Having found a demon, I've decided to raise her.

"Anyway... we're all sword immortals, and we come from the same place, so we're practically from the same family, right? Isn't it normal to bring a maidservant as part of the dowry?"

Making a dignified sword immortal a dowry maid? Perhaps Dong Yi's brain is just full of water.

But what's even more outrageous is...

Afu was actually considering it. She looked at Dongyi and asked—

"Is this... alright?"

"No problem, bringing a dowry doesn't require the groom's consent, right?"

"It seems like we don't need to..."

Afu seemed to have been misled; something felt off, but she didn't know how to put it.

Dong Yi patted his chest and said—

"That would make everyone happy, and you'd end up in the same situation as me, so stop bringing this up all the time... Also, could you please not take me back, for the sake of this matter..."

She immediately put on a pitiful look and tugged at Afu's sleeve.

"..."

Could it be that giving Ah Fu advice was just a way to get her captured and taken back?

Ah Fu smiled and said—

"I didn't intend to take you back. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go back to participate in the opening ceremony martial arts exercise."

"Well, I'm definitely going to come in last place anyway, so I'm not going."

Dong Yi scratched his head. If he was absent, he would be at the bottom; if he went but couldn't win, he would still be at the bottom. So why bother going?

Ah Fu said—

"You can skip the start of the semester, but you still have to come back for the final exams, and you can't let your studies fall behind."

She took out a small bag tied with a rope from her waist and pulled out a book. A large item emerged from such a small space; Dong Yi looked at it and thought, "That must be a spatial bag, right?"

He handed the book to Dongyi and said—

"These are some of my insights. Your 'path' is different from mine, but it can still be a useful reference."

"Mmm, thank you."

Dong Yi said happily.

Ah Fu smiled, stood up, and said—

"Then I'll be going now. Dongyi, you need to focus on your cultivation. I'll turn a blind eye this time."

"okay."

Dong readily agreed, and then said to her—

"Don't worry, I'll take care of things for you. Be my dowry maid and marry him together."

Afu was slightly taken aback.

Then, after a brief silence, he pursed his lips, nodded, and said—

"it is good."

Extra Chapter: That Year's Qixi Festival

(Note: Each side story is set in a separate timeframe.)

Qixi Festival.

Qixi Festival, also known as the Double Seventh Festival, is now widely regarded as China's Valentine's Day. It's unclear whether this has been the case since ancient times or has simply been exploited by businesses in recent years.

In any case, it has nothing to do with Chen Ming, who doesn't have a girlfriend.

As a junior high school student, he gradually developed an interest in girls as he grew up. However, his parents were very familiar with the school, and whenever he showed any interest, they would ask the teachers to change his seat and then "advise" him.

Students should focus on their studies and not think about other things. Once they get to university, there will be plenty of girls to pursue them, blah blah blah.

In fact, once Chen Ming went to university, he found that the loose structure of the class actually hindered communication among classmates, and they were not as close as they used to be, unless they joined a club.

The best time to fall in love is in high school, when everyone is close and not so smart. But the worst time is also in high school, when there's too much pressure.

They dared not act recklessly, otherwise they would be condemned by everyone like sinners throughout history.

Chen Ming lay on the table, staring at the blackboard.

In fact, he was also considered a genius by everyone. He basically didn't listen in class in junior high school, but then he studied like crazy in the last week and was still first in his class and among the top three in the whole school.

Of course, it has something to do with the fact that the school is so bad.

His parents are planning to change his school.

He would have been taught a lesson at a top school, but he just couldn't shake his laziness.

He always believed that diligence is also a kind of talent.

If he can't be diligent, then he can't be called a genius; he's just average.

dong dong...

The girl in the back seat kicked his chair, but he pretended not to hear it.

"Hello, hello! Chen Ming!"

"...Keep your voice down. You know I'm being watched, right? You'll be coming with me for a talk later."

"Haha, the teacher is really funny, he's already paired you up with several girlfriends."

If he gets even a little intimate, he's considered to be having promiscuous relationships. Is Chen Ming that kind of person?

He was fine, but the female students who were misunderstood by the teacher were very embarrassed. Every time they saw Chen Ming, they would blush and their interactions were not as natural as before.

The girl poked his back with the tip of her pen.

"...Don't use the pen tip, it hurts."

"I'll stab you to death, you scumbag! It's Qixi Festival today, have you decided which girlfriend to go out with?"

"Don't joke around, it's just a misunderstanding. I don't have a girlfriend."

Chen Ming shook his head. His classmate sitting behind him was indeed very lively, always acting like a boy, and always tanned dark. But he thought she was quite pretty, and he had told her that before.

The girl listened to his words and whispered—

"Hmm... if not... it's not that I can't be with you..."

"My sister said she took the day off and is coming back today. I'm going to cook for her when I get back... Hmm? What did you say?"

Chen Ming was talking about today's arrangements, and she was barely listening to him.

"……nothing."

The girl angrily stabbed him hard.

"what!"

Chen Ming was in excruciating pain.

I rubbed my shoulders; it was truly inexplicable.

……

……

I went home with my schoolbag on my back.

Many people leave their books at school, but Chen Ming's books are sometimes vandalized with graffiti.

The reason given was something like stealing someone else's favorite girl... It's so childish, and they don't even dare to fight him, who's so burly.

There was no other way but to take the book home.

back home.

My sister sat on the sofa, her flaxen hair having grown long ever since he'd said "long hair looks good." Her pale eyes looked over, her cold expression softening as she smiled and said—

"came back?"

"Hmm, sister, why did you suddenly say you wanted to come back?"

"because……"

As Chen Ming passed by her, she pulled her younger brother into her arms, looked at him, and said—

Today is Qixi Festival.

"Hey?"

Chen Ming, caught off guard by his sister's sudden attack, blushed slightly and said—

"Sister, I'm not a child anymore."

The very fact that he said that proves he's still a child; only a child would care so much about being treated like one.

His sister hugged him and took a deep breath into his neck.

Chen Ming said helplessly—

"Qixi Festival isn't an important holiday. Look, schools don't even give us a holiday."

Holidays that are given time off are the important holidays; what kind of holiday is it if there are no holidays?

The older sister disagreed and said—

"It can be important even without a holiday, just like Valentine's Day."

"Even if that's true, neither my sister nor I have boyfriends, right?"

"Isn't there a saying that a younger brother is his older sister's lover from a past life? So it's okay for siblings to live together."

"...There's no such sentence at all!?"

During the argument between Chen Ming and his sister, his sister had already been holding him for quite some time.

He impatiently broke free and said—

"Okay, Mom and Dad aren't home today, I'll go cook."