Chapter 333: Chapter 178: When One Man Attains the Dao
Mu Xiaowan peeked her head out of the kitchen. Seeing the joyful look on Chen Cheng’s face, she smiled as well.
"Mm." Chen Cheng smiled and slowly walked into the kitchen.
"The Demon Beast Porridge and the old mountain ginseng are both ready. They’re keeping warm in the pot. I thought you were going to cultivate for a while longer, so I haven’t served them yet. Wait a moment, I’ll bring them out now."
As Mu Xiaowan spoke, she moved to lift the pot lid.
Even though she wore an apron, it couldn’t hide her delicate and graceful figure. She had the distinct air of a young farmer’s wife.
Chen Cheng’s heart stirred. He stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around her soft, slender waist. Leaning in close to her ear, he softly inhaled her familiar, elegant fragrance and said gently, "No rush."
Feeling Chen Cheng’s tender affection, Mu Xiaowan’s pretty face immediately flushed. She chided him playfully, "Brother Cheng, there you go again..."
In front of the stove, the two young maids, Xi’Er and Dong’Er, froze for a moment. Fortunately, they were already used to such sights and covered their eyes with their little hands in unison.
Their actions made Chen Cheng chuckle.
"Let Xi’Er and Dong’Er handle setting out the bowls."
Xi’Er and Dong’Er were quite clever and immediately scrambled to prepare the bowls and chopsticks.
Mu Xiaowan was just thinking, ’Brother Cheng is acting a little strange today,’ when a pair of large hands suddenly hooked behind her knees.
Immediately after, Chen Cheng swept her up into his arms, carrying her out of the kitchen and into the main living quarters.
「...」
「After a tender moment.」
"Mmm..." Feeling Chen Cheng’s passion, Mu Xiaowan grew even more surprised. "Brother Cheng, did something good happen today?"
"I’m taking the day off. I’ll take you out for a stroll," Chen Cheng said, his large hands still mischievously roaming over the proud, twin peaks.
"Would you like to go back to Locust Tree Lane in the Ruyi District for a visit?"
"Locust Tree Lane?" A flash of joy appeared in Mu Xiaowan’s eyes. "We haven’t been back in so long. I miss that place."
Although Locust Tree Lane was in a poor district, she had, after all, lived there with Chen Cheng for several years and had many wonderful memories of it.
It was the first place she could truly call home, a place she would never forget, no matter where she went.
"Brother Cheng, are you missing your father and want to go back to pay your respects?"
Mu Xiaowan was quick-witted and guessed Chen Cheng’s intentions.
The Double Ninth Festival was approaching. They could return to Locust Tree Lane to pay respects to their ancestors and, while they were at it, see the old Chen Family home.
"Mm." Chen Cheng nodded slightly. "Do you remember that dream I told you about?"
The dream had been incredibly vivid; Chen Cheng had even clearly seen the face of his late father, Chen Ping, from his memories.
As he advanced his Cultivation Realm, his Divine Sense gradually strengthened, and Chen Cheng found he needed to confront his inner self more directly.
And the old house on Locust Tree Lane, along with his late father Chen Ping, were things that had always existed in the deepest corners of Chen Cheng’s heart and memory.
Only when all aspects of his inner self were clear and transparent could his Divine Sense break through its cocoon and grow stronger without any flaws.
Cultivating Martial Dao in the Body Tempering Realm required strengthening one’s foundation. In the same way, didn’t cultivating one’s Realm require a heart with a solid foundation?
Every sip and every peck is preordained. In Chen Cheng’s understanding, a solid foundation of the heart was simply an Innocent Heart.
Mu Xiaowan, of course, wasn’t thinking about matters of the Martial Dao. She was thinking about how, in his dream, Brother Cheng had performed the marriage ceremony with her!
All this time, although she and Chen Cheng had lived as husband and wife, they had never formally held a wedding ceremony.
’Does Brother Cheng want to have a formal wedding ceremony with me?’
Mu Xiaowan’s heart filled with both joy and boundless shyness.
"Brother Cheng, there’s really no need to be in such a hurry about the wedding ceremony. But, if we were to have it today, that... that would be wonderful too. It’s just that our masters aren’t here, so we’d be missing some elders."
"A wedding ceremony?" Chen Cheng chuckled, then pecked her on her lovely red lips. After a long moment, he said leisurely, "That’s a good idea. When we go back to Locust Tree Lane, we’ll hold the ceremony in front of my father’s memorial tablet first. As for our masters, when they return, we can just hold another ceremony in front of them."
Mu Xiaowan laughed. "Ah... can we have more than one ceremony?"
Chen Cheng said gently, "Once or twice should be fine. Any more than that, and it’s just getting ridiculous!"
「...」
After breakfast, Chen Cheng and Mu Xiaowan headed for the South City District.
Since it was a rare outing for them both, they didn’t hire a carriage. They first strolled around the Inner City District for a while before leaving the Inner City and making their way toward the South City District.
As a Purple-clothed Guard of the Demon Suppression Department, Chen Cheng’s purple uniform naturally carried far more prestige than his old post as a Chief Constable in the City Guard Department. Even the soldiers guarding the Inner City Gate had to bow to him respectfully.
As for the common folk along the way, and even the Jianghu Martial Artists carrying various weapons, they all gave him a wide berth, keeping their distance out of respect and awe.
「...」
「Ruyi District, Upper Street.」
Several constables from the City Guard Department were coming out of a tavern, talking amongst themselves in low voices.
The young constable leading them was burly and strong. One of his sleeves hung empty—his entire arm was missing from the shoulder down.
However, the other constables with him were all extremely respectful toward him.
This was the one-armed constable, He Zhiling. He was a powerful Martial Dao expert who had achieved Great Success in the Skin Grinding Realm and Perfection in his Saber Technique. As a rising star in the Ruyi Square Sub-Department, his reputation in the Ruyi District was formidable.
He had just been transferred to this area of Upper Street by Chief Constable Liu Yunfeng.
Now that he was here, any of the riffraff who wanted to establish themselves in the nearby streets would first have to pay their respects to this one-armed constable.
"Brother He, this Ba Dao Gang is just too arrogant. Ever since they took over this area, they don’t even give us City Guard Department constables any face."
An official constable said indignantly.
Another official constable added, "They’re more than just arrogant; they’re vicious. In the past few months, they’ve already raised the commoners’ example money three times in a row. Those who can’t pay the example money get brutally beaten by them often."
"Sigh, I hear they’re going to raise the example money again today," the young Preparatory Constable in the gray uniform said with a soft sigh.
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