Zhou Fan emerged from the feather fan unscathed. He approached the exhausted Ruthless Fairy and used his magic power to lift her.
Then, amidst the cheers of the Yin Yang Peak Disciples, Zhou Fan carried the Ruthless Fairy back to his residence and carefully healed her, as she had forcefully used an Immortal Art and was now unconscious.
… …
A month later, the Ruthless Fairy's slender body was curled up in Zhou Fan's broad embrace.
She felt the Luan Feng Immortal Nangong Wan's teasing, knowing gaze beside her, and her face flushed crimson as she buried her head in Zhou Fan's sturdy chest.
"Oh, aren't certain Fairies known as 'ruthless'? How is it that after only a month, you're clinging to my naughty Disciple and won't let go?"
The Ruthless Fairy didn't wish to argue with Nangong Wan, only saying pitifully, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, someone is bullying me."
Zhou Fan smiled and pulled his Master, the Fairy who had been neglected these past few days, into his embrace as well. He kissed both delicate cheeks of the two Fairies, who were among the three great Fairies of Luoyun Temple.
This provoked a playful scolding from the Luan Feng Immortal and stirred affection in the Ruthless Fairy.
Just as Zhou Fan was about to share a bed with the two Fairies, the third Fairy of Luoyun Temple suddenly burst into Zhou Fan's residence.
Silent Sword Fairy Luo Ningshuang saw Zhou Fan with a woman on each arm, felt indignant, and immediately joined the fray.
Half a month quietly passed, and within Zhou Fan's residence, a grand spectacle of "The Three Fairies of Luoyun Temple Versus the Yin Yang Peak Master" unfolded.
… …
The necessary preparations for the ceremony were made, the venue was set, invitations were widely distributed, and everything for the Dao Companion ceremony was ready.
The ten-year period had arrived.
On the fifteenth day of the first month, in the twenty-first year of Great Qian Shunzhi.
The Immortal-Mortal Passage opened, and Zhou Fan returned to the mortal Small World.
After a decade's absence, he returned to Luoyun Temple with Fu Fu Jie.
The scenery remained the same, but the people had changed considerably.
Leaving Luoyun Temple, he returned to the Kang Wang Residence.
Zhou Fan landed in the familiar small courtyard, and his first sight was of two slender women, in their early twenties, embroidering sachets in the courtyard.
One of the women bore some resemblance to Jiang Qingzhi in her features.
Zhou Fan appeared, looked at her, and felt a sense of déjà vu.
The two women also noticed Zhou Fan. The woman who resembled Jiang Qingzhi, after staring at Zhou Fan for a few breaths, burst into tears. She covered her mouth and said with a trembling voice.
"Father, you really came back…"
"You are, Qianxin?"
Distant memories awakened: from the birth of his and Jiang Qingzhi's first child, whom Zhou Fan named Zhou Qianxin.
During Qianxin's infancy, she always liked to be held by him, crying whenever anyone else held her, forcing him to be a full-time dad for several years.
Later, when Zhou Qianxin was nine, the Immortal-Mortal Passage opened, and he bid farewell to her and her mother, entering the Cultivation World.
In a blink of an eye, ten years had passed.
Zhou Qianxin was no longer the little girl who always needed to be held, but had grown into a graceful young woman.
Father and daughter had been separated for ten years, and Zhou Fan felt very ashamed, unsure of what to say.
Instead, Zhou Qianxin put down the sachet in her hand and, just like when she was little, rushed towards Zhou Fan.
Seeing this, Zhou Fan quickly opened his arms, but Zhou Qianxin suddenly stopped, crying and laughing, "Dad, you think I'm still a child."
Zhou Fan's open arms froze. He looked at Zhou Qianxin, who was nearly 1.7 meters tall, and gave an embarrassed smile, "I'm sorry, Qianxin, it's my fault. You're already an adult."
"Don't say you're sorry."
Zhou Qianxin threw herself into Zhou Fan's arms, her cheek pressed tightly against his chest, and she said happily.
"It's good that you're back. Mom always said you would definitely return, and I also firmly believed that my father would definitely be a man of his word, a man who stands tall."
Zhou Fan loosely embraced Zhou Qianxin. He knew that Jiang Qingzhi would definitely wait for his return, but he hadn't expected his daughter Zhou Qianxin to trust him so much.
"Qianxin, I haven't been a good father."
Zhou Qianxin smiled brightly upon hearing this, "Dad, you don't need to think so much."
"Compared to those who struggle for survival every day, I'm already very happy, and I still remember things from when I was little. Before I was nine, you and Mom were always by my side."
"My childhood was very happy, and after you left, I had Mom and my younger sister Qianwei with me, so I wasn't lonely at all."
"Qianwei?"
Zhou Fan turned his gaze to the woman who was still standing in place, appearing very introverted.
Zhou Qianwei was his daughter with Kang Wangfei (Princess Kang) Murong Qing. She was born later than Zhou Qianxin; she was only eight when he left.
Zhou Fan still remembered when he bid farewell to Murong Qing, Zhou Qianwei was still hiding behind her mother, staring blankly at him.
This little girl had been very introverted since childhood, only close to her mother, Murong Qing.
After Zhou Fan and Zhou Qianxin chatted for a while longer, Zhou Qianxin held onto Zhou Fan's arm, not letting go. Zhou Fan walked over to Zhou Qianwei to greet her.
Zhou Qianwei lowered her head and said timidly, "Greetings, Father."
Zhou Fan saw that this daughter of his was even more introverted than when she was little. Just as he was about to say something, the door to the room in the courtyard was pushed open, and Zhou Fan, sensing something, turned to look.
Jiang Qingzhi, with the Rejuvenation Pill Zhou Fan had left behind before he departed, her appearance was still the same as when they first met.
Only her demeanor had gained a touch of a wife's maturity and a mother's tenderness.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at her husband, who had not been seen for ten years and was now even more masculine and handsome. She had thousands of words she wanted to express, but in the end, they only turned into two lines of clear tears.
Zhou Qianxin appropriately let go of his hand, and Zhou Fan instantly appeared before Jiang Qingzhi.
He tightly embraced the woman he deeply loved, gently stroking her back and comforting her.
"Qingzhi, I'm back. From now on, we'll never have to be apart again."
"Husband, Qingzhi truly missed you, truly missed you…"
Ten years of longing. The deeper the love once was, the harder it was to endure the remembrance.
If not for the company of her other sisters and daughter, Jiang Qingzhi might have fallen ill from sorrow.
The two embraced tightly like this until a boisterous voice sounded.
"Eh? Xiao Fanzi, you're back?"
Yaya happily ran to Zhou Fan, her hands searching his body, "Did you bring back any delicious food from the Cultivation World? If it's not delicious enough, I'll have to charge you with a crime of deceiving the monarch."
The two separated, and Zhou Fan picked up Yaya.
Yaya's sense of time was very weak, and Zhou Fan, having been with Yaya for decades, had always known this.
So, even though ten years had passed, to Yaya it didn't seem like much time had gone by. Zhou Fan kissed Yaya's bouncy little cheek and, laughing, took out a food-box-shaped Storage Pouch specially prepared for Yaya.
"I've prepared dozens of portions of specialty delicacies from Qingyun Sea, Huangyan State's Rock City, Luoyun Temple's Nine Peaks, and various places in the Xuanyuan Dynasty for you."
Saying this, Zhou Fan took out a plate of crispy, sauced spirit pig slices, fragrant and appealing, and gave Yaya a piece to taste. Yaya immediately happily took the plate of spirit pig slices and the food box Storage Pouch back into the house.
After happily devouring the plate of spirit food, Yaya saw that Zhou Fan and Jiang Qingzhi had already returned to the room and were sitting and chatting.
She very properly jumped into Zhou Fan's arms and said that she and Sister Qingzhi had prepared a surprise for the sensible Xiao Fanzi.