As a delicate and refined old lady, as usual, Zhang Meizhen slept in a cloud of perfume until the sun was high in the sky.

The moment she opened her eyes, she felt that there was something different about the house. Hence, she followed the noise to the kitchen and saw that Gan Qing was making egg rolls stuffed with meat floss.

Zhang Meizhen stared at her absent-mindedly for a while, thinking that she must have not slept enough. She turned her head back to check the time, then poked her head into the kitchen to ask Gan Qing doubtfully, "Little Nun, shouldn't you have left the house to go recite the western sutras?"

"I have something on so I took the day off. I'll talk to you about it in a while." Gan Qing didn't turn her head. "Shall I make rolls with chicken floss or beef floss for you?"

"I don't eat that kind of junk food, who knows what has been added to them…" Zhang Meizhen muttered.

Gan Qing said, "This isn't junk food, I made the meat floss myself."

Zhang Meizhen turned to look at Gan Qing's room. There was a large luggage bag at the door. The curtains had been taken down and were piled neatly on the washing machine. Gan Qing had probably been afraid of waking her up with the noise so she hadn't turned on the washing machine. Zhang Meizhen frowned. She suddenly realised something and slowly stood straight.

"Beef is more fatty so it's more fragrant," Gan Qing said.

"Oh, sure." Zhang Meizhen had just woken up and her mind was not very alert. Her focus was led astray and it was a while before she realised what was going on. "That's not the main point. Where did you go yesterday? Why did you pack your things?"

Gan Qing grabbed a handful of meat floss and scattered them over the egg crepe, then laid a piece of cheese on top. The food sizzled in the non-stick pan. She said, "I hitched a ride and went with Sect Leader Yang and the rest to have a look, and accidentally got into a fight… I'll put one less spoon of sauce. You have high blood pressure, it's not good to eat too much salt."

"My blood pressure right now is indeed not low." Zhang Meizhen flipped the hair on her shoulder to her back. "What do you mean? You're staying at my place, do you need permission from that Yang fellow?"

Coincidentally, Meizhen-jie had just finished speaking when someone pressed the doorbell. Old Master Yang seemed to have picked the time when she got out of bed to come here, just for the sake of letting her vent her morning grouchiness on him.

Who knew what grudges and enmity the older generation had; to outsiders, Sect Leader Yang had the bearing of a man long used to being revered but when he was at Zhang Meizhen's place, if Meizhen-jiejie pointed to the east he wouldn't dare strike west. He was the respected sect leader of Beggars' Sect, yet not only was he shouted at every day, he also did not get many pleasant looks.

The moment Zhang Meizhen opened the door and saw him, without waiting for Old Yang to say anything, she slammed the door shut and yelled outside. "This is the Cave of the Silken Web, the demons' nest. It's not convenient for us to receive you people from the reputable and righteous sects, please kindly fuck off!"

Old Master Yang's voice came from the other side of the door. "Let me explain…"

"A dog carried away my hearing aids, I can't hear you!"

"Open the door first. There are people coming and going in the corridor… Ai, it doesn't look good for me to be standing here."

"Go back home and look in the mirror. You can stand anywhere and you still won't look good."

Gan Qing held a spatula in her hand. A forty-episode drama series full of melodrama was already playing in her head and she couldn't help feeling amused. She turned off the stove and went over to open the door for Old Sect Leader Yang herself.

Zhang Meizhen snorted coldly. "Don't let your walking stick touch the floor of my home. It will sully the purity of your Dog Beating Staff."

With that, she slammed the bathroom door shut and went to wash up.

Sect Leader Yang entered the apartment, all downcast and dejected. His legs were still rather stiff. His age was advanced after all. Last night, he had brandished a hardwood walking stick around in a fight; today, he couldn't raise his upper arms. His face was rather ashen, he probably hadn't slept well and who knew what time it was when he got back from the hospital.

"I'm making breakfast right now. Would you like to have some?" Gan Qing asked politely. "Do you want-"

"He doesn't dare." Zhang Meizhen's sinister voice came from the bathroom. "He's afraid you'll poison him and that holes will rot through his guts and stomach after eating!"

"Don't trouble yourself." Old Master Yang waved his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gan Qing's packed belongings. He recognised the bag—when she carried her luggage here, it was him who asked Yu Lanchuan to help her carry it up.

Leaning on his walking stick, Old Master Yang studied Gan Qing and asked, "So you are… the child that Wei Xiao brought here back in that year?"

Gan Qing smiled.

"Ai, I couldn't recognise you." Old Master Yang extended his hand and gestured. "Back then, you were only this tall. Your shifu-"

"Former shifu, he died many years ago." Gan Qing unhurriedly cut him off. She poured him a glass of water. "Please have a seat. I haven't finished making breakfast. I've made an appointment with an agent to check out rooms in the afternoon. I will need to leave soon."

Old Master Yang said, "I came to look for you for this very reason. Yesterday, it was too chaotic at the hospital and I didn't have time to thank you."

Gan Qing smiled. "There's no-"

"It's not just about yesterday night. After midnight, Xiao-Chuan called me and we talked for half the night. It was only then that I knew that the reason why so many things could go smoothly in the past was because you lent a hand." Old Master Yang had heavy dark circles under his eyes, proving that the "half the night" was a realistic estimate and not rhetorical. "Otherwise—just take that kidnapping incident for example—that kid Yan Hao would have had to face the consequences. When they were surrounded by the Travellers' Sect people a few days ago, if you hadn't helped them break out, it would probably be difficult for them to come back in one piece. In the past half a year, the blundering younger generation have caused quite a lot of trouble for you. You deserve this thank you."

Yu Lanchuan had left for work early in the morning. The kitchen window in 1003 opened into the corridor. When Gan Qing was making breakfast, she sensed him standing outside the window for a while.

Yesterday, he had rushed all the way to somewhere so far away and then busied himself making calls here and there when he got back.

Did he… not sleep at all for the whole night?

For a moment, Gan Qing wasn't sure what the feeling in her heart was. She was someone who liked being a wallflower. Even though it was not to the extent of the "sparrow" downstairs who was afraid of other people looking at him, she was also not used to being in the center of attention. If someone did something specially for her, even if it took barely any effort on their part, she would feel a little like there was something crawling under her skin.

"On the Yangtze River, the new waves overpower the old waves," Old Master Yang said. "Based on your age, you have probably only met your grand-master a handful of times. I don't know what happened within your sect but… if, in the afterworld, Chun-xiong knew what had happened, he would probably be rather gratified. Yan Hao came all the way here from thousand of miles away in the south to seek shelter with us; Xiao-Chuan's house is still being renovated so he's staying here temporarily; for the sake of sending his child to school, Dongsheng brought his family, old and young, back to No. 110 after leaving for ten years; and you are also staying here at Meizhen's place by a fated coincidence. Isn't this what is meant by the coincidences and forces of life that we cannot predict, and everything following the law of nature? For me to be able to see the Five Supremes gather again in my lifetime is the greatest joy I can have. Young lady, if you leave, it would be a regrettable loss for the Five Supremes."

Gan Qing lowered her head and smiled. "It's been nearly a hundred years, there's no meaning to having this title now. Sect Leader Yang, you should have heard yesterday, right? I'm someone who revolted and broke ties with my sect. Aren't you going to ask what I've done?"

"What I should know, I will know one day. If I force my way to find out before the right time, I might miss the big picture." Old Master Yang didn't mind her distant and thorny attitude. He only said, "Xiao-Chuan has that kind of temperament, yet he was on the phone the whole night for you. Meizhen also took the initiative to keep you here. My old eyes are blurred, am I going to compare the ability to see things clearly with them?"

After saying that, he slowly stood up. "I won't disturb the two of you having breakfast. If I stay here any longer, Meizhen is going to give me dirty looks."

Gan Qing, "..."

"By the way…" At the entrance, Old Master Yang suddenly thought of something and turned around to say to Gan Qing, "You probably don't remember but that time when Wei Xiao brought you here to No. 110, it was actually the last time he showed his face in the martial arts community. He said that when he was young, he had caused not an insignificant amount of trouble and offended a lot of people, and that he reaped what he sowed. He didn't mind what happened to him but because he had the little you by his side, he had a lot more to worry about. It wouldn't be convenient for him to continue stirring up the jianghu, so he planned to conceal his identity and live in seclusion."

From then on, Wei Xiao became the cook Wei Changsheng.

Gan Qing stared at him blankly.

Sect Leader Yang leaned on his walking stick and walked out. "Your shifu, he definitely loved you a lot."

Gan Qing sent the old man off. Her soul had flown off to who-knew-where and she messed up and burned a piece of egg crepe.

Zhang Meizhen turned the suction on the exhaust hood up a notch and fanned the smoke in the kitchen. "What are you doing? Not planning to live anymore?"

Gan Qing quickly scraped the burnt bits off the pan and cleaned the ash on the spatula. Right at that moment, the doorbell rang again.

1003 was usually so tranquil it was like a country of its own but it was exceptionally lively today. Zhang Meizhen opened the door and saw Little Friend Han Zhou who was on summer holiday standing there holding a paper box.

The boy with the brightest future prospects in the entire building looked at Madam Meizhen and broke into a huge smile. He promoted himself a few generations ahead and the first thing he said when he opened his mouth was, "Hello, Meizhen-jie. Can I get a free meal here?"

"..." Zhang Meizhen's expression changed a few times and her tone softened quite a bit involuntarily. "No respect for age, who are you calling that? Even your dad calls me 'Grandma.' These gremlin kids, who are they learning from? Each and every one of them is a smooth talker. Ai, come on in."

"This is a cake my mum bought. She asked me to bring it up for the jiejies here to try. My grandpa is still in the hospital, my parents are there to accompany him." Little Friend Han Zhou held the paper box higher. "Gan Qing-jiejie, my dad asked me to pass you a message. He said that when my grandpa is discharged from the hospital, he will definitely bring him here to thank you. It was lucky for them that you stay at No. 110, you must not move out… Are you going to move out?"

Gan Qing hesitated. "Erm…"

Han Zhou hopped up on a chair. His legs could not reach the floor and dangled down. This future patron of love propped his chin up on both hands and said gloomily, "Then, take me along too. I want to wander the world with you. Why confine ourselves to the mortal realm and suffer… suffer… ai, suffer what again? Anyway, what I mean is I don't want to go to school."

The adults in his family didn't have time to look after him recently. During his holidays, this brat had the run of the house and was probably living in the T.V. already.

Gan Qing took the last egg roll out of the pan. Yet another unexpected visitor had arrived. Luckily, she had made extra or there wouldn't be enough to go around.

This time, it was Liu Zhongqi who had come. He had just come back from school and was like a large rabbit being hunted by a wolf. Without even putting his bag down, he entered in a fluster and said in alarm, "Our last exam in the morning was English. I compared answers with the others, I think my life is going to end. Teacher Meng-Meng, quick, help me estimate my score!"

Gan Qing, "..."

After much effort, she finally got rid of Team Elderly, Team Children and Team "Heart Entirely Set on Studies" who had come together to wear her down one after another. It was even more tiring than fighting three hundred rounds with the evil cult members in the outskirts. Before she had the time to soak the curtains, it was already the time for her appointment with the real estate agent and she left in a rush.

She took the bus around the city and looked at a few rooms—all of them weren't anything remarkable. With her budget, of course there wouldn't be any good rooms. The only place where the conditions were acceptable was a haunted house near a cemetery.

Gan Qing got down from the bus. Her finger swiped across her phone and she hesitated over whether or not to tell the agent to book the haunted house. Near the bus stop, a beggar who was picking out bottles from the trash can saw her from far away and grinned at her, and even gave her a deep bow. Gan Qing nodded in reply. All of a sudden, she couldn't bring herself to tap on the "Send" button on the message.

She wrapped her coat tighter around herself and walked into the darkness of the night, feeling a little lost.

For the first time in her life, there were people urging her to stay. She was a little unsure of what to do.

She had just reached the vicinity of No. 110 Courtyard and hadn't passed the intersection yet when a shadow suddenly flashed over to her. Gan Qing's leg reflexively stepped back—toes lightly touching the ground, posture adjusted so that she could kick out at any time—and only then did she see that the person stopping her was Yan Hao.

"It's you." Gan Qing lowered her ankle. "Why, did Little Master Yu give you a call too?"

He was really not picky with the people he chose.

Yan Hao stared blankly. "Wh-What?"

Gan Qing, "..."

Oh, she accidentally assumed too much.

"What's the matter?"

"That… That man." Yan Hao stammered and pointed at a man who was pacing around the intersection and said, "He's walking around this place. He said the police told him that his mother 'departed' by this road…"

Gan Qing followed his gaze and recognised the man at the intersection—she had seen him yesterday at the hospital. He was the son of Old Madam Lin who had unfortunately passed away.

After Old Madam Lin failed to get back the money she had spent on rewards and passed away from heart failure, the Travellers' Sect people were afraid of bearing the responsibility and had furtively taken her body away to be buried.

"Her body was indeed taken away through this road." Gan Qing asked Yan Hao, "What's the matter?"

"I want to tell him something… b-but I don't know how to say it." Yan Hao fidgeted restlessly. He had been beaten up by Gan Qing before, had been rescued by her before, and had taken back his figurine from her hands. Hence, he could just barely consider her an acquaintance and could speak a few words with her. But for him to strike up a conversation with a stranger was asking too much of him. "I don't have proof… and might not say it correctly, can you help me tell him…"

Gan Qing was completely confused by his scrambled words. "What proof? Help you what? Wait, wait, wait… take a deep breath, there's no hurry, first arrange your sentence order."

"His mother… that is, Old Madam Lin…" Yan Hao followed the guidance of the grammar teacher, Teacher Meng-Meng, and forced out the subject of his sentence, "...went missing… from this road… Qiao-Qiao might have seen her. Qiao-Qiao is…"

"The girl at the pet store, I know," Gan Qing said, "And then?"

Yan Hao felt that he couldn't say it clearly so he fished out a notebook from his pocket. In it were the written chats between him and Qiao-Qiao:

That night, I saw someone riding an electrical three-wheeled cart pass by here. The words were written in the girl's delicate handwriting. There was a human-sized sack on the cart. The rider also made a phone call and said stuff like "Yanning is a busy place with prying eyes, it's troublesome." Then, he accidentally rode into a pothole and the things on the cart fell off.

The sack was moving.