On the second-floor terrace, Alii glanced at the boy lying beside her as she turned a page, and at that moment, the boy happened to open his eyes.

Li Zhiyuan straightened his back and sat up, his gaze sweeping over the fields in the distance, which appeared like an ink painting under the gloomy sky.

In their previous exchanges, he could feel the body's "perfunctory" nature; it was performing its past rigid impression.

The acting was impeccable, but the difference was that it hadn't made progress during this period, and this was the biggest problem.

With Alii's accompanying him, Li Zhiyuan went downstairs and arrived at the basement entrance.

In the cool corner at the door, a large black mass lay sprawled.

When Xiao Hei heard footsteps, it lifted its head but didn't stand up, only squirmed with its belly and clawed the ground to yield the iron door.

Now that it's gradually getting hotter, this place is cool, so Xiao Hei chooses to nap here.

Li Zhiyuan looked down at it.

Xiao Hei grew somewhat uneasy under his gaze, silently preparing to stand up and leave, but just as it got up, the boy shifted his gaze, opened the iron door, and went inside.

Looking left and right, Xiao Hei lay back down and licked the back of its paw.

The basement had been renovated but still retained its old layout; one-third of the space housed Grandmaster's various "outfits" and "magic artifacts," each belonging to different mourning groups.

The remaining space was filled with large boxes, all containing ancient books.

There was a reason why the body chose to place its secret here: for Li Zhiyuan, this basement served as an official place of enlightenment, where he entered the Xuanmen and embarked on a different path in life.

Does the body also want to open a new path here?

Alii grasped the boy's hand with a slight force; she not only knew there was another "person" inside Li Zhiyuan but had also seen "it" come out.

Li Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, it won't have a chance."

The boy had no intention to instruct Alii that if it ever came out and occupied "himself," she must not show mercy and must make a quick decision.

Because Li Zhiyuan felt it was better to bear this burden himself than to pass it onto Alii and snap it at the critical moment.

Essentially, the body chose another path, probably because it too realized that it couldn't defeat itself in the traditional "Heart Demon and Body confrontation" race.

Leaving the basement and closing the door, Xiao Hei, curled up in the corner, stretched out comfortably after the boy and girl left.

"Boom! Plop plop..."

After brewing for a long time, the thunderstorm finally came down, first bringing rich steam and the earthy smell to the ground before being quickly covered by carefree coolness.

Li Sanjiang and Old Tian sat at the entrance of the living room, where the rain splattered, prompting them to share their memories. Each took a cigarette, reminiscing about the past.

Liu Jinxia, the Flower Woman, and Wang Lian, the three old sisters, jogged over under the heavy curtain of rain after initially gathering at Wang Lian's house. It started raining halfway here.

Wang Lian held her hands above her head, Liu Jinxia carefully watched her steps, and the Flower Woman appeared crazier than ever, laughing and lightly bumping into the other two.

Liu Jinxia cursed at the Flower Woman while Wang Lian kept pleading, but the Flower Woman bumped even harder, her laughter resembling a duck's quack, with a clear, rugged rhythm.

Under the rain filter, they shed their old age and steadiness, for this rain had also drenched their youthful selves.

Liu Yumei emerged from the East Room, and the rain immediately avoided her.

But when she looked at the three old sisters running through the rain, Liu Yumei first sighed, showing a bitter smile, and said:

"What a bunch of crazy women."

The next moment, the rain hit Liu Yumei.

There wasn't supposed to be a card game today, mainly because Wang Lian's paralyzed son had been particularly troubling lately, always thinking about committing suicide to avoid burdening the family.

Liu Jinxia had separately come over to munch on sunflower seeds and told Liu Yumei about this, and Liu Yumei said, whether it's early or late in committing suicide, it happens at the point when the two children are growing and parents are getting used to such a family situation, and then he shouts about suicide.

To put it nicely, it's about not wanting to burden the family, but in reality, it's about his survival desire and hope diminishing over time, becoming selfish enough to use the moral excuse of family consideration to justify suicide.

Liu Jinxia grew accustomed to Sister Liu's way of speaking, very direct and blunt, yet extremely reasonable.

The three old sisters arrived in the rain, Aunt Liu brought them towels to wipe off with and ginger soup to ward off the cold, while Uncle Qin set up the card table inside the living room.

The card game began, with others chatting while playing, Liu Yumei was chatting away while losing money, deliberately losing more to Wang Lian.

That troublesome son had attempted suicide several times and got rescued at the health center, truly costly.

Wang Lian never showed a distressed face here; along the way, the Flower Woman was the wildest, having the most fun in the rain, but once they reached the square, Wang Lian had the widest smile.

While playing, the Flower Woman suggested that after the weather clears in a couple of days, the four should go to Wolf Mountain to offer incense.

Liu Yumei shook her head, indicating she wouldn't go.

To truly worship the heavens and earth is formless, anyway, the heavens and earth can bear it. But with the responsibilities she carries now, visiting a regular temple to solemnly burn incense might fire up the whole Wolf Mountain.

Ultimately, Liu Jinxia decided that she'd take the Flower Woman and Wang Lian to Wolf Mountain in a few days, and Liu Jinxia thoughtfully offered to offer incense on behalf of Sister Liu.