Shui Miaomiao lowered her head. If it weren't for her desire to build good relationships with Bai Feng, Bai Yumo, and the others, she would have longed to bury herself in the ground.

Things had gone smoothly for her in Dongzhou, so why did everything seem to go wrong in the North Region?

She sighed, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the sizzling meat on the grill, feeling as if it were not the meat that was being cooked, but herself.

Suddenly, she felt a wave of homesickness wash over her.

“It’s ready! Give it a try,” Bai Feng said, placing the grilled meat on the plate in front of her. “This is the dipping sauce I made, and I didn’t add any chili.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Shui Miaomiao felt a bit down. She took a bite of the grilled meat, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

It tasted even better than what the royal chef made!

In an instant, her desire to go home faded away!

She exhaled, as if trying to release all the gloom from her heart. She stared at the pile of grilled meat on her plate, drool slipping from the corner of her mouth as she murmured softly, “Senior Brother, thank you. You’re a good person.”

Bai Feng, who was still grilling meat, raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Little Junior Brother, stop grilling for a moment and come take a picture!” At that moment, Yu Yao, who had already eaten her fill, slowly took out the first camera produced by Yulinglong and waved to Bai Feng and the others. “Come on, everyone, gather closer!”

The camera floated in mid-air, supported by spiritual energy, as the group sat around the square table, looking up. With a click, the scene of the four of them enjoying hot pot and grilled meat was captured in the camera.

……

“It’s been so long since I’ve been back.”

In Qinghong City, a man stood in front of a dilapidated house. He pushed open the decayed door without a second thought and sat down on a chair covered in dust.

“After being away for over ten years, this house is still standing. Did Shitou and the others build it? I wonder how they’re doing.”

He only remembered that after he left, Shitou and a few younger ones were taken in by an orphanage. He returned a few times, observing secretly for several days. Once he confirmed that the orphanage was genuinely caring for the children, he finally set aside his last worries and devoted himself to pursuing the path of immortality.

But he never expected to end up like this.

If someone from the West Region were here, they would recognize him as Ling Feng, the once-renowned genius of the Jinsazong.

But now, he had lost all the vigor of a genius, with only the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Foundation Establishment stage, clearly having encountered some unfortunate events.

“First, I need to find a way to earn some money.”

He didn’t linger in his memories for long. He stood up, brushed off the dust from his clothes, and quickly walked out of the house.

The street was as lively as ever. He glanced at a baozi shop on the side of the road and was surprised to see that it was still there after all these years.

It was here that he had been discovered by an old Taoist, who took him as a disciple and brought him to the Jinsazong in the West Region to embark on his cultivation journey.

His path had been smooth sailing; the bottlenecks spoken of by his elders seemed nonexistent. In just over a decade, he had reached the God Transformation stage, overshadowing many other geniuses in the West Region.

But that was also his peak. Due to the ancient wars, many places in the West Region were filled with demonic energy, and the demonic forces were rampant. During a mission, he was ambushed by the demonic faction. To protect his disciples, he fought fiercely and killed the demonic prince, but he was also injured and tainted by demonic energy.

After narrowly escaping with his junior brothers and sisters, he returned to the sect only to be falsely accused by his peers. His junior disciples blamed him for being reckless and shifted all the blame onto him, the now-damaged senior brother.

He had initially planned to prove his innocence, but on the day of the trial, he suddenly gained several memories that showed his defense would have no effect, only making things worse until he was completely silenced.

Those memories felt so real, as if he had lived through them himself. Thus, he gave up on proving his innocence, relinquished his status as a direct disciple of the Jinsazong, accepted his punishment, and voluntarily withdrew from the sect, returning to Qinghong City with only a limited amount of travel money.

“Ling Ge? Is that you?”

At that moment, a voice called out from behind him. He turned around to see a burly man.

He paused for a moment. Although the man had changed significantly, he still recognized him. “Shitou?”

“Ling Ge, it really is you!” Shitou exclaimed, rushing forward to give him a bear hug. “Ling Ge, why are you back? Weren’t you cultivating in the West Region?”

“Some things happened, and now I plan to settle down here for good,” Ling Feng shook his head and smiled. “Looks like you’re doing well. When did you start cultivating? You’re already at the late stage of Qi Refinement.”

“It’s nothing special. Even Er Dan and the others have already established their foundations,” Shitou said, scratching his head with a shy smile. “My talent is pretty poor; it’s taken me this long just to reach the late stage of Qi Refinement.”

Ling Feng was taken aback. “It seems you all must have had some fortuitous encounters!”

“Thanks to the young master of the Bai family,” Shitou said gratefully. “All of us orphans without parents owe our growth to the orphanage the young master opened. We don’t have to worry about food or being bullied, and the Bai family even teaches us cultivation and provides us with jobs. I’m currently working for the Bai family, just moving some goods around.”

Ling Feng was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected the orphanage to be run by the young master of the Bai family. “It seems the rumors aren’t entirely true. I always thought the young master of the Bai family was just a spoiled playboy.”

“It’s mainly because the young master is too low-key. He never mentions these things to outsiders,” Shitou nodded. “By the way, Ling Ge, do you want to join us? The pay is quite good, and the Bai family is currently in need of people.”

“Sure, I’d appreciate it if you could introduce me,” Ling Feng replied with a smile. Although he was initially reluctant to work for a big family like the Bai family, the young master’s actions had given him a better impression of them. Plus, since Shitou was so enthusiastic, he felt it would be hard to refuse.

Tianjian Sect.

[Beep, detected that the host is strategizing from within, achieving victory from afar. The fated child Ling Feng, under the host's careful design, has joined the Bai family and become a servant. Reward: Luck Points +456, Sword Technique: Stabbing Technique.]

Having stayed up late the previous night, Bai Feng was sleeping in when the system woke him up. He opened his eyes to see the system notification.

He immediately sat up in bed, bewildered. “???”

What the hell! The backyard is on fire!!

Chapter 144: Can’t I Even Think About It?

Bai Feng stared at the system notification, completely unable to comprehend where this fated child had come from.

What the heck? Aren’t all these fated children supposed to be proud and arrogant? How could one end up as a servant in a big family?

Could it be that some relative had a love child and just abandoned them both?

Bai Feng rubbed his forehead, pondering what to do. Should he just ignore it for now?

No, he could refrain from interfering, but he had to investigate this person thoroughly!

Speaking of which, he remembered that there had been three fated children in Qinghong City. However, one of them had disappeared shortly after he got the system, only occasionally returning.

Could it be this fated child?

“Forget it, I’ll just gather information slowly.”

Bai Feng gradually formed a plan in his mind. Although these fated children who became servants were generally quite dangerous, they should be relatively docile for a while, at least not openly causing trouble.

He would start with the recent cultivator who joined the Bai family. The reason would be easy to find; he planned to pull some strings with Yu Yao, saying that he needed a few capable individuals for a collaboration with Yu Linglong.

“Sigh, I just enjoyed a few days of peace, didn’t I?”

Bai Feng sighed, feeling that he hadn’t even had a proper rest before the system and the fated child threw him a curveball.

If this fated child had no ill intentions, then according to plan, he would find an opportunity to promote him and send him to another city.

But if he had ulterior motives, then there was nothing more to say. Ye Tang was quite lonely down there; it would be just right to send him a companion.

……

“Ling Ge, I told you it would be fine! The Bai family is in need of people right now; how could they refuse you?” Shitou said happily. “Come on, let’s invite Er Dan and the others to go drink!”

“Sure! We won’t return until we’re drunk tonight!”

Ling Feng nodded, holding the clothes he would wear in the future. Unlike Shitou, who was at the Qi Refinement stage, his position was as a guard for a shop under the Bai family, and the pay was quite generous.

At that moment, he suddenly saw a well-dressed man walking toward them. He quickly grabbed Shitou’s arm and pulled him to the side of the road.

Shitou was initially puzzled, but then he noticed the man approaching and, unlike Ling Feng, he didn’t hide. Instead, he smiled and greeted the man, “Good afternoon, Young Master Yan!”