An Yi: A Family of Three Goes on a Trip. Qian Xunji, Why Aren't You Smiling?

As soon as An Yi and Bibi Dong stepped through the gates of Spirit City, a brilliant streak of light flashed across the sky.

The light landed, and Qian Daoliu appeared before them with Qian Renxue.

An Yi raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Great Enshrined, you're not here to stop me too, are you?"

Qian Daoliu didn't answer, but his gaze fell on Qian Renxue beside him.

Seeing this, An Yi immediately understood.

But instead of agreeing at once, he turned to look at Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong turned her head away without a word.

An Yi reached out and took her slightly cool hand. "I'll look after the child. She won't bother you. Is that all right?"

Bibi Dong's chest rose and fell slightly. She took a deep breath and said coldly, "Whatever you want."

"All right." An Yi nodded and looked back at Qian Daoliu.

"I might be wandering around out there for half a year or a year this time. If you're worried, Great Enshrined, just come find me in Heaven Dou City."

Qian Daoliu nodded, his expression calm. "Sorry to trouble you with Xue'er."

After entrusting Qian Renxue to An Yi, Qian Daoliu didn't linger for a moment. He turned and departed in a streak of light.

An Yi looked down at Qian Renxue standing beside him and teased, "Your grandfather really is carefree. Isn't he afraid I'll sell you?"

Qian Renxue averted her eyes and called out softly, sounding a little guilty, "Teacher..."

An Yi said no more and held out his left hand.

Qian Renxue froze for a moment, then caught on. She hurried forward and gripped his hand tightly.

An Yi then reached out with his right hand, grabbed Bibi Dong by the wrist, and strode forward with both of them.

A month later.

The three of them traveled at a leisurely pace and finally reached Heaven Dou City.

Throughout the journey, Bibi Dong had hardly ever spoken to Qian Renxue of her own accord.

Qian Renxue didn't dare approach her on her own either. She could only hold An Yi's hand along the way and occasionally exchange a few words with him.

When they made camp at night, Bibi Dong slept alone in a tent.

An Yi wanted to brazenly squeeze in with her, but he couldn't very well leave a little girl like Qian Renxue outside on her own. In the end, he had no choice but to make do sleeping with Qian Renxue.

Over the past month, however, Bibi Dong seemed to have grown accustomed to treating Qian Renxue like thin air.

That was actually quite good already.

For Bibi Dong, ignoring Qian Renxue was far better than giving her a cold look and being unable to restrain her killing intent every time she saw her.

And for Qian Renxue, this was the first time in her life she had spent so long traveling in the same group as her mother.

Although Bibi Dong had ignored her the entire way, she was already content just to watch her from afar.

After arriving in Heaven Dou City, the three found an upscale hotel and checked in.

An Yi booked a large suite with several bedrooms.

Night fell.

Qian Renxue returned to her room. An Yi lingered outside for a while, and only after making sure the little girl had gone to bed did he quietly push open the door to Bibi Dong's bedroom.

Bibi Dong was sitting on the edge of the bed. When she heard him, she didn't even raise her head.

"Get out."

As if he hadn't heard her, An Yi walked straight to the bed, lifted the covers, and slipped inside.

"We haven't seen each other for so long. Did you miss me?"

Bibi Dong glanced at him. "Didn't you just go out?"

"That's different." An Yi wrapped his arms around her without the slightest hesitation.

"Daytime is daytime, and nighttime is nighttime."

Bibi Dong couldn't be bothered with him.

After spending this time together, she had gradually grown used to these little gestures of his.

She knew she couldn't drive him away. If she said more than a few words, he would immediately start dredging up old grievances, accusing her in painstaking detail of how she had "abandoned" him on Sea God Island all those years ago.

So she gave up struggling altogether.

An Yi also knew when to stop and didn't go too far. He simply held her quietly as they slept.

He knew full well that her indulgence of him now stemmed more from her lingering attachment to the happy times they had shared in the past.

In her eyes, he might still be the child who had followed her around back then.

At most, he would use that attachment to act a little shameless. He would never cross her bottom line and truly provoke her.

The cool moonlight streamed through the window onto the bed.

Looking at An Yi lying quietly in her arms, Bibi Dong finally couldn't help asking the question in her heart. "Why did you bring her along?"

An Yi answered as if it were obvious. "As a hostage. With her in our hands, do we need to worry about Qian Daoliu making a move?"

Bibi Dong looked at him expressionlessly. "Speak plainly! What exactly are you trying to do?"

"All right, all right." An Yi smiled helplessly. "I just wanted to provoke Qian Xunji. Look at us now. Don't we look like a family of three?"

Bibi Dong's expression froze. "Get lost!" she said coldly.

An Yi hurriedly tightened his arms around her and leaned close to whisper in her ear, "Do you think Qian Xunji would see it that way?"

The corner of Bibi Dong's mouth twitched violently. "Are you sick?"

An Yi's eyes flickered, but his voice was calm. "Death is over in an instant. For someone like Qian Xunji, if I just twisted his head off, he'd be dead, and that would be the end of it."

"But what if everything he thought he possessed were taken away from him, bit by bit?"

Bibi Dong sneered. "Aren't you afraid it'll backfire?"

An Yi looked somewhat amused. "How could it backfire? The person Qian Daoliu cares about most now is Qian Renxue. As long as she's safe and sound, he can turn a blind eye to a lot of things. You should have seen that too."

"I was all lovey-dovey with you right in front of those two, and now we're even living together like a pair of lovebirds. Does Qian Daoliu look like he cares? He doesn't care at all. All he cares about is Qian Renxue."

After listening to him, Bibi Dong forcibly turned over, putting her back to An Yi. Her voice was muffled. "I don't want to see her."

An Yi sighed, his voice suddenly turning icy. "Then should I go kill her now?"

"I'm going to kill Qian Xunji sooner or later anyway. As his daughter, she'll come looking for revenge eventually. Killing her now would settle a future problem in advance."

As he spoke, An Yi threw back the covers and started to get up.

The next moment, a hand reached out from under the covers and grabbed his arm.

An Yi stopped and looked down.

Bibi Dong didn't turn around or speak.

She neither supported nor opposed him. She simply held tightly to his arm, refusing to let him leave.

Seeing this, An Yi lay back down and buried his head in her embrace again.

"I won't force you, but don't you want revenge on Qian Xunji?"

"I think, for that guy, nothing would be more provoking than watching the three of us enjoy ourselves as one happy family."

Bibi Dong's fingers tightened slightly.

"An Yi..."

"Hm?"

"Could you stop joking about things like that?"

An Yi raised his head and looked at her profile. "I'm not joking."

Bibi Dong turned her head and met his gaze.

The smile faded from An Yi's face. "I know you don't want to see her, and I know there are a lot of hurdles in your heart that you can't get past."

"I won't force you. I just hope you can be a little happier."

"If you don't like it, then forget it."

Bibi Dong looked at him, her voice low. "Leave her out of this."

An Yi buried his head in her embrace again and said in a muffled voice, "All right."

Bibi Dong was silent for a moment. In the end, she didn't push him away. She reached out, gently wrapped her arms around An Yi's head, and closed her eyes.