That night, Lin Ling did not return to the Fox Immortal Temple.
She slept in the archive room by the candlelight. During the night, the three girls took advantage of the darkness to bring her blankets and pillows.
Xiu Jiming even brought a heater from somewhere, which left Lin Ling feeling a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
“Thank you.”
[It feels great to be a beautiful girl. Someone takes care of everything.]
Recalling her past life as a bandit, exposed to the elements and sleeping in the wild, Lin Ling wept inwardly.
At dawn the next day, Lin Ling was already awake.
After a quick wash, she went to the main hall.
Looking up, she saw a handsome youth sitting leisurely in the seat of honor, seemingly lost in thought.
“Huh?”
Lin Ling didn’t react immediately, walking forward in confusion.
[Where did this pretty boy come from?]
Sensing Lin Ling’s approach, the youth looked up and smiled slightly.
“What’s the matter?”
Only upon hearing that lazy tone and familiar voice did she realize who it was.
Lin Ling immediately felt a bead of sweat roll down her mind.
“Clerk Xiu?”
[Xiu Jiming?? Are you serious? Is this the same damn person?!]
“It is I.”
Xiu Jiming held a cup of tea, nodding slightly.
Currently, Xiu Jiming wore a proper moon-white robe that accentuated his tall and straight stature.
His black hair was neatly tied behind his head with a simple green jade hairpin, revealing his extraordinary features.
Noticing Lin Ling’s gaze, Xiu Jiming gave a satisfied smile and lowered his head to sip his tea.
“….”
Seeing him like this, Lin Ling felt a wave of annoyance.
How should she put it?
He was a little bit more handsome than before—just a little bit.
“Hmph.”
Lin Ling shot him a sidelong glance and turned to sit on the side.
[An old cucumber painted green—pretending to be young!]
Xiu Jiming poured a cup of tea and pushed it toward Lin Ling.
She took it naturally.
“When you go out this time, you must pay more attention. I have a feeling that this won’t be a simple mission where you just go and perform some ritual,” Xiu Jiming said.
Lin Ling held the teacup and took a sip, staring blankly while sitting in the rattan chair.
Seeing her like this, Xiu Jiming didn’t say much more, quietly brewing tea for himself on the side.
After a long while, Lin Ling finally looked up at him.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-four.”
Xiu Jiming was somewhat puzzled.
Did this little girl care that much?
“Tsk, tsk.”
[He’s sixteen years older than my previous life and twenty years older than this new body.]
Lin Ling clicked her tongue and pointed at her own face.
“You only look like you’re in your teens.”
“When a cultivator enters the Real Self Realm, their appearance basically becomes fixed. Because I have some talent, I crossed the threshold of the Real Self Realm quite early,” Xiu Jiming explained with a smile.
“Real Self… Realm?”
[Don’t tell me you entered the Real Self Realm at sixteen.]
Lin Ling tilted her head and looked at him.
“You spent so long reading books yesterday; didn’t you look at the realms of cultivation at all?”
Seeing her curious expression, Xiu Jiming assumed she didn’t know the cultivation stages and proceeded to explain patiently.
“Parting from the mortal coil, sensing Qi into the body, and condensing spiritual energy is the Spirit Awakening Realm. Afterward, refining spiritual energy into True Essence and Dharma power that can be controlled at will allows one to perform true magical arts and divine abilities; thus, it is called the Law Condensing Realm.”
[Can I just say that I actually know this? So you really stepped into the Real Self Realm at sixteen? That is just ridiculous!]
Lin Ling looked at him with a face full of sincerity, hoping he would stop explaining.
However, Xiu Jiming thought she wanted to keep listening, so he continued.
“Further improving the physical constitution with spiritual energy, condensing divine sense, seeing through to the truth, and laying the foundation for a unique Great Path… this is the first important essential leap on the path of cultivation. Clarifying the mind and seeing one’s nature, the initial formation of the soul—that is the Real Self Realm.”
Lin Ling hastily handed her finished teacup to Xiu Jiming.
“Refill…”
[Just pour the tea already and stop nagging.]
Xiu Jiming picked up the teapot and was about to continue speaking while pouring, but Lin Ling extended her index finger and pressed it against his lips.
“Shh.”
Xiu Jiming froze, silently staring at her slender finger, and shut his mouth.
A moment later, he picked up his own teacup, glanced up at the time, and frowned slightly.
His fingers formed a sword-seal as he said in a deep voice, “Still not out of bed!”
Inside the three girls’ dormitory, wind and thunder suddenly rolled, carrying Xiu Jiming’s dissatisfied voice: “Still not out of bed!”
Before long, the three girls appeared before the two of them, their faces blackened as if struck by lightning, standing in a disheveled line to report.
“Greetings, both Lords.”
“Pack up and set out. The petitioner’s address is No. 22, Qingchi Street, West Suburbs. It’s a family of five, and the master of the house is surnamed Wu,” Xiu Jiming said slowly.
“Yes…”
A few weak responses rang out.
Seeing this, Lin Ling couldn’t help but cover her mouth and snicker.
Yunzhou was located in the northwestern territory of the Great Yu Dynasty, bordering the wilderness.
Yueshan County in Guanglan Prefecture, where Lin Ling was located, was the remotest of remote corners.
Who would have thought that the son of the Prefect of Guanglan would now be a public official in the Inspection and Invocation Bureau doing the work of a neighborhood committee?
Lin Ling sighed, her face full of melancholy.
She had more contact with the official government and didn’t understand organizations like the Inspection and Invocation Bureau at all.
There were many monitoring agencies in the Great Yu Dynasty, but the Inspection and Invocation Bureau was a special organization that took orders directly from the Emperor.
Due to her father’s status as a Prefect, they were often monitored by the Linxiu Guard secret police, so they rarely had any connection with the Inspection and Invocation Bureau.
The four of them laughed and chatted along the way.
Seeing how cute Lin Ling looked, Bai Yunyun and the others would tease her from time to time.
Since Lin Ling rarely spoke and basically couldn’t talk back, she could only endure it in silence.
[Finally here.]
Looking at the large courtyard before her, Lin Ling thought silently.
“Do you usually walk to handle cases?”
Lin Ling quickly wrote the words in her notebook and held it up before the three.
After writing it, she realized that these three probably hadn’t been on many missions.
“Pretty much. When there’s a case, Clerk Xiu flies there himself and then waits for us to arrive at the scene,” Zhao Yuyu explained, her tone as matter-of-fact as if she were saying “The boss needs to eat.”
[He doesn’t care about you at all? Does he really have that kind of personality?]
Lin Ling added curiously in writing.
“Yeah, actually we don’t know him very well either. We barely say a few words throughout the year,” Bai Yunyun said. She was playing with Lin Ling’s hair, helping her braid it along the way.
“You should know, the last time we talked was because he got some low-quality nails from somewhere and couldn’t even fix the door plaque. That’s why you saw that scene when you came last time.”
To be surrounded by three beauties and not be interested at all—maybe he really was getting old, Lin Ling thought seriously.
If she had this kind of luck back at the mountain stronghold, she would have changed partners every day.
Then, her ear was suddenly rubbed.
A strange sensation came from her ear.
Lin Ling shook her head, breaking free from someone’s malicious hand.
She quickly jumped away, making her ears twitch under control, and turned to see Bai Yunyun rubbing her hands with a look of lingering desire.
Bai Yunyun wore a mischievous smile and said giddily, “Sister Ling~ your ears feel so good to the touch.”
“Freeze!”
A chill ran through Lin Ling, her ears standing straight up in alarm.
She quickly pulled out a talisman, rapidly drew a simple Restraint Seal she had just learned, and threw it onto Bai Yunyun.
“Ugh.”
The latter immediately froze in place like a statue.