What Are You Thinking? Summoning Zi Nü, Nong Yu

Yan Lingji felt a jolt of palpitations under that gaze. She forced herself to remain calm and asked in a soft voice:

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"My lady."

Zhao Linchuan stood up, walked around the corner of the table to her side, and took her hand.

"Have you forgotten what you said back at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?"

"What did I say?" Yan Lingji feigned ignorance, her fingertips tracing invisible circles against Zhao Linchuan's chest.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes shimmering. "Could I trouble my lord husband to remind me?"

"You teasing little vixen..."

Zhao Linchuan bent down, swept one arm around her waist and the other under her knees, lifting her into his arms.

Yan Lingji did not struggle; instead, she naturally looped her arms around his neck and leaned into his embrace.

She looked up at her husband and said with a playful tone:

"The rooms in this mansion are all empty. Should we go to the room next to Bibi Dong's?"

Zhao Linchuan's footsteps faltered. He looked down at her, his expression tinged with surprise. "You can accept that?"

Yan Lingji's cheeks flushed slightly, and she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"She is the Pope's student, the future Pope."

"If you can win her over, then all these efforts will be worth it."

"My lady," Zhao Linchuan pulled her closer at these words, resting his chin on her forehead. His voice was low. "I truly want to swallow you whole."

"That won't do." Yan Lingji chuckled, drawing a circle on his chest with her fingertip. "If you swallow me, I'll be gone. Could you bear that~?"

The time came to the next morning.

Sunlight slanted through the window lattice, casting the living room floor tiles in a golden hue.

The air was filled with the aroma of food.

Yan Lingji had risen early to prepare a table full of dishes and was currently busy arranging the plates.

Bibi Dong sat in her chair, gnashing her teeth as she glared at the dazed Zhao Linchuan, her gaze sharp enough to bore holes into his face.

She hadn't slept well all night!

The commotion from the room next door had continued intermittently for the entire day!

She had covered her ears, pulled the quilt over her head, and tossed and turned; she had tried every method, but she couldn't stop those sounds from drilling into her mind.

She had barely closed her eyes for the entire day and night. When she woke up this morning, she thought she had had some inappropriate dream, only to realize it wasn't a dream at all.

Itching and restless, she had first changed her damp undergarments and then rinsed herself with cold water before she finally felt composed.

"This mansion is so huge, yet you two really knew how to pick a spot!!"

She gritted her teeth, the words squeezed out from between them.

Zhao Linchuan sat opposite her, staring blankly ahead as if he hadn't heard her at all.

"Hey!" Seeing that he was ignoring her, she raised her voice and waved her palm in front of his face. "What are you doing?!"

Zhao Linchuan still didn't react, his gaze unfocused as if his soul had left his body.

Bibi Dong frowned in confusion. She stood up, walked over to him, bent down, and pressed her palm to his forehead to check his temperature.

"There's nothing wrong here," she muttered, waving her hand in front of his eyes again. "What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Linchuan took a deep breath and finally returned to his senses.

He turned his head slowly to look at Bibi Dong. His gaze held an indescribable melancholy, as if he had just returned from a very, very distant place.

"I was contemplating the end of time, the boundaries of the great universe, where the living come from, and where the dead go."

Bibi Dong froze for a moment, then looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Do you need me to call a healing spirit master for you?"

"Don't mind him." Yan Lingji walked over with a tray and set the last dish on the table, saying with a huff, "He'll be fine on his own in a little while."

"Oh." Bibi Dong replied skeptically, sat back in her seat, and picked up her chopsticks.

A moment later, watching Zhao Linchuan stare blankly while holding his chopsticks—which hovered in mid-air as he forgot to even pick up any food—she couldn't help but remind him again:

"Sister Lingji, is he really alright?"

"He's fine, don't worry about him." Yan Lingji placed some food into Bibi Dong's bowl. "Let's eat. We'll leave once we're done and let him stay in his daze."

"Alright then..."

Bibi Dong lowered her head to eat a mouthful of rice, then couldn't help but look up at Zhao Linchuan again.

He remained in the same posture, chopsticks hovering in mid-air, his gaze hollow as if he had been struck by a paralysis technique.

She shook her head, stopped paying attention to him, and focused on her meal.

About two hours later, the sun had climbed to its zenith, and Bibi Dong was dragged away by Yan Lingji.

Zhao Linchuan sat at the head of the table, two women standing before him.

One of the women wore purple robes with her hair tied in a high bun, her features carrying a sense of composure and sharpness born from having seen all the world had to offer.

The other woman was far more gentle, dressed in a simple, plain-colored gown with her dark hair draped over her shoulders; her soft eyes and brows made her look as if she had stepped out of a meticulous ink painting.

"...In short, there is no need for you to be too anxious."

"At this stage, what you must do is focus on yourselves."

"I have left you sufficient resources and several immortal herbs; I have already told you how to consume them."

"Remember, do not obtain any spirit rings for the time being."

"Wait until I have secured a few high-quality spirit bones for you to fuse with, then you may go and obtain your spirit rings."

"Do you understand?"

The two peerless women exchanged a glance and replied in unison, "Zi Nü and Nong Yu understand."

"Good." Zhao Linchuan nodded slightly, stood up, and brushed off his robes. "I shall take my leave then. See that you manage those one thousand Jinyiwei well."

With a flash of golden light, the Supreme Ease Golden Edge appeared in his palm.

The long sword expanded in the wind, growing to the size of a door panel, and hovered above the steps in front of the hall.

Zhao Linchuan stepped onto it, and the sword light surged, carrying him into the sky. In the blink of an eye, he had become a golden speck of light, vanishing into the horizon.

The hall returned to silence.

Nong Yu stood where she was, watching the speck of light disappear into the distance, and remained silent for a moment.

She turned her head to look at Zi Nü and said softly:

"Sister Zi Nü... why do I get the feeling that we've become his concubines kept on the side?"

Zi Nü remained silent for a while, her gaze fixed on the direction where the golden light had vanished, unable to look away for a long time.

The wind caught the hem of her purple robes, fluttering like a butterfly in the sunlight.

After a long while, she spoke slowly:

"This is a strange world, and we need something to rely on."

"If he can truly do what he says—to bring this entire Douluo Continent into the palm of his hand—"

"Then, what does it matter if we serve as his wives or concubines?"

She turned her head to look at Nong Yu, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips.

"That would be our honor."

"It would be us climbing high to reach him."

Nong Yu lowered her head in thought. A moment later, the hesitation in her eyes gradually dissipated, and she nodded gently, her voice soft.

"I understand, Sister Zi Nü."