After a good night's sleep, Shi Lan lazily slumped in her chair, not wanting to move. The warm current flowing through her body made her close her eyes comfortably.

Seeing her like this, Haoze felt a tickle in his heart, and his long fingers twitched slightly, wanting to stroke her soft hair.

Shi Lan fluttered her eyelashes and opened her eyes.

How long did I sleep?

Shi Lan resembled a cat that had just woken up, stretching out her paws and relaxing her body with ease.

Haoze's dark eyes flashed, and he suppressed his thoughts, turning his head to say, "Not long."

Shi Lan glanced at him and felt that she was really out of her mind. She actually thought that the God Lord and Ze looked somewhat alike. The aloof God Lord and the incredibly cute and handsome zombie. Shi Lan shook her head and felt it was very absurd.

Haoze coughed awkwardly and stood up. "You've suffered too much from this mission. Why don't you stay here and cultivate for a while to stabilize your soul before continuing?"

Looking at his tall and straight back, and thinking about the arduous and long journey ahead, Shi Lan shook her head. "No need. Doing missions and cultivating are not contradictory. I can manage both."

Haoze frowned and turned to look at her.

Shi Lan straightened her back and stiffened her neck, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Haoze shook his head almost imperceptibly, his fingers twitching slightly beneath his brocade robe. After a long while, he said, "Fine, since you insist on going, I won't stop you. However, healing soul injuries is the most troublesome thing. Although the Bewitching Technique doesn't consume much, to avoid any accidents, you shouldn't use it for a while."

Shi Lan frowned reluctantly and remained silent.

Haoze seemed to sense her thoughts, and his voice, clear and cold like a mountain stream, said, "Otherwise, you can stay here."

Shi Lan's dark eyes widened, and she bit her lip lightly, clearly dissatisfied with his arbitrary decision.

Having spent thousands of years together, Haoze knew her every expression intimately, but he couldn't let her get away with it: "I know you have your own ideas, but matters of the soul are no small matter. If anything happens to you, even I won't be able to save you in time."

Shi Lan lowered her head slightly, pouted, and remained silent.

Seeing her stubbornly pursed lips, Haoze sighed silently, but in the end he went along with her wishes and sent her into the slowly rotating vortex in mid-air.

Dizziness instantly overwhelmed her mind. Shi Lan closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to subside.

"Miss, Miss, you're awake!" Several young maids rushed to the bedside when they saw her eyes moving under her eyelids, calling out to her with tearful voices.

Shi Lan groggily opened her eyes, rolled her eyes at them, and tried to speak, but a needle-like pain shot through her throat. Shi Lan frowned and groaned in pain.

A clever-looking maidservant took her outstretched hand and said repeatedly, "Miss, what do you want? I'll get it for you."

Shi Lan blinked, wanting to ask for water, but it felt like a bone was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't make a sound.

At the doorway, a tall, slightly older maid in a blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) carried in some medicine. Seeing that Shi Lan had woken up, she hurriedly pulled back the half-closed curtain, took a teacup from the high table, and carefully fed her two sips of lukewarm water. Then she half-held her and leaned her against the soft pillows before turning her head and scolding, "You're all asking for trouble! Miss is awake and you don't even know to pour her some water."

The young maids exchanged horrified glances, lowered their heads, and knelt on the ground.

Shi Lan drank half a cup of water, and the dryness in her throat was finally relieved a little. She waved her hand, signaling them to leave.

The maids, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, hurriedly retreated.

The maid in the blue dress put down the teacup, picked up the soup bowl, and said softly, "Miss, it's good that you're awake. Madam was so worried. The eldest young lady just came to see you and brought your favorite candied fruits."

Shi Lan swallowed the bitter medicine with difficulty, bit into the sweet pickled fruit that she was offered, looked at her with her dark eyes, and felt inexplicably close to her.

The maid helped her back into bed, tucked her in tightly, touched her forehead, and said, "It's still early, why don't you sleep a little longer? I'll get you some pine nut candy that the young master specially bought from Shengxiangji later, okay?"

The maid's tone was gentle, and her expression was coaxing. Shi Lan smiled slightly and nodded.

The maid smiled gently, drew the curtains, walked to the door and instructed the waiting maid to serve her carefully before closing the door and leaving.

The room was silent. Shi Lan closed her eyes, and a torrent of memories immediately washed over her.

The person making the wish this time, Shi Lan, is the youngest daughter born to Shi's father in his middle age. She is doted on by her father and brothers, and spoiled by her mother and sisters. As the youngest in the family, she has few scruples in her actions.

That day, she shook off her wet nurse and ran to play in the garden by herself. There she met a girl who was dressed differently from the maid, and asked her a question out of curiosity.

As a result, the girl turned and ran away as soon as she saw the original owner of the body.

The original owner was the little tyrant of the family, and he was very unhappy to see her like this, so he took off to chase after her.

The two ran and chased each other. The girl turned around and was only focused on dodging her, not looking where she was going. She bumped into the artificial hill and fell to the ground on the spot.

The original owner was young, and when she saw her motionless, she was stunned. Although she was later dragged away by the maid, she was still frightened and fell seriously ill.

After recovering from her illness, she learned that the girl was her half-sister Shi Yi, who had always lived in a secluded courtyard.

Upon learning that she was alright, the original owner breathed a sigh of relief and continued her life as a mischievous child.

Shi Yi, however, seemed to have suddenly become more poised and generous. No one knew what she did, but she managed to win over her father, who had never liked her before.

The original owner was pampered by her parents and grew up with no desire to share her love with others. When she learned that her father was treating her differently, she turned around and started picking fights with Shi Yi, but she always made mistakes. Once, she almost fell into the lake before she finally calmed down.

Half a year later, in early spring, Shi Xi, the eldest daughter of the Shi family, came of age. The Dingyuan Marquis family, with whom she had a pre-arranged marriage, sent people to discuss the wedding date.

This marriage was a great honor for the Shi family, and Shi's mother was very happy and warmly welcomed them. However, the Lady of Dingyuan Marquis suddenly changed her mind and said that the person she wanted to marry was Shi Yi, a concubine's daughter of the Shi family.

Shi's mother was very angry. The two families had exchanged marriage certificates and written marriage contracts, which clearly stated the names of the people. The way the Lady of Dingyuan Marquis acted put Shi's mother in a very passive position.

The marriage that was originally intended for the legitimate daughter has been taken by the illegitimate daughter, which will definitely affect Shi Xi's future marriage, and even Shi Lan will inevitably be affected.

Upon hearing this, Shi Xi hid in her room and refused to come out. Shi's mother simply wanted to annul the engagement. Shi's father was unwilling to give up the marriage alliance with the Marquis of Dingyuan. He was also bewitched by Shi Yi, so he forced Shi's mother to change the betrothal certificate and re-establish the marriage contract. No matter how strong Shi's mother was, she could not go against Shi's father and could only reluctantly accept it.

When Shi Rong was young and impetuous, he went to settle accounts with Ning Zhan, the heir of the Marquis of Dingyuan. However, he was injured in the leg by Ning Zhan, who was skilled in martial arts. After recovering, he developed a problem with his leg.

Shi Rong was well-versed in poetry and literature from a young age. His father had planned to support him in pursuing an official career after the spring imperial examination. However, now that he had injured his leg, Shi Rong could not accept the fact that he could no longer walk as before. He drowned his sorrows in alcohol every day, became dejected, and did not participate in the spring imperial examination.

Upon hearing this, Shi Xi felt very sorry for her brother and became even more depressed.

Shi Xi was the eldest daughter, and Ning Zhan was eager for her to get married. Under pressure, Shi's father had to force Shi's mother to lower her standards and marry Shi Xi off to the Yang family, which was of slightly lower social standing, far away from home.

Shi's mother was heartbroken, but she still had to pull herself together to prepare a dowry for Shi Yi.