As soon as Su Tianhe finished speaking, even someone as composed as Chu Liuxue, who could remain calm even if the sky were falling, couldn't help but be taken aback.
She even thought she might have misheard.
"With whom?"
"With you."
Chu Liuxue turned to look at Tao Mian.
Tao Mian: ...?
He took a step back.
"It has nothing to do with me. I don't want my name to appear in your story."
"…"
Chu Liuxue took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Whose idea was this?"
Su Tianhe earnestly counted on his fingers.
"My dad, your uncle, several confidants of your father’s faction, and—"
"Alright, alright," Chu Liuxue waved her hand, not in the mood to listen further, "It's utterly ridiculous. I don't even remember their faces, yet they arranged a marriage for me without my knowledge."
Saying this, she looked up to scrutinize Su Tianhe.
"You’re quite handsome, not lacking in marriage prospects. Why let them mess around?"
Su Tianhe felt aggrieved.
"My dad says I have no other skills, that I was born to live off a woman's family."
"…"
To make living off a woman sound so justified, Su Tianhe's father was truly a genius.
"And you believe him?"
"I didn't at first," Su Tianhe explained seriously, "but then I thought, maybe I really do have a talent for it?"
Even Tao Mian was stunned.
What on earth was going on in this young man's mind?
Chu Liuxue seemed to be numb.
"So, have you come to your senses since arriving here?"
"I have," Su Tianhe said bitterly, "Living off a woman is great, but my dignity is suppressing my talent."
"…"
According to the Su family, after Tan Yuan, the master of the Netherworld Hall, wiped out the main branch of the Dou Clan, the Dou family's collateral branches were still striving for power. Currently, the one in control of Sky's End Valley was the traitor who had colluded with Tan Yuan. After rising to power, he ruthlessly clipped Dou Huai's wings, forming his own faction.
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On the surface, the Su family complied with this new Valley Master, but in reality, they never gave up their connections with the old Valley Master's people. Over the years, the Dou Clan's people were able to move freely between the Demonic Realm and the human world, thanks in no small part to the Su family's efforts behind the scenes.
However, the Dou Clan's attitude towards the Su family was complex, both reliant and wary.
To dispel the Dou Clan's suspicions, Su's father arranged for his son to marry Dou Huai's orphaned daughter.
Chu Liuxue spoke startling words.
"Go back and persuade your father to take the position himself," she reasoned, "The Dou Clan's power has long since declined. What can remnants and defeated troops accomplish? Your Su family has a better chance of seizing power."
Su Tianhe punched his palm.
"We think alike! I advised my dad the same way, to let me off the hook."
Tao Mian silently watched the drama unfold, not expecting these two "rebels" to conspire such a shocking plan.
He couldn't help but speak up.
"Shouldn't you ask Old Su what he thinks about this?"
Su Tianhe sulked.
"He never asked me!"
Tao Mian fell silent. This was quite a mess, and he didn't want to get involved.
But since it had already reached his territory, it was no longer a matter of whether he wanted to intervene.
Because Su Tianhe intended to stay.
"Anyway, if I go back, I'll just get kicked out again. I might as well stay here."
Chu Liuxue frowned.
"Why insist on staying at Peach Blossom Mountain? The world is vast, surely there's a place for you somewhere?"
"What if my dad secretly sends someone to monitor us and finds out I'm not here? What then? In any case, I’m staying."
"…Actually, you just want to freeload, don't you?"
Tao Mian watched them go back and forth, silently raising a hand.
"Mind if I say something? After all, I am the master of this mountain."
"I'll pay!"
"Deal."
Chu Liuxue was slightly taken aback.
"Banknote, are you short on money?"
"As your master, it's not about the money. Mainly, this young man Tianhe seems to have a good vibe."
"What about Xue Han—"
"…"
Tao Mian deliberately changed the subject, asking Su Tianhe what he wanted for dinner.
Of course, he couldn't let Xue Han stay in the mountain. If he did, how would he enjoy his carefree days?
He couldn't even guarantee his personal freedom.
Despite the absurdity of the situation, Su Tianhe ended up staying at Peach Blossom Mountain.
He was one of the few outsiders to live on the mountain in hundreds of years. Over the centuries, apart from immortals and their disciples, outsiders at most stayed for a night or two, while Su Tianhe genuinely lived there for quite a while.
What Tao Mian didn't expect was that the one who clashed most with Su Tianhe wasn't Chu Liuxue, but Chu Suiyan.
On Su Tianhe's first night, Chu Suiyan got into a fight with him. The commotion was so great it nearly tore off the Taoist temple's roof.
Chu Suiyan gripped his long sword, angrily standing at one end of the eaves.
"What right do you have to stay here!"
Two strands of hair fell over Su Tianhe's forehead. He too had a young master's temper, quite irritable.
"Why can't I stay? Your master Tao Mian agreed himself, who are you to question?"
"Shut up! Don't mention my master’s name!"
"Hey, you're so young yet so full of rules! Watch me fix your attitude today!"
Clang, clang—
The two fought fiercely on the rooftop, first tearing off the temple's roof, then moving on to Chu Liuxue's bedroom.
Chu Liuxue, who had been sleeping soundly, came out with her sword, ready to kill.
Lying in bed, Tao Mian thought to himself, as long as they don't tear off his roof, he wouldn't care about the commotion.
But with a "crash," a few broken tiles fell, and Tao Mian found himself looking up at the brilliant starry sky.
"…"
All of you, get to the courtyard and stand with bowls on your heads!
Under the starry sky, in the small courtyard of Peach Blossom Temple, three young people stood in a row, each with a white porcelain bowl on their head.
Chu Liuxue had only one bowl, the least of them. She sighed.
"Why am I being punished too?"
Tao Mian pointed with a peach wood branch at the ruins of Su Tianhe's guest room and Chu Suiyan's bedroom behind him.
Chu Liuxue closed her mouth.
Alright, maybe it was a bit excessive.
Su Tianhe and Chu Suiyan each had five bowls, theirs made of copper, much heavier than the one on Chu Liuxue's head.
"Master is biased."
Chu Suiyan looked pitiful and aggrieved.
Su Tianhe stubbornly refused to accept it.
"I wasn't the one who started it, why do I have to balance as many bowls as him?"
"You two are equally at fault, yet still argue. Tomorrow at dawn, fix the house, did you hear me?"
Tao Mian pretended to be fierce, threatening the kids.
"Yes…"
"Louder, haven't you eaten?"
"No!"
Su Tianhe led the shout, only realizing afterward what nonsense he had just blurted out.
He lowered his head in frustration, and another bowl was added to his head.
Just can't keep his mouth shut.
After lecturing the three youngsters, Tao Mian yawned and returned to his open-roofed room.
Even after being punished, the three weren't quiet, whispering with bowls on their heads.
The first to speak was Su Tianhe.
"Young Valley Master, your father’s surname is Dou, so why is yours Chu? Are you not your father's biological child?"
"Shut your filthy mouth," Chu Suiyan defended his sister, "Can you speak properly? If not, keep quiet."
Chu Suiyan didn't think it was a big deal.
"When I was young, a scholar adopted me. His surname was Chu, so I took his surname."
"Oh," Su Tianhe nodded, then looked at Chu Suiyan, "And you…"
"I naturally took my sister's surname."
Su Tianhe, with decent basic skills, balanced in a horse stance, could still glance around with the bowl on his head.
"You two don't look alike, are you really siblings?"
"No," Chu Liuxue calmly replied, "I found my brother."
Su Tianhe nodded, seemingly up to no good, his eyes darting as he looked at Chu Suiyan.
But then he seemed to notice something, suddenly staring intently at the young man's features.
"You… you look kind of familiar."