“This is the place, my three guests.”
The real estate agent who had led them here stopped in front of a two-story house, a professional smile plastered across his face.
“As you can see, this villa is in the southern district of Heaven Dou City, which is the quietest area.
It comes with a small courtyard, and the neighbors are all well-to-do families.
Absolutely peaceful.”
Huo Yun’er looked at the clean and elegant little house in front of her.
Hesitating, she tugged at Huo Yuhao’s sleeve and whispered, “Yuhao, isn’t this…
a bit too expensive?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head and said to the agent, “Let’s take a look inside.”
“Right away!”
Over the course of three days, their journey from the mountain paths to the capital of the Heaven Soul Empire had gone astonishingly smoothly, all thanks to Gu Yuena.
They had barely even felt the fatigue of travel before they found themselves standing at the gates of Heaven Dou City, one of the most bustling cities on the continent.
The money Huo Yuhao had taken from Dai Huabin’s guards, minus the cost of buying a carriage, left them with enough gold coins to settle down comfortably.
He needed a stable, secure environment to plan his next moves, and he also needed his mother to rest and recuperate.
The villa wasn’t large, but it had everything they needed.
The first floor featured a living room, a kitchen, and a south-facing bedroom.
The second floor had two bedrooms of similar size and a small study.
Huo Yuhao was very satisfied.
He made his decision on the spot, paying three months’ rent as well as the security deposit.
After seeing the agent off, Huo Yuhao began arranging the rooms.
“Mom, you take this bedroom on the first floor.
It gets great natural light, and it’s easy to get in and out,” he said, pointing to the room on the ground floor.
Huo Yun’er nodded, her face glowing with irrepressible joy.
Moving from the Duke’s Palace’s dark side courtyard to this bright, beautiful house felt like going from hell to heaven.
“Then…
where will Miss Na stay?” Huo Yun’er looked at Gu Yuena, who had remained silent, merely examining her surroundings with curiosity.
“There are two rooms upstairs,” Huo Yuhao said.
“She and I will take one each.”
He felt this arrangement was perfectly logical and flawless.
However, the moment the words left his mouth, a cool voice rang out.
“I don’t agree.”
Gu Yuena withdrew her gaze from the surroundings and turned her head, her violet eyes locking onto Huo Yuhao.
“I want to sleep with you.”
“…Cough, cough!” Huo Yuhao choked on his own spit, staring at Gu Yuena in disbelief.
“What did you say?”
Huo Yun’er was also stunned, her mouth agape as she looked back and forth between Gu Yuena and her son.
Gu Yuena’s face bore none of the bashfulness of a human girl.
Her expression didn’t change as she repeated matter-of-factly, “I said, I want to sleep with you.”
She walked over to Huo Yuhao, leaned in slightly, and added in a voice only the two of them could hear, “The aura on your body makes me comfortable.
I want to sleep next to you.”
Huo Yuhao’s face flushed crimson.
He told himself this had nothing to do with his physical age; he was just…
caught off guard!
He took a deep breath, trying to reason with this Dragon King from the Divine Realm.
“No way,” he refused flatly.
“Men and women are different.
We’re already this old; we can’t sleep in the same bed.”
“You’re only six,” Gu Yuena pointed out flatly.
“I…” Huo Yuhao was momentarily at a loss for words.
He couldn’t exactly tell her that he wasn’t actually that young, could he?
He tried a different angle, pressing on: “Look, there are two rooms upstairs.
Sleeping separately is much more comfortable, and we won’t disturb each other.”
Gu Yuena looked at him, a trace of impatience flashing through her violet eyes.
“I don’t want to be separated from you,” she said.
“This is a matter of principle!” Huo Yuhao insisted.
Gu Yuena seemed to lose her patience.
She stood up straight, glanced around the house, and then cast her gaze out the window.
A voice echoed directly inside Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea.
[If you dare refuse, I will freeze this entire city into ice sculptures.]
Huo Yuhao: “…”
From this telepathic message, he couldn’t detect the slightest hint of a joke.
He fully believed that with her strength, doing so would be child’s play.
He yielded.
In the face of absolute strength, all principles could be flexibly adjusted.
Squeezing out a smile that looked uglier than crying, he turned to his mother, who was looking bewildered and slightly gossipy.
“Mom, Sister Na…
was just joking with me.
She’s afraid of sleeping alone and wants me to keep her company.
It’s fine if we share a room.”
Huo Yun’er looked at them skeptically but ultimately shook her head with a smile.
“You young people…”
That night.
Having finished washing up, Huo Yuhao lay on the bed in the large second-floor bedroom, his body as stiff as a corpse.
The bathroom door opened, and Gu Yuena walked out wearing loose pajamas, through which a tantalizing glimpse of her fair skin was faintly visible.
Her long silver hair was draped over her shoulders, making her look a little less like a majestic deity and a little more soft and domestic.
She walked straight to the side of the bed, lifted the blanket, and lay down beside Huo Yuhao.
Then, before Huo Yuhao could even react, she hugged him from behind.
Huo Yuhao’s entire body shuddered.
“Wait…
this…
isn’t good…
so soft…”
Gu Yuena’s body carried a slight chill, but it wasn’t icy cold.
She rested her chin gently on his shoulder, her warm breath, carrying a faint mint-like fragrance, puffing against his neck over and over again.
Huo Yuhao felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.
He didn’t dare move an inch.
“Your body is so warm…”
Gu Yuena whispered in his ear, her voice carrying a sigh of satisfaction.
“Just like a little stove.”
Inside, Huo Yuhao screamed frantically: *I’m not a little stove!
And I’m not small!
I lived for hundreds of years in my past life!
I’m the God of Emotion!*
But he didn’t dare say it out loud.
He could only close his eyes, desperately trying to calm his racing heart while feeling the faint chill and pressure from the perfect body pressed against his back.
Amidst humiliation and helplessness, he spent his first sleepless night since his rebirth.
…
Half a month later.
Life, in a strange sort of balance, fell into a regular routine.
Over this half a month, Huo Yuhao had gained a much more comprehensive understanding of Gu Yuena’s personality.
For example, she was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Any outsider, even the auntie from next door who came over to deliver local specialties, would feel a freezing aura that kept them thousands of miles away.
But toward Huo Yuhao, she displayed a domineering reliance.
“Huo Yuhao, I’m thirsty.”
“Huo Yuhao, I’m hungry.”
“Huo Yuhao, come here.”
These phrases became her most frequently spoken words every day.
She never beat around the bush about what she wanted; she would simply issue direct orders.
If Huo Yuhao ignored her, she would quietly stare at him with those violet eyes until he admitted defeat.
Although she never threatened to “freeze the entire city” again, that invisible pressure was equally unbearable.
Another example was her extreme double standards.
Distressed for her son, Huo Yun’er cooked a variety of delicious dishes every day.
But no matter how delectable the meals she prepared were, Gu Yuena wouldn’t even spare them a glance at the dining table.
She would only eat what Huo Yuhao placed into her bowl, or simply eat only the things Huo Yuhao made with his own hands.
“Miss Na, try this soup I made.
It’s good for a young girl’s body,” Huo Yun’er warmly scooped a bowl for her.
Gu Yuena glanced at it but didn’t touch it.
Huo Yuhao silently pulled the bowl of soup over, took a sip himself, and then pushed it back in front of Gu Yuena.
“Drink up.
My mom simmered it for a long time.”
Only then did Gu Yuena pick up the spoon and take small, delicate sips.
Leaving a petrified Huo Yun’er off to the side, muttering to herself, *This girl…*
What Huo Yuhao found most unbearable was a new habit she had developed.
Every night, when Huo Yuhao sat by the bedside reading, Gu Yuena would lie on the bed and stretch her feet into his lap.
“Massage my feet,” she ordered, short and sweet.
The first time Huo Yuhao heard this command, he was completely dumbfounded.
He looked at those feet.
They were a pair of perfect feet that defied description, with elegant lines and skin as smooth and delicate as mutton-fat jade.
Each toe was like a meticulously carved piece of art, round and adorable.
“Hurry up,” Gu Yuena urged when she saw him frozen.
Huo Yuhao sighed, resigned to his fate.
He reached out and clasped the cool, tender foot.
Applying some massage techniques he had learned in his past life, he began to knead and press with just the right amount of force.
Feeling the softness and silkiness in his palms, Huo Yuhao’s inner self was completely breaking down.
*Is this how you test a cadre?!*
*I, a grand God King of a generation, reborn for a new life, have actually been reduced to giving foot massages?*
*And giving a foot massage to a temperamental Dragon King whose power is unfathomable, no less?*
But strangely enough, every time he finished massaging, Gu Yuena’s mood seemed to improve significantly.
She would curl up in the blankets like a satisfied kitten and quickly fall asleep.
During their time together, Huo Yuhao also discovered a “weakness” of Gu Yuena’s.
She seemed to have absolutely no resistance to grilled fish.
It happened on a casual afternoon when Huo Yuhao was prepping a freshly bought fish in the courtyard.
He recalled the days in his past life when he used to grill fish by the shores of Sea God Lake with Wang Dong.
On a whim, he set up a campfire in the courtyard and grilled a few fish using the most primitive method.
The fish skin was grilled to a golden, crispy perfection, the oils sizzling.
When he sprinkled his special blend of spices, an overwhelmingly delicious aroma instantly filled the entire courtyard.
Just as he was about to take one to his mother, a silver figure appeared beside him.
Gu Yuena’s nose twitched, and her violet eyes locked onto the grilled fish in his hand.
Her gaze was intense enough to swallow Huo Yuhao whole.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Grilled fish,” Huo Yuhao replied.
“Give it to me.”
Huo Yuhao handed one to her.
Gu Yuena took the grilled fish and, imitating him, took a cautious bite.
In the next split second, her eyes widened even further.
She stopped talking, devouring the fish rapidly, not even caring that sauce was smudged on the corner of her mouth.
Her eating manner completely lacked her usual aloof majesty.
Out of the three grilled fish, Huo Yuhao only got to eat half of one; all the rest ended up in Gu Yuena’s stomach.
After finishing, she licked her fingers with lingering desire, looked at Huo Yuhao, and seriously announced, “From now on, I want to eat this every night.”
Huo Yuhao: “…”
From then on, an unshakeable task was added to his life: making grilled fish as a late-night snack for Gu Yuena.
If he ever forgot or wanted to slack off, she would throw a tantrum.
Either she would give him the silent treatment with a stony face, or she would stare at him with resentful eyes all night, making him feel more miserable than if he had been beaten up.
*I, Huo Yuhao, am now the personal grilled-fish chef of the Silver Dragon King…* he lamented in his heart more than once.
Gu Yuena’s abilities were also gradually revealed during this time.
She seemed to master the power of space, often vanishing suddenly during the day, with no one knowing where she went.
Yet, when dinner time arrived, she would always appear right on time.
Moreover, every time she returned, she would bring back strange items.
Once, when she returned, she casually tossed Huo Yuhao a crystal-clear lotus overflowing with chilling energy.
“What is this?” Huo Yuhao looked at the lotus, shocked as he felt the majestic energy within it.
“I saw it on the way and picked it,” Gu Yuena said casually.
“It looked nice, so take it to nourish your body and that auntie’s.”
Huo Yuhao later recognized that it was a Snow Jade Ice Lotus at least ten thousand years old—a supreme treasure for healing and strengthening one’s foundation.
Another time, when she returned, she was actually dragging a struggling soul beast behind her.
It was a massive, one-horned wild boar.
“I’m hungry,” she said to Huo Yuhao, pointing at the thousand-year soul beast she had restrained with some unknown power.
“Grill it so we can eat.”
Huo Yuhao: “…”
And so, that night, the aroma of a whole roasted pig drifted through the entire courtyard.
Under the nourishment of these natural treasures and high-level soul beast flesh, Huo Yun’er’s body, which had been depleted by years of hard labor, recovered at a visible pace.
Her complexion turned rosy, her hair regained its luster, and she looked over a decade younger.
Huo Yuhao’s own body also grew sturdier.
His foundation, which had been somewhat unstable because his innate soul power was only rank three, was now consolidated to be incredibly robust.
Watching all these changes, Huo Yun’er’s attitude toward Gu Yuena gradually shifted from initial tension and awe to deep gratification.
In the end, it even progressed to…
snickering?!
She would often hold a cup of tea, quietly standing at the kitchen doorway, watching Gu Yuena follow the cooking Huo Yuhao around like a little shadow.
“Yuhao, you put too much salt.”
“Yuhao, this vegetable needs to be julienned, not diced.”
“Yuhao, hand me that.”
Huo Yuhao was run ragged by her directions, his face full of helplessness.
Huo Yun’er watched with sheer amusement from the doorway, murmuring in her heart, *Is my Yuhao really this popular?
Miss Na looks like a celestial fairy from the heavens, though her personality is a bit overbearing.
Still, it seems she genuinely treats Yuhao well.*
Finally, one day, she couldn’t help but pull Huo Yuhao aside and ask him in a whisper.
“Yuhao, tell Mom the truth, does Xiao Na have feelings for you?”
Huo Yuhao’s hand chopping vegetables paused abruptly, almost cutting himself.
“Mom, don’t talk nonsense!”
His face flushed instantly.
“We…
there’s nothing between us.”
Looking at her son’s reaction, Huo Yun’er wore a deeply meaningful “mother-in-law smile.”
“Hehehe, look at you.
My little Yuhao is actually blushing.”
She tapped Huo Yuhao’s forehead with her finger.
“Alright, alright, Mom won’t say any more.
Mom understands.
You young people can resolve your own matters; Mom won’t interfere~”
With that, humming an out-of-tune little ditty, she turned and left the kitchen, leaving Huo Yuhao standing there, completely dumbfounded in the wind.