Fa Muzhi read for a while longer, time passing slowly as he immersed himself in his book.

By the time he set the book aside, the sky outside had grown completely dark.

Only then did he glance at the digital watch on his wrist—hmm… In an age when most people relied on phones for timekeeping, he still wore a watch.

18:29

Seeing the time, he finally stood up.

Not abruptly, but at a normal pace. Turning, he took just one step to reach the window. Then, casually placing the cultivation booklet on the windowsill, he reached toward the window—

With a click—the window opened.

A cool spring evening breeze swept in from outside, carrying with it several branches laden with blossoms.

It was the same kind of tree as the one on Chunhua Road, covered in pale pink and white flowers. So there was one outside the window of the School District Apartment, too. And judging by its appearance, it seemed even taller and more magnificently blooming than the one he’d seen before. Sure enough, the moment he opened the window, the branches outside eagerly thrust themselves inside, filling the room with their sweet fragrance.

On a spring night, opening the window to see a tree in full bloom…

Just imagining it made one want to hold their breath in awe. Yet, Fa Muzhi didn’t pause to admire the view.

With practiced ease, he caught all the “attacking” fluffy flower “hands” in one hand. His left hand grabbed the small booklet he’d left on the windowsill, while his feet climbed the steps beside the window ← So there was a third piece of furniture in this room after all. Well… call it furniture? It was a wooden staircase, just three steps, leading perfectly from the floor inside the room up to the windowsill.

Then, standing on the windowsill, Fa Muzhi found himself directly in front of the flowering tree outside the window.

At this moment, behind the apartment building at the end of the alley stood several flowering trees as lush as the one before him. Their branches intertwined, completely shrouding the building. Beyond that, there were no other houses across the way—only a green belt at the end of the alley. Thus, no one could see Fa Muzhi standing on the windowsill.

Unless a neighbor from the same apartment building happened to peek over.

But now, the neighbors in the same building were either not home or had their doors open while keeping windows tightly shut. Having lived in this building for so long, the residents had long since grown indifferent to these flowering trees. Instead, they found their blooming branches a nuisance—they kept hitting people when windows were opened, and they blew pollen and petals inside. Not only were they unfriendly to those with hay fever, but they were also a real pain to clean up.

In short, no one opened their windows now.

After scanning the surroundings, the Fa Muzhi suddenly leapt forward—

The flower branches trembled, shedding a layer of petals.

He strode forward without hesitation. After just a few steps, he reached a dark, shadowy hollow deep within the blossoms. Without pausing, he walked straight through it. The next second, his figure vanished from the flower tree.

The window behind him slowly closed on its own shortly after his departure. The white gauze curtain followed suit, and the room’s light flickered on briefly before shutting off automatically.

↑

Hmm… This relies on the smart home devices common in modern residences—installed by Fa Muzhi himself.

Meanwhile, Fa Muzhi had already materialized among the branches of another tree.

No flowers here—these branches were thick with leaves. On one limb connecting the two trees hung an axe. Almost the moment he arrived, the Fa Muzhi picked it up. Then, as he moved forward, he began hacking at the branches. Overgrown limbs fell with a rustling sound to the ground. But the Fa Muzhi didn’t rush to climb down. Instead, he picked up a few more branches and chopped for a while longer, making the branches shake and tremble for a long time. Only then did he climb down, axe in hand.

Yes, descending the ‘tree’ was like walking down stairs. This tree now bore no resemblance to the one his father and Mother Fa had laboriously climbed years ago: a ring of wooden steps now encircled the thick trunk, complete with simple handrails.

Needless to say, the Fa family had gradually built these over the years, naturally for the convenience of ascending and descending the tree.

Strolling casually down the tree with his axe, Fa Muzhi raised his head to glance at the sky: unlike the already pitch-black “School District Apartment” area, the sun hadn’t yet set on this side.

So, after descending, Fa Muzhi tossed his axe aside and entered the small house ahead, carrying only his notebook.

He walked straight to his small room on the second floor and changed his clothes. When he came back down, Fa Muzhi was dressed much more casually: a slightly worn tracksuit. Looking closely, a school emblem was still sewn onto the chest of the sweatshirt—Zhongdu University Affiliated High School.

Alright, so this was the uniform from his old school.

Keeping his school uniform all these years after graduation… he was… well, he was pretty frugal.

Of course. The family had no savings left after buying the house, so everyone in the Fa household was frugal! Not just him—even Fa Erdi and Fa Xiaomei wore their old school uniforms as loungewear when they came home.

It was just that whenever Father Fa and Mother Fa saw Fa Erdi and Fa Xiaomei in their “old school uniforms,” they felt a bit of a mixed bag of emotions.

Unlike Fa Muzhi, however, Fa Erdi and Fa Xiaomei were rather carefree souls. Oblivious to their parents’ complex feelings, they wore those clothes both at school and at home. After wearing them for so long, they’d actually grown accustomed to garments so different from their past lifestyle.

But at this very moment, neither the emotionally conflicted parents nor the carefree younger siblings were home. The vast house stood empty, with only Fa Muzhi remaining.

Well, not entirely alone. In the kitchen, a “figure” lingered.

“Good evening, Master. The ingredients for dinner have been gathered. Would you like to cook yourself, or would you prefer me to prepare it for you?” Spotting Fa Muzhi’s approach, a slightly worn robot emerged from the kitchen.

Yes, a robot!

A square head, a round upper body, and four mechanical limbs connected by distinct joints—Fa Muzhi’s kitchen actually housed a robot!

“I’ll cook myself.” Glancing at the prepared ingredients, Fa Muzhi replied promptly.

“Understood.” The robot withdrew, but instead of resting, it headed outside to tidy up the branches Fa Muzhi had just chopped down.

After just one glance at the robot’s busy back, Fa Muzhi stepped into the kitchen to continue the robot’s work and start preparing dinner.

By the time he was nearly done cooking, Fa Muzhi realized he hadn’t heard the robot outside for what felt like half a day. Washing his hands, he went out to check. Sure enough—still holding the branches in both arms, the robot had stopped moving in the yard at some point.

Out of power again—

Thinking this, Fa Muzhi approached, wrapped both arms around the robot’s waist, and with a mighty heave lifted him up. By the time he struggled to carry him inside and plug him into the charging station, he was drenched in sweat.

“I’m sorry, Master. I haven’t finished organizing the firewood yet.” “With one bar of power restored, the robot’s voice remained flat: ”Also, I’m too heavy.“

”It’s fine. Ultimately, it’s my fault. The materials I used to build your body are too heavy. And you need new batteries.“ Fa Muzhi told him.

”Just charge up properly. Don’t worry about the rest.” After instructing the robot, Fa Muzhi walked outside to continue the work Helper hadn’t finished.

Indeed, Helper was crafted by Fa Muzhi.

Though this was a technological society where rudimentary AI robots had emerged, such machines remained conceptual prototypes, not yet integrated into everyday life. The Fa family possessed this robot because Fa Muzhi had discovered a book left at home by Fa Xiaomei—Mecha and Robotics: Beginner’s Guide.

It was their introductory textbook, requiring a final project to build a robot. Completely disinterested in the subject and utterly hopeless at it, Fa Zhizhi grew so frustrated that her lips developed three large blisters. Then, in a flash of inspiration, she conscripted her eldest brother.

What else could she do? She couldn’t draft anyone else! Her big brother was the only one in the family with a nine-to-five job, home every single day~

So, Fa Zhizhi shoved the entire textbook and video course onto Fa Muzhi. Using whatever materials were on hand, Fa Muzhi stumbled and fumbled his way through it, and somehow actually built a little robot.

Of course, the AI and batteries for the robots were provided by Fa Zhizhi’s side ← the instructor supplied them; every student had access.

After submitting the assignments, all the robots were graded by the instructor and returned. Fa Muzhi’s robot, Bang Bang, came back too. Fa Xiao Mei didn’t keep it for herself but sent it back home to serve as a household helper.

Thus, the Fa family gained this little robot, completely out of step with modern technology.

For Fa Muzhi, Bang Bang had long since become more than just a homework project he made for his sister. In fact, since moving to this place, Fa Muzhi spent more time with Bangbang than with any other family member. To him, Bangbang had become a full-fledged member of the Fa household.

After tidying the branches outside and stowing them all in the wood shed, Fa Muzhi skipped dinner and instead picked up the book Energy Theory he’d borrowed from his sister.

Waiting for his sister to buy new batteries took too long, so Fa Muzhi decided to make his own ← It wasn’t really Fa Zhizhi’s fault; getting back from her place was simply no easy task.

Just look at how many times their family’s curfew has been changed.

It was a force majeure.

Not just Fa Zhizhi, but nearly every member of the Fa family who passed through the branches to the other world—including Fa Mulin, and even Mother Fa.

Huh?!!!!!!!

Father and Mother Fa?!

Yep, you heard right—Father and Mother Fa.

Just as the hour hand of the old clock hanging in the kitchen pointed to “8,” signaling the evening chime at eight o’clock, a sound came from outside the Fa family’s door once more—

Accompanied by somewhat heavy footsteps, the Fa family’s door creaked open. Leading the way was a visibly exhausted Mother Fa, closely followed by a cautiously cautious Father Fa. Dressed in clothing that looked like medieval European peasant attire, completely out of place locally, each carried a heavy, large basket inside.

Both were covered in dust and grime. Upon closer inspection, their already worn coarse garments were now torn and tattered. Scratch marks marred both Mother Fa’s skirt and Mr. Fa’s trousers. If you looked even more closely, you could discern scorch marks on their clothing.

Hm?

“Finally home.” Seeing the warm light from outside had already made Mother Fa want to cry. Now, seeing her eldest son sitting quietly at the table reading, and smelling the aroma of food filling the house, she felt even more like weeping.

Father Fa was already crying for real. Setting down the large basket full of eggs, he trotted over to Fa Muzhi, wrapped his arms around his eldest son, and wept loudly.

What else could Fa Muzhi do? He pulled out a tissue for his father, then opened his arms to invite his mother over. When Mother Fa finally couldn’t hold back and came to hug him, weeping, he pulled out another tissue for her. Then he simply let them both cry their hearts out on his shoulders.

Yep, what’s unclear about this? That means Father Fa and Mother Fa didn’t even live in this inherited house for a few days. They, too, were transported by the tree branch to another realm.

And not just any ordinary place—the magical world.