Mooncrest Manor.
The community's amenities were complete, and every streetlight was lit.
Several nearby villas had their lights on, and parked in front were luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands.
Evan Lin held Joy Zheng's hand, leading her along the stone paths inside the community.
To Joy Zheng, all of this felt unreal, almost dreamlike. She turned her head to look around—the villas each looked like exquisite works of art.
It had been years since Joy Zheng had seen such upscale houses up close—at least not since the Zheng family threw her out. She hadn’t seen anything like this since.
She’d raised Evan Lin alone in this small city, always believing she’d spend her whole life in that rundown shantytown. There were regrets, but every time she thought of Evan, her face would always show a few traces of comfort and pride.
"Mom, we're here."
Evan Lin stopped, looked up at the villa in front of them.
It was two villas side by side. After Evan Lin paid for them a while back, Mooncrest Manor urgently tore down the fence between them, merging them into one.
To Evan Lin, this villa was just an ordinary house. He, the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, had roamed the world and visited countless immortal caves. But this villa held a special meaning.
Evan Lin felt a surge of emotion, took out the key, unlocked the iron gate, then turned to Joy Zheng with a smile. "Mom, come in and take a look."
Joy Zheng's expression suddenly grew complicated. After hesitating, she quietly asked, "Xiao Yi, be honest with Mom—where did you get all that money?"
Evan Lin looked at Joy Zheng. Seeing her so serious, he also hesitated. Deep down, he didn’t want to lie to her, but he really couldn’t tell her the truth.
If he told Joy Zheng that he’d been reborn, and that the money was given to him out of respect, she probably wouldn’t sleep soundly ever again.
Seeing Evan Lin silent, Joy Zheng sighed softly. "Did someone from... over there come looking for you?"
"Someone from over there? Who?" Evan Lin heard this, saw the complicated look on Joy Zheng's face, and asked instinctively.
"It's nothing." Joy Zheng realized she’d misunderstood when Evan Lin asked, so she dropped the subject.
Since Joy Zheng didn’t want to explain, Evan Lin didn’t press further. He thought about it—if he said he won the lottery, not only would Joy Zheng not believe it, he wouldn’t believe it himself.
"Mom, I’ll just tell you—the money came from helping someone with a medical treatment. They paid me for it."
Evan Lin thought for a moment, then spoke up.
"Helping people with medical treatment? You know how to treat illnesses? That’s even harder to believe than you winning the lottery." Joy Zheng shook her head at his explanation.
"Really! I met an old Chinese doctor in Brightsea City—he taught me medicine for a long time. Aunt Lu can vouch for this."
Evan Lin put on his most serious face—he even had to bring up Lucy Lu to make it more believable.
"Aunt Lu knows too?"
Hearing Evan Lin mention Lucy Lu, a lot of Joy Zheng’s doubts faded away.
"Yeah, I even treated Uncle Chen's company’s general manager, Haiyang Sheng. Later, when I went to River City for the Olympiad, I happened to treat a boss there. He paid me as thanks, and even gave me a VIP card—here, this one."
Evan Lin pulled out the Sunwave Bluebay membership card that Summer had given him. The card was sharp and finely crafted—definitely high-end.
Joy Zheng looked at the card, then at Evan Lin, and finally believed him a little. She nodded, relieved. "If that’s how it is, I’m more at ease. But Xiao Yi, if you really do have amazing medical skills, remember—don’t show off too much."
"People outside can be ruthless. Mom knows you’re kind, but a lot of people will treat your kindness as a weakness—okay?"
Joy Zheng spoke earnestly, standing there with a serious look on her face.
"Got it, got it. Mom, just come inside and look around."
Evan Lin nodded, for once a little impatient.
The villa was huge—each standalone unit had its own backyard and swimming pool, and the materials used for the interior were top-notch.
As soon as they entered, Evan Lin had the Three Maiden Spirits in his backpack sweep both villas for anything unusual.
"This place is so big—if we actually live here, isn’t it a bit much?" Joy Zheng walked around, full of surprise. "Maybe we should just leave the house here for now. The resettlement apartment they’re giving us later is already pretty nice."
Joy Zheng hesitated. "Xiao Yi, can you return the house? I really don’t need something this big. You should save your money—housing prices keep going up, you need to save. Mom really doesn’t need such a big place."
Seeing Joy Zheng so hesitant, Evan Lin got serious. "Mom, this house isn’t just for you—I’ll be living here too when I come home."
"And Aunt Cai next door can come stay too, and the neighbors from the old street—if you want anyone to move in, there’s plenty of room."
After Evan Lin’s repeated persuasion, Joy Zheng finally agreed, but decided not to move in just yet—partly because it was a hassle, and partly because she’d grown attached to the old shantytown.
After they got home, Joy Zheng told Evan Lin to go to bed early, then went off to sleep herself.
Evan Lin returned to his room. Once Joy Zheng was asleep, he took out the various medicinal herbs from his bag.
"Century-old ginseng, century-old Polygonum multiflorum—these two should be enough to refine a Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill. The grade’s not high, but when I get better ingredients later, I’ll make a new batch."
Evan Lin made up his mind. He shut the door and windows, pulled the curtains, and took out the Fire Crystal Stone. With a thought, flames surged from the stone.
The flames burned in a small area. Evan Lin tossed the herbs into the fire, and soon the flames formed a small fireball, wrapping all the ingredients inside.
The fire burned on.
Evan Lin kept his expression calm, eyes focused on the flames, carefully controlling the fireball.
Inside the fireball, the century-old ginseng slowly burned into a yellow-white energy mass, while the century-old Polygonum multiflorum became a black energy mass.
At first, the two energy masses were large, but they gradually shrank, splitting into six smaller orbs, which then fused together inside the flames.
When the flames died down—
Three Youth-Preserving Beauty Pills dropped into Evan Lin’s palm.
Done.