Chapter 14 God said, "Have you heard of myths and legends?"

Xia Zhu had never seen such a sight before.

She climbed the vine ladder to the ground. The vast land was planted with various crops that changed with the seasons. In the night, fireflies, like scattered stars, rose and fell across the fields. Their fleeting forms seemed to breathe with the earth, and their warm yellow lights gathered together enough to illuminate the tiny insects hiding beneath the roots. From a distance, the land was divided into different areas, each with a wooden sign about the height of a person at its edge, and a small lamp hanging diagonally beside the sign.

To her surprise, she found people still working in the fields, and scattered across the land were houses with lights on. She could even hear the cicadas chirping in summer and the crickets rustling like raindrops in autumn. The moon, often invisible in winter, shone brightly overhead, the Milky Way was clear, the night breeze was warm, and her frozen limbs began to thaw from the extremities. She felt the earth's warmth from her feet, and that warmth slowly rose to her cheeks.

The brother and sister behind him also climbed out, and Feng Feng took Xia Zhu's wrist.

"Welcome, Ah Zhu!"

The three of them walked through a meadow full of purple wildflowers, crossed a babbling brook, and passed several people who greeted Xia Zhu warmly. Feng Feng said that they were her fourth aunt and third uncle.

Finally, they stopped in front of a two-story courtyard. Fengmian stepped forward and pushed open the wooden door. Xia Zhu noticed a sign hanging by the door with four little people wearing flower wreaths on it. Below the little people, the words "Fengmian's Home" were written crookedly in colored crayon.

There is a red maple tree in the courtyard, its flame color surpassing even the dim light of the day. The surrounding area is filled with blooming flowers, and in the small pond at the foot of the wall, there are several small fish with unusual colors that faintly glow in the night.

Feng Feng shouted in the yard, "Mom and Dad! We're back!"

Through the lit glass door, the floral cotton curtain swayed slightly, then a corner was lifted, and a middle-aged man wearing a pale yellow apron and sleeves pushed the door open, bringing with him the aroma of food.

When the man smiled, his eyes curved, and his eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same as Feng Mian's.

"You're back! Xia Zhu, were you tired on the way? You must be very hungry. Dinner will be ready soon."

Even the tone of voice is similar; the man is practically a giant version of Feng Mian.

Feng Feng rushed into the room like a cannonball, dropping a lot of equipment along the way, including shoes and small handbags. Feng Mian followed behind her, picking up the items one by one and putting them back in their places.

Xia Zhu stood blankly at the doorway. The clean and bright wooden floor looked stunning, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to step inside. Fortunately, Feng Mian was always considerate; he took a pair of fluffy slippers from the shoe rack by the door and placed them in front of Xia Zhu.

“Dad just bought this, it’s specially for you.” Feng Mian’s eyes crinkled as he comforted Xia Zhu, “They might be a little too enthusiastic. Don’t feel bad about your embarrassment. Just do whatever makes you comfortable. Xiao Feng and I like you a lot, and Mom and Dad will like you too.”

Xia Zhu breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She tried to give Feng Mian a kind smile, but then quickly lowered her head to change into her slippers, afraid of looking strange.

Feng Feng suddenly appeared out of nowhere, her mouth stuffed with food, and her speech was slurred.

"Da Zhouji!" she bared her teeth and brandished her claws at Xia Zhu.

"Da Zhouji!"

Xia Zhu couldn't understand.

"Dad made braised pork knuckle tonight, Xiaofeng's favorite. Azhu, do you like it?" Fengmian passed by and acted as a translator before heading straight to the kitchen.

Xia Zhu nodded. She noticed the sauce on Feng Feng's cheek and hesitated whether to wipe it off for her. The next second, Feng Feng licked it off herself at an awkward angle.

"Ah Zhu, Mom's tidying up your room! Come with me!" With that, she pulled Xia Zhu through the living room and up the wooden stairs to the second floor. Green plants and flowers were everywhere in Feng Feng's house, and even golden rice ears grew by the window at the corner of the stairs, swaying gently in the night breeze under the white cotton curtains.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, a wooden ladder leads to the attic.

"Ah Zhu, do you like living in the attic? I was thinking of giving you my room so I could live in the attic! But Mom doesn't agree! She always says I'll make a mess of the attic. It's not that bad. I just plan to build a plant cultivation base up there!"

"I can live anywhere." She really could live anywhere. Xia Zhu was very adaptable. She had even practiced wilderness survival, using the sky as her blanket and the ground as her bed. No matter what, she was sure she could live well in this world.

Feng Feng climbed ahead, with Xia Zhu following behind. The attic room was much larger than she had imagined, spacious and bright, and not at all cramped. It was fully furnished and even quite cozy. To be honest, it was the best room she had ever seen. Looking at the bed embroidered with flowers and the bookshelves piled high with books next to the desk, Xia Zhu felt a lump in her throat.

A woman was standing by the window, filling a green glass flowerpot with purple wind chimes. Xia Zhu stared at her back; her long, reddish-brown hair was wrapped in a headscarf, with only a few strands falling down to brush the nape of her neck. The woman's skin wasn't fair either, but a warm wheat color, like Feng Feng's. She wore a light purple cotton dress, the sleeves rolled up at the elbows. Sensing their presence, she put down the flowers in her hand and turned around.

A night breeze blew by, ruffling the woman's loose hair. Xia Zhu smelled a faint, warm fragrance. She didn't know where the fragrance came from, but her eyes felt hot from the heat.

"Mom! I brought Azhu back safely!" Feng Feng rushed towards the woman, jumping into her arms like a little bird, his fluffy braids getting messy against his cotton dress.

The woman raised her hand and ruffled Feng Feng's hair.

“Always so amazing,” she said.

Then the woman looked up and smiled at Xia Zhu, who was standing to the side looking inexplicably pitiful. She stretched out her arm to Xia Zhu, beckoning her to come forward and walk to her side.

"Xia Zhu is quite impressive. You've been traveling all day with this little rascal. You must be tired. Come here, let me see you. Xiao Feng has been praising you to the skies." The woman's voice was gentle yet firm. She looked radiant and had a healthy complexion. She beckoned to Xia Zhu, who unconsciously moved to her side, wanting to smell if the fragrance was coming from her.

She thought it and did it. Xia Zhu walked over and offered her hand in the woman's gesture. The woman's hand was incredibly warm. Xia Zhu felt dizzy and her cheeks were burning. She stared blankly at the mouth of the person in front of her as it opened and closed.

She said, "Xia Zhu, can I call you A Zhu like Xiao Feng does?"

Xia Zhu nodded.

The woman continued, "My name is Feng Ye, and I'm Xiao Feng and Xiaomian's mother. We were so happy to hear you were coming. Xiao Feng said you're a beautiful and gentle girl, and she never misjudges people."

Xia Zhu felt as if she had temporarily lost her ability to speak; she was so immersed in the gentle breeze that she didn't know how to open her mouth to speak.

Feng Ye? Feng Feng and Feng Mian originally took their mother's surname.

Feng Ye couldn't help but laugh when she saw Xia Zhu's dazed look. She gently pushed Feng Feng, who was in her arms, up.

"Ah Zhu, Auntie believes you must have many questions, but in any case, we must eat first." Feng Ye stood up. "Alright, children, go downstairs to wash your hands and eat." As she spoke, she walked to the wooden stairs first, then remembered something, turned back and told Xia Zhu to take off her bag and leave it there, it would be fine.

This will be her room from now on.

Xia Zhu then came to her senses.

"Thank you, Auntie." After thinking it over, this was all she could say.

Feng Feng stood at the top of the stairs, humming a song as he waited for Xia Zhu. Xia Zhu put down her backpack and took out four mosquito-repellent sachets made by her grandfather. She didn't have anything else to offer, so these were the only gifts she could give. She liked the smell of the sachets, but she didn't dare to hope that Feng Feng's family would like them too.

She handed the sachet of mugwort to Feng Feng, who immediately picked it up like a puppy and sniffed it incessantly.

"So that's it! Ah Zhu, I knew you always smelled so good! Mugwort, Atractylodes... and something else, I really like it! Thank you!" As she spoke, she tied the sachet's string around Xia Zhu's waist and hung it together with her small cloth bag.

Xia Zhu finally learned from who Feng Mian's mastered such excellent craftsmanship.

The siblings' father seems to be surnamed Jiang, and Xia Zhuting Fengye calls him Old Jiang.

The entire table of delicious dishes was prepared by Lao Jiang. Xia Zhu exclaimed that Xiao Feng's father might be a reincarnation of a culinary god. Embarrassed, she ate three bowls of rice under the gazes of the others.

It's so delicious I could cry.

This was the second best meal she had ever eaten in her life; the first, of course, was her grandfather's cooking. Objectively speaking, her grandfather wasn't as good a cook as Feng Feng's father, but Xia Zhu would never taste his cooking again, so it would always be number one in her heart.

Even more extravagant than Xia Zhu, who was slightly more restrained, was Feng Feng, who practically devoured the food like a whirlwind, as if he hadn't eaten for ten or fifteen days. Old Jiang was very satisfied with the two girls' attitude towards the meal. After finishing their meal and clearing away the dishes, he quickly went to the kitchen to cook a sweet soup, saying it was dessert and that Xia Zhu should taste the flavor of snow lotus honey.

Xia Zhu wanted to go to the kitchen to help, but Feng Ye stopped her and led her to sit on the sofa in the living room.

"Xiao Mian can go. Is there anything you want to ask, A Zhu? About Xiao Feng, or about you?"

Xia Zhu did have a lot of questions. She had been thinking about them all the way, but now that she could ask them, she didn't know where to start. Then, as if something was on her mind, she looked up at Feng Ye's toffee-colored eyes.

"Auntie, do Xiaofeng and the others take your surname?" She felt that the surname was a good starting point, since the two siblings always looked worried about her surname when they first met Xia Zhu, as if they had some deep hatred for the word "Xia".

Feng Ye smiled when she heard her question and said, "That's right, they all take my surname. In fact, you could say that the children in our family all take their mother's surname."

"A family? The Feng family?"

Feng Ye nodded: "Not just the Feng family, I mean all the descendants of the gods, they will take their mother's surname."

"God?" Xia Zhu knew the answer might be bizarre, but she really didn't expect that it would involve the concept of "God".

"Besides the Feng family, there are three other lineages, five surnames, and eight factions in this world. We are all descendants of the gods. Azhu, do you like to hear legends?" Feng Ye gazed into Xia Zhu's eyes, the warm color of which seemed to hold a deep vortex. She wanted to tell those eyes that she dared not disbelieve, but in the end, she chose to remain silent.

"Xiao Feng should have told you that besides the gods, there are monsters called Liang in this world. Desire is invisible and lurks in the deepest part of everyone's heart, like a bone-deep infection that is hard to get rid of. The deeper the desire, the more it will attract a substance called Tian Sheng Xiang. Tian Sheng Xiang can give humans unimaginable power, but it is easier to control people's hearts."

"Desire, repeatedly brewed, eventually blossoms into a dream in the dead of night, trapping the dreamer within it as a demon. The demons' abilities are unfathomable; once they are fully formed, they may break free from the dream. The types of demons vary greatly depending on their attachments, but there is no doubt that they all pose a threat to human life."

"Therefore, in each generation, the nine great families composed of the bloodline of the gods will have outstanding individuals serving as mysterious officials, entering the Dream of Demons to eliminate evil spirits and maintain the stability of the family and the human world. Our abilities are determined by the innate characteristics within our bloodline. The characteristics of each family are different, and their jurisdictions are also different. Each family is related to a god, but after thousands of years of oral transmission, the history of the family has become a legend in the mouths of humans..." Feng Ye glanced at Feng Feng, who was dozing off beside him. Feng Feng immediately sat up straight from the table and gave Xia Zhu a sly look.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and countless vines sprouted from the area centered on Feng Feng, climbing up the floor, furniture, and walls, covering the entire room. In an instant, they formed a dense net that seemed to block out the sky. The vines were densely layered, and on top of them, bulbs bloomed and countless flowers blossomed, only to quickly wither and fall, leaving the house in a state of half-withered and half-flourishing.

Feng Feng's hair danced wildly in the wind, and the brown jade pendant on her right ear emitted a brilliant, warm light. Beside her, Feng Ye, her eyes filled with pride, turned her gaze away from Feng Feng and faced Xia Zhu again amidst the falling petals and leaves.

"All things are born from Xiaofeng's power."

"And we are the Taihaofeng clan of the Eastern Yi, the lineage of the Spring Emperor."