Childhood Sweethearts? This Trip Wasn't in Vain!

In the living room, Du Qionghua and Liu Xin watched as the two little ones were tugged and pulled into the bedroom.

They exchanged a smile and began their intimate chat.

Meanwhile, inside Yu Qingmeng's room, Chen Yan was facing one of the most severe challenges since his transmigration.

"Brother Xiao Yan," Yu Qingmeng blinked her clear, bright eyes and solemnly announced in a soft, milky voice, "let's play hide-and-seek!"

"You're five months older than me, I'm not your brother..." Chen Yan attempted to reason.

But seeing her little mouth pout and her eyes quickly well up with tears, a look that screamed "I'll cry if you don't agree," he surrendered immediately.

What was he thinking, trying to reason with a little brat? He must have lost his mind.

"Fine, fine. Go hide, I'll count to one hundred, and then I'll come find you."

Yu Qingmeng listened, looking dazed and confused, but she caught the keywords "hide" and "find you."

She immediately turned around happily and trotted away to hide.

Chen Yan covered his eyes symbolically and began to count slowly, taking the opportunity to look around the bedroom.

It was a standard pink princess room, but also... quite wild.

The walls were crisscrossed with crayon and watercolor marks, with abstract lines and blocks of color filling his entire field of vision, declaring the "artistic talent" of the room's owner.

Chen Yan's lips curled; she really was a little Devil King.

Back on Blue Star in his past life, if any child dared to be this mischievous, their bottom would have been blooming with welts long ago.

A thought crossed his mind, and his gaze landed on a paintbrush resting on the desk.

An idea popped up.

He walked over to the desk, stood on his tiptoes, and grabbed the paint-stained brush.

Quietly, on a spot on the wall that was still relatively clean, he casually sketched the outline of a small bird.

Of course, it was only a small bird in Chen Yan's own estimation.

"Hmm..."

"I didn't expect... I actually have quite the talent for painting!"

Chen Yan began to feel rather smug.

[Congratulations: You have completed a painting, triggering a new skill—Painting.]

[Train hard to increase your Painting progress. Once progress reaches its maximum, you can advance to the next sequence.]

[Sequence of Advancement: Painting → Image Projection Scroll → Myriad Image Painting Heart → ???]

[Current Painting Progress: 1/1000]

[Painting]: Enhances observation and hand-eye coordination.

[Image Projection Scroll]: Draw the void into reality, draw spirits into motion, draw boundaries into prisons.

[Myriad Image Painting Heart]: Depict the origin, define the laws.

"Huh?"

Chen Yan froze, clutching the paintbrush.

He just tried it on a whim; it actually worked?

He couldn't tell if his Innate Dao Body was too heaven-defying or if this system was just too absurd.

"Still, these skill descriptions are a bit abstract..."

Regardless, triggering a new skill was a good thing.

Chen Yan cast these thoughts to the back of his mind.

Once he reached one hundred, Chen Yan began his "search."

He intentionally made a lot of noise, pacing around the room while muttering loudly:

"Where have you hidden?"

"Are you under the bed?"

He peeked under the bed, but it was completely empty.

"Are you in the wardrobe?"

He pulled open the wardrobe door, finding only a few cute little dresses inside.

By playing along so obviously, he dragged the game out for three whole minutes.

Finally, behind the curtains, he discovered a figure with her little bottom stuck out, convinced she was hidden perfectly.

"Found you!"

Yu Qingmeng was "caught" red-handed, but far from being disappointed, she laughed "ho-ho" with delight and rolled around on the floor.

If you encounter advertisements asking "Are you a True Person?", ignore them and close the window; do not scan any QR codes or send text messages!

Chen Yan looked at her, speechless.

For such a perfectly sculpted, pretty little girl, how could her laughter sound like a highway-robbing bandit...

In the living room, Du Qionghua and Liu Xin heard the laughter coming from the bedroom, and both of their faces bloomed with gratified smiles.

"It looks like Xiao Meng really likes Xiao Yan," Liu Xin sighed.

"Indeed, the two children hit it off," Du Qionghua said, taking a sip of tea. "Speaking of which, Xinxin, do you remember the pact we made back in high school?"

Liu Xin was startled, then immediately laughed: "Of course I remember."

"We agreed that if we had children of the same gender, they would be best brothers or sisters for life..."

Du Qionghua finished the thought: "And if they were of opposite genders, we would arrange a marriage for them."

The two exchanged a look, their smiles filled with hidden meaning.

Chen Yan naturally had no idea that he had already been "reserved" by two unscrupulous mothers.

Even if he did know, he would only righteously declare that he couldn't bring himself to make a move on such a young little girl.

This was a matter of principle!

As for when she grew up?

That would be a different story.

After one round, Yu Qingmeng was clearly not finished yet.

She leaned in close to Chen Yan, poked his arm with her finger, and then excitedly ran to the wall, imitating Chen Yan's earlier posture by burying her face against the wall to start counting.

At the same time, she mumbled incoherently:

"One... seven... five..."

Seeing that Chen Yan made no response, Yu Qingmeng ran back over and tugged at his clothes, acting spoiled.

"Play... let's play!"

"You mean... it's my turn to hide?" Chen Yan guessed.

"Mm-hmm!"

Looking at Yu Qingmeng's expectant little face, the words of refusal died on his lips.

Fine, he would just treat it as entertaining a client.

To end this childish game as quickly as possible, Chen Yan chose the simplest and most direct hiding spot—behind the door.

His small body stood behind the door, almost perfectly concealed.

However, the moment he stood still, the system's notification sound rang out once again.

[Congratulations: You have learned Hide-and-Seek, triggering a new skill—Hide-and-Seek.]

[Train hard to increase your Hide-and-Seek progress. Once the progress reaches its maximum value, you can advance to the next sequence.]

[Sequence Advancement: Hide-and-Seek → Shadow Concealment → Presence Erasure → Embodying Nothingness]

[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 1/1000]

[Shadow Concealment]: Conceals aura and cultivation, mimics the environment.

[Presence Erasure]: Causes others to ignore your existence; your karma becomes difficult to track or divine.

[Embodying Nothingness]: Absolute concealment, immune to all techniques!

Chen Yan's eyes lit up instantly.

Shadow Concealment!

Presence Erasure!

Weren't these the god-tier survival skills he had been dreaming of?

With these, what was there to fear from being sliced up for research in the future!

The path to low-profile development was looking bright!

While he was feeling excited, Yu Qingmeng had already finished counting her jumbled set of numbers, turned around, and began searching for him in the room.

She first ran to look under the bed, then pulled open the closet door, and finally even crawled into her toy box to rummage around, but she never once looked behind the door.

Chen Yan stood behind the door, feeling a bit bored.

He looked at the little bird he had just drawn on the wall, his hands itching to add more.

He picked up the paintbrush again and added a few clouds to the wall behind the door.

The moment he set the brush down:

[Congratulations: You have learned Dual-Mindedness, triggering a new skill—Dual-Mindedness.]

Chen Yan: "???"

"This trip was definitely worth it!"

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