Chapter 13

Dragging her remaining half-alive body, Da Yao adamantly refused Mingmei's help, stubbornly hauling her "tribute" out of the room with heavy, sluggish steps.

Instantly, the empty room was left with only Mingmei and Mu Chen.

The two looked at each other, and for a moment, the air was a little still.

"Tomorrow, shall we go to the library to read? Or arrange a virtual library session?"

Taking advantage of the privacy, Mu Chen no longer concealed his intentions, directly asking Mingmei what she wanted to do after the game ended tomorrow.

"Don't you know? I have an extra combat class added tomorrow."

Mingmei was speechless. She didn't want to say any more about the "friendly exchange" at the end of the term with students who seemed to have gotten in through the back door.

Ever since she was notified that she had been selected to represent the school in the exchange, her schedule had been changing every few days.

A constantly changing schedule, huh?

Seeing that Mingmei didn't seem to be joking, Mu Chen fell silent.

Heh...

Combat class?

"And, you should be thinking about what wish you want to make now."

Mingmei looked up at Mu Chen and said, "Be careful it backfires and the wish doesn't come true."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Ah... I guess." After answering that question, Mingmei's eyes darted around as she added, "After all, you bought all the bento boxes. If you don't pass, it'll ruin my reputation."

Mu Chen listened to Mingmei's explanation, nodded with a smile, then looked past Mingmei at the little fox standing at the door.

Clearly, it was Mu Chen's turn.

"That young lady who just left, and the one before her..."

Mu Chen looked at the bloodstains on the ground that hadn't dried yet, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

The little fox cupped its hands and said, "They have already left. Please remember..."

Before the little fox could finish, Mu Chen put his hands on Mingmei's shoulders, patted them gently, and whispered as he passed her, "Wait for me."

After the little fox left, Mingmei didn't stay in the room. She stood under the maple tree in the courtyard again, struggling with whether to listen to what Mu Chen and the fox spirit were saying.

[Host, do you want to know what Zhen Po wished for earlier?]

[Besides livestreaming, can you also do replays?]

[No.]

Mingmei: ...

[But, if you ask, I can tell you the result.]

[Didn't it succeed?]

[How did you know, Host?]

"If it had succeeded, the little fox would have said their wish had been fulfilled and left, instead of saying they had already left."

Mingmei wasn't stupid. If Zhen Po's wish had been fulfilled, the little fox would have directly said that they had successfully made their wish. There was no reason to forget it here.

[He wished that the fox spirit would do more good deeds.]

"And then?"

[The fox spirit told him to get lost.]

Mingmei: "..."

After a moment of silence, Mingmei decided that she shouldn't dwell on Zhen Po's actions. She sighed and said, "I... I'll just see what Mu Chen wished for."

Having stood here for so long, Mingmei didn't know why she was hesitating about watching Mu Chen's wish. She would have watched the other players without a second thought.

But when it came to Mu Chen, she hesitated for so long before finally making up her mind.

"Why watch? If you want to know, just ask me."

Just then, a familiar voice came. Mingmei turned around abruptly and saw the young scholar in the blue shirt standing under the eaves, looking at her with a smile.

With just that one glance, Mingmei felt the surrounding scenery begin to change, and unintelligible noises constantly poured into her ears.

"Oh! The bride, how beautiful!"

Coming back to her senses, Mingmei saw a piece of red silk being lifted in front of her. At the moment it was lifted, she looked up and once again met Mu Chen's familiar and gentle eyes.

Cheers of congratulations came from all around. Mingmei mechanically rolled her eyes and saw the bright red wedding attire on Mu Chen, and she... was also wearing a wedding dress.

[Gosh, what happened?]

[Gosh doesn't know either, Gosh is also very wronged!]

This really dumbfounded Mingmei and her AI. How did she and Mu Chen suddenly get married?

What's going on with this game?

Before Mingmei could react, the unintelligible noises rang out in her ears again. When she came back to her senses again, she was already wearing ordinary clothes, with her hair styled in a married woman's bun, and serving tea to the two old people sitting at the head of the table with the people around her.

It was the two old people in the game who had raised the Ming family's girl.

[My wish is simple. I want to spend an ordinary, unremarkable life with her. A human life is but a fleeting moment to the goddess. My tribute is my soul.]

Mingmei looked at Mu Chen's face, and for some reason, a fragment of Mu Chen's wish flashed in her mind. Seeing her dazed look, Mu Chen helped her up, took her hand, and said gently, "Wife, let's go for a walk."

"...Okay, husband."

After Mingmei finished speaking, Mu Chen's turning motion paused slightly, and then he suddenly laughed, laughing very loudly.

Laughing, Mu Chen tightly held Mingmei's hand as he walked outside. The surrounding scenery constantly changed with the seasons. They walked, stopped, and decades passed.

Just as Mu Chen said, in the blink of an eye, youth turned to white hair...

In a bustling teahouse, two elderly people with white hair sat at a table, surrounded by several younger generations.

This was the most famous teahouse for dozens of miles around, because it had the best storyteller.

With the crack of the gavel, the old woman's hand trembled slightly as she picked up her teacup, as if she had been startled. The old man smiled and poured her a new cup of water, replacing the tea that had spilled a little.

"Today! We'll continue the story of the Spring Warm Pavilion's bloody courtesan. Last time, we talked about..."

"Why is the storyteller talking about a courtesan?" the old woman muttered, sipping her newly replaced hot tea. "Shouldn't he be telling stories about martial arts, gods, and ghosts?"

"Grandma, you don't know this, but it's said that decades ago, there was a courtesan in the Spring Warm Pavilion whose beauty never faded. For more than ten years, from the age of twenty to thirty, she was never replaced."

The younger generation leaned against the old woman and talked about this strange event.

"Many people thought she had a secret to maintaining her youth. Even the nobles in the palace sent people to inquire."

"And then?"

The old woman asked with a smile, a knowing light flashing in her eyes. She looked at the old man next to her, who was peeling melon seeds for her. Noticing that she was looking at him, he turned his head and smiled, pushing a small dish of peeled melon seeds toward her.

A trace of envy flashed in the eyes of the younger generation, then they obliviously replied, "Later, a very powerful celestial master discovered the secret of why the courtesan's beauty never faded: it was because she was a fox demon who ate human hearts. But fortunately, the fox demon was eventually subdued by the celestial master."

Mingmei sighed, feeling that her grandson and granddaughter had revealed so much about the storytelling that she no longer wanted to stay.

"Old man, let's go home."

Mu Chen coughed and muttered that autumn was getting cold, then nodded and said, "Okay."

"After we get back, I'll tell the servant to make you a bowl of fritillary bulb and snow pear soup."

"Okay, okay. You should drink some too. You ate too many melon seeds just now to prevent internal heat..."

"Isn't it because you peeled so many?"

"My fault, my fault."

The two old people were talking to each other, caring for each other, as if there were no younger people around.

Just then, a burst of lively activity suddenly came from the street. Before Mingmei could react because she was old and slow, her granddaughter had already reacted first, cheering that Marshal Zhen had returned from the northern expedition.

Mingmei could tell how enthusiastic the people on both sides of the street were about Marshal Zhen just by listening to the cheers in her ears.

"Marshal Zhen is really amazing. Look at that Little General Zhen next to him. He's a worthy successor, isn't he?"

"Yes, with Marshal Zhen around, our Hua Liang will be safe for many more years!"

"Old Lady Zhen is the amazing one, raising her only son alone and still being willing to send him to the battlefield. Tell me, who wouldn't be reluctant?"

"Ah, who says they wouldn't?"

The murmuring of the people around her didn't cause much of a stir in Mingmei's heart. After the northern expedition army left, Mingmei and Mu Chen got into the carriage and left, supported by the younger generation.

The carriage swayed. Mingmei turned her head and looked at Mu Chen, who had half-closed eyes, as if he was asleep. She chuckled softly and asked the younger generation riding a horse outside the carriage, "How much further is it to the ancestral home?"

"Grandmother, it's still an hour's journey."

"Okay."

[When you die of old age, when you return, this goddess will naturally come to collect my reward.]