A Mysterious Silver-Haired Woman's Conversation with Xiao Wu

Tang San began to doubt himself. Had they slipped away in the middle of the night while he had gone to the inn to rest?

But he had clearly taken shifts keeping watch. He had not dared let his guard down, day or night...

Seeing Tang San lost in thought, the tea stall owner lazily wiped the table with a rag and kindly spoke up:

"Young man, you're tailing someone, aren't you?"

"No, no." Tang San came back to his senses and hurriedly waved his hands. "I'm just a traveler passing through, planning to stay in Suotuo City for a while."

"After that..."

"Young man, stop pretending."

The tea stall owner cut Tang San off, slung the rag over his shoulder, and planted his hands on his hips.

"I've seen plenty of people like you here in Suotuo City."

"To tell you the truth, Peony Garden has no shortage of back entrances."

"Secret doors, tunnels, you name it."

"I've watched you stake the place out for seven or eight days. Think about it—who could 'work' for seven or eight days straight?"

"They probably slipped out through a back door long ago."

"What?!" Tang San blurted out loudly. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You never asked." The tea stall owner chuckled. "Young man, hurry home."

"Getting cheated on isn't scary. What's scary is not daring to face her."

"I won't charge you for today's tea. Get going. People have to keep living, after all."

"I wasn't cheated on!!" Tang San protested anxiously, his face flushing bright red.

"Fine, fine, you weren't cheated on. You stood guard here for seven or eight days, so I'm the one who got cheated on, all right?"

The tea stall owner did not argue with him. He merely waved with a smile. He had seen this sort of thing plenty of times and had long grown used to it.

Young people always cared too much about saving face and suffered for it.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you!"

With that, Tang San took out a Silver Soul Coin and slapped it onto the table. He straightened up and left without looking back.

"Just as expected, young people care too much about their pride. Say a couple words, and they lose their temper."

The tea stall owner smiled as he picked up the Silver Soul Coin, slipped it into his inner pocket, patted it, and said with a grin:

"This really is the quickest way to make money..."

Meanwhile, inside Peony Garden.

Suite 520, living room.

Several new blossoms had opened on the begonia by the windowsill. Their pink petals curled slightly in the sunlight, as though too shy to be seen.

Zhu Zhuqing sat on the sofa in the living room, wearing a simple white short-sleeved shirt and light gray lounge shorts. Her smooth, long legs were crossed and resting beside the coffee table.

She held a book that she had already read a third of the way through, but her gaze was not on its pages.

She looked toward Zhao Linchuan's tightly shut bedroom door and muttered softly:

"What is going on with those two?"

"One of them is nowhere to be seen all day, while the other only appears at mealtimes."

"Could Lin Chuan be in seclusion, trying to break through a bottleneck...?"

She tilted her head and thought about it, but it did not seem quite right.

Breaking through a bottleneck in seclusion first required a sufficiently quiet environment, and every time Xiao Wu came out of the room, the expression on her face was a little... off.

She could not say what exactly was wrong. It just felt wrong.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the book, but the black words seemed to dance before her eyes. She could not read a single one.

Inside Zhao Linchuan's room.

Xiao Wu was cleaning up the "trash" in the room.

The changed sheets and duvet cover had been kneaded into a ball and stuffed into the laundry basket.

Tissues and wrappers from who knew what were swept into the trash can. The windowsill, bedside table, desk—every spot had to be carefully wiped down.

Her movements had become extremely practiced. She had done this kind of thing plenty of times over the past few days.

The Silver-Haired Woman stood before the full-length mirror, unhurriedly getting dressed.

"Hiss..."

Perhaps getting dressed had tugged at an old injury. She sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, rubbed her lower abdomen, and asked coldly:

"Did you find out what kind of Soul Ring he wants for his sixth Soul Ring?"

"I did." Xiao Wu stopped what she was doing, straightened up, and answered, "My brother said he plans to find a fire-attribute Soul Beast for his sixth Soul Ring."

"Mm..."

The Silver-Haired Woman nodded slightly, then continued:

"I've mostly cured his poison."

"If you want to do something with him, I can ignore it."

She turned around, her purple eyes staring directly at Xiao Wu. Her gaze was calm, yet it carried an oppressive force that made one afraid to meet her eyes.

"But you cannot become pregnant with his child before I do."

"His first child can only be mine."

"For the future of our Soul Beast race, I hope you can restrain yourself."

"Yes, The Sovereign..."

Xiao Wu lowered her head and answered. But when she raised it again, the Silver-Haired Woman had already vanished, as though she had never been there. Only a faint cool fragrance lingering in the air proved that she had come.

Xiao Wu slowly let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing as though she had been freed from some crushing pressure.

She tossed the rag into the bucket and looked around the room. She looked here, then there, and her brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"The Sovereign, honestly... She got it everywhere in the room..."

She raised her head to look at the ceiling, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

"My brother too, honestly... There's even some on the ceiling..."

"The Sovereign only cared about enjoying herself... She didn't even know to catch it..."

Her gaze fell upon Zhao Linchuan, who lay on the bed sleeping soundly.

He slept deeply, his breathing even and his brow relaxed.

Yet his complexion was somewhat pale, his lips nearly bloodless, and his eye sockets slightly sunken. He looked as though something had thoroughly drained him dry.

Xiao Wu sighed softly, feeling a little heartbroken for him.

"I should clean up first. He should be waking up soon."

"He was unconscious for seven days and eight nights straight, and The Sovereign used up so much of his 'energy' along the way. His body must be terribly weak. I need to hurry and buy him some food to restore his strength."

With that, she got busy again, muttering softly as she worked.

"The Sovereign is really amazing... She's just a little too quiet. She doesn't say a single word."

"The sheets were soaked through, and she still clenched her teeth without making a sound..."

About two hours later.

Xiao Wu had finished cleaning and left. The room now looked completely refreshed.

Sunlight poured in through the curtains that had been drawn open again, illuminating the entire room.

Zhao Linchuan lay on the bed with its freshly changed sheets. His eyelashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Ow, my waist!"

The moment he tried to sit up, intense soreness shot through his waist, as though someone had stabbed a knife into his lumbar spine.

The soreness spread from his waist in every direction, making him bare his teeth in pain.

Supporting his waist, Zhao Linchuan slowly and carefully leaned back against the headboard.