On the mountain in early spring, the vegetation was just beginning to sprout new buds.

Among the great variety of trees, flowers, and grasses, some had eagerly pushed out green buds, while others still slept, awaiting the nourishment of the spring rain.

On the predominantly gray mountainside, an elderly man with a Fu Manchu mustache held a circular disc in one hand. With his other, his thumb moved between the joints of his fingers as if calculating something.

Uncle An walked beside him, with Master Tang in the middle, and An Ning and Jiang Xia following behind.

This was the first time An Ning had met the man who handled such matters for the village.

She’d heard from Lin Cuihua that this man was renowned throughout Sanhe Town.

An Ning didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but she remained respectful.

She glanced to the side and saw Jiang Xia’s reverent expression.

’It seems Jiang Xia, on the other hand, is a firm believer.’

Sure enough, Jiang Xia noticed her expression. He gave her a subtle gesture to be quiet and kept walking.

An Ning nodded silently, obediently keeping her peace.

’It’s fine not to understand,’ she thought, ’but you shouldn’t interrupt someone who’s focused on their work.’

As for Jiang Xia, he did have a certain degree of belief, but he wasn’t the most devout of followers.

He had his own judgment and wouldn’t let talk of fate make him doubt himself.

Besides, today was about Feng Shui.

He believed the traditions passed down from the ancestors held significant value for scientific study.

Under the Feng Shui Master’s lead, the group of four walked for three days, with Uncle An pointing out routes that avoided the ancestral graves.

On the first day, they started up the mountain before dawn and walked until sunrise, which they watched from the summit.

On the second day, they began their ascent in the morning and continued until sunset.

On the final day, they went up the mountain at night, staying until after midnight.

Three days later, when they were preparing to ascend the mountain again, the Feng Shui Master requested more people.

An Sancheng, An Guoqing, and Uncle An’s two sons all went along.

This time, their trip up the mountain wasn’t for observation; they began the practical work of digging holes and placing markers.

From six in the morning to six in the evening, the whole group worked until their arms were too sore to lift.

The route for a water channel, which they named the "Coiling Dragon Waterway," was marked out, awaiting construction.

As night fell, the group finally descended the mountain. Uncle An presented the Feng Shui Master with a large red envelope.

The master accepted it without a word.

In this man’s presence, Uncle An seemed a bit intimidated.

Holding the red envelope, the Feng Shui Master prepared to leave.

However, he paused in front of An Ning.

Jiang Xia, who was standing beside her, instinctively took a step forward, partially shielding her from the Feng Shui Master’s view.

The expressions of An Sancheng and the others behind them, which had been respectful and even a little fearful, instantly shifted to wariness and protectiveness.

The Feng Shui Master showed his first smile of the day and spoke eight words to An Ning.

"Fallen leaves return to their roots; give back to the future."

Then, he left.

For a fleeting moment, An Ning felt the Feng Shui Master’s spiritual power, so dense it was almost tangible.

’He really knows his stuff.’

"Fallen leaves return to their roots." The phrase was apt.

Though she had come from an interstellar future, their ancestors were the same. She had, in effect, returned to her homeland.

The things she was doing would surely benefit the future in some way.

Suddenly, An Ning felt that her mission here might be about more than just delivering seeds.

Perhaps it was about preserving a legacy.

To be precise, it was to make up for the regret of the legacy that had been lost in the interstellar age.

BOOM—

At that instant, An Ning’s spiritual power underwent a qualitative transformation.

"Let’s go home," she said.

With a calm expression, An Ning took the lead and started walking toward home.

No one else sensed that anything was amiss. To them, the Feng Shui Master had just said a few words.

But Jiang Xia didn’t see it that way.

He caught up to An Ning in a few strides and, for the first time, asked without any regard for onlookers, "Are you really okay?"

"I’m fine. And even if something did happen, it would be a good thing."

An Ning’s tone was earnest on the last part, and Jiang Xia sensed it.

He nodded and stepped aside, allowing An Ning to enter the An family’s courtyard.

Jiang Xia lingered outside for a moment, his mind unsettled and filled with worry.

"If you’re that worried, why don’t you just tell her how you feel?"

After spending the last few days with him, Master Tang had come to understand Jiang Xia’s thoughts quite well.

Jiang Xia, still standing in the same spot, just shook his head. His figure seemed weary as he turned and walked toward the neighboring courtyard.

"Time to go home and eat."

Jiang Xia changed the subject, clearly unwilling to answer.

Master Tang followed behind Jiang Xia, uttering a phrase that completely shattered his refined image, "You little punk, stop pretending to be so mature."

Jiang Xia, walking ahead, faltered. As Master Tang walked past him, he pointed a trembling finger. "You’re so two-faced! You act all noble and elegant out there, but the moment you get back, you turn into this?"

"Hey, let me see! Do you have two faces?"

When Master Tang, now in front, heard Jiang Xia use the word "back," he couldn’t suppress a happy smile.

’Back.’ That sounded nice.

Still, a counterattack was in order.

"You have the nerve to call me two-faced? What about you? When you’re in front of her—MMMMMMMPH—"

Jiang Xia had clapped a hand over Master Tang’s mouth.

Jiang Xia’s eyes went wide as he frantically jutted his chin toward the house next door, silently pleading with him not to say such things when they were so close.

Master Tang had no intention of damaging An Ning’s reputation, so he blinked a few times in agreement.

Shooting him one last threatening glare, Jiang Xia slowly removed his hand.

Master Tang spat twice in disgust.

"Jiang Xia, what is that smell on your hand?"

"Huh? Oh—when I was digging on the mountain, I accidentally touched some... droppings."

That single sentence ignited a war between the old man and the young one.

Master Tang wanted to get even right then and there, but the taste in his mouth was unbearable.

"You little brat! You just wait!"

Master Tang stormed into the house and began to frantically wash his face and rinse his mouth.

A smug look on his face, Jiang Xia stayed in the courtyard and started playing with Da Huang.

Mr. Jiang Sr., who had been inside the whole time, watched the interaction between the two with a small sense of comfort.

Perhaps, with Xiao Tang, Jiang Xia would find the fatherly love he’d never had.

Meanwhile, in the house next door, An Ning quickly finished her meal. She then made the excuse of needing to make a phone call and hurried out.

An Ning did, in fact, make a call, but it was an unimportant one.

Soon after, she left the place where she’d made the call, found a small path, and ran up the mountain.

After finding a hidden cave on the mountainside, An Ning slipped inside.

The Klein Bottle shot out, no longer under her control, and hovered inside the cave, flashing continuously.

The spiritual power within An Ning’s body began to multiply, its color gradually changing.

Her spiritual power, originally transparent and colorless, began to fuse with the Klein Bottle.

The visible Klein Bottle began to disappear, dissolving into droplets of mist that fused with An Ning’s spiritual power.

The entire process was painless. There was only a comfortable, sleep-inducing urge.

Or perhaps ’urge’ wasn’t the right word. It was more of a temptation.

An Ning felt her consciousness slowly dissipating into nothingness. Everything in the world became illusory, unimportant.

’Just a little sleep... that should be fine, right?’