Chapter 43: Duping Duan Miaoyin and Secrets of the Immortal Realm

"Snap." A tiny flame flared to life on Sun Shangxiang's fingertips. Yan Tian leaned in toward the little flame to light his cigarette, took a deep, contented drag, and exhaled a ring of smoke.

Duan Miaoyin was wearing a set of Sun Shangxiang's clothes, her body sinking into the sofa as she stared with wide eyes at the small flame on Sun Shangxiang's finger.

Sun Shangxiang smiled enchantingly at her, gently flicking her finger, and the flame vanished without a trace.

Duan Miaoyin immediately said with a face full of reverence, "Immortal Master Sun possesses boundless divine powers, summoning fire with her bare hands with such effortless ease. Even Kumārajīva, the Tibetan National Preceptor of bygone years who was exceptionally skilled in the 'Blazing Flame Blade' technique, could not control fire with such delicate precision. Miaoyin is deeply impressed."

Sun Shangxiang smiled and snuggled intimately against Yan Tian's shoulder, saying, "Just a little trick."

At that moment, Xia Tianling walked into the main room with a smile on her face, saying as she walked, "Where should this sofa be placed?"

Behind her, a complete set of leather combination sofas was suspended in mid-air, floating into the room as gently as a feather in step with her pace.

"Oh, the sofa in the main room is enough. Take this set to the parlor in the middle courtyard," Yan Tian said casually.

Xia Tianling nodded, walking lightly through the main room toward the middle courtyard, the sofa floating three feet off the ground behind her at a leisurely pace.

Duan Miaoyin looked at Xia Tianling with utter devotion and said, "Such an ability to manipulate objects from a distance—even the renowned Dragon-Capturing Skill of Beggar Gang Leader Xiao Feng from back in the day could not achieve this. While the Dragon-Capturing Skill is infallible for retrieving objects from afar, making such a massive object float suspended in the air would still be beyond its reach."

Xia Tianling turned her head, offering her a slight smile. "Mere parlor tricks."

The young girl was completely astounded, stammering, "The divine powers of the Immortal Masters are not something we mortal beings can hope to fathom."

A wave of floral fragrance suddenly drifted through the main room. Duan Miaoyin looked up and saw that the entire hall was somehow filled with falling flower petals. Countless colorful petals drifted down from the air, scattering onto the floor where they transformed into clusters of glowing stardust and vanished without a trace, as if they had burrowed straight into the ground.

Amidst the shower of flowers, Gongsun Jing floated in through the front doorway with her feet three feet off the ground, enveloped in a flesh-invisible whirlwind. Behind her, a plasma rear-projection television was wrapped in a whirlwind, drifting into the room in her wake.

"Just put this TV in the main room so everyone can watch together." Yan Tian casually pointed to a spot. Gongsun Jing nodded, coolly placing the television onto a set of modular cabinets against the southern wall of the main room.

"Wow, heavenly maidens scattering blossoms..." Duan Miaoyin held her hands over her chest, her eyes sparkling. After all, the girl was not yet fourteen and still had the heart of a child. Seeing countless fragrant flower petals dancing around Gongsun Jing, her youthful nature immediately showed.

It had been three days since Duan Miaoyin was coaxed into Yan Tian's home. During the first two days, Yan Tian, Sun Shangxiang, and Gao Lan had been busy with exams and had no time to properly guide the young girl. Now that the exams were over, Gao Lan mentioned that the Chinese New Year was fast approaching and suggested thoroughly decorating the ancestral home, as well as purchasing new furniture and appliances. Yan Tian nodded in agreement, and at the same time, seized the opportunity to put on a grand display of the strength of the various "Immortals" from the "Immortal Realm" for Duan Miaoyin.

Xia Tianling and Gongsun Jing originally would not have accompanied Yan Tian in such nonsense. However, Sun Shangxiang had a lively personality and seemed to harbor a penchant for teasing young girls, taking on the task with enthusiasm. But once Yan Tian explained Duan Miaoyin's miraculous origins to the young women, Xia Tianling immediately agreed as well. Gongsun Jing took quite a bit of persuasion, but after Yan Tian adopted Leng Bingtong's suggestion to give Gongsun Jing's older sister a five-thousand-yuan red envelope, Gongsun Jing's sister instantly smiled charmingly and agreed.

At that time, Gongsun Jing's sister had taken the red envelope, quickly weighed it in her hand, and her frozen pretty face melted like lightning, offering Yan Tian a sweet smile that left him feeling somewhat flattered.

Having smoothed things over with the three artificial deities, and with Leng Bingtong and Gao Lan being the types who feared no chaos in the world, the group teamed up to fool the young girl from the world of wuxia novels. With their countless schemes, their efforts were completely infallible.

Yan the God-Faker was addressed as "Immortal Master" at every turn by Duan Miaoyin, and he gradually developed a somewhat floating sensation. Fortunately, there were enough artificial deities at home to make fooling a young girl exceedingly easy. Relying on the women's methods to firmly tie Duan Miaoyin to Yan the God-Faker's home, the god-faker himself—who believed that "shamelessness is invincible"—did not feel a shred of shame.

"A person can indeed be as shameless as I am," thought Yan the God-Faker smugly, completely free of any notion that tricking a young girl was an utterly shameless act.

After setting up the television, plugging it into the power supply and signal receiver, Yan Tian turned it on.

The sudden burst of images and voices jumping out of that square, silver-white thin box startled Duan Miaoyin. Wrapped in her somewhat oversized down jacket, she leaped off the sofa, shrieking in utter terror as she pointed at the television screen and cried, "Th-that, what is that? Those people, those people—how did they get trapped inside such a small box? Respected Immortal Masters, what kind of immortal magic is this? Could it be that these people offended you all, prompting the Immortal Masters to use your great divine powers to imprison them inside?"

Resisting a laugh, Yan Tian flicked his cigarette ash and said to Duan Miaoyin with a completely straight face, "Little Duan, this thing right here is a kind of spell from the Immortal Realm, called the 'Profound Light Mirror.' Through this 'Profound Light Mirror,' we can see things from a hundred thousand miles away. To appreciate foreign scenery without the fatigue of travel, one only needs to sit at home to know the affairs of the entire world."

As he spoke, he picked up the remote control and casually flipped through a few channels, happening to land on a local station broadcasting the old Hong Kong version of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*. This particular episode was the grand gathering at Shaolin Temple. The three sworn brothers—Xiao Feng, Xuzhu, and Duan Yu—were drinking merrily surrounded by heroes, kowtowing to become sworn brothers before engaging in a massive battle at Shaolin. Xiao Feng fought Zhuang Juxian, Xuzhu fought Ding Chunqiu, and Duan Yu fought Murong Fu, fighting so fiercely that the heavens and earth turned dark and the sun and moon lost their luster.

Duan Miaoyin stared with her wide, beautiful eyes, gasping and babbling as she pointed with her scallion-like fingers continuously. "Th-this, how is this possible? Buddha in heaven, that man, that man is using the Six Meridians Divine Sword... His name is Duan Yu? Why does he look different from my grandfather? Ah, and there's Xiao Feng, Xuzhu... Isn't this, isn't this the battle my grandfather always talks about, the one he was most proud of in his entire life?"

Yan Tian smiled slightly and said, "This Profound Light Mirror has another ability, which is to know the past and the future. The past five thousand years and the future five thousand years can all be seen within the Profound Light Mirror. You think the Duan Yu in here looks different from your grandfather, right? Actually, that's completely normal. What you are seeing right now is a scene from when your grandfather and his two sworn brothers raised a ruckus at Shaolin Temple in their youth. How old was he back then? And how old is he now? Back then, he hadn't even won over his Fairy Sister yet! Later on, after he won his beauty, his mood became cheerful and his martial arts advanced tremendously, so his appearance naturally changed."

Hearing this explanation, Duan Miaoyin nodded in a daze. Although she still had doubts in her heart, Immortal Master Yan had said so; could the words of an Immortal Master be false?

As he spoke, Yan Tian suddenly remembered something and asked, "Miaoyin, who is your grandmother? Wang Yuyan, or Mu Wanqing, or perhaps Zhong Ling?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Miaoyin hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Immortal Master, Miaoyin's grandmother is none of other than Grandfather's wife, whose maiden name was Wang, courtesy name Yuyan."

Yan Tian had already suspected as much. Seeing Duan Miaoyin's appearance—which, though not yet fully grown, already showed the scale of a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms—she undoubtedly belonged to Wang Yuyan's lineage.

Duan Miaoyin had now developed a tremendous interest in this "Profound Light Mirror" that could reveal the past and future and see a hundred thousand miles across the world. She moved closer to the television and began watching with rapt attention. When she was little, she had heard her grandfather reminiscing about his wild and reckless youth, and although she knew a thing or two, she lacked the details. Now, having a chance to understand her grandfather and the jianghu and heroes he spoke of, how could she let it slip by? Although the broadcasting *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* contained some artistically embellished and purely fabricated events, it was more than enough to fool a young girl who only knew a tiny fraction of her grandfather's life.

Seeing that Duan Miaoyin was completely engrossed in television, Yan the God-Faker did not disturb her. Along with Sun Shangxiang, who was still draped over his shoulder, he stepped out of the main room to help Leng Bingtong and the other women carry in the newly purchased furniture.

Gao Lan was in the courtyard directing Leng Bingtong and the other women in unloading items from a truck. The truck driver was a trusted subordinate from the gang Gao Lan commanded. Having witnessed the women displaying their divine powers today, his horizons were certainly broadened, though judging by his expression, he clearly felt quite uneasy, his face slightly pale. Fortunately, he had previously witnessed Gao Lan's superhumanly fast hands, so even though he had seen so many supernatural phenomena today, he managed to tough it out without fainting from fright.

Seeing Yan Tian come out, Gao Lan waved to him and said, "A-tian, come here quickly. There's a letter for you."

"A letter for me?" Yan Tian was somewhat puzzled. He had no living relatives, and his few friends all lived with him. Who on earth would be writing him a letter at a time like this? Suddenly, a thought stirred in his heart, and an indescribable joy rushed up from the depths of his soul. Could it be from Kexin?

Covering the distance to Gao Lan's side in two steps, Yan Tian reached out with a large hand and said, "Where's the letter?"

Gao Lan pulled an express delivery envelope out of her shoulder bag, handed it to Yan Tian, and smiled warmly. "This letter was delivered to my office at the Prosperous Group, with a note asking me to pass it on to you."

Yan Tian took the envelope and looked at it. The handwriting was delicate and neat; judging by the script, it was identical to the note Wang Kexin had left him before she left. Looking further at the sender's section, it indeed bore the two characters: "Kexin."

Yan Tian was instantly seized by wild joy. With a gentle swipe of his finger, he tore a neat opening in the envelope.

Seeing that Yan Tian's hands were trembling slightly with excitement, Gao Lan felt a faint, inexplicable twinge of sourness in her heart. However, she was a clever and sensible girl who did not let a trace of it show on her face, and instead smiled sweetly. "A-tian, that Sister Kexin of yours really has some tricks up her sleeve. Knowing that I'm in charge of the Prosperous Group now, she mailed the letter directly to the Prosperous Group building. Tell me, how are you going to thank me?"

Yan Tian laughed out loud, pulled Gao Lan into an embrace, planted a loud "muah" right on her smooth cheek, and roared with laughter, "How about I offer myself to you in marriage?"

Seeing Yan Tian's ecstatic state, the jealousy in Gao Lan's heart somehow subsided quite a bit. In the heart of this lonely and helpless girl, seeing Yan Tian so happy made her feel happy as well.

Yan Tian rushed into his room, pulled out the letter inside, and saw at a single glance that it contained only a few short lines:

"Big dummy Yan Tian,

My mom and dad are coming to Beijing for the Chinese New Year. You immediately get your ass to Beijing to meet my mom and dad, and by the way, keep me company for the New Year!

Remember, not a single one of those girls is allowed to be brought along. I don't care if you're a playboy, but this New Year I want you to spend it with me. Not a single light bulb [third wheel] is allowed!

If you dare bring even a single one of them, you're dead!

If you don't rush right over the moment your break starts, you're dead too!

Kexin."

The commanding tone, the bossy yet concise writing style—it was the exact signature style of Wang Kexin, who had always played the role of the big sister in front of Yan Tian.

During the few days Wang Kexin had stayed here, Yan Tian had grown accustomed to her gentle, girlish demeanor, and in his heart, he understood that it was because she felt guilty for not seeking him out for so many years, thus holding back her natural temper.

Truth be told, Yan Tian didn't actually want her to compromise herself and constantly pander and submit to him. The Wang Kexin he liked was that fiery girl, the one who acted tyrannically and carelessly, yet was meticulous as water when facing him—a girl whose domineering attitude concealed a tenderness like water.

Blind compromise and submission were simply not her personality.

Now seeing that Wang Kexin had finally returned to her true self, Yan Tian excitedly did several backflips in his room.

He read the letter with its mere handful of words over and over again, finally calming his excited emotions, taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly as he muttered to himself, "Kexin, are you finally letting me meet my father-in-law and mother-in-law?"