Chapter 75: She is my food
Mu Ruoyi couldn’t persist after seeing this, so she hastily withdrew her spiritual sense. The True Qi in her body was also on the verge of depletion. Without time to explain the situation, she squatted down, hugging her head, her delicate body trembling violently as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
Qi Huang was startled and rushed over to check on her, frantically wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Cheng Hongling also walked over, a trace of guilt on her pretty face. At first, she thought the other party was lying to her to bargain, but she didn’t expect the after-effects to be so severe.
“I’m fine! I’ll be alright after a while!”
Mu Ruoyi took a deep breath and then forcefully smiled as she raised her pale, pretty face.
Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling didn’t say much upon hearing this and could only wait patiently.
About a quarter of an hour later, Mu Ruoyi’s complexion regained some color. She supported herself with Qi Huang and managed to stand up before explaining the situation.
“Hoo! Fortunately, Father is fine!”
Qi Huang breathed a sigh of relief.
“What audacity! Not only did they injure Father, but they also tried to extort me. If I find out who they are, I’ll make sure they wish they were dead.”
Cheng Hongling clenched her fists tightly.
“I’m sorry! Sister Hongling, in the images I saw, those two didn’t reveal their identities; I only know they are master and disciple.”
Mu Ruoyi said apologetically.
“It’s okay, you’ve done your best.”
Cheng Hongling rarely comforted her, saying that her coldness was external, not internal.
“Alright, let’s hurry to the Hao Meng Inn in the Prefecture Capital. It will be too late if we delay.”
Mu Ruoyi forced herself to cheer up.
“But you…”
A look of pity appeared on Cheng Hongling’s face, (3) Er Qi Ba Ling Meng.
“It’s fine, I’ll carry her.”
Qi Huang comforted her main body. Her spiritual sense emerged from her body, and she immediately wrapped Mu Ruoyi’s plump, tender body and soared into the sky, heading towards the Prefecture Capital.
Cheng Hongling was somewhat relieved and followed behind, also using her movement technique.
Not long after, the three women arrived at the Hao Meng Inn in the Prefecture Capital. To avoid alarming the snake while it was still in its lair, they decided to first explore with their spiritual senses.
Qi Huang’s spiritual sense was the strongest. After scanning, she found neither the suspects nor her father. Her heart immediately sank. Judging by the situation, the other party had clearly already left the inn.
“It’s been seven or eight days. They definitely wouldn’t have kept Father here at the inn.”
Cheng Hongling spoke, as if she had already expected this.
“Then this is troublesome! This place is not like a deep mountain forest; there are no trees to use.”
Qi Huang looked around worriedly.
“Yes!”
Mu Ruoyi suddenly spoke.
“Where?”
Qi Huang looked around confusedly.
“Haven’t you noticed that every guest room window sill at the Hao Meng Inn has green plants? If we could know which room they stayed in before, we might be able to get more information.”
Mu Ruoyi pointed with her jade finger.
“Green plants? There really are!”
Qi Huang observed and then asked doubtfully, “Can green plants do that? Such small flowers and grasses.”
“Whether flowers, grass, and trees can communicate depends on their age, not their size.”
Mu Ruoyi explained further.
“So that’s how it is!”
Qi Huang understood. She looked at the inn again and found that although the green plants on the window sills were not as tall as trees, they did look quite old.
“Then let’s hurry!”
Cheng Hongling urged impatiently.
“I’m sorry, I just used Mullinglong once, and my soul is already injured. It will take at least ten days to half a month to recover.”
A hint of guilt appeared on Mu Ruoyi’s pale, pretty face.
“Ah? Ten days to half a month? By then, Father will be long gone.”
Qi Huang was stunned.
“Is there any way to solve this?”
Cheng Hongling pondered for a moment and then opened her red lips.
“Yes! That is for you to quickly learn Shui Linglong.”
Mu Ruoyi replied leisurely.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Cheng Hongling asked curiously.
“Of course, it’s related. Shui Linglong and Mullinglong can complement each other.”
Mu Ruoyi explained.
“How do they complement each other?”
Cheng Hongling’s curiosity was piqued.
“Oh, we’ll talk about it when you learn it.”
Mu Ruoyi’s expression became unnatural. The pale pretty face that was colorless just a moment ago was now flushed with an unusual blush.
Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling exchanged glances, their faces filled with obvious confusion.
“Fine, let’s check into the I Er Lin Shan Ling Qi Ba Qu first! We’ll cultivate Shui Linglong and gather information at the same time.”
Cheng Hongling made a decision.
The three women thus entered the inn. Because they were all fair and beautiful, they put on the prepared veils to cover their pretty faces to avoid unnecessary trouble. However, even so, they still attracted countless burning gazes.
The middle-aged shopkeeper was deeply impressed when he received them. Then, a worried look appeared on his face, and he reminded them, “If the three young ladies don’t have male escorts, try not to go out at night. Although there are no monsters or ghosts in this prefecture capital, there are many bad people.”
“Thank you for the reminder, shopkeeper!”
Mu Ruoyi replied politely. As the Saintess of Shuiyu Valley, she had excellent upbringing and was knowledgeable and sensible.
“By the way, shopkeeper! I’d like to ask you about something. About ten days ago, two men checked into your inn. One was fair-skinned and beardless, with a gentlemanly appearance, wearing a moon-white brocade robe with gold trim, and always holding a folding fan embroidered with plum blossoms. He also had a short, plump attendant with him. They addressed each other as master and disciple. Do you remember them?”
Cheng Hongling asked impatiently.
“Fair-skinned and beardless? Gold-trimmed brocade robe? Folding fan?”
The shopkeeper fell into thought. After a moment, the doubt on his face quickly disappeared, but he still said, “I’m sorry, miss! I don’t remember. Guests come and go from this inn, and the number of guests received every day is countless. How could I possibly remember guests who checked in more than ten days ago?”
“Is that so?”
Cheng Hongling’s face darkened.
Qi Huang also felt a bit discouraged. If they couldn’t confirm which room the other party stayed in, what would be the point of using Mullinglong again? They couldn’t possibly test each room one by one, could they? In that case, Mu Ruoyi, as her “husband,” would be exhausted before even getting married.
“Let’s go upstairs first!”
Mu Ruoyi reminded them calmly.
Qi Huang and her main body exchanged glances. Since there was no better method, they could only follow Mu Ruoyi’s arrangement for now.
For the sake of convenience, the three women only booked one room and began to plot after entering.
“Now what? If the shopkeeper doesn’t know, then we’ve completely lost the clue.”
Cheng Hongling paced back and forth in the room.
“You all have amazing talent, but you are still too young and think things are too simple.”
A hint of helplessness appeared on Mu Ruoyi’s mature, pretty face.
“What do you mean?”
Cheng Hongling stopped and asked with an unfriendly expression.
“That shopkeeper may not be as ignorant as he seems.”
Mu Ruoyi replied calmly.
“But he just told us, didn’t he?”
Cheng Hongling asked, confused.
“Oh dear! My dear wife! How can you be so naive? There were so many diners in the lobby just now, all looking at us. If you were the shopkeeper, would you dare to carelessly leak customer information? If you did, would this inn still be able to operate?”
Mu Ruoyi reminded them with a mixture of tears and laughter.
Qi Huang and her main body exchanged glances. They suddenly realized.
“You start cultivating Shui Linglong first. When there are fewer people tonight, we’ll go ask him again. We’ll definitely get something then.”
Mu Ruoyi suggested, a confident expression on her pretty face, resembling a strategist drawing up a grand plan.
Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang thought it made sense, so they adopted this suggestion.
Cheng Hongling sat cross-legged on the bed and was about to start cultivating “Shui Linglong.”
“I’ll ask a timid question!”
Qi Huang suddenly raised her small hand and said, “As a clone, I shouldn’t need to cultivate, right?”
“You can’t learn it even if you want to. This cultivation technique can only be learned by reaching the Guiyi Realm. I told you to work harder before; now you know how important it is,” Cheng Hongling said coldly.
‘My dear elder sister, even if I work harder, I can’t reach the Guiyi Realm in such a short time!’
Qi Huang grumbled inwardly, feeling a bit anxious. Did planting Ghost Tomatoes in the future require bleeding the main body? She would definitely be beaten to death.
“Don’t worry. Once the main body learns Shui Linglong, she only needs to recall your soul back to the Sea of Consciousness. Your body will temporarily merge with her flesh and blood. When it separates again, it will bring the transformed effects of Shui Linglong.”
Mu Ruoyi next to them replied.
“That’s great!”
Qi Huang immediately smiled. She didn’t need to learn, and she could also gain the benefits of Shui Linglong for nothing. Why wouldn’t she do that?
Cheng Hongling was too lazy to bother with the clone and began to learn Shui Linglong on her own.
Mu Ruoyi watched nervously. She knew her mother’s painstaking arrangements. Success or failure depends on this. As long as this little girl could learn Shui Linglong, she would have inexhaustible “food” in the future.
Qi Huang’s heart also tensed up. Whether Ghost Tomatoes could achieve three or four harvests a year depended on the main body’s talent.
