“You know what, everything is chaos, man!” exclaimed Jin Feng, waving their arms in the air. “But like, especially Lan Du. It’s, like, super chaotic there, dude.”

I rolled my eyes. “And what, the entire world isn’t already chaotic enough? What’s next, the moon falls from the sky or something?” But then I remembered the whole thing with the goddamn earthworm and realized, yeah, chaos was definitely the name of the game.

“Let’s put everything else on hold,” said Big Brother, looking tired as heck. “Book Yu, how are you feeling? Any specific parts still hurting?”

I felt a surge of guilt. Had they used up all their healing magic on me, or was it because I kept getting knocked out during the battle with Thirteen and the weird monster thing he brought with him?

“No, I’m good,” I replied, shaking my head. “But wait, what about the monster Thirteen brought with him? And the girl he was with?”

I mean, sure, chaos in Lan Du was a big deal, but Thirteen and his monster posse were like, right there, man. That was the real disaster!

Big Brother explained that they had fled, dragging the girl and the monster with them. They had heard some wolf howls in the distance and decided it wasn’t worth pursuing, so they retreated to base camp.

And that’s how the gang dealt with the chaos, with wacky hijinks and zany adventures galore.

After switching sides, I watched Jin Feng’s back and suddenly felt like a wilted flower. How could such a fierce and fabulous supermodel end up hanging out with a potato like me? No, scratch that, looking at her face, she’s a tree with a neck brace!

“Jin Feng, you are like…” I trailed off, “As long as I come up with something, no matter what it is or where I do it, you’ll support me, right?”

Jin Feng turned around and gave me a side-eye, chuckling and saying: “For the most part, yes. But if my brother messed up, I can’t go against him.”

“Aw, shucks,” I said, scratching my head. “You just keep being your fabulous self, Jin Feng. I’ll be over here not knowing what’s going on.”

Suddenly, DS II appeared out of nowhere with a plate of spaghetti. “Hey dudes, I made dinner! Come get your carbs on!”

“DS II,” I said sternly, “That’s not Xiaoye.”

DS II just grinned and said, “You can call me whatever you want, bro. But Xiaoye and I are tight, so good luck getting him to change his mind.”

I sighed and took a bite of spaghetti, wondering how I ended up in this surreal situation. And then, out of nowhere, DS II started beeping and flashing red lights.

“I’m detecting a disturbance in the force,” he said. “Xuanri, you are not authorized to issue commands to Xiaoye. I suggest you back off before things get messy.”

I rolled my eyes and muttered to myself, “What can I say, it’s just another day in this insane world.”

“Hey Sem, let’s teach Yaya to fly so we don’t have to keep carrying her,” said Luyang, twirling his mustache.

“Aye aye, captain!” replied Jiang Ziya, saluting and blowing a raspberry.

They dragged Sem and Yaya up to the deck to begin the flying lessons, with Bai Saya and Meteor following behind to watch the action.

As they practiced, Meteor was amazed that Bai Saya didn’t get seasick this time. “What’s your secret, dude?”

Bai Saya grinned sheepishly. “Rui Si told me to fill my ear with magical gems to avoid seasickness. It totally worked!”

Meteor was skeptical. “What do snails have to do with it?”

“I have no idea,” Bai Saya shrugged.

Meanwhile, Sem was struggling to teach Yaya to fly while she squirmed and flailed around, occasionally yanking on his golden locks. He wondered why he had to be the one to teach her – he wasn’t even married or had kids yet! This was clearly the responsibility of a wingman father.

“You can do it, Sem! Teach Yaya to soar!” Luyang cheered from the sidelines, munching on a bag of colorful popcorn.

“Ha ha, let’s level up to the max!” exclaimed Luyang, flipping his hair dramatically. “Otherwise, Tì might as well be a limp noodle when facing those spooky specters. And don’t forget to give your blade an extra sprinkle of magic fairy dust.”

“You got it, boss man!” replied Jiang Ziya, giving Luyang a playful punch in the arm.

Watching the security footage, Siming couldn’t help but giggle at the wacky antics of his coworkers. But he quickly regained his composure and stroked his invisible beard, pondering the great mysteries of the universe.

It wasn’t weird that he was reading a book on the history of fuzzy bunny rabbits, was it?

Suddenly, the ghosts and ghouls from the book came to life, twirling around Siming and singing silly songs. But he took it all in stride, joining in on the absurd dance party.

And that’s how the trio of friends spent the rest of the evening, battling monsters, sharpening blades, and spreading joy throughout the land.

Whoa, you’re pickin’ on the butler again? What, you think you can just pick on him ’cause he’s an easy target? That ain’t cool, man!

Guanting stormed into the study, all anger and frustration. Who are you callin’ honest when it comes to that butler guy? Those big blue eyes of yours may be pretty, but they’re blind if you think he’s more honest than you are!

Suddenly, she missed the days when her son Guanting would always be at odds with the butler.

“Can we still choose?” Guanting clenched his fists, feeling both indignant and defeated. “You’re the one who sees with your own eyes, mother. He’s the one who turned us into nobodies. Besides our parents, what other title could be more important?”

Her sons looked at her expectantly, but she knew the answer wouldn’t be easy. “Go clean up the guest room. Your dad will probably stay overnight,” she said, resigned to her fate.

“Yes!” The butler and Guanting exchanged a glance and saw each other’s happiness reflected in their eyes.

Watching her two sons light up with joy like it’s Christmas, YouShu felt like a salted fish. She couldn’t resist reminding them, “Don’t actually call him dad, okay? Jianger was only 20 when he became a father, and your ‘dad’ here looks older than he does! You’ll scare him to death, and it won’t be my fault!”

“I know, right?” The butler grinned.

“Who would actually call him father?” Guanting was stubborn as ever.

Jiang Ziya, who was over the moon to be a father, snored on the couch, completely unaware that his two adopted sons were stealing glimpses of him sleeping.