As the sun set behind the western mountains, its rays disappeared into the rugged terrain. Inside the Jiang residence, dozens of maidservants rushed around, lighting lanterns and stone lamps throughout the compound.

At this moment, Ye Anping sat at a desk in his bedroom, using cinnabar as ink and spiritual energy as water to inscribe talismans on specially crafted yellow oil paper.

On a nearby bed, two girls, one tall and one short, sat cross-legged, playing a game of chess.

It was like a real family of three— a father earnestly working, a mother playing with her child, and a daughter clinging to her mother.

Since Zhuang Hu had left the Jiang residence in the afternoon and hadn’t returned yet, Zhuang Atin had been following him and his junior sister. She had even followed them into their bedroom. While she had behaved quite reserved during these few hours and her words were charming, Ye Anping could sense that this was only a glimpse of her true character. After all, she had climbed over the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation in the pavilion earlier.

Ye Anping glanced at the two on the bed playing chess, took a deep breath, and once again focused on his task.

The talisman he was currently crafting was called the “Eye-Shifting Talisman.” Originally, he had planned to buy these from the talisman craftsmen in a day or two, but now that he had some free time, he decided to try his hand at making them himself.

To his surprise, he seemed to have a natural talent for talisman crafting. Despite it being his first time, he had only encountered minor difficulties during the initial half-hour of trial and error. Out of the six Eye-Shifting Talismans he had created, one was of medium quality, and the remaining five were all top-notch.

Simultaneously, he felt that talisman crafting was closely related to his medical skills.

Medical skills used spiritual energy to form tiny blades that could unblock or cut through a cultivator’s meridians. In a way, talisman crafting was similar, as it involved using spiritual energy to create small blades on paper, drawing patterns resembling meridians, and embedding spiritual energy-infused precious materials at various “eye” positions.

Moreover, the talisman patterns were somewhat analogous to circuit board designs, with just a dozen or so additional “components.”

Due to his knowledge from his previous life, he easily grasped the concept of the talisman patterns.

“Uncle.”

Ye Anping was fully engrossed in his work when he was suddenly startled by Zhuang Atin’s voice.

“…?”

He turned his head to see Zhuang Atin, who had somehow slipped over to his side without him noticing. She was now leaning over the table, her eyes fixed on the talismans he had just crafted, her face filled with curiosity.

Ye Anping retracted his released spiritual sense and asked, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you playing chess with Aunt?”

Zhuang Atin grinned and pointed in the direction of the bed.

“Aunt lost five times and doesn’t want to play with me anymore.”

“?”

Ye Anping turned to look at his junior sister, who was currently sitting on the bed, biting her lip and staring straight at the chessboard. It seemed she was contemplating where she had gone wrong in her previous games.

If it were the game of Go, he could understand his junior sister losing to a twelve-year-old girl since she didn’t know how to play. However, they had just been playing Five-in-a-Row. Could someone lose at Five-in-a-Row?

Ye Anping rubbed Zhuang Atin’s head and said, “You’re really good. I’ll play with you in a moment.”

“Hehe…”

Zhuang Atin leaned into his touch, closing her eyes halfway in pleasure. Then, she noticed the talismans on the table and asked, “Uncle, what are these talismans for?”

“These are called Eye-Shifting Talismans…”

Ye Anping suddenly thought that this was a good opportunity to conduct an experiment using Zhuang Atin. He picked up two of the talismans, placed one on himself, and the other on Zhuang Atin’s forehead.

“Has your adoptive father taught you how to channel spiritual energy?”

“Yes.”

“Try sending your spiritual energy to the talisman.”

Zhuang Atin nodded and took a deep breath. She awkwardly channeled her spiritual energy and sent it to the talisman on her forehead. Instantly, her light green eyes emitted a faint glow, and an exclamation mark appeared above her head.

“Huh?!”

“How is it? What do you see?”

“I see… myself? Huh? I’m so tall…”

Zhuang Atin looked pleasantly surprised. She waved her hand and touched her own face. However, as she took a step to the side, she suddenly lost her balance and fell.

Ye Anping quickly reached out to support her and removed the talisman from her forehead to prevent her from getting hurt. He didn’t want to risk a confrontation with Zhuang Hu if something happened to her.

“Was it fun?”

“It was fun,” Zhuang Atin said, rubbing her head. “But it made me a bit dizzy.”

“These talismans are part of a set. They allow cultivators to share their visual and auditory perceptions with each other. Some cultivators like to attach these talismans to birds of prey to use them for surveillance.”

“I see… Hmm!”

Ye Anping smiled and patted her head. Then, he glanced out of the window and noticed that it was getting quite late.

“Uncle and Aunt need to rest. You should go back to sleep now.”

“Okay…” Zhuang Atin seemed somewhat reluctant. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Didn’t Uncle say you’d play chess with me later?”

“…Alright, we’ll play another round, and if you lose, you’ll go back to your room to sleep.”

“Deal!”

Ye Anping sighed with some frustration. Dealing with other people’s children could indeed be quite challenging, but at least the room had a reasonably large bed.

He quickly tidied up his desk and then walked over to the bed, climbing up and sitting cross-legged.

It was only when Ye Anping got on the bed that Pei Lengxue, who had been lost in thought after their chess game, looked at him with anticipation.

“Oh…”

“What’s wrong? You lost five times to a twelve-year-old girl.” Ye Anping teased her by pinching her nose. “You’ve been playing with me since you were a child, and you haven’t improved at all?”

Pei Lengxue pouted slightly and shifted her position. With a slightly sulking expression, she said, “Husband, help me win.”

Ye Anping nodded and said, “Alright!”

…

Half an incense stick’s worth of time later—

Ye Anping placed the final white piece on the board.

“Alright, it’s time to go to sleep.”

Looking at the five consecutive white pieces on the chessboard, Zhuang Atin’s mouth was about to pout like a little pig’s, but after glancing at Ye Anping, she decided not to make a fuss.

After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Uncle, tell me a bedtime story.”

“Didn’t we agree that you’d go to sleep if you lost the game?” Ye Anping raised an eyebrow and lightly tapped her head. “Uncle and Aunt really dislike little girls who don’t keep their promises.”

“Just one story, please! I promise I’ll go to sleep right away. Please, Uncle.”

Ye Anping felt a bit helpless but looked at Pei Lengxue beside him. She seemed quite pleased, so he thought for a moment and said, “Well… how about Aunt tells you a story?”

“Huh?” Pei Lengxue was momentarily stunned and blushed slightly, her head lowered. “I tell it?”

“Aunt, as the ‘mother,’ should be good at putting children to sleep, right?”

“Mother…” Pei Lengxue blushed even deeper and lowered her head, saying, “Uh– okay.”

Seeing this, Ye Anping couldn’t help but smile. His junior sister was really adorable. She had played house when she was younger, but now she was the one feeling shy about it.

However—

The next moment, Ye Anping’s smile disappeared when he saw Pei Lengxue’s actions.

After thinking for a moment, she took out the book “Erotic Art of the Immortal Palace” from her storage pouch and handed it to Zhuang Atin.

“Aunt has a book here for you to read. Take it back with you, and remember to return it tomorrow.”

“Hmm?” Zhuang Atin didn’t pay attention to the title of the book and accepted it with a smile. “Thank you, Aunt.”

Ye Anping was about to reach out and snatch the book, but he suddenly realized that if Zhuang Hu found out that Pei Lengxue had given that kind of book to the girl, he probably wouldn’t ask them to help with the child again. So he let it be.

“Goodnight, Uncle! Goodnight, Aunt!”

“Goodnight.”

After Zhuang Atin left the room, Ye Anping turned to his junior sister.

“Junir Sister…”

Pei Lengxue furrowed her eyebrows, pouting her lips, and corrected him.

“Wife!”

“…..Wife, that book… didn’t I ask you to take it and consult Senior Sister Xiao with it? You haven’t gone yet?”

“I haven’t… What’s the matter?”

Ye Anping rubbed his forehead and shook his head. “When Senior Sister Xiao and the others come over, find an opportunity to take the book with you and ask her. You should be able to learn a lot from it.”

“Oh…”