My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 42

Xu Jingjing was Yue Zhihuan’s elementary school classmate, but they had been playmates even before they started school. Yue Zhihuan didn’t have many memories of her parents. Ever since she could remember, she had lived with her older brother. Back then, her brother wasn’t a cultivator; he was just born with more strength and energy than most people. To make a living, he had to take on odd jobs every day after school. He would wash dishes at small restaurants and even worked unloading cargo, relying on his strength. At the time, her brother wasn’t an adult yet; people only gave them work because they pitied the siblings for having no one to look after them.

Her brother would leave early and return late almost every day, leaving her home alone. When she was very young, neighbors would look in on her, but once she was old enough to be sensible, she would stay home quietly, waiting for her brother to return. Jingjing lived in the same building, and once she realized Zhihuan was alone, she would often stand outside the door to chat with her. Sometimes, Zhihuan would open the door to play with Jingjing downstairs. Jingjing didn’t mind that she was mute; knowing Zhihuan could hear, she would teach her how to write and draw, even though at the time, Jingjing only knew how to write her own name and numbers. Although Zhihuan couldn’t speak, her hearing and intelligence were fine, so her brother didn’t send her to a special needs school, opting for a regular elementary school where she happened to be in the same class as Jingjing.

Children can be innocent and kind, but they can also be cruel and malicious. She was given the nickname “Mute Girl” and bullied; her clothes were drawn on, and her skin was pinched black and blue by kids who wanted to see if she was really mute and truly unable to make a sound. Back then, Jingjing always protected her. When they encountered mean-spirited boys, they would bully and isolate Jingjing along with her, but Jingjing never blamed her, nor did she stay away to avoid being targeted.

Later, her brother was discovered to have a spiritual root and was taken into the path of cultivation. After he joined the Administration, their living conditions improved slightly, but her brother remained very busy, working hard to cultivate and become stronger, all to ensure a better future for them. Yue Zhihuan knew her brother was having a tough time and faced many dangers as a cultivator, so she almost never told him about what happened at school. Once she reached middle school, she and Jingjing were no longer in the same class. She became a loner, a mute girl with an isolated personality, and being excluded or ostracized was the least of her problems. During that stage of development, she was pretty, mute, and had only a young brother at home—it was easy to imagine how vulnerable she was in the eyes of certain people.

One night after evening study session, she was cornered by a group of boys in a dim alleyway on her way home. Because she was mute, they didn’t even need to cover her mouth. They pulled at her clothes and laughed, reaching inside while listening to her raspy, incoherent cries. Fortunately, her brother returned home early that day and stopped the tragedy in time, but because he used excessive force, he severely injured the three bullies—nearly killing them—and was punished by the Administration. Since that day, she never went to school again. Her brother said that as long as she knew how to read and wasn’t illiterate, that was enough; he promised to earn enough money to give her a life free of worries, so she didn’t have to study so hard.

During that time, Jingjing stayed by her side. Every day after school, she would come to talk to her and hold her while crying, blaming herself for not being in the same school and being unable to protect her. Later, her brother joined Jiang Lin’s Dongcheng squad, and she moved into the small courtyard with him. She kept in touch with Jingjing, but they didn’t meet often; Jingjing knew she disliked going out and had psychological trauma from contact with strangers, so she never forced her. Even for this wedding, Jingjing just told her she wanted to share her happiness, without forcing her to attend. But how could she not go? That was her only good friend, a friend whose connection was different from the people in the courtyard.

When the time came that she could no longer delay, Yue Zhihuan went back to her room to change into a clean, simple white dress, tidied her hair, and applied a little lipstick. She didn’t wear makeup. Even though she had plenty of cosmetics and would watch beauty influencers in her spare time, the idea of wearing a full face of makeup to see people felt weird to her; a bit of lipstick was enough. After she was ready, she returned to the front courtyard and twirled in front of Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi: *Is this okay?* Uncle Gao gave her a thumbs up: “It’s perfect, Huanhuan looks beautiful like this.”

Bai Zhizhi leaned over to look, shook his head, and said, “Let your hair down, I’ll fix it for you.” He pressed Yue Zhihuan down into a chair, rummaged through his storage container, and pulled out a vibrant green hair chain to tuck into her hair as an accessory. He braided a few strands together, draped them over her chest, and hung beautiful earrings on her ears. “That looks much better.” Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi watched from the side and praised: “Zhizhi is so talented; you turned our little beauty into a big beauty in just a few seconds.” Yue Zhihuan pulled out a small mirror and looked, gesturing with surprise: *Zhizhi, how are you so good at this? It looks so good.* Bai Zhizhi replied, “What’s hard about this? I have long hair myself.” He had watched his sisters style their hair since he was little, and styling human hair was nothing to him.

Since Yue Zhihuan was the one attending the wedding and Bai Zhizhi was just there out of curiosity to get a free meal, they left as soon as she was dressed. Bai Zhizhi suggested, “Do you want to take my mechanical bird? It’s much faster than your cars here.” Yue Zhihuan shook her head repeatedly, pulling him toward the subway. Since Bai Zhizhi didn’t have a driver’s license and she didn’t know how to drive, they relied on public transport or taxis. However, taking a taxi meant having to give the driver an address, and if the driver was the overly chatty type, she would feel even more awkward, so she preferred the subway when going out alone. Bai Zhizhi had never ridden the subway and spent the trip following Yue Zhihuan around in wonder: “This carriage is amazing; it can hold so many people at once, more than the buses running on the streets above.” Yue Zhihuan held onto Bai Zhizhi tightly; having someone she knew by her side made her more relaxed, and she was afraid of losing him if she weren’t careful.

After passing several crowded stations, the carriage finally emptied out a bit. Yue Zhihuan pulled Bai Zhizhi to a seat and took out some water to see if he wanted any. Bai Zhizhi shook his head: “No thanks, you drink it.” Yue Zhihuan didn’t drink either; she had lipstick on, and she didn’t want to drink it all off before the wedding feast even started. Bai Zhizhi glanced at her, reached out to pat her head: “Relax and don’t be nervous. So what if you can’t speak? I’m here; you don’t need to speak.” Yue Zhihuan held his arm and smiled. Perhaps it was because Bai Zhizhi was a fox, but Yue Zhihuan felt he was remarkably clean from the moment she saw him—a clarity only seen in animals, free from the complexity of humans. Being with him made her feel exceptionally comfortable.

Bai Zhizhi let her hold his arm and asked how many more stations they had. Learning they had at least half an hour left, the internet-addicted fox immediately took out his phone to start his daily gaming session. Just as he was focused on his game, several sharp screams rang out. As a demon, his sense of smell and hearing were particularly acute, and such piercing screams were grating and uncomfortable. He looked up to see a group of children who had just boarded at the previous station playing around in the carriage; the screaming was coming from them. Bai Zhizhi flicked his fingertip, casting a sound-dampening spell to block them out. Beside him, Yue Zhihuan heard the noise vanish and looked at the group of children; seeing them still screaming and acting wildly, she looked at Bai Zhizhi. Bai Zhizhi flicked his finger at her, and knowing he must have done something, she gave him a thumbs up: *Amazing.* Bai Zhizhi smiled and continued his game.

Before a single game session was finished, the screaming children began running around, stepping on seats and grabbing handrails. Since the carriage was sparsely populated, there was space for them to act out, but it wasn’t a place for such rowdiness. Their parents didn’t care at all, sitting aside and playing on their phones as if they had also cast a sound-blocking spell. Seeing Zhizhi look toward the people opposite them, Yue Zhihuan quickly took out her phone to type: *Just bear with it for a bit longer, we have two stops left.* She was afraid Bai Zhizhi would get annoyed and start an argument. Since she couldn’t help, she tried her best to soothe him, hoping it would pass quickly. Everyone else in the carriage was clearly enduring it, some even putting on headphones, but no one stepped forward to stop it. Bai Zhizhi frowned; even the most ill-mannered demon cubs wouldn’t act so inappropriately in public. These humans really had no manners at all.

When a child ran past him, the kid intentionally bumped into his hand, seemingly trying to knock his phone down. Seeing this, Yue Zhihuan gasped, grabbing Bai Zhizhi and shaking her head frantically—don’t get angry, you can’t get angry, these kids couldn’t withstand a single slap from a demon cultivator. If she had known she would encounter such unruly “bear children,” she should have just taken a taxi; what was a chatty driver compared to the safety of avoiding a brat? Bai Zhizhi looked at the parents sitting opposite him, and a flash of spiritual light flickered from his fingertip. The child, who was standing on a seat and grabbing the handrail, suddenly tumbled off, hitting the parents with such force that their phone flew to the ground. Bai Zhizhi glanced at the fallen phone, hearing a slight *pop* as the screen shattered into pieces.

Lin Xiaoyang had once said that phones were essential for humans and not cheap; some people might not even be able to afford one with a month’s salary. Comparing it to the pocket money Jiang Lin gave him, he thought phones were quite affordable and had assumed Lin Xiaoyang was pulling his leg, but now he realized Lin Xiaoyang hadn’t been lying. Because the child’s parent saw the phone fall, they were finally no longer blind or deaf, and they exploded. They looked at the child first, and seeing the kid crawl up on their own, they went to pick up the phone. When they saw that the screen was shattered and the motherboard seemed to be falling apart, they were stunned for a moment, seemingly surprised that a single fall could cause so much damage.

But they quickly reacted to the tragic state of the phone, grabbed the rowdy child, and gave them a violent spanking. The child, who had been screaming and playing just a moment ago, immediately began wailing, and the more they cried, the harder the parent hit them; the entire carriage echoed with the sound of wailing. Bai Zhizhi chuckled and said to Yue Zhihuan: “Look, they’re not playing with the phone anymore, the parent knows how to discipline the kid, and the child isn’t running wild or screaming anymore. Isn’t that better?” Yue Zhihuan: “…” There was no more screaming, but the wailing was even more annoying. Bai Zhizhi watched with a grin; now he didn’t find it annoying, he found it quite entertaining. The other children who had been running along with the first one all quieted down, shrinking back to their parents’ sides to sit obediently. Bai Zhizhi was satisfied; wasn’t it possible for them to learn to be good? The parent who dropped the phone was still shouting while pulling the child’s ear, yelling about why they were running around and moving so much, asking if they had ADHD, and shouting that they would never take them out again. Bai Zhizhi huffed; they knew how to discipline them now, but where was that attitude before?

When the announcement for their stop sounded, Yue Zhihuan pulled Bai Zhizhi out in a hurry; she was afraid something uncontrollable would happen if they stayed any longer. Bai Zhizhi glanced at the station sign: “Isn’t it not time yet?” Yue Zhihuan took out her phone to type: *I’m taking you to ride a ‘poo-poo’ bike (electric tricycle), to experience the scenery in a convertible.* Ten minutes later, they sat on an electric three-wheeled convertible. Bai Zhizhi was amazed: “You have so many types of transportation here.” Big cars, small cars, all sorts of things, unlike Qingqiu where it was all mounts, flying chariots, or oh, big boats—but he hadn’t ridden a big boat yet. Yue Zhihuan let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t seem as scared about facing a group of strangers anymore; she just wanted to finish the meal quickly and take Zhizhi home, praying they wouldn’t run into any more “bear children.”

Xu Jingjing’s wedding banquet was very lavish. When they split up in middle school, it was due to exam scores, but also because Xu Jingjing’s grandmother’s home had been demolished. Jingjing’s mother was an only child, and all the money from the demolition went to her daughter, so the family bought a larger apartment in a better neighborhood and moved. Thinking of seeing Jingjing, Yue Zhihuan was both expectant and nervous. Bai Zhizhi held her hand, looking quite confident as he led her inside, asking people for directions, and finally found the bride in the makeup room. Upon seeing Yue Zhihuan, Xu Jingjing ran over excitedly: “Huanhuan! I thought you weren’t going to come.” Yue Zhihuan gestured to her: *How could I not come to your wedding? We promised each other we would witness each other’s happiness.* Xu Jingjing knew that after the middle school incident, Yue Zhihuan had closed herself off, so she didn’t want to pressure her and hadn’t made any promises like being bridesmaids. Now that Huanhuan was willing to go out for her sake, she was very happy. As the two hugged affectionately, Bai Zhizhi’s gaze fell on the bride’s stomach another aura of evil spirits. There really were so many evil spirits here.