"How am I supposed to explain this to the old wizard?" Shen Sangruo sighed softly.

She couldn't let the little bamboo bear keep her from moving forward, so she had no choice but to treat it coldly and put on a stern face for the silly little guy.

The little bamboo bear looked at Shen Sangruo, who had previously been incredibly indulgent towards it, but now completely ignored it.

After it reached out to her again, but she still didn't pick it up, the little guy stomped its feet in frustration.

An old wizard, huh? Hmph!

A deep light flashed in the little bamboo bear's eyes.

Then, with its short legs, it dashed off like a little cannonball.

"Sister Sang Ruo, the little bamboo bear has run away." Fang Yu came in from outside the door in surprise. "It actually dared to leave."

If Shen Sanruo thought that her neglect had worked, she said, "It should return to the depths of the Illusory Realm. Let's go, it's time for us to leave too."

Fang Yu nodded, packed his belongings, and embarked on his journey to leave the Illusory Realm.

However, just a few miles away from Wuqing Village, a figure hurriedly chased after them.

"Wait! Wait!"

When Shen Sanruo turned her head, she found it was the old wizard. In just half a day, he had become visibly haggard.

If he hadn't been wearing a mask, she and Fang Yu would have been able to appreciate the little bamboo bear's "masterpiece".

And on his head stood a proud and imposing black and white ball.

The contrasting presences of the man and the bear created a striking visual effect.

"Old wizard, what brings you here?" she asked, her gaze sweeping over the little bamboo bear on his head.

The latter gave her a smug little look.

Shen Sangruo always had a bad feeling.

"Well, it's like this, I'd like to trouble you to take care of it for us for a while," the old wizard said apologetically.

The old wizard suddenly changed his tune, leaving Shen Sangruo clearly taken aback.

"Didn't the old wizard say..."

The old wizard quickly interrupted her, his eyes clearly telling her not to mention the matter again.

"If you agree, I have prepared a gift for you as a token of my gratitude. I won't let you go to trouble for nothing." Without waiting for a reply, the old wizard stuffed a storage bag into her arms, as if afraid that she would refuse.

"Among them are some treasures from the Illusory Realm. Once you imprint your divine sense on them, they will be yours."

Shen Sanruo used her divine sense to examine the contents of the storage bag and couldn't help but click her tongue slightly, suspecting that the old wizard had put most of his wealth into it, which was quite a huge investment.

The old wizard's heart felt like it was bleeding. "I told it that it would listen to you and wouldn't cause you any trouble. It will come back on its own when it's done playing."

Shen Sanruo looked up at the little bamboo bear above her head. It turned out that it hadn't come to its senses, but had gone to "persuade" the old wizard.

That look made the little bamboo bear give a guilty smile and tentatively extend its claws towards her.

This time, Chen Sangruo finally reached out her hand to it. The little bamboo bear was overjoyed and quickly jumped into her arms, its eyes squinting with happiness.

There was nothing I could do; he gave me just too much.

"Don't laugh yet. If you don't behave, I might just ignore you," she said seriously.

The little bamboo bear nodded vigorously, as if pounding garlic, and raised its paws in a gesture of swearing an oath.

The old wizard breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting rid of the little rascal. However, his joy was short-lived, and his face turned melancholy again.

The mountain god of our own village has run off with someone else.

Although mountains and rivers are connected, and Little Bamboo Bear will never sever his connection with the Illusory Realm no matter where he goes, he still can't help feeling lost.

"Don't worry, old wizard, I'll take good care of it," she said to the old wizard after communicating with the little creature.

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you. You may go now." The old wizard waved to them, a hint of a father's reluctance in his eyes.

"Old wizard, are you alright?" Fang Yu couldn't help but ask, seeing his expression.

The old wizard took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and forced himself to say, "Let's go, let's go."

The two then turned and left.

However, after they had walked a distance further, the old wizard cried out in a tearful voice:

Will we ever meet again, Zhu Miao? When we do, I hope you'll be happy, okay?

"Zhu Miao, Zhu Miao, how can the Illusionary Realm survive without you!"

Shen Sangruo: ...

Fang Yu: ...

"Sister Sang Ruo, is the old wizard really alright?" Fang Yu asked in a low voice with a strange expression.

"It should be alright... right?" Shen Sanruo asked doubtfully. "Never mind, let's go."

Then, turning to the little bamboo bear, he asked, "Your name is Zhu Miao?"

The little guy perched on her shoulders seemed quite content, nodding with pride written all over his face.

"Sister Sang Ruo, what exactly is this little guy's identity that makes the old wizard treat him like this?"

"It doesn't matter what its identity is, I just need to do what I promised the old wizard."

But she also had some suspicions in her mind.

Chen Sanruo tied something resembling a cloak around Zhu Miao's short, thick neck. It was a gift from the old wizard, who said it was called a magic cloak.

She felt it would be perfect for Zhu Miao to wear.

But after walking for a while, Shen Sangri felt that the bamboo veil on her body was too conspicuous.

He patted the little guy's bottom and said, "Can you shrink a little?"

Zhu Miao pondered for a moment, as if she had come up with a good idea, and stretched out her claws, indicating that she should put her fingers on her claws.

If Shen Sang did as instructed, a faint light flashed across the point where her fingers and claws touched.

The next moment, Zhu Miao transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into her brow.

She said to shrink it, and it just disappeared.

"Zhu Miao?" she called out softly.

After receiving a response from the little one, she felt relieved.

"Sister Sang Ruo, where did it go?"

"It seems to be within my sea of ​​consciousness?" Shen Sanruo was not sure either.

"Oh, okay." Fang Yu didn't ask any more questions.

Anyway, her problem was solved, so she didn't dwell on it too much, and it was also much safer for Zhu Miao this way.

Fortunately, neither of them knew anything about beast taming, which allowed the little guy to succeed.

The two continued walking towards the edge of the Illusory Realm without stopping.

Meanwhile, inside Wuqing Village.

After resting for a few days, the old wizard decided to reopen the Floating Cloud Pavilion and select one more person to enter.

The main reason was that the little ancestor suddenly appeared, causing him to stop choosing ahead of time, which meant he didn't get to pretend enough.

So he made a decisive decision to pretend one more time, just to relax.

Among the crowd in front of Fuyun Tower, Feng Heyun hurriedly arrived carrying Lu Shiqing on his back.

"I thought I had missed the chance for Floating Cloud Tower to open, but it really is true that there is always a way out. It has reopened! Third Junior Brother, you are saved!"

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that Lu Shiqing's lips appeared to be even more purple than before, and he had completely fallen into a coma.

Logically speaking, Master Lingxiao should have already controlled his condition, so it shouldn't be this bad.

It's one thing that Shen Sangruo's emotional outburst triggered the Gu worms, but the more important reason is Feng Heyun, that vengeful senior brother.