Reborn through an arranged marriage, I awakened the Shennong farming system.

Suddenly feeling empty in his arms, Hua Gengchen felt there was no need to lie down any longer. He threw off the covers and got up. He stared at the closed bathroom door for a while before turning around and leaving the room. He then found another bathroom to wash up.

Hearing the noise outside the bathroom, Su Bai immediately quickened his pace. The whole process of brushing his teeth and washing his face took less than three minutes. After taking care of his bodily needs, he carefully unlocked the door and secretly opened it a crack.

After carefully observing the room and finding no trace of Hua Gengchen, Su Bai quickly went to the wardrobe, changed his clothes, and then went to the door. He first listened for any sounds, and only after confirming that no one was waiting outside did he open the door. Peeking out halfway to check and making sure it was safe outside, he flung the door open and rushed out at his fastest speed, heading straight for the downstairs dining room.

Breakfast wasn't served in the restaurant yet, as it wasn't Su Bai's usual breakfast time, but the chef had already prepared it. Upon discovering there was no breakfast, Su Bai went straight to the kitchen, her voice preceding her arrival, "Chef, get me a few steamed buns. I'm not eating breakfast at home."

The cook was preparing breakfast for Hua Gengchen, whose breakfasts were always mainly meat-based. Hearing Su Bai's voice suddenly made his hand tremble, and he turned around and said, "Madam, please wait a moment, I'll be right there."

Su Bai froze at the kitchen doorway. After being called "Madam," a title that was so painful to hear, was he now going to get used to being called "Mistress," an even more painful title?

Suddenly, Hua Gengchen's face appeared in Su Bai's mind. Without a doubt, this was also Hua Gengchen's order!

Forcing himself to ignore that incredibly annoying nickname, Su Bai just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. "Please pack my things first, I'm in a hurry!" He felt it was necessary to use Hua Gengchen's special move.

Let's hide first!

Wang Ming said he wanted to ask his heart, but his heart was in such a mess that he couldn't give an answer. Hua Gengchen was still pressuring him so much that Su Bai felt it wouldn't hurt to hide for a while. Anyway, he didn't need to prove himself with backbone.

"Oh! Okay." The cook was taken aback, unsure of what time Su Bai was in a hurry. He quickly stopped what he was doing and went to the pot to get Su Bai some steamed buns. "Madam, there's also some tonic. Do you want to drink it now or take it with you?"

Su Bai glanced back but didn't see anyone approaching. He turned back and urged, "Take it with you. Put it in a thermos."

"Okay." After quickly packing up the buns Su Bai ordered, the chef thought for a moment and took out a thermos from the cabinet. This thermos was double-layered; the bottom layer was for medicine, and the top layer could hold a bowl of millet porridge for Su Bai. Breakfast was the most important meal, and he couldn't just make do with a few buns. Although he made the buns himself, he absolutely guaranteed they were healthy and safe.

After packing the food, he handed it to Su Bai, who thanked him and ran off so fast that the chef could only see a blur.

The driver was already waiting at the door, but he was still eating breakfast. When he saw Su Bai running out of the door, he quickly finished his steamed bun and swallowed the last bite after Su Bai got into the car.

After taking a sip of soy milk to soothe his throat, Su Bai had just gotten into the car when he hurriedly said, "Hurry up! To the villa."

The driver obediently started the car. Before the car started moving, Su Bai kept a watchful eye on the door. Once the car started moving and no one came out, Su Bai breathed a sigh of relief while holding the thermos.

Although the villa wasn't far from the Hua family's residence, he could hide there for as long as possible, mainly because Su Bai didn't know where he could escape to! Su Bai's heart would race whenever he saw Hua Gengchen, and for the sake of his own safety, Su Bai had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure.

By the time the car left the Hua family's gate, Hua Gengchen had already washed up and returned to his room. But strangely, as soon as he entered, he noticed the room was quiet. He tentatively called out, "Madam?"

There was no response from the empty room. Hua Gengchen hurried to the bathroom, worried that something might have happened to Su Bai there.

But when Hua Gengchen got to the bathroom, he realized that the room was truly empty; Su Bai had already left. A smirk played on Hua Gengchen's lips as he turned and went to the wardrobe to get some clothes. After changing, he went downstairs.

He thought, Su Bai should be having breakfast at the restaurant!

Upon arriving at the restaurant, apart from Hua Jueming and the chef who were setting out the food, the figure that Hua Gengchen was looking for was nowhere to be found!

Looking around, Hua Gengchen asked, "Where is Su Bai?"

Hua Jueming shook his head blankly, "It's not time for the mistress to get up yet!"

“The mistress has already gone out,” the cook continued. “A few minutes ago, the mistress said he was in a hurry and asked me to pack breakfast for him, and then she went out.”

Upon hearing this, Hua Gengchen's upturned lips instantly vanished, his face turned cold, and an aura of icy chill emanated from him. "They've already left?"

The chef shivered involuntarily and cautiously replied, "They have indeed left."

"Hmph!" Hua Gengchen snorted softly. Hua Jueming and the chef didn't dare to breathe loudly, and even softened their movements, afraid of displeasing Hua Gengchen! Hua Gengchen glanced at the seat where Su Bai was sitting, his eyes darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Su Bai, you can't escape!"

As soon as they arrived at the villa, Su Bai, who had just gotten out of the car, suddenly shivered and hugged the thermos in his arms even tighter.

Withdrawing the lingering chill, Hua Gengchen sat down in his seat and said to Hua Jueming, "Go and guard Su Bai, don't leave her side for a moment." He would absolutely not let Su Bai escape; anyone he set his sights on would be brought back, even if they fled to the ends of the earth!

“Yes!” Hua Jueming nodded in agreement. Although he didn’t know what was going on between Hua Gengchen and Su Bai, his experience of following Hua Gengchen for over a hundred years told him that doing more was better than asking more questions at this time.

After watching Hua Jueming leave, Hua Gengchen picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. The chef, watching from the side, felt that Hua Gengchen's eating manner conveyed something indescribable.

After finishing breakfast, Hua Gengchen hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to go and capture Su Bai now or give Su Bai some more time.

His gaze fell on the empty seat, and Hua Gengchen's eyes darkened. Fine, considering that he had also shamefully run away before, he would give Su Bai some more time to accept reality!

Anyway, Su Bai can't escape!

Unable to visit Su Bai, Hua Gengchen decided to go see Bai Ze before clearing away the black energy. His reasons were twofold: first, to check on the progress of the research on the black crystal; and second, to find a cultivation method for Su Bai, as he wanted Su Bai to stay with him for all eternity.

"Pack up all the leftover breakfast in the kitchen." It wouldn't be good to go to Bai Ze empty-handed, since Bai Ze is busy right now.

"Yes, Master, please wait a moment." The chef quickly went to the kitchen to pack the food, and even found a large food box that could hold a meal for four people.

Because the Taoist temple where Bai Ze was staying was on an unknown mountain, a place rarely visited and naturally undeveloped, Hua Gengchen had no choice but to use his magic to teleport there.

As soon as Hua Gengchen arrived at the entrance of the Taoist temple, he heard a noise, followed by Bai Ze's booming voice, "Ah! Another failure! It's over! We have to dig up rat holes again."

Hua Gengchen walked in with a normal expression and bumped into Bai Ze, who had just come out of his room, in the courtyard. Looking at Bai Ze's disheveled appearance, Hua Gengchen subtly distanced himself from Bai Ze and handed him the food box.

"Wow! Food!" Bai Ze was about to get angry when he noticed Hua Gengchen keeping his distance, but he forgot about it as soon as he smelled the aroma of the food and pounced on the food box.

He hasn't eaten since yesterday afternoon in order to study the black crystals, and now he's so hungry he could eat a whole cow.

Hua Gengchen looked around and couldn't find a clean place to sit. For the first time, he felt strong sympathy for Bai Ze. It was truly shameful for a demon to be as despicable as Bai Ze.

If Bai Ze could offer something that pleased him, Hua Gengchen wouldn't mind rebuilding a Taoist temple for Bai Ze, after all, they had a friendship spanning tens of thousands of years. "How's the research on the black crystal going? Have you found a way to stop humans from being parasitized?"

Bai Ze paused in his eating, his large mouthful of food coming to a halt. Mentioning this only made him more dejected, saying dejectedly, "No! I still haven't figured out the principle behind the formation of the black crystals. Logically, the fragile bodies of humans shouldn't be able to withstand the energy contained within the black crystals, but they grow inside human bodies. I still haven't figured out why." Let alone finding a way to prevent it.

During the few days he was studying the black crystal, he almost caught all the rats in the Taoist temple. Now the temple is very clean, and even if you leave food lying around on the table, no rats will steal it.

"Then you'd better hurry up. Just let me know if you need any help." Hua Gengchen was now in need of Bai Ze's help, so it was rare for him to give Bai Ze such a leeway.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze looked at Hua Gengchen in horror. This stingy, possessive dragon who was the most protective of his possessions in the entire dragon clan, would actually say such a thing to him!

It’s tricky!

Bai Ze's eyes darted around, and he instantly sensed something unusual.

"Just tell me what you want to say, otherwise I won't be able to set a price."

Hua Gengchen's expression remained unchanged as he calmly asked, "Do you know how the Shennong clan cultivated? Did they have any specific cultivation methods?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze immediately put down what he was holding, moved closer to Hua Gengchen, circled around him, and then stood in front of Hua Gengchen, looking him in the eye, and said with certainty, "Hua Gengchen, you've discovered it."

Hua Gengchen nodded; their millennia-long friendship allowed him to easily understand the unspoken meaning in Bai Ze's words. "Is that so?"

Bai Ze was surprised that Hua Gengchen had discovered it so quickly! He thought that Hua Gengchen, who was like a block of ice, would not discover it for several more years. It had only been a short time, and Hua Gengchen had already figured it out!

Instead of answering Hua Gengchen's question, Bai Ze gossiped, "Hua Gengchen, tell me quickly, how did you discover this?" Bai Ze was really curious to death!

Bai Ze was met with an enigmatic silence and Hua Gengchen's eyes, which were so cold they could freeze a person to death.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore!" To avoid being frozen solid, Bai Ze immediately raised his hands in surrender.

Hmph, if Hua Gengchen can't find out, won't he ask someone else?