "Ah Qiu, don't move. I'll wake up on my own tomorrow."
