The next day.
Early in the morning, Annie, Xu Ziling, and Shi Qingxuan left the fortress-like exterior and palace-garden interior of the Duzun Castle in leisurely fashion, riding in the lavish twin-horse carriage gifted by its lord, Xie Hui.
At noon, they reached the fork in the road to the Secluded Forest Retreat. As Shi Qingxuan stepped down, she suddenly asked Annie what she thought of last night's performance. Annie, utterly unbothered, casually replied, "It was pretty good. It was just a little loud to listen to so late at night?"
At that evaluation, Shi Qingxuan's pretty face flushed with anger, and she hurried away without looking back.
Xu Ziling, of course, scampered after her, seemingly hoping to comfort her or do something else?
Annie didn't pay them any mind. She took the opportunity to pull out a few gold coins and pay off the Duzun Castle coachman, telling him to get down, figure out how to walk back on his own, and be off. Then she hurriedly took control of the luxurious twin-horse carriage and sped east along the main road through Shu, leaving Xu Ziling and Shi Qingxuan behind.
That's right!
She ditched them.
After all, compared to dragging along two enormous nuisances who had to discuss and deliberate over everything before asking permission, Annie much preferred wandering around on her own, looking at whatever she pleased and going wherever she wanted. She didn't want to play some boring role as a master or senior.
Of course, the most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most important reason was that she'd already eaten nearly all of Shi Qingxuan's signature pastries and snacks. Shi Qingxuan didn't have much left to offer her. And as for Xu Ziling, he was even less worth mentioning.
So, since she