When they returned to town, Qing Xuanzi had prepared breakfast for them, which was unusual for him.
Rong Jiaojiao was pulled out of bed early in the morning. She was woken up by the noise and was listless. She didn't say a word after waking up.
But when she arrived at the courtyard and saw her master, her little mouth twitched and she immediately started crying, reaching out her little hands to her master.
"Father, hug me, baby's sleepy."
Qing Xuanzi felt extremely sorry for her, so he picked her up and patted her back while saying, "Oh dear, Jiao Bao must be hungry. Master has made you a meal. Let's eat, and after you eat, Jiao Bao can go back to sleep!"
Fu Ya felt a pang of sadness. The child was not as close to her as Qing Xuanzi. He never cried or made a fuss when he was with her, but he would start to act pitiful and spoiled when he saw his master.
Rong Lianhu also envied his daughter's closeness with Qing Xuanzi, but he was easygoing. Seeing his wife still looking at his daughter with longing eyes, he quickly said, "Wife, you have lofty aspirations. Let's eat too, and then we'll go to the county town."
Fu Ya then looked away, sighed softly, and nodded: "Okay, let's set off after we finish eating."
Qing Xuanzi had almost finished coaxing Rong Jiaojiao before putting her down. Rong Lianhu had already brought out the steamed egg custard and lean meat porridge for Rong Jiaojiao.
Qing Xuanzi wanted to feed Rong Jiaojiao, but Rong Jiaojiao struggled to get down and grab the rice bowl.
Qing Xuanzi let her be, took out the specially made children's dining chair for her, put her in it, and set out the food for her to eat by herself.
He sat down to eat as well, and soon Rong Zhiyuan exclaimed, "Little sister, you've fed her up her nose!"
"Little sister, shall I feed you?"
In response, Rong Jiaojiao scooped up a spoonful of steamed egg custard and handed it to him: "Mmm, Dede, Qi, egg..."
"The younger sister eats, but the older brother doesn't..."
As he spoke, he took Rong Jiaojiao's hand and put the steamed egg custard back into Rong Jiaojiao's mouth.
Everyone else watched the siblings interact with smiles. Rong Zhiyuan only went to eat after Rong Jiaojiao's two bowls were empty.
After breakfast, the group packed up quickly and set off for the county town.
Instead of cycling, they chose to walk to the town's bus stop.
While waiting for the bus at the bus stop, Rong Jiaojiao seemed a little impatient and kept squirming in Qing Xuanzi's arms.
Qing Xuanzi gently patted her back and soothed her softly, "Jiaobao, don't worry, we'll be able to get on the bus soon."
Looking at his daughter, Rong Lianhu smiled and reached out, "Jiaobao, how about Daddy hugs me?"
After looking at him with her big, dark eyes for a while, Rong Jiaojiao reached out her hand to him, and Rong Lianhu happily took her into his arms.
Rong Jiaojiao started talking to him, babbling incessantly, pointing and talking in different directions, her little mouth still chattering away.
Rong Lianhu answered with "uh-huh" and "ah-ah," his patience reaching its limit, which Fu Ya found amusing.
When I arrived at the station, the bus was already waiting there, and quite a few people were already sitting on it.
Shortly after they boarded the bus, it started moving, and half an hour later, they arrived in the county town.
Qing Xuanzi said to Fu Ya, "Take Zhi Gao and Zhi Yuan to the department store to buy things first. Lian Hu and I have some things to do, and we'll go over later."
Knowing they probably had something they couldn't say, I nodded and said, "Then we'll wait for you at the department store entrance after we've bought everything."
Rong Lianhu nodded: "Buy whatever you want. I'll go get the rest later if I can't carry it all."
“Okay!” Fu Ya said, leading her two sons toward the department store.
Rong Lianhu asked Qing Xuanzi, "Brother, should we go to the government family compound or the government office?"
"It's Sunday today, they probably aren't at work. Let's go to the family compound first!"
On the way, Qing Xuanzi asked Rong Lianhu what this Secretary Sun Ming looked like.
Ke Ronglianhu himself had never met him. He only knew of this person when he was learning about local officials. As for what he looked like, he shook his head: "Brother, I've never seen him."
Qing Xuanzi waved his hand: "Alright, if he really is as I guessed, using other people's lifespan to prolong his own life, I can tell when I see him."
The government staff quarters were not far from the county government offices. Upon arriving at the compound, Qing Xuanzi asked Rong Lianhu to find a place to wait while he used an invisibility talisman to go inside and search.
His first priority was to find out if any family had set up an array. After Qing Xuanzi affixed an invisibility talisman, his figure became almost imperceptible, as if he had blended into the surrounding air.
He easily entered the residential compound and began searching house by house.
Most of the buildings in the family compound are two-story houses with a simple architectural style, carrying the rustic charm of that era.
The yard was filled with flowers and plants, and the occasional birdsong could be heard, making it exceptionally peaceful.
He first went to the building closest to the gate, scanned it with his divine sense, and found that there was no one inside.
The furnishings in the room were very ordinary, with nothing unusual about them.
Qing Xuanzi used his divine sense to search the entire building, even underground, and found nothing unusual before continuing to the next building.
A family lived in the second building, and Qing Xuanzi could see people moving around inside through the window.
The house was filled with the sounds of children's laughter and adults talking; it seemed to be an ordinary family home.
He also used his divine sense to look up and down, but found nothing suspicious, so he continued on his way.
The family compound wasn't large. He searched all the houses but found no trace of the Three-Door Soul-Locking Array, nor did he find anyone who had borrowed his lifespan.
Qing Xuanzi turned and left the family compound, went to a secluded place to remove the invisibility talisman, and found Rong Lianhu.
He was holding Rong Jiaojiao and reaching for leaves when he saw Qing Xuanzi. Rong Lianhu cast an inquiring glance at him.
Qing Xuanzi shook his head: "I didn't find anything."
"Shall we go to the county government now?"
Upon arriving at the entrance of the government office building, Qing Xuanzi didn't even need to go inside. He simply enveloped the entire building with his divine sense. There were only a few people inside, and the secretary's office door was locked, indicating that Sun Ming was neither here nor at home today.
Rong Lianhu had been watching Qing Xuanzi closely. Seeing him frown, he quickly asked, "How is it?"
Qing Xuanzi shook his head: "The person is not here."
Rong Lianhu pondered, "He's not home, nor is he working overtime here. Could it be that he has a place to stay elsewhere?"
"Possibly."
"So what do we do now?"
Qing Xuanzi said, "Go find your wife first, and I'll look for her in the county town later."
He couldn't allow such evil cultivators to exist. He felt a little regretful. He should have asked Tian Shu if there were any members of the National Xuanmen Group here. Otherwise, he could have left it to them and wouldn't have had to worry about it.
The two brought Rong Jiaojiao to the department store and saw that Fu Ya had bought a lot of fabric. Rong Lianhu asked, "Didn't you buy any ready-made clothes?"
Fu Ya nodded: "I calculated that it would cost about half again as much as buying fabric and making them myself. I thought I might as well make them a couple more outfits, since we have enough fabric coupons anyway."
Rong Lianhu asked in a low voice, "Didn't you manage to buy any milk powder?"
Fu Ya shook her head: "No, but I bought two cans of malted milk powder."
She also bought her two sons a pound of hard candy and two pounds of bean cakes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com