Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Chapter 735 The Tower in the Heart of the Pool
The snoring, bad sleeping posture, and sleepwalking are just lies made up by Su Enxi... Well, not entirely lies, at least the part about her bad sleeping posture is true.

Sometimes, when she had to share a bed with Mai Shude while carrying out some mission, the long-legged girl would angrily scold her for her bad sleeping habits more than once, and at night she would roll all the blankets up to Mai's side.

However, the submissive, emotionless girl could accept her sleeping posture. The reason Su Enxi insisted on sleeping in her own room, forcing Ling to share a room with Lu Mingfei, was...

Of course, it's to help my best friend out!
Having finally gotten a mission to travel far away, Lu Mingfei was able to leave behind his many beautiful women and concubines.

Given her constant eavesdropping on Lu Mingfei at night—oops! No! I mean openly listening!—and Lu Mingfei's pure yang body, accustomed to daily pleasures, would absolutely be unable to resist the allure of this clueless girl sharing a room with him.

Imagine a lonely man and woman, like dry tinder and raging fire, sharing a room... a tiny spark could ignite them instantly.

I've already created an opportunity for you...

Su Enxi thought to herself, "If you can't control it, then it's up to you."

Therefore, the final room allocation became this arrangement—

Lu Mingfei sat on the sofa in the room, with the anime "Let's & Go!!" playing on the TV. However, he was a little distracted, and his eyes kept glancing at Zero, who was kneeling on the bed on the other side.

Zero was taking clothes out of her suitcase one by one, folding and smoothing them out. It seemed that Zero was truly defenseless against him. It was one thing to be willing to share a room with him, but to be able to take her underwear out of her suitcase in front of him without any scruples was also quite something.

Ling, who is petite, doesn't have many fancy lingerie designs; they are mostly plain colors and the styles are quite simple. However, Lu Mingfei, who has seen many different styles of lingerie by now, actually finds Ling's simple and plain lingerie quite cute.

"..."

Wait, why is he starting to mentally evaluate Zero's underwear styles?!

Lu Mingfei composed himself, realizing he couldn't let his mind wander any further and couldn't betray Ling's trust in him.

At that moment, the theme song of "Let's & Go!!" started playing on the TV.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, charge, charge, charge..."

Lu Mingfei: "..."

He pressed a button on the remote control in his hand and decisively turned off the TV!

"Let's arrange where we'll sleep tonight?" Lu Mingfei said, looking at Zero on the bed.

Zero turned to look at him, a hint of confusion in her blue eyes: "How do you sleep?"

"It's like this: who sleeps in the bed and who sleeps on the sofa."

"Aren't we going to sleep in the bed together? The bed is big."

How could they possibly sleep together! Lu Mingfei didn't know if Ling was completely unguarded towards him or had no concept of the differences between men and women.

Lu Mingfei said, "The sofa in the room is quite comfortable. I just tried it out, and there's plenty of room for me to lie down. It should be about a meter wide. Since you're a girl, you're prone to feeling cold, so it's not good for you to sleep on the sofa. During your stay at the Zhou family's house, you can sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the sofa."

Zero blinked slightly and shook her head: "No, that's not fair."

"...What other choice do we have?" They can't really sleep together, can they? Although he has a clear conscience...sometimes people's hearts are not so easy to control.

Zero said, "Sleeping in separate beds is fine. But we should alternate between sleeping on the sofa and sleeping in the bed, that's fair."

"You mean we'll sleep in the bed one day and the sofa the next?"

"Yes."

Actually, Lu Mingfei felt it was unnecessary. After all, he hadn't been being polite earlier. The sofa in the room the Zhou family had prepared was indeed quite comfortable. He had even checked the brand; it was Freemax, a high-end brand of Chinese furniture, the same brand as the sofa in Liu Miaomiao's house. It was much more comfortable than the old, hard bed at his uncle and aunt's house.

However, it's clear that if Ling doesn't agree here, she might force Lu Mingfei to sleep in the same bed with her.

Lu Mingfei considered Ling a good friend, so he absolutely couldn't harbor any disloyal thoughts. Therefore, after a brief hesitation, he had no choice but to agree: "Okay... then we'll sleep on the bed one day and the sofa the next, taking turns. Today is the first day, so I'll sleep on the sofa first."

Unexpectedly, Zero shook his head again: "Rock-paper-scissors, the loser sleeps on the sofa tonight."

Zero clenched her little fist in front of her, and Lu Mingfei could only follow Zero's suggestion and play rock-paper-scissors with her. Lu Mingfei chose paper, and Zero chose rock.

"I lost. I'll sleep on the sofa tonight," Zero said.

Lu Mingfei wondered if it was just his imagination, but Zero seemed to be a little happy.
But just as they had arranged how the two of them would sleep tonight, there was a sudden knock on the door.

As Zhou Li opened the door, she stood outside the room. When she saw Lu Mingfei and Ling appear together at the door, a hint of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes. However, the surprise was fleeting, immediately replaced by an expression of "I see."

Lu Mingfei immediately guessed that Zhou Li had probably misunderstood something between him and Zero...

“It’s not what you think.” Lu Mingfei immediately wanted to explain why he and Zero were sharing a room.

"What I think?" Zhou Li blinked. "I didn't say anything, did I? What do I think?"

"..."

Lu Mingfei felt he couldn't explain himself clearly, so he changed the subject: "Dr. Zhou, did you come to see us because there's something important?"

"It's nothing very important," Zhou Li replied with a smile. "I just wanted to ask if you've all rested well? If you have some free time, I'd like to show you around Zhou Garden so you can get a feel for it."

Zhou Garden is the name of the Zhou family residence.

“Okay,” Lu Mingfei replied. To be honest, he was quite interested in the interior of Zhou Garden as well.

The mansion of a prestigious family with a thousand-year history... made Lu Mingfei think of places like "Famous Sword Manor" or "Peach Blossom Island" in martial arts novels.

At this moment, Su Enxi from the opposite room also came out of her room. It seemed that she had changed her clothes while packing her luggage in the room.

She was originally wearing a slightly mature business suit, making her look like a student who had just graduated from university and entered the workforce. Now, she has changed into a casual outfit of a white shirt and denim mini skirt, showing off her long, straight, slender legs, and wearing flat shoes. She looks like a youthful and lively high school girl, instantly looking much younger.

In his memory, this seemed to be the first time Lu Mingfei had seen her dressed so casually, and he couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. Fortunately, Su Enxi didn't notice Lu Mingfei's gaze and walked over to say, "Weren't we supposed to be visiting Zhou Garden? Aren't you all ready yet?"

Lu Mingfei turned his gaze away from Su Enxi: "We can set off at any time."

Zhou Li smiled and said, "Let's not delay, let's go now while it's still light. It'll be dinnertime soon if we wait any longer."

The courtyard where Lu Mingfei and his family lived was located on the east side of the entire Zhou Garden. It is said that the east side was also the place where the descendants of the main branch of the Zhou family used to live.

Both "major lineage" and "minor lineage" are terms used in the ancient patriarchal clan system. The eldest son of the same progenitor is the major lineage, while other sons are considered illegitimate sons, and the illegitimate sons belong to the minor lineage.

To give a more easily understood example, the crown prince who inherits the throne is the main lineage, while the others who are given the title of prince are the minor lineages.

However, according to Zhou Li, the Zhou family has evolved to the point where they no longer place much emphasis on the distinction between major and minor branches. Any descendant of the Zhou family with a clear lineage is eligible to enter the Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall and become a member of the Zhou family. After all, the world of mixed-race individuals values ​​the quality of one's bloodline more than its purity.

"Besides, arguing about major and minor lineages is actually meaningless."

Zhou Li, who was leading the way, shrugged and said, "So what if he is the eldest son of a major clan? The Zhou family doesn't have a position of patriarch to inherit."

Lu Mingfei remembered Lu Mingze saying that the Zhou family's leader was Nuwa.

He asked curiously, "Isn't it said that the head of the Zhou family is Nuwa? Isn't Nuwa's position as head of the family inherited?"

Su Enxi, who was walking beside Lu Mingfei, suddenly tugged at his sleeve. Lu Mingfei immediately realized that the question he had asked seemed inappropriate, and might even involve some secrets of the Zhou family.

However, Zhou Li turned around the next moment, looked at Lu Mingfei quietly, shook her head, and replied, "The status of Nuwa was not inherited."

She looked ahead again, spoke calmly without turning her head: "In fact, throughout the thousands of years of the Zhou family's lineage, the head of the Zhou family... has always been Nuwa."

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingfei was suddenly stunned.

The Zhou family patriarch has always been Nuwa? What does this mean...? Could it be that Nuwa has lived for thousands of years?
But is it really possible for someone to live that long?

Of all the people Lu Mingfei knew, Angers was probably the longest-lived. Born at the end of the 19th century, he lived for over a hundred years, spanning three centuries! He was a true relic of the past.

The reason Angers was able to live for over a hundred years is because his bloodline was S-class, making him one of the best hybrids in the world.

Angers is now quite old. Although his rugged appearance and noble demeanor hint that he must have been an elegant and handsome man in his youth, he is now a frail old man with a full head of white hair.

Everyone thought Angers might live a long time... but no one believed that Angers could live into the next century.

However, from Zhou Li's words, Lu Mingfei understood that Nuwa seemed to have lived for thousands of years... Even a hybrid could not have such a long life, right?
Among the creatures he knew, it seemed that only the Dragon King could possess such a long lifespan.

Lu Mingfei remembered that Lu Mingze even called Nuwa "little girl".

"..."

Lu Mingfei felt he had experienced many significant events, and it was difficult for anything to truly shock him anymore. However, upon hearing Zhou Li say that Nuwa had been the head of the Zhou family for thousands of years, Lu Mingfei was once again taken aback.

Zhou Li said, "Actually, Nuwa also wanted to meet with you all. However, with the Ghost Festival approaching, Nuwa is very busy and can't spare the time. She asked me to apologize to you for now, and that she would definitely meet with you for tea when she is a little less busy."

Su Enxi said, "You're too kind. We're not in a hurry here; we have important business to attend to."

The chat room had taken countless turns. Sunlight streamed through the tiles of the surrounding buildings' gabled roofs, giving Lu Mingfei a fleeting feeling of having stumbled upon a paradise.

He gradually discovered that Zhou Garden was not actually a clan-style courtyard building like the Qiao Family Compound. It was more like the Grand View Garden described in "Dream of the Red Chamber," with the side rooms and courtyards not being densely packed. Flowers, branches, and willows were scattered throughout, and there was even a small river running through the middle of the mansion, requiring one to cross a bridge to cross.

They encountered more and more people along the way, and those who passed by would smile and nod at Zhou Li and Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei and his companions would naturally return the nods politely in return.

After passing through a wooded path, Lu Mingfei soon saw a wide lake in front of him, with a five-story pavilion in the center of the lake. Only a narrow path, just wide enough for people to walk on, led directly from the shore to the pavilion.

Lu Mingfei remembered the lake in Zhou Garden that he had seen from the mountain when he arrived by car; this must be the same small lake. A gentle breeze stirred, and the lake surface shimmered. There were even fish swimming in the lake.

"This is the Heluo Pond. It was built according to the method of raising fish by Duke Zhou Ji Dan. A 55-zhang-long and 50-zhang-wide earthen embankment was built in the center of Zhou Garden, and the spring at Xianshou was used to build the pond for raising fish. Taoists believe that 'fifty-five' is the number of heaven and earth, the sum of all the numbers of heaven and earth in the Hetu diagram; while 'fifty' is the number of the Great Expansion." Zhou Li introduced.

"Is this the very center of the entire Zhou Garden?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

“Yes,” Zhou Li said, “The building in the middle of Heluo Pond is Fuxi Tower. You can enjoy the entire view of Heluo Pond from upstairs. Would you like to take a look?”

"Is that okay?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Of course, you are all distinguished guests of the Zhou family."

Zhou Li smiled and gestured with her arm out, indicating "please." Lu Mingfei, Su Enxi, and Ling immediately followed behind Zhou Li and walked onto the only path leading to the Fuxi Tower in the center of the lake.

Before they even reached the door, a middle-aged man with graying hair walked out of the building. He paused for a moment when he saw Lu Mingfei and his group, then his gaze fell on their wrists.

Lu Mingfei also subconsciously glanced at his wrist, where he was wearing the bracelet that Zhou Minyao had given him earlier, which symbolized him as a guest of the Zhou family.

The middle-aged man gave a soft snort and said to Zhou Li, "Aunt, why did you bring outsiders here?"

Sister-in-law?

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. The middle-aged man in front of him looked to be in his forties or fifties, yet he called Zhou Li "little aunt." Was Zhou Li really that senior?

Zhou Li nodded to the middle-aged man and introduced, "These are guests from Kassel College. I'll take them up to the Fuxi Building for a look."

"Is that so? Unfortunately, 'Nuwa' is upstairs right now, so it might be inconvenient for her."

Is 'Nuwa' upstairs right now?

Zhou Li looked surprised upon hearing this, then turned to Lu Mingfei and the others and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Nuwa is currently upstairs in Fuxi Tower and I'm afraid I can't take you all upstairs for the time being... I'll take you to another place for a while."

……

(End of this chapter)