Before Huang Huai could finish speaking, the waiter immediately gave him a knowing look. "Our honored guest can rest assured. As long as you close the courtyard gate, no one will come to disturb your cultivation unless you summon them!"
The word "cultivation" made Huang Huai's heart stir. He nodded calmly and said, "All right, you may go."
The waiter nodded repeatedly, backing away as he patted his chest. "If our honored guest needs anything, just call for me anytime."
With a bang, Huang Huai shut the courtyard gate and hurried into the study. He found a few books on the shelf, wrapped them in a bundle, and returned to the living room. After closing the door, he listened intently for a while. Only after confirming that no one was around did he focus his thoughts and gaze into the empty space.
Soon, an ancient, unadorned gate slowly took shape in the air. A dozen or so breaths later, Huang Huai picked up the bundle he had prepared and pushed open the gate. In an instant, he disappeared.
In a small courtyard behind Xunzhen Temple on Taihe Mountain, a figure suddenly appeared inside Huang Huai's room. It was Huang Huai, who had just visited another world.
Looking at everything familiar before him, Huang Huai let out a long breath. Nothing put his mind at ease like the Xunzhen Temple where he had lived for so many years.
Once he had relaxed, Huang Huai first went over to the table and picked up the phone he had left there. He unlocked the screen, and the time immediately caught his eye.
It was six ten in the evening. Counting from when he had left that morning, nearly ten hours had passed. He had spent about as long in the other world, too. By that reckoning, time flowed at the same rate in both worlds: however much time passed in one world, the same amount passed in the other.
Though there was no vast difference like a day in heaven and a year on earth, the fact that time passed equally in both worlds still put Huang Huai at ease. He had truly worried that he might spend some time in one world, only to return and find that years, or even decades, had passed.
He checked his call log first and found no missed calls. But when he looked through his messages, he saw that a pinned group chat called "A Loving Family" had more than 99 unread messages. Seeing so many unread messages, Huang Huai grimaced and tapped the group chat. A long string of messages appeared before him.
Yellow Shirt Girl: "Bro, I'm on vacation! I'm on vacation..."
Mom Huang: "Oh, my baby girl is on vacation!"
Yellow Shirt Girl: "Dear Mom, I want to go visit Big Brother..."
Dad Huang: "I have a meeting these next couple of days. Sweetheart, go to Xunzhen Temple with your mom first. I'll come once I'm done!"
Yellow Shirt Girl: "Pfft, Dad, you can go by yourself. Bro, bro, come out and say something! Are you happy to welcome your cutest little sister flying over to see you?"
Yellow Shirt Girl: "Hey, where is everyone? Bro, where are you? Don't play dead, say something!"
Dad Huang: "Hahaha, my daughter's getting impatient!"
Mom Huang: "Sweetheart, stop bombarding your brother. He might not have his phone with him right now!"
Yellow Shirt Girl: "Bro, I've @'d you so many times and you still haven't replied. When you see this, hurry up and comfort me, or I'll get mad!"
As he scrolled through the messages, Huang Huai could almost see the faces of his parents and his younger sister, Huang Shan. A warm feeling welled up inside him, and a smile tugged at his lips.
The alarm in his heart had finally settled, too. He replied to the group, expressing how excited he was and how warmly he welcomed his parents and younger sister coming to Taihe Mountain to visit him.
As soon as he sent the message, it was like he had poked a hornet's nest. The notification chimes rang out, and of course it was his little sister.
Huang Huai replied as he pushed open the door and stepped outside. The setting sun shone down on him.
After glancing at the sky, Huang Huai left the courtyard. He hadn't gone far when he ran into Chen Wei, who was cleaning.
"Brother Chen, why are you so late today?"
Chen Wei, drenched in sweat, looked up at Huang Huai and couldn't help complaining. "I'd like to send the tourists off early, too, but maybe they were cooped up at home for the past couple of years. Now that the restrictions have lifted, they're rushing all over the place like mad. Even our out-of-the-way Xunzhen Temple was almost packed. You should've seen it today—there were so many people burning incense and praying!"
Listening to Chen Wei complain, Huang Huai smiled. "Then you've really had a hard day, Brother Chen!"
Chen Wei waved a hand, then suddenly seemed to remember something. Concern showed in his eyes. "By the way, Xiao Jiu, has your fever gone down? Are you feeling all right? I knew you weren't well and needed rest, so I didn't come to call you for lunch or dinner. But they set some food aside for you in the kitchen. If you're hungry, go eat."
Moved by Chen Wei's concern, Huang Huai—who had already recovered—smiled and said, "I slept for most of the day. The fever's gone, and I feel much better now!"
Chen Wei gave Huang Huai a once-over, his eyes lighting up. "Looks like your fever really has gone down. Your complexion's much better than before. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd taken some powerful tonic!"
Chen Wei had said it without thinking, but Huang Huai heard it differently. He thought of what had happened to him not long ago in the other world. Wasn't the Great River Sect's Seventh Elder's prayer for divine blessings just like a powerful tonic?
As they were talking, a voice called out, "Chen Wei, once you're done here, hurry over to the side hall and clean the incense burners. So many people have been burning incense and praying these past few days that they're full of ash!"
The person walked over at an unhurried pace, giving Chen Wei his instructions as he turned his gaze toward Huang Huai. Who else could it be but the temple's abbot, Great Daoist Master?
After a full day's work, Great Daoist Master had originally planned to visit the courtyard where Huang Huai lived. Chen Wei had told him earlier that Huang Huai had a high fever.
Though Great Daoist Master knew that most people would be fine once they got through a high fever,
he hadn't seen Huang Huai for most of the day. Chen Wei had said Huang Huai was asleep, and with tourists arriving at the temple and work piling up, even Great Daoist Master hadn't been able to spare the time to check on him.
Now that he finally had a free moment, Great Daoist Master naturally wanted to see how Huang Huai was doing. After all, if his illness was too serious, he shouldn't just try to tough it out.
He had thought Huang Huai might still be lying down at his lodgings to rest. He hadn't expected to run into him here, so the first thing Great Daoist Master did when he saw Huang Huai was look at his face.
At a single glance, Great Daoist Master's expression shifted slightly. He immediately stepped forward and grabbed Huang Huai's wrist. As he checked his pulse, he said, "Xiao Jiu, your complexion doesn't look right. Don't tell me that fever damaged you..."
"Eh? This pulse..."
With his hand on Huang Huai's wrist, Great Daoist Master felt the vigorous, powerful beats beneath his fingertips. Even with his many years of experience, he couldn't help looking astonished.
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