Thinking of the old, broken, and cramped place where she used to live, Gu Xinyue felt as though she were dreaming—it all felt somewhat unreal.
Song Huaying, standing beside her, felt much the same.
Though she had once been the young lady of a prominent family and had lived in grand residences since childhood, those were grand mansions in the mortal realm, which were completely different from the spacious estates in the world of cultivation.
***
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
24. Door-to-Door Investigation
"Ying'er, Yue'er, it's still not too late. Let's go out together and stroll through the market to buy some everyday household supplies."
After leading his wives on a tour around the house, Chen An said to them.
The luggage they brought from the cheap district had all been blown to pieces on the road, so he needed to go buy replacements.
Song Huaying looked down at her seven-month pregnant belly and couldn't help asking with some worry:
"Husband, won't it be a bit unsafe to go out this late at night?"
"The security in the core district is much better than in the cheap district. Ying'er doesn't need to worry too much."
"Then husband, let's hurry and set off!"
Song Huaying's attitude underwent a complete one-eighty turn, eager to go out and take a look around the market.
Back when they lived in the cheap district, because it was unsafe outside, she had never been allowed to go out and had been practically cooped up at home.
Now that she had the chance to go out, her heart was filled with joy and excitement.
Gu Xinyue, standing beside her, was also full of anticipation. She had often heard people talk about how bustling the market in the core district was and had always wanted to go experience it for herself.
Soon, the three of them set out for the market.
Upon arriving at the market, both women were struck dumb by the bustling scene before them.
Everything they saw seemed novel to them.
Whatever they liked that wasn't too expensive, Chen An bought without a moment's hesitation and gifted to them.
It was like this all the way, and the affection between the husband and wives deepened considerably.
Passing by a trading firm called the All-Treasure Tower, Chen An led his wives inside.
Inside were pills, cultivation techniques, and weapons—a dazzling array of goods selling everything, truly living up to the name All-Treasure Tower.
Chen An was rather interested in cultivation techniques.
He walked over to the shopkeeper and lowered his voice slightly to ask, "Boss, do you have any cultivation techniques here that can be practiced together with a dao companion?"
Hearing this, the wives beside him instantly blushed and lowered their heads, feeling extremely embarrassed.
The shopkeeper was long accustomed to such scenes. Out of consideration for his customers' privacy, he also lowered his voice and replied, "Then you've come to the right place, fellow daoist. I have plenty of everything, but I especially have an abundance of these cultivation techniques."
With that, he led Chen An into a small private compartment in the back.
"If fellow daoist hasn't practiced this type of technique before, then this volume of *Mandarin Ducks Flying Together* would be quite suitable. It's easy to master, reasonably priced, and once you've mastered it, taking on a few more dao companions will be a breeze."
"This... how much does it cost?"
"Small profits and quick turnover, only 10 middle-grade spirit stones."
"Let me think about it."
With that, Chen An led his wives and left.
He would buy this *Mandarin Ducks Flying Together*, but not right now.
He would wait until he became a Tier 2 Alchemist and his income increased significantly.
After all, 10 middle-grade spirit stones were equivalent to 1,000 low-grade spirit stones, and he simply didn't have the money to buy it right now.
After strolling around a bit longer and buying all the necessary daily supplies, the three of them soon embarked on the journey home.
As they neared their front door, Chen An saw their beautiful neighbor stepping out of her house.
As they met face-to-face, Chen An took the initiative to greet her: "Fellow daoist, we're neighbors from now on. Please look out for us."
"Hmph."
The beautiful woman sneered outright and shot him a side-eye.
It was a pity she was so charming that the side-eye carried no killing intent whatsoever, and instead added a touch of allure.
Paying Chen An no mind, Wen Zhiyun turned toward his wives and introduced herself with a full smile:
"I live right next door to you two. My surname is Wen, given name Zhiyun. If you don't mind, little sisters can call me Sister Wen from now on."
The two wives were confused and didn't immediately reply to the beautiful woman; instead, they looked toward their husband.
Only after receiving a consenting look from their husband did they introduce themselves:
"Sister Wen, my surname is Song, given name Huaying."
"Sister Wen, my surname is Gu, given name Xinyue."
"What lovely names you two have. I have some business to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave first. Feel free to come over and play whenever you have free time."
With that, Wen Zhiyun walked away with a swaying, graceful gait, leaving behind only an evocative silhouette.
Chen An felt puzzled in his heart.
This Fellow Daoist Wen had never given him a good look, yet just now she was so warm toward his two wives. Could it be that her sexual orientation was a bit off?
Unable to figure it out, he couldn't be bothered to think about it further.
Soon, Chen An wrapped his arms around his wives and walked into the house to arrange their newly bought items.
After spending over an hour setting everything up, he went to bathe as usual, and then went to bed to rest with his wives.
One in his left arm, one in his right embrace.
A house, wives, and a promising future.
Once Song Huaying fell asleep, Chen An took Gu Xinyue to another room and let her help him strengthen his divine sense.
[You communed with your wife Gu Xinyue through the night, striving for the continuation of your bloodline, divine sense strength +1.]
[Divine sense strength +1]
[Divine sense strength +1]
[...]
[You cast the spell technique Golden Finger on your wife Gu Xinyue, Golden Finger proficiency +1.]
...
The next day, Chen An got up early and headed out.
He had originally planned to brew pills, but discovered there were no materials left at home—he had forgotten to buy them while wandering through the market last night.
*Creak—*
Pushing open the courtyard gate, he set off for the market to buy ingredients for pill-making.
Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw their next-door neighbor, Wen Zhiyun, sitting in front of her house on a chair. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes and was dozing off.
Chen An couldn't understand what she was up to, but he had no desire to ask.
After all, he was an alchemist with a house and wives; why should he humiliate himself by sucking up to someone who gave him the cold shoulder?
Without overthinking it, he simply stepped right past Wen Zhiyun without intentionally softening his footsteps.
At this movement, the dozing Wen Zhiyun snapped awake.
Seeing Chen An right in front of her, she immediately wore an expression of deep dissatisfaction and snapped:
"Stop right there!"
"What is it?"
Chen An stopped in his tracks and looked at Wen Zhiyun with a baffled expression.
Wen Zhiyun said with palpable resentment: "You have the nerve to ask what is it? The two of you went at it the entire night! Do you even let people sleep?!"
"?"
Chen An didn't react for a moment.
Wen Zhiyun continued, her voice full of grievance:
"Since ancient times, which Golden Core or Nascent Soul grand expert isn't an ascetic cultivator?"
"A cultivator like you, who sinks into a bed of luxury every single day and can't extricate yourself, will probably never achieve Foundation Establishment even if you're given five hundred years!"
"I don't want to hear those vulgar noises again tonight. I advise you to behave yourself!"
With that, Wen Zhiyun glared fiercely at Chen An, picked up her chair, retreated back into her house, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Chen An was utterly speechless. He finally understood what Wen Zhiyun was complaining about—turns out she had been disturbed by his high-intensity communion with Gu Xinyue last night!
Wait, what? With a whole house and multiple walls separating them, that could disturb her sleep too?
Wasn't she just being way too sensitive? Wasn't this entirely her own problem?
Just as Manager Zhang had said before, this female neighbor was indeed a very difficult person to get along with.
Most likely, her menopause had arrived, and she was losing her mind every single day.
Thinking about this, Chen An decided to continue his deep communion with Gu Xinyue for the entire night tonight, just to keep Wen Zhiyun from getting a peaceful sleep.
Let her hear it but not taste it, driving her crazy with craving.
Let's see if she dares to roll her eyes at him blindly next time.
Arriving at the market, Chen An spent 10 low-grade spirit stones to buy a full set of materials for brewing Passion-Severing Pills.
Back home, he holed up in the pill-room practically all day long to brew pills.
By the afternoon, knocking sounded at the door one after another.
His wives didn't dare open it and called Chen An out from the pill-room.
When Chen An went out to check, he discovered it was neighboring cultivators dropping by for a visit, wishing to make the acquaintance of their new neighbor.
In all, eight cultivators came.
Five were in the late stage of Qi Condensation.
Three were in the middle stage of Qi Condensation.
Those three middle-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, much like Chen An, possessed cultivation bases that weren't particularly high, yet managed to survive in the core district by virtue of an exceptional craft.
One was a talisman master, one was an artifact refiner, and the third was an alchemist.
That alchemist was a female cultivator whose alchemy realm was Rank 1 Advanced. Unfortunately, her appearance was quite ordinary, leaving Chen An with zero romantic interest in her.
Of course, she had no interest in Chen An either, feeling his cultivation base was too low and his alchemy realm not high enough to be worthy of her.
After entertaining the last visiting neighbor, Chen An closed the courtyard gate and turned back toward the pill-room, intending to resume his diligent pill-making.
No help for it—the rent in the core district was far too expensive, so he had to work hard at pill-making to earn money.
Perhaps once he became a Tier 2 Alchemist in the future, he wouldn't have to work quite so hard.
An hour of pill-making each day would probably earn enough spirit stones to cover the rent.
Still, becoming a Tier 2 Alchemist was a bit of a daydream for now.
For the present, it was much more practical to look forward to the baby in his young wife's belly being born soon, and then having his young wife help him ascend to a Rank 1 Advanced Alchemist.
Over the next few days, Chen An was either brewing pills or communing with Gu Xinyue.
Sometimes Song Huaying wanted to join in, but she was refused by him every time.
It wasn't until Song Huaying uttered the phrase "All roads lead to the immortal path" that he reluctantly agreed to commune with her.
In a flash, ten days passed.
On this day, Chen An headed out to the market to sell the Passion-Severing Pills he had brewed over the past few days.
Just as he stepped out of his courtyard, however, his path was blocked by several Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators approaching from ahead.
These Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators had very high cultivation bases.
All of them were in the late stage of Qi Condensation.
The one leading them possessed an even higher cultivation base—all the way at the Qi Condensation 8th Layer.
"Alchemist Chen, that manager from the cheap district where you used to live, Manager Zhang—Zhang Heshan—has been missing for a full fourteen days now. According to our investigation, this matter seems to have an inextricable connection to you."
***
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
25. The Shut-In Neighbor
"Manager Zhang is missing?"
Hearing this news, Chen An couldn't help frowning slightly, his face displaying a hint of astonishment.
His expression wasn't forced; it looked completely natural.
The leading Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivator, a middle-aged man in white, kept observing Chen An's facial expression and found nothing unusual.
To probe further, he said:
"According to our investigation results, the last time Manager Zhang appeared in public was when he boarded the carriage you used to move out of the cheap district."
Without the slightest hesitation, Chen An replied with a truthful expression: "Indeed, such a thing happened."
"That day I was moving to the core district, and because I had a pregnant mortal wife traveling with me, I specially bought a carriage for the trip."
"Considering that the cheap district had been very unsafe recently and I was worried about encountering danger on the road, the afternoon before departure I sought out Manager Zhang and paid him to provide an escort."
"The next day, after Manager Zhang escorted us to the gates of the core district, he turned back to the cheap district by himself. Since then, we have never seen him again."
This explanation was ninety percent truth and ten percent falsehood.
Hearing this, the Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators sensed nothing unusual and instantly dismissed Chen An as a suspect.
In truth, they hadn't really suspected Chen An from the very beginning; this was merely a routine investigation.
First, Chen An had no motive for murder.
Second, Chen An's cultivation base was too low; he simply lacked the capability to kill Manager Zhang.
There really was nothing suspicious about him.
They were more inclined to believe that Manager Zhang's disappearance might be related to Black Iron Manor.
Because Manager Ouyang—the mole from Black Iron Manor whom they had been secretly tailoring—had coincidentally gone missing on that exact same day as well.
They suspected Manager Zhang was also a Black Iron Manor mole who must have received advance word and evacuated alongside Manager Ouyang.
In any case, Manager Zhang's disappearance most likely had an inseparable connection to Manager Ouyang.
Thus, after asking Chen An a few simple questions, the Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators took their leave.
As they walked away, the leading white-robed cultivator muttered with some reluctance:
"Sigh, I wanted to cast a long line to catch a big fish, using Ouyang Feng to root out all the other Black Iron Manor moles in one fell swoop. And now look—all our efforts are wasted at the very last step."
Hearing this, the men beside him couldn't help shaking their heads, sharing the same deep reluctance.
"Sigh!"
The white-robed cultivator sighed once more, then made a final decision: "Forget it. Let's close the net starting tonight and round up all the known Black Iron Manor moles within the gang!"
***
On the other side.
Watching the retreating figures of the Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators in the distance, Chen An, standing at his courtyard gate, couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.
That had been a close call just now.
Fortunately, these people's investigative methods were subpar.
If this were back in his past life, anyone who had gone through nine years of compulsory education could easily deduce through a routine investigation that he had just been lying.
After all, the moving carriage had been blown up, and all the luggage inside had vanished—that was a major suspicious point.
"Perhaps it's not that they're foolish, but rather that they never viewed me as a suspect in the first place. My cultivation base is simply too low, after all."
Chen An inwardly mocked himself.
Then he turned and walked back into the house, holing up in the pill-room to diligently brew pills as he did every other day.
No help for it, because he was desperately short on money right now.
Not only did he have to pay a monthly rent of 100 low-grade spirit stones, but he also had to save up to buy *Mandarin Ducks Flying Together*, which cost a staggering 1,000 low-grade spirit stones.
He had to be industrious.
Of course, while being industrious, he also made sure to properly reward himself.
Finding Gu Xinyue for their daily communion.
Finding Song Huaying to explore different paths to immortality.
His days were fulfilling and carefree.
In the blink of an eye, over half a month passed.
Little wife Song Huaying's belly was growing larger by the day.
Seeing this, Chen An reduced his pill-making time a bit to spend more time accompanying her, frequently taking her for walks in the courtyard and chatting with her about the baby.
[Affection between husband and wives +1+1+1+1+1...]
That night, Song Huaying lay in bed resting while Chen An sat beside her, telling her stories to help her fall asleep.
They were all love stories from his past life.
For instance, *The Story of the Western Wing*, *The Butterfly Lovers*, *The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl*, *Madame White Snake*, *Chang'e Flies to the Moon*, *Peacocks Fly Southeast*, and so on.
Song Huaying listened spellbound, unable to get enough.
[You patiently told bedtime romance stories to your wife Song Huaying, affection between husband and wives +1.]
"Alright, that's enough for tonight. I'll continue the story for you tomorrow night. Ying'er, get some early rest."
Seeing that the time was right, Chen An urged Song Huaying to rest.
Song Huaying was right in the middle of her addiction, so she immediately hugged his arm and acted spoiled:
"Husband, I want to know if Xu Xian and Lady White ended up together in the end. Just tell me a little more, otherwise I won't be able to fall asleep."
Looking at his young wife acting this way, Chen An couldn't help remembering himself in his past life, often staying up all night reading web novels.
Crunched up inside his quilt in a dim student dorm, he would check how many hours of sleep he had left while thinking to himself: *I'll just read for another half hour and then sleep.*
As a result, by the time he finished reading, dawn had broken.
Therefore, he knew very well that if he kept telling the story, his young wife would endlessly act spoiled and demand to hear what happened next until dawn.
To nip this situation in the bud, Chen An chose to give her the ending all at once, spinning a happy ending tailored to her tastes.
He claimed that Fahai had been moved by the love between Xu Xian and Lady White, and chose to grant their wish, letting them stay together for a lifetime with children and grandchildren filling the hall. The end.
Song Huaying was very satisfied with this ending.
Yet after hearing it, she still didn't obediently go to sleep.
Instead, she acted coquettishly again:
"Husband, I'm hungry. I want a midnight snack~"
"Ying'er, you're pushing your luck now."
"But husband, I really am so hungry."
"Fine, then I'll go to the kitchen and make you something, but you have to sleep right after you eat."
"Husband is the best!"
"What do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat husband~"
Song Huaying blinked her watery, beautiful eyes and looked at Chen An with a sly smile.
Chen An flicked her forehead and said, "You little rascal, read fewer of those books from now on."
"But husband clearly loves it."
"One thing is one thing."
"I don't care, I just want to eat~"
[...]
[You communed with your wife Song Huaying through the night, exploring different paths to immortality, affection between husband and wives +1.]
Early the next morning.
Chen An stepped out of Song Huaying's room.
He intended to wash up, eat breakfast personally prepared by Gu Xinyue, and then go brew pills.
However, after finishing breakfast, Gu Xinyue refused to let him leave.
"Husband, are you sleepy?"
"What is it?"
Chen An was asked somewhat out of the blue.
Gu Xinyue bit her lower lip and said, "Nothing, I just want to know if husband is sleepy."
"Your husband just woke up, of course I'm not sleepy."
"Husband, you are sleepy."
"?"
"You're sleepy."
Gu Xinyue's expression was somewhat stubborn.
Chen An understood.
Turns out this icy little concubine wanted him to go back to bed and sleep with her.
She probably felt a sense of imbalance in her heart because he had spent the entire night sleeping over at Song Huaying's place last night.
She wanted to sleep it back during the morning.
Figuring this out, Chen An couldn't help laughing and crying.
Seeing her husband unmoved, Gu Xinyue grew somewhat anxious and gave him another round of frantic hints:
"Husband, you're sleepy."
"Yes, yes, yes, your husband is very sleepy. Let's go, Yue'er, accompany your husband for a morning nap."
"Mn."
An incense stick of time later.
[You engaged in deep communion with your wife Gu Xinyue, striving for the continuation of your bloodline, divine sense strength +1.]
*Creak—*
Chen An walked out of Gu Xinyue's room looking refreshed and invigorated.
He had originally intended to go brew pills.
But after tossing and turning from last night until now, he really didn't want any further consumption of his energy.