"Granny, when can I start working?"
"With all those injuries on you, don't cause me any trouble for now. We'll talk about it in three days."
Zhao Shuning's docility easily won Granny Lan's favor.
Seeing that Zhao Shuning had woken up, Granny Lan gave her a few white - flour steamed buns and then left.
The clothes Zhao Shuning was wearing were neither those of ordinary people nor the same as what the people in the State of Cangwu wore.
However, white - flour steamed buns were considered quite good food in the Laundry Bureau.
Zhao Shuning thanked her repeatedly and started to munch on the buns. She looked as if she were feasting on delicacies.
Granny Lan sighed and shook her head, then walked out.
After Granny Lan left, Zhao Shuning began to take a look around her living environment.
The room was surrounded by wooden boards on all sides. It was neither warm in winter nor wind - proof in summer. The only valuable thing in this room should be the relatively thick quilt on the bed.
She sat back on the bed and activated her spiritual power.
This time, the damage to her spiritual power was quite severe. She wasn't sure if ten Restoration Pills could replenish it.
The Restoration Pills were not easy to refine.
Moreover, she didn't have the materials for them yet.
"God! How could you be so cruel to torture such a cute little girl like me? I'm really having a rough life!"
Despite her complaints, although Zhao Shuning was dissatisfied, she understood the principle of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".
The children in Changle Town had been rescued.
However, in the place where Zhao Shuning had been before, there were thousands of children. Among them were many with intelligent spiritual roots, but their infant souls had been taken away.
The few hundred children Zhao Shuning had saved were just a drop in the bucket compared to all the children there.
Previously, there had never been any news about a large - scale disappearance of infants. It seemed that they all came from those mysterious and remote small towns.
There were countless people like Master He, but they were just doing things for others.
Who on earth was the mastermind behind all this?
Also, why was she able to enter the barrier set up by the ninth - rank alchemist?
What was the relationship between that alchemist and herself?
There were too many mysteries for Zhao Shuning to solve.
She couldn't leave now, nor was it possible for her to leave.
Zhao Shuning raised her hands. They were slightly swollen.
Although she couldn't be sure where the ninth - rank alchemist was, she had a general idea of the location.
That person should be hiding in the palace of the State of Cangwu.
Finding him was just a matter of time.
"Zhao Shuning, Zhao Shuning. I think you're really bold. An eight - phase spiritual herbalist actually dared to confront a ninth - rank alchemist."
Zhao Shuning had other thoughts in mind.
She thought that if her body died in this plane, would she wake up five hundred years later?
Zhao Shuning still didn't know that five hundred years later, she didn't fall into a slumber. Instead, her body had disappeared.
Now that her spiritual power was not in good condition, it was not suitable for her to expose her identity.
Zhao Shuning walked to one side of the shabby house where there was a basin of water.
She washed her face clean.
"Thank goodness! I'm not disfigured. If I were, I would surely fight that person to the death."
Zhao Shuning had always cherished her beautiful appearance for many years.
However, in the Laundry Bureau, with such a beautiful face, that person would surely notice this unexpected guest soon.
Zhao Shuning thought for a while and simply used her spiritual power to transform into a pen.
Then, she drew a gorgeous peach blossom on her right cheek.
Sitting in front of the mirror, Zhao Shuning was quite satisfied with it.
Anyway, her face was covered in blood before, and Granny Lan didn't clean it for her. Drawing this peach blossom now wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Both the State of Tianli and the State of Hailing had their own customs. Naturally, the State of Cangwu also had its own.
Here, girls were considered beautiful if they had fair and flawless skin, no moles or freckles on their faces, regular facial features, and behaved politely.
Now that Zhao Shuning had drawn such a thing on her face, it would just spare her a lot of trouble caused by her good looks.
"It's time to sleep. I feel like my body is falling apart these days."
Zhao Shuning stretched and then fell asleep.
At Changkong Academy, Ling Ruo looked at the handsome man in front of her and didn't dare to say a word.
The man with a jade - like face was sitting in front of the tea table at this moment. There was a chessboard in front of him.
"Master."
"She didn't come, did she?"
"Yes. Didn't Miss Luo Qiu say that she would come to give lessons to the students of Changkong Academy after a month? These days, we've been actively preparing, but so far, we haven't seen her."
Yan Ruyu put down the chess piece in his hand.
He had just rushed over from Qingyun Peak.
Qingyun Peak was towering into the clouds and away from the world. It was the best place to set up the Star Plate Formation. However, the peak was too high and the terrain was too dangerous. Now that he was busy adjusting the Star Plate Formation, he didn't have time to care about other things.
He had casually looked at the images she had sent back several times, and most of them were just cute and joking words. After a while, Yan Ruyu stopped looking at them.
Calculating the time, it was almost the day when she was supposed to return to Changkong Academy. He wanted to come back and see her, but she never showed up.
Yan Ruyu thought that something might have happened to Zhao Shuning, so he specially retrieved the previous images to look at, but he didn't find anything unusual.
"Master, do we still need to arrange a lecture hall for Miss Luo Qiu?"
"No need."
"What about Luo Feiyan?"
"Just say that she has something to do and has been sent out for training by you. Anyway, find a good excuse."
"Yes, Ling Ruo understands."
Ling Ruo stepped back.
Yan Ruyu looked into the distance.
For some reason, he felt restless.
He got up, paused for a moment, and then disappeared from the high pavilion of Changkong Academy.
An hour later, his figure appeared again in the Sea of Uncertainty.
He walked back to the bamboo house. The thatch on the bamboo house had already dried. Yan Ruyu entered the house. The bamboo flute was still on the long table, covered with a layer of dust.
Hadn't she come back since she left?
He picked up the bamboo flute.
Yan Ruyu wiped it clean with a cloth and then washed it with clean water before putting it into his space pouch.
He walked out of the door.
In front of the yard, he could still seem to see the girl sitting there roasting fish and calling him to come and eat quickly.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Yan Ruyu's face unconsciously.
This girl was really full of quirks.
After smiling, the figures of her and Mo Yan leaving that day suddenly flashed through Yan Ruyu's mind.
His mood became heavy again.
Luo Qiu? You're really unrestrained in your actions and can renege on your words at any time.
Zhao Shuning hugged the quilt.
"Achoo - Achoo -"
No way!
Was the weather getting colder?
Or was someone thinking about her?
She changed her position and fell into a deep sleep again in the shabby house.