"Mama, have some water."
The four-year-old Feifei stood up and handed a big water pitcher to her mom.
It was already dusk, the sun was setting in the west, and the sea breeze was blowing gently; the weather had finally cooled down.
The four-year-old Feifei was really cute, chubby and round, the only downside was that her skin was somewhat dark.
But it couldn’t be helped, even though Zhu Xiaolan always made her stay in the shade, she still tanned into a little dark-skinned girl.
Zhu Xiaolan took the water pitcher, gulped down a lot of water, despite the weather having cooled down now, she was still drenched.
"Feifei, are you hungry?"
Zhu Xiaolan put the cap back on the bottle, took a long breath, and the sea breeze brought her a trace of coolness, making her feel refreshed all over.
She took off her sun hat and pulled down her UV-protective sleeves, feeling a wave of relief.
"I’m not hungry yet, mom. Are we going home now?"
Feifei, wearing a yellow sleeveless dress, laughed as the sea breeze puffed her dress out.
"Yeah, let’s go home. Mom will make you something delicious tonight," said Zhu Xiaolan.
"Will daddy be back in time for dinner? I miss him a little," said Feifei innocently.
Hearing this, Zhu Xiaolan paused, turned her head back to look at her daughter, and said seriously, "Feifei, mom has told you, daddy has died; he’s not coming back."
"Oh." Feifei sounded somewhat disappointed.
It was not the first time that Zhu Xiaolan had said this to her; her husband’s death was something she never wanted to hide from her daughter because a single lie would mean countless more to cover it up, and she didn’t want to do that—it was too exhausting.
Seeing that her daughter seemed a bit sad, Zhu Xiaolan quickly changed the subject to divert her attention.
"Where are the two little sisters who played with you today? Did they go home with their mom and dad?"
Feifei nodded, "Yeah, Sister Xiao Yue and Sister Duoduo said they would come to play with me again tomorrow."
"Did you share your coconut candy with them?" Zhu Xiaolan continued to pack up the things.
"I shared with them, but they didn’t eat any," Feifei said.
"I see, that’s fine then."
"Do they not like to eat it?" Feifei asked, somewhat disappointed.
Zhu Xiaolan turned to look at her and smiled, "Maybe, are they coming to play with you tomorrow?"
Feifei immediately nodded, "Sister Xiao Yue said they would come tomorrow. I remember."
"Alright then, we’ll buy some more snacks later, and you can offer them to eat together," Zhu Xiaolan said. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵
Feifei jumped for joy on the spot, very happy.
Zhu Xiaolan packed everything into a big bag and then took Feifei’s hand to leave the beach and got onto the shore.
There was an electric scooter parked on the shore; Zhu Xiaolan put the stuff on the front footrest, and after lifting Feifei onto the back seat, she climbed on the scooter herself.
"Hold me tight, okay?"
Feifei stretched out her arms, hugged her mom’s waist, and rested her face against her back.
She didn’t mind at all that her mom’s clothes were soaked with sea water or the smell of sweat coming off them; perhaps to her, this was uniquely the scent of her mother.
"Feifei, your birthday is in a couple of days, have you thought about what gift you want?"
Zhu Xiaolan’s scooter was moving slowly; with these rare leisure moments, she also wanted to chat with her daughter.
"I want to eat a big cake," Feifei said.
"There will definitely be cake, but mom is asking if you want any other gifts."
"Mom, will daddy come back to celebrate my birthday?"
Zhu Xiaolan felt helpless upon hearing this; children were , often talking about one thing while you’re on another, not on the same wavelength at all.
Since it was so, Zhu Xiaolan didn’t answer her question but instead asked directly, "What kind of cake do you want?"
"I want a little piggy cake."
"Yes, a chubby pink piggy," Feifei said excitedly.
Her little legs kicked back and forth.
"Sit properly, don’t fidget," Zhu Xiaolan reminded her.
Then she asked, "On your birthday, will you eat the piggy’s butt first, or its big ears?"
Feifei went crazy with laughter, finding the thought very amusing.
"Roar, I’ll swallow the little pig in one bite, neither eating its butt nor its ears."
"Wow, you’re so impressive."
The mother and daughter chatted and laughed all the way to a village, a bit out of the way, but the rent was cheap.
Previously, both Zhu Xiaolan and her husband worked at a nearby anchor chain factory.
Her husband was a worker at the anchor chain factory, and she was the accountant.
However, since her husband died in an accident at the factory, she also chose to resign, but never moved away.
She wanted to take Feifei back to her hometown but couldn’t bear to leave this place, where she met her husband and even where Feifei was born. To her, this place was not much different from her own home.
"Dou Dou ran back to me today saying that you two bullied her."
Seeing Xiao Yue and Duoduo return, Shen Siyuan said with a bit of amusement.
Upon hearing this, Duoduo quickly shook her head; she wasn’t the kind of bad kid who bullied others.
"Not at all." Xiao Yue was quite angry at the accusation.
She then looked around the room, "Where is she? Where did she run off to?"
"She probably went home to find her parents," Shen Siyuan said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yue immediately turned into a Yin Wind and whisked out the window.
Shen Siyuan was surprised; she wasn’t going to Dou Dou for a reckoning, was she?
Turning to see Duoduo watching him, he waved his hand, "You go too, keep an eye on the two of them, and make sure they don’t fight."
Upon hearing this, Duoduo immediately vanished as well as a Yin Wind.
Watching them coming and going with such ease, Shen Siyuan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly; how come he, as the Banner Master, seemed to be far less skilled than them?
With this thought, Shen Siyuan’s mind moved, and he summoned the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
Then, a thread of Merit from within his Sea of Consciousness fell upon the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
The golden thread of Merit, like a dragon, twisted and turned on the purple banner fabric, finally becoming a golden line that mended a hole in the banner.
As for the remaining thread of Merit, Shen Siyuan decided to use it to cultivate an offensive technique.
Great Arhat Eighteen Forms is only a Magic Skill for tempering the body and doesn’t have offensive capabilities.
So Shen Siyuan began recalling Jiuyou Demon Lord’s memories.
Even as just a residual soul, his memories were extremely vast and complex.
Within these memories, after Jiuyou Demon Lord became famous, he collected many Magic Skills.
As Shen Siyuan recalled, these Magic Skills were reflected one by one in his heart.
There were too many Cultivation Techniques, but most were unsuitable for the current Shen Siyuan.
The suitable ones were too weak, like some human Martial Arts techniques, which Shen Siyuan immediately discarded.
These Martial Arts techniques, although somewhat powerful, could not withstand the firearms of the present humans.
In the end, Shen Siyuan listed several complete, unbroken Magic Skills that were also incredibly powerful.