“What’s this situation?” asked Cao Zhibai with his eyes wide as he watched Luo Li following behind Ling Chuxi like a subordinate.
Cao Zhibai watched a serious expression came over Luo Li’s face as though he had remembered something important. Cao Zhibai was only able to hear his mutterings after paying close attention. “Two baskets of meat buns, three bowls of soybean, two bowls of crystal steamed dumplings… Master, can you finish so much? Eating too much in the morning isn’t too good, right?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Just buy it all,” instructed Ling Chuxi with a wave of her hand.
Cao Zhibai stared at this scene dumbfounded. Ling Chuxi was actually ordering Luo Li to buy her breakfast! Also, what did it mean for Luo Li to keep addressing Ling Chuxi as a master? Cao Zhibai shook his head. Was he experiencing an auditory hallucination right now? Cao Zhibai cleaned out his own ear and listened with close attention again. He realized a fact that left him shell shocked. Luo Li, the Master Luo who was well known throughout Nan Xia Country was actually calling Ling Chuxi his master! This was not him having an auditory hallucination!
“This, this, this… What is going on? How could this be possible…” stuttered Cao Zhibai as he squeezed out a sentence expressing his shock while trembling. He couldn’t speak fluently no matter how much he tried.
“It isn’t odd if it happened to Chuxi,” pipped up Fu Chengyu casually. Compared to Cao Zhibai’s shock, Fu Chengyu was truly too calm in comparison.
“Oh! Big Brother Cao, you have returned. How is Elder Sister Wen Qing?” asked Ling Chuxi when she noticed Cao Zhibai standing by the door in a daze.
“Ah, she is already awake. She was making a fuss by saying that she wanted to eat roasted meat. Why eat roasted meat so early in the morning for? I didn’t allow her to do so. I said that I would return home to make her some congee. She did say that she wanted to see you. Will you be going over now to see her soon? I’ll send breakfast over to you in a short while too,” said Cao Zhibai as he regained his senses.
“Sure, that works. I’ll go over to see her now. It is necessary to let her eat less oily and blander dishes for the time being,” said Ling Chuxi with a nod before she left to see Wen Qing.
Although Wen Qing was still a little pale today, she was in much better spirits. The most important thing was how lively she looked. This Wen Qing and the version of her whom Ling Chuxi met for the first time yesterday were so different that it was as if they were two different people indeed.
“Chuxi, you’ve come,” announced Wen Qing as she waved happily at Ling Chuxi. “Come over quickly, I have yet to properly thank you.”
Ling Chuxi laughed good-naturedly. “Elder Sister Wen Qing, please don’t tell me something like, ‘This girl can’t repay your kindness, and can only give herself in repayment to you.’ If so, Big Brother Cao will inevitably chase me to the ends of the world to kill me,” said Ling Chuxi jokingly as sat on the edge of Wen Qing’s bed to take her pulse to check on her physical condition. After examining Wen Qing, a relieved expression appeared on Ling Chuxi’s face.
Wen Qing sighed and said tenderly with a smile, “Cao Zhibai, that idiot. The moment I see him, I just feel like bashing him.” A gentleness that could not be hidden appeared in Wen Qing’s eyes.
“You know, Big Brother Cao has said before that when you get better, he wants to marry you,” teased Ling Chuxi with a smile. “It seems like I’ll be able to attend your wedding soon.”
“Oh, Chuxi!” exclaimed Wen Qing as she blushed and felt a little shy, which was a rare incident indeed. After smiling, her tone turned serious once more, “I called you over because there is something I wish to tell you.”
“Huh? What is it?” Ling Chuxi saw Wen Qing’s serious face and questioned her in an equally solemn manner as well.
“This is for you. In the future, that dummy and I will be living out our days quietly. If you feel that you have the level of cultivation to undertake this already, then go look for it, perhaps a great gain awaits you,” said Wen Qing as she took out a sachet from beneath her pillow and then removed a piece of goatskin from the sachet.
“What… is this?” asked Ling Chuxi quizzically as she looked at the old and tattered piece of goatskin in Wen Qing’s hand with a puzzled expression. There seemed to be an outlined route along a map imprinted on the goatskin, and there were even some dark spots spattered over it. Those very few dark spots were identified by Ling Chuxi easily. They were blood stains. Blood stains that had long dried.