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Uncertain of how long they would stay in Xiaocheng, Huo Yunxi, concerned about Jiang Chenyi's health, decided to rent a small courtyard with a hot spring and a kitchen.
He booked it for an entire month, which completely drained all the money he had on him.
Sure enough, shortly after being forcibly taken away by Huo Yunxi, Jiang Chenyi almost fell into a deep sleep.
When they entered the courtyard, Huo Yunxi carried him in, while the butler helped with the luggage.
"Your companion seems to have a fever. Would you like me to prepare some fever-reducing medicine?" the young hotel butler asked considerately.
Huo Yunxi tested Jiang Chenyi's temperature with the back of his hand.
It wasn't too high; he probably had a headache from the noise at the airport and hadn't fully recovered his energy, which made him look unwell.
"No need. I'll contact you if I need anything."
The butler glanced at the two men, who seemed close, and silently lowered his eyes while suppressing his curiosity before turning and leaving.
The bedroom had already been warmed up. Huo Yunxi helped Jiang Chenyi out of his down jacket, removed his shoes, socks, and outerwear, and then tucked him back into the bed.
But as he turned to leave, the corner of his shirt was gently tugged.
Huo Yunxi immediately stopped and turned to see Jiang Chenyi squinting at him, half-asleep.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly before crouching beside him.
Jiang Chenyi, in a semi-conscious state, pointed weakly at his suitcase. "The card is in my wallet. Take it and use it. Don't use the anonymous one... the password is 135790."
After saying this, he fell back asleep, leaving Huo Yunxi no chance to refuse.
But he really couldn't refuse. He was down to less than four digits in his account, and he had specifically rented a kitchen to buy herbs and prepare medicinal meals for Jiang Chenyi.
Well, he would just have to repay Jiang Chenyi later.
When Jiang Chenyi finally woke up, he was greeted by a strong aroma of herbs, slightly bitter but with a warm, meaty undertone. Just smelling it made him feel half of his weakness dissipate.
"Awake?" Huo Yunxi, sitting not far away, immediately noticed the movement.
Jiang Chenyi didn't open his eyes. He poked his head out from under the covers, and the scent grew even stronger, making his mouth water.
Seeing him awake, Wu Tuan, who had been lying beside him, licked his nose with its tongue with its tail raised high and wagging happily at the tip.
Rarely seeing Jiang Chenyi so eager for food, Huo Yunxi's worries eased a bit.
He helped Jiang Chenyi out of the bed, put a long coat on him, and finally, Jiang Chenyi opened his eyes.
"Go wash your face and come drink the soup. I stewed a pigeon for you."
The Cordyceps Flower Astragalus Pigeon Soup, with red dates and goji berries, was perfect for replenishing Jiang Chenyi's energy and blood.
After hearing this, Jiang Chenyi looked at Huo Yunxi with a strange expression.
He knew that Huo Yunxi could cook, and it was quite delicious at that (during those days when he cooked at the supermarket, he had managed to make himself gain three pounds!). But cooking was a survival skill, yet being able to make soup seemed a bit too...
Jiang Chenyi couldn't find the right adjective, but his expression grew increasingly peculiar.
Seeing him like this, Huo Yunxi poked his head and then went to the kitchen to ladle out some soup while explaining, "Making soup is something I learned from a comrade-in-arms. He said it's a traditional skill in their region, something everyone, regardless of age or gender, knows how to do."
Jiang Chenyi paused and didn't continue the topic.
He took the soup and carefully took a sip. The warm liquid flowed down his throat and soon warmed his body.
"Has there been any contact from over there?" Jiang Chenyi glanced at the time.
It had been a whole night since they arrived at Xiaocheng Airport, and he didn't believe the armed police hadn't contacted Huo Yunxi.
The man nodded, "Of course, but they only asked for your Supervisor ID number. They didn't inquire about anything else."
It had to be said that the identity Old Man Gu Sheng had fervently recommended was quite useful. If it were an ordinary person, even if they had fainted, the police would have eventually investigated them.
Now, as long as it was confirmed that he was a genuine Supervisor within the association, and as long as he wasn't doing anything bad, the police wouldn't keep a close eye on him.
After finishing the first matter, it was time to move on to the second, which was also their ultimate purpose for coming here.
"Have you checked out the address that Minister Pei provided?"
At this, Huo Yunxi slightly furrowed his brow.
"I infiltrated it, but... the number of members in the Huo family is quite small, including the servants, it doesn't exceed fifteen people. Apart from the butler and the driver, there are two guards at the entrance. The rest are all women and children." In other words, all the men of the household were absent.
Because of this, he was a bit conflicted about whether it was appropriate for him to visit.
A strange man suddenly wanting to visit, especially a young man in his prime, might not be welcomed by the family, right?
After finishing the bowl of soup, Jiang Chenyi grinned and stared at him, making Huo Yunxi's back feel a bit chilly.
"Just say what you want to say." Huo Yunxi said.
Being stared at like this felt like a cat about to play with its prey.
“Have you forgotten?" Jiang Chenyi propped his chin with his hands. The weight he had gained earlier was all gone now, and he was even a bit thinner than before.
He pointed at himself and continued, "Just use the Supervisor identity to visit, isn't that simple?"
The Huo family held significant influence in the capital, and it was obviously not a place just anyone could visit casually. It was only because Huo Yunxi was a Spirit with deep Merit that he could enter such a military family's home.
Huo Yunxi thought about it and found his words reasonable.
When dawn broke, Wu Tuan, the Black Cat, scurried to the entrance of the Huo family with a letter from Jiang Chenyi.
The guards at the Huo family entrance immediately noticed the black cat, its fur sleek and shiny, clearly well taken care of.
The cat held a letter in its mouth while wagging its long tail, and upon reaching the guards, placed the envelope at their feet.
"Meow~" Wu Tuan was very sensitive to human presence.
After sensing that the guard's aura was similar to that of his former master, his voice became unusually sweet.
The guard was initially puzzled, but when Wu Tuan patted the envelope with his paw, he finally noticed the three bold characters on it: "To the Huo Family!"
‘A letter for the Huo Family? And a cat delivering a letter to the Huo Family?’
The guard felt a bit dazed, but when he met the Black Cat's bright eyes, he inexplicably asked, "Do you want me to deliver this to someone inside?"
To his surprise, the Black Cat actually nodded!
‘This cat can understand human speech?’
After confirming it several times, the guard eventually took the letter into the Huo Family. The Black Cat, however, showed no intention of forcing his way in. Once he saw the guard take the letter inside, he voluntarily left.
This scene left another person astonished: "This cat is too Spirit-like, isn't it?"
The one who received the letter was the Huo Family's grandmother, Yuan Aiping, the eldest member of the family at the time.
Upon learning that the letter had been delivered by a Black Cat, Yuan Aiping's face showed a rare expression of bewilderment.
"What did you say? A cat brought this letter?"
The guard solemnly nodded.
It sounded quite unbelievable, but there was indeed only a cat around.
After a moment of stunned silence, Yuan Aiping smiled, put on her reading glasses, and slowly opened the envelope.
Jiang Chenyi directly stated his identity at the beginning of the letter. When Yuan Aiping saw that someone from the Celestial Masters Association was coming, she suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Aside from Gu Sheng, her impression of the people in the Celestial Masters Association wasn't particularly favorable.
However, judging from the Black Cat's demeanor, the visitor didn't seem to be here to cause trouble.
After finishing the letter, Yuan Aiping's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
Coincidentally, at that moment, her second daughter-in-law, who had gone to pick up the children from school, also returned.
"Mom! We're back!" As soon as Yu Shun entered the door, she noticed that her mother-in-law's expression was somewhat peculiar.
It wasn't exactly bad, but it didn't seem happy either... There was a hint of surprise in her eyes.
She noticed that the other woman was holding a letter, which was quite surprising since few people wrote letters these days.
"Mom, whose letter is it?" Yu Shun initially thought it might be from her mother-in-law's old friend, but to her surprise, the word "Supervisor" came out of the other's mouth.
Upon hearing about the Celestial Masters Association, Yu Shun's expression turned extremely cold: "Who's coming?"
Yuan Aiping patted her hand, signaling her to calm down: "It's a Supervisor who just joined this year. I'll go ask Gu Sheng first, and then decide whether to allow him to visit."
Yu Shun didn't say anything, but her expression still didn't look good.
Yuan Aiping knew her concerns, so she decided that if Gu Sheng didn't approve of this person, no matter who arranged for the Supervisor to come, she wouldn't allow him to enter.
However, when she went to ask Gu Qin for Gu Sheng's contact information, she unexpectedly learned the true identity of this Supervisor from her old friend.
"The new Supervisor? Oh, it must be Little Jiang."
Yuan Aiping made a puzzled sound: "Little Jiang? Do you know this new Supervisor?"
Gu Qin's laughter came from the other end of the phone: "Yes, yes, of course I know him. If it weren't for Little Jiang, all twenty members of the He family would have been gone by now!"
She then proceeded to tell Yuan Aiping about the recent events. After learning about Jiang Chenyi's character, Yuan Aiping silently breathed a sigh of relief.
But still... "Then why is he coming here?"
The Huo family now consisted only of a group of women and children.
Anyone with the surname Huo, regardless of age or gender, was guarding the border!
Even if they weren't in Xiaocheng, they were stationed at other borders, protecting the nation.
Gu Qin didn't mention Huo Yunxi to her, only telling her to let Jiang Chenyi and the others in, and she would find out later.
Yuan Aiping pursed her lips but decided to follow her old friend's advice and allowed them to visit.
At the end of the letter, there was a string of phone numbers—Huo Yunxi's contact information.
Yuan Aiping had the guard contact him using the home phone. After receiving his consent, Huo Yunxi also breathed a sigh of relief.
However, his relief didn't last long before he tensed up again.
After all, the Huo family was closely tied to his identity!
"Why are you nervous? If you're truly a member of the Huo family, by seniority, you're practically their ancestor. When an ancestor arrives, it's them who should be nervous!"
Huo Yunxi followed the voice and saw a young man soaking in the hot spring in the courtyard.
The young man was wearing a thin bathrobe, though it looked more like a gauze robe.
Wet from the water, the entire garment clung to his body.
Jiang Chenyi was lying by the edge of the hot spring. After drinking some pigeon soup and soaking in the hot spring, his complexion had become much rosier.
Huo Yunxi looked at the arm the other had stretched out and gradually furrowed his brow: "Put your arm back in and soak together! Don't lie on the edge like that, or you'll catch a cold later."
Jiang Chenyi: ...
Silently, he retreated back into the hot spring pool.
After he came out and took a shower, he quickly took Huo Yunxi to buy some gifts while there was still time.
According to the number of people observed last time, there were five children in the Huo family residence.
"As the ancestor, you should prepare some gifts for the younger generation!"
To be honest, if it weren't for his current unfavorable situation, it would be best to take Huo Yunxi back to the supermarket.
However, Huo Yunxi refused: "No rush, let's wait and see first."
The supermarket is there, it won't walk or run away. If he really is a member of the Huo family, it's not too late to make up for it later.
The two went to the mall to buy some tea, dried goods, and small accessories like scarves.
The next morning, they took the cat with them.
Seeing the black cat again, the guard immediately knew the identities of these two young people.
After confirming that they were not carrying any weapons, they were brought into the Huo residence.
Meanwhile, Yuan Aiping was waiting with her eldest daughter-in-law, Song Miao.
As for why the second daughter-in-law, Yu Shun, was not present, Yuan Aiping did not intend to let them meet before understanding the intentions of the visitors.
Soon, they saw two young men entering with a black cat.
Wu Tuan jumped down from Jiang Chenyi's shoulder and walked over to Yuan Aiping with cat-like steps, but its long tail wrapped around Song Miao's wrist.
What a "left and right embrace" little kitten!
Since entering, Jiang Chenyi had been carefully listening to the thoughts nearby.
But when he saw these two people, a faint trace of confusion appeared on Jiang Chenyi's face, which would be unnoticeable to those who didn't know him well.
His finger was lightly touched, and when he turned his head, he saw Huo Yunxi tilting his head, asking with his eyes what he was thinking about.
Jiang Chenyi slowly shook his head, but his eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
After arriving at the Huo residence, among the thoughts he heard, three were particularly loud—
"What are these two here for?" The voice was aged, likely the thoughts of the oldest one.
"Sigh... the Celestial Masters Association, I wonder how Shun is doing now." The voice was gentle, belonging to the younger woman.
And finally, a more agitated one—"Why don't the people from the Celestial Masters Association just die!!!"
The strangest thing was, although the last thought sounded full of malice, Jiang Chenyi could sense that the person's thoughts were more about anger, with little actual malice.
Jiang Chenyi glanced at the staircase to the side, then quickly looked away before leading Huo Yunxi to the two women.
"Jiang Chenyi, Supervisor of the Celestial Masters Association. I apologize for the sudden visit." the young man smiled slightly with his light-colored eyes appearing even brighter and clearer.
Just these eyes alone were enough to lower the guard of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yuan Aiping got straight to the point: "May I ask, what brings you two to the Huo residence?"
Before the two arrived, Yuan Aiping had thought of many possibilities, such as them wanting to do something at the border and thus needing the Huo family's assistance.
However, the man next to the young man spoke up, shifting all their attention.
"I would like to take a look at the Huo family's genealogy."
For a large family, the genealogy is an essential document.
Previously, the gazes of both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were fixed on Jiang Chenyi.
It wasn’t until this moment that they followed the voice and looked up at Huo Yunxi, and was immediately startled by his face!
“He looks… how could he look so similar…” Yuan Aiping lost all composure.
She abruptly stood up and nearly knocked over the teacup on the table in her panic.
Song Miao covered her mouth in surprise. Although she also noticed the striking resemblance between Huo Yunxi’s face and the Huo family, she wasn’t as emotionally stirred as her mother-in-law.
Jiang Chenyi took note of their expressions.
According to his investigation, Yuan Aiping had just turned seventy, and her husband was three years older than her.
If that was the case, then Huo Yunxi, this “ancestor” would likely be the grandfather of Yuan Aiping’s husband?
‘Wow! That would make him a great-great-grandfather…’
Yuan Aiping slowly reached out toward Huo Yunxi, but just as her hand was about to touch him, an arm suddenly appeared to block her.
“Grandma Yuan, are you reminded of someone when you look at him?”
Jiang Chenyi’s eyes were filled with curiosity.
With Jiang Chenyi’s intervention, Yuan Aiping quickly regained her composure. However, when her gaze fell on Huo Yunxi’s face again, it was instantly filled with emotion.
“If we’re talking about someone from the past… there is indeed one. Your partner’s appearance bears a striking resemblance to a grandfather I met when I was young.”
Huo Yunxi’s mouth twitched slightly. Although he knew he had been dead for a hundred years, hearing a white-haired old woman call him “grandfather” felt incredibly awkward.
Jiang Chenyi… almost burst out laughing but managed to suppress it in time.
“Ahem, that’s precisely why we wanted to take a look at the Huo family’s genealogy.”
Faced with the young man’s request, Yuan Aiping was puzzled: “Even if he were a descendant of the Huo family, the genealogy wouldn’t have any record of him.”
After saying this, she realized: “Are you trying to investigate his ancestors?”
However, the two of them shook their heads.
The next second, Jiang Chenyi uttered a statement that shocked everyone: “I suspect he is one of the ancestors listed in your family’s genealogy.”
Seeing the mix of shock and anger in their expressions, Huo Yunxi decided to demonstrate. He instantly transformed into a beam of light and returned to the bell on Jiang Chenyi’s wrist.
Then, he emerged from the bell again.
Not only Huo Yunxi, but Wu Tuan also turned into a green light, drilled into the bell, and then drilled out before transforming back into a cat.
This scene left the two women stunned for a long time with their minds completely blank.
Jiang Chenyi glanced toward the staircase, where it seemed someone else had also witnessed this.
After a while, Yuan Aiping was the first to regain her composure and clutch her throbbing forehead without speaking.
“What… what exactly is going on here?” She had seen the methods of a Celestial Master before, but never anything like this.
‘Is this… is this person even human?’
Hearing her thoughts, Jiang Chenyi kindly explained the entire story.
When they heard that he had died on the battlefield a hundred years ago, Yuan Aiping and Song Miao’s expressions immediately turned serious.
“It’s unclear if it’s due to an unstable Soul, but after he woke up, he had no memories of his past. Even the name ‘Huo Yunxi’ was only discovered after a transaction at the supermarket.”
"Then why can't we trade all the memories?" Although Song Miao didn't quite understand how this transaction worked, her first thought after hearing Jiang Chenyi's words was this.
Huo Yunxi shrugged helplessly, "I wish I could, but the cost is too high. I can't afford it."
Yuan Aiping listened quietly to everything, then rubbed her temples.
The visitor's intentions were truly beyond their expectations, but his request wasn't difficult to fulfill.
"The family tree, right? Wait a moment, I'll go get it." Her voice sounded somewhat weary.
The root cause of this weariness—Huo Yunxi and Jiang Chenyi obediently lowered their heads to sip tea, with their demeanor making the two women's eyes twitch.
Soon, Yuan Aiping returned with a thick family tree.
"A hundred years ago... it should be here..." She carefully flipped through the family tree and quickly found the corresponding time and generation.
However, when she saw the name Huo Yunxi, Jiang Chenyi couldn't help but turn his head away and burst into laughter.
He had thought Huo Yunxi was the grandfather of Yuan Aiping's husband, but it turned out he was the great-grandfather!
‘Good heavens! Really, good heavens!’
If you count the youngest generation of the Huo family, could this be considered six generations living under one roof?
"Huo Yunxi... the tenth-generation descendant of the Huo family... died in battle at the Shahe battlefield in 2xxx. His elder brother passed his eldest son to his name... eleventh-generation descendant Huo Zhen'an... twelfth-generation descendant Huo Wushen... twelfth-generation descendant Huo Jining!!!" As Yuan Aiping read, her voice cracked when she reached the last name.
Because Huo Jining was her husband's name.
If the man's identity was correct... then this tall, handsome, and young man before her was her great-grandfather?
Huh? Is this reasonable?
Both women gasped simultaneously, neither expecting the situation to turn out like this today!
Jiang Chenyi turned his back with his shoulders trembling slightly, which made Huo Yunxi even more helpless.
"Wait... wait a minute!" Song Miao raised her hand to cover her face. After a long pause, she voiced her doubt: "Even if the names are the same, it doesn't guarantee that this... this person is from our Huo family!"
Unfortunately, Huo Yunxi didn't have a human body, so no genetic testing could be done.
Jiang Chenyi wasn't surprised by their caution. He put away his smile and handed over the Bell in his hand: "This is the Bell that sealed him back then, protecting his Soul for over eighty years."
His eyes fixed on the two of them: "Our main goal now is to investigate who created this Bell."
He and Gu Sheng had checked with the Celestial Masters Association, but there were no clues there.
They didn't know whether the Celestial Master who did it had no connection with the Association or had deliberately erased the traces.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically come to the Huo family.
Huo Yunxi just wanted to know his identity, not to actually become someone's ancestor!
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