Chapter 70: [Old Geezer?]

In the morning, after Chen Yan got up, finished washing, and went downstairs, he saw that Gu Xiaoniang had somehow moved her chair out into the courtyard again.

The cold morning wind blew so hard it stung his face, yet she was curled up in the chair with her eyes squinted, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

"Hmph, freeze to death, you violent woman!"

An unfilial thought rose in Chen Yan's heart.

Last night... the two of them had a little bit of a small quarrel.

The cause of the quarrel was that Chen Yan had received a phone call from the shop that was custom-making the wedding clothes.

They said the tailor they'd booked had something come up at the last minute and couldn't make it, and if it was convenient over the phone, they asked the customer to send over her three measurements...

Without thinking much of it, Chen Yan opened his mouth and asked Gu Xiaoniang directly.

The result was that the legitimate mother, my lord, picked up a stick and chased her own fine grown son around the courtyard for a full twenty minutes.

"I'm still young after all! After all, I'm not a real LSP — no matter how rich my theoretical knowledge is, I'm still, in the end, a pure and foolish man who has never had any experience.

If I were a real LSP, I would never have asked such a stupid question."

Chen Yan glanced through the window at his twenty-one-year-old legitimate mother, my lord, shook his head, and headed out the door.

Under the cheat's boost, the Primordial Qi Transport Method gave him roughly seven or eight times the cultivation bonus.

But the side effect it brought was... every day, being overly saturated with nourishment from primordial qi, Chen Yan's physical condition had gotten... a little too well-tended.

Every morning when he woke up, his energy brimmed over, and he felt like his body had inexhaustible strength.

The manual had mentioned that during the process of cultivating primordial qi, this phenomenon of the body's vessel being unable to bear the load would appear, and at this time the cultivator needed to prepare some medicinal soups on their own to harmonize the body.

The manual didn't record any formulas for brewing the medicinal soups, and Chen Yan wasn't some old Chinese medicine doctor either.

It did mention, though, that one could do more physical training, using methods of tempering the body to burn off the excess accumulated vigor and primordial qi.

When Chen Yan saw this passage in the manual, he had only one thought in his head:

The "accumulation" the manual was talking about — was it the proper kind?

Fortunately, this villa compound was built up against the mountain.

At the compound's back gate, there was a road that led straight to the hill behind, and there was also a winding mountain road that went all the way to the summit.

Chen Yan left the compound, loosened up his body a bit, and then started running.

From the foot of the mountain to the summit, a single trip was roughly ten kilometers, and with the added effect of the uphill slope, ten kilometers ought to burn off quite a bit.

Chen Yan ran for a full hour in one go — from the foot of the mountain to the summit, then back down, then up again.

After two round trips, he had only broken a slight sweat.

His whole body was hot, scalding even, but that feeling of being overstuffed from overly vigorous qi and blood had finally eased quite a bit.

After finishing his run, he went back into the villa compound and wandered around idly.

In the center of the villa compound there was a leisure area, where the property management had set up some simple outdoor fitness equipment.

On ordinary days, there were also some elderly folks in the villa compound who would stroll around here.

There was no square dancing, but there were people who walked their birds here (the proper kind), or practiced sword forms (also the proper kind).

This place had pretty much become the social gathering spot for some of the retired elderly in the compound.

By the time Chen Yan walked over, it was already past eight — at this hour, the elderly who usually gathered here had long since dispersed.

At this time, when Chen Yan walked over, the central plaza was empty. He casually found a chair and sat down.

He picked up his phone, leaned back against the chair, and started scrolling.

With practiced ease he opened a certain short-video app, and with practiced ease switched to his alt account.

A man, after all — when his qi and blood are vigorous, who the hell doesn't want to look at some borderline stuff?

Got a problem with that?

As for why, on a cold day like this, he didn't go home and instead sat in the compound to watch —

Would you watch borderline stuff right in front of your mom?

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A flick of the finger — mm, this one's got big bears. Another flick — oh, this is a waist fairy.

Another flick — this one's even bigger! Though looking at it, it seems padded...

Hmph, the legs have been stretched way too long...

Just as he was watching, a hoary old voice slowly spoke from behind him.

"Scroll back, scroll back, the last one was big!"

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Hm?

Chen Yan gave a sudden start, turned his head, and saw an old man behind him — white-haired, his head almost resting on Chen Yan's own shoulder, a pair of eyes narrowed to slits, staring fixedly at his phone screen.

Chen Yan got a fright!

His cultivation had already reached a considerable level, and his hearing and sight were now sharp — if an ordinary person approached him, he'd sense it from more than ten paces away.

This old man's head was almost resting on his shoulder, yet he hadn't sensed a thing?

Instinctively, he used his Qi-Gazing Technique to look...

At one glance, the old man's qi was utterly unremarkable, and even carried a hint of a fickle romantic fate?

There was not the slightest fluctuation of primordial qi anywhere on his body.

Moreover, looking at him, his fate was already in decline — perfectly matching the characteristics of an old, frail body.

He was an ordinary, common person.

Chen Yan's heart settled a little — looks like he'd just been too absorbed in scrolling videos.

"Old man, you scared the life out of me." Chen Yan looked at this white-haired old fellow with a smile.

The skin on this man's face was loose, with a few more wrinkles. His hair was also gray and white.

Still, judging by the contours of his features, he must have been quite the looker in his younger days.

He was wearing a common knockoff tai chi suit of the sort old folks use for morning exercise, and around his neck hung a jade pendant — at a glance, the quality looked decent, top-grade mutton-fat jade.

That wasn't strange either; this was, after all, a villa district, where the residents were either rich or noble. Wealthy people wearing valuable things was perfectly normal.

The old man coughed once and took a couple of steps back, a little embarrassed.

Only then did Chen Yan notice the birdcage still in his hand, with a myna perched inside.

The old man, eyes narrowed, was sizing up Chen Yan too, but with those slit-like eyes it was impossible to read his expression. He shook his head and said, "Young people, making a fuss. What's there to be scared of in an old man like me?"

As he spoke, his eyes drifted to Chen Yan's phone: "What was that thing you were just looking at?"

"Dance art!" Chen Yan replied with perfect righteousness.

"Excellent. I'm quite the connoisseur of dance art myself. How about we compare notes?"

"…" Chen Yan hesitated, then probed, "And your wife, sir?"

"No wife." The old man thought for a moment, then added two words: "Bachelor."

Great, the geriatric version of the no-marriage ideology?

Fine, then. I was just afraid that if I let you watch too much of this stuff, your wife would be unhappy — or too happy.

Chen Yan wasn't a petty person, so he reopened his phone. The old man simply hung the myna's cage on the rack of exercise equipment beside them and brazenly sat down next to Chen Yan.

A moment later, Chen Yan realized this old bastard was no good sort!

Fine, look all you want — but he actually pulled out his own phone and followed every single one of the dozen-plus risqué accounts Chen Yan followed.

Hey, fellow connoisseur, at least share some of yours in return.

"I don't follow anyone on my account. I only just downloaded Douyin yesterday — never used it before." The old man clearly read Chen Yan's meaning, and as he spoke he voluntarily opened his following list — sure enough.

"People who don't use Douyin these days are rare, aren't they, old-timer?"

"I just got back from abroad." The old man shook his head.

"Abroad has TikTok too." Chen Yan glanced at the old bastard.

"Don't care for foreign girls."

So… in this respect he's actually pretty traditional, huh?

Chen Yan rolled his eyes.

The old man looked at Chen Yan and smiled: "Kid, I won't watch for free."

"Hmm?"

"Your complexion is rosy, your qi and blood vigorous — though perhaps too vigorous. It's rare to see a young man as robust and overflowing with qi and blood as you.

As they say, the moon wanes when full, water overflows when brimming. All that qi and blood in you — over time, it may not be doing you any favors.

Come find me later, and I'll write you a prescription. Take it to get the herbs, drink them for a while, and I guarantee you'll achieve the harmonious union of yin and yang, with balanced qi and blood."

Chen Yan was curious: "Old-timer, you study medicine?"

"Something like that. Haven't practiced in many years, though." The old bastard waved a hand.

But Chen Yan started to take an interest.

This old bastard… seemed to actually know a thing or two.

He knew his own condition best — it really was as the old bastard said: his body's qi and blood were overly vigorous — a problem of being over-nourished by primordial energy.

He didn't know how to concoct medicines to harmonize it, so he could only use the clumsiest method: physical exercise to burn off the excess.

And yet the old man had spotted his problem at a glance… maybe he really did have some real skill?

Just as he was thinking this, a voice rang out from afar.

"Grandpa!"

He turned to look — at a distant intersection of the central plaza, a girl was running over.

Chen Yan…!!!

True to his personal principles, he took a first look, then a second.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he broke his own principles and took a third!

Put it this way — if you see a girl running and it's duangduangduang — your principles become wonderfully flexible too.

The girl's looks were actually just average, her features only middling-to-good, and she seemed to have a high nose bridge and deep-set eyes, a hint of mixed blood, though probably not much. But in her tight workout clothes, the effect was positively ferocious.

Chen Yan looked at the old bastard… this friendship across generations was one he was determined to keep.

"Grandpa, I've been waiting for you to come back for breakfast, and here you are wandering off again." The girl ran up, caught her breath, and grabbed the old bastard's arm: "The doctor said you can't miss your medication schedule — it has to be taken after meals — so you have to eat on time too."

"Bah, what do those doctors know? This old man treats himself just fine. With this body of mine, I can borrow another five hundred years from the heavens!"

"…" The girl glared at him.

Wait… Chen Yan was a little confused.

Didn't you say you didn't have a wife, that you were a bachelor?

Where did this "grandpa" come from?

"Old-timer, this is yours?"

"My granddaughter. Blood granddaughter." The old bastard glared at Chen Yan.

"But didn't you…"

"Can't have a kid without getting married?" The old bastard said, righteous as ever.

Fair enough…

The girl gave Chen Yan a smile that was friendly but slightly awkward, then urged the old bastard to head back.

The old bastard stood up, and Chen Yan instinctively rose too — his happy viewing buddy was leaving; staying alone held no appeal.

He trailed behind the old bastard for a few dozen meters, and the old bastard turned back, frowning at Chen Yan.

"Kid, why are you following me?"

Put that way, of course I'm going home — and besides, weren't you just saying you'd write me a prescription and tell me to come find you? You won't even say where you live, so basically you're just drawing empty pies, right?

Chen Yan watched the old man unhurriedly: "Is there any chance my home is also in this direction?"

"Makes sense." The old man actually nodded seriously: "You go back to your home, don't follow me… don't be eyeing my granddaughter."

Mm, must be that the look he gave his granddaughter earlier was noticed by him… Chen Yan sighed, pointed at the courtyard gate not far from the intersection: "This is my home."

The old man's brows rose, said nothing, and left with his granddaughter — the girl was decent enough, she even turned her head back and gave Chen Yan an apologetic little smile.

Chen Yan stood at the courtyard gate without going in right away, narrowing his eyes as he watched the old man lead his granddaughter into the neighboring courtyard gate.

So, they're the neighbors who just moved in yesterday… Chen Yan nodded, turned, and went through the door.

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After getting home, Chen Yan didn't say anything to Gu Qingyi either.

Whether it was running into an old man and sitting together watching borderline content for quite a while…

Or that the old man had a granddaughter who would go duangduangduang when she ran…

These two things both didn't seem quite suitable as topics between a good son and his legitimate mother.

But around noon, the girl from next door actually came to the door.

She brought a handwritten prescription, and at a glance it was actually written with a writing brush — the handwriting was neat and elegant, the brushwork not shabby.

The girl stood at the courtyard gate and handed the prescription to Chen Yan, saying apologetically: "I won't go in and disturb you. My grandpa… mm, my grandpa's temperament is a bit odd, please don't take it to heart."

Chen Yan looked up, and saw in the villa next door, at a second-floor window, the old man standing right there, staring this way.

"Alright, help me thank the old… old sir."

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The old man stood at the window, watching his granddaughter walk back, and only then let out a satisfied breath.

But he narrowed his eyes again, sizing up the courtyard of Chen Yan's home.

"A Spirit-Gathering Array… it's done rather prettily. It's just that some of the materials wouldn't bear the light of day.

Back then that turtle I left on the back mountain actually ran off to his place. What a pity — back in the day I let that old turtle go without acting, and by the timing it should have just cultivated out a demon core… ah well, since it ran off to his place, it belongs to his place."

The old man shook his head.

Back in his own study, the old man carefully shut the door tight.

In the study sat a round blessing vat, with some water in it — originally it was probably meant to grow a water lotus or something, but now in winter the water inside was clean and clear.

The old man sat before the desk, hooked a finger, and a writing brush on the desk flew up and dropped into the water.

Then a blank scroll of paper on the desk slowly unfurled, the brush emerged from the water vat, drifted over, hovered above the paper, and slowly wrote four characters on it.

Originally it had only been dipped in clear water in the vat, but the characters written on the paper carried a faint golden hue.

"Evil Chief Awakens?"

The old man gave a sweep of his sleeve: "Always giving me nothing but trouble, afraid I'll take the offerings for free and not do any work?"

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