Four Eyes suddenly sprang up from the rocking chair, his movements so swift they were nothing like those of a retired old man.
He circled Lin Yu twice, his eyes wide, clicking his tongue in amazement. "Good lad, it really is you! Amazing, truly amazing!"
Four Eyes compared Lin Yu's height, and instead of pinching his cheek, she pinched Lin Yu's arm instead. "You've grown taller and stronger."
"You really became an immortal? What's that place like at Guanjiangkou? Is it Earth Immortal, with spiritual energy so dense it's practically dripping with water? Does the True Lord really have three eyes? Is he fierce? Did he make things difficult for you?"
He bombarded me with a barrage of questions, his excitement making him dance with joy, a far cry from his lazy demeanor while sunbathing.
Lin Yu was both amused and exasperated, and quickly helped his overly excited martial uncle up. "Martial Uncle, please slow down."
Regarding the question about the Four Eyes, Lin Yu answered only what he could, but as for the True Lord's specific appearance and temperament, he didn't say much and could only gloss over it.
"Great! Great! Now I can brag to others that I have a celestial background." Four Eyes patted Lin Yu's shoulder hard, laughing heartily, but his eyes were a little moist.
"Back then, when you were taken away by that guy, we were worried for a long time, afraid that you would be wronged or... not come back."
At this moment, Chin Hok, who had heard the commotion, also came out from a bamboo hut next to him, holding a small flower shovel in his hand, obviously having been tending to the flowers and plants.
"Nephew Lin? When did you return?"
He was taken aback when he saw Lin Yu, then a delighted smile spread across his face.
"I just got back not long ago. I stayed at Maoshan for a while and came here to pay my respects to my two senior uncles," Lin Yu said with a smile.
Uncle Chin Hok was also a bit older than I remembered, but he was still vigorous and had a peaceful aura, which was completely different from Uncle Simu's Four Eyes, and he seemed more indifferent.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!" Chin Hok nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with relief.
"Come in and sit down! Jia Le! Qingqing! Come out and see who's here!"
Jia Le and Qingqing came out of the house upon hearing the noise, followed by a three- or four-year-old boy with a chubby face, who tugged at Jia Le's trouser leg and curiously looked at Lin Yu.
"Brother Jia Le, Sister Qingqing."
Lin Yu's gaze fell on the little boy. "This is..."
When Lin Yu noticed the way Qingqing looked at her senior brother, he realized that Lin Yu had finally succeeded in winning Qingqing Jia Le.
That child must also be the result of their union.
"My son, Huzi," Jia Le said with a simple smile when he heard Lin Yu's question, and pushed his son forward a little.
"Huzi, call him Uncle-Master!"
"Hello, Uncle-Master!" Huzi called out cheerfully, not at all shy, his big, dark eyes staring curiously at Lin Yu.
"Huzi is so good." Lin Yu was also charmed by Huzi's adorable clumsiness. He thought for a moment, then conjured up a Spirit Jade with a flick of his wrist.
This is a small protective gadget he casually crafted in his spare time. It's not very useful, but it can ward off evil spirits, calm the mind, and nourish the body.
Although it was just a casual trinket to him, it was still an item belonging to an immortal.
"Nice to meet you. I don't have anything special, so here, take this and wear it for fun."
Not to mention that he had also inscribed a peace Heaven-Reaching Talisman on it using the Heavenly Talisman.
As soon as the Spirit Jade appeared, a gentle and refreshing aura emanated from it.
Four Eyes and Chin Hok's eyes lit up; they were both connoisseurs and could naturally tell that this jade was extraordinary.
Such a treasure is rarely seen even in the world today.
Jia Le and Qingqing quickly declined, saying that the child was too young to accept such an expensive gift.
"Take it, it's nothing special, just to keep the child safe." Lin Yu placed the Spirit Jade into Huzi's hand.
Then everyone went inside to talk.
As I entered the house, I happened to run into Master Yixiu, who was chanting sutras.
Several people gathered together, laughing and chatting happily.
Four Eyes must have seen Lin Yu, because he became more talkative and started recounting his experiences over the past few years.
He habitually complained that perhaps after a lifetime of driving corpses and subduing demons, suddenly stopping was really hard to get used to.
Only when he has an old monk to bicker with, or Chin Hok to play chess with, can he relieve his boredom.
Lin Yu listened quietly as Four Eyes spoke freely, Chin Hok also told Four Eyes jokes.
He said, "With my senior brother's restless nature, he even secretly went out to town to help people with feng shui, and was almost mistaken for an old swindler and chased away with a broom."
After staying at Four Eyes for a few days, Lin Yu also set off to leave.
"Sigh, all good things must come to an end." Four Eyes sighed as he entered the empty room that day; life had returned to normal.
Leaving the Four Eyes Dojo, Lin Yu felt an even greater sense of fulfillment from returning home.
His next destination was southern Southern Border.
He wondered what had become of that Gu Dao girl from back then. He remembered that before he left, he had asked the Ninth Palace to take good care of her.
Speaking of which, Lin Yu remembered that he still owed the Ninth Palace a debt of karma.
More than a decade has passed; for an ordinary person, that's already a significant portion of their life.
Upon arriving outside the gates of Nine Palaces, the scene was different from when he left years ago.
The mountains and rivers have shifted, and the entrance to the Ninth Palace has now become a cliff.
Unlike before, Lin Yu did not barge in directly.
His Divine Sense pierced through the restrictions of the secret realm and precisely located the elderly Bai Shan.
"Senior, an old friend has come to visit. I apologize for disturbing you."
Bai Shan, who was resting with his eyes closed in the forbidden area, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashing in his cloudy old eyes.
What alarmed him even more was that the sound could ignore the layers of restrictions and spatial barriers of the Nine Palaces Secret Realm and accurately enter his forbidden area as a Supreme Elder.
Such methods, and that familiar voice, stirred up his memories.
That was the same boy from over a decade ago, with similar extraordinary abilities.
"Is it Brother Lin?" Bai Shan suddenly stood up, straightened his robes, and looked out of the Gu Realm.
Lin Yu's voice was calm, with a hint of a smile, as it entered Bai Shan's mind. "It is indeed this junior. Senior, it has been many years since we last met. How have you been?"
As soon as he finished speaking, ripples spread across the space at the entrance to the forbidden area, and a figure dressed in a green robe quietly appeared—it was Lin Yu.
He appeared to be an ordinary person, yet he seemed to blend seamlessly into the space around him.
Although he can be seen with the naked eye, he cannot be sensed at all.
Bai Shan saw that the person in front of him looked exactly the same as the boy from more than ten years ago.
Within the forbidden area, there are stone tables and benches.
The two sat down, Bai Shan personally took out his treasured Southern Border Spirit Tea to brew, his movements still filled with barely suppressed excitement.
"Elder Bai Shan, how has Nine Palaces been all these years? I wonder how my... old friend, Ayi, is doing now?" Lin Yu cut to the chase and asked the question he cared about most.
Upon hearing Ayi's name, Bai Shan's face lit up instantly, his previous shock and restraint replaced by a heartfelt pride and gratitude.
He put down the teapot and said solemnly, "Brother Lin, you entrusted that girl Ayi to my Nine Palaces back then, and left behind that book, 'The True Understanding of the Gu Dao.' It was truly an immense blessing for my Ninth Palace! I, and indeed the entire Ninth Palace, owe you a debt of gratitude that I can never repay!"
He took a deep breath and slowly said, "That girl Ayi, is Gu Dao prodigy that appears only once in hundreds of years, no! Thousands of years in the Southern Border!"
"His talent and unwavering resolve are rarely seen in the world."
"In just a few years, she stood out from the other disciples. She could learn anything instantly and grasp concepts immediately; she was truly a prodigy."
"Now, living up to expectations, in just over a decade, he has snatched the position of Palace Master of the Ninth Palace from a group of veterans."