The woman took out the sole gold coin she had secretly kept from her pocket, looked at it again and again, then told him where she wanted to go.
“You really want to go to this place?”
“Yes.”
“But, this place…”
“I just want to go here. If you don’t know the way, I can tell you.”
“I do know it, but…”
Two consecutive “buts” made the woman feel very strange. She thought it was because she was wearing a mask that she couldn’t earn his trust.
But she was only going to one place. What was there to be suspicious about?
The woman said straightforwardly, “Just go where I told you. There’s no need to say ‘but’ anymore.”
Seeing that the woman was determined to go, Gauss had no choice but to tell her everything he knew.
“The place you want to go no longer exists.”
“No longer exists? What do you mean?” The woman was puzzled.
“It’s literally what I said. The king has already requisitioned that land, and the buildings on it were demolished. Now something else has been built there instead.”
“Are you sure?”
Hearing this, the woman couldn’t believe what Gauss was saying at all. It was too absurd. She had been away for over ten years, and she came back to find her home gone.
Anyway, her heart held only two words—unbelievable.
“Sure.” Gauss answered affirmatively.
“Stop saying all this useless stuff. Just take me there directly. I’ll see for myself when I get there.”
“Alright.”
Gauss drove the carriage and rode off with the woman.
After a while, Gauss stopped the carriage beside a statue.
“Ma’am, the place you mentioned has arrived. It’s right here.”
“Here?”
The woman looked around. All the neighbors’ houses remained unchanged. Only her own house was gone, replaced by a grand, towering statue.
‘This isn’t right. If the house is gone, then where did my family go? How am I supposed to find them?’
Fortunately, there was someone right in front of her. She might as well ask.
“Gauss, where did the owners of the house originally here go?”
“They… I heard that because they violated the laws of the Human Race, they were expelled from the Human Race and had their Human Status revoked. I don’t know exactly where they went either.”
“What!”
The woman gasped.
“With their status, they actually got their Human Status revoked? You’re really not joking with me?”
She looked at Gauss with suspicion.
“Really, I’m not lying to you. Everything I said is the truth.”
Looking at Gauss’s sincere and innocent eyes, he didn’t seem to be lying.
Then…
“Then do you know about the statue?” The woman asked a different question.
“This seems to have been built by the king’s order for the new guardian of the Human Race, to boost everyone’s morale.”
“New guardian?” The woman didn’t understand.
“That’s right. In any case, that’s about all I know. If you keep asking, I probably still won’t know.”
Gauss was also helpless. He was just a carriage driver, and some questions were really too difficult for him.
“Alright, that’s it then.”
The woman was also helpless. After paying, she planned her next move.
Originally, she wanted to find the king to locate her family, but after hearing they had been stripped of their Human Status, going to him would be no different from pleading for a death row inmate. If the king got upset, she might also have her Human Status revoked, or even be arrested and thrown into prison.
‘No clues, no connections, no money. Nothing at all. Where is she supposed to go from here!’
There was no choice but to try the most foolish method.
She decided to ask door to door until she found a clue, then proceed from there.
But what use would that be?
‘At least I got the news that they aren’t in the Human Race, right?’
The woman was heartbroken inside.
But what use would that be?
In any case, she had to find them!
—
One week later.
Dragon Race, Dragon Race Imperial Palace.
Zhu Qiu slept until two in the afternoon.
Today was Saturday, the weekend. She could finally get some proper rest.
On Friday, she had asked Zhu Xiaxia to send her home. Although sleeping there was also comfortable, home was home after all, always a bit better than outside.
As for Yiluo Enya, when she learned that Zhu Qiu was going home for the weekend, she was very sad.
Because there was no one to train with her.
Since no one could accompany her, she would train by herself.
Zhu Xiaxia had also proactively offered to send Yiluo Enya home, but she tactfully declined.
She had to prepare for the upcoming academy-wide event and bring glory to her family!
Zhu Qiu lay sprawled on one side of the bed, her tail naturally dangling to the floor, her head buried deep in the pillow.
Because of the weather, sunlight streamed through the window onto Zhu Qiu’s tail, making it a little warm.
But that couldn’t stop her from continuing to sleep.
Unless she fell to the floor.
Zhu Qiu wouldn’t have fallen off the bed originally, but the Sword Spirit suddenly appeared and yanked her onto the floor.
“Ah!”
Before she could react further, the Sword Spirit quickly helped Zhu Qiu up and made her look at her.
“Ugh, I’m so sleepy. Let me sleep a bit more~”
Zhu Qiu naturally tried to climb back onto the bed, but the Sword Spirit firmly held her shoulders.
“Stop sleeping! Hurry up and solve the Demon Sword problem for me! She keeps clinging to me every day and says she’ll never be separated from me. I really can’t take it anymore!”
“So sleepy. Don’t stop me from sleeping, ugh~”
“You’re the one acting wronged now!”
The Sword Spirit got angry.
“It’s been so long, and the Jian Mo problem still isn’t solved. Are you planning to let her replace me?!”
This time, Zhu Qiu didn’t respond.
‘Did she listen?’
The Sword Spirit took a look. It turned out her eyes were closed—she had fallen asleep.
‘Wow, she can even sleep standing up. And it’s already two in the afternoon. Hasn’t she slept long enough? She really is a sleepyhead, beyond saving. Might as well sell her off and buy two pounds of dragon meat to eat while at it.’
‘After tasting the milk Zhu Qiu drank last time, I want to drink it more and more. But who would have thought that Zhu Qiu barely drinks milk anymore, so I can get it even less. Damn it, the milk she promised me actually wasn’t fulfilled!’
The Sword Spirit continued to be angry.
‘Hm? Why am I suddenly having random thoughts?’
“Get up! My sleepy Sword Saint User. If you keep sleeping like this, I’ll really sell you off.”
“Ha… breath…”
‘Really beyond saving.’
With a resentful face, the Sword Spirit carried Zhu Qiu over her shoulder and walked straight out the door.
As luck would have it, neither Zhu Xiaxia nor Xiaguang was on the first floor at that moment, so the golden, gleaming Sword Spirit walked past without being discovered.
Looking at the Cloud Avenue ahead, she walked along it without caring about anything else.
After all, Zhu Qiu was the little princess of Dragon King Zhu Xiaxia now. Nothing could possibly happen to her.
Slowly, the Sword Spirit walked in.
Whether Lady Luck was favoring her or what, not a single dragon noticed them along the way.
Just then, an aroma wafted from the distance to the Sword Spirit’s nose.
“Hm? What smells so good?”
Seduced by the delicious fragrance, the Sword Spirit put Zhu Qiu down from her shoulder and walked over…