“Ling’er, let’s go. We’re going to have lunch.”
Xiu Jiming stood at Lin Ling’s door and knocked gently.
Lin Ling, her hair messy and eyes half-asleep, pushed the door open.
When she saw it was Xiu Jiming, she yawned without saying anything, turned around, walked back into the room, lay down on the bed, and pulled the blanket over herself.
Xiu Jiming felt a little helpless.
He slowly walked in and said with a smile, “What’s wrong? You don’t even want to eat lunch?”
Lin Ling didn’t move.
She stayed curled up under the blanket and just gave a soft “Mm.”
Ever since she had obtained part of the crucial answers from Xiu Yansheng a few days ago, Lin Ling hadn’t slept well.
Every night, she dreamed of the destruction of the fox clan.
Massacre.
Betrayal. Death.
She relived those dreams again and again.
She hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep for days.
Sometimes she didn’t sleep at all and instead spent the night meditating and cultivating.
Over the past few days, her Condensed Law Realm cultivation had completely stabilized, and her true essence output was no longer intermittent.
But the nightmares gave her a terrible headache.
No matter what method she tried, nothing worked.
Calming talismans, tranquilizing incantations—it didn’t matter.
The nightmares still came.
And then there was the name Tang Guanyan.
It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it.
Although he was the Grand Secretariat Chief of the Great Yu Empire and obviously famous, she had never cared about court affairs.
She shouldn’t have heard it from there.
In situations like this, it was usually her past-life memories interfering.
Her fox clan past life had only lasted fourteen years before she died, leaving her memories fragmented.
Meanwhile, she had lived over thirty years as Lin Ling.
Because of that, the fusion of memories was extremely slow—or at least that was her guess.
From time to time, fragments of memories flashed back.
She could only wait until she returned to Moon Mountain County and ask Lin Kejing for answers.
Thinking of this, Lin Ling suddenly sat up in bed.
She calculated the days and realized that during this rest period, she had spent almost all her time in the Scripture Pavilion of the Patrol Division.
It seemed like she hadn’t done anything meaningful.
Back in Moon Mountain County, she could help villagers with small tasks and work toward her goal at the same time.
But here in Longchuan County, she had done nothing but read books.
She had almost forgotten about that goal entirely.
Seeing Lin Ling suddenly sit up, Xiu Jiming was surprised, unsure what had gotten into her.
Lin Ling immediately got up, kicked Xiu Jiming out of the room, hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, and began tidying herself up.
Xiu Jiming rubbed the small shoe mark on his stomach and smiled helplessly as he waited outside.
After a long time, she still hadn’t come out.
He knocked on the door again.
“Come in,” Lin Ling’s annoyed voice replied.
Xiu Jiming entered and saw Lin Ling sitting at the dressing table, struggling to manage her increasingly long hair.
The little fox had extremely thick hair, which made it very difficult to manage.
She was separating it strand by strand.
Normally, temple attendants or Lin Kejing helped her.
But recently, because of the cold weather, she hadn’t washed it properly—just wiped herself briefly.
Last night, she couldn’t stand it anymore and finally washed it thoroughly.
Now her hair had completely exploded into a mess.
And she had never undone her braids by herself before.
Even after working on it for a long time, it still looked messy.
Seeing this, Xiu Jiming smiled faintly.
He pulled up a chair behind her, took the comb from her hand, and began gently combing her hair.
Being taken care of felt nice.
Lin Ling yawned and leaned back in the chair, watching in the mirror as Xiu Jiming tied her hair neatly.
After a few seconds, she picked up a sketch page beside her and wrote on it with spiritual energy:
“You’re quite skilled. Have you done this before?”
Xiu Jiming replied, “I’ve learned a little. I used to travel everywhere when I was young. There was no one to help me, so I had to learn myself.”
Lin Ling sighed.
“So troublesome. Sometimes I feel like shaving my head.”
Xiu Jiming imagined Lin Ling bald.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
He decided he absolutely had to correct that terrifying idea.
After a while, Lin Ling stood up and spun around in front of the mirror.
She looked youthful and adorable again, her hair tied into twin ponytails.
She nodded in satisfaction and patted Xiu Jiming’s back.
“Very good, Xiao Mingzi. From now on, when we travel, you’re in charge of my hair.”
Xiu Jiming smiled but didn’t respond.
They left the Patrol Division together.
Lin Ling yawned again, still sleepy.
“Where are we eating?” she asked.
Xiu Jiming replied, “Do you remember Gong Xuance? He said he’d treat us. Let’s go check it out. If it’s bad, I’ll take you somewhere else.”
Lin Ling rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Really? Gong Xuance treating us? He won’t just dig up two sweet potatoes from a ditch and call it a meal, will he?”
Her description made Xiu Jiming chuckle.
“That won’t happen. From what I can tell, Gong Xuance has some wealth. And he’s working with us on a mission. We’re supposed to cooperate fully, so it’s only fair he treats us.”
Lin Ling waved her hand dismissively.
“Whatever. I have my own things to do. I won’t get involved.”
She then looked around the street, scanning for anyone who might need help.
But Longchuan County was huge, and there didn’t seem to be any opportunity for her to do good deeds.
She felt nervous.
There was only one day left before this rest period ended.
If she didn’t do any good deeds, she didn’t know what would happen.
After walking through several streets, they arrived at a decent-looking restaurant.
Gong Xuance was sitting at an outdoor table and waved at them when he saw them.
Xiu Jiming stepped forward, but suddenly noticed Lin Ling wasn’t following.
He turned around and saw her helping an elderly woman carry her belongings, carefully guiding her along the road.
After finishing, Lin Ling skipped back happily.
She looked up at the restaurant’s sign.
“Yunzhou Dragon Beard Noodles!”
Beside it was a banner reading: “Century-Old Brand.”
Lin Ling’s face darkened.
“This… doesn’t look like a proper place at all.”