When the two returned to the graveyard, the black cat had just scratched the head of the last zombie.
Xu Zifan chuckled, "Little kitty, well done."
The black cat hopped and skipped to his side, jumped into his lap, and meowed happily.
Xu Zifan stroked its fur, then went over to look at the zombies with holes in their heads. He praised it with satisfaction, "You've worked hard, little kitty. Once you accumulate more merit, you can be reborn as a human in your next life, taking control of your own destiny and no longer being captured and bullied. Little kitty, you must work hard, maybe you can even accumulate enough merit for a happy and smooth next life."
"Meow meow meow~" The black cat rubbed its little head against his chest, looking incredibly cute. Where was the terrifying, resentful look it had once had?
Although Jiang Tianxin couldn't see the black cat, she knew where it was from Xu Zifan's movements. She praised him, saying, "You're amazing! You'll definitely accumulate enough merit to be reincarnated soon. Keep it up!"
The black cat meowed at her twice out of politeness, but because of the yang energy emanating from her, it turned its head and snuggled into Xu Zifan's arms.
Xu Zifan called to Jiang Tianxin to pile all the zombies together, set them ablaze, and burned them to ashes, leaving not a trace.
The zombie was covered in corpse poison, a favorite ingredient for evil spirits and wicked people; even leaving a tiny bit could cause disaster. Fortunately, he had Shaohua, which wouldn't miss anything even 500 meters underground, and in the end, even the ashes were blown away by the wind.
Xu Zifan used a small amount of spirit stone to restore the grave to its original state and removed the formation before taking Jiang Tianxin back to the old village chief's house.
It was already four in the morning, and some of the hardworking villagers should have been up by then, but the village was completely silent, without a sound.
Jiang Tianxin frowned and asked, "What did that old man do?"
"He probably wanted to arrest me, but he was afraid of making a commotion and putting the villagers to sleep." Xu Zifan glanced around and saw that even the yellow dog and the chickens and ducks in the yard were fast asleep, but there was nothing wrong with them. They would wake up when it got light.
"Let's go, let's go back quickly." Xu Zifan quickened his pace and instructed, "Don't tell the villagers about what happened today. It won't help them if they know. They'll just not believe it or be even more heartbroken. Let them think that the old man died in an accidental fire."
Jiang Tianxin nodded in agreement. "Uncle Liao and Director Fang also said that day that we shouldn't let too many people know about metaphysics, otherwise it could easily disrupt social order." She sighed softly. "I used to particularly dislike these so-called masters because of this. I felt that they were all just using sweet talk to deceive people who were already heartbroken or in trouble. Sometimes they not only cheated people out of money, but also out of their bodies. There are just too many swindlers like this. If the public knew that metaphysics was real, the swindlers would become even more rampant, and even more people would be deceived."
She paused for a moment, then asked Xu Zifan, "Was that why you didn't blame me for suspecting you back then?"
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Of course, otherwise why would it be because you're good-looking?"
Jiang Tianxin choked for a moment, then retorted in a low voice, "I am naturally beautiful."
Xu Zifan glanced at her with a smile, and feeling that the somewhat heavy atmosphere had dissipated, he stopped talking and went into the room they were staying in with Jiang Tianxin.
There was only one double bed in the room, but it was quite wide, probably because it was intended for a small family.
Jiang Tianxin glanced at the bed, pulled out a chair, sat down, and leaned on the table. "Master, are you tired? Take a rest."
Xu Zifan stretched and lay down on the bed, but he lay on one side, piling the blankets in the middle of the bed, and said lazily, "The bed is separated, come and lie down. You're much more tired than me today, don't worry too much about the environment. If we were in the middle of nowhere with only a small tent, you'd have to squeeze in with your master, right?"
Jiang Tianxin hesitated for a moment, then nimbly got up and lay down on the other side of the bed. She was exhausted from the battle and felt it would be pretentious to lie on the table.
With three blankets stacked in the middle, she couldn't see Xu Zifan at all. But this was the first time she had ever shared a bed with a man, and she couldn't help feeling a little nervous. She turned over, her back to Xu Zifan, thinking about what had happened that day, those thrilling moments, and slowly became sleepy, closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Hearing her deep, even breathing, Xu Zifan said to Shaohua, "[Check on her condition, see if she's injured or exhausted. If there are any problems, let her stay a couple more days.]"
[Shaohua: Host, please wait a moment...]
[Shaohua: Monitoring complete. Jiang Tianxin is in excellent physical condition and has no injuries, only fatigue. It is estimated that she will recover after six hours of rest. However, her brainwaves are fluctuating frequently, suggesting significant emotional fluctuations in her dreams.]
[It's normal to fight ghosts for the first time. I'm glad you're okay. I'm going to sleep for a bit. Remember to wake me if there's any noise outside.]
[Shaohua: Good host.]
Xu Zifan quickly fell asleep, while Jiang Tianxin was already deep in her dreams.
She first dreamed that hundreds of evil spirits and zombies surrounded her. She fought her way out with great difficulty, but then the surroundings turned into the scene when she first entered the village.
She dreamt that Xu Zifan held her hand and said to the old village chief, "This is my girlfriend. I was worried about her going into the mountains alone, so I came with her."
She dreamt that Xu Zifan gave her a talisman and instructed her, "Keep this safe. If you encounter danger, just tear it open and your master will come to save you."
She dreamt that Xu Zifan put armor on her and said, "Protect yourself, and don't run out of my sight."
She dreamt that Xu Zifan embraced her and held her hands to cut down the Hundred Ghosts Banner.
She dreamt that Xu Zifan pinched her cheek...
All the evil spirits in Jiang Tianxin's dream disappeared, leaving only warmth. But she suddenly woke up, sat up abruptly, covered her face, and immediately went to look at Xu Zifan.
Xu Zifan slept peacefully, his usual flamboyant and intelligent demeanor and infuriating schemes gone. At this moment, Xu Zifan was like a sunny young man, reminding Jiang Tianxin that he was still a college student, though he had been skipping classes for a long time and had probably been expelled, but he didn't care at all.
It's hard to imagine that someone so capable was once bullied by his uncle's family. Did he become so powerful because he was like her when she was little? He had to become strong to avoid being bullied.
She was doing it to protect her family, while he was doing it to protect himself.
At first, she thought he was just there to cause trouble for her family, but unexpectedly he became her family's great benefactor and her master, leading her into the world of Taoism and teaching her so many things.
When she thought about how Xu Zifan had kept letting her practice and teaching her experience during such an important battle, she felt that becoming his apprentice was the best thing she had ever done in her life.
Then she remembered the dream she had just had!
How could she have such a dream?!
Although those were all true events that happened that day, their simultaneous appearance in her dream without any other background, suddenly filled with pink bubbles, startled her awake. Could she be subconsciously coveting her master?!
Jiang Tianxin rubbed her face and shook her head speechlessly. She must have been too tired, too excited, or too deeply impressed by some of Xu Zifan's actions to dream about these things.
But the feeling of being cared for and protected was so wonderful. Looking at her unharmed hands, she smiled unconsciously. From now on, she would be someone who was loved and cared for. She was also even happier that she had chosen this path when she was young, always protecting and taking care of her family. They should be just as happy as she was now, right? If they were happy, she was happy.
Suddenly, a rooster started crowing outside. Jiang Tianxin got out of bed and went to the window to look. The sun was shining brightly, and the livestock and poultry in the yard had all woken up and started moving around. The old man's magic should have disappeared, and soon someone would discover that the old man's house had burned down.
Jiang Tianxin waited until the old village chief and his wife appeared before going to the bedside to wake her master. Just as she bent down, Xu Zifan opened his eyes, looked at her in surprise, and asked, "What?"
Jiang Tianxin straightened up a little awkwardly. "I was afraid of startling you, so I wanted to wake you up quietly. You woke up at just the right time; they're all up now."
"Oh, then we'll get up too." Of course, his timing was perfect. Shao Hua called him right on cue. What a wicked sense of humor of the system. Why did it have to call him a second before Jiang Tianxin was about to call him?
The two straightened their clothes and went out one after the other. They greeted the old village chief and his wife and the Chen family couple before going to fetch water.
Xu Zifan was still pretending to be Jiang Tianxin's boyfriend, so he naturally had to take good care of her. Seeing that there was only cold water in the yard, he asked Jiang Tianxin to sit on a small stool and wait. He then said to Chen's mother, "Can we boil some hot water now? The well water in the mountains is too cold."
Chen's mother hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, wait a moment and I'll burn it."
"Let me do it, Auntie, you just need to teach me how to light the stove."
Xu Zifan rolled up his sleeves and went to the small stove. He learned from Chen's mother how to light it, and soon a kettle of water boiled. He then diluted it with warm water for Jiang Tianxin to wash up. After that, he made her a bowl of sweet soup. After Chen's mother finished making breakfast, he served her porridge and vegetables. He truly cared about her every move and could be called a devoted boyfriend.
Jiang Tianxin was determined to cooperate fully and didn't give anything away. However, she hadn't been taken care of so meticulously since she was six years old, and she felt a little unaccustomed to it. She also felt a little guilty thinking about her dream that morning.
The old village chief chuckled and gave a thumbs-up, "Young man, you know how to care for people. Your wife is going to be lucky."
Xu Zifan said matter-of-factly, "Xin Xin's friend had such an accident, she's been heartbroken these past few days, of course we have to take good care of her, otherwise she'd be in a terrible state."
The old village chief's wife nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's the right thing to do. Nannan is gone, so she should be buried properly. You've already done your best as friends by coming to send her off. You must live a good life from now on."
Jiang Tianxin nodded slightly, forcing a smile while maintaining her sad expression, "We will."
As soon as she finished speaking, a scream suddenly came from afar. The group immediately ran out of the house and saw that villagers from several neighboring households had also rushed out. They asked each other what had happened, but none of them knew. Seeing that it was coming from the ancestral hall, they quickly grabbed shovels, sticks, and other tools and ran over together.
Xu Zifan and Jiang Tianxin naturally went as well. Halfway there, they saw a man running towards them, stumbling and pale-faced. Upon seeing the old village chief, the man immediately shouted, "Third Uncle is in trouble! His room caught fire, and the house and he's all gone!"
"What?!" The old village chief was shocked and hurriedly led everyone to the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall is divided into two parts. The main hall where the ancestral tablets are enshrined is still intact, but the side rooms next to it where the third uncle lived have all been burned down!
"W-What's going on?!"