Chapter Thirty-two Tick-tock... tick-tock...

  "It seems to be a bloodline problem..." I sighed. Li Ke was also like this, and that uncle had maintained the image of an elder, but from the personal qualities of these two royal relatives, I secretly felt that the old man wasn't a good bird either. If you're not from the same family, don't enter the same door...

  "What's bloodline?" Li Zhi felt this term was quite novel.

  "...a new term, which means that your dad and uncle are smart, so you're also smart... My dad has a great writing style, my big brother is knowledgeable and courteous, naturally... cough, this young master can also speak eloquently. This is called bloodline, do you know? I don't dare to explain to the two kids that in later generations, 'bloodline' is usually used on horses, if I honestly said it, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to escape the pursuit of the Li family's bloodline members."

  Li Yu covered his mouth and smiled: "Jun Ge is indeed good at sticking gold on his own face... I don't know, are you the one who speaks eloquently, or is it another member of the Fang family?"

  Gazing sideways at this smiling little loli, her full chest heaves with each laugh, the crisp sound of her laughter like a silver bell...

  "Brother Jun..." Li Zhi squeezed over with a flattering smile.

  "What's going on?" glared at him very seriously.

  "You're not into my sister, are you?" He gave me a very weird and lewd wink, almost making me think that Li Zhi was actually Li Ke in disguise.

  A human skin mask? Is it a disguise technique? I'm very curious.

  "Hey... Brother Jun, what are you doing?" Li Zhi finally managed to escape from the young master's grasp after using up half of his energy. He rubbed his slightly red face: "Wasn't it just asking you a question? You actually pinched my face!" Li Zhi was very indignant. Hmm, it seems that Li Ke is not as short as he thought, and his voice doesn't match either.

  "Wrong... I, young master, wanted to tell you a fascinating story... does your face hurt? ...Good if it hurts!" I patted my thigh, triumphantly spitting out starlight towards Li Zhi: "This story is related to human skin..." My cold smile, with the sharp whistling of the cold wind outside, scared the royal siblings so much that they almost hugged each other...

  "Human... human skin?" Li Yu's lips trembled as he reached out to pull on Li Zhi's face, asking me.

  "Ah... sister, why are you pinching me?" Li Zhi's eyes turned green with anger. Li Shu glared at him: "I'm your sister, can't I pinch you? You've forgotten about this morning's academy incident, and I still haven't reported it to Father!" Li Zhi helplessly accepted the reality, and the future Emperor, who had no way to vent his grievances, lay limply on the couch, humming... Retribution...

  "That... Green Butterfly, you turned off the light..." A ghost story requires a combination of atmosphere and environment, which is quite good. The sky was dark, the cold wind howled, it was just the right time when the moon was black and the wind was high...

  The eerie and abrupt tone brings a radio version of horror movie completely in front of the audience, when it's dark, it can even increase people's imagination, the evil spirits with human skin on their heads are vividly present in the minds of many listeners...

  "...then the woman gently placed her hand on her beautiful cheek, and with a slight exertion of her slender fingers...only to see bright red blood dripping from her forehead...drip...drip...drip..."? Is Green Butterfly doing the dubbing? No way! Green Butterfly's small hands were almost twisted into knots, the little girl's head was about to drill into my armpit, and the two royals beside me were also squeezing in on me, shaking like noodles...Could it be...could it be...the dripping sound still continued..."Young Master...Young...Master...where are you..." The distant and near, mournful and desolate voice drifted outside the door, wavering uncertainly...

  Knock knock... The sound of a whole houseful of door knocks.

  "Don't be afraid... With this young master's presence here, evil spirits wouldn't dare to enter... Strange, my mouth as the great Tang Yingjie isn't quite articulate either... I'm breaking out in cold sweat."

  Drawing out the treasured sword, he finally regained some courage, protecting the three little brats as they moved cautiously towards the door. "Who is the evil spirit outside? Show yourself quickly!" His voice was still shaking a bit.

  "Master... master... it's me... you don't recognize me..." The melancholic female voice drew near... the yellowish ghostly fire was floating outside the door...... the image of the female ghost in the painting suddenly appeared in my mind, and the cold wind from the window gap blew over ominously. Scared out of his wits, Li Fu's hand shook violently, the precious sword clattered to the ground, and he couldn't hold back his fear anymore, bursting into a high-pitched scream: "Ghost!!!!!!" The sound wave shot straight up into the sky......

  "Ahh!!!!!" Outside was also a shrill scream... In an instant, the entire house was in turmoil, with chickens flying and dogs jumping...

  ---

  The old man's face turned iron-gray, his teeth clenched, and his palm knife and eagle claw changed unpredictably. The old lady had a black line on her face, the big brother's expression was distorted, and his face was red and ear-piercingly hot.

  "...came to call us for dinner, the maid Chun Tao, with red eyes and a lantern in hand, stood aside with a pout. Our group of frightened Tang flower buds were stunned, staring blankly at the oil lamp that had been knocked over by the wind onto the book cover inside the house, the oil dripping down the book cover and table surface, dropping to the floor...drip...drip...so shameful...too shameful."

  Spring peach holding a lantern to lead the way, Li Yu's face is red and he pushes Li Zhi forward, grandma and grandpa are in front of and behind me, this great Tang hero. Grandma's black hand occasionally falls on my ear, making me walk while constantly dodging left and right. The big brother at the back and Green Butterfly can't help but stifle their giggles, which this young master hears clearly.

  Arriving at the back of the head, he sat down with a pair of bright red wind-catching ears, and Li Zhi curiously observed him, but was glared at by his father and shrank back.

  Don't talk while eating, this is a rule that every knowledgeable and cultured person in the Tang Dynasty should follow. But there are some people who don't understand or don't want to follow it. They keep talking while eating and telling on me to my mom, saying things like I threw stones at her clothes during class, or that I fell asleep during class, or that I drank wine at noon today just to annoy her... It made me so angry that my eyes turned green. As soon as I glared at them, I was immediately glared back by my grandfather, mom, and Li Shu's three pairs of eyes. I was so stifled that... my blood pressure was surging, too surging, even Intel's processors aren't as surging as mine.

  "Aunt Fang, he...he even used a caterpillar to scare me...and threw it on my desk..." Li Shu's expression was really pitiful, her eyes were shining with tears, and her plump little mouth was pouting, making me want to take revenge for her.

  "Sister, please don't spout nonsense all the time. Can caterpillars even exist in this season?" I almost wanted to write a whole book of "Nature" to give this stinky girl a supplementary lesson.

  "Look at you, always trying to flirt with the girls..." My mom glared at me and gave me a stern look. I smiled warmly at Li Shu: "Little sister, have some of this..." My mom snorted coldly, scaring my dad into breaking out in a cold sweat. Luckily, he caught on quickly, or else he would have gotten another beating.

  "Alright, alright... Xuer, you just watch this little scoundrel for me. If he dares to bully you again, I'll spank him for you...". Her gaze shifted to Li Xuer, who was pouting like a sticky maltose candy stuck to her side, exuding kindness and warmth. She actually dared to act spoiled in my arms, what kind of person is this? Is she your mother or mine? It makes me want to drag this little loli to the door and give her a good scolding."

  Ke Li Yu still didn't have a bit of awareness, and she continued to mutter to herself in a low voice, saying something that no one could understand. It was so ridiculous that her mother's mouth almost couldn't close. Apparently, her mother hadn't seen through this little woman's true nature yet.

  Gnashing his teeth and dealing with the meat bones on the edge of his mouth, Li Zhi came over again: "Jun Ge, I still don't quite understand, there's a question I forgot to ask you, why did you say that Han Gaozu and Jin Taizu were a pair of thick and dark masters this morning?" With very sincere eyes.

  "Ah..." The whole family was stunned, even the little maid Green Butterfly standing beside the bed had her mouth agape and eyes wide with wonder.

  ---

  Wishing you all a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year, may your good fortune be as vast as the sky and your longevity be as enduring as the southern mountain. May this festive season bring joy to you all... Ah, just leave the red envelopes here, it's really tiring for you to carry them around in your bosom.