Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

"Burp~~~" A long burp came from Li Hongying's throat on the street. Li Hongying patted her stomach with satisfaction. "Sure enough, whether you are a cultivator or not, eating is a must."

Lu Yunshi chuckled upon hearing this. "In the end, gluttony has absolutely nothing to do with one's cultivation level."

"But it's still not as good as what the boss makes." Li Hongying nodded, then added.

Lu Yunshi blushed slightly. "That's so admirable. Keep it up next time."

"What's so good about it? It's just so-so, I'm already tired of it." Lu Yunxi glanced at the two of them and said in a rather displeased tone.

"Then it seems I'll have to develop some new dishes." Lu Yunshi said, looking at the two women with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Lu Yunshi still finds it strange that the two of them tore up the answer to the last question he gave them at the conference.

He was going to ask him something, but... before he could even open his mouth, he got a bump on his head.

As for the results of the competition, Lu Yunshi and his group certainly wouldn't be number one; the first place went to the Nan Tong duo.

Although I was annoyed, it was entirely within my expectations.

"Boss, on such a good day, is there anything you want?" Li Hongying suddenly looked up and stared at Lu Yunshi.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunxi looked at Lu Yunshi, seemingly asking the same question.

"Hmm?" Lu Yunshi asked, somewhat puzzled. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"Tell me quickly! I heard there's a lantern-releasing event by the river in the east of the city. Everyone can write their wishes inside the lanterns, so I was just asking if there's anything you want. Let's go release one together later, maybe it will come true!" Li Hongying shook Lu Yunshi's arm, urging him to speak quickly.

"What do you want..." Lu Yunshi pondered, stroking his chin. "I want more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime, I want to be invincible in the world, I want to become a god, and I want more..."

"Stop!" Li Hongying quickly stopped Lu Yun, staring at him helplessly. "Boss, is any of these wishes of yours actually possible to be fulfilled?"

Lu Yunshi shrugged. "When making a wish, you should wish for something you yourself think you can't do. If I think I can do it, why would I make a wish?"

"Oh~" Li Hongying nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. It seems I need to change my wish. After all, I'm quite confident that I can stay with my boss forever."

"Um... don't you want to make a wish like... I want to become the most beautiful woman in the world, or I want to be a valiant female general? Make a wish for something meaningful, don't limit yourself to such narrow things," Lu Yunshi reminded him.

Li Hongying listened and thought about it carefully for a moment, then decisively shook her head. "No, fighting and killing is so boring. I'd rather go home and take care of the kids with my husband. You know me, husband, I don't have any big dreams. My biggest dream is to start realizing my vision for the future."

"What idea?" Lu Yunshi asked, puzzled.

Hearing this, Li Hongying immediately became interested and pointed at Lu Yunshi, saying, "For example, I've already decided that I want to have two children, a boy and a girl. The boy will be named Lu Nianying, and the girl will be named Lu Nianhong. Then I'll raise them, and then... I'll make them get lost."

"Huh?" Lu Yunshi raised an eyebrow. Even as the protagonist in Li Hongying's story, he was still shocked. Raising children and then kicking them out, what kind of operation is that?

"Otherwise, would they have to interfere with my lovemaking with my boss?" Li Hongying said shyly, her head lowered.

"Hmph, you can only dream about it. You'll never have that opportunity." Lu Yunxi looked at Li Hongying with disdain. "Just a boring dream."

Li Hongying wasn't angry at all upon hearing this; she simply retorted provocatively, "I dare to speak out about my dreams, do you dare?"

"I won't have dreams that can't be realized," Lu Yunxi sneered.

"Oh, so you mean you think everything you think and imagine can come true? I think you're the one who's dreaming, not just dreaming, but talking nonsense."

"vulgar!"

"fart!"

Seeing that the two women were about to start arguing again, Lu Yunshi quickly pointed ahead to attract their attention. "Hey, they're releasing lanterns over there! Let's go take a look."

After saying that, Lu Yunshi rushed out as if afraid of being late, leaving the two women standing there looking at each other.

"cut!"

"cut!"

After the two women arrived, Lu Yunshi asked with a smile, "Should we release them?"

Li Hongying thought for a moment and nodded. "Go ahead, I'll just wish that all of Boss's wishes will come true. Otherwise, Boss's power alone definitely can't fulfill so many wishes, but with me... it will definitely succeed."

Lu Yunxi pursed her lips and then nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Lu Yunshi quickly went to the side and bought three lanterns, then handed them to the two women.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Yunshi took out a pen, looked at Li Hongying who was writing earnestly and Lu Yunxi who was still thinking, and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he put pen to paper.

What do you hope for?

I hope that girl Hongying... and I also hope... and...

Of course, if possible, please also give me endless money, inexhaustible resources, and unparalleled strength.

Hmm... isn't that a bit too greedy? If it really doesn't work out, it's okay if the later wishes don't come true. Please focus on the earlier ones first, thank you!

Note: If you've done the previous steps, please also pay attention to the following steps.

"That should be enough... I think you can feel my sincerity." Lu Yunshi blinked and put the note into the lantern with great satisfaction.

Looking up, they met the gazes of Lu Yunxi and Li Hongying. The three of them unconsciously revealed faint smiles. They walked to the riverbank, put down the lanterns that carried their wishes, and then slowly retreated, watching the lanterns drift away.

Lu Yunshi turned his head to look at Li Hongying on his left. She looked radiant and full of expectation.

On the right, Lu Yunxi's gaze was somber, as if she had remembered something.

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Yunshi asked with a smile.

"Tell me, have I ever seen a more beautiful scene than this?" Lu Yunxi asked in return.

"Yes, maybe," Lu Yunshi replied.

"why?"

“You yourself said that you saw it during the last mission,” Lu Yunshi said, then paused for a moment before suddenly speaking.

Is it a star?

"Huh?" Lu Yunxi was taken aback for a moment, then looked at the other person.

Lu Yunshi smiled slightly upon seeing this. "I seem to have some recollection of it, though not much. But I guess the reason I have these recollections is because I quite like stars."

Lu Yunxi smiled slightly. "That's right, it's stars, a sky full of stars, much prettier than these lights."

Watching the lanterns disappear into the distance, Lu Yunshi stretched. "Shouldn't we head back now? It's so late,"

“Okay, let’s go back then. I don’t want to be a night owl.” Li Hongying nodded, and although Lu Yunxi didn’t say anything, she tacitly agreed with what Lu Yunshi said.

The three walked back to the academy, and as they parted under the moonlight late at night, Li Hongying suddenly placed something in Lu Yunshi's hand.

Lu Yunshi looked down and saw that it was a paper crane.

"I originally wanted to ask the boss what he liked and buy him something, but he didn't say anything, so I can only use this paper crane to fool him." Li Hongying chuckled. "Boss, you absolutely mustn't throw it away, I folded it myself, it's for good luck."

"I don't want outsiders to gossip and say that I treat you worse than outsiders."

Lu Yunxi's voice came at this moment, and she placed something in Lu Yunshi's hand as well. It was a ring with a red gemstone set in it, and it was very exquisite.

"It's just a storage ring with a small array engraved inside. Once activated, it can withstand a full-force attack from a late-stage Mountain Moving cultivator. Furthermore, as long as the storage ring isn't destroyed, the array can self-repair. It's much better than some insincere paper crane."

After Lu Yunxi finished speaking, she paused, and continued speaking despite Li Hongying's displeased expression.

"Of course, I have many more and better things, but you only deserve this."

Looking at the two gifts in his hands, Lu Yunshi couldn't help but smile. He put on the storage ring, put the paper crane into the storage ring, and then a necklace and a hairpin suddenly appeared in his hand.

"Looks like we're on the same wavelength?"

Upon seeing what Lu Yunxi was holding, Li Hongying glanced at Lu Yunxi, who was also somewhat stunned, and then burst into laughter.

"Boss, you're killing me! You actually prepared gifts for us, that's hilarious."

"Is there anything wrong with this?" Lu Yunshi asked curiously.

“Of course it’s strange. We gave you a gift because…” Li Hongying took a step forward and quickly whispered in Lu Yunshi’s ear, “Boss! Happy birthday!”

After saying that, Li Hongying took advantage of Lu Yunshi's lack of reaction and stepped back, taking the necklace from Lu Yunshi's hand at the same time. She turned and left while laughing.

"But anyway, since the boss has given it to me, I'll take it."

Lu Yunxi quickly took the hairpin, said "silly" and turned to leave.

After the two of them left, Lu Yunshi finally came to his senses. "My birthday? Damn, it really is."