123: I'll live here from now on.

Twilight stained the sky as Lin Luo walked out of Yueyemu Hospital alone. Dr. Fujino had just finished Kanae's follow-up exam and brought good news: she was recovering ideally and was expected to be discharged within a day or two.

This news lightened Lin Luo's mood, making his steps brisk. If a high-level cultivator were present, they would notice a "traveling companion" invisible to ordinary people by his side—eight feet was dressed in modern clothes, yet her gentle temperament was hard to hide as she followed quietly behind him. Ever since regaining her senses, she had been unwilling to stay inside the book pages for long. Sensing that her spirit body was pure and stable, and that ordinary people couldn't perceive her at all, Lin Luo allowed her to follow him outside.

However, this ease came to a screeching halt when he returned to his apartment building—several people in moving company uniforms were coming in and out of his unit door.

Unease rose in Lin Luo's heart. He followed the workers into the room, and the scene before him left him stunned.

In the living room, Ye Nianyao sat regally on the main sofa, her posture as composed as if she were the master of the house. Tohru stood to the side with her tail drooping, not even daring to sit down casually as she usually did. Shiina Mahiru and Kirisu Mafuyu sat close together on one side, while Yukino Mifuyu sat alone on the other. Everyone's gaze held a hint of caution, and the entire living room was filled with an invisible pressure—the powerful aura emanating from the uninvited guest made everyone present instinctively restrain their presence.

Tohru's keen sense of smell caught Lin Luo's presence. Her eyes lit up as if she had seen a savior—completely forgetting that in front of this uninvited guest, even Lin Luo himself would unconsciously restrain his edge.

"Stop right there," Ye Nianyao's gaze swept over indifferently. "As a pet, who allowed you to move without permission?"

Her flat tone carried an unquestionable authority. Tohru's leg, which she had just stepped out with, instantly froze in mid-air, and she sheepishly pulled it back.

Lin Luo turned his gaze toward Kirisu Mafuyu and couldn't help but wonder: she was a teacher, after all, so why was she also following someone else's lead? On the other side, Yukino Mifuyu's face was pale; he wondered if she had been scolded. Fortunately, based on his understanding of Ye Nianyao, if she had actually raised a hand, Yukino Mifuyu could never be sitting there so intact.

The entire living room fell into a delicate stagnation, with only the rustling of the moving company employees' cautious footsteps at the entrance.

Lin Luo cleared his throat and stepped into the living room, attempting to break the stagnant atmosphere.

But before he could speak, a cold voice rang out: "The thing I gave you, you just took it to curry favor with someone else like that?"

Lin Luo's footsteps stopped instantly.

He finally understood why Yukino Mifuyu's face was so pale.

That Spirit Fruit itself wasn't particularly precious, and most of its spiritual charm had long since dissipated—the only thing special about it was the person who gave it: Ye Nianyao.

"I was wrong," Lin Luo said instinctively—he didn't know how to defend himself, thinking only that admitting he was wrong first, as he had in the past, would always calm things down.

Ye Nianyao raised an eyebrow slightly. "Wrong again? Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"

Lin Luo walked up to her, looking at that face which remained cold and beautiful yet devoid of emotion. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke tentatively, "I should have let Yukino completely refine that Spirit Fruit's energy... I shouldn't have left any traces?"

Before he finished speaking, the air in the entire living room seemed to stagnate a bit more.

"It seems your increased strength has made you blindly confident, Lin Luo."

Ye Nianyao's eyes narrowed slightly. Her voice remained steady, yet the temperature in the living room seemed to drop several degrees. She tapped her fingertip lightly on her knee; though there was no fluctuation of power, it made Lin Luo's heart skip a beat.

"Th-that..."

A soft, timid voice rang out, breaking the almost solidified air. Shiina Mahiru's hands were nervously clasped in front of her chest, her light-colored eyes shimmering with uneasy tears.

"Please... please don't fight..." she said softly, her voice light as a feather brushing past. "Mr. Lin Luo certainly didn't mean it... Sister Nianyao, don't be angry..."

By the last few words, her voice was almost inaudible. Her slender shoulders instinctively hunched, yet she plucked up the courage to look at Ye Nianyao, her eyes full of pleading. That weak yet determined attempt to mediate softened the tense atmosphere slightly.

"Sister Nianyao?" Lin Luo chuckled, keenly catching the intimate address, and the stagnant atmosphere in the living room loosened. "She let you call her that? Since when did your relationship become so good?"

Ye Nianyao glanced indifferently at Lin Luo as he sat down beside her, but she didn't push him away. She just tilted her eyes slightly. "Do you have an objection?"

Lin Luo didn't dare to dwell on that topic and changed the subject. "How could I... By the way, this is my house. What are you doing?" He looked around at the busy moving crew.

Ye Nianyao replied as if it were a matter of course, "This place of yours has nothing. How am I supposed to live here?"

"This is my house," Lin Luo emphasized.

"No need to repeat yourself."

"My point is, you should have asked for my opinion first."

Ye Nianyao flipped her palm, and a miniaturized Flying Sword danced nimbly at her fingertips, its cold light flowing. "Do you have an objection?"

Lin Luo coughed lightly and said seriously, "My point is, if you had told me earlier, I would have helped with the cleaning and tidying."

The transition in this conversation was seamless, leaving Yukino Mifuyu on the side with her mouth slightly open—it was brushed off just like that? She looked at the bone-chilling Flying Sword in Ye Nianyao's hand, feeling that this matter wouldn't end so simply, and a faint sense of unease rose in her heart.

"I heard," Ye Nianyao's voice remained steady, but her gaze slowly swept over every girl present, "that the relationship between everyone and Lin Luo... isn't quite clear."

A casual sentence, yet it was like throwing a massive rock into a calm lake.

Lin Luo suddenly felt his teeth ache. On the other side, Kirisu Mafuyu shuddered violently and instinctively grabbed a throw pillow to shield herself, her slender body almost completely shrinking behind Shiina Mahiru—she looked exactly like a student's parent catching them red-handed, even the tips of her ears flushing with guilt.

"No, Sister Nianyao, why did you suddenly bring this up?" Lin Luo asked feebly, feeling a dull throb in his temples.

"As your elder sister, I have a responsibility to regulate your private life." Ye Nianyao picked up a teacup and took a light sip, her tone matter-of-fact. "With your decadent lifestyle, you have unknowingly lost that pure Dao Heart."

Lin Luo couldn't help but curl his lip. "I never had much of a pure Dao Heart to begin with. Besides..." His voice lowered a bit, "You're not my biological sister."

"I am still your elder." Ye Nianyao put down the teacup, her gaze sharpening slightly. Five simple words, yet they carried unquestionable weight.

Lin Luo rubbed his throbbing temples and muttered quietly, "If we're counting by seniority, I should be the elder..."

Before he could finish, the teacup at Ye Nianyao's fingertips landed softly on the coffee table with a crisp clink.

"Oh?" She leaned forward slightly, her hair sliding off her shoulder. "So now you want to argue seniority with me?"

Though the corners of her lips held a faint curve, Lin Luo instinctively leaned back, nearly sliding off the edge of the sofa.

"I am waiting for your answer." Ye Nianyao's gaze shifted, slowly sweeping over the three young girls on the sofa.

These words fell like a gavel of judgment. Kirisu Mafuyu shuddered and instinctively gripped the hem of Shiina Mahiru's clothes; Mahiru kept her head low, her slender fingers tightly interlaced, her knuckles turning white; although Yukino Mifuyu maintained her upright posture, her slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

Just as Ye Nianyao's gaze swept over everyone like an ice blade and the air in the living room almost solidified into a physical entity, Lin Luo suddenly stood up and unhesitatingly blocked the path between Ye Nianyao and the three girls.

"Stop." His voice was clear and firm, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness. "If you keep questioning them like this, everyone will be scared to death."

Meeting Ye Nianyao's slightly furrowed brow, he said frankly, "Everything started because of me. I was the one who took the initiative to approach and care for everyone. If you have any dissatisfaction, just direct it at me."

At this point, he paused slightly, his gaze meeting Ye Nianyao's eyes without flinching, his tone solemn: "But I must state in advance—no one is allowed to hurt the people I care about. Not even you."

These words were powerful. Kirisu Mafuyu, who had been curled up on the sofa, looked up in surprise; Shiina Mahiru's tightly clenched fingers unconsciously loosened; even Yukino Mifuyu, who had kept her eyes down, couldn't help but look at Lin Luo's straight back.

"You really have changed." Ye Nianyao locked eyes with Lin Luo for a moment, then nodded slightly. "You've grown, but—"

Before she finished, Lin Luo turned into a perfect parabola once again, accurately flying toward the beanbag chair in the corner of the living room. This kick was clean and swift; even the people from the moving company couldn't help but cheer in their hearts until they met Ye Nianyao's cold gaze and hurriedly lowered their heads to continue their work.

Shiina Mahiru explained softly, "Mr. Lin Luo is very good to all of us... If it weren't for Mr. Lin Luo, we might not be here anymore."

Yukino Mifuyu took a light breath, stood up, and bowed slightly to Ye Nianyao. "Lady Ye, the matter of using your spiritual object without permission was my fault. Please do not blame Mr. Lin Luo for this; I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Once something is given away, it has nothing to do with me anymore." Ye Nianyao's tone was flat. "I won't implicate others over such a small matter."

Her gaze swept over everyone's faces with a hint of confusion. "Besides, I don't understand why you are all so afraid of me. I mean you no ill will."

Seeing this, Tohru hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Then how about we also call you Sister Nianyao? It'll make things feel more intimate!"

"Know your place." Ye Nianyao glanced at her coldly. "I am your master."

"Why?! I'm not a pet!" Tohru simply threw caution to the wind. "Even if I'm to be a maid, I'll only be Lin Luo's Dragon Maid!"

As soon as she spoke, the entire living room suddenly fell into a dead silence.

A faint flash of blue cold light appeared at Ye Nianyao's fingertips. The next second, Tohru turned into a crystalline ice sculpture and landed with a "thud" right on top of Lin Luo, who had just crawled back up.

"She is her, and you are you." Ye Nianyao's expression didn't ripple in the slightest, as if she had just casually brushed away a speck of dust. Her gaze calmly swept over Mahiru and Yukino. "My goodwill toward you will not change because of her recklessness."

Lin Luo, pinned under the ice sculpture, struggled to poke his head out. Meeting Ye Nianyao's indifferent gaze, he wisely swallowed the protest that was on the tip of his tongue.