When Lu Ye entered the meeting hall, the first thing he heard was Gu Rong's voice.
"I'll go bring her back!"
Ning Fengzhi sat behind the table with the letter in his hand, looking less anxious than the sect disciples had expected.
"Bring her back, and then what?"
"Then?"
The question stopped Gu Rong short.
"She's gone so far all by herself. Are we supposed to let her suffer out there?"
"She left precisely because she thought we wouldn't let her suffer."
Ning Fengzhi laid the letter on the table.
Lu Ye didn't reach for it, reading it only after Ning Fengzhi gestured for him to do so.
The letter was short, the words written in a rush. Ning Rongrong said she was going out to see the world and find an academy that didn't care about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's name. She wanted to prove that she could do just as well without her father and her two grandfathers.
She had made a point of adding one last sentence.
Don't come looking for me.
Gu Rong pointed at those words, growing angrier the longer he looked at them.
"Just because she says not to, we're supposed to stay away?"
"Uncle Gu, if you go, she won't even have to knock on the first door herself."
For a moment after Ning Fengzhi spoke, Gu Rong had no answer.
He knew perfectly well what he would do when he got there.
If the academy was run-down, he'd find her a better one. If her lodgings were poor, he'd have someone fix them up. If anyone bullied Rongrong, they'd first have to ask whether he, Bone Douluo, would allow it.
As far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with that.
But that was precisely the life Ning Rongrong had left behind.
Chen Xin stood by the window and finally spoke.
"Do we know where she went?"
"She hired a carriage in the south of the city and asked for directions to Soto."
Ning Fengzhi picked up another sheet of paper.
It was an admissions notice found in Ning Rongrong's room, its edges worn and fuzzy from handling.
Shrek Academy.
Lu Ye's eyes flickered when he saw the name.
Here it comes.
This world had lived before his eyes for twenty-one years. It wasn't a stack of pages waiting to turn in order as soon as he remembered the plot. But when certain names were laid right in front of him, his heart still tightened.
The little girl from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was headed for that village too.
Ning Fengzhi looked at him.
"You know this academy?"
"I've heard of it. It's very picky about its students, but its facilities aren't particularly good."
"That's probably what appealed to Rongrong."
Ning Fengzhi smiled, a hint of resignation in his smile.
"At home, she always has a way out, and she keeps thinking her abilities are already good enough. A place where no one gives in to her at every turn might not be a bad thing."
"So you want me to follow her, Sect Master?"
"Yes. Keep an eye on her from the shadows. There's no need to escort her home."
Gu Rong immediately turned his head.
"Fengzhi!"
"Uncle Gu, I didn't say we'd leave her on her own."
Ning Fengzhi raised a hand to stop him, then looked back at Lu Ye.
"Qin Ming sent word through the crown prince about what you did at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. I heard about it."
Lu Ye was a little surprised.
"That reached you too?"
"He praised your sense of measure. You showed the students where they fell short without leaving them remembering only that they were no match for a Soul Saint."
Ning Fengzhi pointed to the letter.
"Right now, Rongrong also needs someone to show her that people won't gather around her wherever she goes."
Lu Ye didn't agree immediately. First, he asked a question.
"If someone says something unpleasant about her, should I step in?"
Gu Rong's brow twitched.
But Ning Fengzhi said, "See how she handles it herself."
"What if she fails a legitimate test?"
"Then she fails."
"What if she can't bear the hardship and tries to use the Seven Treasure name to pressure people again?"
Ning Fengzhi was silent for a moment, his voice steadier when he spoke.
"Don't help her."
Gu Rong looked at him, then at Lu Ye, but in the end he didn't argue over that.
Chen Xin nodded slowly.
"We can't let her suffer lasting harm, and we can't let her throw her life away for nothing. Other than that, let her walk her own path for now."
Only then did Lu Ye put the admissions notice back on the table.
Just as he was about to speak, the phone beside Ning Fengzhi suddenly rang.
Several people looked over at once.
The caller was none other than Ning Rongrong.
Ning Fengzhi answered. Instead of asking where she had run off to, he simply said, "Have you eaten?"
She had clearly prepared a great deal to say, but the question made her pause.
"I have."
"Did you bring enough money?"
"Enough. I even bought a phone myself."
Gu Rong leaned closer and was about to speak when Ning Fengzhi gently raised a hand. He glanced at the sect master and ultimately swallowed the words "come back soon."
Ning Rongrong spoke rapidly on the other end, as though someone could follow her voice and drag her back to the sect if she slowed down.
"I really can take care of myself. Dad, don't send Grandpa Bone after me. I'm not going out to play for a couple of days. I'm going to school."
After listening, Ning Fengzhi only asked, "Have you thought it through?"
"I have!"
"Then go and try for yourself. Remember to tell us if something happens. Don't hide everything just because you're afraid of being scolded."
There was no sound from the other end for a long while.
After a while, the girl gave a soft "Mm."
When the call ended, Gu Rong looked down at the screen again.
So when she ran off, all they really could do at home was listen to her voice. They couldn't reach out and pull her back.
Lu Ye looked away, even clearer now about what he was meant to do on this trip.
"I understand."
Ning Fengzhi had never asked him to catch up with the carriage and carry the girl back to the courtyard.
Sometimes, standing by and holding back was harder than solving a problem for her.
As he was about to leave, Gu Rong called him back.
"If someone really tries to kill her, don't hesitate."
"Of course."
"And..."
Gu Rong paused before adding one more thing.
"When you see her, tell her to say a word to the family when she has time."
Lu Ye turned and saw the old man still standing by the door.
The phone was in Gu Rong's hand, its screen lit, but there were no new messages.
Lu Ye didn't smile again. He simply gave a serious reply.
Back at the chamber of commerce, Lu Ye first sent for the manager in charge of the southern route.
Soto was already on the chamber's newly established distribution route, and two regular shops were waiting for deliveries. He didn't need to assemble a separate group of Soul Masters and trail Ning Rongrong's carriage in a grand procession.
He could travel partway with an existing caravan and then continue on his own. That would give him places to stay and let him check whether she had reached her destination.
The manager handed him several letters for the handover and casually asked, "Young Master Lu, are the shops there selling them for two coins as well?"
"Still two. Don't raise the price on customers just because it's a long way."
"With you going in person, who would dare try anything?"
"Even if I weren't going, no one should try anything. Otherwise, what do I employ all these people for?"
The manager agreed with a smile.
Lu Ye didn't put the handover letters away immediately. Instead, he asked another question. "Which carriage company did Rongrong hire her carriage from?"
The manager gave him a name and made to call someone over.
"I'll have them bring the carriage back. You can take it with you and save yourself the trouble of finding another one on the road."
"Don't go after it."
Lu Ye raised a hand to stop him.
The manager stared at him.
"Just find out which driver it was and which route they're taking. Let them change horses and stop to rest where they originally planned. There's no need to prepare a feast for her."
"And her lodgings..."
"Don't change those for her either. She paid for them herself. If she doesn't like them, she'll find somewhere else."
The manager looked at him and finally understood that this assignment was somewhat different from the usual ones.
In the past, whenever the young miss went out, everyone had been eager to take care of everything she hadn't even thought of yet. The more meticulous they were, the more attentive they seemed. Now, however, Manager Lu was stopping them from doing those things one by one.
Lu Ye took the carriage company's address and went there himself.
When the person behind the counter heard that someone from the Seven Treasure Chamber of Commerce had come to ask about a carriage, he hurriedly flipped through the account book, its pages rustling. Only after learning that Lu Ye wasn't there to find fault did he point out the entry recording the payment.
The carriage fare had been paid, and the changes of horses along the way had been arranged.
Ning Rongrong hadn't skimped on those expenses, but before setting out, she had repeatedly asked where they could rest along the way and whether they would travel at night. Before leaving, she had also put the paper with the place names written on it into her bag.
"The young lady looked young, but her questions were thorough," the carriage company clerk said. "She just wouldn't let anyone mention her family."
After looking, Lu Ye neither took the paper from the account book nor left an extra bag of gold coins for the driver to take special care of the girl.
"Sorry for the trouble. Just proceed as originally agreed."
Only after leaving the carriage company did he copy the names of the stopping places onto the back of his handover letters.
A phone could carry voices across great distances, but it wouldn't mark Ning Rongrong's location before his eyes. If she didn't say where she was, he would still have to follow actual records of carriages and lodgings to find her.
Knowing that, he decided against messaging her immediately.
What the girl probably feared right now was discovering, just after leaving the city gates, that every shop had someone her father had arranged for her.
Lu Ye folded the paper and returned to the chamber of commerce, where he had the manager prepare a good horse for him. After traveling with the caravan for part of the way, he would continue alone if it moved too slowly, rather than make the people escorting the goods change their route for him.
Once everything had been arranged, the manager ventured a question. "Should this be recorded in the accounts as an escort assignment?"
"Record it as a trade route handover. Account for the horse and travel expenses as they are, but don't conjure up an entire group's meal expenses out of thin air."
The manager smiled.
In the end, he was still the same Manager Lu who checked the accounts so thoroughly that no one dared try to fool him.
After giving the necessary instructions, Lu Ye went to the Cloud Sound Workshop.
Liu Ruyan was practicing her opening by the window. When she saw him come in, she stopped halfway through her words.
"Young Master Lu, should I say it like this?"
She repeated the line she had just been practicing.
"Good evening, everyone. I'm Liu Ruyan..."
As soon as she finished, a musician beside her chimed in with a laugh.
"It's not even evening."
Liu Ruyan tapped her with her round fan and broke into laughter herself.
Lu Ye leaned against the doorframe and watched for a while, in no hurry to interrupt.
Only after she finally got through it smoothly did he tell Shen Qilan that he was going to Soto and didn't yet know when he would return. There was no need to rush the talent livestream just so he could be there.
Shen Qilan was taken aback.
"Then who will check whether she's practicing properly?"
Lu Ye pointed at the phone in her hand.
Shen Qilan followed his gesture and suddenly laughed.
"I'd forgotten about that."
"Film it and send it to me. Wouldn't that put it right in front of me? Check whatever faults you can spot first, and if you're really unsure, we can discuss them."
"You certainly know how to put people to work."
"If the Cloud Sound Workshop really spreads its name to Soto someday, I can hardly go from place to place and sing for you."
Shen Qilan laughed at that.
Liu Ruyan's smile faded a little, however, and she asked, "Should I keep filming as usual these next few days?"
"Of course. You haven't started livestreaming yet, and other people won't wait around for you forever. Keep making short videos and hold on to the viewers who know you. That way, they'll be willing to come when you do start livestreaming."
"I understand."
Liu Ruyan nodded and picked up the round fan again.
As Lu Ye left, he heard her practice the line from before once more.
This time, she made it through without laughing.
After nightfall, he returned to his lodgings to pack, and only then did his phone light up.
Qingxue: Going on a long trip?
Lu Ye replied that he was, then briefly explained how Ning Fengzhi had entrusted him with secretly protecting Rongrong. He hid neither the official handover of the chamber of commerce nor the real job of protecting her.
A while passed before she replied.
Qingxue: Teacher Ning really trusts you.
Lu Ye looked at the message and didn't brush it off with a smiling emoji.
He wrote: He entrusted her to me, so I'll keep her safe. As for other matters, I won't use her to make an issue of them.
This time, the wait was even longer.
In the end, Qian Renxue replied with only three Chinese characters.
I know.
Lu Ye put away his phone. A thread of blue-white lightning lit up in his palm, then slowly faded.
Tomorrow, he would be doing more than selling phones.
The sect's trust, his old identity, and that young girl who thought no one had noticed her would all be coming along for the journey.