Qihan County's Inner City had a reputation.
People said the air itself was expensive. Even breathing felt like it required background checks. Spiritual energy drifted openly like mist, thick enough that cultivators could feel their pores drinking it in. Mansions stood shoulder to shoulder, their walls tall, gates heavy, formations humming faintly like sleeping beasts.
Li Yanxu stepped inside the Inner City and immediately concluded one thing with modern common sense.
"This place has terrible urban planning."
Li Yanya's eye twitched.
"The streets are too narrow for carriage traffic," Li Yanxu continued thoughtfully, hands behind his back. "If there's a fire, evacuation would be chaos. Also, why is every building trying to look like it wants to murder the next one?"
Li Yanli cleared his throat. "Yanxu."
Li Yanxu nodded. "Yes, yes. Cultivation aesthetics. Feng shui. Murderous architecture builds character."
Li Yanya glared at his long tongue, the kind that never stopped moving once it started. "If you say one more strange thing, I will personally test how sturdy Inner City walls are—with your head."
Li Yanxu smiled serenely. "Violence won't fix zoning issues."
They entered the real estate pavilion, which looked like it had been designed to intimidate poor people into leaving voluntarily. Polished jade floors. Golden screens. A faintly arrogant formation that whispered you probably can't afford this.
The attendant took one look at the Li family and stiffened.
Then he looked again.
And again.
Because no matter how you sliced it, this was a weird group.
A terrifyingly sharp woman radiating danger.
A gentle man with refined features and calm qi.
A beautiful ger whose eyes were the wrong color and whose expression screamed problem.
Two children who looked like protagonists.
And twenty attendants who stood too straight to be normal.
"…Welcome," the attendant said carefully. "May I ask what kind of residence you seek?"
Li Yanxu answered instantly. "Big. Comfortable. Doesn't leak. Good ventilation. Separate courtyards so we don't kill each other."
Li Yanya crossed her arms. "Minimum five courtyards."
The attendant inhaled sharply. "…Please follow me."
The mansion they were shown to sat deep in the Inner City.
Five courtyards.
One main yard.
Separate servant quarters.
Training grounds.
Library.
Kitchen large enough to traumatize chefs.
Spirit-gathering formation embedded so deeply into the land that even standing still made one's dantian hum.
Li Yanxu walked through it, nodding approvingly.
"Good sunlight. Decent drainage. No ominous feng shui killing intent."
The attendant blinked. "You… understand feng shui?"
Li Yanxu shrugged. "I understand basic housing safety."
Li Yanya glared. Again.
The price was stated calmly.
"Ten thousand spiritual stones."
The attendant waited for bargaining.
Li Yanxu nodded. "Fair."
He paid immediately.
The attendant almost cried.
Thus, the Li family—former village residents, former poverty enjoyers—settled into an Inner City mansion like it was completely normal.
And that was when the neighbors noticed.
Across the street lived the Xu family, a proper Inner City household with decent standing.
Madam Xu was sipping tea when a servant rushed in, whispering excitedly.
"Madam! New neighbors have moved in!"
Madam Xu frowned. "So?"
"They paid ten thousand spiritual stones outright."
Tea nearly spilled.
Madam Xu stood. "Prepare gifts."
No matter how aloof one pretended to be, Inner City etiquette demanded neighborly courtesy.
Thus, Xu Yichen and Xu Junyi were dragged along.
Xu Junyi, twenty-six, male, composed and broad-shouldered, adjusted the gift box. "Mother, are you sure they'll want visitors immediately?"
Xu Yichen, twenty-three, a ger with refined features and calm eyes, smiled softly. "It's polite. And I'm curious."
Madam Xu nodded. "A family that can buy such a mansion without blinking is worth knowing."
So they crossed the street.
Inside the Li mansion, chaos reigned.
Not the obvious kind.
The invisible kind.
Li Yanya had just received a whispered report from one of the attendants.
"…Madam, guests have arrived. Xu family. From the mansion opposite."
Li Yanya froze.
"…Guests?"
"Yes."
Her brain rapidly replayed several horrifying facts:
They had just moved in.
They were former commoners.
They had no prepared refreshments.
Her younger siblings were—
She turned sharply.
"Where is Li Yanxu?"
The attendant hesitated. "…Young Master Yanxu is… in his room."
Li Yanya strode toward it with murder in her steps.
She kicked the door open.
And saw—
Li Yanxu sitting on the floor.
Song Zhi kneeling seriously beside him.
Song An enthusiastically dumping sand everywhere.
They were making a sand castle.
Inside.
On the polished floor.
"…What," Li Yanya said very softly, "are you doing?"
Li Yanxu looked up. "Urban planning."
Song Zhi added earnestly, "Third Uncle said castles need good foundations."
Song An smashed a tower. "Boom!"
Li Yanya's eye twitched violently.
"Guests," she said. "Have arrived."
Li Yanxu blinked. "Already?"
"Yes."
"…From the Inner City?"
"Yes."
Li Yanxu looked down at the sand. "Do we need to hide the evidence?"
Li Yanya picked up a stick.
A very familiar stick.
Li Yanxu screamed. "WAIT—this is child development! Sensory play!"
The next ten minutes were educational.
For Li Yanxu, Song Zhi, and Song An.
Li Yanli arrived just in time to witness Li Yanxu being chased around the courtyard with sand still clinging to his sleeves.
"Guests," Li Yanli said calmly, "are waiting."
Li Yanya stopped, breathing evenly.
"…Fine."
She pointed at Li Yanxu. "Change clothes. Wash hands. Shut up."
Li Yanxu nodded obediently. "See? Violence solved nothing."
She glared.
The Xu family was welcomed into the main hall.
Tea was served. Fruits were presented. Everything looked dignified.
Madam Xu smiled. "Thank you for receiving us on such short notice."
Li Yanya sat straight. "Please forgive our lack of preparation."
Xu Yichen's gaze drifted—and paused.
On Li Yanxu.
Li Yanxu, freshly cleaned, sitting lazily with perfect posture ruined by his expression.
Their eyes met.
Xu Yichen blinked.
Li Yanxu smiled politely.
Xu Yichen's heart skipped one beat, tripped over the next, and fell down the stairs.
Madam Xu noticed nothing.
Xu Junyi noticed everything.
"This family," Xu Junyi thought grimly, "is dangerous."
Conversation flowed.
Names exchanged.
Pleasantries spoken.
Then Li Yanxu opened his mouth.
"So," he said casually, sipping tea, "how's the crime rate in the Inner City?"
Silence.
Xu Junyi choked.
Madam Xu blinked. "Crime… rate?"
Li Yanxu nodded seriously. "Any burglary issues? Structural collapse history? Ghosts?"
Xu Yichen covered his mouth, hiding a laugh.
Li Yanya's glare could peel paint.
"Yanxu," she said sweetly, "why don't you go check on the kitchen?"
Li Yanxu smiled. "Avoiding guests already? Social isolation leads to misunderstandings."
Li Yanya's stick appeared from nowhere.
Li Yanxu fled.
Xu Yichen watched him go, eyes bright.
"…Your family," he said softly, "is very lively."
Li Yanya smiled tightly. "You have no idea."
And somewhere in the courtyard, Li Yanxu tripped over a bucket and yelled—
"I STILL THINK THE FLOORING IS TOO SLIPPERY—"
Li Yanya's murderous aura flared.
The Xu family decided this was a household worth befriending.
For entertainment value alone.
--
-
For the next two months, the Inner City of Qihan County learned a very important lesson:
Never underestimate a beautiful ger with too much free time.
Li Yanxu treated the Inner City like a tourist attraction brochure personally curated for his own enjoyment. Every famous location, every rumored scenic spot, every "you must visit at least once" place—he went to all of them.
Repeatedly.
With company.
"Today," Li Yanxu announced brightly one morning, adjusting his sleeve, "we're going to the Cloud-Viewing Pavilion."
Xu Yichen paused mid-sip of tea. "Didn't we go there three days ago?"
"Yes," Li Yanxu said calmly. "But last time the clouds were uncooperative."
Song An, sitting on the chair upside down with his legs kicking in the air, clapped. "Clouds!"
Xu Yichen laughed. "Alright."
Behind them, Xu Junyi quietly put down his cup.
"I'm not going," he said firmly.
Li Yanxu tilted his head. "Why?"
Xu Junyi looked him dead in the eyes. "Because every time I go out with you, my dignity takes damage."
Li Yanxu considered that. "That's growth."
Xu Junyi stood up and left.
Thus, the trio—Li Yanxu, Xu Yichen, and five-year-old Song An—departed.
They were stopped at the gate.
"WHERE do you think you're going?"
Li Yanya stood there, arms crossed, expression murderous.
Li Yanxu smiled. "Cultural enrichment."
Xu Yichen bowed politely. "Aunt Li."
Song An waved. "Aunt!"
Li Yanya's gaze softened for exactly half a breath—then hardened again.
"You were out yesterday."
"Yes."
"And the day before."
"Yes."
"And the day before that."
"Yes."
"…Are you cultivating or sightseeing?"
Li Yanxu nodded. "Yes."
Li Yanya raised her hand.
Li Yanxu grabbed Song An and fled.
Xu Yichen followed, laughing helplessly.
On the other side of the street, Madam Xu opened her door just in time to see them sprint past.
"…Again?" she muttered.
Two hours later, they were caught.
Again.
This time by Madam Xu herself.
She stood at the entrance of the Spirit Beast Market, hands on hips, eyes sharp.
"Xu Yichen."
Xu Yichen froze like a guilty child.
"Yes, Mother."
"You skipped morning cultivation."
Xu Yichen lowered his head. "I did my breathing exercises."
Madam Xu's gaze slid to Li Yanxu.
"And you."
Li Yanxu smiled politely. "Good morning, Auntie."
"You are a bad influence."
Li Yanxu nodded thoughtfully. "Many people say that."
Song An tugged Madam Xu's sleeve. "Grandma Xu, fish."
Madam Xu sighed.
"…Fine. One hour."
Li Yanya and Madam Xu developed a shared expression over those two months.
It was the look of women whose patience had been tested by beautiful disasters.
Every time Li Yanxu returned home, something happened.
One day he came back with three baskets of spirit fruits because "they were on sale."
Another day he returned smelling faintly of incense and gossip because he'd listened to a storyteller for two hours and taken notes.
Once, he came back carrying a decorative lantern taller than Song An.
Li Yanya stared at it. "Why?"
Li Yanxu replied seriously, "Atmosphere."
Despite all the scolding, the adults couldn't deny one thing.
The Inner City became… lively.
Song An was everywhere.
He fed koi fish at the Spirit Lake.
He chased spiritual butterflies at the Flower Terrace.
He sat solemnly at the Auction House entrance pretending to bid with imaginary spirit stones.
Xu Yichen walked beside Li Yanxu most days, robes fluttering, smile gentle.
And the city noticed.
"Isn't that the Xu family's ger?"
"Who's the other one?"
"So beautiful…"
"Too beautiful."
Xu Yichen heard the whispers and felt his ears warm.
Li Yanxu, meanwhile, responded to attention with the indifference of someone who had already died once and didn't care anymore.
"This city," he said one afternoon while lounging at the Teahouse of Ten Thousand Leaves, "is nice, but it lacks public benches."
Xu Yichen blinked. "Public… benches?"
"Yes. People need places to sit."
Xu Yichen laughed softly. "You think very differently."
Li Yanxu shrugged. "I'm lazy. I value infrastructure."
At the same time, Xu Yichen couldn't ignore something increasingly obvious.
Their cultivation.
One afternoon, while resting at the Spirit Fountain Plaza, Xu Yichen watched Li Yanxu casually absorb qi while sipping tea.
The qi moved smoothly. Efficiently. Almost lazily.
Xu Yichen frowned slightly.
"…Yanxu."
"Yes?"
"You're in peak Qi Gathering."
Li Yanxu nodded. "Mm."
"…How long have you been cultivating?"
Li Yanxu thought. "Two years?"
Xu Yichen nearly dropped his cup.
"Two years?"
"Yes."
Xu Yichen swallowed. "My family has lived in the Inner City for generations."
Li Yanxu nodded again. "Prime location."
Xu Yichen continued slowly, "I started cultivation at six."
Li Yanxu tilted his head. "Overachiever."
Xu Yichen smiled wryly. "I'm only mid Qi Gathering."
Li Yanxu patted his shoulder. "Comparison is the thief of joy."
Xu Yichen stared at him. "You're terrible at comforting people."
Meanwhile, Xu Junyi noticed everything.
He noticed how Li Yanli trained daily, precise and disciplined.
He noticed Li Yanya's aura growing sharper, more dangerous.
And he noticed Li Yanxu.
Lazy.
Smiling.
Always joking.
Always dragged into cultivation by force.
And yet—
Peak Qi Gathering.
Xu Junyi sat with his father one evening, drinking tea.
"Father," he said carefully, "the Li family…"
Xu Father chuckled. "Are extraordinary?"
"Yes."
Xu Father smiled. "I noticed."
"Yanxu is dangerous," Xu Junyi added.
Xu Father laughed outright. "He's lazy."
"That's the dangerous part."
Xu Father's eyes sharpened slightly. "You think they're worth befriending?"
Xu Junyi nodded. "Absolutely."
Xu Father nodded back. "Good. A lively neighbor is better than a silent one."
As for Xu Yichen—
He stood one evening on the Xu mansion balcony, watching the Li residence across the street.
Lights glowed warmly.
Laughter carried faintly.
Li Yanxu's voice drifted over, complaining about something trivial.
Xu Yichen smiled unconsciously.
Two months.
Scolding.
Running.
Laughing.
And a quiet understanding formed.
These people were not ordinary.
And being close to them—
Was probably going to be very troublesome.
Xu Yichen decided he didn't mind at all.