Ji Lanruo was just like Pad-cho; her ability to change size was truly a mystery.
However, Ding Nan had easily deduced the pattern.
Ji Yang must have realized it as well.
Previously, whenever Ji Lanruo was alone with Ji Yang, her chest was always prominently displayed.
She would constantly beg Ji Yang to teach her privately in his room, claiming she wanted things to be “just like they were before.”
Ever since Ji Lanruo grew up, Ji Yang had stopped allowing her to enter his room alone.
“Did Ji Yang dislike Ji Lanruo?”
It was much like playing a Galgame; it was difficult for players to feel the specific inner emotions of the protagonist as a concrete character.
Ding Nan wasn’t entirely sure what Ji Yang was thinking, but judging by how the perspective actively moved away from Ji Lanruo’s heavy artillery, it was clear that the man actually had a reaction to them.
“Good grief, he’s a total closet pervert,” Ding Nan commented.
He could empathize.
Truth be told, Ding Nan felt that Ji Yang’s personality was very similar to his own—repressed and silent, timid yet meticulous. He had the potential to be a real Lao Liu.
However, Ding Nan estimated that he and Ji Yang wouldn’t get along.
The two of them would instinctively spend years observing each other before they could ever truly trust one another.
That kind of process was simply too exhausting.
He then rubbed his chin and murmured, ‘If Ji Lanruo’s heart belongs to Ji Yang, does that mean I’m nothing more than Ji Yang’s substitute?’
Suddenly, Ding Nan’s vision went dark.
‘What? Was Ji Yang attacked by a rebellious disciple?’
Immediately after, a ringing echoed in Ding Nan’s ears.
‘Oh, it turns out my Spiritual Qi ran out.’
Ding Nan closed his eyes.
After a bout of dizziness, he regained the sensation in his limbs.
‘Oh, the stinging isn’t as bad today.’
Ding Nan opened his eyes to see the familiar bed curtains.
Outside the window, the chirping of insects had ceased.
The watchman struck his bronze gong, informing Ding Nan that it was currently 4:00 AM.
The hour before a midsummer dawn did not brighten quickly.
Outside was still a deep, ink-blue, and the inside of the room was pitch black.
Ding Nan stretched lazily, still feeling somewhat groggy.
He turned over, intending to sleep for a few more minutes, but he unexpectedly hugged something soft.
The object was large; Ding Nan could only feel a single palm’s worth of its softness.
“Huh?!”
Ding Nan was startled. He looked down, but saw only darkness.
He reached out and continued to feel around.
His palm grew increasingly hot—not because his hand was burning, but because the thing beneath his hand was heating up.
His palm traced a curve in the darkness, eventually coming to rest on a plump, perfectly rounded spot.
“Ah!”
A shy cry rang out from beside him.
The soft figure burrowed into Ding Nan’s chest.
A familiar scent invaded Ding Nan’s nostrils, which had become sensitive due to the darkness.
At that moment, Ding Nan realized exactly what he was touching.
Ding Nan retracted his hand and pulled a Spirit Stone from his pocket, using his own Spiritual Qi to activate it.
The Spirit Stone slowly released an orange glow, similar to candlelight.
In the dim light stood Luo Yao.
Luo Yao had already removed her hairpins, letting her messy hair fall around her face.
Her black pearl eyes and her lips, coated in balm, shimmered in the faint light of the Spirit Stone.
With a flush tinting her cheeks, Luo Yao gazed at Ding Nan with a mix of joy and longing.
“It’s okay, Young Master.”
“It was okay? What was okay?”
Ding Nan swallowed hard, just like Jerry, and slowly looked down.
He saw that Luo Yao was wearing a half-open white undershirt.
Her pressed cleavage was pale and delicate, and he could even see the curves outlined at the edges.
Ding Nan was terrified.
He rolled over and tore through the edge of the bed curtains that were tucked under the mat.
With a thud, Ding Nan tumbled onto the floor.
But Ding Nan ignored the pain.
He scrambled up, clutching his pants, and slammed the door open as he bolted outside.
He didn’t know how long he ran.
In the empty courtyard, he leaned both hands against a wall, panting heavily as he told himself to calm down.
Did he want to reject Luo Yao?
He wanted to accept her, but he couldn’t.
Based on the memories he had seen, Ji Lanruo didn’t have any strange fetishes, but her sense of possessiveness was extreme.
Ding Nan was certain that if he laid a finger on Luo Yao, Ji Lanruo would either kill Luo Yao, kill him, or kill them both together.
Luo Yao was just a Level 9 Body Tempering Realm child!
Since Ding Nan was Ji Yang’s substitute, he and Ji Yang must look exactly alike.
Using Ji Yang’s face to embrace another woman would almost certainly cause Ji Lanruo to blacken out of hatred and love.
What would happen if she fell to the demonic path?
Obsession could lead to one becoming a Demonic Cultivator.
A Demonic Cultivator wouldn’t care about a proper marriage, nor would they care about defying the Heavenly Dao.
After taking deep breaths for a long while, Ding Nan gradually recovered.
He looked down at himself; he was only wearing a plain short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
In his previous world, this was almost equivalent to swimwear, but in this era, it was incredibly indecent.
If a girl saw him like this, she would surely scream and call him a rogue.
Ding Nan sighed.
Taking advantage of the faint moonlight, he walked toward the Patriarch’s courtyard, which was adjacent to his own.
Going anywhere else would only lead to ridicule or misunderstanding, so he could only bother his elder.
Before long, Ding Nan knocked on Ding Wen’s door.
Ding Wen was woken up.
After understanding the situation, he gave Ding Nan an outer coat to wear.
“Son, actually you…”
Seeing Ding Nan acting paranoid—alternating between joy and sorrow, and even slapping himself twice—Ding Wen hesitated, seeing his son’s seemingly unstable mental state.
“What is it?”
Ding Nan asked.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Father, I know what Luo Yao is thinking, but I can’t do it. That woman is at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. The Tribulation Transcendence Stage!” Ding Nan shook his head vigorously.
“We cannot have that kind of relationship.”
Ding Wen sighed and said nothing more.
***
In the morning, Ding Wen went to handle clan affairs as scheduled.
Ding Nan was hungry and planned to head to the kitchen to find food.
Then, there was a knock at the door.
“Young Master, you’re in there, aren’t you?”
It was Luo Yao!
Alarm bells rang in Ding Nan’s head.
‘How did she know I was in my father’s room?’
“Young Master, hurry up and open the door! I brought your favorite grilled oysters!”
Oysters for breakfast?
How extrav—uh, actually, it wasn’t that extravagant.
In fact, it was quite thrifty.
Oysters weren’t worth much in this era, priced similarly to field snails.
Ding Nan hesitated over whether to open the door.
*Thud, thud, thud.*
The door rattled as Luo Yao’s knocking grew heavier.
Ding Nan’s expression shifted several times before he finally climbed out the window and fled.
He returned to his own room, grabbed his Spirit Stone, packed some food and fire-starting tools, and left the Ding Clan estate alone.
The Ding Clan was located to the east of Qingquan City, possessing fertile fields, livestock pens, and two mountains that provided the clan with firewood.
Ding Nan ran into the mountains.
The man-eating beasts and spirits in these mountains had already been cleared out.
As a child, Ding Nan had often come to the mountains for fun.
He, Ding Sheng, and the others had established a secret base in a shallow cave halfway up the mountain.
But that secret base had long since been abandoned.
Looking at the bare, clean cave, Ding Nan was reminded of the glorious days he had spent here with his peers.
Now, they had all been consumed by the dark side of power, recognizing only strength and ignoring their past bonds.
‘Things really have changed…’
After a sigh, Ding Nan found a clean stone platform and began to absorb Spiritual Qi to cultivate.
By evening, Ding Nan broke through to the Qi Refining Stage, officially becoming a cultivator.
Including yesterday, it had only taken 2 days of cultivation.
Ding Nan’s heart was filled with joy.
He took out some cured meat to roast.
While he was tending to the campfire, he saw Luo Yao gripping the edge of the cave entrance.
“Young Master…”
A smile that seemed devoid of life and emotion was plastered across her pretty face, illuminated by the dim firelight.