Xuan was a cruel man.

But he wasn’t that cruel.

So like the kind gentleman that Xuan was, he scattered Hanbi’s and Sierra’s clothes all throughout the forest, making it a full-on treasure hunt to keep the two women occupied.

As for Xuan, he made his way back to the camp, and to his surprise...

"Brother Xuan!"

"Alchemist Xuan!"

"Handsome brother Xuan!"

People really had a lot of titles for him. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Huh.

But like the handsome, alchemist brother Xuan that he was, he decided to raise his arm and wave around confidently.

"Alchemist Xuan will soon be departing! Thank you all for being so kind to my sister~!"

With that, Xuan approached Yuelan’s tent. He stopped right before it and extended his Qi, making sure she was clothed. Then, he stepped inside.

She was just lazily lying on the bed and writing in some kind of journal. Though once she spotted him, she sighed.

"Don’t call me old-fashioned just because I have a diary."

"Is that what it is? And no, I wasn’t going to say anything. Maybe get a bigger notebook, though? Since we’re cultivators, we’re probably going to live hundreds of years. Doubt you’ll be able to store that much in that diary," Xuan replied.

Yuelan pondered over it for a moment, then shrugged.

"I only write the important bits, so I probably won’t be able to fill it up before I die. Anyways, give me a minute, I’m almost finished."

Xuan decided to just sit down beside her and relax for a moment, listening to her scribble. Once she was done, she just stored the notebook in a random handbag and then stood up.

"Alright. I already did the announcement earlier, so we can get going. Where’s Hanbi and Sierra?"

"Hmm? They should be here in a few minutes," Xuan replied with a whistle.

Sensing as if something was wrong, Yuelan just grumbled and stepped out of her tent. He followed after her.

The departure was pretty tame, honestly.

Every single person in the camp was cheering Yuelan’s name, and even her entourage of shadows chimed in. Among them were Hua Lian and Huang Shuying. They weren’t cheering her name, but instead, they were slightly sobbing and waving goodbye.

Despite Yuelan acting like a hard-ass, Xuan spotted a tear or two stream down her cheeks. She was obviously affected, since she had built up a real relationship with these people.

Xuan just patted her on the back a little and helped her through it. Eventually, they left the camp. The cheers still resounded from behind them, but they continued on until finally, they reached the forest.

He had led Yuelan here, and as it so happened... Two very~ angry women were already waiting for him.

"Xuan~? What kind of person does that?" Hanbi asked, her brows twitching.

Xuan smirked.

"Me. Be happy I was generous. Next time, you’ll have to use the leaves to cover yourselves."

Yuelan raised a brow.

"Am I missing something?"

Hearing that, the three of them immediately fell silent, making Yuelan even more suspicious.

"Leaving me curious is going to get someone killed~"

She smirked.

"But until then, Xuan, you know what we have to do, right?"

Of course he did.

Back when he buried a good friend, he had made a promise to Yuelan. He promised that before they left this world, they would pay a visit to their parents’ graves one last time.

There was a really small chance that the graves were still there, since the world had expanded by a lot. Even their old apartment was gone. Honestly... He didn’t have many hopes, but even so, he knew he had to at least try.

"Let’s take it slow. Hanbi, while we’re going there, tell Yuelan everything you told me..."

An hour flew by in the blink of an eye, and as Xuan and the others stood in front of a tattered cemetery, none of them had any hopes.

Most of the graves were uprooted, and there were even some coffins scattered around. Deep down, Xuan hoped that his parents’ coffins weren’t out here, since that would just be disrespectful.

"Remember where their graves used to be?" Xuan asked.

Yuelan reluctantly nodded.

"Yeah, but this isn’t looking good..."

Xuan shrugged and took a step forward. The soil was mushy, and the closer he got to his parents’ graves, the mushier it got. Once they arrived by the graves, Xuan’s heart sank as a large sinkhole caught his sight. It enveloped a big chunk of the cemetery, and his parents’ graves were included.

"No..." Yuelan mumbled, clenching her fists.

Xuan was the same.

But before the two of them could begin to grieve, Sierra suddenly stepped up.

"This is a really weird sinkhole. Look at the soil here."

She leaned down and brushed her fingers across the edge of the sinkhole.

"It’s perfectly cut. And I’m not feeling any disruption in the soil either. I’m guessing that if the sinkhole actually happened, instead of destroying everything, it just shifted down below. What I mean is... The graves should very likely still be there."

"Should I ask my spirit, Mei Mei, to go down there and have a look?" Hanbi chimed in.

Xuan paused for a moment, taking in all this information.

"Did Mei Mei recover?"

After Hanbi went into a coma, Mei Mei used itself to stabilize her vitals. Without him, she would’ve already been dead. Xuan thought Mei Mei was already dead, but if it was alive...

"It woke up a few days ago."

Xuan shook his head.

"Then let Mei Mei rest a little longer. I’ll just—"

"Weeeeee!"

Yuelan’s scream made Xuan flinch, and when he turned toward her, he realized she was already diving straight into the sinkhole. When her figure was no longer visible, Sierra was the first one to let out a chuckle.

"After you?"

"Ugh... That musclehead," Xuan complained, then positioned himself at the edge of the sinkhole.

But right as he was about to delicately dive in after her, he suddenly felt a push from behind, followed by two women falling right above him with wide smirks on their faces.

For a moment, Xuan felt like he was attracted to very difficult types of women.

Tsunderes and Yanderes.

But anyhow, he decided to not faceplant onto a grave like an idiot, and so he swiftly Void Stepped down the wall, arriving at the very bottom.

The moment he did, his eyes widened as he realized the whole section of the cemetery that had fallen was fully intact. Not to mention, Yuelan was already kneeling in front of their parents’ tombstones.

Xuan froze for a moment, never imagining that he’d have a chance like this again. Still, he composed himself, and with his heart beating wildly and his legs shaking, he approached Yuelan and kneeled down beside her.

Their graves were spotless, almost like someone had cleaned them beforehand.

But neither Xuan nor Yuelan focused on the specifics, and instead, they quietly paid their respects, sitting shoulder to shoulder with each other.

Their parents loved them a lot. Xuan knew that, and Yuelan did too.

Even though Yuelan wasn’t his real sister, his parents never treated her like an outsider. In fact, they probably treated her better than they treated him. Hell, he thought he was the adopted one.

...They deserved the world, and Xuan really wished they could’ve lived longer so Yuelan and he could’ve repaid them for everything.

But now, all Xuan and Yuelan could do was carry their legacy and never forget them.

Xuan reached into his back pocket and pulled out some flowers he had picked up. Then, he split them evenly and placed them on his mother’s grave, and then his father’s grave.

Yuelan had surprisingly done the same, and once they both placed their flowers on their parents’ graves, they gave them one final deep bow and stood up.

Their expressions were blank, but they had a lot on their minds. Mainly, they were just grateful they were able to give their final goodbyes.

And because of that, they felt at peace.

"I really wish our home was still there so we could’ve left a family picture down here as well," Yuelan mumbled.

Xuan sighed.

"Don’t make it any sadder than it already is."

"Sorry..."

The two of them reluctantly left their parents’ graves and approached Sierra and Hanbi, who were just idly standing by, not saying anything, but still mutually giving their respects to both Xuan and Yuelan.

But that was enough being sad and grumpy.

Xuan patted Yuelan’s head, then with a slight smile, nodded at Hanbi.

"Let’s go to Antarctica."