Chapter Eight: The Ancestor Resides in the Public Restroom

Ning Xianyu was blown into a tree and lodged there directly.

[System, what’s wrong with him now? Why is he angry?]

Luckily, this body was tough enough, or she would have died right there in the tree. But she just couldn’t figure it out. She’d been so diligent and sensible—why was the demon lord still angry? Was this “auntie period” of his never going to end?

The system sighed like a weary mother: [Host, don’t forget, you’re now a Void Realm powerhouse. You could move mountains and fill the seas with a wave of your hand, yet you’re still cleaning the ground in the way a mortal would. Isn’t that… a waste of your talents?]

If she were in his shoes, she’d be mad too. No one wanted to see their own body acting so pitiful.

Ning Xianyu struggled to pry herself loose from the tree and returned, face full of misery, to apologize.

She only hoped the demon lord wouldn’t kill her. She was terrified of pain, terrified of death.

But when she looked up, she saw that Xuan Yuan Tunhan had already cleaned the ground himself and produced a bizarre-looking object.

As soon as it appeared, it rapidly expanded, transforming into a grand sleeping palace.

From the outside, the palace was resplendent, sumptuously decorated, and spotlessly clean—there wasn’t a speck of dust. Pristine corridors, pointed glazed tile eaves, doors and walls of the finest sacred wood, courtyards on all sides, and in the center, something like a withered tree stood upright like a flagpole, exuding a blend of ancient elegance and ostentatious luxury.

But for some reason, there was something off about this palace.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan ignored her, went inside, found a divan, and reclined with a look of utter ease.

With no orders, Ning Xianyu dared not enter. She circled the five-hundred-square-meter palace again and again.

[Ah, I remember now! Doesn’t this look just like a highway rest stop public restroom?]

At last, she realized what was wrong with the palace. Surrounded by small groves and beautifully landscaped greenery, a lavish little building suddenly appeared in the middle—no matter how you looked at it, it was incongruous.

All of it, every detail, looked just like a modern public bathroom.

[Pfft!]

The system couldn’t help but burst out laughing: [Hahaha, you’re terrible, Host! But it really does look like one. And if you see it that way, Xuan Yuan Tunhan is the restroom manager.]

Ning Xianyu stifled her laughter, her shoulders shaking: [The people who watch over restrooms are always old men, and he’s an old man too—hahahaha!]

Smack!

Just as she was laughing, there was a sharp crack. Ning Xianyu felt a sudden pang of distress and looked around in panic, only to see Xuan Yuan Tunhan sitting on the divan, idly snapping his own fingers.

Crack!

Another snap!

That had to be bones breaking, right?

No, no, no, please not that!

[System, what’s he going crazy for now? Could he have heard what we were saying?]

She was so flustered she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She couldn’t bear to hear the sound of her own fingers being broken.

Even though it wasn’t her feeling the pain right now, watching her own body being damaged made her heart ache.

The system was puzzled too: [That can’t be. I’m a top-notch piece of high-tech equipment. He couldn’t possibly hear us. It must be because you were too clueless and made him angry.]

[Or maybe his temperament is unstable and he’s just playing with you out of boredom.]

Ning Xianyu nearly coughed up blood: [Thanks for nothing. That’s not comforting at all. What should I do now?]

The system started to panic as well: [What else? Go in and beg him. Tell him “we’re born of the same root, so why torment one another?”]

To hell with being “born of the same root”—the two of them definitely weren’t.

Knowing she couldn’t count on the system, and unwilling to watch her fingers being broken one by one, Ning Xianyu’s legs trembled as she went inside.

“O-old ancestor, are you… working out? Ha… ha…”

She watched as Xuan Yuan Tunhan snapped her fingers and then, one by one, reattached them again, though she had no idea how he managed it with a crippled hand.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan snorted coldly, his voice as icy as if it had just been squeezed from a freezer.

“Nothing. I was bored and wanted something to play with.”

Wuwuwu, she knew it—he was a pervert.

Play with something? Play with yourself, not my body! Will it even work after you reattach it?

“If you’re so distressed, why don’t you come over here and let me play with my own body?”

Xuan Yuan Tunhan seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, and coldly offered a “helpful” suggestion.

Ha! How dare she suggest he lives in a public restroom.

He didn’t know what a public restroom was, but it certainly didn’t sound like a good place.

This woman looked obedient on the surface, but inside, she was utterly bold.

Ning Xianyu weighed her options: suffer now, or suffer later—which would hurt more?

Forget it. Let the world end.

“Ha… ha… you jest, ancestor. Please, go ahead.”

At worst, in a month she’d switch to a new body. This crippled one—she didn’t want it.

Next time, she’d pick a body with a Celestial Spiritual Root, even a Wind Root—she’d ascend to the heavens!

Fortunately, Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s temper flared quickly and faded just as fast. After a while, he stopped.

He set up a barrier here and then sat down to meditate.

Ning Xianyu was left with nothing to do, forbidden from going out, so she could only sit nearby, scratching her head in boredom.

Instead of feeling the joy of being the happiest in the world, she felt nothing but frustration.

The two of them waited awkwardly for two days before Du Juezi finally arrived with his main force.

Ning Xianyu was relieved right away. At last—other living people!

When Du Juezi and his group descended from the clouds, their expressions were quite peculiar.

They’d raced to catch up, and finally managed to do so.

But Old Ancestor Xuan Yuan was just too eager—he just had to spend those extra two days with the little immortal, didn’t he?

Look, he’d even set up their nest. It was obvious what the two of them had been up to while the others were away.

And look at Ning Xianyu, lying in bed and refusing to come out, while the old ancestor stood at the door, keeping watch—she must be exhausted, right?

Hehehe!

Standing at the doorway, Ning Xianyu had no idea what those ambiguous smiles on the disciples’ faces meant.

What was this? You’re two days late and proud of it?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s voice sounded in her mind with further instructions, so she could only put on a stern face and command, “Rest for a bit, then come for a meeting.”

Du Juezi and the others complied and hurried off to set up their own lodgings with their magic treasures.

Their treasures, of course, couldn’t compare to Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s. With so many people, they’d all have to squeeze together.

But they did look more or less the same.

Great—now another public restroom had popped up next door.

When Ning Xianyu returned, Xuan Yuan Tunhan had already risen and was looking up, as if watching something.

“Heh, they’re all here!”

[Who’s here?]

The system replied: [Who else? People from the other immortal sects. They’re all here to compete for places at the Hundred Flowers Festival, and probably to fight over the Nine-Branched Ephemeral Blossom as well.]

Ning Xianyu asked curiously: [Are there a lot of people? Tell me what happens next. I need to avoid any traps.]

Although the system had said that sticking close to the male lead could help her benefit from the protagonist’s aura, she was, after all, just cannon fodder in the story. One wrong move and she could get wiped out.

She’d better get a sense of the plot first, so she could steer clear of any conflicts with the hero and heroine.

The system mocked her: [Funny how you only get motivated when it comes to things like this. Ah, whatever, I’ll tell you.]

If only the host were a little more diligent, the system would have leveled up already. Unfortunately, she was a hopeless slacker.