"What do you want?"

Because he had wasted two jugs of wine earlier, the old tortoise was not friendly to Shi Lan when he saw her.

Seeing that his attitude was not as friendly as before, Shi Lan assumed that he was being picky because she hadn't been there for a long time, so she smiled good-naturedly.

To make him think she was being respectful, she shifted her body, clearing most of the large rock, before beckoning to him, "Come on up, I've come to have a drink with you."

The old turtle slowly climbed ashore, and then slowly raised its head.

"Anything new? Let me make it clear first, if not, I'm not drinking with you."

Shi Lan understood the principle that "one is obligated to accept gifts and drinks," and upon hearing this, she quickly nodded, "Of course."

The old tortoise then transformed into a handsome young man, sat down, and said, "Tell me, what good thing is it? If it's really something new, then it's certainly worth having a few drinks."

Shi Lan glared at him, and the old tortoise glanced back, adopting a "don't act until you see the rabbit" attitude.

Seeing his reaction, Shi Lan had no choice but to lower her head and ask, "Do you know Qingyue Divine Lord and Wanrou Immortal Lord?"

The old tortoise nodded, "Of course I know. Speaking of which, Immortal Lord Wanrou was similar to you back then, also transformed from an immortal herb. However, she was lucky enough to be favored by Divine Lord Mingzhi and taken as a disciple. Now she has also entered the ranks of Immortal Lords."

Shi Lan looked around mysteriously, "Then do you know who Immortal Lord Wanrou admires?"

The old tortoise scoffed, "Of course I know. The one that Immortal Lady Wanrou is infatuated with is none other than the most elegant and pure, the most gentle and kind God Lord Qingyue in the Six Realms. This is nothing new."

Shi Lan paused, then asked, "Do you know who Lord Qingyue likes?"

This time, the old tortoise shook his head and said, "I have only heard that Lord Qingyue is gentle, but I have never heard that he is particularly kind to that female immortal."

Shi Lan chuckled and spread her hands towards the spirited old tortoise that was looking at her.

The old tortoise shook his head, took out a wine pot and cups, and filled them up for her.

Shi Lan clinked glasses with him, and they finished their drinks.

Once the wine had slid down her throat, she let out a satisfied sigh.

The old tortoise took a sip absentmindedly and urged, "Tell me quickly, who is it?"

Shi Lan didn't rush to answer. She downed three cups in a row before beckoning him over and whispering something in his ear.

The old turtle's eyes suddenly widened, and its mouth opened so wide that its little tongue almost protruded from its throat.

Shi Lan chuckled and gestured at him.

Realizing his lapse in decorum, the old tortoise quickly closed his mouth, secretly glancing around before asking in an extremely low voice, "Does Lord Haoze know about this?"

Shi Lan shook her head, drank another cup, and then said, "You've been here for so long, you should know how nervous Haoze is about her. How could she let him know about what happened between her and Qingyue? Only close friends like her and me can confide in each other." At this point, Shi Lan solemnly added, "I'm only telling you this secretly because I consider you a friend, so you absolutely mustn't tell anyone else."

The old turtle nodded repeatedly, hurriedly making its promise, but a surge of excitement welled up inside it, and it couldn't resist the urge to immediately go down to the bottom of the water and share the experience with its fellow enthusiasts.

Shi Lan smiled slightly at him, thinking to herself that this news was so explosive that it should be enough to give that fake Shi Lan a hard time.

The old tortoise was so excited that his mouth was dry. He wanted to drink a cup of wine to calm his nerves, but when he lifted the wine pot, he found that it was already empty. There wasn't even enough wine left for him to take a sip.

"This is a celestial wine that I've stored for a hundred years. It's such a waste that you've ruined it like this," the old tortoise said, feeling extremely distressed.

Shi Lan scoffed, "This wine has been stored for a hundred years, and it's as clear as water. I drank a whole pot of it by myself and I'm fine."

The old tortoise snorted, "What do you know? This immortal brew is mainly about the ingredients. I've been staying here for years, and the ingredients are either lotus seeds, lotus leaves, or lotus pods. This is the best I can do."

Shi Lan was already half-drunk when she heard this, and said, "So, according to you, as long as I give you good ingredients, you can brew even better wine?"

The old tortoise puffed out its chest, as if afraid Shi Lan wouldn't believe it, "Of course, as long as the ingredients are good enough, even a god can get drunk."

Shi Lan paused, then said with a half-smile, "Really? You're just bragging."

The old tortoise, with its neck stiff, said, "I have a recipe for a wine called 'God King's Intoxication.' Listen to it: even a god king can get drunk on it, let alone a god lord!"

Seeing his confident demeanor, Shi Lan's heart stirred, and she couldn't help but inquire, "May I see your wine recipe?"

The old tortoise reacted quickly, immediately realizing he had spoken out of turn, and shook his head repeatedly without saying a word.

Shi Lan, feeling that things had finally taken a turn for the better, was unwilling to give up and hurriedly said, "You don't know yet, do you? I'm now in charge of the Divine Lord's Herb Garden. What rare medicinal herbs don't I have there? If you want to brew it, I'll provide you with the materials. If it really works, even the Divine Lord will praise you."

The old tortoise blinked and chuckled, saying, "The herbs that Lord Divine Lord gather are all from all corners of the world. It would be a waste to use them only for brewing wine."

Upon hearing this, Shi Lan knew he was making excuses and quickly spoke up.

The old tortoise quickly interrupted, saying, "We were just chatting idly. I don't even know where those prescriptions are anymore. Just take what I said earlier as me talking nonsense. Listen to it and forget about it. Don't take it seriously."

After saying that, he jumped off the boulder, transformed into a giant turtle, and sank directly to the bottom of the lake.

Shi Lan stared at the lake water resentfully, muttering to herself, "I didn't expect this guy to be so quick. In the blink of an eye, he sank. He's taking advantage of the fact that I'm not as good a swimmer as him."

Reluctantly throwing down two stones, Shi Lan got up unsteadily and retraced her steps.

The grass was lush and green, with occasional glimpses of flowers in full bloom. Shi Lan angrily brushed them aside, and the grass rustled with her movements.

After walking for a while, her anger subsided, and Shi Lan raised her hand to clean the juice from her fingertips.

But when I looked down, I found a faint red smudge between my fingers.

Shi Lan blinked, brought the sniff to her nose, and smelled the fresh grass scent mixed with a slight fishy smell.

Upon confirming that it was blood, Shi Lan's drunkenness subsided somewhat.

Trying hard to recall the roadside I had just passed, I seemed to faintly hear a barely audible sob.

Shi Lan hurriedly turned back and, after searching for a while, finally found a small dog with golden fur all over its body in a place with lush green grass.

Shi Lan picked up the tiny creature, which was only the size of her palm, and gently stroked its brow, the only spot without any scars.

The puppy opened its eyes, and probably realized she was harmless. It rubbed against her weakly with its extremely dry nose, while letting out a barely audible whimper.

Shi Lan was immediately moved by its cuteness and took it back to the Hundred Herbs Garden without thinking.

Because the puppy was injured, Shi Lan used her limited knowledge of herbal medicine to pick two herbs that could heal external wounds, crush them, and apply them to the puppy's wound.

The puppy seemed to know that she was helping it, and remained still as she swayed back and forth.

After finishing all that, Shi Lan was feeling the effects of the alcohol and could barely keep her eyes open. She struggled to settle the puppy next to her makeshift bed before collapsing into a deep sleep.