The day before Li Mai left, she went to see Yun Wang again, but it was in the evening.
The Prince of Yun already knew about what had happened in the capital these past few days, and he also knew that Li Mai had been involved. He had secretly arranged for people to cooperate with Li Mai so that no one could trace the matter back to Li Mai and Zhou Quan.
His younger sister didn't like being high-profile in Beijing, so he naturally wouldn't let her be exposed to the public.
Li Mai examined his legs again, removed the wooden boards binding them, and had Zhou Quan and his guards help him take a bath with water mixed with spiritual spring water. Then he bound his legs again.
He should drink tea made from the leaves of that herb every day, as it will also help his leg recover.
Records of the King of Clouds.
The next morning, Li Mai and Zhou Quan left the capital quietly in a carriage at dawn and went home.
In the shadows, the people arranged by the Prince of Yun escorted them all the way, until they were thirty miles outside the capital city.
After they left, Li Mai and Zhou Quan both turned back and looked at each other at the same time.
With their current abilities, they can sense whether someone is following them or not.
However, the two of them felt a strange force approaching them the next moment, along with fluctuations in spiritual energy.
Zhou Quan quickly opened his hearing to sense the sounds and suddenly felt as if the trees by the roadside were rustling.
But when he looked at it with his eyes, the leaves did not move at all.
The next moment, with a thought, Li Mai put away the carriage, and she and Zhou Quan quickly rushed into the woods.
"Young Master Zhou, we meet again!" As the two of them appeared in the woods, an old man suddenly emerged from a tree trunk.
Li Mai was surprised; it was indeed an old man who had walked out of a tree.
Zhou Quan recognized the other person, "Old Yang?"
The old man chuckled at him, then looked Li Mai over and nodded, "Not bad, Young Master Zhou, has your wife awakened a water-type spiritual root?"
Zhou Quan nodded, "Yes, it's all thanks to the magical artifact the old man gave me that my wife was helped."
"It's nothing. I also want to thank you two for giving me the spiritual herbs, which allow me to maintain my cultivation in this world without spiritual energy. I believe that it won't be long before I can break through to the Earth Rank."
The old man sensed they were about to leave, so he came to see them.
"You're too kind, sir. For cultivators, the most important thing is opportunity and good fortune. Perhaps it's an opportunity and good fortune that you and my husband know each other, allowing us to help each other." Li Mai smiled and said politely.
"The little girl is right." The old man gave Li Mai an approving look.
"Are you leaving?" the old man asked.
"Yes, we're going back to spend the New Year with our families," Zhou Quan nodded.
"Alright, then take your time on your journey. Once I break through to the Earth Rank and enter the Heaven Rank, this world will no longer be a problem for me. I can go to any place with trees and flowers at any time. If you two ever encounter danger or are attacked by your own kind, just hold onto a tree and call my name, and I will appear immediately to help you."
"Thank you, Uncle Yang!" Li Mai said with a smile, expressing her gratitude. This promise was incredibly precious.
The promise of a Celestial Rank cultivator is like having the protection of the Heavenly Dao.
She and Zhou Quan are at the Earth Rank, but they are only at the initial stage of the Earth Rank. Elder Yang is at the advanced stage. It might take a lifetime of cultivation to go from the initial stage to the advanced stage.
Therefore, Li Mai felt that this old man must have come from some mystical world, not from this world. People from this world could never cultivate to his level.
The old man seemed to know what she was thinking and nodded. “That’s right. I come from another world full of spiritual energy. But once I came here, I couldn’t go back. My cultivation level has dropped to the Earth Rank. If I want to go back, I can only cultivate to the Heaven Rank.”
Li Mai and Zhou Quan nodded, confirming their agreement.
"Although I don't know where you two came from, it seems you've both had some good fortune. Let's work together and strive to go back someday." The old man left these encouraging words before he left.
Li Mai and Zhou Quan agreed and watched the old man return to the tree. Only then did the two leave the woods, waved to release the carriage, and continued on their way.
Twelve days later, they returned to Yongzhou City and stayed at an inn for one night.
They slept in the space again that night.
Unbeknownst to them, someone had blown a sleeping gas into their room at night, and someone had entered their house, but the thief left after not seeing anyone or stealing anything.
When the two came out in the morning, they found that the house had been ransacked and the door bolt had been opened.
Zhou Quan frowned. "Someone came to our house last night."
Li Mai sniffed; the smell was somewhat familiar.
Suddenly she remembered that this was the scent of the incense that the village thieves had blown into her house when they tried to steal her silver that day.
The flavor was just much weaker now, and it wasn't appealing at all.
“Someone has used a sleeping potion; it seems they know there are passing guests staying in this house,” Li Mai said softly.
Zhou Quan squinted and suddenly sensed footsteps approaching outside. He quickly opened the door and grabbed the person walking past, discovering it was one of the inn's waiters.
"W-what's wrong, sir?" The waiter stammered, startled by Zhou Quan's grab.
Zhou Quan let go of him and went back inside, but she kept her ears open to hear where he would go and what he would say.
About fifteen minutes later, the waiter's voice rang out, "Are you sure no one was there last night? When I went over just now, there were people in that room, and it was indeed the two people who stayed there last night, a man and a woman. They didn't look like poor people."
"Then tell us, why was there no one when we went in? We used the bewitching incense from Tianxiang Village, which is ridiculously expensive, and we wasted so much of it without stealing anything. This deal was a loss. Erluzi, you're giving us false information. Hurry up and give us back the money you took from us, or we'll tell your manager."
The voice was nonchalant and irreverent.
The waiter, also known as Erluzi, seemed to be frightened by the man's intimidation. After a few rustling sounds, he seemed to return the benefits he had received yesterday, muttered "bad luck" under his breath, and then slammed the door shut.
Then, Zhou Quan heard that same nonchalant voice say to another person, "Brother Cao, how about we go to a different inn today?"
At this moment, a lazy voice said, "Forget it, let's go back to Tianxiang Village. It seems that those two people last night were not simple. We can't get into trouble. If the village chief finds out that we stole the bewitching incense to steal people's money, he will skin us alive."
The voice sighed, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing.
Zhou Quan frowned. "Xiaomai, do you know Tianxiang Village?"
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