Time flowed like water, slipping quietly by for two or three days in the luxurious rear garden of the Western Heaven Battle Emperor's palace.
For A'Yu, those two or three days were a wonderful time she had never experienced in her life, one she had never even dared to imagine.
Every morning when she woke, there was no longer cold mud and hunger, but soft, warm brocade quilts carrying a faint floral fragrance. When she opened her eyes, she no longer saw a dilapidated, drafty shack, but a magnificent palace with carved beams, painted rafters, and gauze curtains dancing in the breeze. Her three daily meals were no longer cold, spoiled food, or scraps picked from the mud, but exquisite spirit fruits brought to the table by beautiful maidservants, fragrant dishes, and delicacies beyond anything she could have dreamed of.
She could bathe in hot water and change into clean, soft dresses. Though they were Miss Lingxi's unwanted old clothes, to A'Yu, they were heavenly garments. She could stroll through gardens overflowing with Immortal Qi, breathe in refreshing floral scents, and watch rare birds and exotic beasts that had existed only in legends frolicking about.
More importantly, she could follow behind Miss Lingxi. Miss Lingxi sometimes disliked how timid and inexperienced she was, called her an "idiot," or told her not to follow, but more often than not, she simply treated A'Yu as a little attendant who could walk, obey, and share snacks with her.
When Miss Lingxi was in a good mood, she would casually toss her a spirit fruit, point at some strange flower and tell her its name, complain that the Western Heaven Battle Emperor's collection "isn't even as good as my family's treasure vault," and chatter away about things A'Yu could not understand at all but