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Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Super Xu Xian

"Husband, you still call me Bai Gu-niang?" Nian Youyou blushed.

"Oh, my wife, look at me," Zhong Shan said, feeling both embarrassed and blissfully happy.

Zhong Shan picked up two cups of wine from the table. He handed one to Nian Youyou and held the other himself.

"It takes a hundred years of cultivation to share the same boat, and a thousand years to share the same pillow. My dear wife, being able to marry you is my fortune. At this moment, my heart is filled with gratitude—grateful to heaven for letting me meet you, grateful to you for becoming my wife. With this cup, I toast to you!" Zhong Shan said, his voice slightly trembling with emotion.

"Mm," Nian Youyou nodded.

After they drank, Zhong Shan placed the two cups back on the table and blew out the candle.

"Husband, let me help you undress," Nian Youyou said.

Zhong Shan (Xu Xian) felt as if he were dreaming. A poor boy from a medicine shop had married such a fairy-like beauty. This happiness was indescribable, and for a while, Zhong Shan was lost in bliss.

However, happiness is often fleeting, replaced by endless suffering and sighs.

One mistake by the maid Xiaoqing led to Zhong Shan being accused of stealing government silver and exiled to Suzhou for three years.

Zhong Shan (Xu Xian) began his trials, but thanks to Nian Youyou\'s (Bai Suzhen) secret protection, he faced no real danger, and soon the couple reunited.

Along the way, they encountered a toad daoist. With Nian Youyou\'s (Bai Suzhen) magic and wisdom, they defeated him soundly.

The couple\'s love endured. The three years of exile in Suzhou passed quickly with their mutual support.

After three years, they returned to Hangzhou. However, the differences between humans and demons eventually led them to their ultimate nemesis, Fahai.

"Amitabha!" Fahai intoned, forcibly abducting Zhong Shan to Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang.

In her rage, Nian Youyou (Bai Suzhen) and Xiaoqing raised a thousand waves, drawing water from the East Sea to flood Jinshan Temple.

Atop Jinshan Temple, Zhong Shan (Xu Xian) finally witnessed the immense power of cultivators—rivers overturning, flooding Jinshan Temple.

Fahai proved formidable, using his kasaya to summon countless golden bricks, quickly building a levee. As the water rose, so did the levee. In the end, Nian Youyou (Bai Suzhen) had to withdraw temporarily.

Soon after, Zhong Shan (Xu Xian) escaped from Jinshan Temple, leaving Fahai to sigh in despair.

Returning to Qiantang, the couple reunited.

"I was that little shepherd boy? My dear wife, why didn\'t you tell me sooner?" Zhong Shan said, suddenly realizing, holding Nian Youyou\'s hand tightly.

"Husband!" Nian Youyou blushed.

Xiaoqing tactfully left the room, reluctantly giving the couple one last look before closing the door.

Nian Youyou glanced at Xiaoqing, then blushed as Zhong Shan carried her back to bed, fulfilling their longing with rain and dew.

Zhong Shan now knew that there were many cultivators in the world and that two of them were beside him.

Looking at Nian Youyou, Zhong Shan gently caressed her smooth back and said, "It takes a hundred years of cultivation to share the same boat, and a thousand years to share the same pillow. Truly, our bond is a millennium in the making."

"Mm!" Nian Youyou nodded.

Their days of happiness began anew.

Until half a year later.

"My dear wife, I have a son, I have a son!" Zhong Shan shouted excitedly.

"Mm!" Nian Youyou smiled softly, gently stroking her belly.

That night, Zhong Shan once again made love to Nian Youyou. Afterward, as they lay in bed, Zhong Shan caressed Nian Youyou\'s smooth body and asked with a laugh, "My dear, do you think our child will be born from an egg or a live birth? Will it be a \'snake egg\' or a \'baby\'? What if a snake egg scares the midwife?"

Nian Youyou blushed and playfully scolded, "I\'ve already achieved my true form, shedding my snake body to become human, so naturally, I\'ll give birth to a baby."

"Haha! Forgive me, my dear!" Zhong Shan laughed.

"My husband, what is this? Why do you always carry it with you?" Nian Youyou asked, taking two objects from Zhong Shan\'s clothes.

One was a black bag, and the other was a green crystal.

"This? It was passed down from my ancestors," Zhong Shan explained with a smile.

"This black bag can\'t be opened, and the green crystal is very strange. But from this, we can see that your ancestors must have been cultivators too," Nian Youyou said, lying on Zhong Shan\'s chest.

"Is that so?" Zhong Shan said, puzzled.

"Of course. This is a storage bracelet; every cultivator has one to store inanimate objects. Your two items can\'t be stored in the bracelet, which means they must have a spirit. With a spirit, they can\'t be stored," Nian Youyou explained.

"Really? Could they be some powerful artifacts?" Zhong Shan mused, holding the two items— the \'Bat Bag\' and the \'Soul-Searching Stone\'.

He looked at them closely. Suddenly, Zhong Shan\'s expression froze.

"What\'s wrong?" Nian Youyou asked, puzzled.

"Don\'t talk. Let me think," Zhong Shan said.

Nian Youyou remained silent, lying on Zhong Shan\'s chest, listening to his heartbeat, and watching his increasingly serious expression.

"My dear, you said this crystal can\'t be stored in the bracelet?" Zhong Shan suddenly asked.

"Yes, I tried on our wedding night but never mentioned it," Nian Youyou nodded.

"Our wedding night? How long have we known each other?" Zhong Shan asked.

"From our first meeting at West Lake, then your exile to Suzhou for three years, encountering Fahai, the flood at Jinshan Temple, and just a few days ago, the centipede demon. It\'s been almost four years," Nian Youyou said.

"Four years? That\'s over a thousand days. And this crystal still can\'t be stored in the bracelet?" Zhong Shan\'s eyes narrowed, and his pupils contracted.

In a flash, Zhong Shan understood everything. A thousand days—the Soul-Searching Stone. Someone had once told him that after a thousand days, it could be stored in the bracelet. Zhong Shan had always remembered this, but even after a thousand days, it still couldn\'t be stored.

It hadn\'t been a thousand days. This was a dream. Everything was a dream.

In that moment, Zhong Shan realized the truth. He was dreaming. He wasn\'t Xu Xian; he was Zhong Shan.

"Husband?" Nian Youyou asked, concerned.

Zhong Shan looked down at the naked Nian Youyou in his arms, blushing slightly, feeling a bit strange.

Nian Youyou? Bai Suzhen? Instinctively, Zhong Shan wanted to push her away, but as he held her, he suddenly thought of something.

"It\'s nothing. Let\'s sleep," Zhong Shan reassured her.

"Mm," Nian Youyou nodded and fell asleep. Pregnant women sleep very well, but Zhong Shan couldn\'t sleep. Holding Nian Youyou, he felt a strange sensation.

In the quiet of the night, Zhong Shan\'s mind raced. He had realized he was dreaming, but this dream felt so real, so tangible. The weight of Nian Youyou in his arms, the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin—it all felt genuine.

He contemplated his next move. If this was a dream, he needed to find a way to wake up. But the emotional attachment he felt for Nian Youyou, even if she was just a dream figure, complicated things. How could he leave her behind? How could he abandon this happiness, even if it was false?

Zhong Shan decided he would find a way out of the dream, but not before cherishing these moments a little longer. He tightened his embrace around Nian Youyou, feeling the steady rhythm of her breathing, and silently vowed to carry the warmth of this dream into his waking life.

Damn it, I\'ve become Xu Xian? And I\'m holding Bai Suzhen in my arms? No, it\'s Nian Youyou. I don\'t know if she\'s real or just a figment of my imagination. If she entered my dream, things could get complicated. We\'ve lived as husband and wife for four years and even had a child together. What a shock it will be if I wake up.

Should I tell her? No, if she\'s imaginary, revealing it to her could plunge me into decades of solitude and loneliness.

Xu Xian? Bai Suzhen? Fahai?

Zhong Shan\'s expression was bizarre, yet he clearly knew what would happen next. His son Xu Shilin would be born, but his wife would be captured and imprisoned under the Leifeng Pagoda by Fahai.

There was at most half a year left.

To wake up, he needed to find a way out. Making the dream people reject him wasn\'t something that could be done quickly. He needed a plan. Meanwhile, he would continue this dream, playing the role of \'Xu Xian.\'

Zhong Shan tightened his embrace around Nian Youyou and closed his eyes to sleep.

In the following days, Xu Xian in Bai Suzhen\'s eyes changed. Xu Xian no longer sat in the Baoantang clinic but instead hired an old physician to take his place. He sold off household items to raise capital and started a business.

Bai Suzhen was astonished, as was Xiaoqing.

"Master, you\'re doing business? Are you short of money? Do you need the Five Little Ghosts to help you?" Xiaoqing asked.

"No need, do I need help to do business?" Zhong Shan said with a confident smile.

Yes, confidence. Who could match Zhong Shan\'s confidence in business? Especially in a dream, a place perfect for such fantasies.

Initially, Xiaoqing didn\'t believe it. She thought her brother-in-law was silly and naive, how could he do business? But four months later, when Xiaoqing saw Xu Xian secretly buying a small courtyard, she was furious, thinking he was keeping a woman there behind her sister\'s back.

Since Bai Suzhen\'s belly was getting bigger, Xiaoqing didn\'t tell her sister. Instead, she secretly followed Xu Xian to the courtyard.

"Did today\'s funds arrive?" Zhong Shan asked a subordinate.

"They\'ve been moved into the cellar. But, do we need to expand the cellar?" the subordinate asked.

"Do I need to teach you that? Without expansion, where will we put the money in the future?" Zhong Shan said, glaring.

Xiaoqing saw a different side of Xu Xian for the first time, feeling puzzled. She hid and followed Zhong Shan into the courtyard and down to the so-called cellar.

Cellar? This was no cellar; it was a treasury. In a vast hall, gold and silver were constantly being transported in.

Gold, a mountain of gold.

Xiaoqing\'s jaw dropped. She returned home secretly, staying in her room for a long time to calm down.

Four months? Xu Xian had robbed a treasury? That much money? While money is a worldly possession, Xiaoqing knew how hard it was to earn money honestly. Xu Xian wasn\'t earning money; he was robbing it. No, even robbing couldn\'t be this fast.

One thing was very strange: in Xu Xian\'s wealth-gathering network, apart from a few people directly commanded by him, no one else knew Xu Xian.

(To be continued)