An Ardent Pursuer Comes Knocking
Xiao Qingyi hesitated to speak, but in the end, he couldn't hold back and poured out all his grievances.
Not long after Lu Qing'an left the Demon Domain, Xiao Qingyi wasn't the only one searching for traces of him. Xue Tianfei was looking too.
Xue Tianfei was even more persistent than he was, and the two of them had searched together. But after searching for a long time without finding any trace of Lu Qing'an, he gave up.
He knew Lu Qing'an: if he didn't want to be found, they could search all they wanted and still never find him. So Xiao Qingyi lay flat and gave up trying.
But because he had searched for Lu Qing'an with Xue Tianfei for a time, she was actually displeased to see him give up.
She insisted that he keep searching.
Perhaps there was nothing she could do about him, because she eventually stopped forcing him. Instead, she required him to send her a voice transmission every day, reporting whether there was any news of Lu Qing'an.
"Every day at noon, I have to send her a voice transmission right on time. If I miss even one day, I'll be on the receiving end of a critical hit from her wrath."
As he said this, the bitterness on his face grew several times more apparent.
"At first, I thought she wouldn't lay a hand on me. Who would've thought she was truly insane?! I only went a few days without sending her a voice transmission, and she came straight here and beat me up several times! You know I was no match for her to begin with, let alone after my weapon was stolen. She threatened to beat me once for every day I failed to send her a voice transmission and report whether there was any news of you..."
By this point, Lu Qing'an was certain this was exactly the sort of thing Xue Tianfei would do.
This crazy woman is still as crazy as ever...
Back when he became invincible, he had grown thoroughly tired of all the fighting and killing. He had wanted to find a woman he liked, marry her, have children, and live a steady, peaceful life.
Xue Tianfei was beautiful, even a little more so than Xu Qingying. Her icy bearing in particular made her the dream lover of many top experts in the Demon Domain.
But he simply couldn't see any hope of a peaceful life with Xue Tianfei, so in the end, he hadn't accepted her pursuit.
After all, what good wife suited to a settled life would want to beat someone up because their clothes weren't symmetrical on both sides...?
"I see. Back then, you kept urging me to get together with her. Did she threaten and bribe you too?" Lu Qing'an asked, shooting Xiao Qingyi a sideways glance.
"Nothing of the sort..."
Xiao Qingyi turned his head and whistled.
Lu Qing'an: "..."
"Send her a voice transmission and ask her to come here."
"All right. I won't have to repeat that task every day anymore." Xiao Qingyi had wanted to send Xue Tianfei a voice transmission yesterday, but Lu Qing'an hadn't seemed to want to see her. Afraid that making the decision on his own would cause Lu Qing'an to leave at once, he had held back.
Now that Lu Qing'an had requested it himself, the matter was settled.
At noon, mealtime had just arrived.
At that moment, the sky above the courtyard was clear for ten thousand miles.
The blazing sun scorched the earth.
Cicadas shrilled themselves hoarse throughout the woods, the leaves drooped listlessly, and even the wind was too lazy to stir.
Yet in that unbearable heat, the sky suddenly changed color.
A dark cloud drifting in from who knew where spread rapidly, blotting out the scorching sun. Then a bone-chilling cold swept in like a tide.
The temperature plummeted, as though midsummer had plunged into the depths of winter in an instant.
"Daddy! That's so strange! It suddenly started snowing outside!" Lu Miaomiao pointed out the window, excited.
The once-clear blue sky was covered by leaden clouds. Fine snowflakes began to fall, just a few scattered flakes at first, but in the blink of an eye they became a flurry of goose-feather snow, drifting down upon the earth.
Lu Zixuan and Sun Minzi were stunned too.
This sudden change in the weather was truly marvelous!
Lu Qing'an and Xiao Qingyi, however, remained perfectly calm.
They knew the change was due to Xue Tianfei's arrival.
Out in the sky, amid the swirling snow, a figure in white drifted gracefully down from the horizon.
She was tall and slender, her plain white dress dancing lightly in the wind, pure as snow yet cold as ice.
Her long silver-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall, flying freely in the wind and snow. Every strand seemed to contain the power of extreme cold.
Her skin was fairer than snow, almost translucent, and her delicate features held a majesty that brooked no disrespect.
Her ice-blue eyes were deep and cold, making people afraid to meet her gaze.
Her lips were extremely pale and pressed slightly together, revealing a hint of unfeeling indifference.
She alighted lightly before the courtyard, her toes never touching the ground, as though the earth would dirty her feet if she touched it.
Wind and snow swirled around her, not daring to approach her body. Even the forces of nature bowed before her.
"Xiao Qingyi, you said you had an important matter to discuss. Have you learned anything about him?"
Xue Tianfei didn't enter the house, seemingly full of disdain for it.
It might dirty her clothes.
"Won't you come in and sit for a while?"
Just then, a middle-aged man's voice rang out from inside the house.
The moment Xue Tianfei heard the voice that appeared many times in her dreams every day, her expression froze.
In a flash, she appeared inside the house.
When she looked at the person who had spoken, that single glance was like ten thousand years.
"You! You wretch! Where have you been all these years?!"
Her face, previously cold as frost and utterly unchanging, seemed to melt. It showed excitement and joy, as well as resentment and a trace of anger.
With all those emotions intertwined, her eyes reddened a little.
Lu Qing'an: "Where I went is none of your business."
"It isn't my business, but... but couldn't you have at least told me? Do you know how hard it was for me to search for you all these years?"
Xue Tianfei was full of grievance.
Xiao Qingyi shook his head as he watched Xue Tianfei act like a meek young woman.
Only that fellow Lu Qing'an can handle this woman!
And only in front of Lu Qing'an did she become a tender young lady.
"Sit down and talk, or are you the same as before, with all those bad habits unchanged?" Lu Qing'an asked.
Xue Tianfei glanced at the chair Lu Qing'an was sitting on. Her red lips twitched, but she still steeled herself and gritted her teeth.
"No, I've changed quite a lot..."
Her feet touched the floor, and her body trembled, but she endured it and moved closer to Lu Qing'an.
Then she noticed that a very young woman was already sitting beside him.
"Little sister, move over."
She frowned.
Who was this girl of fourteen or fifteen?
Why was she sitting beside him?
After hearing Xue Tianfei's conversation with Lu Qing'an, Lu Zixuan had realized something.
There's something off about this woman!
"Can't you sit over there?" Lu Qing'an pointed to the empty seat across from him.
"It's just that I haven't seen you in so long, and I wanted to talk with you a little more..." Xue Tianfei's manner toward Lu Qing'an was very gentle, even a little humble.
"Auntie, why don't you take my seat?" Just then, a soft, sweet voice rang out.
The speaker was Lu Miaomiao, who was sitting on Lu Qing'an's left.
Xue Tianfei looked at Lu Miaomiao.
Auntie?
Lu Qing'an glanced at his youngest daughter. He hadn't expected her to offer Xue Tianfei her seat.
"But I have one request. It looks like you can freeze things, so could you help me turn that watermelon outside into an iced watermelon?" Lu Miaomiao blinked her big eyes, which shone with anticipation.
She had noticed that the moment Xue Tianfei's feet touched the floor, the floor had actually frozen over!
Cold, sweet things are so delicious!
"Uh, sure," Xue Tianfei said.
"Yay! Then come sit here! I can just sit on Daddy's lap." Lu Miaomiao smiled.
"Daddy?!" Xue Tianfei's eyes went wide.
This is your daughter???!!!