“No.” His reply was a single word, and at the same time, he hugged me even tighter. His fingers slipped on my cheek before playfully pinching my chin.

“Wen Jiubo!” I couldn’t push him away and he kissed me again. Just when I was trying to break free from his embrace, a sudden knock on the door startled me.

I hurriedly stepped back to break free from Wen Jiubo and coughed in embarrassment. “Someone is at the door!”

Wen Jiubo sighed deeply as if he was regretting that he had let a wonderful opportunity just slip through his fingers. He murmured, “Really, who is knocking at the door this late? Are they not afraid of waking people up?”

I looked at Wen Jiubo’s expression and was quite amused. “It’s only evening, no one goes to sleep so early. Go and take a look, maybe it’s a client.”

Wen Jiubo glanced at me. Meanwhile, the person at the door knocked again. Wen Jiubo sighed and walked to the courtyard.

“It better be a client, or else I will give him a hard time.”

Wen Jiubo casually muttered some curses that didn’t sound very threatening. He crossed the courtyard and stood in front of the door. With a gentle wave, the wooden door was opened.

A man wearing a black cloak stood outside the door. His face was hidden behind a hood, making it hard to see it clearly. He had a golden retriever, which was quietly lying next to his feet and staring at us. His cloak was wet and reflected the moonlight. It could be seen that the man was already traveling before the rain stopped, perhaps he had traveled a long way to meet Wen Jiubo.

It was simple reasoning and I believed that Wen Jiubo also guessed the reason why the man was here. However, he frowned and it seemed obvious that he wasn’t friendly towards the visitor.

“It’s late, what do you need?”

The visitor said slowly, “Can’t I come to see an old friend if I don’t have anything important to do?”

Hearing this, Wen Jiubo’s face instantly turned grim. He closed the door without hesitation.

“There is no need for you to meet me. I’m very busy. Sir, please go back.”

Sir? Wait, did Wen Jiubo just call the person outside ‘Sir’? Had he already recognized the man outside?

“Ay!” The black-cloaked man pushed the wooden door to keep it open. The golden retriever next to him stood up, straightened its body and growled threateningly.

“Is this how you welcome an old friend?” The black-cloaked man laughed. “It’s fine if you don’t wanna share a cup of tea with me, but to even kick me out? Gu Yu is still here, do you really want to show him this side of your personality?”

Me? I was confused, why would it have anything to do with me?

The visitor noticed my doubts, he laughed and took off the hood covering his face. “What? Gu Yu, don’t you recognize me?”

As soon as he took off his hood, I was shocked. The man under the hood was none other than someone I was familiar with ——it was Zhu Xuan from Mt. Diecui!

“Gu Yu, long time no see.” Zhu Xuan smiled at me.

“Zhu Xuan!” I shouted in surprise. “Why are you here?”

“Didn’t I just say it?” Zhu Xuan lifted his chin towards Wen Jiubo. “I’m coming to meet an old friend, but it seems like I’m not welcome here.”

An old friend? So.. Wen Jiubo was one of Zhu Xuan’s old acquaintances? I was even more confused. I looked at Zhu Xuan, and then at Wen Jiubo.

“Before meeting you, I wasn’t sure if there was any nine-tailed fox still alive in this world. However, Gu Yu, after hearing your description, I was sure that the Mr. Wen you were talking about was the nine-tailed fox I knew.” Zhu Xuan said to me with a smile.

I looked back doubtfully at Wen Jiubo. “Did he .. did you two know each other?”

Wen Jiubo coldly stared at Zhu Xuan with his arms crossed. “Of course I know him. As he said, we are old friends. He almost got me killed hundreds of times.”

“Really?” I was surprised and looked at Zhu Xuan.

However, Zhu Xuan kept smiling as he patted me on the shoulder.

“It’s nothing, just old stories. Kids should not worry about adult matters.”

I once again felt that I was being treated like a moron. At that moment, Zhu Xuan squeezed through the door with his golden retriever. Wen Jiubo stared at him with displeasure written all over his face. To be honest, Wen Jiubo was never a moody person, I seldom saw him show emotions on his face. However, Zhu Xuan was not angry at all and he kept smiling at us.

“I’m sorry for coming here abruptly, this is my fault. However, it took me so much effort to find your nest. I’m not here just to meet you for old time’s sake,” said Zhu Xuan.

“I don’t care,” Wen Jiubo replied in a simple and concise manner. “You are not welcome here, go home.”

Zhu Xuan raised his eyebrows before saying calmly, “But as far as I know, you changed careers and became an exorcist. The plaque above the gate says ‘House of Exorcism’.”

“So what? It has nothing to do with you,” Wen Jiubo said coldly.

“I’m here today for a request,” Zhu Xuan drawled. “You won’t decline a request, will you?”

Wen Jiubo frowned. He looked at Zhu Xuan suspiciously. “You? A request? Oh come on, what kind of request would you have? I’m afraid you’re here to give me trouble.”

I couldn’t listen to this anymore, so I interrupted Wen Jiubo.

“Why won’t you at least hear him out? Maybe he has something very important to say.”

Wen Jiubo looked at me, and then at Zhu Xuan. At last, he nodded. “Fine, come in. I also want to know how you two met.”

“Then it will take a while, this is a long story.” Zhu Xuan laughed. He bent down to pat the dog’s head before entering the courtyard.

Actually, I came back from Mt. Diecui less than a week ago. That was to say, we hadn’t seen each other for only a couple of days. However, it felt like it had been ages.

It was understandable since too many things had happened since I came back from Mt. Diecui, and I didn’t have the time to sort everything out yet, let alone think about Zhu Xuan.

He sat down in the lobby and told Wen Jiubo exactly what happened to us on Mt. Diecui. Wen Jiubo furrowed his eyebrows during the talk but kept silent and occasionally nodded to show that he was listening.

Zhu Xuan talked about how together, we sealed the beast Chen, “..In the end, Gu Yu and his friends helped me find Ye’s soul, and I left Mt. Diecui afterward.”

Wen Jiubo nodded, still frowning. “En, I get it. It explains why Gu Yu mentioned the beast Chen to me. I didn’t expect you went through this together. It was a close call.”