As dawn breaks, sunlight filters through the gaps in the dense forest, casting dappled shadows and adding a touch of gentle warmth to this ancient land.
The air in the valley is filled with the fragrance of earth and grass.
The birds had already woken up and were now singing on the branches, their cheerful songs clear and melodious, echoing through the valley.
At the entrance of Nanxiang Mountain Village, Wang Xiuxiu and her group were ready to depart.
Zisu quietly leaned close to Wang Xiuxiu and whispered something in her ear.
"It's alright. Go tell everyone not to expose her. Let her follow you, just pretend she doesn't exist!"
"Ah? Oh, okay! I'll go right away!"
Wang Xiuxiu glanced at Lu Jingze not far away when she had a moment to spare.
His displeased expression clearly indicated that he was still feeling resentful.
Wang Xiuxiu leaned closer.
"Oh dear, isn't this the dashing, generous, and kind Prince Jing? Why are you sulking here all by yourself? Tell me quickly who offended you, and I'll go and teach them a lesson right away!"
What a righteous and awe-inspiring Wang Xiuxiu! Upon hearing these words, Lu Jingze's resentment vanished completely.
Seeing her grinning and trying to please him, even Lu Jingze's hardened heart softened, and he asked, "Are you sure you want to take that demon... that brat with you?"
Wang Xiuxiu nodded.
"She's not someone you can ignore; she'll cause you a lot of trouble along the way."
"I know, I know, but I've already promised them, so it's not good to go back on my word."
"The offices in Nanxiang Mountain change every day, so let's hurry up, or we'll have to wait until tomorrow!"
Before Lu Jingze could object, Wang Xiuxiu forcefully pushed him out.
Helpless, Lu Jingze took her hand in his and strode out of the valley.
The group traveled smoothly without encountering any snakes, insects, or rodents along the way, even after reaching the latter half of Nanxiang Mountain.
The people in the group couldn't help but marvel.
On the other side, in the nameless pavilion, the Holy Maiden of Nanxiang stood for a long time, watching the departing caravan.
"Holy Maiden, are we just going to let them go like this?"
The Holy Maiden of Nanxiang shook her head, "Not only should we let them leave, but we should also take good care of their merchant caravan from now on."
"Isn't this too dangerous?"
“I can’t refuse her conditions. Give the order to have everyone in the clan clear a path to the outermost part of Nanxiang Mountain. From now on, that will be the only place they can set foot in.”
"yes!"
Ever since leaving Nanxiang Mountain, Wang Xiuxiu had been waiting, waiting for the little mouse that had been secretly following the caravan to surrender on its own initiative.
After walking for two days, until Nanxiang Mountain was no longer in sight, Nan Wei finally emerged from the group.
Nan Wei blushed and said, "I have offended you a lot before, it was all my fault, I hope you will not hold a grudge."
"A child who can admit their mistakes and correct them is a good child, but I still have to ask you, why did you kidnap us to the mountain stronghold?"
Nan Wei lowered her head shyly, "I want to leave Nanxiang Mountain, but I'm afraid I won't be able to find my way, so I can only ask someone for help."
"I don't truly love the prince! I just thought he seemed very capable, and I wanted to use him as a backup plan to appease my mother. I never intended to actually marry him!"
Fearing that Wang Xiuxiu wouldn't believe her, Nan Wei even raised her hand to swear, but Wang Xiuxiu stopped her.
"You can come with our caravan, but if you do, you have to listen to me. If you can't, leave the caravan and go back to Nanxiang Mountain as soon as possible!"
"Be good, be good! I'll be good!"
"Alright, go find Zisu and follow her for now."
The little girl stared at the shoes and refused to leave.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't want to go with her." After hesitating for a long time, Nan Wei made up her mind, mustered her courage, and looked up, saying, "I want to go with you!"
Seemingly realizing his tone was too forceful, he added a guarantee at the end, "I will absolutely listen to you and not cause trouble. How about you let me follow you?"
"Also...that's okay."
"Really!"
Nan Wei jumped three feet high.
"Okay, but you still need to go and learn the rules from Zisu first."
"Okay! I'll go right away!"
The little girl was jumping and skipping around, extremely happy.
"Are you really going to keep her?" Lu Jingze asked in a low voice.
"Stay, stay! Didn't you see that even snakes, insects, and rodents dared not approach along the way? This little saintess is quite amazing!" Wang Xiuxiu pulled up her sleeve, revealing her smooth arm to him.
Lu Jingze, however, took the initiative, rubbing his hand in his palm.
"Besides, if you look closely, you two actually look quite alike. Just treat her like a little sister, and don't hold a grudge."
"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say!"
–———
"Sister Zisu, this is so difficult, do I really have to learn it?"
"You absolutely must learn this! Everyone in our group knows it; if you don't, you'll definitely be recognized!"
"Oh... okay, then I'll continue learning..."
The little girl looked listless and weak, which was just in time to be seen by Wulin who was rushing over.
"Hey! What's wrong, little saintess? Why do you look so worried?"
Before Nanwei could speak, Zisu punched Wulin.
Why did you hit me again!
"She has a name! From now on, she'll be called Nan Wei. The master said that her identity is special and we can't easily let people know her identity!"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Wu Lin didn't dare to argue with Zi Su and could only turn his attention back to Nan Wei.
"Hey, Xiao Nanwei, don't you know how to control Gu worms? Show them to me!"
Nan Wei shook her head.
"Huh? So stingy? Can't I even look?"
"No, my mother said that the Gu worms of our Nanxiang tribe cannot be taken out of Nanxiang Mountain, let alone used on outsiders, because it will cause trouble!"
"Oh, I see! So, Xiao Nanwei, you have nothing left?"
Seeing Nan Wei nod dejectedly, Wu Lin became even more enthusiastic and teased her, "What should we do then?"
"What do you mean, how can it be good?"
"You don't understand, our caravan can't keep idle people! You can't do anything, so aren't you just an idle person? Be careful, or the master will kick you out of the caravan!"
"I...I...I'm not a useless person! I'm very useful! I'll go find Master and Sister right now!"
Before Wu Lin could stop her, Nan Wei ran out.
Wu Lin glanced at Nan Wei, who had run off into the distance, then at Zi Su, who was left behind just like him, and blinked. "She just ran away like that?"
Zisu waved her hand, mocking him mercilessly, "Just you wait, the master will definitely deal with you later."
"Zisu, you will definitely plead for me, won't you? You won't bear to see me punished, will you?"
"No, I love watching it."
"Waaaah! Perilla, you're so heartless~~"
"Ugh! You're disgusting!"
As she spoke, Zisu brushed the goosebumps off her body with a look of disgust.
While the two of them were playing around for a while, Nan Wei had already run to Wang Xiuxiu's car frame.
Fortunately, he remembered Professor Zisu's rules and knocked on the carriage shaft first to get Wang Xiuxiu's permission before getting on.
"Did you need something from me?"
Nan Wei nodded firmly.
"Then tell me."
"I...I..."
"Don't rush, speak slowly. I'm fine, I can listen to you slowly."
"Sister, I'm very useful!"
Hmm? What kind of strange name is that?
But seeing how anxious Nan Wei was, Wang Xiuxiu didn't have time to think about these things anymore.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Sir/Sister, all my Gu poisons are left in Nanxiang Mountain, but Mother didn't say I can't use poison! I'm very powerful with poison! Sir/Sister, please don't send me away since I'm useful. I've never left Nanxiang Mountain before, and it would be so pitiful for me to be all alone..."
When did I say I was going to kick you out?
Nan Wei's words completely baffled Wang Xiuxiu.
“But Ulin said that if I’m useless, you’ll kick me out…”
Wang Xiuxiu finally understood what was going on.
This Wulin, having nothing better to do than tease that young girl!
"Nanwei, don't worry. Since I've kept you here, as long as you haven't done anything wrong, I definitely won't kick you out of the caravan."
Really?!
"Of course! But I must also take this opportunity to warn you that you are the Holy Maiden of Nanxiang, and you know more than ordinary people. Whether it is Gu or poison, you must not use it on innocent people lightly, do you understand?"
"I know! Don't worry, sir/madam! I definitely won't abuse it!"
"Okay! Sir, I believe you!"
Wang Xiuxiu found the way she addressed him strange, so she suggested, "Nanwei, why don't you just call me 'sister'? 'Sir' sounds a bit odd."
"Okay! Sister! Can you call me Weiwei from now on? It sounds so affectionate!"
The little girl herself made the suggestion, but she blushed with embarrassment at first.
Wang Xiuxiu, of course, wouldn't refuse her request, and immediately agreed.
"By the way, I made a Dae Hee uniform for Weiwei. You can wear it for now, and we'll buy a new one when we get to the South."
"For me?" Nan Wei looked incredulous.
Wang Xiuxiu nodded gently.
"Sister, you're so good to me!" she said, throwing herself into Wang Xiuxiu's arms with lightning speed. "Besides Mother, you're the first person in the world to make clothes for me!"
Wang Xiuxiu couldn't resist touching her fluffy little head.
Nan Wei admired her new clothes for a while, but a look of confusion suddenly appeared on her usually composed face.
When Wang Xiuxiu saw this, she assumed that the other woman felt something was wrong, so she asked her a question.
"No, no, the clothes my sister made are really, really nice! It's just that the little pearls on my old clothes won't be visible anymore after I wear the new ones..."
"Are these little pearls important to you?"
Nan Wei nodded vigorously.
"It's okay, I'll take them off and sew them onto your belt for you, so you can see them no matter what clothes you wear in the future."
Wow! Thank you, sister! You're so kind!
The little saintess, who had been sullen, suddenly became overjoyed and spun around happily like little Jin Nian.
When Wang Xiuxiu saw this, she couldn't help but be infected by her joy.
As she was leaving, Wang Xiuxiu called her back, "Please pass on a message to Wulin for me, and tell him to fetch water for the whole convoy tomorrow."
"good!"
As soon as Nan Wei got out of the car, she saw Lu Jingze returning.
The young saintess, in a rather good mood, even greeted him, calling out, "Your Highness!"
You know, this little guy is usually extremely rude, but he always calls him Lu Jingze by his full name!
Lu Jingze took a moment to react before replying, "You're leaving already?"
"Yes! My sister wants me to pass on a message!"
With that, she skipped and hopped off to find Zisu.
"Ta-da!"
As soon as Nanwei saw Zisu Wulin, she twirled around a few times to show them her new clothes from all angles.
"Did you make this, sir? It's beautiful!"
"Right, right! I think it looks so good too! Sister Zisu, look at my belt! My sister sewed my little pearls on it too!"
"I must say, Xiao Nanwei, dressed like this, you immediately look like one of our great women!" Wu Lin couldn't help but praise.
Hehehehehe!
The little girl was pleased with herself for a while before remembering her sister's last instructions. She put on a serious smile and said, "Wulin, accept the order!"
"What? You're kidding me!"
"Who's teasing you! I'm back with my sister's orders! Ulin, receive the orders!"
Wu Lin realized that she had indeed just returned from Wang Xiuxiu's place, so she immediately knelt down on one knee to accept the order.
Upon seeing this, Nan Wei pretended to say, "My sister has ordered that Wu Lin, you must fetch water for the entire caravan tomorrow!"
"Huh? No way?"
"My sister said it herself~"
After saying that, Nanwei tried to pull Zisu away.
Zisu was also quite heartless; not only did she ignore him, but she even left with the words, "Serves you right!"
Ulin stood there, stunned, on the verge of tears!
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