Long Miaomiao was merely speaking the truth.
"He certainly cannot either."
Before Helian Sheng could say anything further, Ye Tiancheng understood completely. He understood Helian Sheng's current attitude and the situation it implied, and what Helian Sheng might be thinking.
Ye Tiancheng's brows furrowed slightly.
He knew that Long Miaomiao couldn't grasp the subtle nuances of human speech and didn't mind this minor offense. As long as it wasn't overly arrogant or stepping on Long Miaomiao's toes, she generally wouldn't dwell on it.
Having been the Dragon God for so many years, Long Miaomiao naturally possessed an extraordinary magnanimity.
However, Ye Tiancheng could not tolerate Long Miaomiao being questioned.
Long Miaomiao's own character was excellent, but that didn't mean anyone could question her, especially not when Helian Sheng was about to benefit from her.
Ye Tiancheng stepped forward, subtly shielding Long Miaomiao behind him. He then addressed Helian Sheng, saying, "Miss Long is our elder. I'm afraid that the combined ages of the three grown men present here wouldn't even amount to a fraction of Miss Long's cultivation years."
"Your initial statement can be considered ignorance, but if you continue to speak to Miss Long in this manner, it will be overly offensive."
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, Helian Sheng was slightly startled. He couldn't help but examine Long Miaomiao more closely, his heart filled with doubt. Was what Ye Tiancheng said true?
Seeing Long Miaomiao's innocent and pure demeanor, could she be some ancient, reclusive monster?
If Ye Tiancheng's words were true... Helian Sheng thought back to what he had said to Long Miaomiao earlier, and a cold sweat began to break out on his back uncontrollably. "Miss Long has such an identity? No... Senior Long?"
Long Miaomiao hadn't deliberately concealed her age. After all, the village records in that small mountain village already documented her existence for over a thousand years. When she became the guardian deity of that small mountain village, she was already a dragon.
Not to mention the long period of cultivation before she became a dragon.
Long Miaomiao's age was a settled fact, at least for humans. Even so, considering Long Miaomiao's long lifespan, the years she had lived were still quite few; she couldn't be considered old at all.
Therefore, Long Miaomiao herself didn't mind people knowing how long she had lived.
She genuinely didn't care much.
However, faced with Helian Sheng's suddenly changed attitude, Long Miaomiao subtly perceived the hidden emotions behind his shift. She suddenly felt a slight displeasure.
She felt that Helian Sheng bringing up her age was not a comfortable matter at all.
Long Miaomiao didn't know why she had suddenly become so narrow-minded, but since she felt uncomfortable, she had no intention of holding back. She spoke directly to Helian Sheng, saying, "Although I have lived for a long time and deserve to be called senior, I do not like you addressing me this way."
"Call me as you did before. In short, I have no significant connection to you, and there's no need to concern yourself too much with other matters."
Helian Sheng didn't understand why Long Miaomiao seemed to have suddenly become angry. However, realizing that Long Miaomiao's identity might indeed be extraordinary, his attitude became much more cautious and humble. He repeatedly agreed.
"Yes, yes, Senior Long, Miss Long."
Ye Tiancheng was also a rather straightforward person, but at this moment, he seemed to sense something.
After all, he was a man who had been married and had women around him. Even if he wasn't particularly sensitive, Ye Tiancheng could still understand some things. Suddenly, as if his meridians had been unblocked, he inexplicably understood why Long Miaomiao had suddenly become angry.
Ye Tiancheng thought that ordinary women disliked having their age mentioned and minded being known as old. Inquiring about a woman's age was always a taboo.
It seemed that Long Miaomiao was now angry for this very reason.
Although Ye Tiancheng had this awareness initially, when he first met Long Miaomiao, she hadn't been overly evasive about her age. This led Ye Tiancheng to misunderstand slightly, thinking that Long Miaomiao wasn't as concerned about this aspect as other women. Therefore, when defending Long Miaomiao in front of Helian Sheng, he hadn't paid attention to this consideration.
However, now that Long Miaomiao was angry, Ye Tiancheng immediately and sensitively grasped the reason.
Ye Tiancheng sighed softly, knowing that he bore some responsibility for Long Miaomiao's anger. However, he had no intention of revealing this directly in front of Helian Sheng.
It was also his own carelessness and lack of attention that led to this incident. Next time, he would remember to be mindful and would apologize to Long Miaomiao.
In fact, it was understandable. Looking at Long Miaomiao's external appearance, it was clear that as a woman, she cared greatly about her appearance. For a woman who valued her beauty, she would likely have some reservations about her age.
It was just that Long Miaomiao had been detached from human society for a long time, and her awareness might not have been clear, which was why she hadn't been overly guarded in front of him initially.
However, now that she had left the small mountain village with him and entered human society, living there for a not-so-short period, seeing more of the outside world had likely made Long Miaomiao aware of this aspect and begin to mind people mentioning her age.
Ye Tiancheng kept this in mind, firmly remembering this matter to avoid offending Long Miaomiao again in the future.
However, resolving the issue with the Helian family and temporarily securing this area for three months was indeed very good news.
Helian Sheng sincerely thanked Long Miaomiao and apologized for his previous offense. After Long Miaomiao accepted his apologies, the four of them left the area once more.
This time, Helian Sheng could also descend the mountain with Ye Tiancheng and the others.
However, they were not in a hurry to do so. There were still some matters that needed to be discussed further before they could truly act. Moreover, they had to make certain preparations before taking action to feel at ease.
Ye Tiancheng also needed to help Helian Sheng gain a better understanding of the current external situation, so that Helian Sheng could cooperate with him more effectively in the future.
Otherwise, Ye Tiancheng's seeking cooperation with Helian Sheng would be meaningless.
They stayed on the mountain for another day and night, and only after Ye Tiancheng and his group had finalized their specific plans did Helian Sheng notice a message from the foot of the mountain. It was from Helian Yi, informing him that several men with a little girl, carrying several mirrors, had arrived at the Helian family estate to visit. They claimed to want to see Ye Tiancheng and had arranged to meet him there.
Helian Yi was unsure of the truthfulness of the visitors' words and couldn't reach Helian Sheng or Ye Tiancheng.
The visitors were precisely Nie Chongyang and his companions, who were bringing little Miaomiao. Fortunately, Nie Chongyang had official identification, which made Helian Yi willing to host them and ask them to wait at the Helian family estate for Ye Tiancheng and his group to respond.
On Ye Tiancheng's side, he finally saw the message and learned that Nie Chongyang and his group had arrived.
Coincidentally, Helian Sheng inquired about the people looking for Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng took the opportunity to admit that they were indeed working for him and that meeting halfway was inconvenient, so they had arranged to meet at the Helian family estate.
After receiving Ye Tiancheng's confirmation, Helian Sheng, being perceptive, didn't ask further questions. He relayed the situation to Helian Yi, letting him know that they could now descend the mountain.
As for the specifics of what was going on, although Helian Sheng was curious, if Ye Tiancheng was willing to say, he would tell him. But if he were to proactively investigate matters that Ye Tiancheng was unwilling to disclose, it would surely displease Ye Tiancheng. Helian Sheng saw no need to court trouble.
What he was meant to know, he would eventually know.
Since they learned that Nie Chongyang and his group had arrived and had been waiting for some time, Ye Tiancheng and his group no longer delayed. With the matters discussed and plans arranged, they all descended the mountain together.
Helian Yi also saw his young master, Helian Sheng, who rarely descended the mountain, finally doing so again.
Not daring to delay Ye Tiancheng's affairs, Helian Yi arranged for Ye Tiancheng to meet Nie Chongyang and his group immediately. Ye Tiancheng, accompanied by a servant called by Helian Yi to guide them, immediately took the little fox and Long Miaomiao to see Nie Chongyang.
Nie Chongyang had indeed arrived a few days ago and was growing anxious from waiting.
Although it hadn't taken Ye Tiancheng much time, several days had passed in the outside world. Nie Chongyang and his group had been a step behind and had missed meeting Ye Tiancheng. They couldn't contact Ye Tiancheng, which was why they were stopped by Helian Yi, the head of the Helian family.
It was fortunate that Nie Chongyang had official status and could facilitate matters. Otherwise, Nie Chongyang would have had to find a place nearby to wait until Ye Tiancheng's external communication was restored before he could meet him.
Helian Yi, as the head of the Helian family, although holding a high position, was clearly adept at dealing with people. Even without confirming the truthfulness of Nie Chongyang's words, he had treated Nie Chongyang well, and Nie Chongyang's waiting period had been quite comfortable.
Upon finally receiving Ye Tiancheng's reply, Nie Chongyang felt much relieved.
If he couldn't contact Ye Tiancheng, it would be quite troublesome for Nie Chongyang. He led the entire special operations team and was actually very busy. If it weren't for Ye Tiancheng's matter being so urgent, he wouldn't have been able to travel so frequently himself; he would have been tied up.
Every time he went out a few times, a large backlog of work would accumulate, and he would have to compensate for it doubly afterward.
Nie Chongyang actually felt a lot of hardship.
Ye Tiancheng was quickly led by the attendant to Nie Chongyang's temporary residence. It was here that he finally met Nie Chongyang and his team members, as well as little Miaomiao, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Since little Miaomiao had been entrusted to Nie Chongyang's care, Ye Tiancheng hadn't seen the little girl.
If not for this matter, he wouldn't have known until when that this little girl's identity was not simple at all, and that she was actually an avatar of Long Miaomiao.
Perhaps because her identity had been revealed, although little Miaomiao still appeared as a child, her expression held a certain maturity that was beyond her years. She was much more composed than her main body, creating a striking contrast.
Ye Tiancheng almost suspected that whatever composure Long Miaomiao possessed had been distributed to this avatar of hers.
As soon as Nie Chongyang saw Ye Tiancheng, he immediately stepped forward to greet him.
"Finally, we've waited for you. If we had to wait a few more days, I wouldn't know if I could hold on. We fulfilled our mission and carried all the mirrors from the staircase of that guesthouse. However, there were some unexpected incidents while retrieving the mirrors, which delayed our journey. We were a little late and missed seeing you, and then you lost contact."
He practically walked up to Ye Tiancheng and unleashed a torrent of words, briefly explaining the events of the recent period in a concise manner.