Chapter 255: Chapter 152: Today, You Must Be With Me

The blast from the explosion sent the Water-Seeking Beast tumbling to the ground, its claws mangled and bloody.

Fortunately, the Water-Seeking Beast had several hundred years of cultivation behind it and a body covered in feathered scales, making it quite tough.

An ordinary Xingzi, or one with lower defenses, would have been blown to pieces by those three Thunder Bombs.

Watching this unfold, the Human-faced Two-legged Sheep knew the situation was getting out of control.

’I can’t just reveal myself to stop this fight, can I?’

’I might just get a couple of explosions to the face before I can even say a word.’

The Water-Seeking Beast, enraged, let out a furious howl.

Hearing the creature’s cry, Gu Ziye said, "Why is such a huge monster barking like a dog? It’s so cute!"

At these words, the Water-Seeking Beast felt utterly humiliated and lunged forward.

"Stop, Xiaoshui’Er!" Su Liyan’s mother finally caught up.

The Water-Seeking Beast skidded to a halt at the sound of her voice, looking at Su Liyan’s mother with a wronged expression.

’I was sleeping peacefully when I was woken up, and I just wanted to vent a little.’

’Then I get one of my legs blown up. When have I ever suffered such a loss?’

Lu Yuan stared, dumbfounded, as Su Liyan and her mother arrived.

"Xiaoshui’Er?"

’This Xingzi, over two meters tall, is named "Xiaoshui’Er"?’

Su Liyan’s mother walked up to the Water-Seeking Beast and stroked it, then said to Lu Yuan and the others, "Please, everyone, stop attacking. Xiaoshui’Er means no harm. This is all a misunderstanding."

’Damn, my mother-in-law is this capable? She’s raising this Xingzi?’

Su Liyan wrapped her arm around Lu Yuan’s and whispered, "There are too many people here. I’ll explain everything to you later, when we’re alone."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan understood the situation. Other people were present.

Gu Gaoxu was still shaken, to say nothing of Gu Ziye.

Lu Yuan said to Gu Gaoxu and the others, "You all should head back first. I’m the one who injured this Xingzi, so I’ll help treat its wounds."

Escorted by the Personal Guards, Gu Gaoxu and Gu Ziye left first, returning to Su Liyan’s mother’s house.

Su Liyan hugged Lu Yuan’s arm and pointed at the Water-Seeking Beast. "Honey, to be honest with you, my mother takes care of all these Xingzi. They’ve never hurt anyone. They just gather here."

"These? All of them? Including the Water Ghosts in the reservoir?" This was the first time Lu Yuan had heard his wife say such a thing.

Su Liyan’s mother added, "Not just the ones in the water. There are these as well."

One by one, the Xingzi in the bamboo forest began to materialize. Most of them were Void Body Practitioners.

Lu Yuan froze on the spot, stunned by the sight.

The thing Lu Yuan feared most was Xingzi. His era didn’t have these ghostly things, and now he was watching them appear one after another.

Lu Yuan could feel goosebumps rising all over his skin.

Fortunately, after coming to the Divine Ling Empire, he’d had more contact with them and wasn’t as repulsed as he had been at first.

Still, seeing so many at once was a bit unsettling.

The Black Mountain Demon was floating just a few meters behind Lu Yuan. It let out a shriek that made him jump. It was so close to him.

’What a powerful Xingzi!’

"Honey, you don’t mind these Xingzi, do you? I know you’re afraid of them, which is why I never told you before." Su Liyan was worried he would hold it against her.

’At this point, I have to explain. I can’t hide it anymore.’

Stroking the Water-Seeking Beast, Su Liyan’s mother added, "All of these Xingzi are kind. They won’t hurt people."

Though Lu Yuan was still reeling from the shock, he had seen his fair share of incredible things.

He quickly calmed down, walked over to the Water-Seeking Beast, and crouched, pulling a vial of Golden Wound Medicine from his robes.

Mimicking Su Liyan’s mother, Lu Yuan called out, "Xiaoshui’Er, let me put some medicine on it. It won’t hurt!"

The Water-Seeking Beast was speechless. ’I am the great Water-Seeking Beast! Not just anyone gets to call me "Xiaoshui’Er," okay?’

But with Su Liyan’s mother right there, it had no choice but to let it go.

"Grandma, Grandma..." A little girl floated out. This one had actually snuck off early, even leaving the village.

Lu Yuan looked at the floating girl and asked his wife, "This one... too?"

"Master, I’m Yunyun! This is my grandma and my sister. I’ve even been to your house before!" the little girl answered obediently.

From the edge of the reservoir and the depths of the bamboo forest, the crowd of Xingzi copied the little girl, their calls rising and falling: "Master, Master~"

’I just married a wife, how did I end up with this whole crowd of Xingzi too?’

This string of surprises was becoming too much for Lu Yuan to handle.

Lu Yuan could only reply robotically, "Right, right. Hello, everyone!"

’There are too many Xingzi to count. If this group really decided to rebel...’

’...even if all the Celestial Masters from the Provincial City and Dou Shi Temple came, they couldn’t possibly suppress them.’

But then another thought struck Lu Yuan. ’All these Xingzi listen to my mother-in-law. In that case, my wife’s side of the family is actually quite powerful.’

’If you just look at my wife’s family background, they seem like an ordinary household. But if you factor in this group of Xingzi... this is practically a Xingzi army!’

’Heh heh, so I have some powerful backing too, huh?’

At this thought, Lu Yuan broke into a happy smile.

Seeing Lu Yuan grinning foolishly, Su Liyan and her mother thought for a moment that he’d been frightened out of his wits.

Su Liyan hugged her man tightly and patted the back of his head, afraid his soul had been scared out of his body.

Lu Yuan said, "I’m fine, I’m fine."

Since Lu Yuan now knew about the little girl’s existence, Yunyun no longer had to hide from him.

However, the little girl didn’t want to return to her grandma’s house just yet, afraid that others might notice her.

’This is not the time to attract the attention of the Royal Family.’

Lu Yuan, Su Liyan, and her mother returned to the house.

Seeing Lu Yuan return, Gu Ziye ran out to meet them. "Are you all okay? What happened to that giant water monster?"

Lu Yuan said, "I treated the water monster’s injuries. It’s the kind of wound that takes a hundred days to heal, so it’ll be fine after some rest. It’s holed up in a cave by the reservoir now."

Hearing this, Gu Ziye praised him, "Yuan~ you’re amazing! You even beat that giant water monster."

Gu Gaoxu, however, circled Lu Yuan, patting him down and muttering, "Where’s the thing? What was that you threw earlier?"

Lu Yuan swatted Gu Gaoxu’s hands away. "What are you doing? Stop groping me, we’re both grown men. I only had a few of those things, and I threw them all."

Lu Yuan actually had a few left, but giving them to Gu Gaoxu would do more harm than good.

’What if Gu Gaoxu throws them around recklessly and causes trouble?’

So he just denied having any more and fobbed him off by saying he had bought them in the Imperial Capital last time.

With all the commotion caused by the Gu uncle and niece during his visit to his in-laws, it was already dusk.

Lu Yuan’s group decided not to stay for dinner. Su Liyan’s mother’s house was small and couldn’t accommodate so many people.

So, the group decided to head back early.

He left the wheat harvester with his household staff, instructing them to harvest the wheat for Su Liyan’s mother’s family, as well as for their close friends and relatives.

Back at their estate, Zhao Qiao’Er pestered Lu Yuan, asking if anything interesting had happened that day.

Lu Yuan didn’t tell Aunt Zhao that he had stirred up a nest of Xingzi in Changliu Village, only saying that he had left the wheat harvester there.

Aunt Zhao asked Lu Yuan, "You put so much effort into building this wheat harvester. Are you just going to let everyone use it for free?"

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "No. This year, I’ll just build a few for everyone to use. Word of mouth will spread quickly, but next year, it won’t be free anymore."

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Lu Yuan was playing a much bigger game.

In the Divine Ling Empire, Lu Yuan had to gradually lay out his plans to deal with future upheavals, or at least to ensure he and his women could survive them.

Currently, Lu Yuan had already trained the estate’s first Firearms Team, and his various businesses were running smoothly, guaranteeing a steady income of vast amounts of silver.

’In a chaotic world, this should be enough to secure a foothold, right?’

Of course, Lu Yuan was also thinking he might be able to latch onto King Yan’s coattails, but there was no rush. There was still time.

For now, he needed to prepare for the deliveries of his wife and Aunt Zhao.

Lu Yuan coaxed Aunt Zhao back to her room. He decided against sleeping in either of the two "aunts’" rooms tonight; he wanted to sleep with his wife.

However, Song Meiqin wasn’t about to let that happen. Now that Song Meiqin knew she was able to conceive, she was naturally eager to get pregnant as soon as possible.

Song Meiqin grabbed Lu Yuan’s hand. "Tonight, you have to sleep with me~"