Walking along the road, villagers occasionally cast curious glances their way.
Ye Qiu and Xue Ke's clothes and demeanor clearly indicated they were from wealthy and noble families, and some were curious about their purpose in coming to the village.
Naturally, the villagers didn't recognize Ye Qiu, whose appearance had changed so drastically. When he brought Xiao Wu back last time, even the village elder, Zhang Tou, could hardly believe that the person standing before him was Ye Qiu. They
didn't encounter many villagers along the way. Ye Qiu, holding Xue Ke's hand, walked deeper into the village.
Soon, a sturdy, somewhat aged stone house appeared before them.
Moss covered everything, and weeds grew rampant in the cracks of the stones.
"Ye Qiu, where is this?"
Xue Ke asked tentatively, looking at Ye Qiu who had been standing there for a long time.
"This is where I lived when I was a child!" Ye Qiu smiled gently. "Let's go in and take a look!"
"Okay!" Xue Ke nodded gently and followed Ye Qiu towards the stone house's entrance.
The wooden door, weathered by wind and sun, was somewhat rotten; it creaked and groaned with every gentle push.
There wasn't much dust inside, just a musty smell.
Ye Qiu waved his hand, and a rich, refreshing fragrance dispelled the lingering odor of disrepair.
"Is this where you lived when you were little, Ye Qiu?" Xue Ke asked, astonished.
Standing there, looking at the stone house—not much taller than her, almost touching Ye Qiu's head, smaller than her own bathroom, with many areas partitioned off by wooden planks—a sudden pang of heartache flashed in her eyes.
"Stop! Don't look at me like that." Ye Qiu, seeing the emotion in Xue Ke's eyes, couldn't help but pinch her cheek, interrupting her.
"Why?" Xue Ke covered her flushed cheeks, looking at Ye Qiu in confusion.
"Because this is the normal situation for most ordinary people in this world! In the villages around these cities, and even in some small towns, there are many people worse off than me!"
Ye Qiu smiled calmly; there was really nothing to pity or feel sorry for, just a common occurrence among ordinary people.
But Xue Ke remained frozen in place.
As an imperial princess, she had never stepped outside Heaven Dou City, nor even explored its entirety, and knew nothing of the hardships faced by ordinary people.
She had never witnessed anything like this before.
"Hey~ sit here for a while, I'll go fix this house!"
Ye Qiu took a stool from his Divine Might Space and placed it in front of Xue Ke.
"How about I help you?"
"No need, I'll be quick."
Ye Qiu pressed her down on the stool and turned to replace the rotten planks, wooden doors, and other parts with materials from his Divine Might Space. He
then used his Sharingan to examine the stone house, checking for any unruly stones.
About fifteen minutes later, Ye Qiu had finished everything.
Xue Ke didn't remain seated; she followed closely beside Ye Qiu, quietly watching him.
"Ye Qiu," Xue Ke called softly, gently brushing the dust from his face with her sleeve as she approached him.
"Hmm, what's wrong?"
Xue Ke looked at Ye Qiu earnestly, then suddenly smiled gently.
She said softly, "I believe Father and Crown Prince will make their lives better!"
Ye Qiu paused, then smiled meaningfully.
In this situation, who knew who would ultimately win the throne!
He didn't say much, only nodded slightly, "Hmm, I hope so!"
"Yes, definitely!" Xue Ke nodded earnestly, then pointed to some wooden toys in a corner. "Ye Qiu, are those the ones you played with when you were little?"
"No, those are ones I made for Xiao Wu," Ye Qiu shook his head, taking out incense from his divine space.
"Xiao Wu." Xue Ke, who had been very happy, suddenly fell silent. She knew Ye Qiu had other lovers, and felt uneasy. "They..."
"They're easy to get along with," Ye Qiu said with a smile, turning to walk towards the peach tree outside.
Hearing this, Xue Ke blushed, overjoyed.
Did Ye Qiu mean he had accepted her?!
"Ye Qiu!" Xue Ke called out happily, chasing after him out of the stone house. Before she even stepped out, she saw Ye Qiu kneeling before an old peach tree.
She suppressed her joy and tiptoed towards him. Seeing the burning incense sticks and hearing Ye Qiu's words, she didn't hesitate, blushing as she knelt down, much to Ye Qiu's surprise.
Ye Qiu simply smiled.
In the following time, Ye Qiu indeed took Xue Ke for a stroll.
First, they visited Old Zhang and Aunt Zhang at the village chief's house, leaving some money and using his soul skill to heal their internal injuries, also leaving them some longevity-promoting herbs.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
During this time, because of Xue Ke, whom he brought back, Old Zhang scolded him quite a bit, thinking that he had been heartless and dumped Xiao Wu.
Seeing Ye Qiu's discomfiture for the first time, Xue Ke couldn't help but chuckle to herself.
After a short while, Ye Qiu took Xue Ke away from Biyou Village.
He couldn't keep Xue Ke out for too long.
At the village entrance, Xue Ke lowered her head, tugging at Ye Qiu's clothes, following behind him like a timid wife.
Two rows of teeth marks appeared on her bright red face.
Perhaps because he had been scolded by Old Zhang, Ye Qiu, seeing Xue Ke teasing him, childishly bit her cheek twice.
Xue Ke was so embarrassed that she couldn't lift her head, her shyness mixed with joy; although her head was down, a smile played on her lips.
"Alright, next I'll take you to Notting City!" Ye Qiu grabbed Xue Ke's hand, glanced at Biyou Village one last time, and was about to activate his divine power to leave.
"Ah? I... I still have teeth marks on my face~"
Xue Ke lowered her head and covered her face, her voice weak and barely audible.
"Ha, who told you to make fun of me!" Ye Qiu chuckled and slowly removed Xue Ke's hand.
Xue Ke looked up at him, pouting and muttering, "Um, I won't do it again."
"I'm sorry." He reached out and cupped Xue Ke's small face in his hands.
Flowing soul power transformed into life force, slowly smoothing away the teeth marks on both sides of her cheeks.
He gently rubbed her smooth skin, which had already recovered to its original state, supple, translucent, and elastic.
*Pop!*
Xue Ke quickly tiptoed and lightly touched Ye Qiu's lips. Then she hugged Ye Qiu, leaned against his chest, and whispered that it was alright.
Space distorted, and Ye Qiu and Xue Ke's figures disappeared at the village entrance.
In Notting City, Ye Qiu took Xue Ke back to the carving shop where he had worked as a part-time student, and went to visit Jerry and Tom, the couple from back then.
It took Ye Qiu a lot of explaining before he finally proved he was who he was.
After telling them a few things about himself and leaving some herbs to treat their internal injuries, Ye Qiu bid farewell to Xue Ke.
"Woof woof~"
As Ye Qiu and Xue Ke left, a gray-white bulldog with a red collar around its neck barked at them again at the shop entrance.
The elderly couple had no children, so they adopted this dog for companionship, and it seemed to be named Spike.
...
Walking in Notting Academy, Xue Ke held Ye Qiu's arm, looking happy and content.
"Ye Qiu, will you still take me out in the future?"
"Of course, no problem, if I have time," Ye Qiu readily agreed. "But on the condition that you don't mention me to Brother Xue."
"Huh?" Xue Ke looked at Ye Qiu in surprise, somewhat confused, but remembering how Xue Qinghe often spoke ill of Ye Qiu in front of her, she nodded seriously.
"Yes, I'll remember!"
She secretly resolved to find an opportunity to get her brother, the Crown Prince, and her father's approval for this marriage she had chosen herself!
"Alright, we should go back!" Ye Qiu looked up at the sky; it was already noon, almost lunchtime.
"Yes!" Xue Ke nodded slightly. She felt that she and Ye Qiu had tacitly acknowledged their relationship. With
the activation of Divine Power, their revisit to familiar places had come to an end.
"Ah! Teacher Yuehua!"
As soon as they returned to the top floor of Yuexuan, they bumped into Tang Yuehua.
"How was it? Did you have fun?" Tang Yuehua teased Xue Ke, who was tightly hugging Ye Qiu.
"F-Fun." Xue Ke hurriedly let go of Ye Qiu and then ran downstairs.
"Ye Qiu, see you next time!" After saying this, she swallowed hard, seeing Tang Yuehua's teasing expression, and had to suppress her desire to kiss him before running downstairs.
She didn't forget to greet Tang Yuehua.
"Goodbye, Teacher Yuehua!"
"Hehe...this girl is really shy!"
Tang Yuehua chuckled softly, walked towards Ye Qiu, took Xue Ke's place, and hugged Ye Qiu tightly.
Sure enough, even her magnanimity had its limits; she was still a little jealous.